Ovoca Resources has ended its joint venture with the Canadian group Paramount Ventures, and now plans to fund its own exploration costs, including the evaluation of the Keel base metal prospect in Co Longford.

Under the terms of the joint venture, which was announced last March, Paramount was to spend £1.9 million on exploration on Ovoca prospecting licences. If there had been a successful find, Paramount would have taken over control of the operations with Ovoca's interest being reduced to 25 per cent at an early stage.

In his interim report, Ovoca chairman Mr Paul Smithwick says that the board has now decided not to go ahead with the joint venture and that it would be "more appropriate for Ovoca to fund its own exploration activities for the foreseeable future".

Mr Smithwick also said Ovoca is to end its overseas interest - which are mainly concentrated in Russia - and concentrate on the group's exploration activities in Ireland. Ovoca has 18 prospecting licences and plans to drill on some of these licences in the next few months.

He added that preliminary evaluation of the Keel deposit suggests that at present zinc prices, "the deposit might well be profitably mined". He said, however, that a full feasibility study is required to completely assess the deposit.

Keel has established reserves of 5 million tonnes of ore, grading 6.85 per cent zinc and 1.04 per cent lead although it is thought that there is potential to extend these reserves.