Ironsand mining bid upsets iwi

A bid to explore mineral-rich ironsand deposits along the west coast from Wanganui to the Kaipara Harbour has come under fire from iwi and environmental groups.

Australian-based company Black Sand Exploration is seeking an exploration permit for 3617 sq km starting from the low-tide mark to 18km offshore.

The application is being considered by the Crown Minerals Group in the Ministry of Energy.

Up to 40 hapu and iwi along that coast are being consulted under Treaty of Waitangi provisions, said Crown Minerals mining manager Rob Smillie.

But public comment is not required, he said.

The Crown Minerals Act made no provision for it because impact on the environment was not considered in assessing the application.

"We are not happy that the public are being shut out of the process at this stage," said Angeline Greensill, environmental spokeswoman for the Tainui hapu at Raglan and Maori Party candidate for Tainui.

All people had a stake in what was happening, she said, and a packed public meeting in the Raglan Town Hall voted to oppose the exploration plan.

"Our hapu does not have all the facts and we want to find out from Crown Minerals exactly what is proposed and the effect on the environment."

Mrs Greensill said Raglan beaches would become bedrock if the flow of sand stopped coming from the Taranaki coast where it had been deposited in volcanic eruptions.

Some 25m of land on the Raglan coast had been lost to erosion, she said.

Environmental spokesmen for some of the coastal iwi expressed concern at the size of area and that the application became known just two months after the Foreshore and Sea Bed Act became law.

The crown owns the minerals on the seabed and gives permits in return for royalties.

"It seems amazing that the Government would entertain something like that," said Saul Roberts, of Te Kawerau o Maki.

Margaret Kawharu, of Ngati Whatua, said five marae in the south Kaipara area were to discuss the application. All comments she had heard were ones of dismay.
She recalled how Maori and Pakeha at Muriwai had combined to defeat a 1991 application by an Australian mining company, Westland Ilmenite.

But Associate Energy Minister and New Plymouth MP Harry Duynhoven said he was becoming fed up with scare-mongering over the application.

"It's outlandish to say they will be ripping up the seabed and leaving only the rock. We are not talking about mining - it's finding out what's there, not huge activity."

Mr Duynhoven said he had heard rumours that the applicant was a Chinese company.

"It's not. The company is registered in Australia. It may well have some Chinese partners but are we getting xenophobic here? Black Sand is a subsidiary of Best Quality of Life Group, which is an Australian company.

"First, let the company get on and explore it. They have to put up a package that's acceptable even to get the exploration licence," he said.

The company's New Zealand representative, Aaron Gilmore, of accountancy firm Ernst & Young, said he was too busy to talk to the Herald.

Mr Smillie said the company was looking for titanomagnetite (magnetic iron oxide) concentrate.

If an exploration permit was granted, it would still have to get landowner permission for access and then approach councils for resource consent.

At that stage the public could be heard on the environmental aspects.

Mr Smillie said exploration did not automatically lead to a mining permit and companies often did take a bid further after checking the economic return.

He said the fitness of the applicant was being assessed and any iwi concerns addressed.

Ironsand mining

* Mineral-rich ironsand is mined at two North Island sites and used to produce iron and steel.

* Waikato North Head mine produces 1.2 million tonnes of sand a year to feed the Glenbrook Steel Mill, near Waiuku.

* Taharoa Mine, south of Kawhia, has since 1972 yielded up to 2 million tonnes of concentrate a year, which is shipped direct to north Asian mills.