After dredging for gold in the Clutha River between Roxburgh Dam and Tuapeka Mouth for the past 10 years, Cold Gold Clutha Ltd is applying for consent to move into the Upper Clutha.
A cultural impact assessment prepared by iwi consultancy Aukaha said the four affected rūnaka held the view that not enough information about the effect of the company’s operations on native species was provided in the application.
Among the local rūnaka, Hokonui Rūnanga was firmly opposed to any suction dredge mining on the river due to its potential effect on kanakana (lamprey), kākahi (freshwater mussels), eggs of multiple fish species and galaxiids, the cultural impact assessment said.
An ecological management plan prepared by a suitably qualified freshwater ecologist, and reviewed annually, should form part of the company’s application, it said.
Generally, the company’s proposal focused on the economic use of the river to the detriment of environmental outcomes, it said.
"The application is focused on the economic benefits of gold dredging and does not address the effects of this activity on the health and wellbeing of the Mata-au [Clutha River].
"Overall, mana whenua are concerned that the current dredging proposal perpetuates existing inequities in environmental outcomes."
The company has been suction-dredge mining for gold along 66km of the riverbed between the Roxburgh Dam and Tuapeka Mouth for the past 10 years under an existing mining permit.
It recently bought additional mining permits to allow the relocation of the dredge into the upper reaches of the Clutha River between Luggate and the top of Lake Dunstan.
An area of the riverbed around the Luggate Creek confluence and Devil’s Nook has been kept out of the application due to its ecological sensitivity.
Cold Gold Clutha Ltd has further proposed as a condition of consent a 20m exclusionary zone around tributary confluences of more than 1m wide.
And the company requested public notification.
Last month, the Otago Daily Times reported Cold Gold Clutha Ltd director Peter Hall was frustrated by the "sheer bureaucracy" of the process.
The cultural impact assessment, prepared on behalf of Te Rūnanga o Moeraki, Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki, Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou and Hokonui Rūnanga, said the river was once crucial for food security for southern Māori.
"Not only were populations of weka and tuna [eel] bountiful, but their meat was also easily processed for long-term storage," it said.
"The application concludes that any elvers or mature eel drawn through the dredge would survive unharmed and that the impact on the tuna population will be inconsequential.
"The conclusions reached by the applicant are not supported by evidence."
Submissions close today.
