But community members say one man cannot control something which is really special to the people who live there.
Michael Reedy, of Queenstown, has applied for a 10-year mining permit over 47ha from New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZPAM) to search for gemstones on the beach, which is about 70km west of Invercargill.
Semi-precious stones such as jasper, sapphire and garnet have been found on the beach.
Mr Reedy said it was a non-mechanical operation and he would be walking up and down the beach looking for high-quality sapphires and gemstones.
"It won’t even include a spade. It will be just me and a bucket, walking down the beach.
"It’s about a 50m strip wide and it goes for about 5km-6km."
It might be one stone in 10,000 which was gemstone quality, he said.
"I’m actually building a house in Queenstown and I want to set the gemstones into the concrete floor and polish it ... it’s not a commercial operation, it’s a hobby.
"I think the public have been misled through social media that there’s going to be diggers and dump trucks operating and disturbing the beach and there’s actually not."
No-one would be banned from the beach to fossick for stones if his permit was granted.
In fact, once he had gathered two and a-half tonnes of stones, he wanted to turn the area into a public fossicking area — the first in New Zealand.
Orepuki resident Rochelle Prime said there had been a strong reaction from the township about the claim.
"Nobody wants one man to control something that is really special to the people who live here," she said.
"I don’t think one man should have that power over a tourist destination that brings money to our area."
Residents were concerned the mining rights would prevent visitors from taking home mementos of their visit or rockhoppers adding to their collections.
The beach was a feature of the Southern Scenic Route, which attracted a lot of visitors and tourists to the coastal township.
Orepuki Cafe owner Brian McGrath said it was a sensitive topic and it was understandable locals would feel the application was a threat to their beach.
"I believe it’s fine for people to go down and pick up a stone or two, but I don’t have any control over what other people do.
"I know people that people pick up hundreds."
Mr McGrath pointed out there were other active permits.
The NZPAM website lists six other permits for gold mining, which excluded the beach area.
John Paterson said he began tumble polishing stones after retirement and regularly travelled from Whanganui to fossick on the beach for hours at a time.
It was one of the nation’s most well-known fossicking beaches, which yielded some collectable, but not valuable, stones, he said.
An NZPAM spokesperson said when processing the permit it did not allow public submissions.
A minerals mining permit grants the holder the exclusive right to mine for specified minerals. It does not grant exclusive use of the area. — Additional reporting Steve Hepburn
- By Toni McDonald
