The $4.4billion Bendigo-Ophir gold mine, near Tarras, could be producing gold by late 2026, if it is given approval on a fast-tracked timeline.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times, Santana Minerals chief executive Damian Spring said the company was expecting to employ about 150 jobs for construction alone — which would take a year and involve earth-moving, civil works, foundations, concrete placers and steel fitters.
Another “200-odd jobs” were expected to come from shifting waste from the mountains as well as other mining-focused operations, environmental management and administration.
Mr Spring said most of the rock mined in the open pits would not contain any gold, and this “waste” would be placed permanently as an engineered landform in Shepherd’s Creek valley.
This would be shaped to be moulded into the landscape and placed underneath soil removed from the valley, prior to digging the pit.
Top soil and vegetation would be stored to progressively rehabilitate the landscape and achieve this landform by the time the mine closed.
Moving this waste would be one of the “biggest activities” on site, Mr Spring said.
The pits themselves would not be rehabilitated but could become a “minor water storage resource in the mountains” with the potential to become a recreational lake — although it was still too early to tell, Mr Spring said.
An additional workforce of about 50 to 100 would also be required once the mine transitioned to underground work, he said.
Current figures estimate a total of $4.4b in revenue could be generated from the mine, which is expected to have a lifespan of 10 years.
In terms of ongoing revenue, Mr Spring said about 110,000 ounces per year at about $3900 per ounce would produce “well in excess” of $400 million in export earnings per year.
With the current price of a gold and a “pro-development” government, Mr Spring said they could not have asked for a better time to conduct this type of mining operation, but it all came down to circumstances.
“This is a world-class discovery and we would have been striving forward with our resource consents as we currently planned if there had been no change in government.”
Mr Spring said the current level of debate over mining never would not have occurred even a year ago.
“The fact that mining and the role of mining in our society is occurring with such rigorous debate as Parliament allows, I think that that is fantastic because New Zealand needs to have that debate and really realise where all the things we get to enjoy actually come from.
“They’re either grown or they’re mined. There’s nothing in between.”