- Alkane’s Tomingley Gold mine providing water from its bore source to Tomingley village
- Tomingley at risk of running out of water due to drought
- Avoids expensive trucking in of water for local community
The village of Tomingley, 57 km south-west of Dubbo in central west of New South Wales, was at risk of running out of water.
The village usually relies on dams filled by Gundong Creek but this ephemeral water source has remained dry since the 2016 floods.
The nearby Tomingley Gold Mine, owned by Alkane Resources (ASX: ALK), relies for its water on a 46km underground pipeline from the Narromine bore field.
The $4million bore water pipeline was constructed by Tomingley Gold for the mine partly funded by the NSW Government backed Local Infrastructure Support Fund.
Tomingley Gold has pumped water into the Tomingley village dams from which Narromine Shire Council (NSC) which has enabled the delivery of a reticulated non-potable water supply to the village.
According to Tomingley Gold’s Environment and Community Manager, Mark Williams, it was an easy operation to manage and it was essential to help out the local village in this way.
“Without the bore water pipeline, NSC would be forced to truck water to the village, at great expense,” Mark Williams said.
Narromine Shire Council General Manager, Jane Redden, said “The council would like to thank Tomingley Gold Mine for working with us, and the Community, to ensure the sustainable water supply for Tomingley during the drought.”
When Tomingley Gold Mine was being established, Alkane and NSC negotiated a Voluntary Planning Agreement and supplying the bore water is part of this arrangement, allowing NSC to determine the amount of water the village will need at times like this.
Not far from Tomingley, at Toongi, 25 km south of Dubbo, Alkane is developing the A$1.3 billion Dubbo zirconium and rare earths project* which will also rely on local aquifer bore water as well as river water for its operation.
Alkane’s Dubbo Project, which has a mine life of over 75 years, is construction ready with approvals in place and is awaiting financing.
The project is one of the world’s largest in-ground resources of its combination of zirconium, rare earths, hafnium and niobium and its future production would represent an alternative source from China which currently meets the vast majority of world demand for rare earths.
* Owner and operator of Alkane’s Dubbo Project is wholly owned subsidiary, Australian Strategic Materials Ltd.