Sale of Scottish tycoon’s gold mining unit likely

THE Canadian gold mining group part-owned by Borders-based mining tycoon Harry Dobson yesterday said it would look at a potential sale of the company.

Harry Dobson began his mining career in Australia. Picture: David Moir

Kirkland Lake Gold, which has seen its market value drop sharply over the past year due to the falling value of gold, said it had launched a strategic review to look at ways to improve shareholder value.

A statement from the company said there could be no assurance that the process will result in any transaction.

“The company does not currently intend to disclose further developments with respect to this process unless and until the board reviews and approves the outcome of this review together with recommendations,” the group said.

Dobson is chairman of and owns 5.4 per cent of Kirkland, a stake worth around £6 million. A year ago his holding had been worth some £16m. As well as the heavy sell-offs seen in the gold market, Kirkland was hit by bad weather early last year, which delayed deliveries to a gold refinery.

After leaving school, Dobson – a farmer’s son from Lauder – went on a posting to the Solomon Islands with Voluntary Service Overseas where he first became interested in mining.

He began his mining career in Australia before moving to Canada where he worked for a broking company raising money for mining projects.

Through investing in a series of his own mining ventures, Dobson built up a fortune estimated at more than £200m and went on to invest in property and racehorses.