Aurum Pacific, New Gympie Gold mine eyes 2024 start date

Plans to restore Gympie’s iconic gold mine to life continue to roll on, with one major – and unique – hurdle still standing in the way of its potential reopening.

Plans to restore Gympie’s iconic gold mine to life continue to roll on, with one major - and unique - hurdle still standing in the way of its reopening: The entry to the mine is on land owned by another company, a problem Aurum Pacific director Scott Dodd says will hopefully be fixed by moving the entry to a new location.

Gympie’s iconic gold mine is likely to be back in action in 2024 provided it can find a solution to a unique problem at the site.

Aurum Pacific executive director Scott Dodd said Monday the new year had been flagged as the start date for the mine’s operations as the company continued efforts to literally dig up a new entry point.

Entry to the mine has been a sticking point since plans to reopen it were made public in early 2020.

The original entry to the mine sits on land owned by another company, posing a challenge for how Aurum would gain access to resources which had remained untapped when the mine shut in 2008.

A solution was in the works though.

“We are in the process of relocating our access to the decline and are seeking the necessary permits to proceed with this relocation,” Mr Dodd said.

Any works ongoing along Noosa Rd were “unrelated to us or our subsidiary New Gympie Gold”, Mr Dodd said.

Aurum Pacific executive director Scott Dodd said the company was working on securing permits to allow Aurum to better define the resources at the site, undertake modelling of the mine, and perform economic studies.

Once that was solved Mr Dodd said 2024 was being targeted as the return “subject to obtaining the necessary support and permits”.

“As for the first year of operation, while our main focus will be on exploration and further definition of resources, the potential for extraction will be guided by our findings and the subsequent stages of the project,” Mr Dodd said.

At the moment the focus was on securing permits to allow Aurum to better define the resources at the site, undertake modelling of the mine, and perform economic studies.

Aurum Pacific has said the mine, once opened, could support about 500 jobs.

Plans to restore the mine have already cleared a major hurdle with the state government in 2022 repealing a ban on mining exploration within the city limits.

The change resulted in an Urban Restricted Area designation across Gympie city, introduced in 2011,being replaced by a new Priority Living Area proscription.

Mining companies are allowed to make submissions to explore under the new rules, with the applications to be assessed under the Environmental Protection and Mineral Resources Act.

Mr Dodd said Aurum and New Gympie Gold were “committed to keeping the community and stakeholders informed about our activities and progress”.

“Our intent is to operate responsibly, ensuring that we prioritise both the environment and the community in all our endeavours,” he said.