JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Drilling at the Stonepark zinc joint venture (JV) project, in Limerick, is set to start in the next few weeks, 23.44%-owner Connemara Mining reported on Friday.
The London-listed company said that the drilling was aimed at determining if exploration success at the adjacent Pallas Green project of Glencore could be replicated in the same Waulsortian limestone units located in the adjoining project area.
JV partner Group Eleven would aim to expand all three established mineralised zones, Stonepark, Stonepark North, and Stonepark West, which were drilled by Teck Resources between 2007 and 2011. It would also test five existing regional prospects and re-examine the entire Limerick basin, which underlies Stonepark and Group Eleven's contiguous PG West property, to ascertain potential for carbonate replacement deposit type mineralisation, as well as seek large regional feeder structures and corridors.
Group Eleven would initially start drilling work at the Stonepark North prospect to improve the understanding of the structural controls on mineralisation.
Group Eleven recently started regional fieldwork at Stonepark, consisting mostly of a detailed ground gravity survey and ionic leach soil sampling. Group Eleven is also participating in an upcoming airborne geophysical survey, conducted as part of the Geological Survey of Ireland's Tellus programme, which will cover the Stonepark project. The survey is scheduled to start in May.
“We plan to maintain Connemara's share in the project going forward and are allocating £250 000 from our recent fundraising to cover expenditure commitments in the coming 12 months,” said Connemara CEO Patrick Cullen.