Ambitious Mining Project planned for Dean Quarry Lizard Peninsula

Ambitious mining project

"can anyone throw light on problems that may be encountered docking and embarking 50,000 ton Self Discharging Bulk Carriers of approximate length 250 meters from these shores?"


In answer to the OP's question and leaving aside any comments re nimbyism::D
A quick search on line gives dimensions for a 50K tonne bulk carrier as being about 190m LOA, 32m beam, and with a loaded summer draft of about 12m.
When Dean quarry was in operation the size of ships was considerably less than above, (look on Google Earth at a typical ship loading), and the existing jetty was just about able to accommodate them, in fair weather. We can all see that the 'port' is totally exposed to bad weather/ swells from the North East right through to South.
The jetty would definitely need to be extended to accommodate 190m ships, and to give an increased depth of water. The loading system would also need to be extended.
Docking would require a pilot and at least one tug,( two if the vessel did not have a bow thruster ), and good sea/weather conditions and a favourable forecast for the intended loading period.
Anyway what is all the fuss about – there is another quarry port (porthoustock) 1 mile to the North. Still in operation (as far as I know), albeit with small vessels.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVDNbzOx6oU&list=PL3F4C99C6FA07B0BC&index=14

Cheers,

Michael.
 
harry potter said:
I'm not sure anyone here fully appreciates the extent of the proposed mining works at Dean Super Quarry.

The drowned works would be very serious competition for Falmouth Harbour as a marina - and that's a good thing I hear you say!

Meanwhile lets destroy what little natural countryside we have left in the name of corporate greed.

Iceland has a lot of Gabbro - or kitchen worktop stone, as it is more generally known.
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So your attitude is " lets bu66er up iceland rather than cornwall" !

You can take two views of our countryside. You can either say that its all been altered - we were a temporate forest area so any and all farming has "destroyed" our countryside as you put it. Or alternmatively if you like the sight of the fields and pastures etc then you have to accept that very little indeed of the UK has been in any way "destroyed". Maybe 5% under tarmac and concrete. And for most of us this country is a place to live not a museum piece to preserve for the nimbies who already have what they want.

I have no doubg at all that the CADS websiite is put forward by people from the local village interested only in how it affects them. If the development were 50 miles away you wouldnt hear a word from CADS.
 
emandvee44 Your video is absolutely brilliant. I was wrong about the size of the vessels, it would seem that they will have two 106 meter barges feeding a mother ship off shore.
BUT - it is the scale of the extraction that bothers me. If it is contained within the existing boundaries OK but the mining rights extend considerably further, when a blot on the landscape becomes a permanent eyesore. I am going to start a sideline in relocating Stoneage sites to somewhere more convenient. I was shocked at Treguier to find a relocated stone circle in the car park, and you already have your Quoits shuffled on the Lizard.
 
Tourism has increased 30% since the quarry was mothballed. This is money coming directly into the locality rather than being shipped out to eventual offshore accounts. Job losses by builders, painters, cleaners, caterers, farmers and fishermen supplying restaurants etc. predicted far greater than those on offer from the quarry. Anyway the skills set is lacking locally so will have to come from further afield.

The Marine Conservation Zone serving as a hatchery for fishermen is so precious locally and very hard fought for. This project seriously threatens it as the standard for interference with MCZs is set too low.

If you think it is all NIMBIES you should have been at the Public Meeting. The abuse hurled at the CEO had a distinctive Cornish drawl.
 
petehb said:
If it has a valid planning permission it will have a restoration plan attached to it depending on the planning department that issued it and their officers predilection for envisaging the future it may be specific or outline, may be backed by a bond or not.
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Thank you.
 
todka said:
Tourism has increased 30% since the quarry was mothballed. This is money coming directly into the locality rather than being shipped out to eventual offshore accounts. Job losses by builders, painters, cleaners, caterers, farmers and fishermen supplying restaurants etc. predicted far greater than those on offer from the quarry. Anyway the skills set is lacking locally so will have to come from further afield.
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Ok, so I'm prepared to be enlightened. Please explain why this development will destroy jobs locally. I don't know the area, but a squint at Google Maps suggests the area in question is: (a) already a big quarry (so hardly an attractive landscape at the mo); and (b) off the beaten track - up a track off a minor road. So I would like to understand why this will destroy tourism.

You say that tourism has increased 30% since the quarry was mothballed. Where? In the immediate vicinity or on the Lizard generally? And, is that growth only because the quarry has closed or is it just a coincidence (and the two are uncorrelated)?

A far as the revenue from the quarry is concerned, surely those working at the quarry will live locally and not commute from, say, the Midlands. So, the money they earn will mostly be spent locally. They may not be locals, for the reasons you specify (lack of skills in the vicinity), but is that a problem? (Or are you objecting to people from outside Cornwall being able to work in the county?) Their income will help support the local economy.

