Tonnes of gold could soon be extracted from an abandoned Central Queensland mine.
Rockhampton Regional Council has welcomed the announcement Heritage Minerals will re-open the Mount Morgan Gold Mine.
Mayor Tony Williams believes this major project couldn’t come at a better time.
“This is a project that has the ability to change the face of Mount Morgan,” he says.
“I commend Heritage Minerals for their ongoing diligence, commitment and dedication to local investment.”
Heritage Minerals CEO Malcolm Paterson says local employment will be key to this projects success.
“Our local procurement strategy means approximately 80 per cent of project spending will happen in northern Australia with the bulk of that occurring in the Rockhampton local government area accordingly,” he says.
“Plans to hire local employees are well underway with the assistance of Advance Rockhampton and the support of the Jobs and Skills program in consultation with federal and state job agencies.”
“We have the potential to extract an estimated 263,000 ounces of gold and over 5000 tonnes of copper, the economic impact of a project like this will have the eyes of the world on Mount Morgan.”
“Rockhampton Regional Council advocated for the Heritage Minerals project and welcomes the recent Queensland Government funding announcement.”
The abandoned mine has attracted plenty of interest in the past, with many engineers left scratching their heads for how to sustainably recover gold and copper from the tailing’s stockpiles.
Using revolutionary RECYN technology, Heritage Minerals plans to detoxify the tailings and assist with clean water discharge.
Advance Rockhampton’s Executive Manager Greg Bowden says he is has been working with Heritage Minerals since 2020.
“We are talking about a project that will support up to 250 jobs during construction and then around 150 jobs will be required to run the commissioned mine,” he says.
“This is a town with historically high unemployment, a project like this means local jobs for Mount Morgan which is a driving focus for Advance Rockhampton.
“Our team has been working in conjunction with Heritage Minerals, helping coordinate labour planning, community consultation, infrastructure upgrades and troubleshooting options for waste management.”
