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MINERALS WEST COAST 2022 FORUM SAVE THE DATE  Minerals West Coast's forum for 2022 will be held in Reefton on Wednesday the 29th and Thursday the 30th of June. The forum will start from 1:00pm through to about 5:30pm on the Wednesday, before dinner and drinks on the Wednesday night. The forum will resume about 08:30pm the following morning on Thursday the 30th of June, finishing about midday, with a field trip to mine sites in the Reefton area in the afternoon. Minerals West Coast is in the process of finalising the itinerary and other details. A full rundown of the event will be circulated and tickets made available for purchase no later than Friday the 6th of May.  Attendants of Minerals West Coast's 2020 forum, when gatherings were allowed, which they are again. Thankfully.
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MINERS' MONTHLY: APRIL 2022 MINERALS WEST COAST ANNUAL FORUM SET FOR LATE JUNE 2022 Minerals West Coast's annual forum is set to be held in Reefton in late June 2022. Due to Covid-19 alert level restrictions, the annual forum could not be held as planned in October last year. Venue details are still being confirmed, but at the time of writing the forum will held in the last week of June - the week starting Monday the 27th of June. More information will be made available to Minerals West Coast members in the coming weeks as details are confirmed. COAL IN NEW ZEALAND CAMPAIGN REACHES 2.4 MILLION HITS Minerals West Coast began its "coal in New Zealand" campaign in November last year, and actively promoted video content on social media channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to raise awareness of coal in New Zealand. This content was supported by an extensive website to provide further detail and information to support the videos and to serve as a more in-depth resource. When active promotion of these videos ended in mid-March, the combined total views across all platforms was about 2.4 million. The website accrued about 11,000 hits in the same period.  NATIONAL PARKS BIGGEST RISK FOR MINERALS SECTOR IN STEWARDSHIP LAND REVIEW The Department of Conservation is looking at how to review and reclassify stewardship land under its management. The biggest threat this may present to the mining industry is if parcels of stewardship land are reclassified as National Park, meaning they will effectively be out of access for the mining industry. This was the main theme of Minerals West Coast’s submission, which can be found below. MINERALS WEST COAST SUBMISSION ON ONE DISTRICT PLAN The Buller, Grey, and Westland District councils are together working to put together a combined district plan for the West Coast. In March, the planning committee sought feedback on an exposure draft put out for consultation. Minerals West Coast lodged provided its feedback on the draft. This feedback is available below.
MINER'S MONTHLY FEBRUARY 2022
'COAL IN NEW ZEALAND' CAMPAIGN REACHES 1.5 MILLION VIEWS AND COUNTING
A series of videos and online articles explaining the need for coal in New Zealand's basic and essential industries in this country have together accumulated more than 1,500,000 views and counting. The website can be found at www.coal.kiwi.
Following a successful first round of videos explaining coal’s role in electricity generation, food production, and the New Zealand economy, a second round of videos was released in mid-January. These videos looked at what the required increase in electricity generation from hydroelectricity, wind power, or solar electricity would be needed to replace coal in the electricity sector alone.
How many Clyde Dams would it take to save New Zealand from fossil fuels?
How many wind farms would it take to save New Zealand from fossil fuels? How many solar panels and batteries would it take to save New Zealand from fossil fuels? MINERALS WEST COAST FORUM DATE YET TO BE DETERMINED Minerals West Coast’s forum for 2021 had been postponed for a saved date of 23rd March 2022 prior to the Covid-19 Omicron outbreak and resultant red traffic light settings. Due to the current red traffic light setting, Minerals West Coast will further delay Minerals West Coast's next forum, until it can be planned with greater certainty at a less restrictive traffic light setting - either green or ideally orange. The red traffic light settings mean that any events held require by law:
Some companies and government departments have policies in place restricting or inhibiting inter-regional travel and/or attendance of events at the red traffic light setting. Minerals West Coast intends to hold its forum as soon as it is possible to do so. As soon as alert level restrictions allow (most likely following a change in settings) and will make the time, date, and other details known as soon as they are confirmed. MINING ON CONSERVATION LAND DISCUSSED ON RNZ NIGHTS The issue of mining on conservation land remains a controversial and unsettled issue ever since the incoming government in late 2017 issued a proclamation in its “speech from the throne” that there would be “no new mines” on public conservation land. In early 2022 any confirmation about whether this commitment will ever come to pass has yet to be given one way or the other. In the first of five slots on RNZ’s evening show, Nights, in 2022, Minerals West Coast’s manager, Patrick Phelps, took the opportunity to discuss plans by OceanaGold to explore for and potentially mine gold underneath Coromandel Forest Park, and in turn the wider topic of mining on public conservation land. Patrick Phelps's full interview can be listened to below. The following night, RNZ spoke to former Green Party list MP and chairperson of anti-mining group, Coromandel Watchdog, Catherine Delahunty. The full interview can be found below. MINING MATTERS #12: THE GOLDMINE AND THE FROG TE TAI POUTINI PLAN EXPOSURE DRAFT PUBLISHED FOR FEEDBACK
The planners working on the Te Tai o Poutini plan, a single district plan for all three districts on the West Coast, have released the exposure draft for feedback from the wider community.
