‘Not just dirty miners’: 100-year plan to extract sand for West Coast minerals

A mineral-mining company on the West Coast says it has an interest in taking care of the environment so it can expand and “keep doing what we do.”

Westland Mineral sand has permission to mine 21.1 hectares of land at Cape Foulwind near Westport for heavy minerals including ilmenite, garnet and rare earth elements.

Director Ray Mudgeway said the company owns about 350 ha of farmland on the west coast and has mining permits for about 8,600 ha, which can hold an estimated 50 million tons of minerals.

The company has invested tens of millions of dollars in its plans for the area, which include upgrading both the Westport and Greymouth ports to export heavy mineral concentrate overseas.

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Westland Mineral Sands has received approval from the West Coast Regional Council and the Buller District Council to mine 500,000 tons of heavy mineral concentrate, including ilmenite, garnet and rare earth elements, more than 10 years. It will employ 40 people, transport the minerals to Westport harbor and put them on a barge which will then be unloaded onto a ship offshore.

The councils made the application public and received approximately 185 submissions. About 70 were in support, two were neutral and about 100 were against.

The Department of Conservation was among the objectors, raising concerns about processing and earthworks, water intake and discharge of treated mine water to land within 100 meters of a wetland.

The noise conditions and operating hours are being challenged by a group of Cape Foulwind homeowners in the Environment Court.

The call has called for lower noise limits and more restricted opening hours.

Mudgeway said the Environmental Court gave the company permission to begin construction on Thursday. The first phase was to widen access to the mining site.

The company would abide by the terms of the appeal until the court made a decision, he said. Mediation was scheduled for September.

Mudgeway said the company had begun assembling its processing plant in Westport, which would be moved to the mine site to begin production in October. About 2 ha of land would be disturbed at a time and then restored back to farmland.

The company would conduct about 35 different types of monitoring, including radiation, dust, wildlife, water and sound.

The Cape Foulwind mine was only 1% of the raw material and 6% of the land the company owned – it also owned six farms, mostly in Southwest Country.

The market for the minerals discovering it was lucrative, he said. They would be used in products such as sandpaper, computer components, steel and paint.

“We want to expand and see this as a 50 to 100 year business plan. People who say we shouldn’t mine are all consuming the products that require the resource.

“We are not just dirty miners. We have an interest in taking care of the environment and making sure we do what we say and do well because we want to have the social license to expand and keep doing what we do,” he said.

Cape Foulwind resident Jude Giugni, who launched a petition against the proposal, said she was disappointed with the council’s decision to approve the mine.

She said it was too expensive to appeal the decision to the Environmental Court, but hoped the appeal could minimize noise pollution in the area.

She was also concerned that there were even more trucks on the road, which had already started coming and going, she said.