Gold miners say an accord with environmental groups on the Coromandel and Govt stock take of resources on conservation land may offer a fresh opportunity for the industry. A recent Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences report says the Hauraki gold field which stretches down the Coromandel Peninsula to Te Puke has potential gold and silver resources of $17bn.

The accord signed last month puts on hold a blanket ban on mining throughout nearly the whole peninsula. The Thames Coromandel District Council, green groups including the Environmental Defence Society, the Minerals Industry Association and the Ministry of Economic Development have signed a memorandum of understanding on new rules, following a decade of acrimony.

The agreement prohibits mining on and around Mt Moehau on the northern tip of the peninsula and surface mining will be prohibited in coastal areas round those areas classified as outstanding landscapes, and in urban areas. Rather than being banned, mining will be zoned discretionary, or non-conforming on the rest of the peninsula and companies would need to apply to operate in these areas. The Department of Conservation is establishing a nationwide protocol for standardized access to its land for prospectors, rather than a fragmented regional system.

Newmont, the operator of the Martha and Favona mines at Waihi, is already prospecting on TCDC land behind Onemana, north of Whangamata, and should know the results within a few weeks. Heritage Gold is an exploration company which has been on the Coromandel for 2 decades, and has applied for a mining licence to re-work the Talisman mine in the Karangahake Gorge.

The mine is on DoC land and Heritage Executive Director Peter Atkinson says the environmental issues are not insurmountable. The Coromandel Watchdog says the Govt’s proposed stock take is “astounding” and will re-ignite anti-mining sentiment on the peninsula. Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act currently protects all conservation land on the Coromandel Peninsula north of the Kopu-Hikuai highway and most of the offshore islands from mining.

 Copyright © Media Information Ltd
NZ Energy & Environment Business Week