Striking gold hits obstacles

Conservation groups, prepare for battle - we're likely to see more mining applications as the country's new chief executive promises economic benefits from going underground. The battle between extracting the materials we need from the ground and the land above it being torn apart is likely to accelerate as the new government looks to have a more relaxed stance over mining. The Wharekirauponga Forest Park, the site of a proposed mine.National's Christopher Luxon has signaled a change of direction when it comes to mining, promising it can be done in a "sensitive" way to balance economic and environmental interests. A stark contrast to Labour's (unkept) promise that there would be no new mining on conservation land. Either way, as long as mining companies get permission to uproot the landscape, advocacy groups will challenge them in court. The latest such challenge comes from anti-mining group Ours Not Mines, which is taking the Hauraki District Council to court over a permit the council has given OceanaGold.The company, which has been mining for gold in Waihi among other places, wants to mine underneath Department of Conservation land, and has found a loophole to avoid a drawn-out permission process. OceanaGold's Martha Mine at Waihi.Newshub's climate correspondent Isobel Ewing has covered the case in Hamilton. "The gist of it is pretty simple. The Wharekirauponga Forest Park, which is tucked in the hills behind Whangamatā and Waihi Beach - there is a proposed mine underneath that area."OceanaGold is wrapping up its operations at Martha Mine which is at Waihi, and they are now eyeing up this big - what they estimate to be - $1.8 billion worth of gold under that forest park."OceanaGold wants to build mining infrastructure, like air vents, on a "paper road" which exists on a map but doesn't exist physically. The hearings were held last week and the judgment is expected early next year.But Ewing wouldn't be talking to The Detail about this case if the Labour government had followed through on its promise to stop new mining on conservation land. The Governor General promised it in 2017 through the speech from the throne, and then-backbench MP Jacinda Ardern had marched in Queen St in a big protest over it seven years earlier.But as prime minister, Ardern always said the government's plans for reclassifying stewardship land were delaying the process. During this year's election campaign, Ardern's successor Chris Hipkins said the government was still keen to fulfil the promise, but was still working through matters such as access to pounamu with South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details