An outline of the exposure draft, the zones that will exist in the districts and what they will allow or restrict, and the process for giving feedback can be read in the document below. Minerals West Coast is going to be submitting feedback on the draft plan – if you have any questions or would like to make any comments through Minerals West Coast please contact Patrick Phelps at manager@mwc.org.nz or phone 021 238 6846. MINER'S MONTHLY DECEMBER 2021 Save the date for March 2021 As was notified back in September, Minerals West Coast’s annual forum was not able to go ahead as initially planned in October 2021 due to the uncertainty brought about by Covid-19 and the resulting alert level restrictions at the time. Minerals West Coast intends to hold its forum in March 2022, with a provisional date of Wednesday the 23rd of March for the forum, and a field trip on Thursday the 24th of March. These dates may change, but pencil them into your diary for now if you are interested in attending our delayed October 2021 forum in March 2022. Details like the venue, final dates, and an itinerary will be confirmed early in the new year. Fill out the RSVP below to register your interest in attending Minerals West Coast’s 2022 forum in March. Stewardship land review to play out in 2022 The Department of Conservation’s review of Stewardship land is to be carried out in 2022. Stewardship land amounts to about 10% of New Zealand’s land area and 44% the West Coast’s land area (as part of the 82% of the West Coast protected as public conservation land). Much of the Stewardship land on the West Coast is held in very large parcels – see the table below for reference. Some of these parcels are adjacent to National Parks and there is a risk that if these parcels are added to National Park they will be captured by Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act, which specifies areas of land in New Zealand (including, but not limited to National Parks) where mining permits cannot be obtained.
There are two panels preparing advice for the minister of conservation on how to proceed with reclassification of Stewardship land, and this advice will be given to the minister after eight months. Once these recommendations have been received and given the due attention from the minister, the matter will go out for public consultation. Government kicks for touch on phasing out fossil fuels in process heat In May this year the government received submissions on its fourth round of consultation on removing coal and natural gas from industrial process heat since early 2019. A fifth consultation has been conducted since. The government announced yesterday that it will delay making any decision on the matters consulted on – namely using the Resource Management Act to ban coal use for many industrial users – until late 2022. A full story on this is available on RNZ’s website, here. To read Minerals West Coast’s submission lodged at the time, read the below document. Amalgamation of Minerals West Coast and West Coast Commercial Goldminers' Association complete Minerals West Coast’s amalgamation with the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association has been finalised, with both organisations forming one entity – Minerals West Coast. Financial assets have been consolidated, and the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association is in the process of being disbanded. Minerals West Coast’s board currently has strong representation from alluvial goldminers, including Brett Cummings, former president of the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association. News coverage of West Coast miners going for gold High gold production on the West Coast on the back of high gold prices caught the attention of both RNZ and Magic Talk in November, with both radio stations covering the increased production levels and price per ounce on air. Minerals West Coast manager Patrick Phelps, and trustee, Peter Haddock, featured in a piece put together by RNZ reporter Conan Young. The full story can be heard below. Following that story, Patrick Phelps spoke to Lloyd Burr on Magic Talk’s Lloyd Burr Live show. The interview can be found at in the playback below from the 02:24:30 onward.  Coal in New Zealand campaign reaches over 300,000 viewers Minerals West Coast last month launched it’s Coal in New Zealand website (www.coal.kiwi) and associated videos on social media. At the time of writing (23rd of December 2021) the three videos have amassed over 300,000 views on Facebook and YouTube. Analytics from these platforms shows the majority of viewers are in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, aged between 25-44.  A thank you and a happy Christmas to Minerals West Coasts' members and supporters Have a safe and happy holidays!
