IRELAND’S GOLDEN AGE CONTINUES

The history of gold in Ireland That partly explains why more flocked to the site. In just a few This is part of the reason why goes back millennia and beyond, Bronze Age gold finds have been weeks some 80 kilos of gold were environmental impacts will be with ancient tribes noted for made in Ireland than in any other recovered, with the largest nugget minimised during the operations their artistry in fashioning Celtic country. weighing 684 grams. phase. jewellery. Dalradian as a company takes After a month or so the river Dalradian is not only building on Ireland’s relationship with gold its name from a `super group was closed to prospectors by the engineering traditions of Tyrone stretches back as far as 2000 BC. of rocks’ that were formed up government decree. While the but in the gold-working of ancient The National Museum of Ireland has to 1,000 million years ago. The Wicklow gold rush might come as a Celts. a collection of gold works uncovered rocks contained underground surprise to the general public, it has in various digs, making the hoard at Curraghinalt are somewhere been well documented by historians In the modern era, gold mining is one of the most impressive in between 545 million years and and archaeologists. perceived as new to the island of Europe. 1,000 million years old, making Ireland. However, mining has been them some of the oldest rocks on The gold in the rocks in west Tyrone a feature of economic life on the The Celts made gold brooches to the island of Ireland. was created millions of years ago island of Ireland since the 1970s. signify authority. Torcs were also when hot fluids coursed through the important in Celtic goldwork and They are part of a formation which rocks, extracting minerals on the The Tara Mine in Navan, Co Meath, could sometimes symbolise Gods stretches down from north-west way. As the fluid travelled through is the largest zinc mine in Europe and aspects of Celtic mythology. Donegal to Omagh. In fact Northern the rocks, it cooled and deposited and has been operating for more In the past it was believed that the Ireland is richer in gold deposits the gold in veins, which run than 40 years, employing almost gold worked by the Celts came from than any other part of Ireland or below ground at our Curraghinalt 600 people and providing prosperity continental Europe, however some Scotland, England or Wales. side. That’s part of the reason and business opportunities to the historians believe the precious why extracting the gold today town and surrounding areas. The earliest historical record of gold metal may have come from the requires the latest technology and Likewise the Lisheen mine in Co Mourne Mountains. discovery in Northern Ireland was in engineering know-how. 1652 when alluvial gold was found Tipperary began operating in 1999, A 14-year-long study by in the Moyola River. The Ulster In order to get the gold out, ending operations in 2016, and archaeologists and geologists, Museum currently houses some Dalradian will have to use methods at its peak employed around 400 which ended in 2009, concluded of the gold nuggets found in the which are akin to key-hole surgery, people. that early Irish Bronze Age region over the centuries. using very exact and precise tools Our proposed underground mine is ornaments were “not only made of and measurements to do so. In 1795, when rumours of gold a part of Ireland’s rich tradition of Irish gold but probably of gold from gold and of Tyrone’s manufacturing Co. Down’s Mourne Mountains.” in a river in county Wicklow were reported, throngs of prospectors and engineering legacy. We are proud to be a part of that tradition.

Gold Bar from the exploration site at Curraghinalt Modern Replica of a Celtic Torc

DALRADIAN GOLD LTD. NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE 67 Main Street Gortin, World-class Mine County Tyrone, BT79 8NH Tel: 028 8164 8012 Email: [email protected] Jobs in Tyrone