PB April 2023 April 2023 69
Moylisha on the Carlow-Wicklow border is united
in hostility to the prospect of Lithium mining
and develop community. Lithium mining seems
just too crude an imposition on this special place,
this special community.
And the good news is this doesn’t have to
happen. Eamon Ryan said ”we all need” mobile
‘phones. But we don’t need them powered by
Lithium-ion batteries. There are many alternative
batteries made from sodium, graphene, hemp
etc. There are also hydrogen-powered vehicles,
many of which are built in Ireland. Some of these
are even more ecient than Lithium-batteried,
but they are not all backed by large companies
which can afford to lobby industry and
governments.
Devastation of the environment and ruining of
people’s lives seem to be the ubiquitous
consequences of mining. Mining doesn’t benefit
people who live in the mining areas. Our
government appears wedded to the idea that
large foreign mining companies will be the saving
of us but which ‘us’ is that? Local minister, Simon
Harris, has been worryingly quiet on this
initiative.
The local community group, PROTECT
MOYLISHA HILL (on Facebook and Twitter) feels
that the cost of mining to any rural community is
unacceptable unless there is strong and explicit
consent. We have been entrusted with this
backwater, this beautiful idyll. We take this trust-
founded obligation to our area and our community
seriously and we will not idly betray it.
mined in Ireland rather than in developing
countries which have less environmental
protection. Unfortunately, in the experience of
some Irish communities where mining has taken
place, laws are often flouted This area learnt its
lesson with the pollution of rivers by Avoca
mines.
Blackstairs have started their programme of
“community engagement” by which they assure
us, suspiciously, that mining is highly unlikely to
happen here. At the first Blackstairs meeting the
community made it forcefully clear that the less
likely the better.
We are all concerned now about the risks of
climate change and recognise the relative
desirability of electric cars fed by sustainable
energy but there seems to be no matrix to decide
what is really ‘green’. We need to consider not
only the user stage of any product but also where
it came from and what will happen to it afterwards.
Producing lithium-ion batteries for electric
vehicles is more material-intensive than
producing traditional combustion engines.
Extraction of one tonne of Lithium from hardrock
produces 15,000 kg of CO2. EVs are completely
dependent on petrochemical plastics to reduce
the overall weight of the car.
There are health concerns about the toxicity of
lithium salts because of their eect on human
fertility and foetal development; but the industry
has derailed a scientifically backed proposal to
classify certain lithium compounds as toxic for
reproductivity.
Blackstairs intends to extract rock, drive it to a
port, ship it abroad, make it into batteries using
vast amounts of electricity, and transport the
batteries back to Europe. The practicalities seem
entirely unsustainable. There must be a better
way.
We worry that some may perceive us as
NIMBYish but objectively this is a beautiful part
of the world, a central icon of the way Ireland
perceives itself. This is not just anywhere. It is a
potential model of how to preserve environment
T
he streams that erupt on Moylisha Hill,
on the Wicklow-Carlow border, a
forgotten oasis, gush through salmon
spawning areas down into the River
Slaney, an important Special Area of
Conservation rich in endangered habitats,
vulnerable species and archaeological
monuments.
The Lithium mining that Chinese/Canadian
prospectors are proposing will have a disastrous
impact on this rural environment, especially on
our water supply.
Our central complaint is inadequate recognition
of the fragile water sources embedded in
Moylisha hill on which we depend for ourselves
and for our animals. Extraction of one tonne of
Lithium uses 170,000 litres of water. It appears
that one of the aquifers lies above the Lithium so
it may present obstacles to ecient mining.
Prospectors have to give an insured guarantee
that they will not damage the environment but we
are fearful they cannot hope to meet a claim for
regional water deprivation. There are many
registered aquifers up there that seem to feed
farms and home wells up to 20 miles away,
feeding into the River Derry and ultimately the
famous Slaney.
Increased traffic of heavy vehicles on
necessarily widened roads and the associated
noise will spoil this beautiful place. The Wicklow
Way goes through here to Clonegall. This is the
‘Garden of Ireland’.
Blackstairs Lithium Limited, a euphonious
venture of China’s Gangfeng and International
Lithium Corporation of Canada, holds prospecting
licences which stretch over 50 km from north of
Tinahely in Wicklow to south of Ballymurphy in
Carlow, covering 300 sq km. Some 27% of the
area of Ireland is covered by prospecting licences.
Compare this to 1% of more careful England.
These licences allow prospecting, subject to
permission from the landowner. At Moylisha Hill,
overlooking Shillelagh, the landowner is Coillte.
Licences operate for six years and are renewable
contingent upon work having been done in
compliance with Department of the Environment
guidelines. We have reason to believe that this
has not happened at Moylisha. Locals have
monitored mysterious depletion of their wells.
Blackstairs say that it is better that Lithium is
It appears that one of the aquifers lies above
the Lithium so it may present obstacles to
efficient mining. We are fearful prospectors
cannot hope to meet a claim for regional
water deprivation
Prospectors, tread warily
By Susan Phillips
ENVIRONMENT

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