“Management have agreed to explore alternatives with us,” said Mr Kane on Friday. “We will look with them at whatever operational issues they raise and discuss what alternatives there are to the temporary closure they announced this week.”
He said the Government had acknowledged the significance to the national economy of Tara Mines. Local representatives have spoken this week of the operation’s central importance to the community around Navan where it contributes to thousands of livelihoods. Energy is a major element of production costs, however, and rising electricity prices, combined with a significant fall in the world price of zinc, is understood to have had a major impact on its finances.