Report on usage of Stewart Wallace Funds by the SEG
Student Chapter in Zurich, Switzerland
Committee: Jakub Sliwinski, Treasurer; Alina Fiedrich, Secretary; Nico Küter,
President; Juliana Troch, Vice President
In brief: Zurich’s SEG SC received $2,500 funding from SEG in the first
application round of 2016. The funds were used to sponsor 4 Hungarian students from
Eötvös Lorand (EL) University in Budapest on a 10-day excursion exploring ore
deposits, exploration projects, active mines and other geological destinations in the
Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The trip was organized by ETH Zürich,
which brought 2 BSc, 6 MSc and 5 PhD students (see attached field guide for further
details).
Details:
Funding: This trip was funded by ETH Zürich, PanAmerican Silver Corp. and the
SEG Foundation.
Timing: The excursion took place over 10 days from 9-18 Aug, 2016.
Transportation and logistics: Students were responsible for organizing their own
transport to Dublin, after which transportation was via 3 minivans (driven by
Chapter members). Accommodations were organized in hostels throughout Ireland
(typically ~20 Euro/person/night).
Food: Students were responsible for organizing their own meals. Groups were
organized by car, and members prepared group dinners and breakfasts using
cooking facilities in the hostels. Lunches were entirely self-organized, while
breakfast was occasionally provided at the hostels. Dinners were occasionally
organized in affordable restaurants when cooking facilities were not available.
Itinerary (in brief):
Day 1:
• Morning: Flights into Dublin
• Afternoon: Meeting with members of the Geological Survey of Ireland,
presentations of GSI projects and ETH projects (contact: Gerry Stanley, Dr.
Aoife Braiden)
• Evening: Meeting with the new SEG Student Chapter in Trinity College,
Dublin (contact: Foteini Drakou)
• Night: Dublin
Day 2:
• Morning-afternoon: Navan Pb-Zn mine: Geological summary, mine tour, mill
tour and exploration facility tour (contact: Jim Geraghty, John Ashton, Eva
Lundquist)
• Night: Kilkenny
Day 3:
• Morning-afternoon: Copper Coast Geopark: Geological summary, tour of
coastal outcrops and discussion of historical activity and current research
projects (contact: Dr. Richard Unitt, Robbie Galvin)
• Night: Cashel
Day 4:
• Morning: Historical tour of the Rock of Cashel
• Afternoon: Pallas Green Pb-Zn Project: Discussion of history, geology,
feasibility, development of the Pallas Green Project; observation of drill core
(contact: Dr. Dave Blaney) together with TCD Student Chapter members
• Night: Limerick
Day 5:
• Morning: Hiking in the Burren National Park
• Afternoon: Cliffs of Moher: Discussion of sedimentary geology
• Night: Galway
Day 6:
• Morning-afternoon: Outcrop hopping throughout the Galway Granite and
other localities in County Mayo, following field guide of Pat Meere
• Evening: Short hike at Benbulben (Sligo)
• Night: Sligo
Day 7:
• Morning: Cavanacaw orogenic Au deposit (operated by Galantas Irish Gold):
Discussion of geology, mine development and milling (contact: Dr. Sarah
Coulter)
• Afternoon: Giant’s Causeway, formation of cooling fractures in basalt sheets,
Causeway magmatism in the context of the geological history of Ireland
• Night: Gortin
Day 8:
• Morning: Curraghinalt orogenic Au deposit (operated by Dalradian
Resources): Discussion of geology, mine development and feasibility
(contact: Nikki Commodore)
• Afternoon: Invited talk by John Clifford: Discovery History of the Cerro Negro
Epithermal Au Deposit, Argentina; mingling with regional geologists
(contact: John Clifford)
•
Night: Gortin
Day 9:
• Morning: Kilroot Carrickfergus Salt mine: geological discussion and mine
tour (contact: Ryan Carroll)
• Afternoon: Tour of the Crumlin Road Goal, Belfast
• Night: Dublin
Day 10:
• Morning-afternoon: Flights out of Dublin
• Afternoon-evening (optional): sightseeing in Dublin
Detailed report:
Day 1:
Our meeting point in the afternoon was the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI)
complex in Beggar’s Bush, Dublin. Members converged from all over Europe: a
couple from Amsterdam, one from Italy, four guests from Budapest and the
remainder from Zurich, altogether comprising the ETH and EL student chapters. At
Beggar’s Bush, we merged with the Trinity College chapter, which has recently
assembled under the supervision of Dr. Sean McClenaghan.
