Regis Resources is one step closer to getting its McPhillamys gold project off the ground after receiving final approval from the NSW Independent Planning Commission.
The project, located in the gold copper – rich province of Central Western NSW won’t get the final go ahead from the company until late this year with financing and other details still to be sorted out.
NSW regulatory approval had been timed for early 2022 but strident opposition to a water pipeline from locals in the area of Blayney in central western NSW, saw an inquiry and then more delays.
Opponents didn’t like the Planning approval and there was media talk on Thursday of plans for an appeal to try and halt the approval.
That’s despite a substantial process including review of the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE)’s Assessment Report, submissions from stakeholders, and a public hearing held last month.
Regis says “McPhillamys is one of Australia’s largest undeveloped open-pittable gold resources with more than a 10-year mine life and a 2.2-million-ounce reserve that underpins significant value potential for Regis.”
Regis plans an annual mining rate of around 190,000 ounces. It has an ore reserve of 6 million tonnes at 1.0 gram of gold to the tonne.
McPhillamys is southeast of the small Tomingley gold mine of Alkane Resources and the huge Cadia copper gold mine of Newcrest. Also in the area are the Northparkes mine and the Cowal mine of Evolution. Alkane is proving up a massive copper gold prospect to the north at Boda, Kaiser and several other prospects while Magmatic Resources has interesting intersections at Myall and Corvette, also to the northeast.
Regis bought the McPhillamys prospect in November, 2012.
Regis CEO Jim Beyer commented:
“We are very pleased with the IPC’s final determination and can now move forward with our production ambitions at the McPhillamys Project.
“The Project holds substantial potential for Blayney and its surrounding areas in Central Western NSW and we look forward to working with local communities, stakeholders and companies to mitigate the risks and concerns surrounding the project and establish this gold mine in a collaborative way.
“We anticipate a response on the Federal Section 10 application shortly and will now incorporate the approval conditions into the finalised feasibility study, complete the funding strategy for the Project and expect announcing further developments late in 2023.”
