Consolidated Broken Hill Resources is preparing to spend up to $50 million to reopen a discarded mine in the heart of the Silver City and tap into zinc reserves, creating 100 jobs in western NSW.
The reopening of the south mine is contributing to a mining boom in Broken Hill in an industry which once employed 8000 people at its peak and now employs just 600.

CBH Resources managing director Bob Besley said the main body of zinc at the Rasp mine – named after Broken Hill's founder Charles Rasp – in the city's centre had never been tapped because it was of a grade which was previously too costly to extract.

"This is quite a different ore body, it's lower-grade but it's a simpler mining operation," Mr Besley said.

"It's considerably lower-cost to mine than Broken Hill ore bodies were in the past."

Zinc is trading at $US3236 ($4257) a tonne.

The industry has boomed in recent times due to more cost-effective mining techniques and the opening of export markets.

Mr Besley said most of the zinc mined at Broken Hill would be exported to China and Japan. It will principally be used for galvanising iron and in the car industry.

CBH Resources is close to completing its $15 million exploration project and is waiting for approval from the NSW Government after having completed environmental and feasibility studies.

Mr Besley said the exploration project would employ about 20 people. When the mining process officially begins in 2008, up to 100 people will be employed.

"We're looking at about 750,000 tonnes of zinc per annum from the underground mine up the decline and processed through a processing plant," he said. "Zinc, lead and silver are the three metals, but the dominant metal is zinc."

Perilya has also increased production of lead, zinc and silver at its Broken Hill mine and Exco Resources is about to start gold production at a mine 80km west of the city.

The mining boom has sparked calls for the city to re-introduce mining-related studies. Mayor Ron Page said Robertson College, which is part of Charles Sturt University, ran mining studies in Broken Hill until about 15 years ago.

"We had a mining university here where we trained people that worked in the industry," Mr Page said. "Now it's an aged-care complex.

"We are pushing for that (to revive) at the moment, and we have people approaching people to have those classes in the city."

In the year to June 2005, Broken Hill was ranked as one of Australia's top 25 towns where jobs growth outstripped population growth. Mr Page credited the jobs growth largely to the mining industry.