Federation Mine Opened by NSW Government

On 11 September 2024, the Federation Mine was officially opened by the NSW Minister for Natural Resources the Hon. Courtney Houssos.

Members of the Aurelia Board, employees and contract partners from across the Group and honoured guests from our neighbouring communities were invited to the official proceedings that took place at the Federation Mine site.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bryan Quinn spoke about the importance of the opening for Aurelia’s future growth, for NSW and the local communities.

“It’s not every day you have the opportunity to open a new mine. Today represents countless hours from employees and our valued contract partners. I therefore want to begin by thanking everyone who has, or is, working at our Federation Mine. Today would not have been possible if it was not for your hard work and dedication,” Bryan said.

“At Aurelia, we are blessed to have such a prospective tenement package to work with that will allow us to grow and produce the commodities Australia and the world needs. As one of the highest-grade base metal development projects in Australia, Federation is an important step for the future growth of Aurelia and the production of minerals to meet the decarbonisation challenge.

“Our exploration team discovered the high-grade Federation deposit in April 2019. Recognising the significance of the discovery, we moved quickly to accelerate exploration and infill drilling, in conjunction with project evaluation and permitting applications, to enable production from this exceptional mineral deposit.

“The Federation operation will directly employ more than 140 employees and contractors. There will also be significant flow on benefits to local businesses supporting activities of the Mine and its workforce. Total employees and contractors across the Cobar region for Aurelia is approximately 600 strong.

“NSW Government estimates the sale of metal produced from Federation ores will deliver to NSW, state royalties of approximately A$74 million over the initial eight-year mine year life.

“Aurelia has approximately 1,350square-kilometres of tenements between Federation to Cobar. We are also incredibly fortunate our geology is close to the great towns of Cobar and Nymagee, where we can partner with our communities, councils, employ a very good workforce, and offer apprenticeship opportunities to local school students.  The combination of highly prospective geology in an excellent location gives us a valuable competitive advantage.

“I would like to close by thanking the Hon. Minister Houssos and her team for officially opening our Federation Mine. On behalf of our Board and the Aurelia team, we look forward to safely delivering the benefits of the Federation mine for many years to come,” Bryan concluded.