SLR Consulting has helped secure a revised planning approval for a £75 million processing facility at Wolf Minerals’ Drakelands tungsten mine (formerly known as Hemerdon) near Plymouth, England. On completion the plant will produce up to 5,000 t/y of tungsten concentrate and 1,000 t/y of tin concentrate at what is the third largest tungsten resource in the world (see International Mining magazine’s August issue UK feature).

SLR Technical Director Stewart Lenton said: “The planning application for the processing plant included the preparation of a full EIA. Both SLR and Wolf Minerals took a very pro-active approach which ensured that not only was the application determined in a very short timescale, but that it also reflected the highest modern standards in environmental compliance.”

John Briggs, Mineral Planning and Estates Manager at Wolf Minerals, said: “Our goal is to develop a worldclass mining project. We value SLR’s contribution which helped to ensure that the relevant planning permissions were secured efficiently and in a timely way. With SLR involved across a number of work streams as part of the mine’s development, the preparation of the planning application ran very smoothly.”

SLR has worked closely with Wolf Minerals throughout the development of the mine, providing a wide range of multi-disciplinary consultancy services. As well as planning and environmental permitting support, SLR has developed a Materials Management Plan for the excavation work, a Construction Environmental Management Plan and a compliance monitoring tool.

SLR has also provided ecology and baseline characterisation support and undertaken noise modelling analysis. In addition, SLR’s geotechnical team is currently carrying out site investigation works to inform and refine the detailed design of the mine void.