Delegates attending the influential Institute of Mining and Metallurgy conference in Queenstown were upbeat about New Zealand's prospects. Business reporter Simon Hartley wraps up the conference.
"Incremental" legislative changes and engaging with affected communities were prevalent themes at the opening of the New Zealand branch of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) annual conference yesterday.
L&M Mining will spend more than $10 million a year in Central Otago for the next six years through its Earnscleugh gold-mining operation.
About 200 people attended a debate at the University of Otago in Dunedin last night on the merits of mining.
A doubling of Crown Minerals funding to $14.8 million in the Budget has incensed the Green Party, which is opposed on several fronts to any expansion of mineral exploration or production in New Zealand.
The rejuvenated Australian mining sector is being hit hard by the strength of the Aussie dollar against the US, with some ASX100 resource stocks downgraded by up to 10%.
West Coast newcomer Bathurst Resources could begin open-cast coal-mining operations by the end of the year if its 24 resource consent applications - due to heard on June 7 in Westport - are granted.
A public meeting in Dunedin tomorrow will debate what an organiser says is "one of the biggest environmental issues facing New Zealand" - the proposed expansion of coal mining in Eastern Southland and South Otago.
Gold explorer listed Glass Earth Gold has begun a $200,000 six-week five-hole drilling programme at its Serpentine prospect, 13km north of Lake Onslow, near Millers Flat.
The National-led Government dipped a tentative toe in the conservation estate last year when Gerry Brownlee argued the case for digging up parts in a search for mineral wealth or, to be more specific, to find the pot of gold that would - just like that, it seemed - place our economy on a par with Australia's.
Investors will have another mining stock to consider next week, with the dual listing of Broken Hill Prospecting Ltd on Wednesday, which raised $A4.5 million ($NZ5.9 million) during its initial public offering.
Sydney-based Greywolf Goldmining - which is spearheading Chinese interests considering mining and energy investments in New Zealand - hopes to be fully permitted, funded and listed on the stock exchange by year end.
The gloss has dulled on Oceana Gold shares which have shed 33% in value following a stellar run to their high of $5.41 last September.
Golden Bush Mining has been granted consent to operate an open cast alluvial gold mine on Schoolhouse Flat in the Nevis Valley, although its directors are unhappy by the cost of the resource consent process.
An assessment of the effect Golden Bush's proposed mining operation may have on the lower Nevis Valley did not go far enough, a resource consent hearing in Cromwell was told yesterday.
Solid Energy is defending its plans for Southland lignite after Parliament's environmental watchdog suggested it made no sense for taxpayers to spend billions of dollars subsidising even one lignite-to-diesel conversion plant.
Chinese energy company Qinghua Group is expected to announce before the end of the month whether it will launch itself into New Zealand, in what could be a multibillion-dollar investment into lignite conversion, port development and a steel mill.
Reaction has been muted to a potential billion-dollar mining investment in New Zealand by Chinese company, the Qinghua Group.
Heritage Gold (NZ) Ltd said it asked Broken Hill Prospecting Ltd (BHPL) for more time to consider its initial public offer and the closing date for the offer has been extended to December 20 as a result.
The 50-year-old coal-cutter who missed the bus to work says he is "very lucky" to have survived the explosion which trapped 29 of his workmates underground at the Pike River Coal mine.
