Bodangora Community Hub
Resources for our Bodangora and Wellington communities
Alkane in your community
Alkane has been part of the Dubbo regional community for more than four decades and involved with the communities in the Wellington area for more than 20 years.
Gold discovery near Bodangora
The Boda and Kaiser resources are among the most significant gold-copper deposits defined in NSW in the last 10 years. The Boda-Kaiser system is about 3.5km long and centred about 3km northeast of Bodangora. We believe it has the potential to support a long-term mining and processing operation.
The road ahead
Alkane’s wholly owned subsidiary, Mitchell Creek Mining (MCM), is conducting preliminary studies to advance potential development of the Boda-Kaiser Project. If we embark on the rigorous government evaluation and approval process, which will take several years to complete, the community will be consulted every step of the way.
Sustainable development
We work closely with local landowners and communities to minimise the impacts of our activities. Our goal is always to listen and respond to the needs of our stakeholders and build mutually cooperative relationships. Alkane and other companies have demonstrated that mining and exploration can co-exist sustainably with farming.
Receive our latest updates
Subscribe to our Bodangora community newsletter to learn what we’re doing at Boda-Kaiser and the broader Northern Molong Porphyry Project. You can pick up a hardcopy at our Dubbo office.
Newsletter archive
Bodangora Community Information Line
We welcome community members to engage with us directly about any of our projects.
To contact us directly (or make a complaint) the Community Information Line Number operates 24/7. You can also email mike.sutherland@alkres.com.
(If you are calling for business purposes please call between 9 am – 5 pm Monday to Friday on 02 6882 2866)
Drilling map
Quick facts
How is Boda-Kaiser significant?
Development of Boda-Kaiser into a mine has the potential to bring a long-term viable industry to Bodangora and Wellington that would create many jobs and generate a significant boost to the local and state economy. Gold and copper are both valuable metals. Copper, in particular, is critical for many renewable energy technologies.
How did the Boda-Kaiser deposits form?
The Boda-Kaiser porphyry deposits formed some 440 million years ago, when there was a chain of volcanoes in this area (like modern Japan or Indonesia). A large magma body tried to rise up and erupt but got stuck a few kilometres down and began to cool and solidify… [read more]
Who is Mitchell Creek Mining?
Mitchell Creek Mining (MCM) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alkane that holds all the assets associated with Boda-Kaiser and our exploration activities within the surrounding Northern Molong Porphyry Project (NMPP).
The name honours the historical Mitchell’s Creek Gold Mine, which operated near Bodangora in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Exploration beyond Boda-Kaiser
Alkane’s Northern Molong Porphyry Project (NMPP) covers an area of 180 square kilometres north of Wellington. It comprises five exploration licences (EL). Alkane has been actively exploring in the area since 2004 and discovered the Boda-Kaiser deposits in 2019.
Significantly, the Boda and Kaiser orebodies lie within a district of similar underlying geology. This means further gold-copper deposits might be discovered elsewhere in the district. We’re now looking at some of our other exploration targets within the NMPP, starting with the Comobella area.
What happens if Alkane wants to explore your land?
Under the Mining Act 1992, Alkane’s exploration licences give us exclusive rights to explore for sub-surface minerals belonging to the state of NSW.
To gain access to the land at the surface, we work with landholders to determine an access arrangement that minimises interference with agricultural activities, outlines rehabilitation plans for any land we disturb, and lays out terms of compensation.
Exploration activities comprise a mix of low-impact activities (such as soil sampling) and geophysical surveys to identify targets, followed by strategic drilling campaigns to extract rocks for analysis.
In practice, Alkane typically conducts exploration activities at a given location for a period of a few days up to a few weeks.
For more information, refer to the latest Bodangora community newsletter.
FAQs
We are at the very early stages of planning and assessing the Boda-Kaiser Project. Our early consultation and engagement is intended to help community members get an understanding of the project and any potential changes (positive and negative) that might affect them. It is also an opportunity for us to listen and understand the perspective of anyone who has an interest in the project, whether that be near neighbours, the wider community, the Aboriginal community, special interest groups or the business community.
Our engagement strategy includes:
- Face-to-face meetings. We are already in detailed discussions with numerous landholders and anticipate further discussions as planning for the project continues.
- Community information and drop-in sessions. We’ll hold occasional information sessions for small groups (such as near neighbours), or the wider community more generally. These sessions will be widely advertised, and we will aim to schedule them at a convenient time and location.
- A permanently staffed office. Our Dubbo office is open 8.30am-5.00pm Monday to Friday at Level 2, 88-90 Macquarie Street. Interested community members are welcome to drop in or make an appointment at any time.
- Community information line. The community information line (6882 2866 or info@alkres.com) is available 24/7 for community enquiries, comments, or to arrange a time to speak with a project representative.
- Website and Newsletter.
- Presentations, including announcements to the ASX, are available on Alkane’s website.
- MCM also publishes a quarterly newsletter, which can be subscribed to on the Bodangora Community Hub page or letterbox dropped on request.
- Community events and groups. MCM staff make themselves available to give presentations to community groups and at Wellington and Dubbo Shows, as well as other community events.
Mitchell Creek Mining (MCM) is still in the early stages of refining our water balance. This involves reviewing:
- how much water we need for processing, dust suppression, etc
- how much of that water can be recovered and recycled
- how water consumption and losses can be minimised, and
- where and how water can be stored.
Until that work is finalised, we will not know how much water we will need.
As for where that water will come from, we will look at multiple potential sources, including the Macquarie-Cudgegong river system, alluvial aquifers, fractured rock aquifer water, recycled water and harvestable rights on MCM-owned land. In all cases, water we use will be licenced under the Water Management Act 2000.
No. Any operation at Boda-Kaiser will separate clean water, dirty water (with suspended sediment only) and contaminated water (with chemicals or salt). Measures will be implemented to ensure contaminated water does not leave the site. This will include lined ponds and storage and a lined Tailings Storage Facility. We will also have a comprehensive water monitoring and reporting system. Finally, consent conditions imposed by the NSW Government will ensure protection of receiving waters from contaminants.
We are still working that out. Once we know more, we will communicate that information. However, just like neighbouring farmers, Mitchell Creek Mining will have a maximum harvestable right applied to land that we own or lease.
Baseline environmental studies have already commenced. Some of the community might have already seen soil scientists and ecologists on site. We have also installed several monitored bores and put monitoring equipment in existing bores and on streams within and around the site. We have installed a weather station and will soon install air quality monitoring equipment.
Future baseline assessments will include heritage, noise and traffic, as well as continued and expended biodiversity, soils and air quality studies.
Where these studies are undertaken will depend on the aspect being studied and the extent of potential impacts. Some, such as heritage, will be limited to the proposed site, while others, such as groundwater and traffic, will extend further from the site.
Every landholder and resident will have their own opinion and thoughts about the project. We will consult widely with landholders throughout the mine planning and approvals phase to understand those perspectives and concerns.
Some properties have already been purchased, and option agreements have been negotiated with others depending on individual circumstances. We will work with affected landholders and residents to identify and implement equitable solutions based on individual needs and concerns.
Finally, the Minister, through his/her delegate, can impose consent conditions that would compel Mitchell Creek Mining as the developer to acquire adversely impacted properties at the request of the landholder.
