About 50 protesters chanted and carried placards as they marched from Paihia to the Copthorne Hotel at Waitangi, where the results of last year's aeromagnetic survey were launched at a gathering of about 100 people representing iwi, councils, science and industry.
The protest group was barred from entering the Copthorne grounds, instead setting up opposite the entrance, where they made their concerns heard as the guests arrived and left almost three hours later.
The protest was the first outing of Minewatch Northland, a group bringing together Forest and Bird, hapu and others concerned about the environmental impact of mining. Far North Forest and Bird chairman Dean Baigent-Mercer of Whangaroa said the group's aim was to keep an eye on multinational firms coming to Northland for prospecting and mining.
The group wanted to counter the secrecy around mining plans by keeping the public informed. It was developing a website which would post regular updates, and had a geologist on board to analyse the survey data.
Minewatch Northland spokesman Tim Howard of Whangarei said the aeromagnetic survey was a case of public funding for corporate gain. "It's the big foreign-owned mining corporations who will be the major winners from this move, not the people of Northland," he said.
While the group acknowledged the survey would yield some valuable information - about soil and water, for example - the focus was minerals such as gold, silver and copper. It believed "toxic mining" of rock-bound minerals was a threat to waterways, the environment and people's wellbeing.
Green MP and mining spokeswoman Catherine Delahunty said the people of Tai Tokerau should have been asked whether they wanted the survey before it went ahead. Instead taxpayers had given the mining industry a $2 million "free pass".
- Minewatch Northland has two events coming up in Whangarei. On June 1, photographer Rod Morris will give a presentation on the Denniston Plateau, where an Australian company wants an open cast mine. On July 4, the group will hold a public meeting with Green MP Catherine Delahunty. Both events start at 7pm in the Manaia PHO rooms, 28 Rust Ave.