Sofia - The Canadian company Euromax Resources Limited has discovered an area west of Sofia with high concentration of gold. At Trun, close to Bulgaria's border with Serbia, the company has found gold visible at ground level. Its subsurface concentration reaches an estimated 440 grammes per tonne in some spots. According to Euromax Chairman and CEO John Menzies, the deposit is among the most significant ones discovered over the last 100 years. A total of 700,000 samples taken from the area have shown large amounts of the precious metal in the surface layer. The sample tests were conducted on cutting-edge prospecting technology involving the study of 65 segments in every single sample. Called Nadezhda (the Bulgarian word for "hope"), the gold field measures 1,500 m by 70 m. The metal is relatively pure, alternating with quartz, with very low sulphur content (below 0.5 per cent), Menzies says. The prospecting licence for the Trun area has been issued to a joint venture between Euromax and another Canadian company, Tech Cominco. Within the joint venture, Euromax is implementing an initial programme worth 280,000 Canadian dollars.