A HAMPSHIRE mining company has sparked a gold rush in Turkey after unearthing the precious metal there.

Stratex says the gold strike in south west Turkey looks like a previous find in Peru which yielded 1,000 tonnes of gold.

The Eastleigh based firm reckons recent drilling has now confirmed it has unearthed a "significant" gold discovery.

A company geologist stumbles over the find by simply driving down a newly made road near Inlice in Turkey and spotting the hallmarks of the precious metal's presence in the nearby rocks.

Listed on the AIM stock market, Stratex focuses on the exploration phase of the mining process and has its worldwide headquarters at Eastleigh Council's Wessex House business centre.

It has a market capitalisation of £12.5m, which Chief executive Bob Foster said "significantly undervalued" the company.

He said: "We are very excited and know that we could be onto something very big here.

"It shows very many geological similarities to the gold deposit at Yanacocha in northern Peru which has more than 1,000 tonnes of gold."

As in the days of America's Wild West, the find has provoked a gold rush in Turkey, with prospectors trying to cash in.

Bob, 57, a former Southampton University academic who lives in Chandler's Ford, said they were out of luck but the old style of panning for gold was still key.

"We have a land package of about 340 square kilometres. Everybody has clustered around us - but they are too late.

"Historically, panning was how to find the gold and this is still an important element. You also have to go on your hands and knees with a hammer and hand lens to look closely at the rocks."

Stratex - which has a strategic alliance with major Vancouver based mining company Teck Cominco - says gold production at Inlice could start in as little as 18 months.