ADDRESS BY MR SEÁN KYNE T.D. Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources

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1 ADDRESS BY MR SEÁN KYNE T.D. Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources IRISH MINING & QUARRYING SOCIETY ANNUAL DINNER SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2016 A dhaoine uaisle, mar Aire Stáit ag an Roinn Cumarsáide, Gníomhaithe ar soon ne haeráide agus Comhshoil, is mór an onóir dom agus tá áthas mór orm fáilte a chur romhaibh go léir anseo anocht. Good evening distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to be here tonight to address the Irish Mining and Quarrying Society on the occasion of the Society s annual dinner and in my capacity as Minister with responsibility for Natural Resources. I am very much aware of the work the Society does, but understand that tonight is a social event, so I will do my best not to keep you too long from enjoying the festivities. I wish to express my gratitude to Mr. Brendan Morris, President of the Society for his kind invitation to this event. I would like to extend a warm welcome to our visitors from Northern Ireland: To Sam Eccles and David Johnston, Chairman and Secretary of the Institute of Quarrying, Northern Ireland to Gordon Best of the Quarry Products Association of Northern Ireland. Also with us this evening are Gerry Farrell, DG of the Irish Concrete Federation, and Pat Griffin of the Health and Safety Authority. Marie Fleming, President of Institute of Geologists of Ireland and Matthew Mawson, President of the Irish Association of Economic Geology. From my own Department we have Director of the Geological Survey, Koen Verbruggen and Dr Eibhlín Doyle, Chief Geologist of the Exploration and Mining Division.

2 The extractive industry makes a significant contribution to the economy and as Minister I want to maintain and promote a vibrant minerals industry which is both sustainable and contributes to jobs and economic growth. Importantly the jobs in this sector are regionally based and this is significant for its contribution to many rural areas and local economies. In terms of industrial minerals, Irish Gypsum Ltd, a subsidiary of French multi-national Saint Gobain, continued production from its underground mine at Drummond, Co. Monaghan. Gypsum industries are well established and have been manufacturing in Ireland since Approximately, 250kt of gypsum was produced in 2015 which fed the company s production facility at Kingscourt, Co. Cavan. Boliden Tara Mines Limited continues to produce zinc and lead concentrate from the Navan mine. Ireland has fallen from Europe s top producer of zinc metal in concentrate to second place in the first half of this year. This position is maintained by one mine and is testament to the size and effectiveness of the Boliden Tara Mines. Galmoy and Lisheen mines have come to the end of their natural life, however in their closure Ireland has been leading the way in demonstrating best practice in mine remediation. Both mines have developed a robust and sustainable closure plan with the tailings facilities being remediated for agricultural use along with an enhancement of the biodiversity for the area. In addition, Galmoy has attracted new a business to the site and Lisheen are working towards that also. These long term positive outcomes will reflect positively on the industry into the future.

3 Ireland continues outperform in a number of areas, none more so than in mine rescue competitions. I would like to congratulate Boliden Tara Mines rescue team who represented Ireland at the 2016 International mines rescue competition in Sudbury in Canada for the first time and came second in the overall competition being awarded a silver medal in the category of Best Overall Team Some 28 teams representing 13 nations took part in the competition. This is no mean feat and is an indication of the amazing dedication, professionalism and skill to all involved in the Mine Rescue Training in Tara. Once again our administrative regime was ranked highly in the Annual Survey of Mining Companies conducted by the Fraser Institute of Canada for 2015, which ranked Ireland 4th in the overall Investment Attractiveness Index of 109 jurisdictions, On the Policy Perception Index which ranks the attractiveness of Government mining policies to industry, Ireland ranked an impressive first place for the third successive year. This does not mean we can be complacent. While Boliden Tara Mines continues to be the largest mine of its type in Europe and will, I hope, carry on into the next decade, Galmoy mine and Lisheen mines have both closed. We need to ensure that the search continues for new resources and I am glad to say that minerals exploration is very active with numbers of active prospecting licence, currently at 532 and over 150 applications currently being processed by Exploration and Mining Division. There is also interest in other minerals such as gold, silver, copper, iron, molybdenum, lithium and tungsten.

4 The Minerals Development Bill which consolidates and updates our statutory framework should further strengthen Ireland s good standing as a place to do business. The Bill was published in July 2015 and will, when enacted, codify best practice procedures for exploration and mining. The Bill has completed all stages in the Seanad. The IMQS also represents the aggregate extractive industries also. In this regard, I am glad to see a solid rise in activity at Irish construction firms during the year, with a a strong start to the final quarter of the year, with activity, new orders and employment all increasing at faster rates in October, according to the latest Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). My Department continues to commit to complete the Tellus project. The Geological Survey manages this project and by the end of this year will have completed coverage of 40% of the country. The Geological Survey is currently undertaking a stakeholder consultation on planning the next phases of this ambitious project and is engaging with industrial partners on possible co-funding opportunities. The Waterford airborne survey I launched earlier this Year at the Copper Coast UNESCO Global Geopark was a great example of government and industry collaboration in geoscience data collection. The geochemical and geophysical data for the Tellus Programme are available free of charge on line and I know many of you have already used and will continue to use this exciting and informative data. The Geoscience Ireland business cluster is also supported by my Department through the Geological Survey and Enterprise Ireland. Geoscience Ireland is now a network of 28

5 consultants and contractors, some of whom are here tonight, which is delivering integrated expertise in water, minerals, environmental and infrastructure development to clients in over 50 countries. These companies now have a combined turnover of 310 million and have created over 300 new jobs in the last three years. I am delighted to see this collaborative approach among Irish companies and across Departments and agencies continue to develop and provide benefits for the companies and employees involved. My Department is also actively supporting the recently established Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geoscience (icrag), with data. I understand that this centre includes research into minerals and aggregates and I welcome this application of latest thinking to your industry. Importantly, this work also aligns with endeavours within my own department in areas such as European Mineral projects and the critical topic of Social Licence to Operate. Indeed I am aware that the issue of achieving social acceptance and understanding for your industry and for my own Department s work on geoscience is vital, and we are committed to this process in all aspects of our work from Tellus outreach to our stands at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition and The Ploughing. I would like to thank the IMQS for the opportunity to address its membership and to acknowledge the important work of both the Society and its members in fostering sustainable development in the extractive industries. I wish you all health and happiness in the coming Christmas season and continued success in the New Year.

6 Thank you END