Irish mining firm Conroy Gold and Natural Resources has raised £1.01 million (€1.28m) in a placing to fund the advancement of its Clay Lake and Clontibret targets.

The company said it raised the funds through the issue of 5,486,485 new shares and warrants priced at 18.5 pence.

As part of the placing, company directors, including chairman Prof Richard Conroy, subscribed for 1,567,567 shares. Other investors included Metal Target, which subscribed for 675,657 shares.

Conroy said it intends to use to proceeds of the placing for ground operations and the advancement of the group’s principal gold opportunities, and in particular, the newly combined Clay Lake and Clontibret targets, which has an exploration target of 5 million oz of gold.

“We see a very exciting future for the company, particularly as the gold price and gold sector begins to strengthen,” said Prof Conroy.