Investors urged to help miners strike gold

THE company behind Scotland's only commercial gold mine will this week seek to persuade investors to back a flotation worth up to £2 million on the Alternative Investment Market.

Scotgold Resources, which owns the mine at Tyndrum, joined the Australian stock exchange in 2007, and is now eyeing a dual listing by the end of the month to fund further exploration and development.

The company has applied for planning permission to extract gold from the Cononish mine in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

It is also searching for further gold and silver deposits in a vast area beyond the mine, covering 2,200 square kilometres.

Chris Sangster, Scotgold's chief executive, said that if the company receives permission to develop the Cononish mine, it will attempt to raise another 12m through bank debt and more share later offerings.

Scotgold bought the Cononish mine from Switzerland-based Oak Consortium in 2007 for 800,000.