Scotgold Resources is set to offer chief executive Richard Gray options on 33 million shares at the current share price, exercisable only when gold is finally produced from its Trossachs mine.
Mining engineer Mr Gray, who took over last October, will also be able to exercise options on five million shares when the company successfully concludes financing for the project. All the shares will vest and be exercisable at a price of 0.6p, just below the current price.
Mr Gray said six weeks ago that the "bankable feasibility study" for the company's Cononish Gold and Silver Project at Tyndrum in Argyll would be complete this month.
He said then the latest estimate of ore reserves at the mine showed the project was robust even with gold at $1100 an ounce ( currently $1164) and Scotgold was in "early stage discussions with potential financiers". In March, Mr Gray said he believed construction work would start by the end of September 2015, and "we will be pouring gold at the end of the first quarter 2017".
Scotgold listed on the Alternative Investment Market in 2010 and originally hoped to start production in 2011 but was hit when the gold price fell back from $1600. It was rescued last year by Nat Le Roux, former chairman and chief executive of IG Group, now an independent director of the London Metal Exchange, who is chairman and holds more than 40 per cent of the shares.
The company had last October appointed a Scottish chairman, Sandy Littlejohn, but other commitments forced him to resign after two months.
The group's shares peaked at 6.25p in October 2011, but opened this year at 0.52p, shooting up briefly to 1.32p when the first upgrade to mineral reserves was unveiled. They were unchanged yesterday at 0.62p, valuing the company at £7m.
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