Cobar: A Town Diversified
Southern Nights discovery. Image: Peel Mining. BY ELIZABETH FABRI IN the outback town of Cobar rising commodity prices are restoring confidence at existing operations, as fresh exploration signals a break away from the region’s reliance on base metals towards a gold-focused future. It’s been boom-and-bust for Cobar since first copper was discovered in the region in 1869. The town has witnessed great successes (at peak sporting a population of 10,000) followed by incredible lows when commodity cycles took a dive. Just two years ago this was the case when one of the town’s major employers, CBH Resources’ Endeavor mine, made almost half of its workforce (116 people) redundant as a result of the declining zinc and lead prices. It was…