Minerals

Minerals are found in the Earth's crust throughout the world. Where there is a high concentration of a mineral, this is referred to as a mineral deposit. If it is socially, environmentally and economically viable, a mineral deposit can be mined and the extracted mineral can be processed for many different uses.

Minerals are needed to make a variety of everyday items such as toothpaste; glass, paper, medicines, toiletries, phones, glue, plaster, cement, fertiliser, antiseptic, computers, light bulbs, stainless steel, talcum powder, and electric wiring.

A wide variety of minerals are important, sometimes critical, components of ‘green technologies’. Achieving Ireland’s national climate and energy targets, such as 70% electricity production from renewable energy sources and one million electric vehicles by 2030, requires the adoption and deployment of ‘green technologies’ to generate power from renewable sources, battery storage and implementing other system changes to support transport and electricity grid infrastructure.

Ireland has a diverse geology and a range of rich mineral deposits including zinc, lead, copper and gold-bearing quartz veins. Recent exploration has also been carried out for Platinum Group Metal (PGM) mineralization, Rare Earth Element, technology metals (for example, lithium, tantalum, tungsten and tin), nickel and chromite, diamonds and other gem minerals.

There is also significant potential across Ireland for industrial minerals. In recent years, gypsum, dolomite, silica sand, brick shale and fireclay have all been mined.

The development of Irish mineral deposits is an important component of the economy, providing essential minerals for industry while generating employment and revenue for the State. By promoting mineral exploration, the government enables the discovery and development of economic deposits. In doing this, it aims to maximise the mining sector's contribution to the economy, while protecting against social and environmental impacts.

Mineral exploration / prospecting is the process undertaken by geoscientists, usually in a company or partnership, to find a viable mineral deposit.

Prospecting uses different techniques, such as examining of historical and geological records, mapping different rock types and mineral occurrences, collecting small samples of rock, soil or sediments for geochemical analysis, or measuring the geophysical properties of the rocks in an area.

If these techniques yield promising results, the geoscientists may wish to carry out drilling or to dig a shallow temporary trench to investigate the rock at depth. Drilling extracts a narrow diameter cylinder of rock, which helps to better understand the geology below. Trenching is excavating and exposing bedrock for the same purposes.

While mineral exploration is vital to the economy, the government has to ensure that our resources are protected; this is done through regulation and the issuing of Prospecting Licences. Exploration for minerals in Ireland is defined under the Minerals Development Acts and is regulated by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC). A prospecting licence relates to the activity of exploring for minerals only and does not give the licence holder permission to mine.

Applicants for Prospecting Licences must provide an appropriate exploration programme for the minerals of interest, demonstrate their technical and financial capabilities and agree to licence terms, which includes a condition of undertaking work with due regard for the environment.

DECC publishes notices in local newspapers and on gov.ie to inform the public where a Prospecting Licence is about to be granted or renewed. These notices include any assessment of the environmental effect of the activity. You can make submissions or objections to these licences within 30 days from publication of the notice.

In February 2020, DECC compiled a list of Common Questions and Concerns that were raised by members of the public during previous Prospecting Licence public consultations. Answers and information addressing these questions and concerns have been published alongside them.

Prospecting Licence holders are required to submit reports and data on their exploration activities to DECC. These reports and data are held confidentially for either six years or until licence surrender if sooner, after which the data is made publicly available.

Apply for a Prospecting Licence

Ireland has a long history of mining, with records dating back to the Bronze Age, around 2000 BC. Southwest Ireland was an important copper producer, with evidence of old workings at Killarney, Co Kerry and Mount Gabriel, Co Cork.

Today, Ireland is internationally renowned as a major zinc-lead mining province. Over the last 50 years, a number of significant base metal discoveries have been made, including the giant ore deposit at Navan, Co Meath. Other minerals being mined in Ireland are Gypsum in Co Monaghan and Marble in Co Galway.

A mine for a scheduled mineral in Ireland is subject to obtaining three separate State authorisations:

• planning permission from the relevant local authority
• an Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) or Industrial Emissions (IE) licence from the Environmental Protection Agency
• a State Mining Licence / Lease / Permission from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC)

Mining activities require a State Mining Licence, a State Mining Lease or a State Mining Permission, which are collectively referred to as State Mining Facilities (SMFs).

