Miners and permit agents invited to New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals Workshops - March 2025
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals staff will be visiting the West Coast in mid-March. Principal minerals advisor, Tim Journeaux, will be delivering two workshops on Wednesday the 19th of March – one in the afternoon in Greymouth, the other in the evening in Hokitika.
Tim Journeaux will present to attendants specifically on the following issues, as well as answering questions on any other issues:
- Demonstrating a “mineable mineral resource” for a Tier 2 alluvial gold mining application
- The “why and how” of setting limits on bulk sample volumes in exploration work programmes
The following times and locations for each workshop are as follows:
Greymouth Workshop – Māwhera Digital Hub and Workspace, 1A Guiness Street, 3:30pm-4:30pm, Wednesday the 19th of March
Hokitika Workshop – RSA Hokitika, 22 Sewell Street, Hokitika, 6:30pm-7:30pm
If you are likely to attend, please email info@mineralswestcoast.org.nz simply to give an idea of expected levels of attendance. If you have any questions, please email, or phone Patrick Phelps on 021 238 6846.
Submissions to Department of Conservation and New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals
Minerals West Coast has submitted on several rounds of policy consultation in the first few months of the year, covering several distinct issues. These include feedback to New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals on proposed new fees for the newly minted “Tier 3 Mining Permit” (set up to cover ‘hobby’ mining such as black sanding and suction dredging), submitting on proposed changes to the New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals draft Minerals Programme, and submitting to the Department of Conservation on its consultation on “Proposals to modernise conservation”. These submissions can be viewed below. All of Minerals West Coast’s past submissions can be found here.
Submission to the Department of Conservation on "Proposals to Modernise Conservation"
February 2025
Submission to New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals on “Minerals Programme (draft for public consultation)”
February 2025
Consultation Submission Form - Proposed fees for Tier 3 mining permit
January 2025
Minerals West Coast appears before Finance and Expenditure committee to discuss bankers and coal miners
In March, Minerals West Coast’s manager, Patrick Phelps, and policy advisor, Bernie Napp, spoke with parliament’s Finance and Expenditure committee regarding the committee’s inquiry into banking competition. This follows Minerals West Coast’s written submission to the committee in September 2024.
The oral submission to the committee focussed mainly on the economic importance of coal as an energy source, the need for all legally operating businesses to have access to banking, and the potential consequences of coal miners losing access to banking services.
The full submission can be found on YouTube by clicking here or viewed below.
Minerals West Coast talks mining, conservation, and Stewardship land on TVNZ Q + A
In February TVNZ’s Q+A visited the West Coast to examine the issue of the Department of Conservation’s review of ‘Stewardship land’, including the role of mining on public conservation land. Minerals West Coast’s manager, Patrick Phelps, spoke with Q+A reporter Whena Owen.
The video can be viewed on YouTube by clicking here or viewed below.
Save the date for the West Coast Minerals Forum 2025
Minerals West Coast is pleased to announce after a record breaking level of attendance at last year’s West Coast Minerals Forum, planning has begun for this year’s event.
Details are still being confirmed, but the provisional date of Thursday the 23rd of October has been selected. Venues are being assessed, but it is very likely it will be held somewhere in or near Greymouth.
If you are interested in attending this year’s event, please register your interest using the form below. As and when there is more information it will be made available – for now, pencil in the 23rd of October – we look forward to keeping you posted and seeing you there!