Mining company surveying Wexford and Wicklow. Gold in them thar hills !

Ian7

On Sunday afternoon, I was out in the garden and noticed a nice little aircraft flying low overhead but didn't think anything of it until i spotted a notice in the back of today's Enniscorthy Echo regarding a Low flying airborne survey over Wexford and Wicklow by a group named Hendrick Resources which immediately set alarm bells ringing. Well, here it is their home page.

http://www.hendrickresources.com/

An international group who will probably claim to have Irish interests at heart and who could be, as their page suggests potentially carrying out "geological prospecting, geochemical sampling, ground geophysical surveying and diamond drilling". Also Note the last line "Each phase of work would be completed with the agreement of any landowners/stakeholders that may be affected."

Their map shows the route flying directly along the Blackstairs and the hinterland to the east.

Would love to know how people feel about this. I really can't see this being a good thing. Imagine the visual effects on the landscape around the Blackstairs and the possible effect it could have on the water table, major water courses and also air quality.

arseagon

I don't see what your problem is? At the moment there is no mining going on and any in the future would have to be done under strict regulations if they were to be given planning permission to do so.

Ian7

arseagon wrote: »

I don't see what your problem is? At the moment there is no mining going on and any in the future would have to be done under strict regulations if they were to be given planning permission to do so.

I'm just making people aware of what could possibly happen. There's alot of interest in whats under Ireland lately because of diminishing resources elsewhere. An Australian firm is planning a Gas extraction in Leitrim and another crowd in Fermanagh using a highly controversial method called fracking. Besides the obvious environmental concerns, both of those could potentially be another "Corrib" situation where the government hands over everything, lock, stock and barrel. I know this crowd aren't hunting for gas but open cast mining for solid resources is a possibility and sure, we have strict regulations on paper but would you really put 100% faith in planners to say no to this? There has to be public awareness and opinion involved in the matter too or would you rather we all just turn a blind eye and wait until they are in there and then say "ou, how did they ever get planning for that eh, oh well."

Cantona's Collars

There's gold in them there hills,I'm off with my pick,shovel & pan to get it first.:pac:

allthedoyles

Thats a seriously massive project .............100kms long x 20km wide

From my experience , I've seen at first-hand the damage that is done underground .

I was taken on an underground tour of the Galmoy Mines in Co. Kilkenny , and the size of the mining is massive .

Its stretches for miles , and when you think of all the houses above your head , it would make you wonder why it is allowed .

From an envoronmental point-of-view , it is well controlled overground by the EPA .
But the damage done underground is massive .

vicwatson

Hey all, we are broke, the country needs the money....

Oh no hang on, we are just gonna give them natural resources away just like the oil and gas..(and soon to be forests):rolleyes: we don't need the money anymore....

allthedoyles

Exactly -- It will do little for the Irish Exchequer , except create a few jobs .
Some years ago , the mine in Kilkenny let go Irish workers and took on non-Irish , mainly from the Far-East .( Malaysia / Philipines )

Ian7

exactly. I'm also worried about any open cast mining in that area too as the Blackstairs range is one of the most beautiful landscapes in our region.

Also, the map on the website shows the survey area in red but that's only an initial survey area from what I can see.

BarryD

Hmm!, thanks for bring that to our notice. I'm particularly interested as I'm currently making a detailed map of Mount Leinster & Blackstairs etc. You might recall that back in the 1990's there was a large campaign against opencast mining on Slieve Bawn nr. the Nine Stones - wasn't gold in that case as far as I recall. Spawned the Friends of Mount Leinster and brought Mary White to regional and later national prominence.

There's a long history of searching for gold near Arklow, including a gold rush by local prospectors in the late 1700's. I happened to be in the National Museum recently and they have nuggets and gold grains from the area on display. The British government of the day kicked the locals off and sought to mine it - various reports of how much they extracted or didn't extract. They also tried to locate the motherlode on the mountain from whence the gold was being washed into the streams, reportedly without success.

So it's right to be wary, imho. It's one thing locating a vein or lode of valuable mineral and then mining in a confined area. But another if gold and other valuable minerals are spread more thinly and require large quantities of rock to be mined, crushed etc., with a view to extracting small deposits. With the price of gold the way it is at present.....

allthedoyles

There is gold in Cathaoirs Den beside Mount Leinster ...........the robber , he buried it there in 1735 .

Many have been there looking for it but , no luck yet .

