The company received the award for the discovery of significant porphyry gold-copper mineralisation at its Boda prospect at the Northern Molong Porphyry Project near Wellington.

Alkane Resources managing director Nic Earner said it was "fantastic" for the team involved to be recognised.

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"Our company's been in that region for a long time, and we've had personnel involved for many, many years and it's always nice to be able to give those people recognition," he said.

The mining giant has held an interest in the region since 2004, and had now discovered potentially world class gold-copper porphyry mineralisation at its Boda prospect, about 35 kilometres east of Dubbo.

Following extensive geological mapping, geophysical surveys and lithogeochemical characterisation over several years, Alkane's drilling program demonstrated an extensive mineralised system similar to Cadia.

Mineralisation is open to north, south and at depth, with the project having multi-billion dollar potential.

"Exploration is at its heart a balanced risk, so it's always nice when you actually discover things, which we have a pretty good track record of doing," Mr Earner said.

"Then its even better to be recognised for that amongst your peers, so it's fantastic."

Mr Earner said they would continue to explore at the site and work to increase the size and definition of the ore body.

"It's an ongoing exportation program because it's such an exciting discovery, it's really open-ended," he said.

"We've spent millions of dollars since the discovery hole, and we continue to do so."

"We have an exploration team spread between Orange and Peak Hill and they continue to work there."

NSW has seen record levels of exploration over the last three years, primarily driven by increased demand for gold, copper and base metals.

Since 2010 NSW has doubled its share of national exploration spending and quadrupled its share of greenfields exploration over the same period, showing promising signs for discovering the next generation of NSW mines.

"We love working in that central west region, we have for generations and want to continue to do so," Mr Earner said.

"I think what Alkane tries to do is show those rural communities that mining and farming can all work together, because we've done that successfully for many years."

NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said there were two other finalists in the running for the award which included Aurelia Metals Limited for their Federation Deposit, and Evolution Mining for GRE46 Deposit at Cowal Gold Operations.

"This increased spending and investment in the exploration sector is good news for regional NSW as it means more opportunities for investment, jobs and growth for local communities," he said.

"The contribution made by all our finalists is a great example of the resilience and ingenuity shown by our world-class exploration sector despite the challenges presented by a global health crisis.

"Our industry has continued to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing jobs for tens of thousands of families and driving crucial economic activity in regional communities right across NSW."