§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the quality and extent of lignite resources confirmed in the Ballymoney area of Co. Antrim.
§ Mr. AtkinsConsultants have, on behalf of the Department of Economic Development, carried out an initial study which estimated a lignite resource at Ballymoney of almost 350 million tonnes. The licensee has carried out more extensive prospecting work and estimates the total resource to exceed 600 million tonnes. In general terms, lignite has an energy value approximately one third of that of hard coal. Precise details on the quality of the Ballymoney resource are commercially confidential.