I might pay the household charge , but count me in if their is a campaign to stop this around my original homeland

Ian7

count me in if their is a campaign to stop this around my original homeland

Cool, I suppose we start by getting some more info from that resource company. I'll send them an email over the weekend.

OldeCinemaSoz

They can mine away in my backyard...

I'm not promising what they'll find though! :eek:

BarryD

This has been brought to my attention with regard to possible Lithium deposits in Carlow/Wexford - seems it's associated with a mineral called pegmatite, which is found in this district. We have some crystals in the large granite lintel over fireplace:
http://internationallithium.com/s/ireland.asp

You can download a pdf doc from here, showing survey sites etc.

Obviously just prospecting licences, but might be also worthwhile reading about Bolivia's experience of lithium mining..
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/03/22/100322fa_fact_wright

allthedoyles

So there is gold in them hills :

Dale is confident that, favourable geology and historical presence of gold occurrences in place , the area hosts a major world-class deposit.

To this end a major, potential gold belt is recognized between Wicklow and southeast to New Ross

source:
http://www.hendrickresources.com/

vicwatson

Was this the low flying plane flying from south east to north west direction over Rosslare on Sat and Sun mornings last, about 11/12 am ??

slowburner

Ian7 wrote: »

I'm just making people aware of what could possibly happen. There's alot of interest in whats under Ireland lately because of diminishing resources elsewhere. An Australian firm is planning a Gas extraction in Leitrim and another crowd in Fermanagh using a highly controversial method called fracking. Besides the obvious environmental concerns, both of those could potentially be another "Corrib" situation where the government hands over everything, lock, stock and barrel. I know this crowd aren't hunting for gas but open cast mining for solid resources is a possibility and sure, we have strict regulations on paper but would you really put 100% faith in planners to say no to this? There has to be public awareness and opinion involved in the matter too or would you rather we all just turn a blind eye and wait until they are in there and then say "ou, how did they ever get planning for that eh, oh well."

Well said.

In 1712, industrial scale mining started here in Avoca. Operations ceased in 1982.
The effects of two hundred and seventy odd years of intensive mining are just beginning to be mitigated now - a mere thirty years after the closure.
The Avoca river below the mines was once rated as the most polluted river in Europe, but it is beginning to recover.
One of the by-products of copper and gold mining is arsenic and this tends to become concentrated in the spoil heaps, with all sorts of possible health implications. One of the spoil heaps is so large it is known as Mount Platt.
Nature is beginning to heal these too, but how much was lost or destroyed over those two hundred and seventy years?
My own informal research has identified the destruction of a colossal amount of important archaeology in the district.

There is a myriad of papers and studies on the environmental effects of the Avoca mines for those who would like to read further.

There is a case too, to argue for the rich heritage value of these mines. Indeed, there are several groups dedicated to this purpose and there are close cultural links with Wales and Cornwall as a consequence.
Interestingly, a Welsh group carried out a pilot project here, which demonstrated that the severely polluted outflows from the mines could be treated successfully, and economically.
Sadly, and shortsightedly, the project was shelved.

That there is gold here, is a certainty, and it is probably here in commercially viable quantities.
When the Carysfort gold mines were beginning to wind down towards the end of the C.19th, an eminent contemporary geologist bemoaned the inadequacies of exploration - he was sure that prospectors had looked in all the wrong places.
Indeed, a level driven in for six hundred fathoms (by pick and shovel) in the principal gold district, yielded not an ounce. That level is still there, and in fine condition, as indeed are the remains of placer mines.

I would be optimistic that if mining were to go ahead in the region extending from New Ross to Wicklow, EU directives would insist on environmentally sound practice.
On the other hand, this state is in dire need of a cash cow, and I would be concerned that the dollar could take precedence over all else.

History repeats itself, and it makes sense to be informed.

allthedoyles

A significant appointment :

Minister for Natural Resources, Fergus O’Dowd, has today welcomed the appointment of Sean Finlay as Business Development Manager of Geoscience Ireland. His appointment has been announced by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) who, together with Enterprise Ireland, support the Geoscience Ireland initiative

http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Press+Releases/2012/Minister+O%e2%80%99Dowd+welcomes+the+announcement+a+of+New+Business+Development+Manager+at+Geoscience+Irelan.htm

vicwatson

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0921/wexford-gold-find.html

There's Gold in them thar hills

Cantona's Collars

Thread here Vic, http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056582044

I can see the sale of woks & frying pans in the region rocket as we all become prospectors & go panning for gold.

