Mine joy in Ballisodare
ERRIS Resources has revealed positive initial results from a major drilling programme it is carrying out at its Abbeytown zinc prospect in Ballisodare.
It said in a statement to shareholders that it had intersected strong mineralisation in one hole that suggested high grade zinc, lead and silver.
The European-focused mineral exploration company - which is backed by two Canadian mining firms, Osisko Gold Royalties and Centerra Gold - has a portfolio of zinc prospects in Ireland and gold projects in Sweden.
Erris Resources holds six licence areas covering an area of 159km, which comprises its Abbeytown Project.
In late February it commenced the first 5,000m phase of a potential 21,700m drill programme of four targets in Sligo. The Abbeytown zinc project covers an historic lead-zincsilver mine situated within an active limestone quarry, where ore was extracted on an industrial-scale between 1951 and 1961.
“We are excited by these results from this first hole, as they confirm the mineralisation from the old Abbeytown mine continues south of the current workings,” said Erris Resources chief executive, Merlin Marr-Johnson.
“These results have also opened up new targets in the shale horizons at depth which were not previously considered prospective.
“The target zone is still open to the south from this hole, and the presence of copper in the core is consistent with a metal zonation that can also be seen in the mine.”
Marr-Johnson said that further definition of mineralisation in the drilling will add to the company’s confidence that Abbeytown has the potential to host extensions of the mineralisation from the mine workings.
“We look forward to updating the market with further results as the work develops,” he said.
In December, Erris raised £4m through a placing and listed on London’s Alternative Investments Market (AIM).
The Erris drilling programme is part of a wider uptick in exploration activity in Ireland.
In March, Toronto-listed exploration company Hannan Metals announced that it too is planning a major drilling programme to test geological, seismic and soil targets on its Kilbricken zinc-lead-silver prospect near Ennis and its other prospects in Co Clare.