Greenland gold mine sells for a tiny fraction of last year's $30m asking price

Angus & Ross, the Aim-listed natural resources company, has bought a gold mine for just 5 per cent of its asking price last year.

In a sign of how hard the recession has hit the commodities market, Angus & Ross will end up paying only $1.5m (£920,000) to Crew Gold Corporation for the Nalunaq gold mine in Greenland.

Nick Hall, the chief executive of Angus & Ross, said: "I'm told that Crew Gold was looking for an offer of around $30m a year ago.

"We're looking for the mine to produce around 30,000 ounces of gold a year. We're not going to be the biggest gold producer in the world, but we're happy to be profitable at that level."

About $1m has already been paid, with the remainder to be transferred at the end of August. The initial amount has been financed through a loan provided by Cyrus Capital Partners.

Angus & Ross closed at 1.88p on Friday, down 6.25 per cent on the start of trading on Monday.