Kulukulu – home to what some have called ‘Kailoma Paradise’ on the mainland – could become a mining site with a manufacturing facility, if definitive feasibility studies (DFS) support the move.

Australian prospector, Dome Gold Mines Limited, yesterday said the DFS and environment impact assessment (EIA) studies both were well underway and would recommend the best location to commence mining and processing.

Chairman and chief executive officer, John McCarthy, said the purpose of the DFS and EIA studies was to investigate and design the most efficient method of mining and mineral processing of the heavy mineral sand at Sigatoka.

“Magnetite will be one of several potential products of the mine, assuming it will go ahead,” he told SunBiz.

It follows a non-disclosure agreement with a multinational mining group.

Dome Gold Mines Limited, a listed entity on the Australian Security Exchange, carried out mineral exploration around Sigatoka in recent years, and has also announced its plans to develop its interest in gold and silver in Ono, Kadavu.

It said the major multinational mining group expressed interest in examining Dome’s two hard rock projects in Fiji.

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