Our primary contact at GSI was Gerry Stanley, who months back had helped
the planning of the trip with specific recommendations of exploration and mining
projects (past and present) throughout Ireland. At GSI, survey members gave us a
comprehensive overview of Irish geology and its importance to the society at large.
This began with a presentation by Ray Scanlon introducing the Geological Survey, its
administration and purpose. This was followed by another quick lecture about Irish
bedrock geology and the development of the island from the Precambrian to present
by Russell Rogers. Vincent Gallagher introduced us to the TELLUS project which is a
unique geophysical and geochemical exploration project involving both Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Gerry Stanley presented the main mineral
deposits in Ireland and some of the GSI projects. Dr. Aoife Braiden explained the
moderating function of GSI in data exchange between the public, academia and
industry.
After dinner, we met again with the Student Chapter in Trinity College and
enjoyed a few beers and cake in their community room. During this time, we had
time to plan future activities, exchange contact details and discuss future
collaborations between our chapters.
Members of ETH, EL and TCD at Trinity College, Dublin
Member of ETH and EL in the Museum Building
Day 2:
Day 2 started with an early morning drive up to Navan to commence our
underground tour of Boliden’s world class Pb-Zn mine. A geological introduction
was given by John Ashton, underlining the importance of the Carboniferous
sediments to mining in Ireland and the unique style (“Irish Type”) of Pb-Zn
mineralization demonstrated in deposits such as Tynagh, Navan, Galmoy and
Lisheen (see field guide for details). Because of low outcrop potential and the low
electrical conductivity of the galena and sphalerite that comprise such deposits,
exploration can be rather difficult. The brothers who founded the mine owned an
exploration company named after the hill of Tara (and ancient burial site of Irish
kings of profound historical importance), which they operated in the United States.
Upon returning to Ireland, they discovered a world-class deposit (currently the
largest in Europe) a few 10’s of km away from the very same hill. This brought to
light an important theme that characterized a lot of exploration talks on this trip:
exploration is a very unpredictable discipline that guarantees little success and is
aided tremendously by luck and serendipity.
An underground tour with Jim Geraghty and Eva Lundquist followed, which
would be the first such tour for many of the students. The process of stope mining
was explained and demonstrated with a few key locations throughout the
underground mine, and the order of mining was clarified: exploration leads to
characterization of the 3D morphology of the deposit, which guides the mining
engineers in designing the stopes. Drillers drill ore-bearing rock faces and blast the
wall at the end of every day, after which muckers remove the ore, scalers clean the
walls and the newly-blasts face is reinforced with metal bars and shotcrete. The
process is repeated, and old tunnels are then backfilled with tailings to provide
support while adjacent faces are mined in similar fashion. Meanwhile, ore is taken to
the mill (which was presented to us by George Wilkinson), where it is ground in a
ball mill and passed to a floatation circuit, where surfactants are used to concentrate
first galena, and then sphalerite in four steps before dewatering, packaging and
shipping the concentrate to smelters operated by Boliden.
Gearing up for an underground tour
Examination of exploration core
Carboniferous sediment country rock
Day 3:
On Thursday, we traveled south to Bunmahon, the location of the Copper
Coast Geopark that was recently granted UNESCO World Heritage status. There, we
met with Dr. Richard Unitt of University of Cork and the park geologist Robbie
Galvin, as well as several geologists from Cork. Together we discussed the geological
context of the copper stringer veins that were the focus of mining activities
throughout the 19th century. Old mine adits were seen all along the coastline where
miners chased quartz veins to extract copper in a form which, due to their incredible
efficiency at removing it, is currently unknown. It is likely that a combination of
chalcopyrite and native copper formed the bulk of the ore, but the only remains of
these are secondary Cu minerals forming a partly-crystalline gel along the tunnel
walls (Connellite and Langite). It is uncertain whether the deposits along the copper
coast are related to historical VMS deposits to the north in Avoca, although this is
the focus of ongoing research by masters student Joshua Copage.
