Alkane’s latest Tomingley approval could extend mine life

The four-kilometre long drive would connect Wyoming One underground operation in Tomingley to Rosewell and San Antonio deposits, which are not readily accessible from the surface.

Alkane has been operating the Tomingley gold mine at a capacity of one million tonnes per annum since early 2014.

The company performed open cut mining on Tomingley’s deposits until early 2019, producing 60,000–80,000 ounces of gold per year.

Since then, Alkane commenced underground mining from the bottom of the Wyoming One pit.

Alkane has conducted explorations over the past two years to identify additional resources that have potential to be mined either via open pit or underground operations and fed into the on-site processing facility.

Alkane managing director Nic Earner said the approval was an “important milestone” for Alkane as it enabled the company to further extend the life of its Tomingley mine.

“Given the prospectivity of the region around our existing operations, this approval provides Alkane with all the exploration and production options to extend the life of mines at Tomingley well into the future,” he said.

With the approval to build the underground exploration drive, Alkane would be able to continue drilling from the corridor built between its existing operations, further developing the Rosewell and San Antonio deposits independent of open cut operations.

Alkane is preparing conceptual mine plans for the Rosewell and San Antonio resources, which will be used to progress its approvals from the New South Wales Government.