Residents in the Carleen area of Breage parish have formed a community group as a result of plans to investigate whether tin and copper can still be found underground there.

Cornish Tin Limited has recently announced its intention to drill exploratory boreholes in search of tin and other metalliferous minerals in in the old mining area of Wheal Vor near Breage.

The Great Wheal Vor Community and Environment Group said that many residents have been left "alarmed" that public meetings have not been made available to residents.

Cornish Tin previously said the Covid lockdown restrictions had made a planned public display presentation "challenging".

The first opportunity was when Breage Parish Council hosted a virtual meeting via Zoom at the start of February.

However, the group said: "The time afforded to the residents in the parish council meeting did little to answer the multitude of questions that residents wish to have answered."

The group said its intention was to provide an information and discussion forum to residents, so that they could "make informed decisions concerning activities which will impact their lifestyles and businesses."

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Residents who join the group would also have a focal point of communication with the planning authorities and Cornish Tin Ltd, they said.

In a statement the group said: “As a group we wish to state that we have been formed to support everyone in our community, whether they are for or against the exploratory drilling or a resumption of mining, and whether they have or have not yet signed any form of agreement with Cornish Tin.

"Furthermore, we are a group set up not only for the protection of our natural environment, but for the protection and enjoyment of the environment for the local and wider community. With the renewed interest in the feasibility of mining in Cornwall, other neighbourhoods may find themselves in similar circumstances, and facing a significant period of uncertainty and disruption.

"Many people today take the view that we are indeed in a climate emergency. Any serious attempt to reverse this situation is highly complex, long-term and will require huge changes to our lives not all of which everyone will enjoy.

"People also recognise that there are many actions we can take to lower our CO2 emissions that involve positives for community, environment, economics, and society as a whole. These positives must be at the forefront of any strategy to make Cornwall a leading light in the fight against climate change.

"Perhaps mining will have some role to play in a genuinely green and sustainable future. However, we as a group wish to be involved in the activities that will shape our futures and as such we are now lobbying relevant authorities to halt the General Permitted Development Order on the basis that the residential amenity of the area has not been considered sufficiently enough to proceed."

The Great Wheal Vor Community and Environment Group can be contacted by email at gwvcegroup@gmail.com