ALKANE Resources is asking contractors to "mobilise" the site of the approved Tomingley Gold Project (TGP).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Managing director Ian Chalmers yesterday suggested passers-by would be seeing equipment arriving.
The company is set to spend $116 million building the TGP this year, with a processing plant scheduled for completion by December.
Open pit mines will be progressively developed from October or November.
On February 11 the state government issued a mining lease for the TGP during a Community Cabinet meeting in Dubbo, after approving the development mid-2012.
The board of Alkane Resources ordered an immediate start to the construction phase. Yesterday Mr Chalmers advised it could not happen overnight.
"We've started organising contractors and getting them to mobilise the site," he said.
"That means bringing in all their equipment. It often takes a couple of weeks just to get them in there."
Mr Chalmers also confirmed nothing "really serious" could happen on the site until the Division of Resources and Energy approved the project's mine operations plan.
"We hope to have it sometime next week," he said.
"We're setting up things and getting ready to go."
Forward planning has seen the company begin works "separate to the mining lease".
They range from soil conservation and drainage at the TGP site through to the establishment of major pieces of infrastructure.
"The access road has largely been completed and the water pipeline is still charging along," Mr Chalmers said.
It will be about 46 kilometres long when finished, stretching from Narromine to Tomingley.
Work is yet to begin on a Newell Highway underpass that must be completed before production can begin.
Mr Chalmers wants to see the TGP "generate positive cash flow" in 2014.
The base case life of the TGP is seven years, during which it would produce 380,000 ounces of gold.
But Mr Chalmers is confident that it can produce for 10 years or more as the result of continuing exploration on the site, expansion of underground mining plans and the investigation of "regional deposits" in the 14 kilometres between the company's Tomingley and Peak Hill sites.
"There are a number of targets in that region... which ultimately may add to resources," he said.
Alkane Resources has appointed Mintrex Pty Ltd to manage the construction phase.
The company has promised the majority of 140 jobs in the construction phase and 120 jobs in the production phase would be filled by "local" people.