GOLD ore taken from a controversial mine site in Co Tyrone has been shipped to the US.
The material was transported from Derry to Olympia in Washington State last week.
The ore was taken from a site near Greencastle in Co Tyrone, where some locals are opposed to plans by Canadian firm Dalradian Gold to build a processing plant which will use cyanide to extract the precious metal.
It is expected the potentially valuable cargo shipped to America will be transported to a plant in Washington state where the gold will be extracted.
Details emerged as the Northern Ireland Environment Agency confirmed it recently carried out an investigation at a storage facility used to store the ore near Derry.
“On 24 February, NIEA investigated a report of pollution in relation to a warehouse where the company stores mined ore at the port prior to shipping.
“No evidence of pollution was found.”
A spokeswoman for Dalradian last night described the ship’s cargo as “mineralised rock”.
She said the cargo was “shipped to a mill for processing as per its current planning permission under the exploration licence”.
Reports suggest it may take up to a month to unload up to 15,000 tonnes of ore from a Dutch registered transport ship, Trinity Borg.
Dalradian previously said that samples were sent to a laboratory in the Republic where they were tested.
The spokeswoman added that last week’s shipment will be the only one of its kind.
