Gold found on Coromandel
OceanaGold have discovered gold and silver buried under conservation land on the Coromandel Peninsula.
But a local environmental group has vowed to fight the multinational company every step of the way if it decides to mine the precious metals.
The discovery after exploratory drilling at Wharekirauponga, inland from the holiday resort town of Whangamata¯ lies near the Wharekirauponga Track in the Coromandel Forest Park, which is classed as Schedule 4 land. This restricted OceanaGold’s mining activities.
It is estimated to be 234,000 ounces of gold and 296,000 ounces of silver, grading respectively at 18 grams per tonne and 22.7g/t from 0.41 million tonnes.
However the multinational are playing down the prospect of a new Coromandel goldrush.
OceanaGold senior community adviser, Kit Wilson, said they would not be ‘‘rushing in to mine’’ and would keep exploratory drilling to further determine the size of the find.
‘‘It doesn’t mean we can do anything else other than what we are doing right now.
‘‘All we are announcing to the sharemarket is that we have found a maiden resource which gives us the confidence to keep on looking and further define that resource.’’
Augusta Macassey-Pickard, from environmental group Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki, vowed to fight OceanaGold if it decided to establish a mine at Wharekirauponga.
The area was home to the endangered Archey’s Frog, which was only found in two parts of New Zealand, she said.
‘‘There is no way that mining should be allowed up there at all.
‘‘It’s insane to risk a core population of a very special threatened species so that one company can go in there and get some gold out.’’
Macassey-Pickard also questioned the economic value of the find. Whangamata and other nearby communities were among New Zealand’s top tourist destinations and mining was not needed.
‘‘And we certainly don’t need it on conservation land which is the absolute crown jewels of New Zealand.’’
Wilson said if mining ever took place, it would be underground rather than an open pit mine.
‘‘If there was to be any mining, it would be eight years away at the earliest. Would the land be disturbed? The answer is no. We are confident we can mine under DOC land without disturbing the surface. The only thing we need to put on the surface is a few vent shafts.’’
OceanaGold had done limited drilling in the area because it was the frog’s habitat as well as preventing the spread of Kauri Dieback.
‘‘We have several years of [exploratory] drilling to go,’’ he said.
While the discovery could increase the current 350 mining jobs at Waihi, it was too early to quantify what it meant in potential dollar terms.