Protect Wheal Vor

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Protect Wheal Vor is a project which opposes the mining of tin and other mineral ores in the parish and environs of Breage, set up by the Great Wheal Vor Community and Environment Group (GWVCEG). GWVCEG is a community group formed in 2021 which seeks to safeguard this rural community from unsuitable development and protect and improve the local environment.

Any future extractive mining, despite its new green promises, has the potential to produce significant additional dangers for our environment, as well as the potential to radically change the character of the area.

The Wheal Vor historic mining area is located within the Parish of Breage. In January 2021, the GWVCEG first became aware of the plans of Cornish Tin Ltd to launch an exploratory drilling program in and around the Wheal Vor area.

Drilling began in April 2021, since when Cornish Tin have carried out three phases of exploration to date, drilling a total of 9,290 meters of bore holes. This operation was done with the consent of Cornwall Council under General Permitted Development Orders (GPDO’s).

Despite reassurances from Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency, the GWVCEG have concerns about the risks of additional metal contamination to our rivers and streams caused by the boreholes, some of which reached significant depths.

Furthermore the local community is obliged to live with the uncertainty generated by the speculative activities of a mining company, which could go on for an extended period.

Should planning permission for extractive mining be sought at any time in the future, Protect Wheal Vor will formally object.