Dalradian Gold has held several meet-the-buyer events on opportunities at the proposed £750 million gold-silver-copper mine in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
PROTEST
The American company, backed by Orion Resource Partners, said that in recent months approximately 100 businesses had attended information sessions.
The mine plans, which have attracted more than 40,000 representations, are subject to a public inquiry ordered last year by infrastructure minister Nichola Mallon.
The Belfast Telegraph reported that protesters, who claim more than 37,000 people have objected to the plans, completed a three-day march in June to Stormont.
During 2020, a local resident started judicial review proceedings at the High Court.
CURRAGHINALT
The project lies in the Dalradian supergroup geological structure which stretches from Donegal on the Atlantic coast to the east coast of Scotland.
The Sperrin Mountains in Co. Tyrone is an outcrop of the supergroup along with the Grampian Mountains in the Scottish Highlands.
The Curraghinalt deposit has veins of gold that run through the rock where microscopic particles of gold are mixed into pyrite (iron sulphide).
Dalradian said its tests reveal an “unusually rich deposit” averaging 13.5 g/t which is more than five times the global average for gold mines. Copper and silver will also be extracted.
Construction of the mine, 13 miles from Omagh at Curraghinalt in Greencastle, is expected to take around 18 to 24 months with the whole project lasting 20 to 25 years.
Orion Resource Partners holds $6 billion under management, much of it from US-based institutions, and specialises in institutional metals and mining investment.