A large-scale gold mine planned near Roxburgh is "getting up there'' among the largest alluvial gold operations in the country, its promoter says.
Kokiri Lime Company Ltd has applied to the Central Otago District Council for resource consents to establish and operate the mine in the rural resource area.
It is also seeking water and discharge permits and land use consents from the Otago Regional Council for the operation, and the applications will be heard jointly by the councils.
Kokiri's sole director, Mack Ferguson, of Picton, said the project had some "big hurdles in front of us'', but he hoped it would proceed, depending on the price of gold and the outcome of consultation with the 17 landowners and other interested groups involved.
"Obviously, we're pretty serious about this. We've done the homework and spent about a year putting together a top-notch consent application.''
He declined to place a figure on the amount of gold the company expected to extract over the 15-year operation, saying that figure was commercially sensitive.
The application said gold would be sourced from 163ha of land, from a historic channel of the Clutha River.
Exploratory drilling had been carried out from 1992 to 2015.
Based on the data collected, the company believed there was "sufficient resource ... to support an economic mining operation'', Mr Ferguson said.
Consultation was still under way with landowners about land access agreements.
Farmers and orchardists are among the property owners affected by the proposal and they include district councillor Stephen Jeffery and Summerfruit New Zealand chairman Gary Bennetts.
The consent application includes more than 460 pages of documents, covering groundwater, traffic assessment, landscapes, air quality, noise, an archeological assessment, a geotechnical report, botanical values and a rehabilitation plan for the mined land.
Mr Ferguson said his company had "extensive alluvial mining experience'', mostly on the West Coast.
"I think this is a good project with economic benefits for the district, with 10 people being employed and other spin-offs for local businesses and contractors.''
The application said potential adverse effects from the operation included its impact on groundwater, surface water, air quality, noise, landscape and visual amenity values, traffic, the site's land resource, buildings and infrastructure, archeological values and recreational activities.
Proposed mitigation measures were included as potential consent conditions.
"We're trying to consult with everyone and tick as many boxes as possible, but I'm conscious that people are going to have their own views on this and we'll work with them to address concerns,'' Mr Ferguson said.
The operation would comprise an open pit pond that would advance along a mine path.
A gold processing dredge would float in the mine pond.
The topsoil and overburden would be stripped, stored and then used to rehabilitate the land behind the mine.
Mintago Investments Ltd's Earnscleugh alluvial gold mine closed in September 2014, five years into what was a planned seven-year operation, citing depressed gold prices and the high dollar.
At its peak, the 24-hour operation employed 35 people and the company said about $10 million was spent in the area annually.
At the time, it was the largest alluvial gold operation in the country and the company had 150ha of mineable farmland.
