A CANADIAN exploration company planning to mine 3.5 million ounces of gold from land in Co Tyrone floated yesterday on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market in a bid to raise more working capital.
Toronto-headquartered Dalradian Resources owns the mineral rights for more than 80,000 hectares of land in an area which includes the Curraghinalt gold deposit outside Gortin, where it has been working since 2010.
The site has been identified as one of the top 10 undeveloped gold deposits by grade in the world and the company has already spent more than £40 million in the lead-up to possible mine construction.
Dalradian said the admission to AIM is in addition to its existing listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange and is part of a strategy to grow the business and make it more accessible to investors in the UK, Ireland and Europe.
"It's the next and proper step in the evolution of the company and provides easier access for local investors who want to join us in developing a modern and responsible gold mining industry in Northern Ireland," chief executive Patrick Anderson said.
Dalradian has 25 employees in Northern Ireland, and earlier this year it raised £22 million via the Toronto Stock Exchange to finance an under-ground exploration programme and development activities at the Gortin site.
It now intends to carry out a pre- feasibility study and environmental impact assessment before it submits a planning application to construct a mine at Curraghinalt.
Since commencing work there four years ago Dalradian has raised more than £60m, has completed 50,000 metres of drilling, three resource updates, two scoping studies, and has grown the size of the deposit six-fold.
As a result of this work, Curraghinalt was ranked seventh highest by grade of more than 500 undeveloped deposits globally. The deposit remains open and can grow in size, as the vein system continues beyond the scope of completed drilling.
"We expect to be in the ground digging early next year and hope to be in full production in three to four years," Mr Anderson said.
"We have developed mines all over the globe but are choosing to focus on the Curraghinalt deposit because it has the right combination of geology, infrastructure, workforce and a business-friendly government.
"The gold deposit has responded exactly as we'd hoped. As we've invested, it has grown, and the preliminary economic assessment is extremely positive. This share listing will raise us the capital to push forward with our ambitious growth plans."
Dalradian - which has so far benefitted from more than £320,000 of financial support from Invest NI - says that its underground mine in Tyrone has the capacity to produce 145,000 ounces of gold a year over the next two decades and the scheme has the potential to employ 300 workers.