Save Our Sperrins(SOS) campaign takes message to London

Twenty members of Save Our Sperrins have brought its campaign message to London bringing its "campaign message to the heart of government" and to the 'Mines and Money' conference.

A spokesperson for the group said: "'No toxic goldmining in the Sperrins Area of Natural Beauty (AONB) is our message'.

"We want to protect the clean water, fresh air, unpolluted land  and  health of our children and future generations from the toxic pollution of goldmining.

"We have researched goldmining throughout the world during the past 10 years and we haven’t found one good news story about it.  The heavy metals, (arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium and chromium) which the goldmining company has applied to discharge into our two 'protected' rivers (SAC & ASSI) will poison aquatic life, especially the freshwater pearl mussels, (Ireland’s only globally endangered species) the salmon spawning, and the trout and the otters.

"The air will be poisoned by the fine dust containing heavy metals from the mine waste stack 59 metres high (18 storeys), the radon gas escaping from an underground mine as well as the diesel fumes from the use of 3.5 million litres of diesel on site every year for 20+ years.

"Climate change will be increased by the removal of 74 acres of peatland to build the proposed infrastructure as well as the proposed abstraction of half a million gallons of water each day for 20 years from the peatland surrounding the site (peatland being a most efficient carbon store)," said the spokesperson.

On Tuesday in London the delegation picketed the Mines and Money Conference in Islington, Orion Resource Partners, and the Crown Estate Commission.

It also delivered a letter to British Prime Minister Kier Starmer at 10 Downing Street.

On Wednesday morning, a delegation delivered a letter to the US Ambassador and Buckingham Palace.

In the afternoon it met with British MPs in Portcullis House, hosted by Colm Eastwood MP. 

The Save Our Sperrins added: "More than 50,000 objections have been lodged against Dalradian Gold’s planning application for a goldmine and processing plant in the Sperrins Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

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"As a result the NI government has arranged a Public Inquiry (to run from April-June 2026) into Dalradian’s planning applications. Dalradian Gold is a Canadian exploration company, 90% owned by Orion Resource Partners, a US Mine Finance company whose tax returns are not available to public scrutiny. Orion Resource Partners has sold a ‘10% stream’ to Wheaton Precious Metals, another Canadian Company. 

"The Crown Estate own the rights to precious metals (silver & gold) in Northern Ireland and they give licences / Option Lease Agreements to mining companies to explore for precious metals, and the Crown Estate get a tax from any precious metals mined.  

"The US Ambassador to UK was in Belfast recently, criticising  the NI government for the delay in granting planning permission to Dalradian. In March 2025, disgraced UK Ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson,  wrote to the Head of the Civil Service in NI also pushing for an urgent decision on planning permission for Dalradian Gold. Before that, in November 2024, four US Congressmen wrote to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of NI also asking for “a fair and timely adjudication of the merits of this project.”