Anglesey makes progress with Parys Mountain planning application

6th Apr 2023 15:26

(Sharecast News) - Anglesey Mining updated the market on the ongoing planning application process for its Parys Mountain copper-zinc-lead-silver-gold project on the Isle of Anglesey on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm said the project had several existing planning permissions that remained valid until 2028.

However, due to changes in environmental regulations since the permissions were granted, it was committed to updating the relevant permissions to enable consent.

As a former operating mine, the project was classified as a 'dormant site', which would require a pre-application inquiry submission to the North Wales Mineral Planning Authority.

The company submitted that inquiry last year, and had since arranged a pre-application inquiry meeting with the authority and a number of statutory consultees, including Natural Resources Wales, Cadw, Anglesey County Council, Archaeological Planning Services, local councillors, and members of both the UK and Welsh governments.

Anglesey said the consultation occurred on-site and in the local town of Amlwch on Wednesday, 5 April.

The proposal presented was based on 'case C' from the preliminary economic assessment announced in January 2021, which outlined an increase in mined output to one million tonnes per annum, with an initial 12-year life.

There were some differences to the original planning permissions, including increasing the overall size of the consent area, excising all historical areas of activity categorised as important heritage sites, and converting the proposed tailings from hydraulic valley-fill to dry stack.

The firm said the planning process would allow for statutory consultees to respond to the proposal with any concerns or queries regarding the project details.

Subsequently, the company expected that it would need to complete an environmental impact assessment.

"Our company takes the regulatory, environmental and social aspects of the industry very seriously as the combination of these elements will ultimately provide Anglesey Mining with its licence to operate," said chief executive officer Jo Battershill.

"Regular communication with the key stakeholders of any project is critical to successful permitting and planning consent, and for a large number of the statutory consultees that attended the pre-application consultation on site yesterday this was their first exposure to the project and the company's proposal."

Battershill said Anglesey's internal planning had been factoring in a requirement to complete an environmental impact assessment, adding that the programmes for that started in the first half of last year.

"Consequently, the baseline surveys and ecological studies are both well advanced and understood.

"The work required to further advance these programmes will continue over the course of this year."

At 1300 BST, shares in Anglesey Mining were down 2.32% at 2.15p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.