A firm of Midland accountants has struck gold after being appointed auditors for a South American mining company.

Kendall Wadley, based in Worcester, Malvern and Hereford, won the contract with Catalina Resources, a firm founded by a Midland geologist but operating mainly in Chile.

Malvern-based geologist Peter Bridges, who has more than 36 years’ experience in mining and exploration, founded the firm in 2006 with fellow geologist Andrew Shaw.

He said: “We are extremely pleased with the help and service we have received from Kendall Wadley so far. The relationship between the two companies is simple and smooth and we are confident that they will be able to help our business develop further.”

Kendall Wadley is helping Catalina Resources to grow and develop their business by providing them with audit and corporation tax advice. The firm has experience of working with international companies with subsidiaries in the UK and is helping to groom the business with the aim of getting Catalina Resources on to one of the world’s leading stock exchanges.

Catalina Resources has focused initially on Chile, the most mineral-rich country in South America, through its wholly-owned, Chilean-registered subsidiary, Minera Catalina S.A. So far projects have centred on exploration and mining of silver, gold, copper and cobalt.

Since January 2007, Catalina has raised almost £1 million from private investors. The directors also contributed to this fund-raising. At least 70 per cent of the funds raised are set to be spent directly on project work and the company is currently focusing on three major projects in the Chilean region. These are a new discovery of two gold deposits at La Falda, vein-hosted copper, cobalt and gold targets at Kahuna and copper, silver and gold targets at La Perla.

In June 2008 the firm agreed terms of a Joint Venture agreement with Gold Fields Limited, one of the world’s largest private producers of gold, over the La Falda project in the Andean mountains.

A spokeswoman for the firm said the operations of Catalina Resources were doing a lot to help boost the economy in Chile.