Niles

Not entirely surprising, gold was discovered in Croghan in the 1790s. From what I gather it will be of more benefit to the prospector than the region as a whole, though perhaps if a mine is set up there will be spin-off effects that will boost local business...

w124man

allthedoyles wrote: »

Thats a seriously massive project .............100kms long x 20km wide

From my experience , I've seen at first-hand the damage that is done underground .

I was taken on an underground tour of the Galmoy Mines in Co. Kilkenny , and the size of the mining is massive .

Its stretches for miles , and when you think of all the houses above your head , it would make you wonder why it is allowed .

From an envoronmental point-of-view , it is well controlled overground by the EPA .
But the damage done underground is massive .

The Galmoy Mine is a tiny hole in the ground and is far from massive and neither does it stretch for miles. What the hell has 'all the houses above your head' got to do with anything? And what damage has been caused underground in Galmoy?

allthedoyles

w124man wrote: »

The Galmoy Mine is a tiny hole in the ground and is far from massive and neither does it stretch for miles. What the hell has 'all the houses above your head' got to do with anything? And what damage has been caused underground in Galmoy?

If you consider the extraction of 200,000 tonnes of ore per year for 10 years to be a ' tiny hole ' then so be it .

w124man

allthedoyles wrote: »

If you consider the extraction of 200,000 tonnes of ore per year for 10 years to be a ' tiny hole ' then so be it .

In mining terms 200,000 tonnes a year is tiny. Boliden Tara in Navan do more than that a month, every month and have been since 1977. Anyway why use weight data when you are discussing a hole? FYI a cubic meter of lead ore (Galena) weighs approx 7 tonnes ......

vicwatson

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/exploration-firm-claims-to-have-found-gold-worth-millions-in-co-wexford-3324505.html

movingsucks

Wonder what this means, will the company who found it own a share or will it go back into the government?

vicwatson

movingsucks wrote: »

Wonder what this means, will the company who found it own a share or will it go back into the government?

Well if the oil off the west and south west coast is anything to go by we can say bye bye to any revenue from it !!

w124man

movingsucks wrote: »

Wonder what this means, will the company who found it own a share or will it go back into the government?

The company who found it are contracted to the company own the exploration licences. Now that they have found something they need to find investors so they can dig it out. But first they need planning permission ....

Basically it'll take about 5 years before anything happens .... if at all!

countygorey

:)

allthedoyles

countygorey wrote: »

:)

Encouraging gold sample results of up to 76.8 grams per tonne of gold (2.46 ounces per tonne) were taken from rock grab samples at the Kilmichael Prospecting Licence Area.

Following these encouraging gold sample results, follow up drilling in North Co. Wexford intersected further encouraging gold results in Holes 1, 2 and 3.

Drilling activity was intensified in the South-Western part of Wexford licence PL 2551 at Boley, near Camolin. This drill hole, No. 4, is situated approximately 5km along strike from the earlier drill hole No. 2 undertaken at Ballygarrett where enhanced values of gold, silver, lead and zinc were reported by IMC.

Following these excellent results IMC is now committed to forging ahead with its drilling program in order to establish and define the limits of a viable mineral resource in the area

This area of North Co. Wexford already has a licence for drilling .

w124man

allthedoyles wrote: »

This area of North Co. Wexford already has a licence for drilling .

Every square inch in the Republic of Ireland has a drilling licence.

slowburner

From Connemara Mining's website

Connemara’s strategic objective is to create shareholder value by exploring in Ireland...

Says it all really.

allthedoyles

Following tests in December which showed some of the highest recorded gold grades ever to be found in Ireland,
IMC Exploration Group has announced significant gold results from its Wexford licence area.

http://businessandleadership.com/business/item/39201-imc-announces-significant/

allthedoyles

IMC Exploration Group said today that it has identified a potential 6.5km long mineralised gold zone in one of its licensing areas in Co Wexford.

The company said the “encouraging results” came from its most recent drilling programme in Wexford Licence PL2551 at Kilmichael, which is south of Arklow.

http://businessandleadership.com/business/item/39909-imc-exploration-finds/

Looks like the gold is in North Wexford .

BarryD

Hmm.. worth keeping an eye on. You'll excuse my cynicism but where valuable minerals and exploration companies are involved, 'truth' is often an expendable commodity....