CELTIC Resources has been granted permission to proceed with its plans to mine for gold at Nezhdaninskoye in Russia.

The company announced yesterday that its joint venture project with the State owned Sakha Zoloto group had been received permanent registration and a licence to start production at the Russian mine.

The Nezhdaninskoye mine, in the Russian republic of Sakha, is estimated to contain 10.8 million ounces of gold. Celtic and Sakho Zoloto each own 50 per cent of the South Verkhoyansk Mining Company (SVMC), the joint venture group established for the project.

Celtic has appointed an accountant, Mr Donal Flynn, as a director of SVMC. He has been involved in implementing a number of European Union projects in Russia and Poland since 1991.