Mining: Rethink may sacrifice lower-value land

Gerry Brownlee. Photo / Greg Bowker

The Government has signalled it will push ahead with mining on conservation land, even if it backs down on plans to mine some of the most protected areas.

"Not all conservation land is high value," said Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee.

Mr Brownlee and Prime Minister John Key both talked up the economic benefits of mining sector in speeches to a National Party regional conference in Masterton at the weekend.

Their renewed support is in the face of opposition to a plan to drop protections for 7000ha of the 4.6 million hectares of "Schedule Four" land - including parts of Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel.

The Government looks increasingly likely to back down on its proposal to remove parts of Schedule Four.

Mr Brownlee said he would not prejudice consultations going on by commenting, but added: "If the answer is 'no', that's not the end of it."

He would still be ordering an aerial electro-magnetic survey of part of the country - including Stewart Island - and would expect to have joint access to parts of the conservation estate as nominal owner of minerals there.

Mr Brownlee pointed to untapped potential in "very significant" gold "massive" ironsands deposits under NZ's sea - which could be a boon to tribes under customary title proposals in the foreshore and seabed plans.

Mr Key said he could understand the "emotional debate" around Schedule Four. "Proposals like this are never easy ones - but, by the way, neither is the alternative."

If NZ wanted a faster-growing economy and better-paid jobs, it had to do something to make it happen. "The important point ... is that Schedule Four is one part of the expansion of the resource and mining sector."

A Ministry of Economic Development stocktake released in March identified significant untapped mineral potential outside of Schedule Four land, including quartz-rich silica sands at Parengarenga Harbour in the Far North and limestone in Northland.

A GNS study in 2007 estimated the potential value of Northland resources to be $47 billion, including $12 billion for peat. It also identified resources in the Waikato, southern Coromandel and Central North Island, and the lignite resources in the South Island.