Chief executive of mining lobby group Straterra, Chris Baker also rounded on Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage, saying the outcome was ''based explicitly on her anti-mining ideology'', and called for her to discontinue from portfolios where she had a history of activism.
''This is a major setback for the industry, for the local and regional economy and for all fair-minded New Zealanders,'' Mr Baker said yesterday.
Ms Sage and Associate Finance Minister David Clark could not agree whether a new tailings dam would create ''substantial and identifiable benefits'' in the region.
Oceana had sought to buy 178ha of rural land for a new tailings reservoir.
However, because Ms Sage and Mr Clark disagreed, that meant under the Overseas Investment Act when ministers were not in agreement, applications were declined.
Oceana's Waihi senior community adviser Kit Wilson said the company ''has expressed extreme disappointment'' at the decision by Ms Sage and when contacted, said ''one of the options available'', could be court action in the form of a judicial review.
Ms Sage did not believe using productive rural farmland to establish a long-term tailings reservoir for mining waste created substantial and identifiable benefits.
Mr Baker said without the land, mining would cease in 2028, but with a new tailings dam, which would be subject to regulations, mining would continue until 2036, and probably well beyond.
''Our own estimate is that beyond 2030 more than 350 jobs are at stake, as well as export revenue in the order of $200million to $300million per year,'' he said.
It was hard to imagine how the mining jobs, associated taxes and spending in the local and regional community would not stack up as a ''substantial and identifiable benefit'', compared with what could be earned farming the relatively small area in question, Mr Baker said.
Oceana produces about 98% of New Zealand's gold annually and between its Waihi mine and Macraes at East Otago employs up to 1000 staff at times.
Mr Baker said since Oceana bought Waihi from Newmont in 2015, it had spent ''tens of millions of dollars'' on exploration and development and had discovered ''significant additional gold resources''.
Oceana has stated several times during the past two years both Waihi and Macraes could be in line for long mine life extension, potentially of up to a decade.
At Waihi, Oceana is mining out its Correnso underground and has consents for a new Martha underground mining programme, while at Macraes it operated its Frasers underground alongside open pit mining, and is considering a second underground operation, although that is only at the feasibility study stage.
Mr Wilson said ''The purchase of these [farm] properties would allow us to plan for the future and extend our investment in Waihi beyond the current life of the mine and our significant economic contribution locally, in the Hauraki region and nationally,'' he said.
In a separate decision released last week, Oceana was granted consent to buy four residential lots at Waihi, for an undisclosed sum, ''for purposes incidental to mining activities''. Its Martha underground includes tunnelling under parts of Waihi township, which has been done in the past.
