CALLINGTON Town Council will be meeting representatives from the Australian company looking into the potential of re-opening Redmoor Mine at Kelly Bray when they come to the UK in the next two weeks.

Council chairman Jeremy Gist said councillors would be asking many questions, particularly with regard to people's concerns about the type of works that might one day commence on the site which was last mined in the 1930s for tin and tungsten.

New Age Exploration Limited from Australia has obtained the mineral rights and is planning technical studies for 2013 to assess if the project is economical to mine.

The company said this week these studies were technical in nature and involved no drilling and therefore no surface impact.

A spokesperson said:?'If the result of the technical studies prove it economic to recommence mining, an environmental and community impact study would follow. However, this is quite a way down the track.'

In terms of potential new jobs, the company said it was far too early to comment. NAE has taken an exploration licence which is valid for 15 years with a further option for a 25-year mining lease.

Redmoor Mine was forced to close in 1892 due to low tin prices, but parts of it were re-opened for periods in the 1900s.

In 1977, Southwest Minerals Ltd acquired the mineral rights to a large area around Redmoor and undertook a detailed exploration programme of diamond drilling in the 1980s to a depth of 600 metres to test the extent of sheeted vein tin-tungsten mineralisation at Redmoor.

No systematic exploration or metallurgical testing has taken place since 1985.

In recent years a significant amount of housing has been built around the site and on top of the old mine tunnels.

Mr Gist said he was aware of local concerns about the possibility of opening the mine again and in particular how it would affect local house prices but it was at a very early stage.

He said: 'There are a lot of questions being asked and we will be relaying those to the people who are heading the project when we meet with them.

'We will be looking for answers where those answers are available. Realistically, until the samples are analysed we will probably not have the answers to all the questions.

'It is important that whatever work is done, that information is made available to the public so we know step by step what is happening.

'At the moment it is a viability project and there is very little we can do about it. If it becomes viable that will be our opportunity to get involved and have our say.'