'Much, much worse than we thought' - Residents oppose Australian bid to mine in Golden Bay bushland

An Australian mining company has sought formal permission to mine remote native bushland near Tākaka, despite growing opposition from Golden Bay residents.

Siren Gold embarked on its latest round of exploratory drilling at Sams Creek in February, with festival-goers in the Cobb Valley the first to learn of the development after equipment was spotted being flown into the remote valley by helicopter.

In a recent statement to the ASX, Siren Gold, the parent company of Sams Creek Gold, said it lodged a mining permit with New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals on 21 March.

As part of the permit, a scoping study was undertaken which included open pit and underground mine designs, a waste rock stack, tailings storage facility, processing plant and other infrastructure requirements.

Siren Gold chief executive Victor Rajasooriar said the study gave "additional confidence" an open pit and an underground operation were potentially financially viable.

"The scoping study supports the Sams Creek mining permit application to NZPAM, and at the same time gives us the confidence to continue our exploration and infill drilling programs. In time, our aspiration is to have a sustainable long-term mining operation at Sams Creek which could provide some 350 jobs in the region."

Siren Gold director Paul Angus previously told RNZ the company's exploration permit expired at the end of March, and it planned to apply for a mining permit before then, which was just a step in the process to prevent the company losing tenure of the ground.

The exploration work was being done in order to determine if a gold mine was economically and environmentally viable, he said.

'Really disappointing'

Sams Creek Collective was formed last year in response to the community's concern about the proposed gold mine and member Julie Downard said there was increasing opposition within the community, with many not keen to see a mine established.

The recent scoping study indicated the plan was to have an open pit mine, tunnel entrance and processing plant near the Tākaka River, she said.

"It's much, much worse than we thought. They've been very vocal about how they're going to look after the community, but actually I think they've possibly chosen the worst place they could possibly site their operations."

The proposed site was at risk of being undermined in a flood and was in the deluge path of the Cobb Dam in the event of a major earthquake, Downard said.

The collective was really disappointed to learn the company had effectively extended its exploration permit by applying for a mining permit.

"We would like to know on what grounds they think they meet the threshold for gaining a mining permit under the Crown Minerals Act," Downard said.

Residents were only learning of Siren Gold's plans through its ASX statements, which indicated they were only interested in keeping investors informed, she said.

Requests to the company for more information had gone unanswered.

"We will continue to oppose a gold mining operation which would see toxic chemicals stored at the head of our waterways, which are the lifeblood of our beautiful region, community, and pristine Te Waikoropupū Springs.

"Golden Bay does not want to be known as 'regionally significant' in future decades for water and environmental pollution caused by the very real risk of mining waste accidents."

Save Our Springs co-ordinator Kevin Moran said the group had growing concerns about Siren Gold's mining plans for Sams Creek and had sent the company an open letter outlining its fears.

The letter asked Siren Gold to inform its shareholders, the ASX and potential investors of the inherent risks with the project.

"There are terrible flaws in your plans. Last week, in less than twenty-four hours, the general area where the proposed waste heap will be constructed experienced more than a metre of rain. The same area can experience over four metres during a wet year. Your proposed waste heap sits close to major earthquake fault lines, including the Murchison fault."

The organisation remained concerned a waste pit, no matter how well constructed, could fail in a natural disaster with the toxic waste destroying the waters of Te Waikoropupū Springs.

Save Our Springs had engaged Sally Gepp KC as its lawyer and planned to vigourously defend New Zealand's conservation land and Te Waikoropupū Springs through all available legal avenues, Moran said.

There was strong, growing opposition to a mine at Sams Creek and the company could expect legal challenges at every step of the way as they sought a mining permit, resource consents, access arrangement and concessions to mine on public conservation land, he said.

Permits, land access and resource consents

A spokesperson for New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZP&M) said under the Crown Minerals Act, an exploration permit remained in place while any subsequent mining permit application was being assessed by NZP&M.

The minerals exploration permit held by Sams Creek Gold was due to expire on 26 March and an application for a subsequent minerals mining permit located within the acreage covered by the exploration permit was submitted on 21 March.

"This means that Sams Creek Gold can continue with exploration works under permit EP40338 if other relevant approvals such as resource consent and land access agreements are still in place, until a decision is made on its mining permit application. If the application is declined, the exploration permit will expire," the spokesperson said.

It had introduced processing timeframes for applications received since July last year.

The average processing time for a new tier-one mining permit (as required for Sams Creek) was 240 business days, or 300 business days if the application was complex or incomplete.

DOC permissions regulatory delivery manager Christine Butler said the land in question fell within the Tākaka River Conservation Area, Sams Creek Conservation Area, North West Nelson Forest Park, and Tākaka River Marginal Strip.

An access arrangement issued to Siren Gold in 2017 allowed for exploration activities, including drilling at 100 drill sites, along with test trenches, camp sites and helicopter landing pads across 912 hectares of public conservation land, with a total of 2.11ha impacted.

There were a number of conditions in place, including adherence to flora and fauna management plans and ecological survey plans, to mitigate negative effects on the conservation estate.

Siren Gold's representatives had met with the department to discuss general pre-application matters, but it had not received any application for mining and had no confirmation of when a new access application would be lodged by Siren, Butler said.

Tasman District Council said its compliance team received notice drilling had at resumed at Sams Creek on 19 February, and a compliance officer inspected the site on 5 March and found it to be fully compliant.

In a post on Facebook last week, the council said there had been renewed interest from the community about the proposed Sams Creek mining project with some concerns raised around potential risks to water supply and the health of Te Waikoropupū Springs.

In its role as a consenting authority, the council said it wanted to outline what had been approved under the current resource consents which authorised exploratory mining activities in a Conservation Zone, to construct multiple exploratory boreholes, and to take and use a very small volume of surface water for exploratory mining.

Consents granted in 2017 and 2018, specified drilling depths of between 25 to 1000 metres, geological sampling (by hand) and a very small water take.

"Since the current resource consents were granted, the Te Puna Waiora o Te Waikoropupū Springs and the Wharepapa Arthur Marble Aquifer Water Conservation Order 2023 has come into force. Nothing in the order can affect or restrict any resource consent granted before the start date," the post said.

The current consent conditions were consistent with protecting the aquifer and springs, the council said.

"Monitoring staff have visited the sites, and from our observations, environmental impacts appear to be minimal.

"We are mindful of the community's concerns and in the broader sense share the view that Te Waikoropupū Springs is a taonga that should be looked after. We will continue to ensure the applicant meets the terms of their resource consents."

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