Gold miners see glimmer of hope

Heritage Gold has applied for a mining licence to rework the Talisman Mine in the Karangahake Gorge. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

Gold miners say an accord with environmental groups on the Coromandel and a government-ordered stocktake of resources on conservation land offer a glimmer of opportunity for their industry.

However, prospects are remote for an immediate gold rush in some of New Zealand's most idyllic countryside and sites of some of our hardest-fought environmental battles.

The Hauraki goldfield, which stretches down the Coromandel Peninsula to Te Puke has potential gold and silver resources of $17 billion, according to a recent Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences report.

While environment groups believe the value of the resources is overstated, the accord and the stocktake mean miners are edging closer to them.

The accord signed last month puts on hold a blanket ban on mining throughout nearly all of the peninsula.

The Thames Coromandel District Council (TCDC), green groups including the Environmental Defence Society, the Mineral Industries Association and the Ministry of Economic Development have signed a memorandum of understanding on new rules, following more than a decade of acrimony.

The agreement prohibits mining on and around Mt Moehau on the northern tip of the peninsula and surface mining would be prohibited in coastal areas neighbouring those areas classified as outstanding landscapes, and in urban areas.

Rather than being banned, mining would be zoned discretionary or non-conforming on the rest of the peninsula and companies would need to apply to operate in these areas.

The stocktake announced by Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee will review how conservation estate is moved into the Schedule 4 no-go for mining schedule and just what the mineral potential is on Department of Conservation (DoC) land. It is expected to be finished before the end of the year.

At the same time DoC is establishing a nationwide protocol for standardised access to its land for prospectors, rather than a fragmented regional system.

The biggest miner on the peninsula is Newmont, operator of the Martha and Favona mines in Waihi.

Newmont's external affairs manager Kelvyn Eglinton says both events have come at a good time.

While the company had not had time to digest the ramifications of Brownlee's stocktake announcement, it believes the accord is an example of how the industry can work with other groups to find concessions.

The company is already prospecting for gold on TCDC land at a site behind Onemana, north of Whangamata and should know the results within a few weeks.

Newmont has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on open-cast mining at the historic Martha mine and developing Favona. Newmont is now engaged in an increasingly urgent campaign to find new gold prospects, although it stresses its interest is in low-value conservation areas using underground techniques.

Environmental Defence Society executive director Gary Taylor said throughout the mediation he sensed the industry was increasingly realistic about the mining that may be acceptable.

"It appears to be more discerning about the projects it picks."

He says that until the Environment Court signs off on the agreement it has no status and he believed the green groups had achieved some higher level of protection given that mining will now be a prohibited activity in much of the coastal zone. The estimate of mineral wealth had been wildly overblown.

"We need to be careful that a 'gold rush' mentality doesn't override good judgment especially with Minister Brownlee in charge," Taylor said.

"I think the mining industry on the peninsula should keep right out of the DoC estate and right away from the coastal areas on the peninsula proper. There are other prospective places they could work."

Coromandel Watchdog says the proposed stocktake was "astounding" and would reignite anti-mining sentiment on the peninsula.

Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act currently protects from mining all conservation land on the Coromandel Peninsula north of the Kopu Hikuai Road, and most of the offshore islands.

Watchdog spokesman Denis Tegg said the areas were protected because in the 1990s the Government was persuaded that preserving Coromandel's precious conservation land was where the Peninsula's economic prosperity lay.

Mineral Industries Association chief executive Doug Gordon said the accord was a good outcome.

"It will enable the TCDC to get its [district] plan operational. It's way better than arguing the toss which is what we've been doing for the last 12 years."

In spite of high gold prices, mineral prospecting had been jolted by the global economic shock and there was unlikely to be a surge in activity.

Heritage Gold is an exploration company that has been on the Coromandel for two decades and has applied for a mining licence to rework the Talisman Mine in the Karangahake Gorge.

The mine is on DoC land and Heritage executive director Peter Atkinson said the developments proved environmental issues were not insurmountable.

"We've gone from an extreme position to a more balanced one. It's not going to change things overnight, it's not going to cause an influx of companies looking for gold."

No matter what the upshot of the stocktake was, companies would still need to do speculative and costly exploration and any mining plans would need to go through the full Resource Management Act tests.

The accord meant any mine plans would have to go through the same tests as every other activity instead of being banned.

"What we've got there now is a fair compromise."

Protesters have targeted the northern part of the Coromandel and Atkinson said his company was in no hurry to go back into the TCDC area and start exploring.

Whatever the outcome of the stocktake did he think there would be much appetite for prospecting on DoC land in spite of there being scores of old mining sites on it?

"There's no reason for anyone to go exploring on DoC land unless they've got very deep pockets and a lot of patience because they'll need both."

MINING REVIEW

* Officials are reviewing how some DoC land is classed as being off-limits to mining.
* An estimate of potential mineral wealth on the land is also underway
* An accord between miners and Coromandel green groups better defines activity and areas off-limits.
* Gold prices have topped US$1000 an ounce, sharpening the focus on mining