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Shares in Galantas Gold (LON:GAL, CVE:GAL) surged on news that mining was set to begin once more at Ireland's only gold mine.
The Northern Irish government has issued the company's subsidiary Omagh Minerals with a long-awaited planning consent so an underground mine at the Omagh site can now go ahead.
Operations there are currently suspended.
Galantas president and chief executive Roland Phelps told investors: "This is a significant milestone and a game changer for Galantas.
"Our open pit gold mine, operated until recently, is the only one in Ireland. It had excellent environmental standards, monitored with detailed studies by NIEA and used a safe processing methodology to produce a smelter concentrate.
"The underground mine will utilise the same processing methods and will be the first underground gold mine, of any scale, in Ireland.
Phelps added that the project would create hundreds of local jobs, providing a real boost to the economy of Northern Ireland.
Speaking to Proactive, an upbeat Phelps said the planning permit was the result of three year's hard work.
"We can now develop the very large resource that we've got available here."
Currently, the firm has identified around 500,000 ounces of the yellow metal at the project, with around 32,000 in the higheset confidence measured category.
A previous open pit mine generated about a tonne of gold.
Phelps said the firm would look to develop a "small" underground mine initially, before expanding at the site, which is put to have a long term 15 year life span.
And he added that there was "plenty of opportunity to increase that resource further".
Capital costs are also lowered by the fact there is already a processing facility, offtake contracts and tailings facility in place, he noted.
The initial investment to get the underground mine up and running is £10mln and firm is working on financing options now, said Phelps, adding it was likely to consist of bank financing and an equity portion.
Another company - Dalradian Gold - is operating also in Northern Ireland and plans to start exploration in County Tyrone.
Galantas shares are up 25.53% to 7.375p but had risen earlier 40%.