Aim-listed Alba Minerals has been awarded the exclusive exploration rights over the Gwynfynydd mine – the second biggest producer of gold in the UK’s history after the Clogau-St Davids gold mine.
With this award, Alba now has the exclusive exploration rights over the entire length of the Dolgellau gold belt, in north Wales.
Gwynfynydd historically produced about 45 000 oz of gold at a mining grade of 15 g/t. Commercial operations at Gwynfynydd ceased in 1999 when the gold price was only about $300/oz.
“Gwynfynydd shares many of the same characteristics and the same geological setting as Clogau-St David's, and as such we intend to approach the exploration and development activities at Gwynfynydd in much the same way as we have done at Clogau, using all the tools in the extensive modern-day exploration tool-box, from underground 3D mine scanning to geochemical soil sampling, surface trenching, diamond drilling and bulk sampling,” executive chairperson George Frangeskides said on Friday.
Reuniting the two key mines in the Dolgellau gold field allows the company to roll out its regional exploration programme, which has identified about ten new gold targets over the Clogau licence area, to the Gwynfynydd licence area.