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Irish company strikes gold with huge find

Story Highlights
Company finds what may be largest gold deposit found in Britain or = Ireland
More than one million ounces of gold may lie below rolling Irish=20 countryside
With price of gold near historic highs, find could be worth as = much as=20 $300m
Next=20 Article in World Business =BB

(CNN) -- A mining company has found what may be the largest = gold=20 deposit ever found in the British Isles, the company's chairman said=20 Tuesday.

The price of gold is at historic highs,=20 making new prospects very=20 valuable.

Drill samples indicate more than 1 million ounces of gold may lie = below what=20 is now rolling Irish countryside, said Richard Conroy, the chairman of = Dublin,=20 Ireland-based Conroy Diamonds and Gold.

With the price of gold near historic highs, the find could be worth = as much=20 as $300 million on the market, Conroy told CNN.

The company has been working for 10 years to find gold in a = 1,500-square=20 kilometer (600-square-mile) area spanning the border between Northern = Ireland=20 and the Republic of Ireland, he said. The site where the company found = the gold=20 is near Clontibret, a village in the northern part of Ireland, he = said.

"I think it's a major development in Ireland that we now have a = significant=20 gold resource," Conroy said. "It's the largest amount of gold, the = largest=20 number of ounces, that's ever been reported in Ireland, or indeed in = either=20 Britain or Ireland."

The price of gold is = currently=20 around $900 an ounce on global commodities markets. Factoring in costs = for mine=20 construction and operation, Conroy said, the gold near Clontibret could = fetch=20 roughly $300 million.

The company now plans to do more drilling at the site and conduct = feasibility=20 studies before moving ahead, he said.

An analyst cautioned, however, that the reported amount of gold is = still only=20 an estimate.

"Until you've actually mined the stuff, there's always a moderate = level of=20 uncertainty," said William Tankard, a senior analyst at metals = consultancy GFMS=20 in London.

One million ounces, if confirmed, would be significant for both = Conroy and=20 Ireland, Tankard said. Ireland has small precious metal deposits but = nothing as=20 large as Conroy's reported find, Tankard said.

Conroy said only one gold mine is currently active in Ireland.

"By no means is it world-leading, but a million ounces is certainly = worth=20 thinking about," Tankard said.

Tankard added that the quality of the gold -- = including grade=20 and how concentrated it is -- will also affect its value. =

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