Alba Mineral Resources plc has renewed its exploration licence PL3824 for base metals in Limerick, western Ireland.
TERMS
The company now has until 26 May 2022 to determine the next phase of exploration which might include drilling key zinc targets.
Alba must spend €15,732 by 26 May 2021 and a further €50,000 by 26 May 2022 in accordance with conditions attached to the licence renewal.
LIMERICK BASIN
The licence area in the Limerick Basin is prospective for zinc, lead and silver and lies just 10km away from and is part of the same target unit as the Pallas Green zinc discovery.
The Irish zinc ore field hosts some high-grade zinc mines, notably Boliden’s Tara/Navan Mine, with an orebody of >100m tonnes at a grade of ~10% zinc and lead, making it the largest zinc-lead deposit in Europe.
DRILLING
During 2012, Alba and its then joint venture partner Teck Resources Ltd drilled four holes on the licence.
One drill hole intercepted six metres of semi-massive and disseminated pyrite between 508 and 514 metres within the target limestone, including a two-metre mineralised interval containing 0.58% zinc.
Alba identified several new drill targets and in 2019 undertook a short exploration drilling campaign at one of the targets.
The company said that the drilling did not intersect a mineralised zone but it had yet to drill other “interesting targets” at the project.
Alba’s technical team will conduct a comprehensive review of the licence area before deciding the next phase of planned exploration.
GREENLAND
In a separate development for Alba’s interests in Greenland, the national government has decided to continue 2020 Covid initiatives into 2021.
This means that exploration expenditure obligations for all mineral exploration licences in the country for 2021 will be reduced to zero and the existing licence period extended by one year.
Alba’s key 2021 objective is to drill its Thule Black Sands ilmenite project to increase the existing resource, and to drill the Amitsoq graphite project to define an inaugural resource.