Cowal Gold Mine granted five year extension

A five year extension has been granted to the Cowal Gold Mine, near West Wyalong in central west NSW, by the Department of Planning and Environment.

 

It secures jobs for 430 people working at the mine and is great news for the local economy, where our mines are spending more than $36 million a year with 136 businesses in Bland Shire. 

The Cowal mine extension is the approval of an additional 5 years of mining beyond the current approved limit of 2019. It allows for increases in waste and ore mining and also changes to tails dam operation. The approval comes with conditions such as meeting noise and air quality criteria, biodiversity offsets and standard mitigation efforts.

 

Bland Shire Mayor Neil Pokoney has expressed his support for the extension and emphasised the benefits that mining brings to the local community.

 

‘This represents a huge boost to our local economy and the broader region in general,” Mayor Pokoney said.

 

“It provides a level of certainty that is very important for the community. We can now go forward in the knowledge that mining will continue to play an important role in providing greater employment opportunities for locals for some time to come.”

 

General Manager of the Cowal Gold Mine, Alan Fearon said the announcement was good news for Barrick, the employees of the Cowal Gold Mine and for the community.

 

“I would particularly like to thank the communities of the Bland, Forbes and Lachlan Shires who provided such strong support for this extension and for their ongoing support,” Mr Fearon said.

 

This follows positive news for mining jobs and investment in NSW this week with the announcement that Northparkes Mines has also been granted approval to continue its copper and gold mining operations near Parkes operations until 2032.

 

Further information on the Cowal Gold Mine mine extension can be found online.