LONDON (Alliance News) - Erris Resources PLC on Thursday said it arranged surface and underground exploration programme at the Abbeytown zinc project located in the Irish county Sligo to find new mineral resources.
The mineral exploration company said it started surface diamond drilling programme at the south end of old Abbeytown mine to test it for potential extensions of zinc-lead-silver-copper mineralisation.
Erris said it gained an access to the old underground workings, where it cleared and reopened two portals. The company said that the mine is in the good shape and it believes to provide safe working condition for underground drilling operations.
The underground drill programme is planned to target mineralisation at depth and to the south of the historic workings. The aim of both, surface and underground drilling programmes, is to deliver a new mineral resource that could eventually be accessible from the existing underground portal.
"We are excited to have started brownfields exploration in and around the old Abbeytown Mine and surrounding targets," said Chief Executive Merlin Maee-Johnson.
Elsewhere, the company said the regional early stage drilling at Skreen mine in Ireland demonstrated the presence of mineralisation within the target area. However, it did not show economic potential, thus, the focus of work will remain around Abbeytown, Erris said.
The stock was trading 9.7% lower at 14.00 pence per share on Thursday.