Connemara Mining jigs higher on Irish gold licence deal

Shares in gold tiddler Connemara Mining were flying on Tuesday as the Irish explorer announced its aggressive pursuit of gold prospecting land continued with the purchase of five "high-potential" licences in County Donegal.

Connemara, which is listed on London's AIM junior market, said five new prospecting licences covered 187sq km on the Innisowen peninsula in County Donegal, including the former the Glentougher lead-and-silver mine.

"This move by Connemara furthers the aggressive stance we are taking in discovering Ireland's next gold deposit," said chairman John Teeling, as the company begins an initial prospecting programme in the coming days.

"It is worth noting that the new licence block is located within the Scottish-Irish Gold Belt along trend from the discovery by Dalradian Gold where they have recently announced an inferred gold resource of 3.5m ounces."

Connemara's in-house geologists believe the acquired area is prospective for high grade gold mineralisation and has potential for base metal deposits.

The previous licence holder found no high-grade outcrop despite identifying some rock samples containing up to 104 grams per tonne in 2011.

Connemara has picked out 16 target areas from historic survey work and the latest data and expects first results from its prospecting programme in July.

Shares in Connemara were up 300% to 2.5p at 09:30 on Tuesday.