Southern Cross Gold Consolidated advises that PYBAR Mining Services Pty Ltd, a Thiess company, has been awarded the underground exploration decline contract for the company’s Sunday Creek Gold-Antimony Project, 60 kilometres north of Melbourne, Victoria. The award follows the Resources Victoria Work Plan approval received in November 2025 and Premier Jacinta Allan’s public endorsement of the project as a critical minerals jobs opportunity for Victoria.
Michael Hudson, President & CEO states: “The Allan Labor Government approved our exploration decline on 27 November 2025. In the five months since, we have been establishing the surface infrastructure and secured the secondary consents required to commence underground mining. With these in place, we are
pleased to confirm the award of the decline contract to PYBAR.”
He adds: “The decline is fundamentally about accelerating drilling. Underground platforms 115 metres beneath surface scale us from the 11 surface rigs operating today to 24 rigs working concurrently from underground positions, positioning Sunday Creek as one of the largest pre-development drill-outs globally. With the PYBAR contract awarded, and Shane Leary and Ben Edwards onboard, we have the contractor and the operational leadership in place to look forward to year-end decline completion and significant increased drilling capacity for this exciting gold and antimony discovery.”
The contract covers primary and secondary ground support installation of the box cut, portal establishment and primary decline development together with associated services and infrastructure, and initial lateral development. Scope includes a box cut of approximately 15 metres depth, a primary 5.5 m wide x 6 m high
decline of approximately 680 metres reaching a vertical depth of approximately 115 metres, and 1,200 metres of lateral development to establish the initial drilling platforms. The initial term is 7 months. PYBAR was selected following a competitive tender process assessing technical capability, safety record, delivery
schedule and price.
The decline is being built primarily to accelerate drilling. Establishing underground drill platforms unlocks the scale-up from the 11 surface rigs operating today to 24 rigs working concurrently, positioning Sunday Creek as one of the largest pre-development drill-outs globally. Underground drilling delivers shorter, more accurate holes into mineralisation, and materially improves productivity per metre.
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