The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) laid charges against Hawkeswood Mining Limited in April after the firm was found mining at its Millers Flat site on a permit that only allowed exploration activities.
The parties came to an agreement whereby Hawkeswood made a donation to charity and paid royalties to the Crown, fulfilling the conditions of diversion and therefore avoiding conviction.
But that was where any agreement ended.
In a statement, Hawkeswood operations manager Simon Johnstone initially said the company "accepted responsibility" but later claimed innocence.
"I stand by the fact that we were not illegally mining. The size and scope of our test pit were necessary to properly explore the alluvial resource and mining methodology at Millers Flat," he said.
Mr Johnstone took aim at MBIE, which he said did not have a method to clearly distinguish between test pitting and illegal mining.
Meanwhile, the ministry’s national manager of compliance for New Zealand petroleum and minerals Phil Latimer said the mining company’s wrongdoing became clear cut after detailed site analysis by geologists.
"We became aware that Hawkeswood had been mining prior to being granted a mining permit when we saw satellite imagery of the site showing large-scale opencast mining,’’ he said.
The company had recovered a "considerable amount" of gold, which was unlawful under its exploration permit.
Mr Latimer said there were three others currently before the court on illegal mining charges.
"We are a fair regulator, and we are focused on supporting the sector to get to work but make no mistake, there is no room for cowboys in our sector," he said.
"The communities you are working in are watching you and will not tolerate bad behaviour."
Hawkeswood’s controversial gold mine at Millers Flat got the go-ahead in August and work is expected to start this month.
Company director Andrew Hawkeswood said it would bring $90 million to the wider New Zealand economy, $28m of which would be local employment and royalty payments.
He expected to hire 15 staff initially, followed by 10 more next year.
