Matthew Winthrop, a spokesman for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, says overseas owned company Oceana Gold has two exploration permits (51041 and 51630) between Whangamata and Tairua which expire in 2018 and 2019.
"One of these permits shows that the status of Oceana's minerals exploration permit is pending, meaning they have submitted an application to change the permit and it's currently being considered."
He says to carry out mining activity, an operator requires a permit from MBIE, any necessary resource consents from local authorities, and permission from the landowner to access the land and by private arrangement with landowners.
"Mining companies would need to contact the landowner if they intend to undertake work other than minimum impact activities such as surveying, taking samples by hand or hand-held methods. It's up to the two parties to negotiate the conditions for granting land access."
Long-time anti-mining organisation Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki has gone on a membership drive and is urging property owners whose land may fall inside the boundaries of permits to check online maps.
The areas are north of Tairua, covering almost 7000ha from south of Wade Rd, Whitianga to Kuaotunu, Otama and Whangapoua, and 9600ha from Cooks Beach to Paul Rd on the Tairua Hill.
"There are still many affected property owners who do not know that their land is subject to such a permit," says spokeswoman for the group, Augusta Macassey-Pickard.
She warns that agreements made by landowners to allow access for exploration could come with consequences for any future buyers.
"These agreements are bound to the property, not the person. If you say yes, if you then want to sell down the track, the access agreement will apply to the next owners."
Thames-Coromandel District Council District Plan manager Leigh Robcke says information about permits is available on the NZ Petroleum and Minerals website NZPAM.govt.nz and confirmed that a council-issued LIM does not include information found or recorded on certificates of title.
"Access arrangements which are of more than six months duration may be noted on the computer register or certificate of title to which access rights relate," says Mr Robcke. "Therefore when buying a property people should also be looking at the title of their property to see what is on it."
Among those landowners who are subject to exploration permits is Te Moata, a centre north of Tairua that is owned by a charitable trust funded 50 per cent from community donations and the rest from philanthropists who share in its philosophy of peace and ecological restoration.
Manager Dave Saunders says he will be contacting QEII Trust to determine if the organisation will provide any support to covenanters, should their properties fall in the interest area of mining companies.
"We see people all the time here who come to us because the bush and the beaches are the only antidote to keeping them healthy. I just struggle to believe that anybody could conceive of the idea that it is worth risking this natural heritage for something as lacking in real worth as gold.
"If they tried to enter our land, we would do everything we could to block them."
