00:02Turning the first sod on a $500 million gold processing plant and mine at Mount Bundy south
00:09of Darwin. Chinese financed company Hanking Gold is confident it can make this long mothballed mine
00:17profitable again when it restarts production in early 2028. It estimates the site contains
00:24$6 billion of gold. We expect it will be profitable because the gold price at the moment is very high.
00:31The waste rock dump of the old Mount Bundy mine is behind me here and when the mine went bust
00:36in 1997
00:37the gold price was just $600 Australian an ounce. Now the gold price is more than $6,000 an ounce
00:45meaning mines like this are restarting all over Australia. Clearly the movement in the last couple
00:51of years has increased the margins dramatically and made it a lot easier to get investment.
00:58A 400 worker accommodation camp is being built. Local contractors are welcoming the construction
01:05work in the NT's otherwise flat economy. This project will not only be good for the
01:11construction workers but then also for all the service industries that follow on after.
01:18The miner will have to drain flooded pits and remove crocodiles. It's gained environmental
01:24approvals and is promising its tailings dam and wastewater won't cause pollution. A $3 million
01:31wastewater treatment plant has been built. Any water that comes off the tailings is reclaimed
01:38and reprocessed through the plant so no cyanide in water enters the environment.
01:43The Mount Bundy mine is one of more than 20 old operations being revived Australia wide in
01:49the rush to capitalise on gold's high price. Gold has now surpassed gas to tie with coal as
01:56Australia's second most valuable export after iron ore.
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