Santana Minerals has established itself in the Cromwell community and has several new joint initiatives underway.

Teaming up with the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust this week, the company will help bring the World Gold Panning Championships to Cromwell in 2026.

Santana Minerals is also a sponsor of the Light Up Winter event in August, and this season gained naming rights to the Central Otago Football League, by becoming the official sponsor of the competition.

The league has been running for 17 years and attracts many migrant workers including from Vanuatu, and the sponsorship will enable games to be live-streamed, so families of Recognised Seasonal Employer workers can watch back home.

Santana Central Otago Football League organiser Shane Norton approached chief executive Damian Spring about the company being involved.

“What they do is great for Cromwell as is football, and it was a good opportunity for them to get their name out there in a positive light in the community,” Shane said.

Damian said his own sons had both played junior football in Queenstown, but he didn’t realise the growth of the Central Otago competition, which now had many teams from Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell, Alexandra and right through to Roxburgh, playing in two different divisions.

“We’re hoping they can livestream at least one game this season and then fund their own next year with one game a week. There is a fair amount of cost involved with getting the season underway and referees to turn up,” Damian said.

Santana is looking to employ more than 200 staff when its Bendigo gold mine gets up and running, and some of those skills from tradies playing in the football league could be transferable into mining jobs.

“But there was no direct relationship with that. Our workforce will be from the same geographic area that the football league is based in, and we’ll be looking at putting on a bus service from Alexandra, Wanaka and Queenstown to allow people to get to work. But it’s still in the concept stage.”

Damian said the company was definitely ‘Cromwell-centric’ and had approached both the heritage trust and Cromwell Promotions about helping sponsor those events.

“There are plenty of funding models available in Central Otago and we're not looking to replace those, but just wanting to have a presence in the community.”

It had already set up an office in Chardonnay St in March this year, with six people working both in house and remotely.