Celtic Resources, the Irish resources company listed on London's alternative investment market, has acquired the Nezhdaninskoye gold mine in Russia and hopes to commence production shortly.

Celtic previously held 50 per cent of the mine, with the balance owned by IG Alrosa (IGA), a subsidiary of Russian's Ak Alrosa, the world's second-largest diamond producer.

The acquisition will be through a share swap deal with IGA, which becomes a 23 per cent shareholder in Celtic.

Nezhdaninskoye contains a 28 million ounce gold resource and is located in northern Russia.

Celtic hopes to extract 45,000 ounces in 2004. It reported a rise on pre-tax profits for 2002 to €2 million from €1.2 million earlier yesterday.