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OceanaGold has applied for a mining permit at OceanaGold’s hair car, OceanaGold, and states that the impact will be mitigated “through rehabilitation and restoration activities” in the long run.
The move by the gold mining company to expand Coromandel’s business, such as drilling a 6.8km tunnel under the protected area, prompted environmental groups to plan a lawsuit.
OceanaGold announced on Tuesday that it has submitted a proposed application for the Waihī North project to the Hauraki District Council and the Waikato Regional Council.
Millions of dollars discovered gold and silver in the area three years ago and have been exploring and surveying since then, hoping to extend mining in Waihi for at least another 15 years. I did.
Howraki Chairman Catherine Delahanti’s Coromandel Watchdog said he would go to the Environment Court as needed to protect the site and Taonga species such as the endangered archie frog.
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The hair car Oponga in the Parakawai Valley is said to be an unprecedented gold mine.
Hair Car Oponga is located 10 km north of Waihi, in a public reserve managed by the Nature Maintenance Authority.
Modern gold exploration began in the 1970s, with several mining companies exploring from the 1980s to the 1990s.
OceanaGold purchased Waihī’s business and ongoing exploration program in 2015 and confirmed ownership of the hair car Oponga interests in 2016.
Since then, many conservationists and mining groups have been working to keep the area almost untouched.
In a statement, OceanaGold stated that access to the proposed facility would be through an underground tunnel away from private land and would not be mined at the surface level.
The material is also removed by tunnels rather than being trucked out using public roads.
David Anwin / Staff
Howraki Chairman Catherine Delahanti’s Coromandel Watchdog has promised a group attempt to file a lawsuit to protect the site and the Taonga species.
The facility is part of a broader plan to dig a new open pit mine west of the current processing plant, build a new Tailings storage facility for waste mining, and create a new rock storage facility.
“The Weichnorth project has the potential to produce over 1.6 million ounces of gold and over 2.2 million ounces of silver in 13 years, complementing the already agreed project Martha with a mining life of 2037 in Waich. Will be extended to, “said the statement. Said.
OceanaGold conducts ongoing environmental assessments and technical reports at Hair Car Oponga.
“If the proposed Weichnorth project is approved, we acknowledge that it will have a local impact on the environment. These will be mitigated in the long run through rehabilitation and rehabilitation activities.
“We understand that primeval forests and their biodiversity are valuable to all of us.
“Our extensive ecological research, including work done during our exploration phase, has already provided the scientific and ecological communities with deeper insights into the species that inhabit the region. “
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Archie frogs are New Zealand’s smallest native frog, but proposed mining projects threaten already declining habitats.
The project will also create hundreds of additional jobs in the region and could generate billions of dollars in exports over the next few years.
However, Howraki Chairman Catherine Delahanti’s Coromandel Watchdog claims that “any DOC land is available” as to whether mining is permitted under the hair car Oponga.
“The government promised to stop new mining on DOC’s land, but they didn’t, so we were forced into a situation where we would fight for this incident,” Delahanti said. Told.
Under the 1991 Crown Mineral Act, Schedule 4, there is no open pit mining and no underground mining to represent the surface of the earth that is important in conservation areas.
Although Hair Car Oponga is a protected area, it has not received a protection order covering tens of thousands of kilometers of land and water.
She said that tunneling required fossil fuels and large amounts of concrete, which had a major impact on the climate and was the last thing the country needed.
She wants to see more baseline data publicly available in the region before the decision goes on.
“Mining is an old-fashioned way to do things.
“Rather than digging up gold from the mountains, we need to reuse waste and use minerals from the ground. For 200 years, there are many places on the ground. No more gold mining is needed.”
After the council evaluates the application, it will be required to be submitted publicly.
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The government has promised to stop new mining on DOC’s land, but “they aren’t doing that,” says Delahunty.