Conroy edges closer to €9m gold mine deal with Turkish miner

Explorer Conroy's €9 million deal to develop an Irish gold mine with Turkish group Demir Export moved a step closer on Wednesday.

Conroy Gold and Natural Resources holds licences over a gold deposit in an area around Clontibret, Co Monaghan on a rock formation called the Longford-Down massif.

The Irish-listed company said on Wednesday that it has reached definitive agreement with Demir to form a joint venture that will lay the ground for mining the Clontibret gold deposit.

The Irish-listed company recently announced that it intended to form a joint venture, Project Inis, in which Demir will take 40 per cent in return for €9 million.

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Ankara-headquartered Demir could then acquire a further 17.5 per cent in the venture for financing it to point where the mine can be developed.

“The primary focus of the joint venture project is the development of the gold deposit within the Contibret licence to construction-ready status and bringing it into operation as a gold mine,” said a Conroy statement.

Shareholders will have to approve the deal at an extraordinary general meeting once the documents needed are complete.

Prof Richard Conroy, the Irish company's chairman, said Demir had the expertise and cash to not only get the Clontibret gold mine operating, "but to advance the significant gold potential of the other licences" in the area.

Demir Export is one of Turkey’s biggest miners. The privately-owned company focuses on extracting and processing iron ore, lead, zinc, silver and gold.