News Bites
Gold Mine Behind Generations Of Royal Wedding Rings To Reopen
(Kitco News) - A Welsh gold mine, which is behind three generations of British royal wedding rings, is planning to reopen after 20 years of inactivity — just in time for the spring royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The gold from the Clogau St David’s mine, located in Bontddu, Snowdonia, was used in royal weddings for the last 90 years.
Wedding rings for the Queen, Princess Diana, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret were all created from a single nugget mined from Clogau.
Also, Welsh gold was used to made wedding rings for Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles as well as for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Now, the tradition will be continued with the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which is set to take place in May.
The Clogau mine is expected to be revived in the coming months after Alba Mineral Resources purchased a 49% stake in Gold Mines of Wales Limited.
“The opportunity presented by this project is pretty unique – high-grade gold in the heart of the United Kingdom, the fact that Welsh gold attracts a significant premium over spot rates, the historic connections of Welsh gold with the heritage of the United Kingdom, the potential for finding more gold in the vastly undiscovered exploration ground – all these are factors which make a strong case for investment,” said George Frangeskides, Alba’s executive chairman.
#WelshGoldmine that produced gold for the Queen, #Diana #Queen Mum's wedding rings to reopen after 20 years #Clogau https://t.co/METKDcqbJT
— KJThackwell (@RealWelshGold) January 4, 2018
The mine was shut down in 1998 as amounts of the yellow metal in the ground were shrinking.
The announcement of the reopening comes after reports that there could be up to 500,000 ounces of gold still lying underneath the mountains.
The report caused quite a stir in the media, with Prince Harry’s recent engagement announcement and the popular Netflix show the Crown.
