AN Irish diamond exploration company believes parts of Fermanagh, in particular Brookeborough, may contain hidden diamonds and is seeking a licence to carry out searches in the area.
Karelian, which is currently conducting an extensive diamond exploration programme in Finland, has moved its attention to Fermanagh and Tyrone. 
In documents lodged with Fermanagh and Omagh District Council by the Department for the Economy, Karelian explained that it wishes to focus on an area that it believes “may have diamondiferous potential and in which the historic Brookborough diamond is reported to have been discovered.”
Two reports from the Journal of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland refer to the 1816 discovery of the Brookeborough diamond in the Colebrooke River. The stone was presented to Lady Brooke and inspected by several jewellers in Dublin, who confirmed the stone to be a diamond.
The company’s website states that its objective is to make “substantial returns for shareholders” through the discovery and development of economic diamond deposits in the Finnish sector.
Now the Department for the Economy says it has received an application from the company in respect of mineral prospecting rights and that consideration is currently being given to the issue of one licence for six years for much of eastern Fermanagh and south Tyrone including all of Brookeborough and Fivemiletown, half of Tempo and the edge of Maguiresbridge. It includes Clabby Forest, Teiges Mountain and Slieve Beagh. 
The map and some further details on the work programme which if permitted would include “low impact exploration sample collection” are on display at Enniskillen Townhall.
In papers submitted to the Council the Department for the Economy stated that “it is important that we identify our available natural resources as minerals are essential to support sustainable economic growth and quality of life.”
In the UK trade in minerals and minerals based products makes up over 20 per cent of total trade, with exports of £66 billion and imports of £85 billion in 2014, according to the documents.
“The Department recognises the need to make the best use of our mineral resources while also minimising the impacts on the environment and society,” it reads.
A minerals prospecting licence, which the Department says is not mining, permits a range of measures, including: reviews, geological surveys, assessments, a geochemical survey, a geophysical survey, trenching, pitting, rock sampling, drilling, chemical analysis and laboratory studies.
At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Council’s Regeneration and Community Committee, councillors were united in opposing the request from Karelian.
“The information we have been given is not enough, we don’t know exactly what they are proposing,” said Sinn Fein’s John Feely. “There’s no one accountable here, it’s just the civil service.”
“I would be very suspicious of this application,” said Sinn Fein’s Sheamus Greene. “There’s no professionalism in this whatsoever, it’s a complete shambles of an amateur document.”
“I too would be totally opposed at something like this going ahead in any townland,” said Independent Councillor Bernice Swift.
“Central government appears to be holding all the cards,” said Independent Councillor Josephine Deehan. 
“I’ve heard nothing that would make me respond positively,” said Sinn Fein’s Brian McCaffrey:
“I too have concerns,” added SDLP Councillor Patricia Rogers.
Green Party Deputy leader Tanya Jones, who watched Tuesday night’s meeting at Enniskillen Townhall from the public gallery, said she is “concerned” about the development.
Speaking to this newspaper after the meeting, Ms Jones said: “We do not even know which base metals will be sought, or which areas within that vast region will be targeted, so we have no way of knowing what the potential impacts could be to groundwater, rivers streams and loughs, air quality, livestock, wildlife and habitats and to human health.”Ms. Jones welcomed the comments in the Council Chamber, particularity around “the insufficient information provided, the lack of accountability, the failure to consult and listen to local communities, the potential for serious damage and the need for a strategic review of the whole licensing regime.”
“Councillors pointed out the danger which mineral prospecting could pose to the growing tourism sector in areas such as Slieve Beagh and the consternation which has already been caused by goldmining operations in the north of the Council area. No one spoke in favour of the Department’s proposals,” she said.
A full response from the Council is to be “finalised” at the Environmental Services Committee meeting on November 8.