MINER'S MONTHLY NOVEMBER 2021
Annual general meeting held held in Reefton
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Minerals West Coast's annual general meeting held in Reefton at the end of October gave members a chance to review the annual report and financial statements, elect representatives to the board, and get an update on recent and upcoming activities of Minerals West Coast. The meeting itself was followed by two presentations: the first from New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals, the second from MinEx. The election of trustees and appointments/reappointments to the board means Minerals West Coast's board now consists of the following elected representatives:
The financial statements and annual report, along with the minutes of the AGM, will be circulated directly to Minerals West Coast’s members. 
Minerals West Coast wishes to once again thank CablePrice for its sponsorship of the evening's dinner and drinks. 
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals update
Following the end of the formal annual general meeting, New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals joined the meeting via a Zoom link to discuss efforts the agency (which operates within the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment). The staff who joined via video link included:
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals explained (as is shown in the below chart) that there was a significant increase in applications for new permits about May-June 2020 due largely to heightened gold prices through the Covid-19 pandemic unfolding, and increased interest in gold mining as a result. 
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals staff explained that of its team of seven minerals advisors (which has recently grown to nine with the recruitment of two new staff) one advisor will be responsible for processing about 8-10 applications at once, and the remainder of applications will stay unassigned until there is an advisor free to process them. About the time of the meeting there were 200 unassigned permits in the queue, the majority of which were tier 2 exploration permits. 
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals staff said of the 200 unassigned applications, all have received an initial assessment and been deemed "complete" before being added to the queue. During this initial stage of assessment, some permits are given priority as "urgent", or added to the queue as unassigned applications until there is an advisor free to process them.
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals staff said (as can be seen above) while processing performance has improved in recent months, with increased output on a quarterly basis, it hasn't been enough to clear the entire backlog in the queue due to the number of applications coming in.
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals staff credited the increased productivity to some measures it has taken within the agency, the recruitment of new staff, and better guidance to (and communications with) permit applicants and permit holders. One piece of communication New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals recently issued was a list of common mistakes for permit applicants, which is included below: 
Other initiatives New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals will be trialing in the near future include an accelerated approach to straightforward applications - namely complete, with all the information, and likely to be granted, to get such applications through the system as quickly as possible.
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals said the combination of different measures taken have together increased performance, and the agency will continue to identify and implement measures to increase efficiency, but that there are no silver bullets.
MinEx on impact on alluvial mines and quarries coming into mining regulations
Following the presentation from New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals, MinEx chief executive, Wayne Scott, addressed those attending to explain what changes there will be for alluvial mines and quarries as a result of such operations now being included in the Health and Safety at Work Act's mining and quarrying regulations - until now they have been exempt. These changes will likely be implemented in February 2022, with a two year transition period. A summary is shown below, along with the new definition of a principal hazard, and the impacts on quarries and alluvial gold operations. Wayne Scott explained one of the most significant changes will be that all siteswill be required to have a health and safety management system. WorkSafe will be running information workshops around the country in 2022, and MinEx will develop templates, examples, and guidance for sites as they move to operating under the new requirements. Wayne Scott invited all those who are not yet in the MinEx database or on the mailing system to join via MinEx's website - www.minex.org.nz
Submission lodged on review of freshwater policies
Earthworks in wetlands - such as mining - were classified as prohibited activities under the Resource Management Act as a result of the government's freshwater reforms. While this has not yet changed, the government is in the process of reviewing those reforms to consider creating a consenting pathway for earthworks in wetlands - including for resource extraction, but also extending to urban development and infrastructure - provided there is no net loss for wetlands overall. Last month, the government received submissions after a round of policy consultation on the issue. Minerals West Coast's submission can be found in full below:
Minerals West Coast launches Coal in New Zealand campaign
In an effort to raise awareness about the role of coal in New Zealand now and in years to come, Minerals West Coast has this month launched a series of online videos and a dedicated website "Coal in New Zealand" in a bid to increase the wider New Zealand public's understanding of coal use in New Zealand, and why it is not easily replaced. These videos can be seen below, and on the www.coal.kiwi website.
