Gold production in Ireland during 17th to 20th century

Although the only record of significant gold production in Ireland is from the Gold Mines River, there are a number of historical references to the working of gold or to its occurrence. Alluvial gold is recorded from the Moyola River in Northern Ireland in1652 and from Avoca, where it was associated with copper ore in 1753). In 1889 a number of minor gold occurrences were recorded by G.A. Kinahan, including localities in Co. Antrim in northeast Ireland, and Co. Cork in southwest Ireland, where gold is found in the gossans of copper lodes. During the early part of this century minor gold occurrences were recorded at several more localities in northwestern and southeastern Ireland. Subsequently, in 1957 at Clontibret, during a re-evaluation of an old antimony mine, high gold values were obtained from a stibnite-arsenopyrite vein. Despite the fact that these many minor occurrences were known, there was no systematic gold exploration undertaken in the country, almost certainly because of the perceived lack of potential for significant gold deposits.

However, the discovery in Northern Ireland of the Curraghinalt gold deposit in 1982 resulted in a wave of gold exploration in the 1980s, with attention largely focused on vein-hosted targets in Dalradian and Lower Palaeozoic terrain. While this work has resulted in a number of significant discoveries, major deposits have so far proved elusive.

In 1795 the existence of alluvial gold in a minor river in Co. Wicklow became generally known. A local gold rush ensued and lasted for six weeks during which some 80kg of gold is estimated to have been recovered from what subsequently became known as the Gold Mines River. The Government then stepped in and dispersed the gold
diggers. Subsequently mining was carried out by the Government (1796 - 1803), again by the local populace (1804 - 39), and by a private company (1860). Significant amounts of gold were extracted during these periods, but since then only very small amounts are nown to have been recovered. The total amount of gold recovered is calculated at some 300kg, although the true figure may be higher. While most of the gold occurs as free particles, grains and nuggets (up to 0.75kg) have been found. Attempts were made to trace the bedrock source of the gold, with no success. The most recently-proposed theory
is that most of the gold is derived from iron-copper mineralization hosted in Ordovician acid volcanics.