Irish prospector Conroy Diamonds and Gold plans a pre-feasibility study after trebling indicated resources at its Clontibret prospect to 200,000 oz.

Headed by former university professor, Irish senator and mineral sector player Richard Conroy, the Dublin-based company says the latest evaluation and appraisal work at Clontibret, near the Irish border, suggest a 213 per cent increase in indicated resources to 200,000oz at a grade improved from 1.4 to (a still low) 2.3 grammes of gold per tonne of ore. In the less sure 'inferred' category, the estimated extra potential resource has been reduced by 8 per cent to 460,000 oz, though the grade has improved from 1.3 to 2.4 grammes a tonne.

These estimates comply with the international mining industry 'JORC' standard. Moreover, as Conroy points out, they cover only 20 per cent of the whole geological target anomaly at Clontibret.

Conroy, which is also pursuing diamond prospects in Finland, lost stock market support when institutions felt that the company was taking too long converting encouraging discoveries into hard and fast projects, with either a big company partner or its own financing lined up. Now, however, Conroy states the company 'is taking the first steps to implement a scoping and pre-feasibility study on the Clontibret target with the aim of converting present and anticipated future indicated resources into the reserve category, with the ultimate objective of demonstrating the feasibility of a start-up mining operation'.

Floated in 2000 at 25p, Conroy shares had collapsed to 1.62p by November 2005 before rallying to 7.25p a month later. Now 3.5p, up 0.5p today and valuing the company at £3.6 million, they remain distinctly risky, but real progress towards pre-feasibility – and more encouraging results – could win back support.

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