THE exploration company, Glencar, has said it hopes that its High Court action against Mayo County Council will come to court before the end of this year.

Chairman and chief executive, Mr Hugh McCullough, who was speaking after the company's annual general meeting in Dublin, said Glencar was seeking £2.2 million plus interest.

The action arose from the council's mining ban, subsequently thrown out by the courts, on the Cregganbawn licence area in Mayo held by Glencar and Andaman Resources. Almost two thirds (65 per cent) of any award granted will go to Glencar, with the remainder to Andaman, according to Mr McCullough.

In his address to shareholders, the chairman said that Glencar was "well on its way" to achieving its goal of becoming a medium sized gold producer by the end of the decade.

Mr Mc Cullough said that the company's main focus of operation would continue to be the Wassa lease in Ghana. Glencar has a 45.2 per cent in Wassa Holdings, which owns 90 per cent of the lease.

More than 420 bore holes had been drilled, and the extent of the gold field "is still open in many directions", according to Mr McCullough. Wassa should produce 120,000 ounces of gold a year, and would be "the foundation of future growth", he added.

Glencar holds a licence in Navan which is a continuation to the main Tara lead/zinc orebody and, according to Mr McCullough, "at some stage" it would be sensible to talk to Tara Mines about a sale. "Any area that is so close to an existing mine must be of interest," Mr McCullough added. Tara has mined up to three metres from Glencar's Liscarton ore zone.

Glencar also announced yesterday that the former head of IBID Corporate Finance, Mr Richard Hooper, is to join the company as chairman. Mr Hooper is currently a director of Irish Permanent, Green Property and Jurys Hotels and is chairman of National Toll Roads.