Shock and ore: new gold rush gets under way in secret Scottish glen

THE Scottish company which was refused permission to open a gold mine in a national park has made "encouraging" new discoveries in a remote glen close to the park's borders, it was revealed in a surprise announcement yesterday.

• Chris Sangster CEO of Scotgold

Three months ago the board of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park threw out an application by Perth-based Scotgold Resources to reopen the Cononish gold mine, near Tyndrum, which had been abandoned in 1997.

The company was seeking permission to extract 72,000 tonnes of ore annually for up to ten years at the disused mine, but Scotgold's application was refused on the grounds that the potential economic benefits could not be balanced against conservation concerns.

But it has emerged that the company has discovered new gold deposits in another glen, three miles from the Cononish mine site and outside the park boundary. The new discoveries have been made in the Beinn Udlaidh area to the north west of the abandoned mine.

In an announcement to the Stock Exchange yesterday, Chris Sangster, the managing director of Scotgold, reported that mapping and sampling of the rock outcrop exposed in the River Orchy "continued to identify veins and zones with high-grade gold mineralisation."

He said: "The river vein prospect is located in the Beinn Udlaidh area, five kilometres northwest of the Cononish gold and silver deposit and outside the boundaries of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

"Scotgold is very encouraged by these high-grade assays. Although exploration in the area is still at an early stage, the results continue to highlight the potential of the river vein prospect to host high-grade, narrow vein gold and silver deposits. Scotgold's immediate objective is to map out more fully the distribution of the high-grade gold mineralisation and to determine the orientation of any possible extensions under the adjoining glacial till cover.

"Exploration activities in the area are currently hampered by the high water levels in the River Orchy. Further sampling into the high-grade outcrops will be undertaken when the water level has dropped."

Mr Sangster said that gold had been found in a vein cutting through the banks and bed of the River Orchy. He said: "We have only found the vein in a relatively restricted part. The next phase would be to see whether the vein extends any further."

Last month the company reiterated its case for the Cononish mine, saying it had the potential to harvest up to 163,000 ounces of gold and 596,000 of silver.