By FIONA ROTHERHAM
The mining industry fears it may be locked out of New Zealand's mineral-rich conservation estate.
It worries that the Government's decision to end native beech logging on the West Coast will be followed by access restrictions to mineral lands. In particular, it senses that access to Timberlands resources will be tough if the Department of Conservation takes control.
There are no commercial gold mines working on the 1.2 million ha of DoC land on the West Coast, compared with 14 active on the much smaller Timberlands estate.
The Government has frozen any new access arrangements on the state-owned enterprise land while it considers future criteria. Why should the rest of New Zealand care?
A recent study by the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences valued metallic mineral resources at more than $85.5 billion.
The Minerals Association has developed a national strategy where New Zealand's mineral production could double from the present $1 billion to more than $2 billion annually by 2010. Such a move would boost the country's gross domestic product and double employment to 24,000, concentrated in regions lacking jobs such as the West Coast, Otago and Waikato.
Regional development has been Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton's catchcry.
The West Coasters say the Government's actions sing a different tune.
Gold mining accounts for around one-third of the minerals produced in New Zealand. Much of the gold is concentrated on the West Coast. But what was a $100 million industry on the West Coast in 1990 is now just $30 million.
The gold price is obviously a factor.
Nationally, exploration is insufficient to maintain production which has levelled in the past two years and is forecast to decline.
Association executive director Doug Gordon says New Zealand no longer attracts the level of private capital it needs for mining exploration. Public investment remains very low.
"New Zealand does not feature on the international radar screen anymore, partly because the current regime does not encourage critical access to the minerals and because of high costs associated with the Resource Management Act."
The Government amended mineral laws to stop mining in national parks in 1997. The 1997 Crown Minerals Amendment Act restricted future mining on conservation areas in the northern part of the Coromandel Peninsula, where Heritage Gold held six exploration permits or applications.
The company is suing the Government for compensation for mining rights on which it had spent $8 million.
Mining access is still allowed on DoC land on areas of lesser conservation value.
Seventy per cent of New Zealand's mineral potential is within the 30 per cent of the country's land area DoC administers.
All DoC land comes under the Crown Minerals Act. It tightly prescribes how approval for access can be granted, based on the land's conservation value.
It is relatively easy for miners to purchase an exploration, prospecting or mining permit from Crown Minerals, a division of the Economic Development Ministry.
In the South Island 190 mining permits have been granted of which around 50 are on DoC land.
The difficulty comes in negotiating access with the department.
Many miners say the process is time-consuming and expensive and no longer even bother to apply.
The department says there are 83 access arrangements in place for 15,000ha on the West Coast, although 69 predate 1997. Around 80 per cent of applications since 1997 have been approved, but the department could not say how many were commercial gold operators rather than fossickers.
When the DoC estate was created a lot of low-value land was thrown into the conservation pot, says the mineral association's Doug Gordon.
Even low conservation areas are said to have become difficult to access since the change of Government.
Department spokesman Steve Addison says it is "fair and impartial" when processing access arrangements for mining.
The real argument lies in whether only conservation values should be taken into account.
Buller mayor Pat O'Dea argues socio-economic benefits should be considered.
The West Coast Accord, now being legislated out, was meant to give regard to those sorts of issues.
Matters came to a head last month when Conservation Minister Sandra Lee declined access for two gold mining proposals on West Coast conservation land.
Hokitika gold shop owner Rhett Robinson applied for access to mine 97.5ha within the Card Creek ecological area, south-east of Greymouth.
It was declined because of the area's regenerating bush qualities.
Christchurch businessman Bill Gardner applied for access to mine an 8ha beech area in the Maruia West Bank ecological area, near the Lewis Park.
He was declined on the grounds the area could not be adequately protected from damage.
Sandra Lee said of both applications that under the Crown Minerals Act 1991 she was "obliged to take into account only DoC's interests relating to the administration of the land, and not the potential profitability of the mining venture or its likely economic significance."
John Woods, spokesman for the West Coast Gold Miners Association, questioned what was more important - people or the environment?
Environmentalists argue the land has been placed into conservation to be protected.
Kevin Smith, conservation director for the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society says that unlike other users, miners are more privileged as no public input is allowed when they negotiate access to department land.
"When Macraes Mining won access to construct the Reefton mine right in the middle of the Victoria conservation park, there was no public process."
The society did not have the financial resources to fight that 1993 decision, involving cash and a land swap.
It wants the legislation changed to give the public a say.
Gold and Resource Developments is to decide next year whether to proceed with the Reefton mine.
Bill Gardner is not giving up.
He has enlisted Mr O'Dea's help to apply for another site at Maruia, 15ha of open, grassed land of lower prospectivity.
Mr O'Dea said he would raise the revised application with the Government when meeting Government ministers to discuss the West Coast economic development package.
Miners fearing no-go by DoC
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