Monitoring & Assessment: Assessment Publications

To obtain full details on the Mines report please visit Mines section under the GIS section of our website http://gis.epa.ie/GetData/Download.

The objectives of this work were:

• to identify any significant risks to the environment, including human and animal health risks, at these historic mine sites so that these risks ultimately can be managed and the sites made safe.
• to plan for the forthcoming EU Directive 2006/21/EC on the Management of Wastes from the Extractive Industries.

This Directive will, among other things, require EU Member States to prepare an inventory of closed waste facilities within their jurisdictions by 1st May 2012. The HMS-IRC project assists Ireland to comply with Article 20 of the European Directive. The inventory does not include closed stone, sand and gravel quarries, which also require management under the Directive.

Volume I of the HMS-IRC project addresses the Geochemical Characteristics and Environmental Matters of Ireland's historic mines. A total of 32 mine sites and districts were investigated. Of these 27 mine sites/districts (encompassing 82 individual sites) were scored relative to each other. It is important to note that this is not a risk assessment, but rather the sites have been ranked on a risk basis so as to determine a relative ranking for possible future actions.

The project has resulted in the most comprehensive inventory of historic mines in Ireland that includes a detailed geochemical analysis. It gathers together all the existing information on historic mine sites in Ireland along with significant new information derived from site investigations that will point the way towards future rehabilitation work on mines in Ireland.