A proposed gold, lead, zinc and silver mine near Blayney in Central West NSW is a step closer to becoming a reality.
Key points:
- Argent Minerals has permission to do further exploratory drilling near Trunkey Creek
- Drilling has so far uncovered zinc, lead and silver minerilisation
- Locals say they thought the project, first floated more than a decade ago, had been abandoned
Local residents have expressed surprise, saying they assumed the project had been abandoned.
However, mining company Argent Minerals has been granted an assessment lease to drill further across their exploration licence area, approximately 7 kilometres north-west from the village of Trunkey Creek.
One of the company’s exploration licences lies directly over the village, which is home to 120 people.
Closer to mining
An assessment lease acts as a licensing bridge between exploration and actual mining operations, allowing the mining company to ramp up its drilling activities to establish the extent and quality of the ore body.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mining, Exploration and Geoscience, within the Department of Regional NSW, said the assessment lease had been granted up until 2029.
“An appropriate development consent under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 would be required before any future mining lease application could be determined,” they said.
A Preliminary Environment Assessment was lodged with the NSW government for a gold and silver project back in 2012, stating the mine would inject up to $34 million a year into the economy.
It said the project, to be known as Kempfield, would consist of two open cut pits and facilities to dissolve certain metals from disturbed rock using cyanide.
Recent drilling at the site has identified commercially viable quantities of lead and zinc.
Water contamination fears
The Kempfield project site lies on the edge of a grassy woodland, flanked by a mix of farmland and state forest, and sits above a gully that sweeps down into the Copperhunyah Nature Reserve.
Steven Horne is from the Kanangra Boyd to Wyangala Link, a Landcare initiative restoring landscape corridors in the area.
He said the group was “very” concerned about contamination of the water catchment, given the site was directly downstream of the Copperhunyah Reserve.
“Despite best intentions, the risk of groundwater contamination in the use of cyanide separating ponds is high, as evidenced from historic and continuing gold mining in the Orange and Bathurst area,” Mr Horn said.
“Once heavy metal pollutants reach the Abercrombie River, the biological integrity of the downstream river system itself is threatened.”
Locals assumed project ‘abandoned’
Brendan Scott farms land between Neville and Trunkey Creek.
He said the community had not been consulted about the project in more than 10 years.
“I assumed and I think most people had, that the project had been abandoned,” Mr Scott said.
Argent Minerals managing director Pedro Kastellorizos said the project had been dormant since 2012.
“We’re meeting all of our statutory obligations with the regulator,” he said.
“Moving forward, as the project develops, we will again conduct community consultation.”
Mr Scott said he appreciated the right to prospect, but community consultation was critical.
“Not knowing what’s going on doesn’t help … it just fosters our fear and apprehension about the whole project,” he said.