1964 - Tara begins to drill for ore outside Navan, Co Meath.
September 1975 - The minister for industry and commerce, Mr Justin Keating, grants a 25-year lease to Tara Mines to mine the lead-zinc orebody outside Navan, Co Meath. The State is given a 25 per cent shareholding and 4.5 per cent royalty on taxable profits.
January 1978 - Commercial production begins at the mine.
1981-82 - Seven-month strike hits the mine.
1982 - Tara asks its shareholders for more equity capital to ensure the mine's continuing financial viability. The State agrees to extend the lease by 10 years.
February 1986 - Finnish state-owned mining company Outokumpu buys 75 per cent of Tara's ordinary share capital and 100 per cent of the preference share capital for approximately £72.9 million from major international mining groups Noranda and Northgate, which control Tara.
April 1989 - The State sells its shareholding and royalty entitlement to Outokumpu for $50 million, leaving the Finns as outright owners. One-third of the $50 million is to cover royalties. According to figures issued by the Department of Energy at the time the State shareholding is sold, Tara Mines has lost money in seven out of the 11 years from 1978 to 1989.
November 1994 - Tara Mines issues protective notice to workers as 53 development miners start industrial action.
July 1996 - Tara Mines seeks job cuts of between 120 and 150 in a move to regain competitiveness.
January 1998 - Nearly 300 SIPTU members vote by two to one to reject radical changes in work practices by miners and general operatives. Management had said the mine faced a serious risk of closure if the changes were not implemented.
February 1998 - After 19 months of negotiation, management and unions at Tara Mines reach agreement on a cost-efficiency programme. SIPTU says the deal secures the future of the mining operation for the next 10 years.
May-June 1999 - Talks on a cost-cutting plan to save more than 600 jobs at Tara Mines break down. Tara Mines formally agrees to defer introduction of its controversial survival plan to allow Labour Court intervention.
In late June it issues one-day protective notices to 630 workers, as it awaits a Labour Court recommendation.
The court opts for the unions' proposals to make the plant viable, but with the proviso that the company's own survival plan be accepted unconditionally by the workforce if cost-saving targets are not met within three months.
October 2000 - Miners at Tara Mines are balloted for strike action following the introduction of more contract workers at the plant.
November 2000 - Tara Mines begins notifying 600 employees that its lead-zinc plant is being put on a "care and maintenance" basis because of strike action by miners over the use of contract workers.
November 2001 - Tara closes for three months, forcing its workers into temporary redundancy.