earth science

Lisheen Mine

Lisheen Mine is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lisheen Mine rather than just read about it. In short: Lisheen Mine is a former lead-zinc-silver mine located between the villages of Moyne and Templetuohy in County Tipperary, Ireland. In the Rathdowney Trend, Lisheen was an underground mine where the Lisheen deposit lies at an average depth of 170 metres (560 feet) below surface.

Key takeaways

Lisheen Mine belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lisheen Mine to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lisheen Mine from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lisheen Mine is a former lead-zinc-silver mine located between the villages of Moyne and Templetuohy in County Tipperary, Ireland. In the Rathdowney Trend, Lisheen was an underground mine where the Lisheen deposit lies at an average depth of 170 metres (560 feet) below surface. The mine closed in 2015.

Accidents and incidents The Lisheen Mine had two fatal accidents within two years. The first was an explosion in April 2011, and the second occurred on 4 April 2013 when a roof collapsed. In each case, a man died.

History The Lisheen Deposit was discovered in April 1990 by Murray Hitzman who at the time was working for Chevron. A full feasibility study was conducted by SRK, Kilborn, and Kelsey Engineering and development of the mine began in 1997. In September 1999 the first (production) ore was brought to the surface and in December the first shipment of Zinc concentrates departed from the Port of Cork. Lisheen was expected to produce approximately 4.83 million dry metric tonnes of zinc and lead concentrates over the estimated 14-year lifespan of the mine. The mine was accessed via a 1.5 kilometre long decline, at –15%, 6.3 metres wide by 5 metres high. Underground drilling rigs bore holes in the ore face, which were charged with explosives and fired. The resultant broken ore was removed by large Load Haul Dump (LHD) machines and loaded into trucks which transported the ore to the crusher. The ore was first emptied onto 'grizzly' bars which prevent oversized material from entering the crushing chamber before being fed into the underground crusher. Approximately 6,300 tonnes of ore-grade material was transported daily via a conveyor system from the mine to the surface where it was stored in a covered stockpile of approximately 12,000 tonnes live capacity prior to processing in the Concentrator plant. Following various process the concentrate was then trucked south to Cork for onward shipment to various customers. Until its closure, the mine was owned and operated by Vedanta Resources Zinc International, being acquired from Anglo American in 2011. In total, 22.4 million tonnes of ore were produced, at an average grade of 11.63% zinc, 1.96% lead and 26 ppm silver.

See also Judkin-Fitzgerald Baronets, of Lisheen (1801) Sedimentary exhalative deposits Ore genesis Mining Tara Mine Galmoy Mine

References

External links Infomine.com profile of the site

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lisheen Mine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lisheen Mine claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lisheen Mine before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lisheen Mine ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lisheen Mine

In research: Lisheen Mine appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lisheen Mine in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lisheen Mine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics County Tipperary, County Tipperary geography stubs, Lead mines in the Republic of Ireland, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lisheen Mine outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lisheen Mine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lisheen Mine means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lisheen Mine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lisheen Mine in simple terms?

Why does Lisheen Mine matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lisheen Mine?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lisheen Mine.