IRELAND: EXPLORATION & MINING NEWS
1st May 2012
MINING HIGHLIGHTS
Mine Operations
There are currently five operating mines in Ireland (Figure 1): Navan (zinc-lead), Lisheen (zinclead), Galmoy (zinc-lead), Knocknacran (gypsum) and Drummond (gypsum).
2011 Mine Production
 Zinc metal in concentrates: 341kt (0.6% lower than 2010)
 Lead metal in concentrates: 50kt (32% higher than 2010)
2011 Mine Output (Metal Content)
(a) Zinc
 Ireland produced 32% of European zinc mine output in 2011 (1st in Europe)
 Ireland produced 2.6% of World zinc mine output in 2011 (10th in World)
(b) Lead
 Ireland produced 14% of European lead mine output (3rd in Europe)
 Ireland produced 1% of World lead mine output (12th in World)
Source of Production Data: International Lead & Zinc Study Group
Development
In 2011, Ireland’s three underground zinc-lead mines accounted for approximately one third of
European zinc mine output (46% of EU27 production) and 14% of European lead mine output (26% of
EU27 production). These figures equate to 2.6% of world mine production for zinc and 1.2% for lead.
According to data published by the International Lead and Zinc Study Group, in 2011, Ireland ranked
10th and 12th in the world in relation to zinc and lead mine output respectively.
Boliden Tara Mines’ underground operation at Navan, Co. Meath, is the largest zinc mine in Europe
and 9th largest in the world. In 2011, Tara milled 2.5Mt of ore grading 7.0% Zn and 1.4% Pb. Since
mining operations commenced in 1977, total production at Navan has amounted to 78.2Mt grading
8.2% Zn and 1.9% Pb. At the end of 2011, the mine’s JORC classified ore reserves (proven and
probable) stood at 15.7Mt grading 7.1% Zn and 1.8% Pb, whilst mineral resources (measured,
indicated and inferred) were 10.5Mt at 6.7% Zn and 1.9% Pb.
In February 2011, London Stock Exchange listed Vedanta Resources Plc completed its acquisition of
the Lisheen Mine from Anglo American Plc, in a deal which valued Lisheen at US$308 million. In
2011, Lisheen mined 1.4Mt of ore grading 11.7% Zn and 2.2% Pb, yielding 265kt of zinc concentrates
(53.4% Zn) and 34kt of lead concentrates (61.2% Pb). Since mining was initiated in 1999,
approximately 17.6Mt grading 11.9% Zn and 2.0% Pb has been mined at Lisheen. The last official
Resource and Reserve Statement issued by Lisheen in March 2012 showed remaining reserves
amounting to 3.77Mt at 11.15% Zn and 1.65% Pb, with additional resources of 1.7Mt grading 14.3%
Zn and 2.85% Pb.
In 2011, Galmoy Mines Ltd., a subsidiary of Lundin Mining Corporation, blasted approximately 0.29
Mt of ore grading 22.5% Zn and 7.4% Pb from its underground mine in Co. Kilkenny. Mining at
Galmoy was originally scheduled to cease in May 2009, but due to positive market factors, mining of
remnant high grade ore has continued to occur. All of the extracted ore is transported to a neighboring
mine for processing, Galmoy’s mill having been decommissioned in mid 2009. Since 1997, the mine
has produced over 7.3Mt of ore at a combined grade of approximately 12.5% zinc and 3% lead. It is
currently planned for the mine to cease operations in the first half of 2012.
Irish Gypsum Ltd., a subsidiary of French multi-national Saint Gobain, produced approximately
300kt of gypsum in 2011. The vast majority of this tonnage was sourced from the opencast operation
at Knocknacran, Co. Monaghan, with the remainder coming from the adjacent underground mine at
Drummond. The gypsum is crushed and blended on site, before being transported by road to a
production facility at the nearby town of Kingscourt for manufacturing plaster and plasterboard. In
addition, small tonnages of gypsum are used in the manufacture of cement and as a soil conditioner.
Exploration Activity
As of 27th April 2012, 41 exploration companies held a total of 586 Prospecting Licences (PLs). A
further 35 Prospecting Licence applications are currently being processed. Since 1st November 2011,
111 licences have been issued, including 52 to the following new entrants to the Irish exploration
scene; Merrex Gold Inc (thirty licences), Hendrick Resources (Ireland) Ltd. (eleven licences),
Strategic Materials Pty Ltd (six licences), Omagh Minerals Ltd (four licences) and Canex JV (one
licence). An additional five new company entrants await the issue of Prospecting Licences.
