Mining in our back yard? Govt proposals and private prospecting raise public concerns
With proposals to increase mining high on the public’s worry list, and with mineral prospecting underway again in Golden Bay, there was wide support for last month’s march against mining New Zealand’s conservation estate in Nelson on Saturday.
Around 2000 people joined the public demonstration saying that conservation land should not be sacrificed for the sake of any speculative future returns.
However, Nelson MP and Environment Minister Nick Smith warned that the campaign was misleading, and that people should save their protests until after the Government has made its decision.
Because of the level of public interest, and meeting and hui processes involving affected parties countrywide, the Government has extended the public submission period from 4 May to 5pm on Wednesday 26 May.
The Government is proposing to remove 7,058 hectares of land from Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act. Schedule 4 land is usually deemed to be of high conservation value and, at this stage, cannot be mined.
So far, the only South Island area proposed for removal from the schedule was an area in Paparoa National Park, which the Government has assessed and found to be of low conservation value. The Government also proposes to remove areas in Great Barrier Island and on the Coromandel Peninsula from Schedule 4 protection and conduct further mineral investigations in Nelson and Tasman areas. These include Dun Mountain, the Riwaka complex in the Graham Valley, the Rotoroa complex in Murchison and Sam’s Creek near Upper Takaka.
Prospecting for mining is currently taking place in Golden Bay, but all of the areas concerned are outside the protected public lands, says DOC community relations officer Greg Napp.
“These areas have already been left out when the national parks were created and the boundaries were deliberately drawn to not create any conflict over mining. In any mining application, the Crown is required to consider the effect of the activity and if the effects are minor the Crown has no grounds to refuse a permit. Being a crown agency, the Department is required to work together with Crown Minerals and assess each request on its merits.”
To date there is well-established dolomite mining at Mount Burnett and an exploration for gold at Sam’s Creek by the Dunedin-based company Oceana Gold, which also runs an operation at Reefton. Another area has been set aside for a steatite quarry situated near the Cobb reservoir. Gion Deplazes from Motueka has applied for a mining permit for a 49-hectare area from Crown Minerals for talc magnesium rock to be used for making wood stoves. No drilling has taken place to date.
“The intention for Sam’s Creek is to do a further drilling programme but we have not received any details as part of the access agreement for them to exercise their exploration programme. In case of Steatite Ltd, no access arrangement has been made and all the company has done so far is investigate towards an Assessment of Environmental Effects,” Greg added.
At the Aorere Goldfields a prospecting permit has invited renewed interest in the area from a company called Underworld Resources Inc.
Crown Minerals recently also granted a two-year gold-prospecting permit to four individuals over a 130-square kilometre area east of the Anatori.
“Here, private land is included in the prospecting area and they have to have permission from the landowner to exercise that exploration permit,” says Greg.
Crown Minerals is also considering an exploration application by Westlands Minerals Ltd to search for gold and minerals over a 51,425 hectare area stretching from Parapara to the Kahurangi National Park boundary in the Aorere Valley.
A discussion paper, available from the local DOC office, was released in March this year. It aims to identify areas of Schedule 4 land where the conservation values are relatively low but where mineral potential is high, and examines the removal (and addition) of areas from Schedule 4.
The paper identifies Kahurangi National Park as having high conservation values despite its “excellent mineral prospectivity”. The Abel Tasman National Park is not considered under the review, having only “low to medium prospectivity” but high conservation value. As no change is proposed, these wilderness backyards are presently safe.
While the review of mineral potential in protected conservation areas is part of the Government’s new enthusiasm for stronger economic growth, environmentalists strongly oppose the review, believing any amendment to Schedule 4 could have significant negative effects on the most important and precious parts of New Zealand’s conservation estate.
Send submissions to Schedule 4 Stocktake, Ministry of Economic Development, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140, or view the discussion document and submit online at <www.med.govt.nz/schedule4>.
Ina Holst
