Heavy rainfall hampers dewatering of lower Llechfraith workings at Clogau

Alba Mineral Resources plc hopes to extend its dewatering permit after “unseasonal and exceptional” heavy rainfall reflooded the lower Llechfraith workings in Clogau-St David’s gold mine.

PERMIT VARIATIONS

Initial permission was to abstract 100m^₃ per day for 16 consecutive days, followed by 30m^₃ per day until 2030 to keep the workings dewatered.

The dewatering exercise began in July 2023, reaching a six-metre depth, but three times heavier year-on-year rainfall during July and August partially reflooded the workings to the original level.

Alba now awaits approval from the regulator Natural Resources Wales (NRW) for a temporary variation to restart pumping at the higher volume 100m3/day rate.

“In the meantime, the company is also applying for formal permit variations to allow for long-term abstraction and discharge at higher rates,” added Alba. 

“While NRW has indicated that it is not minded to grant a temporary variation, the company continues to make formal representations in that regard.”

Safety works have progressed with levels two and three now complete, allowing safe access to level four once dewatering is completed.

Sub-contractors are building a cabin on the Llechfraith adit to provide the final bat exclusion and noise mitigation measure ahead of exploration activities at level four following dewatering.

WASTE TIP   

On other project-wide areas, Alba is nearly ready to submit the pre-application enquiries to the local authority before submitting a full planning application to exploit the historic 2,833m² waste tip.

In March 2022, the company reported assay results from gold concentrates of up to 1,000 g/t, with average head grades of 1.7 g/t.

The company added it was on schedule to start the planned aerial UAV geophysical survey in September 2023 over some key regional gold targets across the Dolgellau exploration project.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued operational authorisation and Alba now awaits the final step of having the area approved and notified.