Extending exploration: Fosterville mine at Bendigo, owned by Canadian gold mining giant Kirkland Lake Gold, has identified a parcel of land within the Campaspe Shire it intends to mine for gold. The land includes Lockington, Rochester, Bamawm, Strathallan, Ballendella and Nanneella. Picture: Kirkland Lake Gold
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Campaspe Shire will join the Victorian gold rush when two international gold mining companies start exploration on parcels of land centring around Lockington and Ballendella.
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Kirkland Lake Gold, a Canadian-based company which operates the Fosterville Gold Mine site near Bendigo, and Western Australia’s S2 Resources, is behind the extension of the mining activity into the Campaspe Shire.
S2 Resources subsidiary Southern Star Exploration is a Texas-based organisation that will spend more than $10 million on its single allotment in the next five years.
Kirkland Lake’s Fosterville operation will spend more than $90 million on its three-block allocation in the same time period.
Since 2016 the Fosterville site has been continually breaking records in regard to its gold yield, having launched its exploration in 2005.
The underground mine is 20km from Bendigo. It is known as the world’s highest-grade and lowest-cost mine.
On Friday Campaspe Shire Mayor Chrissy Weller was part of an announcement that unveiled four parcels of land, two of which were inside the Campaspe Shire boundaries, for future mining.
Gold rush: Block 1, a 512 sq km parcel of land centred around Ballendella, is one of four areas identified by the two gold mining companies.
Campaspe Shire Council chief executive officer Declan Moore and Victorian Resources Minister Jaala Pulford were at the announcement .
Cr Weller said the mining giants would now go through the 21-day licensing process where the public could make submissions regarding the proposed exploration.
“Locals have known of investigative sampling for some time,” Cr Weller said.
“Opportunities for employment and the flow-on effects to our local economy are exciting.
“Fosterville Gold Mine is known in the area and one of the tender considerations was in relation to community engagement and responsible exploration.
“Mining is a strong growing industry for our area.”
Kirkland will operate three of these sites and Southern Star the fourth, with one of the Fosterville land parcels completely within the boundaries of the Campaspe Shire.
It stretches from Rochester to Kotta and Bamawm Extension, then as far as Strathallan and Nanneella.
Kirkland last year had a 640,467-ounce yield from the Fosterville mine, which equates to more than $AUD174 million worth of gold.
The Canadian-based company operates two major sites, the other being in Northern Ontario in Canada.
Southern Star has oil, gas and gold components to its operation, oil production being its major focus to the tune of two million barrels in 2020.
The major Victorian mineral exploration tender was only recently given the green light, continuing a modern-day gold rush.
Fosterville Gold Mine and Southern Star Exploration will invest $100 million searching for gold on the doorstep of the state’s most productive mine at Fosterville, pending the issuing of exploration licences.
Fosterville Gold Mine would spend more than $90 million across its three allocated blocks from the land release, while Southern Star would spend more than $10 million on its single allotment. The blocks range from 327 sq km to 512 sq km.
The companies were chosen following an extensive evaluation of North Central Victorian Goldfields Ground Release tender submissions, which included input from a Traditional Owners panel.
The companies’ minerals exploration licence applications will now be assessed.
Ms Pulford visited On Site Laboratory Services in Bendigo, which uses cutting-edge technology to analyse precious metal content.
“The ground release tender generated significant natural and international interest, sparked by the success of operations at the Fosterville Gold Mine, which was great to see,” Ms Pulford said.
“Gold exploration and production is an increasingly important driver of economic activity and jobs in the Bendigo region and other places around the state, and this development continues that positive momentum.”
The lab is the only ISO-registered commercial mineral facility in Victoria, and one of many regional businesses that has benefited from Victoria’s new gold rush.
The Geological Survey of Victoria predicts there may be as much as 75 million ounces of undiscovered gold in northern Victoria — almost as much gold as has been discovered across the entire state since 1851.
In 2019-20, Victoria produced 22,460kg — or 792,267 ounces — of gold and ABS data shows Victorian minerals exploration expenditure increased to $183.8 million in 2020-21, up by more than 35 per cent.
Since 2016, the average quarterly growth rate has been more than double the national average.
Exploration activities — including sampling, mapping and analysis — could start next year.
If commercially viable deposits exist, further development can take place if the licensee successfully applies for a mining licence.
This ground release is designed to attract high-calibre minerals companies committed to working closely with landholders and will provide great jobs for those looking to join the 850-person strong local minerals workforce.
Details on the North Central Victorian Goldfields Ground Release are available at earthresources.vic.gov.au
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