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Well, after a somewhat disappointing summer, Autumn is now upon us. Let's hope that the turning leaves, Halloween and a surfeit of pumpkins bring some cheer to the year.
Last month GWVCEG joined forces with the village hall committee to host a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Despite a very heavy thunderstorm, attendance at the event was excellent. It was a lovely friendly atmosphere and people gave generously to the cause. We raised £407.55 for MacMillan Cancer Support.
In other good news, on a national scale the UK has closed down its last coal fired power plant ending the reliance on one particular fossil fuel for energy generation that has been ongoing since the UK opened its first coal fired plant in 1882. This is in addition to the High Court recently quashing the Whitehaven coal project.
We're currently compiling a collection of local tales and folklore (did you know about the Flow Ghost in Trew?). If you've got any historical anecdotes or interesting stories about the Breage parish area please feel free to share them with us! (nothing too racy mind!)
Nimby's Corner
We want to talk about mining economics this month. You may well ask why we should care about this in Breage. It’s true that we face the reality of two mining projects within our Parish. We are told by people within the Industry that only about 1% of exploratory projects proceed to the creation of actual mines worldwide and of those that become operational we can expect 25% to fail. Even with these odds we think it is better to prepare for the worst possible case.
We believe there are important economic reasons why the Breage projects are doomed to failure here, including:-
• The two local projects require huge long term capital investments especially in what are effectively green field sites with minimal existing infrastructure.
• Whilst technical feasibility studies of mineral grades may look good, recent history over the last two decades indicate that such studies for new mines are often considered by investors as not fit for purpose.
• Miner’s Business Plans aimed at investors usually include a section designed to reflect a nod to the uncertainty of their business modelling. Listed under the 'sensitivities' heading, there are likely to be some variables out of hundreds of activities that impact either positively or negatively upon their profitability. For example - tin pricing, interest rates or ore quality. The problem is that mine economic failures often result from their management’s inability to cope when more than just one of these factors arise simultaneously.
• Historically, Cornwall has pioneered the development of mining technology but the industry here has been dormant for the past century and is now dominated by mining giants in Canada, Australia, South America and China. It is those countries where mining and smelting occur at scale that have the ability to control the market price of minerals to the detriment of small low volume projects.
• There are local competitor projects that have the advantage of infrastructures already in place and are further advanced in development. The UK has a small domestic market for tin and even with a major push on industrial growth, it would still not have capacity to allow for the proliferation of local mines. A Breage tin mine would be well behind the leading projects on this.
• Even a cursory inspection of miners' business plans exposes the paucity of provision for mine closures or abandonment. Unfortunately for ratepayers the burden of this failure falls upon their shoulders and is in sharp contrast to the royalties generously awarded to the mineral rights owners. We question the morality of this, which amounts to a public subsidy of the right to potentially permanently damage the environment - a situation that is now being actively addressed in other countries. Our current planning legislation does not cover the long term impacts of the full life-cycle of mining operations and their effect on the environment and communities.
These are just some of the economic factors that we believe may influence the decisions to mine here in Breage. Of course there are other equally important areas we want to assess and possibly fight such as Environmental Impact, Community Consent, Recycling and legality of Mineral Rights. These we will continue to discuss in Nimby’s Corner.
Did You Know? Did you know that within the 40 countries of Europe the UK is in second place as the largest generator of E Waste per capita behind Norway creating 27 kg per person per annum. We have made efforts in the past to recycle local e-waste with our recycling event and hope to increase these efforts in the community again in the future. The sheer amount of recyclable minerals and metals in such waste is staggering! |
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Food For Thought In an interesting article on Cornwall Live researchers at Exeter University have said that Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly would meet most of the requirements to be candidates for UNESCO Biosphere status. This status could boost sustainable development and help protect threatened environments. |
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Local Events for October 2024
Mevagissey Shanty Festival Fri 11th October, 2024 — Sun 13th October, 2024
Join hundreds of shanty singers from across Cornwall, UK and Europe in Mevagissey.
Celebrate the seafaring tradition of shanty singing whilst also generating funds for local organisations. The festival is free to attend with over 60 groups performing in 16 venues around the village helping to keep the heritage of Cornish seafaring music alive.
Falmouth Book Festival 14th - 20th October 2024
For those of a literary turn of mind, head over to Falmouth Book Festival with talks and performances, children's events and workshops.
See more details of these and other events on our autumn and winter events page
Lowender 2024 - Traditional Cornish Music and Dance Festival 25th to 27th of October
Held at various venues across Redruth featuring Celtic song and dance in the Cornish tradition. Lowender (formerly Lowender Celtic Festival) has been going for more than 40 years and attracts hundreds of performers from Celtic nations.
Will Keating at The Blue Anchor Inn, Helston. Friday 4th October 2024 19.30
Famed local singer Will Keating will be performing at the Blue Anchor in Helston. Enjoy a pint or two of Spingo along with one of our local favourites!
Stay in touch!
If you want to tell us about your upcoming event, or if you are considering becoming a member and actively supporting our campaign to stop mining and the destruction of our local environment, or have any queries please head over to our contact page.
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