Victoria’s critical opportunity: gold and antimony strategy for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Victoria’s push to produce one million ounces of gold annually by 2035 is central to a broader critical minerals strategy outlined by Minerals Council of Australia regional director James Sorahan on the inaugural Australian Mining Podcast. Sorahan points to the state’s established orogenic goldfields and emerging antimony prospects as a dual focus, positioning Victoria for both bullion output and supply of a key battery and alloy element. For miners and explorers, the message is to leverage existing underground gold infrastructure while targeting polymetallic systems with critical mineral credits.
Technical Brief
- Targeted orogenic systems in Victoria imply deep, structurally controlled underground mining rather than bulk open pits.
- Existing underground decline networks and shaft infrastructure are flagged as key leverage points for new campaigns.
- Sorahan stresses brownfield expansion around historic workings to minimise new surface disturbance and approvals.
- Antimony is framed as a by-product credit from polymetallic lodes, not a standalone bulk commodity.
- Discussion links antimony demand to battery chemistries and high-strength lead–antimony alloys for grid storage.
- Victoria’s narrow-vein goldfields require selective stoping methods and tight dilution control to stay economic.
- Regulatory certainty and streamlined permitting are identified as critical constraints on new underground project timelines.
- For other mature gold camps, the model is re‑entering historic mines to chase deeper, structurally repeated shoots.
Our Take
Victoria’s 1Moz-by-2035 gold ambition stands out in our gold-tagged coverage, which is otherwise dominated by Western Australian and Queensland assets, signalling a deliberate attempt to rebalance exploration and development attention towards the south‑east of Australia.
The focus on antimony alongside gold positions Victoria within the ‘critical minerals’ stream of our database, where most Australian stories centre on battery metals; this suggests Victorian projects may lean more towards defence, electronics and alloy supply chains than EV cathodes.
With no specific projects named yet, the Minerals Council of Australia’s advocacy in Victoria is likely to influence how early-stage permitting and infrastructure planning are framed, at a time when other Australian Mining pieces show contractors gearing up for larger EPC-style packages and long-term mine services work nationally.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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