A survey commissioned by Santana Minerals suggests nearly half of the people interested in working at its proposed Bendigo-Ophir gold mine already live close by.

In a March 5 media release, Santana Minerals said 48 per cent of the 647 people who responded to its survey live in Central Otago or Queenstown Lakes districts.

Another 27 per cent are based elsewhere in the South Island.

People and culture manager Vicki Blakeborough described the project as a “residential mine”.

“There is no FIFO here,” Vicki said in the statement, referring to fly-in fly-out workforces at some mining operations.

The survey results showed two-thirds of respondents already have accommodation within an hour of the proposed mine site in the Dunstan Range, while 94 per cent would use company-provided bus transport from centres including Cromwell, Alexandra, Queenstown, Wānaka and Hāwea if available to them.

The company has previously said the project could produce 120,000 ounces of gold annually at peak production for 14 years, and generate more than 860 jobs.

These figures were included in background information accompanying the company’s release.

However, community group Sustainable Tarras has cautioned against relying on headline economic projections linked to mining proposals.

In a Facebook post on February 17, the group said discussions about mining developments could be influenced by “extraordinary figures about profit” and projected jobs.

The group questioned how 860 new jobs would affect a region already facing high housing costs and low unemployment, expressing concern workers might shift away from the tourism, viticulture and horticulture sectors.

Respondents to Santana Minerals' survey reported experience across construction, mining operations and mineral processing - surveyors, engineers, machine operators, health and safety specialists and drill and blast specialist among them - while 176 said they were new to the mining industry.

The company described this as a "pipeline of talent ready to be trained".

“We don't just want to hire Central Otago, we want to train it," Vicki said.

The Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project is currently progressing through a fast-track consenting process.

The company said the survey was carried out over 35 days in January.

Respondents were people who had already expressed interest in working on the project.

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