Lisheen Mine is a former

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

mine located between the villages of Moyne and

Templetuohy Templetuohy (Irish ''Teampall Tuaithe''), often written Templetouhy, is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is situated in the townland of Longorchard in the civil parish of Templetouhy. The local GAA club is Moyne–Templetuohy GAA whi ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In the Rathdowney Trend, Lisheen was an underground mine where the Lisheen deposit lies at an average depth of 170 metres (560 feet) below surface. The mine closed in 2015.

Accidents and incidents

The Lisheen Mine had two fatal accidents within two years. The first was an explosion in April 2011, and the second occurred on 4 April 2013 when a roof collapsed. In each case, a man died.

History

The Lisheen Deposit was discovered in April 1990 by Murray Hitzman who at the time was working for Chevron. A full feasibility study was conducted by SRK, Kilborn, and Kelsey Engineering and development of the mine began in 1997. In September 1999 the first (production) ore was brought to the surface and in December the first shipment of Zinc concentrates departed from the

Port of Cork The Port of Cork () is the main port serving the South of Ireland, County Cork and Cork City. It offers all six shipping modes (i.e. Lift-on Lift-off, Roll-on Roll-off, Liquid Bulk, Dry Bulk, Break Bulk and Cruise). In 2015, over 11 million ton ...

. Lisheen is expected to produce approximately 4.83 million dry metric tonnes of zinc and lead concentrates over the estimated 14-year lifespan of the mine. The mine was accessed via a 1.5 kilometre long decline, at –15%, 6.3 metres wide by 5 metres high. Underground drilling rigs bore holes in the ore face, which are charged with explosives and fired. The resultant broken ore was removed by large Load Haul Dump (LHD) machines and loaded into trucks which transported the ore to the crusher. The ore was first emptied onto 'grizzly' bars which prevent oversized material from entering the crushing chamber before being fed into the underground crusher. Approximately 6,300 tonnes of ore-grade material were transported daily via a conveyor system from the mine to surface where it was stored in a covered stockpile of approximately 12,000 tonnes live capacity prior to processing in the Concentrator plant. Following various process the concentrate was then trucked south to Cork for onward shipment to various customers. Until its closure, the mine was owned and operated by

Vedanta Resources Vedanta Resources Limited is an Indian diversified mining company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mining and non-ferrous metals company in India and has mining operations in Australia and Zambia and oil and gas opera ...

Zinc International, being acquired from Anglo American in 2011. In total, 22.4 million tonnes of ore were produced, at an average grade of 11.63% zinc, 1.96% lead and 26 ppm

References

External links

Infomine.com profile of the site
County Tipperary Zinc mines in the Republic of Ireland Silver mines in the Republic of Ireland Lead mines in the Republic of Ireland Underground mines in the Republic of Ireland Vedanta Resources {{regional-geology-stub

Accidents and incidents

History

See also

References

External links