190 jobs to be created through reopening of Galmoy Mine

Mining at Galmoy in Kilkenny and Laois commenced in 1997 and planning consultants say 'significant ore reserves remain underground'

The Galmoy Mine plant in north Co Kilkenny. 

A total of 190 jobs are set to be created with the planned re-opening of Galmoy zinc and lead mine in Co Kilkenny and Co Laois.

This follows Shannon Resources lodging twin planning applications with Laois and Kilkenny county councils to re-start mining activities.

Planning documents lodged with the councils state that mining activities were ended "prematurely" at Galmoy in 2014.

Mining at Galmoy commenced in 1997 and planning consultants for Shannon Resources, Tom Phillips & Associates said “significant ore reserves remain underground”.

100 construction jobs

The planning application states that the re-opening will involve the creation of 100 construction jobs for a one-year period and 90 jobs when operational.

The documents state that the mine will have a lifetime of seven-10 years once it re-commences operations.

The submission by Tom Phillips & Associates states that “an accessible mineral resource with existing associated infrastructure such as that at the Galmoy mine is rare. There is a recognised global shortage of minerals such as zinc”.

The consultants say the global storage of zinc is causing a knock-on effect on the cost of much-needed building materials.

It is anticipated that 310,000 tonnes of ore will be mined per annum while 210,000 tonnes of sorted ore per annum will be exported from the site.