Tellus Border Project Gold Map of Donegal – Released October 2013. Experts say we could get two working mines
DONEGAL could get two gold mines as part of a €600M hunt for the precious metal along the Border
Glencolmcille, Termon and Glentogher, outside Carndonagh, have all been identified as having the potential for mining.
The Glentogher site is in the same area where a tin mine operated until the 1920s.
It’s thought these could be underground mines, as opposed to open cast mining which would be fiercely opposed by environmentalists.
Similar open cast mines in Tyrone led to years of protests.
Koen Verbruggen, director of the Geological Survey of Ireland, says Donegal will eventually get a couple of mines.
Prospecting companies will spend many months deciding which areas are best to mine.
Tellus found high concentrations of gold in Donegal, particularly the Inishowen peninsula, in Glentogher and in Glencolumcille and Termon.