Tyndrum gold mine appeal submitted

The company behind plans to mine gold at Cononish near Tyndrum have submitted an appeal against the refusal of planning permission for the scheme by the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority. The application by Scotgold Resources Ltd to drill for gold at the abandoned Cononish gold mine was turned down last August. Since then Scotgold has had several meetings with officers from the National Park to address the concerns that led to the planning refusal and the developer says that it intends to submit a new planning application for the same site in due course, but that it will also continue with its appeal to the Scottish Government in the meantime.

Scotgold Resources Ltd had applied to mine gold and silver and develop a controversial water extraction system. The mine had previously been abandoned as uneconomic in 1997 but recent surges in world gold prices had fuelled interest and exploratory work by Scotgold.

At the time of the planning refusal the, then, convenor of the Park Authority, Dr Mike Cantlay said potential economic benefits could not be balanced against conservation concerns, but explained that the application had been a very difficult one to consider with compelling arguments on both sides. The application had previously been described by Fiona Logan, chief executive of the Park Authority, as, “our Beauly-Denny in terms of controversy”.

Mr Cantlay told the BBC, “Our main concern lay with the design, scale and visual impact of the waste management facility which would hold 820,000 tonnes of slurry waste.

“At the end of the day, we could not balance the potential economic benefits against our primary aim to conserve and enhance our natural heritage, one of the original reasons for establishing National Parks in Scotland.”

It is understood that discussions between Scotgold Resources Ltd and the Park Authority have centered on the proposed form of the waste management facility at the site.

At the time, the local community council for Tyndrum was in favour of the application, hoping that long term jobs would be created and tourism given a boost from the sale of Scottish gold products. However the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage and the John Muir Trust had objected to the application on environmental grounds and some tourism businesses were worried that the damage to the enviroment would put off tourists attracted by the landscape and natural beauty of the area.