I would like to clarify some issues raised by Martin D. Galea in his letter Natural Sand Wrong Material For Blasting (December 30). Fondazzjoni Wirt Industrijali has been in touch with Mr Galea and we found him to be extremely knowledgeable in his field. We are also pleased that he has offered to assist with free consultancy in future projects that we may undertake.

We would, however, like to point out that the blasting in question, on the underground flour mill in Xemxija, was completed some nine years ago by a team of volunteers in our spare time after taking some expert advice. However, it seems that natural sand was not the only option. At the time, the material brought to our attention (soda blasting) was not available on the market. All precautions were taken to ensure that no harm was caused to any of the machinery at the time of the works.

The foundation does not benefit from any government or EU funds and the work that we undertake is funded solely by donations and by the few volunteers who give up their spare time to ensure that the machinery is kept working in pristine condition for future generations to visit and enjoy and as part of our heritage.

We are on the lookout for volunteers to assist us in such future projects and anyone interested can contact us directly at underground.flourmill@gmail.com.