The Lisheen Project - Ireland
The Lisheen Block consists of two contiguous Prospecting Licences located along the world famous, highly prospective Rathdowney Mineralising Trend and adjacent to the Lisheen and Galmoy Zn / Pb Deposits. The licences are underlain by well developed and regional dolomitised Waulsortian Reef (the main ore host rock in the Irish Midlands) that dips gently to the south. The area is cross-cut by Caledonian faults orientated ENE-WSW and NW-SE. Extensions of the main controlling fault systems at both the Lisheen and Galmoy deposits can be traced onto these licences.
There is significant opportunity to explore for additional deposits in the 5 – 10Mt range and the imminent reopening by Shanoon Resources of the nearby Galmoy mine means that there is potential to develop a mining centre being fed by numerous smaller deposits.
The licences issued were primarily for base metals (zinc, lead and copper), barytes (or barite), silver and gold. The licences last until February 2027, when they can be renewed for an extra six years subject to the minimum spend of €37,000 per licence being achieved.
The prospecting licence areas cover a total area of 70.69 km2 and are situated in County Tipperary (PL 4056) and County Laois (PL 754). The block is 115 km southwest of Dublin, 65 km east of Limerick, with the village of Templetuohy being the largest settlement within the block. The block is served by the M8 motorway, national road N62, with access to the central licence by the R502. An operating railway line (Dublin to Cork) runs through the centre of the licence. Land use is dominated by pastureland for grazing of sheep & cattle, with bogs and some forestry.
The Lisheen Block is located along the Rathdowney Trend immediately to the north of the old Lisheen deposit (c.22Mt at 12% Zn / 2% Pb), where the mine was closed in 2015, and west/northwest of the Galmoy deposit (c.9Mt at 13.5% Zn / 2% Pb), where Shanoon Resources are due to reopen the mine in 2026, with the aim of mining c300,000 tonnes of ore per annum [add link to Shannon]. The licences are underlain by well developed and regional dolomitised Waulsortian Reef (the main ore host rock in the Irish Midlands) that dips gently to the south. The area is cross-cut by Caledonian faults orientated ENE-WSW and NW-SE. Extensions of the main controlling fault systems at both the Lisheen and Galmoy deposits can be traced onto these licences. Further to the east/northeast, Minco Exploration is currently drilling at Rapla and have published details of a new high-grade Zn, Pb, Cu, Ag intersection.
The Company is targeting relatively shallow (c200-300m) carbonate hosted, Zinc/Lead Massive Sulphides at the base of the Waulsortian Reef. 3D modelling of gravity survey data has defined a number of anomalous high-density zones that may be related to buried zones of mineralisation. There are a series of density anomalies on a NW-SE axis on PL 754 which parallel the K Zone trend at Galmoy and four strongly anomalous high-density zones along the West – East Section that show a clearly anomalous density response at depth, which is untested by historic drilling.
