CORRYONG could become a major mining town with a nearby molybdenum discovery now believed to be a multibillion-dollar find.
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But it is the home of the Man from Snowy River festival that also has the mining exploration company and investors talking up the future.
Last week, leading fund managers from Sydney jetted into the Upper Murray to familiarise themselves with Mount Unicorn, 20km south of the town.
Mining exploration company Dart Mining says ongoing drilling continues to support the notion of a major find of the metal that sells for $US40,000 a tonne.
Company chairman Chris Bain likens it to mines in Colorado that generate billion-dollar annual productions.
Two years ago, early results gave hope of a mining operation lasting 10 to 15 years.
Mr Bain says they are now talking more than half a century.
“We invited a group of 16 investors from Sydney to visit the project at Mount Unicorn,” Dart chairman Chris Bain said.
“The idea was to get the investors familiar with the advantages of the site, the depth of infrastructure, the proximity to Corryong.
“To just put a perspective about the project because, frankly, there’s not a lot of knowledge about the region in capital cities.
“The second reason was to explain the geology and scale of what is up there — show them the outcrops so that they can relate to what we are getting in our assay results.”
Mr Bain said the potential was huge and Corryong part of the attraction.
“We are on the radar of a number of investment funds but they want us to validate what we have found thus far,” he said.
“But they are equally excited by the location.
“It is about having a town nearby that can provide all the services and is familiar with big engineering projects.
“The people of Corryong remember the Snowy Hydro scheme, they are comfortable with that and know what it means.
“It’s about having good airstrips. It is about having the power, on grid, and not out in the desert where you have to rely on diesel generators.
“It is about having a skilled workforce in the region and a town that people are happy to live in — we don’t have to build a mining town in the middle of nowhere.”
