Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki

Still Fighting Mining TNCs After 45 Years

It is a surreal experience after 45 years to be fighting another wave of mining transnational corporations (TNCs) but with no right to legal remedy. Since 2024 the Fast Track has become law and the first case going through the new unjust process is the Waihi North Project. For Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki, it is no surprise that Canadian transnational Oceana Gold is using the new law to avoid public scrutiny.

It is however extremely disturbing that the township of Waihi and the forest at Wharekirauponga (behind Whangamatā) are literally being undermined. What's worse is that all of this is happening in the context of the Regulatory Standards Bill which Bill Rosenberg powerfully dissected in Foreign Control Watchdog 168 (April 2025).

This proposed law is the most direct attack on Te Tiriti and the public good of our lifetime and allows corporates supremacy over Government and communities. Oceana Gold is also applying to extend the McCrae's Flat huge gold mine in Otago but the iwi of the region and the Regional Council have expressed strong opposition. Whether any formal opposition will stop these projects under this Government is unknown. Iwi and hapū have limited voices on the Fast Track panels and weakened consultation rules do not recognise their authority as affirmed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Up here on the ground in Hauraki we fight on to stop gold mining with all the tools we have available. 2025 started with a rally against the Minister of Resources at the Waihi gold mine who came to announce his Minerals Strategy promoting foreign access and investment in minerals including gold and coal. More than 100 of us blocked the entrance to the gold mine and delayed the visitors arriving to support extractive hyper-capitalism. Later, in March, more than 100 people gathered at Owera Road near Whangapoua in the northern Hauraki, to protest a drill rig brought into private property by Oceana Gold.

Further south near Thames there is a new group of locals working with Coromandel Watchdog against two new mining companies threatening the conservation forest and their private land. The permit given by the Crown to Rua Gold, a Canadian outfit with a history with uranium mining, covers a huge area from Wentworth Valley near Whāngamata to Maratoto Valley near Paeroa. Rua Gold is also working to develop more mining near Reefton. A new exploration company called Zealandia Resources is applying for a permit (they are basically always granted) to explore for gold on private land between Matatoki near Thames and down to the Puriri area. We are working with local people to inform them about both companies and their rights as landowners.

For several months in 2024 we ran a blockade on the gate into the Maratoto Valley where Rua Gold was exploring using electric bikes and drone footage. Its' team on the ground were mostly Europeans and ran back to vehicles every time they saw us. It is however tough work to stop these companies gathering gold samples when DOC (department of Conservation) has granted them access. Regular rallies against mining have been held outside the office of National MP Scott Simpson, sometimes combining with multiple issues such as protecting Te Tiriti, pay equity, Palestine and more.

Te Tara o Te Ika (Coromandel Peninsula) also has permits from the Australian mining company Mineralogy and the southern Hauraki is now under attack from an Australian company called Uvre, trading under the name Otagold. It says it are going to explore with a view for large scale mining at Waitekauri near Waikino in the Karangahake Gorge. It is about the fourth foreign miner to attempt this as the mine had to be closed some years ago due to the land instability in the Waitekauri Valley.

Coromandel Watchdog Has Its' Hands Full

Most of these companies have project ambitions across Aotearoa and constantly tell their shareholders they are about to start mining. This is very attractive to investors at the current high gold price which hovers between $US3,000- $US4,000 per ounce. With the Government begging the companies to come and take these metals regardless of our views and the impacts in the environment, Coromandel Watchdog has its' hands full. Our success over many years has led to people locally and nationally believing that the battle was won when we stopped open cast mining north of Thames.

Now all bets are off about underground mining anywhere in our region except the Schedule 4 (Crown Minerals Act) land which has exceptionally high conservation value, and I would not hold your breath on that protection right now. Underground mining is as bad as open cast mining due to the impact of constant blasting and vibration, water being pumped from the mines under forest, effects on water supplies and the production of more toxic waste.

Obviously, we want the Coalition Government to be replaced at the next election but by then so much damage will already be done. The laws being put in place now create financial risks for the country via the trade courts and the Investor State Dispute Settlements (ISDS) which allow foreign corporates to sue Governments which have not allowed them to fulfil so-called expectations to mine.

The Regulatory Standards Bill is a serious issue as it raises the threat of activist groups also facing costs if they delay or disrupt corporate development. How much of a risk this threat is to groups like Coromandel Watchdog is not clear but the approach of this Bill aligns with similar draconian laws in the UK which have seen activists jailed for being prepared to challenge the fossil fuel industry.

Campaign Continues Despite Blitzkrieg Of Political Attacks

Coromandel Watchdog is working hard to build a base of support both locally and nationally but we are in the middle of a blitzkrieg of political attacks which makes cut through to communities harder than ever. As global uncertainty related to dictatorial Rightwing Governments and the escalation of wars/market instability continues, we are seeing the increase in the gold price beyond our worst fears. We are trying to stand in solidarity with seabed mining resistance and coal activists trying to protect significant lands as well as those fighting for water quality across these islands.

Every day new threats are announced to Te Tiriti and social justice and the structures designed to give people and the environment a voice. We must help people connect these issues as we fight them. The promotion of this country as a mining opportunity for foreign capital has its very own champion who has called us some interesting names. I am personally delighted to be called "an emerald lizard" by Shane Jones but the real challenge is to mobilise our communities to resist the current narrative of "jobs versus the environment" and keep exposing the lack of benefit gold mining brings to our neighbourhood.

In 2024 the Ohinemuri awa turned orange after a small spill of mine leachate from the old Comstock Mine in the Karangahake Gorge. Arsenic and other heavy metals entered the food chain and although the pollution was soon invisible it continued to risk uptake in traditional foods such as watercress and tuna. We have not cleaned up the historic mine contamination, but we are being told to welcome new mountains of toxic mine waste behind Waihi.

In many ways gold mining the planet is the most outdated industry we face. It is now possible to extract gold for tech use from e waste and landfill and re-use it. We don't have to leave it in bank vaults for the security of the rich. But there is a long way to go to dismantle these systems of extraction and replace them with common sense. In the meantime, Coromandel Watchdog will continue our campaign.

Watchdog - 169 August 2025