Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his amendment. I very much concur with the general intent behind it. As I understand it, it is to encourage industry and the Government to focus on whatever opportunities there may be to extract minerals from existing mine waste at abandoned mine sites, thus supporting the concept of the circular economy. Under existing minerals legislation, State mining leases require the lessee to fully work minerals under the lease terms. The modern mines at Navan, Lisheen and Galmoy are and were better equipped to extract the full mineral potential of the mine material than older mine sites.

There is some industry interest in the reworking of mine waste on legacy mine sites, but it is at an early stage and will be driven by the economic potential. In 2015 the Geological Survey of Ireland commissioned a short-call project entitled, An Economic Assessment of Irish Mining Waste, which was undertaken by Aurum Exploration Services. The project aimed to analyse samples from mine waste sites across Ireland, with the emphasis on their economic potential. A total of nine districts from the historical mine sites project were selected, namely, Abbeytown, Avoca, Caim, Clare, Donegal, Glendalough, Gortdrum, Silvermines and Tynagh. Avoca returned the most positive results, particularly the spoil heaps in which elevated gold, silver, copper and rare earth elements were detected. The study recommended further analysis of waste dumps at Avoca. Unfortunately, the majority of historical mine sites sampled were reported to have no economic value.

The provisions of the Bill facilitate the potential reuse of abandoned mines and associated waste. The definition of minerals in section 2 includes "all substances, including scheduled minerals, that occur naturally in or on land, or that occur in extractive waste". The primary responsibility for mineral resources development lies with my Department rather than the EPA per se. While I cannot accept the amendment, as drafted, perhaps further engagement on this issue in advance of Report Stage might be merited.