Shock And Ore

21 Apr 2010 12:46p.m.

Jeffrey Vella wrote:

Read up on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_mining#Cyanide_process

08 Apr 2010 04:54p.m.

L wrote:

I most certainly have a point of view and after nearly 10 years of working closely with the mining industry I would like to think I have an idea. The reality is that there is probably no other industry in this country that is more strictly monitored from both a environmental and social responsibility point of view. I have absolutely no doubt mining and environmental/social responsibility can and does co-exist in this country. And indeed the level of environmental monitoring carried out by the mining industry in this country far out weighs any other industry by a considerable margin. My initial comment relates to the fact the general public are so poorly informed by the media that unless individuals do their own impartial research they will never be given a balanced view of reality. Without this balanced view the general populace cannot constructively contribute to a debate that this country of ours so deserves.

05 Apr 2010 07:35p.m.

M wrote:

L, yet you dont put your view across.

Which means you really have no idea?

Or you know most people will disagree with your point of view anyway?.

Seems a waste of time writing what you did really.

05 Apr 2010 03:59p.m.

L wrote:

All the comments above do nothing but convince me the media is doing a terrible job of presenting a balanced view of reality. Pretty much all the comments above are uniformed and inaccurate. So long as the media continues to publish and present such bias and skewed information on these issues we will never have the opportunity to have the constructive debate these issues deserve. How about a bit of social responsibility on the behalf of the media so all Kiwis can make their own accurately informed decision?

02 Apr 2010 11:46p.m.

Henry wrote:

And when we have another crisis Ron? when we have mined all that is available? what do we fall back on then?.

New Zealand came out of the recession fairly well in comparisson to many developed countries.

This rush to mine isnt anything that makes sense, what if we do have another "great depression" would be nice to leave them something to fall back on.

I dont believe the crock and bull stories about people mining responsibly, responsibility and National dont do well together to start with,

What happens to these toxic damns? do we just let them build up and litter the landscape? I think people are just going to themselves, well I live 500 kilometers away so what do I care.

No, there is no case for mining, its greed purely and simply and the profits are largely going to the company not the government.

Plus there is absolutely no guarantee that the product of all this minimg will be responsible government spending, they may simply chose to increase their parliamentary allowances as a result.

02 Apr 2010 03:54p.m.

Ron wrote:

This is not just a case of making a quick buck.. In the long term yr grandkids could be the beneficiaries of a well maintained and controlled mining project. Take a look at West Australia...this State supports the rest of OZ. The alternative for your grandkids looks very bleak to me. At NZs present rate of borrowing it will become a Third World country in ten years......if it isn't already.

01 Apr 2010 09:09p.m.

R wrote:

I completely agree based on this, but this is just an example, and a foreign company which, lets be honest, is ultimately not really answerable to us. Foreign interests will never really have a vested long term interest in NZ's wellbeing - look at Telecom as an example! What about a NZ company? What about an SOE? What about NZ owned interests that can represent NZ values? I believe a sustainable approach can be taken, similar to the Danes and their north sea oil.

01 Apr 2010 05:07p.m.

No mining, anywhere! wrote:

I guess I never thought about the toxic effect on the landscape with toxic damns and collapsed homes.

This is a nightmare in the making, even if the government does drill underground.

And yet the operators of the Waihi mine seem to be the only company ruling out strip mining.

Is the destruction really worth it? when the waihi township is struggling and the average wage is under $20,000

This shouldnt be something for government to decide, this effects local communities far more greatly than the rest of us.

27 million dollars in tax from the waihi mine? its just not worth it.
Not when you have to take into account the destruction of the landscape, the toxins in the damns, the probable collapse of outlaying townships.

It will end up costing us more overall from the longterm effects.

We are trying to make a quick buck that our kids and grandkids will spend generations paying for, thats just not right.

And I'm certainly not generally a greenie, but the long term health effects on populations close to these mines could have an overall negative effect on the value of mining and its economic benefits.