Connelite and Langite “mineralization” along an old tunnel wall
Exploring outcrops along the Copper Coast
Copper Coast
Day 4:
On Friday morning we visited the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary, a
medieval castle which itself could be considered a type of deposit. This castle served
as the seat of the kings of Munster throughout the middle ages, although the current
structures indicate a more recent “reworking” of this dimension stone “deposit” in
the 12th and 13th centuries. After being abandoned, the castle also served as a source
of stone for farmers, who quarried it for dimension stones to delineate their fields
with.
The highlight of the day was in the afternoon, when we met with Dr. Dave
Blaney (along with Trinity College members) and learned about the Pallas Green PbZn deposit. Over the course of the afternoon, we learned not only about the mode of
mineralization in Pallas Green, but also the regional context in which it exists
(alongside developed mines like Navan, Silver Mines, Galmoy and Lisheen) and the
technical details associated with bringing a deposit to feasibility. This includes
aspects of geophysical techniques, interacting with farmers and communities to gain
the rights to drill on properties, the difficulties of finding and characterizing Pb-Zn
deposits (owing to the occasional disaggregated nature of such lenses),
metallurgical characterization of ore samples and the economics and time scales of
bringing such a deposit to production.
Rock of Cashel
Examining exploration core at Pallas Green
With Dave Blaney at Pallas Green
Day 5:
After a couple of intense days touring through western and southern Ireland,
the weekend had arrived, which meant a temporary stop to all mining and
exploration tours. However, with careful planning, we ended up within easy reach of
two very prominent geological destinations: The Burren National Park and the Cliffs
of Moher. An early morning cloudy hike in the Burren National Park showed us the
barren beauty of post-glacial karstic landscape: miles of desolate limestone, cracked,
twisted and molded into snail-like structures, pitted by years of rain and trodden by
only a handful of visitors on this particular day.
The Cliffs of Moher, by comparison, were swarming with tourists but no less
beautiful. We took a few minutes to discuss sedimentary cycles in the Silurian before
trekking out to the cliff sides and enjoying equally entertaining views of sheer
layercake outcrops and daring tourists venturing just a bit too close to them for
comfort.
The Burren National Park
Cliffs of Moher
(continued)
Day 6:
Sunday was our day of leisure and involved a fairly long drive from Sligo to
Galway (with a detour through the Galway Granite to the west). Following Pat
Meere’s geological field guide of Ireland, we took a few hours to explore the boggy
expanses of County Mayo and its many granitic-dioritic outcrops. The highlight was
an outcrop of granite showing abundant evidence of secondary mineralization,
including molybdenite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, epidote and fluorite, which may indicate
the presence of exploitable ores in the vicinity. As we drove north through
increasingly mafic lithologies, we finally arrived in the Dalradian metasediments
that would host the two gold deposits we would visit on Monday and Tuesday.
Finally, as we pulled into Sligo, we took a few hours to explore the surrounding
natural scenery, including Benbulben, a limestone formation of geological and
historical interest in the area associated with poet W.B. Yeates.
Examining an outcrop of the Galway Granite
Examining an outcrop of Dalradian metasediments
Lunch at an outcrop of Dalradian migmatite
Benbulben
Day 7:
This morning included an extremely idyllic drive through the countryside of
Northern Ireland, which led us to the Cavanacaw gold deposit operated by Galantas
Irish Gold in Omagh. Dr. Sarah Coulter was our guide for the day and told us of the
peculiar geology of the area that made it so easy to mine: this relatively small scale
operation contained a near-surface vertical vein of galena-hosted Au, which was soft
enough to be simply scraped off the side of the rock face without the need for
blasting. The operation is temporarily on hiatus while permits for underground
mining are processed, which meant that we got a excellent look at the mine ramp
and a quiet tour of the processing mill.
In the afternoon, we took a long drive north to the Antrim Coast to visit a site
of immense geological importance: the Giant’s Causeway. Although not economically
viable for ore, the Antrim coast draws millions of tourists every year due to its
stunning beauty and the curious columnar basalts which cover the coastline like a
bundle of pencils stuck straight into the ground and truncated by years of erosion.
