asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will make a statement on the deposits of lead, zinc and copper revealed in recent drilling explorations in the Mallow area, County Cork; and if the company carrying out the explorations intends to develop the mining of the deposits.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Mallow (Cork) Mineral Deposits.
6.
The area in question is included in areas granted under prospecting licence to Societe Miniere et Metallurgique de Penarroya. Particulars of these licences are shown in the report under the Minerals Development Acts laid before the House on 7th March, 1975. By agreement with the licensee exploration work on these areas is being carried out by Munster Base Metals Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo United Development Corporation Limited. The licensee is required to carry out work programmes in the licence areas and to lodge reports of work done under the licences. The information contained in these reports is confidential unless the licensee agrees to its release and it would not be proper for me to make a statement in the matter, apart from saying that the area is still being investigated. I would add that the Deputy might wish to consult the Anglo United Development Corporation report for 1974 recently published.
I take it that this report does not contain the information the Deputy seeks in the question?
I do not know how much information the questioner seeks but think it very unlikely that it would contain all the information. Certainly it would contain some of the information he needs.
Would the report give sufficient information to an informed person to make up his own mind on the amount of minerals contained in the area in question?
In my opinion it would not but the Deputy must appreciate that when companies are carrying on this work—it is a continuing process—they are required to furnish information but they are entitled to a degree of confidentiality.
I went to the trouble of getting the documents some years ago but there was so little information that I did not get them since. I wondered if there had been a change of policy.