2,000 jobs on cards at Clare mine
Australian businessman Michael Hudson is heading a newly formed company which has just bought a site at Kilbrecken in Quin, near Ennis, from Canadian mining company Lundin.
Extremely high-grade zinc has been discovered in deep veins at the site and indications are good that a major mining operation may be possible.
The new company, Hannan Ltd, will begin an assessment of the site immediately with exploratory drilling and non-invasive seismic tests due to begin in early 2017.
A small local team will be employed to undertake these assessments and it will be a number of years before full-scale mining could begin.
If successful, the mine will operate fully underground with the zinc deposits running to at least 400m under the surface.
Depending on the size of the zinc deposit, the mine could employ 200 to 400 direct employees and create 1,000 to 2,000 jobs for contractors and other indirect employees.
Mr Hudson said that the first step in the process will be to open a dialogue with locals about the proposed development.
“We look forward to working with the local people on this project,” he said.
“Our aim to make sure that there are no surprises [for the local people], and to make sure that everyone is aware of what is going on.
“One of the first steps would be to set up drilling rigs for site testing. We have a certain amount of flexibility over where we place these rigs so we would be very keen to discuss this with the local people and talk with local landowners.”
According to Mr Hudson, the mine could become a major local employer.
He also said, depending on conditions, it could take up to 10 years before full commercial drilling operations could begin.
“You only have to look at other development in that part of the country,” he said.
“The south-west of Ireland has become a hot spot for this sort of exploration. Depending on the size of the deposit we would be looking at employing between 200 and 400 people directly. Between contractors and other employment, one job in mining generally leads to around five other jobs locally.”
Hannan is a new company made up of a number of investors based in British Columbia in Canada, with Mr Hudson as CEO.
The Clare mine is being developed for its high-grade zinc but it also contains deposits of silver, lead, and copper.
