A new survey has found more platinum, gold and precious metals in Irish streams and rivers than previously thought.
A programme from the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) applied modern testing methods to stream samples collected in the 1980s.
The most notable levels of platinum are found mainly in the southeast, in the towns of Aughrim and Tinahely on the Wicklow-Wexford border.
Rarer than gold, the GSI says the discovery of platinum is "of particular interest", as it has never before been analysed in stream sediment from this region.
As well as being used in jewellery, platinum has industrial use in electronics, medical applications and catalytic converters in cars.
The survey also re-confirms high levels of gold in streams near the Goldmines River and Avoca regions of Wicklow.
Source: Geological Survey of Ireland
'Zone of gold' in Wicklow
While it also identified high gold values in streams that flow across and along the edges of the Leinster granite - an area long thought to be a source for gold mineralisation.
High gold values in streams have also been identified in Waterford - in the Dungarvan to Stradbally area, locally known as the 'Gold Coast' - and is thought to be sourced from 450 million-year-old volcanic rocks.
The recently re-analysed data also highlights a broad zone of gold in Wicklow north of the Sugar Loaf region, where only small traces have been found previously.
"It is hoped that this new data, along with additional data from samples due to be released later this year, will offer a fresh perspective of Ireland's natural resources with the scope for further exploration attracting additional inward investment", the GSI adds.
It aims to have surveyed 50% of the country by the end of 2017, and has plans to complete national surveying in the coming years.
