Oh, oh.. here’s another great reason become a Munro bagging addict… or even just a Munro bagger. For a gold mining company is bidding to restart an old mine beneath Ben Lui, in the Scottish southern Highlands

Scotgold Resources, which owns the only working gold mine in Scotland near Tyndrum, is hoping to restart work at the old mine at Cononish.

It seems that the southern Highlands area is rich with gold and silver seams – but the mine is also within the boundaries of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. It’s highly likely, therefore, that a landscape impact report will be a major part of the decision-making process over whether this mine will again be worked.

A thick covering snow hampered any chances I had of spotting a few bits of the precious elements (if indeed that is possible!) while walking Ben Lui in January. The Munro (3,707 ft, 1,129m) was a still a gold star winner as far as I was concerned though!