Northern Ireland has become the latest region to be targeted as a somewhat unlikely source of platinum group metals.

Explorers in the region have already discovered gold and diamonds with an English-based firm now seeking to test for pgms.

Reports in the Mirror claim that Cookstown council has received an application for exploration licences from Agricola Resources, with Tyrone and Derry earmarked for the search.  Agricola is also in the process of conducting exploration for pgm in the Shetland Isles, off the north coast of Scotland.

Northern Ireland's Sperrin Mountains have long been identified as a potential source of gold, but the platinum interest marks an interesting new avenue in the history of pgm exploration.

The major sites in the world include South Africa, Russia, North America and Zimbabwe, with smaller pockets of extraction also located in Zambia, Indonesia, Australia and Chile.

Now it seems the small European country could be added to that list, as prospectors prepare to investigate.