"Not enough to fill a tooth", was how Dr John Teeling, the driving force behind fledgling exploration firm, Persian Gold, summed up its discoveries yesterday.

"It's still very high-risk," he added, urging potential investors to be aware of what they might be getting into with the Iran-focused exploration firm.

He was presenting plans to float Persian Gold on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to a very appreciative audience in Dublin's Westbury Hotel.

"We're believers in gold," he told his audience, who were busy registering a similar faith by subscribing to shares in the venture.

Persian Gold is scheduled to float on AIM on June 29th, provided Dr Teeling can raise the £750,000 he is seeking before then.

Potential shareholders heard that the fundraising had been capped at this level because the company did not want to dilute the potential of Persian Gold to reward investors.

The company has bought into a relatively new form of gold exploration, one that has thus far only really been tested in South America. It involves finding gold that has been locked inside hills of quartz and clay-like metal, alunite.

The extraction process costs less than comparable techniques and could, in theory at least, deliver bigger returns.