Zinc and lead remain the principal commodities of exploration interest in Ireland. In the past six
months however, there has been increased interest in other mineral commodities, particularly gold,
silver, tungsten and rare earth elements (REEs). Other commodities that are currently being sought in
Ireland include: PGEs, copper, molybdenum, lithium, caesium, diamond, gem minerals, barite, calcite,
fluorite, coal and fireclay.
EXPLORATION HIGHLIGHTS
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The number of exploration licences issued by EMD is at a nineteen year high
Additional high grade drilling intersections reported from Pallas Green, Stonepark and
Kilbricken
New airborne survey flown over parts of Co. Wicklow and Co. Wexford
Number of Current Prospecting Licences (PLs):
Number of Companies holding Prospecting Licences:
Percentage of Ireland Land Area under Licence:
Total Exploration Expenditure in 2011:
Exploration Expenditure on PLs in 2011 :
Exploration Expenditure on State Mining Facilities in 2011:
2011 Drilling on PLs (non-mine related):
586
41
Approximately 25%
Approx. €38 Million
Approx €32 Million
Approx €6 Million
Approx 227,000 metres.
Teck Ireland Ltd. is now the largest Prospecting Licence holder in Ireland. Teck holds 74 licences
under its own name and has additional interests in sixteen Limerick Zinc Ltd licences (see below)
and ten Ballinalack Resources Ltd licences (a joint venture with the Chinese owned mining and
smelting entity, Nonfemet). Teck has also recently entered into a joint venture with Alba Mineral
Resources Plc on Alba's Limerick project.
In 2011, Limerick Zinc Ltd., a joint venture between Teck (75%) and Connemara Mining Co. Plc,
(25%) completed a 25,000m drilling campaign on the Stonepark area of Co. Limerick (approximately
five kilometres southwest of Xstrata's Tobermalug deposit). Three mineralized zones have now been
identified; Stonepark, Stonepark North and Stonepark West. The highlight of the 2011 drilling
programme, was hole TC-2638-074 at Stonepark North, which intersected 8.65m at 7.71% Zn and
2.19% Pb from 220 metres, including 2.85m at 17.4% Zn & 3.98% Pb. In addition to this drilling, in
2011, the joint venture also completed an airborne Full Tensor Gradiometry (FTG) survey (1271 line
km), a 19km seismic reflection survey, and a regional soil geochemical survey (over 2500 samples).
Further drilling is planned for 2012
Elsewhere in Ireland during 2011, Teck flew an additional airborne FTG survey over the Irish
Midlands, completed approximately 90 line km of seismics and drill tested a number of exploration
targets. Additional seismics is planned for 2012 in the Irish Midlands with follow-up drill testing of
targets later in 2012. Further gravity and soil geochemical surveys are planned to assist in target
definition on Teck’s Midlands projects.
Boliden Tara Mines Ltd. is the second largest Prospecting Licence holder in Ireland with 87 licences.
In 2011, the company continued their delineation and exploration drilling in the Navan area,
completed some 40 line km of seismic surveying near the mine and carried out exploration drilling on
most of their regional licence blocks.
In probably the largest drilling programme ever undertaken in Ireland, Xstrata Zinc currently has 18
rigs turning on their Pallas Green exploration project in Co. Limerick. Drilling since 1999 has
confirmed the widespread existence of significant zinc-lead sulphide mineralization. Until recently,
exploration was carried out under a joint venture between Xstrata and Irish junior explorer, Minco plc.
However, in July 2011, Xstrata agreed to purchase all of Minco’s interest in the Pallas Green JV for
US$19.4 million. Minco shareholders approved the disposal of its interest in the JV at an
Extraordinary General Meeting held in Dublin on 24 October 2011.
Since the start of 2012, Xstrata has completed 20,000 metres of drilling. The company intends to drill
a total of 100,000 metres this year. In February 2011, Xstrata announced a JORC compliant inferred
resource estimate for Pallas Green of 25.9 Mt at an average grade of 7.51% Zn and 1.38% Pb (based
on a 4% zinc equivalent cut-off). In a presentation issued in August 2010, with its Half Year Results,
Xstrata indicated a potential start-up date of 2017 for a mine at Pallas Green, with an indicative capital
cost of US$300 million and with an indicated annual production of 160,000 tonnes of zinc.
