Damian Spring: Santana Minerals Chief Executive on Australian miners predicting Otago gold mine could make $3.8 billion

Australian mining firm Santana Minerals has forecasted making $3.8 billion (NZD) in pre-tax profit off a proposed gold mine it hopes to open in Otago by 2027.

The company believes it could get 1.25 million ounces of gold from the mine near Cromwell - and the profit is predicted to be significant if gold prices keep holding up.

Santana Minerals CEO Damian Spring says this mine will come with dividends for New Zealand, in terms of royalties and jobs and services.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Australian miners reckon they could make up to three point
eight billion dollars of pre tax profit from a planned
gold mine in Otago. The company reckons they could get
one point two five million ounces of gold from the
mine near Cromwell, and with the price of gold currently
at record highs, the profits are set to be huge.
Damien Spring is Santana Mineral's chief executive.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Hi, Damien good Oheather, how are you very well?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thank you? Do you reckon the price of gold's going
to hold?

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Oh? Look, it's thanks to be holding at the moment.
You know, it's come off it's ultimate high of around
five the other eight hundred. But even at this price,
it's still in terms of the history of gold price,
you know, very high.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
I saw somewhere that even if the price of gold halved,
you guys would still make a decent profit.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Is that right?

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Well, that's right. You know, this is a gold project
that those international investors that are interested investing directly gold
projects are set up and taking notice and it is
a high grade, high value gold mind net we're posing
here and it's going to produce dividends both for those
investors but also New Zealand in terms of royalties and

(01:23):
jobs and services and such on.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
How long before you start pulling it out?

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Well, we've got to get our application into the fast
track process where and that is a minute and given
the powers of that piece of legislation in terms of
a fast tracked decision making process, it could be as
early as next year.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Oh you could actually be digging as early as next year,
could you?

Speaker 3 (01:51):
That's right, that's what our time frame is, pending the
fast trek approved.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Okay, So how much damage are you going to do
though to the land in order to get this gold out? Like?
How much digging are we talking about?

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Are we talking about an open pit? Mind? Centered on
the deposit called Rise and Shine or RAS. It's about
nine hundred meters across up to two hundred meters feet.
It's an open mine. So yep, it's like any other
extractive in New Zealand and plenty of them. We certainly

(02:27):
do dig up the ground, but we have a full
process of understanding what those depicts are, how we're going
to mitigate it, and of course before we start. We've
got a very sound closure plan, so we put it
back to a landform that is a commensurate with the
surrounding landscape.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
Right, so when you're done with it, you basically make
it look nice again. How long before you're done with it?

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Well, our current mind plan that we just released this though,
it's us mining for fourteen years, okay, but of course
expiration continues, so we'll see what that produces and maybe
hopefully we find them more.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Never know, So, Damien, the locals who are objecting because
of the fact that they think it's going to look
ugly have maybe got a bit of a point, haven't they.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
Oh look, I think we've been engaging with effective parties
and neighbors and community groups right across the region of
Central Otago. They believe what they believe. We've engaged experts
in all the various areas, including landscape and visual and

(03:34):
we rely on those experts to work within the framework
that we have here in New Zealand, and we believe
we've got a solution for those concerns.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Brilliant.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Hey, well, you know you got to break eggs to
make an omelet, so best of luck to you. That's
Damien Spring, chief executive at Santana Minerals.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
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