The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Perthshire gold rush could net £300 million
Sites south of Loch Tay estimated to contain 250,000 ounces
Gold worth £300 million is to be mined from the hills of Perthshire.
Mining firm Erris Resources acquired sites south of Loch Tay yesterday and said there is “excellent potential” to dig out gold in the area.
It is hoped drilling will start shortly and 250,000 ounces of the precious metal are being targeted.
Erris chief executive Anton du Plessis said the area around the village of Ardtalnaig and a site it refers to as Glen Almond, located four miles south, were “highly prospective” for gold.
A sample taken from a historical mine at Ardtalnaig returned the presence of gold, silver, lead and zinc.
Looking ahead to the project, Mr du Plessis said: “Located in a well-mineralised district, our focus is now on advancing the project to initial drill-testing, targeting 250,000 oz gold.”
He added it is similar to the goal for Cononish, near Tyndrum, where a gold mine is likely to be in production soon.
Gold worth £300 million could be extracted from hills in Perthshire over the next four years.
Erris Resources believes there is “excellent potential” in prospecting for gold in sites to the south of Loch Tay.
It plans to start drilling shortly with the aim of finding 250,000oz of gold.
The firm’s licence covers an area of more than 90 square miles but its focus is on the village of Ardtalnaig and a site it refers to as Glen Almond, located four miles south.
A sample taken from a historic mine at Ardtalnaig returned the presence of gold, silver, lead and zinc.
Meanwhile, at Glen Almond two “high-grade” samples of gold have been found, which the firm describes as “very encouraging”.
Chief executive Anton du Plessis said the area was “highly prospective” for gold as he revealed Erris Resources had acquired 80% of the Loch Tay project from GreenOre Gold yesterday.
He said: “New results received and further fieldwork carried out when weather permitted over the past month have been very successful in expanding the gold potential of the project’s key targets, Ardtalnaig and Glen Almond.”
A team from Leeds University found a 10g gold nugget in July. The same project found 77 fine grains of gold while panning further downstream.
The exploration sites are 25 miles from Scotgold’s mine at Cononish near Tyndrum, which is also close to starting production. Mr du Plessis said the next stage of the project is drill testing with the aim of extracting 250,000 ounces of gold valued at just under £300m.
“Located in a well-mineralised district, our focus is now on advancing the project to initial drill-testing, targeting 250,000oz of gold, which is a similar scale to the Cononish resource where a gold mine is expected to be in production soon.
“The current mapped footprint of mineralisation and alteration certainly shows this potential. The early success in locating new outcropping high-grade gold mineralisation is very encouraging as the company prepares to explore the area.”
Last April, police were called to chase away alleged gold prospectors panning for nuggets at the Birks of Aberfeldy, sparking fears for a summer gold rush.
The area was the scene of a minigold rush in the early 2000s, thought to have been triggered by a rumour about Aberfeldy gold at a prospectors’ convention.
Gold mining is a fascinating business and one that has caused eyes to light up for centuries. The news of nuggets worth £300 million lying in the sleepy hills of west Perthshire may tempt treasure hunters, as it did in Fife way back in 1852.
But gold diggers beware, when alleged prospectors went panning for nuggets in the Birks of Aberfeldy last year, they were quickly chased away by police.
With literal treasure at stake, you can be sure landowners will be doing all they can to guard the sites.