Rathdowney Resources Ltd, through its subsidiary Exploration and Discovery Ltd, holds 42
Prospecting Licences (1,368 km2) in seven separate blocks forming the company’s Mallow, Galway,
Westmeath-South, Westmeath-North, Laois, Longford and Meath base metal exploration projects.
Rathdowney’s exploration program in Ireland since 2007 has included high-resolution heliborne
SkyTEM and airborne gravimetric surveys and the collection/analysis of over 20,000 soil samples. In
the past year, the company has completed 6,400 metres of diamond drilling on its Mallow, Galway,
Westmeath-South and Laois properties aimed at testing priority targets defined from the earlier
geochemical/geophysical work. A number of compelling targets located along favourable fault trends
in Galway, Laois and Westmeath-South are earmarked for further follow-up, including a 6,000 metre
drilling program.
Following the acquisition of joint venture partner Belmore Resources Ltd in mid 2011, Lundin Mining
Exploration Ltd holds a 100% interest in its ‘Clare Project,’ which includes the zinc-lead-silver
prospect at Kilbricken. A total of 62,000 metres (99 holes) were drilled on the project area in 2011
with Zn-Pb-Ag mineralization known to extend over an area of 1800m by 600m. A number of recent
drillholes have additionally intersected high grade copper sulphides beneath massive, Zn-Pb
mineralization. For example, at a depth of 640.6m, hole 11-3679-153 intersected 9.6m @ 6.18% Zn,
1.65% Pb, 0.08% Cu, 20ppm Ag and then an underlying 3m interval grading 6.8% Cu, 0.05% Zn+Pb,
119ppm Ag from 656.5m depth. A further 26,000 metres of drilling is planned at Kilbricken in 2012.
Elsewhere, an initial scout hole completed by Lundin at the Lakelands Property in Co. Leitrim
intercepted seven metres of zinc-rich sulphide mineralization within lithologies stratigraphically
equivalent to the Navan Beds. This intersection included an interval of 4.3m grading 3.94% Zn and
0.94% Pb. The sulphides were encountered in the footwall of a prominent fault that truncated the
mineralization. On the back of this discovery, Lundin has been issued with a number of additional
Prospecting Licence Areas. Follow up drilling has commenced.
Conroy Gold and Natural Resources plc (‘Conroy’) holds 16 Prospecting Licences along a 50 km
strike length of the Longford Down Massif in Counties Cavan and Monaghan and a further seven
licences straddling Lower Palaeozoic terranes in Cos Clare, Kilkenny and Tipperary. In 2011, Conroy
initiated a 3,500m infill drilling programme at its Clontibret gold prospect following a positive
scoping study undertaken in 2010 by Tetra Tech Wardrop. In late 2011, Tetra Tech produced an
updated and increased resource estimate for the deposit of 600,000 oz Au (Indicated Resource of
260,000 oz and Inferred Resource of over 340,000 oz gold).
IMC Exploration Ltd was established in 2010 by a team of geologists with over 140 years
exploration experience in Ireland. The company has been issued with 21 Prospecting Licences and is
exploring for both gold and Irish-type Zn-Pb deposits. Following admission to the London-based
PLUS Stock Exchange and a successful fund-raising effort, the company has commenced a continuous
eighteen month drilling programme on its PL areas. Drilling at Tulla in SE Co. Clare, has intersected
hydrothermally altered breccias and significant calcite mineralization capping an interval of semimassive pyrite. IMC is additionally drilling in Co Wexford, where a recently collected grab sample
assayed 76.8 g/t Au.
Sunrise Resources plc. has completed a six hole drilling programme (totaling 892m) at its
Derryginagh Barite project in Co. Cork. Following 3D geological modeling of the barite vein system,
the company believes that internal estimates of tonnage and grade are sufficient to justify a
preliminary economic evaluation of the project (scoping study). The company is targeting the
Derryginagh deposit for the production of high value, white, ‘paint-grade’ barite for use as mineral
filler in paints and plastics.
Hendrick Resources (Ireland) Ltd. (HRI) was issued with 11 licences for gold and other minerals in
Counties Wicklow and Wexford in January 2012. The company has additionally joint ventured a
further five licences held by Connemara Mining Co. Plc in the same region (the ‘Mine River’ block).
