Environmental watchdog praises Whangaroa hapū for successful anti-mining campaign

Whangaroa hapū and Forest & Bird members at Manginangina Scenic Reserve, in a kauri forest west of Kerikeri, protesting mineral prospecting permits on conservation land last year. Their opposition has seen an Australian company pull out of plans to mine the area.

A successful campaign by Whangaroa hapū to stop plans by an Australian mining giant to explore for minerals in a Far North forest reserve has been hailed by environmental watchdog Greenpeace.

Whangaroa hapū are celebrating ‘beating toxic mining’ after Mineralogy International, a company owned by Australian mining billionaire Clive Palmer, pulled out of plans to explore for minerals.

In 2022 Mineralogy was granted a prospecting permit for lithium and rare earth elements over part of Puketi Forest, which includes Manginangina Scenic Reserve.

Whangaroa hapū united at the time to oppose the plan, joining forces as the Whangaroa Stop Toxic Mining Alliance (K.A.T.I) and getting support from Forest & Bird and other environmental groups.

K.A.T.I. strategist Mike Smith said the hapū and supporters are celebrating after Minerology withdrew from the permit and closed its NZ office. The group opposed the plan widely, including a protest in the forest in April 2023, and has credited its campaign for forcing the company to withdraw, in direct response to the collective objections of local residents and community leaders.

New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals controls mining permits in the country and a spokesperson said Mineralogy International Ltd applied to surrender 15 of its 16 prospecting and exploration permits around New Zealand in December last year.

“We’re very pleased about that [withdrawal]. That’s the fifth time we’ve chased away mining companies from our rohe and it’s been an ongoing struggle the last few years, but we’ve been determined that we wouldn’t give up protecting our health and our environment,” Smith said.

“We would also like to send a clear and unequivocal message to any other mining company considering operating in the Whangaroa District: we will resist any and all attempts to mine our sacred lands. We will continue to stand as one to protect our environment, our people, and our culture.”

Greenpeace has welcomed the decision by Minerology to pull the plug on its plans to mine for minerals in a forest reserve and praised the campaign led by Whangaroa hapū and its allies opposed to the plan.

“The victory over mining company Mineralogy International demonstrates the collective power of resistance in iwi, local communities and environmental groups working together,” Greenpeace Seabed mining campaigner Juressa Lee said.

Lee said the victory sends a powerful message to other would-be miners, such as Australian-owned mining company Trans-Tasman Resources, which wants to start seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight.