Scotgold Resources Limited, the Australia-based gold exploration firm focused on Scotland, has reported revenue of A$6.4 million (£3.6 million) for the six months to December 31, 2021.

Scotgold said “significant progress” has been made at its Cononish Gold and Silver Mine near Tyndrum as the company targets a gold production run rate of 23,500 oz a year by end of Q1 2023.

First-half loss before taxation widened to A$5.3 million (£3 million). Cash at December 31 was A$963,000.

“As at 31 December we had 73 employees which has increased 27% to 93 employees as of 28 February 2022,” said Scotgold.

“We have ambitious growth plans to continue to increase our headcount during 2022.”

Scotgold Resources CEO Phil Day said: “It’s been a transformative time for Scotgold which has seen the team work determinedly to deliver on our targets and maximise value at our flagship Cononish mine.

“The second half of calendar year 2021 saw us lay the foundations for growth by implementing initiatives to increase Cononish’s gold recoveries and in turn improve the gold production profile of the mine.

“During the past quarter we have been focused onpreparing the access to the second cut and fill stope at Cononish and I’m pleased to report we accessed it as of 21 March 2022. 

“This is a pivotal moment in our mine development plan, allowing us to access reserve mine gold grade more readily, which should see our gold grades increase significantly inline with our mine plan during 2022 and beyond.

“I look forward to reporting on our calendar year Q1 2022 production results in due course, as we continue to implement optimisation initiatives at Cononish to increase our gold production profile with the target of achieving a c.23,500oz p.a. production run rate of gold by end of Q1 2023.”