TWO companies are to get the go-ahead to start exploring for gold and diamonds in the Fermanagh countryside.
While initially the companies are only to be allowed to prospect for the precious metals and stones, across a large swathe of north and east Fermanagh, previous explorations and indications have strongly suggested both gold and diamonds are present in abundance in the county.
Concern is now rife Stormont will be obliged to grant extraction licences once their presence is confirmed.
In two letters to the Council, which were due to be delivered at last night’s monthly meeting at The Grange in Omagh, the Department for the Economy announced it intended on awarding three prospecting licences in Fermanagh.
One will be to Flintridge Resources Ltd, and will cover a vast area in the north of the county, from just outside Irvinestown to the countryside around Lack and into Tyrone.
The company already runs a gold operation outside Omagh, and the Herald understands this application will allow it to assess if that vein extends into Fermanagh.
The other two licences will be granted to Karelian Diamond Resources PLC, a company which has been exploring for diamonds in Fermanagh for several years now after previously been granted a licence to prospect for diamonds in the Coonian and Brookeborough area. Last year it reported “exciting” results from its initial tests.
One of these applications covers the same area, from Tempo eastwards, while the other appears to cover the Clogher Valley area.
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