Scots gold mine plan moves closer

Scotgold believe there could be up to £70m worth of gold in the mine

Plans to open a gold mine in Scotland, creating 60 full-time jobs, have taken a step forward.

Operator Scotgold Resources Ltd is to take delivery of drilling equipment to begin mining operations near Tyndrum.

The machinery, from Chile in South America, will allow preliminary exploratory work to begin at the site, at Cononish.

The company is awaiting planning permission to extract £70m of gold from the land, which has never been mined.

Australian company Scotgold Resources Ltd bought the mine, 90km north of Glasgow, and other exploration licences from Fynegold Exploration last May, which cover 2,200 sq km of central Scotland.

Chief executive Chris Sangster said the company had searched carefully for the right tools to use in the mine, adding: "This is a rig that is relatively small, but obviously capable of what we want to do.

"It is able to be broken down to a number of relatively small pieces so that it can be transported up and down the mountain without causing too much disturbance."

He went on: "That rig was shipped from Chile via France and, I believe, about to arrive in Ireland either today or tomorrow to be delivered to our drilling contractors who will commission the rig and we would hope to be drilling in the next week or so."

Planning officials at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park are due to make a decision on the future of the gold mine soon.