14 | Santana Minerals T T Hugh de Lacy Santana on track at Rise and Shine Santana CEO Damian Spring: “ A key milestone will be the submission of our substantial application under the Fast Track Approval Act. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Gold will begin pouring from Santana Minerals’ hugely promising Rise and Shine mine in Central Otago’s Bendigo-Ophir field sometime in 2027 – and with the gold price at $NZ6700/ounce in early October, it can’t come soon enough, says Santana CEO Damian Spring. “A key milestone will be the submission of our substantial application under the Fast Track Approval Act, and we’re very close to doing that,” Damian says. “According to the legislation it’s a sixmonths time-frame, and then ultimately it’ll be for an expert panel to make the decision. “All going well we expect to make a start on the mine in the third quarter of next year, and to be in full production the following year.” Damian says the mine will directly employ 357 people, while the downstream effect will see the creation of a further 600 direct, indirect and induced jobs. Cromwell will be the prime beneficiary of this burst in employment, but Santana Minerals is planning for its full-time staff to be housed anywhere within about an hour of the mine, and it will be providing their transport. “In order to address growth pressures we’re very clear we expect our workforce to be spread around the district, and that means that, besides Cromwell, staff can live in Wanaka, Queenstown, Clyde, Alexandra, Omakau and Roxburgh. “It’s all about making sure they have a safe means of travel to and from work, so we drive them to work, they do their job, then they’re driven safely home,” Damian says. Even as the fast-track resource process gets underway, Santana Minerals is continuing to explore what has already indicated more than two million ounces of gold, and the latest results suggest the resource is more extensive than first realised. “We recently announced a drill-hole intercept of 10m running at 3g/t 250m north of previous drilling, which demonstrates that the ore body continues to extend to the north,” Damian says. “This could potentially extend the life of the underground mine. “In the wake of the US Government shutdown, the gold price seems to be irrevocably running towards $US4000/oz ($NZ7000/oz), and that’s doing wonderful things for us. “In August we announced an $A60m fully underwritten capital raising, and we also offered existing shareholders a share purchase plan intended to raise another $3m. “It was over-subscribed to the tune of $18.5m, but our offer had stipulated no over-subscriptions, so shareholders had to scale back to roughly a sixth of what they had bid. “It shows in particular with the underwritten deal that there’s a lot of support out there for the project, and when it comes to capital raising for construction, we believe that will happen. “A big part of that will be securing debt financing, and that process is well under way.” Damian says Santana Minerals’ Bendigo-Ophir initiative reflects a new era of modern-day exploration, mining, environmental mitigation and community engagement over 150 years later, and just 4km away from where the original gold rush harvested 180,000oz off the Bendigo reef. For all your temporary traffic management requirements within the Central Otago region and beyond www.aspiringtraffic.co.nz 027 419 7492 Office@aspiringtraffic.co.nz Professional Service A Fully Qualified Team Quality Equipment 4 Chardonnay St, Cromwell | 027 245 6472 | 03 445 1139 Specialising in ... • Electric motor controls installation & repairs • Electronic Innovations • Electrical design & installations • Industrial Process & control Natural Resources Natural Resources We’re proud to support Santana Minerals
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=