Investors with a taste for gold are likely acquainted with ASX 200 mining stocks like Newmont Corporation CDI (ASX: NEM).
Fellow industry leaders Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) are also household names in the booming gold sector.
These gold mining titans have been riding the gravy train as the price of the metal surged to record highs in 2025.
As things stand, the gold price has rocketed by more than 50% since early January to about US$4,000 per ounce.
In turn, Newmont and Evolution shares have more than doubled since the start of the year, with Northern Star shares also rising by 58% during the same time.
However, the biggest ASX 200 gold miners are not the only ones cashing in.
A wave of smaller mineral exploration stocks and development companies are also benefiting from a strong pricing environment.
For instance, Santana Minerals Ltd (ASX: SMI) is one lesser-known contender that is starting to shine bright.
Shares in the company have already ballooned by 78% since the start of the year as it looks to build a mine at its Bendigo-Ophir gold project in New Zealand.
And big news this week has brought this goal significantly closer.
Robust economics
The Bendigo-Ophir gold project is situated on the South Island of New Zealand.
Its total resource base contains more than 2.3 million ounces of gold scattered across four deposits.
However, the jewel in the crown is the flagship Rise and Shine deposit with nearly 2.1 million ounces of gold.
A recent economic evaluation gauging the merits of bringing Rise and Shine to production painted a compelling picture on the project's potential.
The study envisaged 1.25 million ounces of total gold sales from an initial mine life of 13.8 years.
In total, it forecast revenue of US$4.3 billion and operating earnings (EBITDA) of US$2.9 billion when using a gold price of US$3,450 per ounce.
The study also estimated a modest all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of US$1,207 per ounce and a payback period of only 1.6 years.
So what?
Management believes that Rise and Shine represents the most significant gold discovery in New Zealand in more than 40 years.
The company plans to commence construction works in the second quarter of next year, with first gold production targeted for 2027.
However, for Santana to mine gold at Bendigo-Ophir it first needs formal approval from the New Zealand government.
And just this week the company nailed down a key piece of regulatory consent.
What happened?
On Wednesday, New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals (NZPAM) formally granted a mining permit for Bendigo-Ophir for a period of thirty years.
This regulatory green light now provides Santana with a legal right to extract gold from Rise and Shine and adjacent deposits within its Bendigo-Ophir tenure.
Notably, the mining permit represents one of the two key approvals required to commence construction at the project.
The other is known as the Fast-track Approvals Act (FTA) consents, which is focused on environmental and land-use factors.
The FTA application includes a series of reports and mitigation packages designed to ensure the project exceeds legal and environmental performance requirements.
Santana submitted its FTA assessment earlier this week.
Santana chief executive officer, Damian Spring, commented:
The granting of the Mining Permit by NZPAM is a landmark achievement for Santana and a strong vote of confidence in the quality and integrity of the Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project. It's the direct result of years of geological and technical work carried out under the Crown Minerals Act framework. Coming in the same week that we lodged our FTA consent application, this milestone demonstrates the Project's regional and national significance.
