A mining group will soon deliver its environmental impact study in preparation for work on a new silver mine in New South Wales.

Speaking at the 2013 NSW Mineral Exploration and Investment Conference, Kingsgate Consolidated said the Bowden Silver Project’s technical feasibility, mine planning, infrastructure, and metallurgy reports were all aligned to submit with the environmental assessment in the beginning of next year.

Kingsgate has been working through the Director General’s Requirements for the project, issued by the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure. Recent Land and Environment Court rulings are also being incorporated and community consultation will continue before and after environmental submissions.

In its presentation to the conference; Kingsgate said the current resource estimate is 182 million ounces of silver with an in-ground value of $5 billion. 

Metallurgical testing by Kingsgate has shown 82 per cent silver recovery, a nine per cent increase over earlier work conducted before the company purchased the site for $75 million in 2011.