Gold mine given its final go-ahead
Cononish gold mine at Tyndrum has got the final goahead to start production.
Scotgold was given the news from Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park bosses that the company had satisfied all 19 conditions it needed to meet before being allowed to start work.
Richard Gray, chief executive of Scotgold said: ‘I’m pleased to say that we’ve had the green light and we are going into production after getting confirmation from the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Planning Authority that all of the 19 pre-start conditions and other obligations, relating to our planning application have been met.’
‘As a consequence the company’s subsidiary, SGZ Cononish Ltd, will initiate development activities at its Cononish gold and silver project,’ he added.
National park bosses unanimously approved revised plans for the gold mine at Tyndrum back in February, subject to the list of conditions being met.
Mr Gray said: ‘While the complexity of this process has resulted in an extended timeline, Cononish can now move forward into the development phase with a more thorough understanding of the issues of concern. We are delighted to have reached this point and are looking forward to a very exciting 2019, bringing the Cononish project into production.
‘We can now put our implementation plans into action and anticipate the first rock-breaking activities at the Cononish mine portal starting early in the new year. We hope our many stakeholders will follow us on this journey, culminating in first gold production planned for end of 2019,’ Mr Gray added.
The official start date for working on the tunnel to reach the gold is January 7, Mr Gray told The Oban Times.
‘We already have the first crew on-site putting up fences and tidying up the road. The main machinery is also on-site. We have a core crew ready to rock and roll. We will soon start to recruit for the second shift of workers, another half a dozen guys.
‘It will take about six months to get to where the gold is.
‘We will order the processing plant to arrive in the autumn then start recruiting for that shift.
‘By this time next year, when we’re eating Christmas pudding, we should have gold in our hands,’ he said.