The Minister of Energy and Finance Gerry Brownlee came out a few weeks ago and decided that he wanted a stocktake done of all the mineral resources on protected crown land which includes national parks and reserves. Now granted, it was only a stocktake but you don't do that unless you planning to do something with that stock do you? Even though no future plans have been announced, it was no surprise that it caused a bit of a stink here in clean green New Zealand. Here is where my quandary starts. I work for a gold company and a fairly big one too, that happens to pay my mortgage. That gold mine is based in Waihi at the beginning of the Coromandel Peninsular which has a long history of gold mining and forestry but has also become the spiritual home of the green movement in New Zealand. Pro-mining and anti-mining interests walk hand in hand around town here. A few weeks ago, I was visiting friends at an arts fair and Harry Parke, the husband of the founder and former co-leader of the green party(Jeanette Fitzsimons, above in the photo on the left), was there with an anti-mining petition. Friends and I were out the back and Harry came out for a smoke. Quite quickly the conversation switched to mining in Waihi. I let Harry know that I worked for the mine and he said "I guess you won't be signing my petition then?".We had a bit of a chat and it was nice to have a discussion with someone who was so passionate about their point of view and was obviously used to debate. I can honestly say that while I am pro-mining for obvious reasons, I'm not nearly as pro as Harry is con. It's a great job, and an unique one in really interesting industry with lots of different types of people in it. That said, I've also have, in my former lives worked for the US Air Force, on deep sea trawlers in Alaska and in the forestry industry. I've always joked that after this mining gig that I'll be clubbing baby seals in Canada. OK, it's not a very good joke, but they can't all be winners. The point is, that regardless of my work history I do have a greenish tinge to me that is concerned with what is happening to my planet and what my kids are going to inherit. Like probably most people we are not manning the ramparts of the green movement but we aren't excessive and probably have a low carbon footprint. Now back to my quandary, should I be supportive of more mining on the Coromandel. Part of the conversation with Harry was mining in Waihi specifically and we both agreed that as long as there is gold in Waihi there will be gold mining. I've been with the company long enough to trust what they are doing and confident enough to say to Harry that he should be glad that they are here instead of someone else who may not value their social contract as much as their bottom line. Of course, the company benefits greatly from the gold and silver they extract but there is also great benefit to the community by having this company here. That may not have been the case with another company. Now, would I like for the company to explore other options for extending the life of the mine. Hell yes! Do I feel that we need to tread carefully exploring outside of Waihi. Hell yes! Why? Because, I don't see the benefit for Oputere if we start mining there. That ore will come to Waihi and benefit Waihi. Do I have a solution for the this apparent conflict? Not really. In the bigger picture, what will Minister Brownlee do once his stocktake is complete. He has stated that the lesser valued crown land with protection in place would be under consideration for reclassification if the mineral assets were significant. Where is all this coming from in the first place? In my opinion, it's a bit of Aussie envy. The National party, when they came into power just over a year ago, made it one of their stated goals that they would close the gap with Australia. "The Lucky Country" has large mineral assets that has in part enabled it to become one first countries in the world to recover from the recession. Lots of Kiwis have and continue to emigrate there for the work and better pay. We are not really that keen to go to Aussie. Nevermind the snakes and spiders and crocodiles, even the kangaroos there are cold blooded killers and I'm trying to avoid getting killed. Maybe the National Party needs to promote that more. "Don't go to Australia, the locals want to kill you!" or "Please stay and we promise you won't get hurt" could be their slogans. Even the killers we do have in New Zealand just like to play. Anyways, back to the point I was trying to make. If we have the assets why shouldn't we use them. In the bigger picture, we may be asset rich but cash poor and somehow it seems to me that a great majority of New Zealanders would feel like they are selling their souls if they open up their protected land to mining. That said, in other areas, I've seen where the locals are quite open to industry moving into their town (I'm thinking West Coast with the coal,mining and forestry) but it is the non-locals who are most against it. The mayor of Thames District Council (Coromandel) came out last year and said she would welcome mining back onto the Coromandel. This was after several hundred jobs in the district were lost including at the sawmill where I used to work. The government must decide if they want to risk the backlash of opening protected areas to mining and damaging New Zealand's "clean,green image". It is clearly a case of short term gain over long term benefit. Personally, I feel comfortable with where I am at right now and hope that we can continue mining indefinitely. Ideally, New Zealand would just discover huge oil reserves and we could become a southern hemisphere Saudi Arabia and we could all drive around in Mercedes and pay $0.25 for a gallon of petrol and I could get a Filipino maid for my mansion and buy a football club and wear a sequin suit and smoke a big pipe, but I digress. That fantasy ain't happening. Damn!
In conclusion, this is one of the few times where big decisions like this have so directly influenced what I have been doing at that time. Small Picture, lets just find lots of gold in Waihi and not worry about other options for now. Bigger picture, ?????....Don't know. What... you don't think I have all the solutions of the world do you? It is a tough one though isn't it.
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