Luck of the Irish: Ballinalack Holds a Billion Pounds of Zinc-Lead

Irish zinc explorer Group Eleven Resources (TSXV:ZNG) has announced an updated mineral resource estimate for its Ballinalack project in Ireland, which is located near Europe’s largest zinc mine.

The Ballinalack project contains an estimated inferred mineral resource of 5.4 billion tonnes grading 8.7 percent zinc-lead and 9 grams per tonne silver, according to the company’s Thursday (November 29) release, for over a billion pounds of zinc-lead.

“Strategically, it is important to remember that Ballinalack is located only 50 kilometres from Boliden’s (NASDAQ:BOL) giant Navan (Tara) zinc mine — the largest zinc mine in Europe,” said Group Eleven CEO, Bart Jaworski.

Ballinalack is a joint venture between Group Eleven, which owns 60 percent, and Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet (Nonfemet), a major Chinese zinc-lead mining and smelting company based in Shenzhen.

Jaworski said the mineral resource estimate — which had been prepared by mining consultancy company CSA Global using recent and historical drilling — demonstrated concrete progress at the project.

“Specifically, we are delighted that the average grade of the [mineral resource estimate] is significantly higher than the historic estimate from 1991 and that the metal content, despite a higher cut-off, remains above a billion pounds of zinc and lead.”

The estimate pegs zinc metal content at 898 million pounds, and lead at 136 million pounds.

102 holes over 26,042 were drilled to secure the resource estimate, which has a zinc equivalent cut-off of 5.2 percent.

Jaworski described the resource as open and across strike, “corroborating our recent drilling which helped identify four targets in the lower Navan Beds, three of which already contain strongly mineralized historic intercepts.”

“With the Ballinalack [mineral resource estimate] completed, we now have a springboard from which to focus on significant discovery both near the deposit and regionally as part of our ongoing ‘Big Think’ initiative,” said Jaworski.

The ‘Big Think’ initiative is described by Group Eleven as “an open-minded and methodical search for tier-one zinc deposits in the Irish zinc district through comprehensive re-evaluation of over 70 years of exploration data, combined with cutting edge geophysical and geochemical techniques.”

Thursday’s news represents the company’s second resource estimate after the maiden inferred mineral resource estimate announced for its Stonepark project, which is a joint venture with Connemara Mining in Limerick County.

On the TSXV, Group Eleven was up by 5 percent on Thursday, trading at C$0.105.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Scott Tibballs, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.