Conroy Diamonds and Gold may seek venture partner

CONROY DIAMONDS and Gold may seek an international joint venture partner within 12 months to help bring its increasingly promising gold reserves in Ireland into production.

Group chairman Professor Richard Conroy, a key figure in the discovery of the Galmoy zinc mine in Co Kilkenny, said this “was one option under consideration by the board of directors”.

The group met yesterday to ratify the issuing of 14.85m shares at 4p per share raising £594,000 (€859,000) for its exploration projects. Shareholders passed a resolution at an extraordinary general meeting to that effect yesterday.

Prof Conroy told shareholders that the option of going it alone was also on the table.

Prof Conroy said gold has risen in price quite sharply to over $500 an ounce compared with $250 not too long ago.

For a gold mine to be commercial a price of $300 an ounce is required and the market is delivering well above that price cut-off point at this stage, he said.

The other factor driving the move is that the company could hope to progress the mine quicker if it got a top international player involved. While no approaches have been made, Prof Conroy said “the markets would be aware that we are open to a joint venture”.

If a deal is done then the group’s ore body, which has been extended significantly through a series of drilling programmes, could be in operation within three to five years, said Prof Conroy.

The company has continued to identify new sources of gold in the central structural zone, which lies mid-way between the Company’s Armagh-Monaghan Gold Belt and its Slieve Glah prospect 45km to the south-west.

As of now the fault lines run for about seven kilometres which opens up the prospect of significant added gold reserves as the drilling programme is extended further, said Prof Conroy.