Many people in Wales have been waiting to learn the identity of the mysterious company which was rumoured to be planning to open a gold mine near Dolgellau. This is that mysterious company's website.
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http://www.goldminesofwales.com/background
Their directors are probably very experienced in mining.However, they don't appear to know anything whatsoever about the historic development of the law relating to so called Mines Royal, which was fully abolished in every respect on private lands by 1969!
They have been conned, goodness knows for how many thousands, due to the Crown Estate's reliance upon such ignorance.
Indeed, the information on the company website is at first reading highly unreliable.
For instance in the Background section they claim -
'Gold Mines of Wales Ltd is proud to have an exclusive option to explore the Dolgellau Gold Belts’ 120km2 which has been granted by the Crown Mineral Estate who own the rights to all precious metals in the United Kingdom and Ireland.'
Firstly. Ireland!!! Maybe N Ireland at a stretch, but the Irish Republic government would be very alarmed that the Crown Estate Commission has suddenly reasserted the British Prerogative over that separate EU country. Their grasp of the relevant dates for various mines from Roman times onwards is rudimentary and in many cases inaccurate.
Secondly, they have only been granted an exploration licence and would have to gain the permission of any specific landowner before exploring. They have no right to mine.
Thirdly. The Crown Estate has been unable to explain how the purported Prerogative enables them to grant exploration or mining licences on private land. There may possibly be some remaining Crown Estate land within the Dolgellau gold belt, where the 1568 Case of Mines decision on ore could apply, but this land is not listed on the Crown Estate annual reports.
The Crown only had (no longer) prerogative rights to ores containing gold and silver, but not all precious metals, eg not platinum.
Fourthly. ForArgyll.com online has already published part one of my essay about the bogus nature of Mines Royal. The Crown Estate has responded to this merely by stating that the Mines Royal Acts do not apply to Scotland. Very weak indeed, and this undermines their own case for granting mining rights in Scotland. However, part two of my essay will be published soon on ForArgyll and will outline exactly how Mines Royal on private lands were abolished in stages in 1688, 1689, 1867, 1961 and 1969. Also the Bill of Rights 1689 prohibited any taxations (including duties) by Royal Prerogative, without the sanction of Parliament. No such sanction has been given since 1689. Therefore, the grant of this new exploration licence is in breach of the Mines Royal Acts and the Bill of Rights.
Fifthly. The Crown Estate does not represent the Queen in any sense, it is an obscure branch of the Treasury. Therefore, this is a case of government corruption and idiocy. Certain people have tried to warn me off reporting on this matter, with hints at writs and superinjunctions. Bog off to them, we are free to criticise government departments. These guys, pretending to represent our Royal Family's interests, are bringing them into disrepute. Currently they are conducting a rather pathetic cover-up, but all cover-ups are eventually exposed, as current events in the press are proving.
Sixthly. In any case, CCW and the EA are very unlikely to grant permission for full scale mining in the Snowdonia National Park. EU restrictive legislation effectively shut down the Gwynfyndd mine, leaving it in a highly polluted state.
Although I am currently prospecting outside the Dolgellau gold belt, I do have a private agreement with one landowner in the belt. If this new company objects to my agreement they will have to take it to court and explain their case to a judge. The Crown Estate won't let them do that, because it will expose their legally precarious state of affairs.
This may be an attempt to keep other interested parties at bay. If the other parties who originally had an access agreement to that mine (which I do not name for obvious reasons) win their case against the landowner who they say reneged on it, they can tell this new company to take a hike. Good luck to them, despite some past disagreements.
Someone should post my ForArgyll essay to this new company. An undisputed point is that the Crown Estate imposed Mines Royal duties on Parys Mountain copper mine, which only has a small admixture of gold in the base ores. This is clearly in breach of the freedoms granted under the 1688 Act, as confirmed in the official Notes to the Crown Estate Act 1961. It appears that the Crown mineral agents have no knowledge of these important Notes, or did they think no-one else had read them?
Now, CCW has suggested to me that the Crown Estate can simply change the law back to the position in 1568. However, that would have to gain the approval of many landowners in the UK, who are MPs and Peers. Having been conned for many decades by the Crown Estate, preventing them from mining on their own lands, I do not think that members of either House will change the law to continue fraud by a sub-branch of a government department.
This new company should either demand its money back from the Crown Estate. Let the buyer beware, especially when dealing with inept government sub-contractors.
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