Exploration by drilling firm shines light on gold seam in rocks beneath Co Armagh, Northern Ireland

It has been found by Conroy Gold and Natural Resources PLC at Clay Lake in south Armagh, close to the village of Keady.

It is the result of testing from the first of eight exploratory holes drilled there, with the firm announcing this week that the “gold intersection extends for 40.5m (133ft) at 1.2 g/t gold from 135.5m (444ft) depth”.

Gold has long been known to exist in the area.

What Conroy has been trying to do for years is work out just how much precious metal is underneath the soil, and where precisely the seams lie, with a view to one day beginning extraction (which is likely to involve a series of quarry-type open-cast mines).

This week’s test results add another layer to the growing understanding of the area’s deposits.

The overall zone which Conroy is examining for gold is called the Down Longford Massif.

This is a chunk of the Earth's crust covering a big part of eastern Ireland from Belfast city down to the eastern edge of Co Roscommon.

The gold hidden in this massif lies in a roughly 40 mile line going roughly from Keady in south Armagh to Cavan town.

Along that line there are a handful of main sites known as "gold targets", where the metal is thought to be concentrated.

They are, from south to north, Slieve Glah, Tullyvin, Rockcorry, Glenish, and Clontibret in the republic, and Clay Lake in Northern Ireland.

Most of these gold finds are measured in grams per tonne - the most recent testing at Clay Lake shows a seam of about 1.2 grams per tonne.

But last month, the company announced it had found a patch of land near Clay Lake where gold was so abundant either on the surface, or just below it, it was visible to the eye.

In an announcement to stockholders, the firm said on Monday: “Conroy Gold and Natural Resources PLC (AIM: CGNR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Ireland and Finland, is pleased to announce assay results from the first drill hole in its step-out drilling programme at its Clay Lake gold target in the Longford-Down Massif.

"The results included a gold intersection of 40.5m at 1.2 g/t gold.

"The drilling programme at Clay Lake was announced by the Company on February 8, 2023, and is being carried out in conjunction with the Company’s joint venture partner, Demir Export A.Ş…

"The Clay Lake gold target forms a single large gold-in-soil anomaly, which (as previously announced by the Company on January 28, 2016) is over 200 Ha (c.500 acres) and in area considerably larger in size than the Clontibret gold target.

"The Clay Lake gold target is nearly 3km in length and, in places, 2km wide.

"Further results will be announced as the drilling programme at Clay Lake proceeds.”

Professor Simon Conroy, the head of the company, said in a radio interview on Monday: "The short term plan of action is to take a further general look at the entire area.

"But our primary aim is to bring in the first gold mine in the area, probably at Clontibret, but possibly elsewhere.

"Clontibret is quite large – very promising... but Clay Lake is actually a far larger target than Clontibret and there'll be a lot to be said for moving there."

• Northern Ireland Protocol: Ex-DUP leader Arlene Foster quotes Pete Tong and Einstein as she chides Prime Ministers for letting down 'loyal British citizens'

• Transgenderism: Major Irish teaching union under fire from Jordan Peterson over video encouraging teachers to help pupils switch gender - watch the video and judge for yourself