LONDON (Alliance News) - Scotgold Resources Ltd Monday said local authorities have approved an extension to the operating hours of its processing plant at the Cononish gold project in Scotland.
The company's previous planning permission restricted Scotgold's processing plant and hours of operation at the mine to 16 hours per day, 6 days a week. However, the local authorities, the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, have unanimously agreed to extend the company's planning permission which will allow work to be conducted on site, including the running of the processing plant, 24 hours a day, six days a week.
No work can be carried out and the plant cannot run on Sundays or public holidays, but Scotgold said it will "facilitate efficient plant operations and possible capital expenditure reductions in respect of the processing plant," during these times.
In addition, the extension to the planning permission has led to the local authorities extending the date by which development at the project should commence to January 2018, but Scotgold "are optimistic to be in production before that date," it said in a statement.
"Today's decision in conjunction with the recently released resource update for the Cononish project means we are now well placed to achieve our objectives," said Chief Executive Richard Gray.
"Scotgold is now focused on the completion of the optimised mine development plan and securing the necessary funding for the construction of the project," added Gray.
Scotgold shares jumped by 11.6% to 1.12 pence per share on Monday afternoon.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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