Any applicant for a SMF must hold a valid prospecting licence first and provide a detailed, costed closure plan as part of their application. SMFs are only issued to applicants who have planning permission, an IPC/IE licence and can adhere to best practice and environmental guidelines to ensure full extraction of the minerals while preventing subsidence and guaranteeing proper rehabilitation of the mineral workings.

Some substances found on or in the ground are not considered minerals and do not require permits or licences from DECC for development. These include the agricultural surface of the ground, turf or peat, and stone, sand, gravel or clay (except for substances included in the schedule to the 1940 Act).

There are currently six active State Mining Licences and ten State Mining Leases in Ireland. Full details are available in the Six Monthly Report to the Oireachtas on the status of the Mineral Exploration and Mining Sector.

Departmental officials at DECC continuously monitor mining operations. Inspections of each of the main SMFs are undertaken at least twice a year by mining consultants. These inspections ensure compliance with terms and conditions of State leases and licences and also ensure adherence to best practice. DECC is also responsible for ensuring that mine openings into old workings that exploited State-owned minerals are appropriately secured. In addition, DECC undertakes monitoring and maintenance work at the former mining areas of Avoca and Silvermines, for example health and safety works completed at Tigroney (Avoca) in 2017 and 2020.

The Government’s policy is set out in the 'Policy Statement on Mineral Exploration and Mining - Critical Raw Materials for the Circular Economy Transition'.

Minerals are, and will continue to be, essential to our daily lives and to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across several sectors, including renewable power generation, energy transmission and storage (batteries) and transportation.

The Policy Statement serves as a frame of reference for policy makers, regulators and stakeholders. It sets out a framework for decision making that supports communities, the environment, the climate and the mineral exploration and mining sectors.

UN Minamata Convention on Mercury

The UN Minamata Convention on Mercury provides an international regulatory framework with the aim of protecting human health and the global environment from the harmful effects of mercury. Ireland ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury in March 2019 so primary mercury mining is prohibited under it. When the Minerals Development Act 2017 is commenced, it will prohibit the prospecting for mercury and primary mercury mining.

Kimberley Process

The Kimberley Process (KP) is an international trade regime consisting of governments, the diamond industry and NGOs, with the goal of preventing the trade of conflict diamonds. Since its introduction in 2003, global production of conflict diamonds has decreased by 99.8%.

There are 55 participants in the KP, with the EU acting as a single participant. Anyone wishing to import or export rough diamonds into or out of the EU must do so through a designated Kimberley Process Union Authority and comply with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).

There are currently seven EU Member States, including Ireland, which are KP Union Authorities. The Kimberley Process and Responsible Minerals Authority (KPRMA) in DECC is a KP Union Authority and is authorised to approve imports and exports of rough diamonds.

Apply for Kimberley Certification

Responsible Minerals Regulation

The minerals tin (Sn), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W) and gold (Au) are found in large volumes in the African Great Lakes Region and especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although they hold great potential for development, natural mineral resources can, in conflict-affected or high-risk areas, be a cause of dispute where their revenues fuel the outbreak or continuation of violent conflict.

To prevent the financing of armed groups and security forces in these resource-rich areas, the European Union adopted a Responsible Minerals Regulation to ensure due diligence across the supply chain for importers.

Critical Raw Materials

Raw materials (metals, minerals and natural materials) with the most economic importance and with a supply risk are called critical raw materials. They are essential to proper functioning and integrity of the economy. Ensuring adequate and reliable access to resources is a strategic security issue for the EU and Ireland.

A research study Green Metals: Demand Arising from Decarbonisation of Energy and Transport Sectors has been commissioned by DECC, compiled by Geological Survey Ireland in discussion with the Geoscience Policy Division. As an implementation action of the Mineral Exploration and Mining Policy Statement, it estimates the metal and material demand stemming from Irish energy and transport sectoral targets to 2030 using knowledge of raw material usage in green technologies. It highlights the metals and materials that are of greatest concern as being critical in supply for an Irish context and includes REE and battery critical materials. It concludes that expanding production of zinc in Ireland has the potential to make the country’s mineral sector of strategic importance in realisation of climate action targets in Europe. As well as zinc, potential exists for domestic Irish extraction of lithium, imperative in battery production, and germanium, gallium, and indium for use in solar panels as secondary yield from recycling existing mine waste.