Annual Mining Conference Upbeat And Positive

Posted by Gold FM on 31/08/2011

It was thumbs up to the mining sector from Acting Minister of Energy and Resources Hekia Parata at the opening of the New Zealand branch of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) annual conference in Queenstown yesterday.

She talked about the legislative changes that the government is planning to assist the mining industry. The Resource Management Act is in their sights with the RMA review and the extension of the RMA beyond New Zealand's 12 mile limit to cover ocean floor mining.The tone of her talk suggested that RMA requirements in place at present will be softened, including land access to the conservation estate, and she also spoke about the reclassification of Department of Conservation administered land.

The Ministry of Development will be notified about reclassification of land and they will then have a month prior to public consultation to determine who affected parties are.

Newmont Waihi Gold, along with Oceana Gold, Solid Energy and other smaller players in the mining sector are preparing to extend their exploration programmes to keep up with expected global demand for mineral resources.

The National Government sees the mining sector providing the opportunity for a significant contribution to the country's gross domestic product.

Balancing political, economic and environmental issues to convince communities that developing the mining sector will bring benefits that outweigh commonly held negative perceptions about mining will make for an interesting old time in affected communities.