Government U-turn on land purchase for Waihī mining group

Government approval for OceanaGold to purchase land near its Waihī mine disrupted an otherwise quiet business day.

OceanaGold senior community advisor Kit Wilson said he was aware a decision on the land purchase was coming, but he had not expected it yesterday.

The decision came after Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Associate Minister of Finance David Parker considered the applications under the Overseas Investment Act and recommended it be approved.

The application was first put before Associate Finance Minister David Clark and Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage, but it was turned down after Sage did not agree with her coalition colleague that the purchase was likely to have substantial and identifiable benefits.

A key reason for approval, according to Robertson and Parker, was the benefit it would have on the country due to the retention of about 340 fulltime jobs over nine years and exports valued at $2 billion in that time.

"When the initial bid to buy land was turned down earlier this year it came as a surprise," Wilson said.

"We applied for a judicial review to the High Court and were invited by Government to re-apply to buy the land.

"We made the application with additional information attached and that application has now been accepted."

Wilson said steps would now be taken to buy the land.

"Perhaps one thing the community is not aware of is, while we have permission to buy the land, we still need to obtain resource consent before a tailings dam can be built.

"It will be during the consent process when Waihī locals and the wider community have the opportunity to have their concerns heard."

He said Waihī people were used to resource consent hearings as OceanaGold were involved with them every one to two years.

"We [OceanaGold] are going to be here [Waihi] for the next 10 years. The proposed tailings storage provides us with the opportunity to keep going."

OceanaGold has also sought a mining permit over its Wharekirauponga discovery in the Coromandel Forest Park, about 10km north of the firm's Martha Pit in Waihi.

Wilson also took the opportunity to allay fears about tailings dams. "I am aware people have heard about the failings of overseas tailings dam," he said.

"Ours are built in the same way a water-retaining structure is, they do not fail."

The decision to overturn the initial ban has prompted a reply from National's Economic Development spokesman Todd McClay, who said the Government's land and environment policies were in disarray.

"Ms Sage declined the expansion of the Waihi mine saying it was inherently unsustainable, will increase emissions, and will provide only moderate employment benefits relative to winding down the operation and remediating the site," McClay said.

"Now that the Waihi Mine expansion has been agreed, Ms Sage must now remove her objections to the West Coast Hydro Scheme and let this project go ahead also."