HRI has already commenced an airborne magnetic and electromagnetic survey over the sixteen
licences of interest, in order to aid structural and geological interpretation of the region.
Strategic Materials Pty. Ltd has been issued with five PLs in Co. Wicklow and one in Co Mayo
since late last year. In Wicklow, the company intends to carry out a drilling programme to delineate
the potential size and grade of tungsten mineralization associated with the southeastern margin of the
Leinster granite. Previous drilling in the region at Ballinglen by Irish Base Metals Ltd (1979-1983)
identified a 5km long belt of scheelite mineralization associated with granitic dykes.
In November 2011, Merrex Gold Inc. was issued with 30 licences in Counties Kildare, Limerick,
Laois, Offaly and Tipperary. All licences have been issued for base metals, barite, gold and silver.
Exploration and Mining Expenditures 2011
Based on provisional figures provided by exploration and mining companies, exploration expenditure
during the calendar year 2011 totalled €36.7 million (excluding office overheads). This is up on the
2010 figure, when €28.8 million was spent. This figure is made up of expenditure of €31 million in
Prospecting Licence (PL) Areas (“greenfield” exploration) and €5.7 million in areas covered by State
Mining Facilities (SML) (“brownfield” exploration)..
The majority of the exploration expenditure in PL areas related to base metal exploration (€30.8M).
The expenditure on exploration in State Mining Facilities was also largely directed at base metals
(zinc and lead).
Drilling Statistics
Figures provided by Prospecting Licence holders indicate that over 227,000 metres of drilling (non
mine-related) was carried out during 2011, mainly for base metals (zinc, lead). In State Mining
Facilities, 57,500 metres of mine-related drilling and over 40,000 metres of exploration drilling were
carried out in 2011, for base metals and gypsum.
A. Prospecting Licences
Activity
Base Metals
€
Gold & Other
Minerals €
Total
€
Geology
Geochemistry
Geophysics
Airborne Surveys
Drilling
Trenching
Environmental Studies
Other Costs (Includes
consultancies, data acquisition,
report writing, but excludes office
overheads.
Total Expenditure (PL Areas)
€1,222,087
€827,081
€3,337,193
€845,139
€21,435,132
0
€50,000
€3,039,520
€54,825
€36,427
€7,408
0
€82,583
€4,334
0
€19,572
€1,276,913
€863,508
€3,344,601
€845,139
€21,517,715
€4,334
€50,000
€3,069,592
€30,756,152
€215,469
(a)
€30,971,801
€1,329,082
€32,300,884
Irish Office Overheads
Total plus Office Overheads
B. State Mining Facilities (SMFs)
Exploration Expenditure:
Drilling
All Other Expenditure
Total Exploration Expenditure, SMFs (b)
Total Exploration Expenditure in PLs and SMFs, excluding office overheads, (a)+(b)
€5,407,788
€272,701
(b) €5,680,489
€36,652,290
PDAC Convention, Toronto, March 2012
The 80th Annual Convention and Trade show of the Prospectors and Developers Association of
Canada (PDAC) was held in Toronto from 4th to 7th March 2012. As usual, the Exploration and
Mining Division exhibited at the Trade Show, where we were joined with colleagues from the
Geological Survey of Ireland and the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, in a combined Ireland
exhibit.
The PDAC meeting is the biggest of its kind in the world, and this year the attendance figures reached
an all-time high of 30,000. In all, 1,000 exhibitors attended PDAC 2012 including government
delegations from over fifty countries. Ireland’s involvement in the Trade Show has already directly
led to a number of Prospecting Licence applications being received by the Exploration & Mining
Division.
Tellus Border Project
On 15th February 2011, the €5 million EU INTERREG IVA-funded Tellus Border project was
launched, to map the environment of the border counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan,
Monaghan and Louth (see www.tellusborder.eu). Over three years, extensive survey work will
provide important background information on geology, stream water quality, and agricultural soils.
The project is a cross-border initiative between the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI), the Geological
Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI), the Dundalk Institute of Technology, and Queen’s University,
Belfast. The project builds on the award-winning Tellus Project in Northern Ireland, which produced
new environmental maps and digital data of soils, rocks and stream waters of the whole of Northern
Ireland. To date, 75% of the airborne geophysical (magnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric) survey,
100% of soil sampling and 55% of stream sediment sampling has been completed. The geochemical
and airborne geophysics data will be made publicly available, free of charge, from early 2013.