Environment                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Cymraeg


Impact on river systems:
The old copper mines at Mynydd Parys / Parys Mountain, near Amlwch on Anglesey currently impact on 10km of river – 2km of the Afon Goch Amlwch to the north and 8km of the Afon Goch Dulas to the south of the site. Both river systems are unable to sustain fish life due to the discharges from the mine. The discharges are particularly acidic (down pH 2.3) and metal rich, with elevated levels of Zinc, Copper, Cadmium, Arsenic, Aluminium, Iron and other metals.

Impact on Irish Sea:
The two rivers discharge into the Irish sea and between them discharge between 3 and 6 times the copper and Zinc that is discharged into the Irish Sea from all the other rivers in North Wales and the North West of England – including the Conwy, Dee, Ribble and Mersey. The Parys and Mona mines at Parys Mountain are ranked as the first and second on the tanking scheme in terms of impact on the environment.
Common factors with Avoca

As part of the pilot plant project, Unipure Ltd will produce a monitoring report to document findings and to outline costs of a permanent plant and how much lime and other chemicals will be required to treat each cubic metre of mine water at the site. The report will also explain the characteristics of the sludge generated and how that sludge could be reused or disposed of.

A similar report has already been produced following the successful pilot study at Avoca. Once the report for Parys Mountain has been published, it is the intention of the environment agency to consider means of comparing and contrasting the Avoca and Parys reports.