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Britain’s only underground gold mine to reopen in Scotland
A Scottish mining company has put wheels in motion to begin extracting an estimated 200,000 oz of gold at Cononish Mine, in the village of Tyndrum from April next year.
Scotgold Resources Ltd has backing from Australian investors and hopes that the venture will also bring jobs to the local area in the southern Highlands.
John Riley, chairman of Strathfillan community council, has said: “We live in a tourist economy and with the general economy being affected by the rising price of fuel and everything else right now, we don’t want to be too reliant on that.
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“Work in the tourism industry tends to be cyclical, which causes problems with people having no work off-season.
“The gold mine opening would solve some of these problems and provide the opportunity of skilled work for a long time.”
Scotgold Resources has been producing precious metals above ground for the past year.
The gold mine opening would solve some of these problems
John Riley, chairman of Strathfillan community council
The company has generated 2,400 tonnes of ore stockpiled from the 1980s, but supply is now dwindling.
The current gold production is due to be distributed to two of Scotland’s pre-eminent manufacturing jewellers.
By reopening the mine, Scotgold Resources believes it will be able to tap into a whopping 560,000 tonnes of ore from an underground quarts vein carrying both gold and silver.
Met Office forecasters say the northern hills are most likely to see snow as the cold weather moves into England over the next 36 hours
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People walk through a snow shower along Grampian Road in Aviemore, Scotland,as the blast of Arctic weather that has brought snow to northern Scotland begins to move south
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Cononish Mine, in the village of Tyndrum contains an estimated 200,000 oz of gold
It is hoped it will attract both tourists and couples wanting niche Scottish gold wedding and engagement rings.
Following the rules of the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority, the company has now submitted a Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) – a precursor to a planning application.
The National Park Authority said: “The PAN gives the Authority formal notice of the intention to apply and that the applicant will initiate a mandatory Pre-Application Consultation, including events to inform the public and gather feedback prior to submitting a planning application.
PAUL JACOBS/PICTUREEXCLUSIVE.COM
Scotgold Resources Ltd has backing from Australian investors and hopes to bring jobs to the area
“A report on this public consultation and any amendments to the plans resulting from the consultation are required to be submitted with the planning application.
“Once the Planning Application is received it will be considered through the standard procedures of the National Park Authority.”
Last November Scotgold raised almost £46,000 by auctioning off 10 gold coins to collectors and enthusiasts.
The sold coins were all embossed with a stag’s head and weighed one ounce.
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Scotgold hopes to tap into veins containing thousands of tonnes of god and silver ore
Graham Donaldson, from Christchurch in Dorset snapped one up for £21,003.
He said he was going to “look at it, stroke it and put it in a safe place”.
Richard Gray, Scotgold Resources’ managing director, added: “The quantum [price] is nice, but the most important thing is to raise people’s awareness of Scottish gold and to highlight the fact that more gold sales are coming.”
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