There could well be more victims involved in the $2.8 million Ponzi scheme run by disgraced former Dunedin lawyer John Milne, who has just started a more than eight-year jail term.
Oceana Gold's new Coronation open pit development at its Macraes site in East Otago is progressing towards production, but the estimated 100,000 ounces of gold it contains will not extend the overall Macraes mine life.
Toronto-listed oil and gas explorer Tag Oil (NZ) could be test-drilling an onshore oil and gas prospect near Oamaru within 12 to 24 months, having secured a five-year extension to its existing Canterbury Basin exploration permit.
The country's manufacturing sector repeated its expansionary gains of 2013 in 2014 and the outlook for the year ahead is buoyant.
Opinions differ as to whether the current low inflation rate arrives as a blessing or a curse.
The waning inflation rate now has some analysts predicting the Reserve Bank will not raise the interest-driving 3.5% official cash rate (OCR) until after March 2016, at the earliest, and another saying a rise could be two years away.
East Otago-based Oceana Gold has delivered better-than-forecast copper and gold production for its full year, paid off $US30 million ($NZ38.6 million) of debt and bolstered its cash in hand to more than $US50 million ($NZ64.4 million).
The liquidation of former boutique Queenstown-based Western Pacific Insurance has dragged into its fourth year - but with more than $15 million of Christchurch earthquake claims having been finalised in recent months.
Final costings are being worked through for a proposed twin, three-storey development within the St Clair Esplanade area.
New Zealand's housing bubble continues to grow, with increasing scrutiny on the Reserve Bank and how it will continue its micro-management of the heated sector.
Oceana Gold is being picked among several resource companies starting the year with positive earnings outlooks.
The country's major electricity suppliers appear well placed to weather immediate concerns over increasing drought conditions, in spite of southern hydro lake storage levels being below average for the time of the year.
Auckland real estate continues to overshadow the rest of the country, hitting a median price record for December of $678,000, in the face of an acute housing shortage.
Petrol and diesel prices should be slashed a further 5c-10c per litre, even though fuel prices are at almost five-year lows not seen since May 2010, the Automobile Association says.
Short-term plans for ship-borne hydrographic oil and gas exploration off Otago's coast are unlikely to be disrupted by plunging oil prices but long-term plans could yet be altered.
Queenstown house prices have soared compared with the rest of the country, but elsewhere in the province they are well below national gains during the past year.
Dairying centres Southland and the Waikato have booked a huge plunge in regional economic confidence, as seven of 11 regions around the country reflect pessimism over the year ahead.
Port Otago plans more ''incremental improvements'' to its cruise ship facilities at Port Chalmers, but has ruled out any plans for a cruise ship terminal.
Plunging global oil prices are a boon for New Zealanders this summer, and could stimulate worldwide economic growth this year.
Oceana Gold's open pit Reefton operations could be under the hammer by the end of the year, but a decision awaits on an adjacent, West Coast alternative.
