This article is from page 2 of the 2005-08-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE residents of Shannon town could be sitting on pots of silver and gold and a Dub- lin-based mineral explora- tions company is set to find out.
The Minister for Communi- cations, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey has this week published a no- tice confirming that it appears that there are minerals, in- cluding silver and gold, under the lands in and around Shan- non town and that the miner- als are not being worked.
Some of the townlands that might contain silver and gold are well-known and include Ballycasey Beg, Ballycasey More, Tullyvarraga, Smiths- town and Clonmoney West.
The Minister has confirmed that he intends to grant a l- cense to Belmore Resources Ltd., a prospecting license in respect of silver, gold and Bartyes
The license will enable the company to explore the designated area for mineral deposit, though it does not au- thorize the holder to mine the areas in question.
Fine Gael councillor, Tony
Mulcahy remarked this week: “The people of Shannon could be sitting on a fortune and with the help of God there could be some gold or silver in our own back garden.”
He said: “Any finds would be a source of welcome income for the people of Shannon and I would have no objection to
any exploration in the area as long as there are no risks and no disturbance to the local people.”
The move by Belmore to se- cure a license to prospect for gold and silver in the Shannon area is not the first piece of exploration the company has done in Clare.
Currently, the company is
giving priority to its zinc ex- ploration in Clare.
It has a 50% interest in eight prospecting licences covering 330 sq kilometres.
A preliminary report of its Zinc exploration activities in Clare show that it has com- pleted six holes of an ongoing programme on its zinc pro- spective licences in Clare.
Drilling started in March and a company statement said: “A resource of 400,000 tonnes grading 12 per cent zinc plus lead and 75 grammes per tonne of silver had previously been identified at Milltown.
“Because of its geological position at the base of the reef and the high grades in six of the previously drilled holes, the Milltown resource could represent part of an undis- covered ore-forming system SAUD DOM Mele KercalO) IE
“In the Milltown further drilling may add to the resource already delineated. However, holes now drilled elsewhere on the licences have intersected the Waulsortian Limestone which hosts most of the zinc- lead-silver deposits in Ireland including the resource de- lineated at Miltown.”
area,