The unprecedented gold rush of the 1850s gave birth to Bendigo, attracting people from far and wide hoping to strike it rich.

More than 160 years later, the fertile goldfield keeps giving and prospectors big and small still search with gusto for the precious metal.

The latest outfit to try its luck in Bendigo’s goldfield, which has already produced an estimated 22 million ounces of gold, is GBM Gold Ltd.

The company appears on the cusp of securing ministerial approval for Unity Mining’s tenement rights to be transferred into its name.

In exchange for Unity’s rights and mine-related assets, GBM has agreed to pay $100,000 in cash upfront and three subsequent payments ranging from $1.1 million to $1.8 million over three years.

Given Unity spent some $350 million on its ill-feted venture before throwing up its hands and walking away in 2011, this could be considered a steal.

At least initially, GBM is pinning its hopes not on the potential riches underground, but what has already been brought to the surface.

Included in the asset sale are two dams containing more than 600,000 tonnes of sand extracted during the mine’s underground operations.

The company believes that within this sand there are enough flecks of unrecovered gold to fund further exploration and, possibly, a resumption of underground mining.

While this sounds like a measured and logical plan – in stark contrast to Unity’s overly ambitious venture –  there are some major hurdles.

The first is the government, before granting approval, must have complete confidence that GBM – a spec of a company relying on a wafer-thin line of $7 million in credit from a Hong Kong company – can meet its environmental obligations.

The second is that the government must ensure that one of, if not both, Unity and GBM address the serious water problems emanating from the mine.

GBM’s meek statement in its most recent financial report that it “plans to work with government, council and the community in addressing this issue” does not fill one with confidence.

- Ross Tyson, deputy editor