Ok, so further up the value chain will be the transportation costs and I agree that most of this will flow into coffers outside of Cornwall, but that is true of shipping generally. And, surely it is better for the area to have the stone removed by sea rather than by road.

todka said:
If you think it is all NIMBIES you should have been at the Public Meeting. The abuse hurled at the CEO had a distinctive Cornish drawl.
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So are you confirming it is NIMBYism then. :confused:
 
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todka said:
Tourism has increased 30% since the quarry was mothballed.
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Thats because of the general economic climate and not because the quarry closed, the quarry had little or no impact on tourism.

I live in the nearest village and am very much on the fence with this one. There is 20 million tonnes of rock left without expanding the current working which is enough to serve the needs, the quarry has been there for many decades and if the economic climate permitted it would have continued to quarry to this day moving the same amount of rock but over a longer period.

The lorries would have been constant for decades rather than condensed into a much shorter time period as planned (if they cant move it by sea), speaking with an ex-dean worker 50 lorries through the village a day wasnt unusual yet nobody battered an eyelid because it was the norm.

The quarry as it stands does indeed harbour some wildlife yet if I'm frank its an eyesore, if part of the new plans is to put it back to something like it should be its going to look a hell of a lot better than it does now and harbour yet more wildlife.

One concern I have is the impact of the proposed jetty which is in a protected zone, however over its life time it'll have a positive effect on sea life and ultimately the impact is quite literally a drop in the ocean, the sea will sort its self out, if the silt, rocks or whatever arent meant to be there it'll move them.

Then you have the people who live near by, they either bought the properties when the quarry was working or after it got moth balled, they knew that there may be an impact if the quarry was working or if it starting working again and thus was their decision to take that risk.

So with all that in mind... I dunno :)... I do quite fancy a nice new marina ;)
 
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The only negative I would throw into this is the quarry appears to have a new owner, what experience of hard rock mining does he have.

As for expertise there are plenty of people within commuting distance capable of being the manager and deputy with shot firing expertise which in ant event would be subcontracted out. the rest is fairly normal heavy plant driving and operation so I would guess that all employees would like as not be from cornwall. Is the mining college at Redruth still in existence?
 
'Is the mining college at Redruth still in existence? '

Camborne School of Mines is now operating from the Penryn campus of the University of Falmouth, so some home-grown talent might be available!
 
the working is being run by a contractor so local jobs will be minimal if any, however all those people will need somewhere to stay, eat & drink so local B&Bs, pubs etc will benefit.
 
No idea

I think what a lot of the locals are missing is this is a government backed project which means its likely to happen regardless of all the arguments against it so with that in mind personally I think the locals should be working to get whatever they can get out of it for the community in the long term, that might be a new school (much needed), a nature reserve (once mining stops), community marina, all of the above or whatever, then many will benefit for years to come for a short period of "possible" discomfort that effects few.
 
JayBee said:
Dean Quarry was open for many more years than the eighteen quoted prior to 2006.
I was Mate of a ship,Olna Firth, which loaded a full bulk cargo of road stone at Dean Quarry in 1970. The only problem we encountered was getting the conveyor stopped as the ship approached her marks. We sailed with the well deck awash and the hatch wedges floating out of the freeing ports. I can't remember anything about a draft survey, either at the quarry or on the Thames, so we obviously got away with it.
The jetty was pristine and the water in the harbour was gin clear under the working lights.
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.I..used to load stone for the IOW roads into small Dutch coaster.....Vectis Isle. With any swell running it was good to get loaded and out..
 
JayBee said:
Dean Quarry was open for many more years than the eighteen quoted prior to 2006.
I was Mate of a ship,Olna Firth, which loaded a full bulk cargo of road stone at Dean Quarry in 1970. The only problem we encountered was getting the conveyor stopped as the ship approached her marks. We sailed with the well deck awash and the hatch wedges floating out of the freeing ports. I can't remember anything about a draft survey, either at the quarry or on the Thames, so we obviously got away with it.
The jetty was pristine and the water in the harbour was gin clear under the working lights.
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Its been a quarry since the 1890's.
 
Dean Quarry Project

Being an honest sort of chap I have to say it is not 'my' video if that is what you are implying.
I found it on you tube. (there are others) I was interested to see the other port which I did not know existed, despite having sailed past it many times and being ‘in the trade’ (or at least I was).
If the Dean Quarry revival project is intended to utilise barges and STS (ship to ship – barge to ship transfer of the cargo), then either the barges would need self-discharging equipment, or the ships to have self-loading capability. Whichever, an offshore transfer of cargo would most likely be more weather dependant, and take considerably longer than onshore loading.
The barges, if not self-propelled would require small tugs to manoever them from the loading dock to the ship and back. Lots of movements to load a 50K tonne vessel, and therefore more opportunities for an accident.
Hope the new owners have carried out a risk assessment for their proposed loading methods and submitted it to the appropriate authorities for approval!:rolleyes:

Cheers,

Michael
 
The plan is to build a 600m break water with two loading jetties inside to take barges which will indeed be manoeuvred by tugs.
 
No requirement to submit a risk assessment to anyone, in the first instance it is there to ensure that you have considered all the necessary hansards and mitigated them, in the second instance it is used to hang you when things go wrong or in a positive sense supply your defence.
 
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