Vol. 557 No. 4
304 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the extent to which notable finds of precious metals have been identified in recent times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22596/02]
There have been no economic finds of gold, silver or precious ores in recent times. As the Deputy knows, exploration for minerals here is undertaken by private enterprise holders of prospecting licences granted under the Minerals Development Acts, 1940 to 1999. In my statutory report to the Oireachtas under those Acts for the six months ended June 2002, I said there were 391 extant prospecting licences at the end of last June. Gold is known to occur in the rocks in many parts of Ireland and there is a continuing interest in exploring for it. It is the sole target of three current prospecting licences and incidental target of more than 100 more. Silver is normally found in Ireland as part of the suite of base metal ores and so it is an incidental target of more than 360 licences. There is also a minor interest in exploring for other high value metals and for diamond and other gemstones.
