BY ADRIAN MULLALN
APPROXIMATELY ten new and well-paid jobs are being created as gold-mining company, Omagh Minerals Limited, switches from a 24-hour/four-day week to a 24/7 schedule. The move follows positive developments in recent drilling operations of 230 metres which have found sections containing indications of 22 grams per tonne, and coincides with a 20-year high in gold, silver and lead prices.
Exploration of the 'Kearney Deposit' at Cavanacaw has shown that gold and associated minerals occur in multiple mineralised quartz veins, interpreted to be structurally controlled within a zone of strong north-south shearing. Up to three principal veins make up the Kearney Zone where vein thicknesses range between 0.1 metres and 3.2 metres (true width) and are characterised by gold-silver-lead-pyrite mineralisation.
President and chief executive of Galantas, (the mother company), Roland Phelps, told the UH that it has long been part of the company's plans to expand and that now, those plans can come to fruition.
"It was a question of timing. Also you need good people and there are a lot of good people out there, but they need training," said Mr Phelps.
He said that the Cavanacaw mine is currently producing around 30,000 ounces of gold per annum, and with gold fetching $780 per ounce on the open market, that means there is considerable potential for the company.
He said that establishing Ireland's only gold mine had taken longer and was more expensive than anticipated but that things were going really well now.
Omagh Minerals Ltd uses a processes known as froth flotation which involves grinding the ore to a fine slurry to extract gold deposits. This is considered a "clean" process because it does not use contaminants such as cyanide.
Nick Hardy, manager of the Cavanacaw site commented, "The extraction process is very safe and does not involve the use of cyanide. It is a great step forward to be taking the plant to 24x7 productivity and will mean creating more local well-paid jobs."
Currently 30 people are employed by Omagh Minerals but already the ten new posts are being advertised.
Mr Phelps said, "If we find enough ore we might be putting in an underground mine."
He said the jobs created would be in the mining and processing part of the operation.
The company recently completed a deal with Falconbridge Ltd, a subsidiary of Xstrata plc (Falconbridge) which means that Galantas Gold will be a feature of many high street jewellers, from mid-November onwards. Currently Hazel Allen and Jack Murphy are stockists.
