Gold miners call it “the first pour” — the moment when liquid gold, the initial ounces recovered from tonnes of crushed and chemically treated rock, is carefully channelled into a mould. An ingot of precious metal is formed; the assembled workforce cheers; and a miner’s arduous life once more seems worthwhile.

When that moment arrives at the New Liberty Mine in Liberia at the end of this month, David Reading says, he might finally realise that he and Aureus Mining, where he is chief executive, have successfully built a gold mine.

“I guess it hasn’t sunk in?.?.?.?I am too busy worrying about making sure that we meet all our other milestones,” says Mr Reading, speaking in Aureus’s London office. “I am flying [to Liberia] at the end of the month and I think it is going to hit me then.”