Thursday, 5th May 2005 (2512 views)

Expansion plans at the Ridgeway gold-copper mine near Orange in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, have been given the go-ahead.

The $124 million Ridgeway Deeps extension is hoped to add six years to the life of the mine and also protect 200 jobs locally.

In addition, mining will become 300 metres deeper and an extra 1.3 million ounces of gold will be produced.

Bob Carr, NSW's premier, told the Blayney Chronicle: "This is a tremendous investment for the State's Central West.

"It will be a great boost for those employed at the mine and the local economy. The expansion of the mine will boost the NSW gold industry, which produces around $427 million worth of gold, or 10 per cent or Australia's total gold output each year."

The mine is operated by Cadia Holdings and a number of strict conditions on the expansion must first be met.

NSW is now the second highest gold producing state in Australia.

 

« Back to the stories

 

The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited © and do not represent the views or opinions of the World Gold Council.