Gold deposits deep in a Scottish hillside could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds, it has been revealed.
Experts predicted a “mini gold-rush” in the Stirlingshire wilderness after recent testing produced positive results.
But the plans for Scotland’s first commercial gold mine, at Coninish, near Tyndrum, face green opposition.
The John Muir Trust opposed final approval of the mine in 2018 over concerns about the scale of waste rock that will be left after it is closed.
While Mountaineering Scotland said the development would be such an eyesore that the effect on the glen “would be devastating.”
Speaking to the Financial Times about the current situation, Richard Gray, boss of Scotgold Resources, the company that took over the Coninish operation in 2007, said:
“It sounds a bit presumptuous and grandiose, but we do see this as being the start of a gold mining industry in Scotland.
“I think there will be a sort of mini gold rush, potentially, in the years to come.”
And he added: “This thing will be a cash cow.
“Mining companies have had challenges in the recent past over raising development-stage financing, but once companies have their own positive cash flows, it opens up more opportunities.”
The drive to find has repeatedly been dashed since the first efforts to mine the mountain, Beinn Chùirn, in the 1980s.
Gold panning has a long history in Scotland but investor doubts and green challenges have hit plans for commercial mining.
But Scotgold has recently widened and is extending the previously abandoned tunnel that runs a kilometre into the mountain at Coninish.
A processing plant is to be built on a plateau being carved out of the mountain and gold production is set to start in May.
The mine’s planned production over nine years of 175,762 ounces of gold - worth more than £200m at current prices - was not enough to attract new investors.
And it was only after experts processed 7000 tonnes of ore left on site from the original tunnel that Scotgold attracted enough funding to start digging again.
Another prospecting company, Erris Resources, last month announced a deal to acquire exploration rights in the Scottish Highlands.
They say there is “excellent potential” for finding gold in the area of Loch Tay.
A sample taken from an abandoned mine at Ardtalnaig contained gold, silver, lead and zinc.
While at nearby Glen Almond two “high grade” gold samples were found, which the firm described as “very encouraging.”