Here, we discussed not only the mechanics of such cooling features, but also the
historical importance of the area, as the outcrops in this area were central to the
18th century debate between Neptunists and Plutonists concerning the formation of
rocks.
Discussing the geology of the Cavanacaw deposit
Looking into the open pit at Cavanacaw
At the Giants Causeway
Day 8:
Tuesday morning, like the previous day, was all about Dalradian
metasediment-hosted Au, although this time on a larger scale and operated by
Dalradian Resources. Nikki Commodore took us through the geology and mining
tour and showed us around the core shed, describing the occurrence and
morphology of the quartz veins that host up to 480 g/t Au in pyrite. Here, because of
the scale of the deposit and the amount of interest surrounding it, we had an
opportunity to discuss the social aspects of mining as well and the importance of
good public relations and interactions with local communities in order to get a
mining project off the ground.
In the afternoon, we were privileged to have John Clifford join us in Gortin
and deliver a talk about the discovery of the Cerro Negro epithermal Au deposit in
Argentina. A favorite quote by John was that “exploration is not science.” Although it
is easy to confuse the two, given how much scientific and geological knowledge one
must hold in order to be successful exploration geologist, the nature of the game can
be very unpredictable. A single claim can be passed from company to company over
decades before somebody finally finds a deposit of economic scale. In the meantime,
the market rises and falls, and money for exploration is not always available
(indeed, the exploration department is often the first to go in an economic
downturn). In the end, discovery is a combination of excellent geology, knowledge,
determination and luck.
Examining drill core at Curraghinalt Au deposit
Exploration and industry talk with John Clifford
Day 9:
Our final geological day featured the salt mine in Kilroot (which, incidentally,
is one of only three mines in Northern Ireland, the other two being Dalradian and
Galantas’ holdings). Here, Ryan Carroll and David Lee took us underground to show
us how an operating salt mine looks and functions. The most striking here was the
scale of the tunnels built and the peaceful silence in comparison with other
operations we had seen. We briefly discussed the economics of salt mining and the
other local competitors in the market (all selling road salt), as well as the details of
distribution. As a bulk seller, Kilroot exports its salt directly after milling it to a
specific grade, without any secondary processing. Having a jetty on the shore means
that the products can be easily shipped to various locations throughout Ireland and
the British Isles.
The afternoon and evening were spent taking the long drive back to Dublin.
We stopped in Belfast briefly, before enjoying a few well-deserved pints of Guiness
and a long night of sleep in Dublin.
Introduction to Irish salt with Ryan Carroll
Underground at Kilroot Salt Mine
Preparing for underground tour
Special Thanks
This field trip was a collaborative effort, and I would like to therefore offer my thanks to all
who participated and helped: I would first like to thank my co-organizers, Alina Fiedrich and
Katerina Schlöglová, without whom none of this would have been possible. I cannot imagine
a better working group. Next, a special mention should go to our sponsors: Michael
Steinmann of PanAmerican Silver Corp, the Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology at ETH
Zürich, as well as the board members at the SEG Foundation and John Clifford, all of whom
generously sponsored our trip. We would like to thank all of our contacts in Ireland. In
chronological order: Gerry Stanley, Ray Scanlon, Aoife Braiden, Vincent Gallagher and Russell
Rogers and at the Geological Survey of Ireland; Foteini Drakou, Sean McClenaghan and the
rest of the SEG Student Chapter in Trinity College Dublin; Jim Geraghty, John Ashton, George
Wilkinson and Eva Lundquist at Boliden Tara Mine; Richard Unitt, Josh Coppage and Robbie
Galvin at the Copper Coast Geopark; Dave Blaney at Pallas Green, Sarah Coulter at Galantas
Irish Gold; Nikki Commodore and Orla McKenna at Dalradian Resources and Ryan Carroll and
David Lee at Irish Salt Mining in Kilroot. Finally, thank you to all the students who joined us
on this trip: Zsuzsa, Kata, Szabi and Barbi from Budapest; Jerome, Eleonora, Jule, Michael,
Siem, Marco, Marco, David, Raphi and Dian from ETH and Henry and Isa from TCD. A special
thanks to Jule, Eleonora, Marco and Kat, who took turns driving on the long journeys.