Conroy Gold and Natural Resources said it has discovered antimony-bearing float samples from its Clontibret gold deposit area in Co Monaghan.
The boulders were discovered near a reported historic antimony trial pit to the northeast of the two historic antimony mines in the area – Tullybuck and Lisglassan.
Antimony has been used since ancient times in medicine and cosmetics and now has various applications, including in flame retardants, lead-acid batteries and as an alloying agent in metals.
The latest work by Conroy is part of follow up actions by the company to show the antimony potential of Clontibret and to further evaluate the second antimony trend identified by initial results from remodelling the Clontibret deposit as announced in February.
The company said that work continues on completing the relogging of drill core from the deposit and the construction of a more robust 3D geological model, along with follow up exploration activity in relation to antimony.
Historically, the Clontibret area was known for its small-scale antimony mine operations, which were active in the 18th and 19th centuries. Channel sampling of the two historic antimony mines resulted in the first bedrock gold discovery in Ireland.
John Sherman, Conroy’s Chairman, said the discoveries of antimony float which show high gold grades further highlight both the antimony potential of the Clontibret deposit and its correlation to potentially high-grade gold.
“We are looking forward to exploring the potential of the second antimony trend identified recently to increase the scale of the gold resource within the existing resource footprint,” he said.
“The company also intends to apply to the European Commission for recognition of Clontibret as a strategic project under the European Critical Raw Materials Act 2024 on the basis of the antimony content,” he added.
