Operating mines in NSW is a small subset of sites taken from the NSW Mineral Occurrence dataset which represent an active mining operation. An operation is a deposit or group of deposits of similar style within the same district, operated by a common operator. Generally an operation will have a single common processing plant. An operation is considered to be ‘operating’ (active mine) if ore is being produced and a royalty paid from at least one of its deposits. The Operating status of each deposit is maintained in the MetIndex database and based on the following definition.

Operating Mines Layer: For the purpose of an operating mines layer for metallic minerals, an operating mine is a mining operation where production is on a continuous or intermittent basis.

Operation: An Operation is a deposit or a group of deposits of a similar style within the same district, operated by a common operator. Generally an operation will have a single common processing plant.

Operating status: Operating status is continuous where there is reported production at least twice in a 12 month period, operating mines with less reported production are classified as intermittent.