CBH Resources has been given approval to develop a new silver, lead and zinc deposit near its existing Rasp mine in Broken Hill.
The company says the 250,000 tonne resource is worth more than $100 million dollars and will help CBH return to profit following a few tough years.
CBH has been in a cash negative position to the tune of one to two million dollars and was forced to cut more than 50 workers in 2013.
"It provides the higher grade material that we need to lift us into a position where we've got an operating cash flow, so it makes all the difference to our operation," CBH chief operating officer Visko Sulicich told ABC.
"It'll mean that we can lift our production rates by about 20 per cent."
Rasp Mine is one of the oldest in the region, with the ordebody first discovered in the 1880s.
The mine was officially re-opened on 25 July 2012, with an expected production rate of 34,000 tonnes of zinc metal in concentrate, 28,000 tonnes of lead metal in concentrate, and 1.1 million ounces of silver in the lead concentrate.
Sulicich says subsidence caused by a fire 100 years ago has made it difficult to access the zinc, making the mine less profitable.
"When you lose that high-grade feed and you have to re-establish to access additional high-grade feed it puts the pressure on," he said.
"That's been the root cause of our problem and we need 12 to 15 months to stabilise things and get it back on track."
Image: gres.com.au