£1 BILLION GOLDRUSH

Ambitious plan to exploit 15 Scots mines

SCOTLAND is set to benefit from a billion-pound gold rush under a plan to exploit the country’s abundant resources of the precious metal.

Fifteen sites have been identified for mining, which could rake in a fortune for public coffers.

The gold mining scheme is contained in the first business plan for the newlycreated Crown Estate Scotland.

Mining firm Scotgold is preparing to start drilling in Cononish near Tyndrum, Perthshire, where it estimates there are stocks worth £200 million.

A further 14 sites have been identified, stretching from the Rhins of Galloway to Alford in Aberdeenshire, and Crown Estate Scotland believes gold could become an export to rival whisky and salmon.

The Cononish site was opened up in the 1980s but until now full scale mining has never got off the ground there, or anywhere in Scotland.

Richard Gray, managing director of Scotgold, said the landscape makes access difficult. He added: ‘You can’t just drive up to the sites. People have been put off by the cost.’

Scotgold estimates Cononish could yield 200,000 ounces. Because it is so rare, Scottish gold sells at over £4,500 an ounce, but that is forecast to fall to the global price of just under £1,000.

If only a third of the other sites identified in Scotland have a similar amount of gold to Cononish, the sector will pass the billion pound mark.

Scotgold has lease options with Crown Estate Scotland for five other sites at Glen Lyon, Perthshire, Glen Orchy, Inverliever, Knapdale, all Argyll, and the Ochil Hills near Stirling.

They lie on the Dalradian Belt, a geological strip that stretches from Northern Ireland, where one mine was found to contain 3.5 million ounces of gold – 17 times more than at Cononish. ‘There’s no reason to believe there’s less in Scotland,’ Mr Gray said. ‘Our vision is this is the start of a Scottish gold mining industry.’

Scotgold is already in talks with Orkney jewellery designer Sheila Fleet.

The Edinburgh Assay Office will track the gold from mine to jeweller, and verify it as Scottish. Jewellery will be marked by a tiny stag.

Fiona Simpson, Crown Estate Scotland asset manager, said: ‘Scotland’s salmon and whisky are exported around the globe – we want Scottish gold to become world-famous too, boosting our economy and attracting investment.’