County Tyrone sitting on gold mine

A recent discovery of gold in Ireland's County Tyrone promises to bring economic prosperity to the area, the Independent reports.

It is believed that the Cavanacaw gold mine, which is located in a peat bog, is sitting on top of 14 tonnes of gold. When it is up and running the mine should produce around 30,000 ounces of gold per year, with a value of £15 million.

A belt of the type of rock needed for the formation of gold ore veins runs through Ireland and Scotland, and experts have long considered that Ireland may have gold deposits of this kind.

Investor Roland Phelps has put £1 million into the project.

"By being the only mine in Ireland, we will have a de-facto monopoly on Irish gold and in those circumstances, a monopoly is a beautiful thing," he said.

"We employ local people, we source as much of our material as possible locally and we are here for the long term."

Galantas, the company that is operating the mine, is listed on the AIM in London and the Toronto stock exchange.

A significant proportion of the gold mined will be used to produce Irish jewelry, which managers believe will be popular with people with Irish heritage across the world.