Connemara Mining's successful debut this week on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London will have pleased more than its chairman, John Teeling.

Newry-based investor Tom O'Gorman, who has one of the biggest portfolios in Ireland of exploration and resource stocks, bought 75,000 shares in Connemara more than a year ago, when the company did a private placement at 15p a pop.

With the firm's shares trading at about 40p each this week, O'Gorman is sitting on a tidy paper profit of £18,750 (€27,790).

More importantly, however, it demonstrates an appetite in the market for companies with zinc, gold and copper licences in Ireland. Prices for these resources are riding high on the world markets, making prospecting attractive for investors. Ireland also has a good track record on zinc, with three of the world's biggest mines operating at Lisheen, Tara and Galmoy. These mines are earning hundreds of millions of euro between them each year.

Connemara has 23 zinc and gold licences, with others under application. O'Gorman has 44 licences and is believed to have first refusal on about another 50.

They are held in a company called Midas Mineral Resources, which has just closed off a £1 million private fundraising round. The money was raised from former Bank of Ireland investment manager Paul Sweeney and three others.

O'Gorman is Midas's chairman and owns 45 per cent of the company. He is rumoured to have had some big cheques waved at him by wealthy businessmen keen to get in on the action. But for the time being, at least, O'Gorman plans to hold on to his investment.