Uncovering Northern Victoria’s gold potential

Minerals explorers have been invited to learn how they can contribute to Victoria’s gold renaissance and potentially win the exclusive right to apply for a licence to explore some of the state’s most prospective ground.

The North Central Victorian Goldfields Ground Release is an international, competitive, merit-based tender for ground north and east of Bendigo, covering an area with similar geology to the world-renowned Fosterville Gold Mine.

A full-day tender briefing session will be held on Friday, December 13.

The Geological Survey of Victoria estimates that there may be as much as 32 million ounces of undiscovered gold north of Bendigo.

Mineral explorers will be assessed on their commitment to working with landholders and local communities, their collaboration with Traditional Owners and their technical capability before they are able to apply for a minerals exploration licence.

Submissions will be assessed by an independent panel.

Minerals exploration activities including mapping, sampling, geophysical surveys and localised drilling could be under way in the area as early as the second half of 2020.

The tender briefing session for potential tenderers will be held in the Treasury Theatre, Lower Plaza, 1 Macarthur St, Melbourne, from 9:00am to 3:30pm.

This session will include information about the geology and key features of the ground release areas, publicly available geoscience data, working with traditional owners and the tender application and evaluation processes.

Explorers are invited to register to attend the briefing at earthresources.vic.gov.au.

Presentations made at the briefing session will be recorded and made available on the website.

Quotes attributed to Jane Burton, Executive Director Earth Resources Policy & Programs:

“This event will reveal the vital geoscience data underpinning the North Central Victorian Goldfields Ground Release and is integral to explorers understanding the minerals potential of the area.”

“We’re taking an integrated approach to encourage investment in minerals exploration, while ensuring factors that are important to local communities are taken into account.”

“The successful tenderers will be required to work closely with local communities and traditional owners to ensure minerals exploration is balanced with other land uses and that landholders are comfortable with the scheduled activities.”

/Public Release. View in full here.