Protesters Step Up Fight Against Gold Mining on Conservation Land

Protesters have taken their fight against gold mining in conservation land to Parliament. Yesterday, members of environmental group Protect Karangahake supported the presentation of Coromandel Watchdog's petition, which seeks to extend environmental protection in the Coromandel, just as a mining company is gearing up to expand its activities in the area.

New Talisman Gold Mines announced in July that it had found 8500kg of "excellent" gold in the Karangahake Gorge, near Paeroa. The company has already been granted consent for "bulk sampling", which allows it extract 20,000 cubic metres of ore every year. It plans to begin extraction early next year.

Protect Karangahake is adamantly opposed to mining in the gorge. Spokesperson Susan Durcan, who was there on the steps of Parliament as the petition was presented to Green MP Catherine Delahunty, told VICE that mining in the area would have enormous consequences for the local environment. "Obviously there's a raft of concerns about the environmental concerns of mining in a very fragile ecological corridor, which is still recovering from past mining. It's a sensitive, recovering ecology and to open it up again for mining will take it backwards basically," she said.

The petition, which was signed by about 4600 people, called for all the conservation land of the Coromandel Ecological District to be protected as Schedule 4 land under the Crown Minerals Act. This would include Mt Karangahake. It is currently managed by the Department of Conservation as a standard conservation estate, which means it can be opened up to industry, including mining. Reclassification as Schedule 4 land would make it untouchable. "We are challenging the Government to protect land that is already supposed to be protected. It's as simple as that," Durcan said.

New Talisman Gold Mines chief executive Matthew Hill told Radio New Zealand in July that the effects of the mining would be negligible. "Most, if not 95 percent, of our disturbances occur deep underground and will not be noticed at surface level. Our current resource consent, four 10-tonne trucks a day, is hardly going to make an impact in comparison with the trucks rolling down SH2."

Durcan, however, said the group was committed to its resistance, with a "big rally" planned for September 2. There are also plans for "direct action on the mountain itself to oppose New Talisman, to make it clear to them that they are not wanted here".

Durcan said Protect Karangahake had already secured the support of the Green Party and Labour MPs, and that they would continue to make themselves heard as the election draws closer. "We want to make it very clear to our government where the Karangahake community stands on this issue; we are absolutely opposed to mining on the mountain."

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