Ice climbing on Beinn Udlaidh. Photo: Masa Sakano CC-BY-SA-2.0

The Australian mining company that was refused permission to reopen the Cononish gold mine near Ben Lui has raised £641,000 in a rights issue.

The cash injection from its shareholders will be used on the costs of its Cononish bid and to fund further exploration in the coming year.

Scotgold Resources, the company behind the bid, put the administrative costs of its application – rejected in August last year by the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Authority – at £306,000. It said it was considering an appeal to Scottish ministers against the decision.

However, Scotgold Resources admitted in its statement that: “Investors should be aware that there is a risk that in the event that planning permission is never given then the development of the company’s Cononish project may not be able to proceed.”

The cash injection from shareholders will enable further exploration at a site just outside the national park, at Beinn Udlaidh, a popular winter climbing venue, with routes graded from grade III to grade VI.

Seventy per cent of the share issue was taken up by eligible company shareholders, with further demand from those applying making the overall share issue oversubscribed by 178 per cent. The company puts the cost of the coming year’s exploration at £314,000.

Many local residents in the Tyndrum area supported the Cononish bid, with the promise of jobs and prosperity from the reopening of the mine, in the shadow of the 1,130m (3,707ft) munro Ben Lui. But conservation and outdoors groups, including the John Muir Trust, the Mountaineering Council for Scotland, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Scottish Campaign for National Parks and Scottish Natural Heritage all opposed the application.

Scotgold Resources then turned its attention to the 840m (2,755ft) corbett Beinn Udlaidh 5km (3 miles) away.

Announcing the oversubscription of the shares issue, company secretary Peter Newcomb said: “The company is pleased with the level of shareholder support and thanks the shareholders who participated in the rights issue.”