SCOTGOLD Resources, the mining firm focused on extracting gold and silver from the Highlands, yesterday it was continuing to drill at prospects outside the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park – less than a week after winning approval to mine for gold inside the park.

In a regulatory announcement to the London Stock Exchange yesterday AIM-listed Scotgold, which has a dual listing on the Australian Stock Exchange, said “drilling continues over identified prospects at Beinn Udlaidh and Auch” projects, most of which sit just outside the park. The company, which is based in Tyndrum, Argyll, some 50 miles north of Glasgow, also said it had completed two new drillholes at the Beinn Udlaidh River vein area.

In a previous interview with The Herald, Chris Sangster, Scotgold’s chief executive, said exploration in the prospect outside the park was “still at an early stage,” and that production might not begin for up to 15 years.

In spite of having its application refused in 2010, Scotgold last week got the go-ahead on its second application to operate Scotland’s first commercial gold mine in more than 500 years, after the opportunities for jobs and economic growth were deemed to outweigh environmental concerns.

Scotgold aims to start extracting gold and silver from Scotland’s first commercial gold mine in 2013, after gaining planning permission at the second attempt.