Twenty people marched to a drilling rig on Mount Karangahake this morning in protest of recent renewed mining efforts.
When the group arrived at the site where the drilling company was in the process of moving equipment from one drill site to another, they presented a letter and had a picnic.
Moving of equipment was halted temporarily, but resumed when the protesters headed back down the mountain.
Newcrest Mining Ltd were planning three weeks of exploratory drilling on the side of the mountain and local people have vowed to disrupt this at every opportunity.
The first rig went up on Saturday, metres away from Conservation land.