The company’s operation at the Ballarat Gold Mine has begun crushing some of the 3500 tonnes of ore mined so far, while the first gold bullion is expected to be produced in September, as originally planned.

Mr Gill said the company was “excited” to deliver the first gold bullion on time next month.

“This is great timing, given the current high gold prices and sentiment for this precious metal,” he said.

Castlemaine Goldfields will run on a day shift this month, to bed the process in so the newly recruited plant operators can learn the process.

The Ballarat processing plant will then begin operating 24 hours a day, three to four days a week next month.

Mr Gill said about 100 people currently worked “in and around” Ballarat on the gold mine project, but more jobs were on the way.

“The contractor drilling underground currently has about 40 people employed,” he said.

“On the Castlemaine Goldfields site, we’ve currently got about 60 people but that will increase to about 100 by Christmas.”

“All up, it will probably increase to about 150 or 160 jobs.”

Mr Gill said the gold found at the Ballarat site was of a particularly high standard.

He said the company was hoping to extract 50,000 ounces over a two-to-three-year period.

“At Ballarat, there’s about 7.5 grams of gold per tonne of rock,” he said.

“Now that doesn’t sound like much, but the average WA gold grade is about two grams per tonne.”

“So that gives you some idea of the grade at Ballarat.”

Castlemaine Goldfields bought Ballarat Goldfields in March last year for $4.5 million after it proved to be a liability for former owner Lihir Gold.

The company immediately concentrated on the mine’s northern sections, with initial assay results in July last year finding minerals much higher up the mine than expected.