A Highlands firm searching for gold in the hills of Aberdeenshire has expanded its horizons to include a new licence on the west coast of Scotland.
GreenOre Gold, has nearly 200 square miles of land under licence in the north-east of Scotland after finding “significant” samples in streams surrounding Alford, Rhynie.
It has previously been claimed that Towie, a tiny village in the heart of Aberdeenshire, could be home to billions of pounds worth of gold.
Muir of Ord based GreenOre has already teamed up with Turkish mining giant Koza to exploit the mineral finds in the north-east.
And now they are partnering up again in a new joint venture on a licence in Ayrshire.
It is beleived the area has “significant potential” for a large scale gold deposit.
Koza have agreed to fund exploration to earn in up to 80% of the holding company.
Work will begin this year starting with a stream sediment sampling and prospecting programme to be followed by scout drilling.
The ground has been secured with an option agreement from the Crown Estate.
Managing director of GreenOre Gavin Berkenheger said: “GreenOre has been working with Koza on our Aberdeenshire licences over the past two years and have built up an excellent working relationship.
“The addition of the Ayrshire licence agreement signals a commitment to develop gold prospects with real economic potential. Scotland has a vast unexplored mineral wealth waiting to be explored. We are thrilled to partner with Koza on our new project.”
Mr Berkenheger, an Aberdeen University geology graduate, said the Scottish sites are part of the same geological “supergroup” as the massive Curraghinalt gold deposit in Northern Ireland.
The Dalradian supergroup – thought to have formed more than 500million years ago – runs from Northern Ireland in a north-easterly direction up through Aberdeenshire.
A Canadian mining firm, Dalradian Resources, has estimated the gold-laden site in Co Tyrone contains more than 3.5million ounces of gold that it plans to exploit over the next four years.