By Samantha Hayes
Opponents of mining in the Coromandel launched a new protest today, after discovering a company drilling for gold and silver in a forestry area.
Nemond Waihi Gold is drilling land in Opoutere, near Whangamata, and some locals took their opposition all the way to the drill site.
The drill was today turned off, so the message brought by 40 protestors was loud and clear.
“Coromandel, Coromandel, no more mining, stop the vandals,” they chanted.
The environment is the economy in the Coromandel and industrial mining has no place here,” says Green MP Catherine Delahunty.
A week ago a mountain biker came across the operation, which has been drilling for three weeks.
Local Tony Knight has been fighting big mining companies for 30 years now and says this is round two – after the Government U-turned on mining on conservation land.
“’Here we go again’ – that’s what I thought,” says Mr Knight.
“What we need to do is tell them in a forceful but pleasant way that they’re not wanted on the Coromandel Peninsula.”
The rig is testing for gold and silver just north of the popular tourist destination Whangamata.
The land is Crown owned and leased to a forestry company. It doesn’t belong to the conservation estate, so isn’t protected.
But the protestors say it’s important for the recovery of the endangered NZ dotterel and tourism.
They fear that if mining does go ahead, ore and waste will be transported through Whangamata to their multi-million dollar facilities in Waihi.
“It becomes an industrial zone,” says Ms Delahunty.
“It’s no longer a beautiful, peaceful place where people will come to enjoy their holidays.”
In a statement Newmont Waihi Gold said it has been exploring the lower Coromandel for many years.
“The company is looking for high grade gold deposits capable of being mined by underground methods, with a small surface footprint.”
The rig operators wouldn’t comment further and the company didn’t’ say if they’d found significant gold deposits there.
However they did say that just because a drilling rig is in operation, doesn’t mean a mine will be constructed.
Protestors say they hope there will never be any new mines in the Coromandel.
3 News