Gold recovery will become a 24-hour operation at L&M Mining's Earnscleugh mine later this month.
Mining began in earnest in December last year and the seven-year project aimed to extract more than 11,000 ounces of gold from the Earnscleugh flats.
Project manager Shirley Herridge said the gold-recovery part of the operation would soon increase to 24 hours a day, as had always been planned.
Extra staff are being sought to man the site, with the number of people employed, excluding local contractors, expected to rise from 12 to 17.
About 40 people will be employed at the mine at the peak of the operation.
She said the company would not disclose how much gold had been recovered so far.
The first stage of the project involves mining land on the eastern side of Earnscleugh Rd.
The second stage, which will probably begin in October, involves using a much larger mining plant.
"We start the project on a smaller scale so we can iron out all the technical issues at this stage, before bringing in the bigger mining plant and operating on a bigger scale," she said.
The site is closed to the public, but the company is considering holding an open day before the next stage gets under way.
L&M was granted consents to mine at Earnscleugh in 2001, but the project was put on hold pending an Environment Court appeal and because of low gold prices.
Initial ground work began on the site almost a year ago.
A liaison committee was established partly to deal with any issues arising from the project and it comprised 11 local residents as well as representatives from the mining company, environmental monitoring and mining contractors, the Department of Conservation and the Central Otago District Council.