Patrick Phelps and Bryan Crump talk tourism and mining for last radio slot of the year
For his fourth and final ten-weekly slot on RNZ Nights with Bryan Crump, Minerals West Coast's manager, Patrick Phelps, had a look at whether the idea the West Coast should look to tourism instead of mining as way of making a living actually stands up to much scrutiny.
The full interview can be found below: FINAL RSVP FOR AGM AND CABLEPRICE DINNER AND DRINKS THURSDAY 28TH OCTOBER Minerals West Coast’s annual general meeting is just over a week away – if you are planning to attend but simply haven’t had time to RSVP yet, please do so before midday on Friday the 22nd of October. CablePrice is generously sponsoring dinner and drinks for Minerals West Coast members attending the AGM next Thursday. The AGM will start at 4:00pm on Thursday the 28th of October at the Reefton St John’s Centre on Smith Street (north of Little Biddy’s Gin outlet). PROGRAMME FOR 28TH OCTOBER
CablePrice’s generous sponsorship has allowed Minerals West Coast to provide its members dinner and drinks free of charge – please RSVP no later than midday on Friday the 23rd of October to ensure you will be seated, fed, and watered at the venue on the night. Minerals West Coast wishes to thank CablePrice for the generous support of this event. If you have any questions, please contact Patrick Phelps on 021 238 6846 OR manger@mwc.org.nz RSVP FORMS RSVP FOR AGM DINNER 28TH OCTOBER Minerals West Coast is holding its annual general meeting in the Reefton St John's Smith Street facilities on the Thursday the 28th of October. The AGM will start about 4:00pm. As well as the AGM, which will run from 4:00pm to 5:00pm, there will be speakers (joining in person or remotely depending on their ability to travel) giving presentations to attendants from 5:00pm onward before moving to Wilson's Hotel and Cafe on Broadway for dinner and drinks from 6:00pm onward. Use the forms below to RSVP for the AGM and dinner and drinks respectively. Each attendant will need to pay for their own meals and drinks, but Minerals West Coast needs RSVPs to ensure Wilson's will have enough capacity for all those who wish to attend. QUESTIONS? If you have any questions or would like to get in touch, please email Patrick Phelps on manager@mwc.org.nz, or call 021 238 6846.
Minerals West Coast looks forward to seeing you there. MINER'S MONTHLY OCTOBER 2021 MINERALS WEST COAST AND WEST COAST COMMERCIAL GOLDMINERS' ASSOCIATION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS Minerals West Coast’s annual general meeting will be held in Reefton on Thursday the 28th of October, starting at 4pm at St John’s Reefton, on Smith Street. The annual general meeting will be held in conjunction with the annual general meeting of the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association. Among other matters to address at the meeting will be the presentation to members of annual reports and financial statements, the appointment of trustees and election of chairperson, and with regard to the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association, a final decision on whether or not to amalgamate with Minerals West Coast, subject to the support of members. After the annual general meeting, depending on travel restrictions and other Covid-19 related issues, there may be two presentations to attendants. The first from New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals staff, to discuss steps being taken to address the permit applications queue. The second presentation will be from MinEx chief executive, Wayne Scoot, the national health and safety council for the mining and quarrying sectors. Wayne will explain changes to the Health and Safety at Work Act Mining and Quarrying Regulations, which are likely to take affect near the end of this year. At 6pm the presentations will end and there will be dinner and drinks at Wilson’s bar and restaurant. Please email Patrick Phelps on manager@mwc.org.nz to RSVP for dinner and drinks so Minerals West Coast can do the venue the courtesy of making a booking. If not, Minerals West Coast makes no promises will be you will be seated or fed.  Venue location. MINERALS WEST COAST AND WEST COAST COMMERCIAL GOLDMINERS' ASSOCIATION MEETING WEDNESDAY 6TH OF OCTOBER A meeting is being held for members of Minerals West Coast and the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association on Wednesday the 6th of October at 6:30pm at the Paroa Hotel. Among other matters arising, there will be further opportunity for members to discuss the proposed amalgamation of Minerals West Coast and the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association as one entity – Minerals West Coast. This follows a meeting held in Hokitika in July in which all in attendance expressed unanimous support for the amalgamation. In line with the West Coast Commercial Goldminers’ Association’s constitution, and in the spirit of ensuring all parties concerned have had ample opportunity to share their views on the amalgamation, the meeting held on the 6th of October will give all in attendance the chance to discuss the matter further. Subject to the support of the membership, the amalgamation will be finalised at this year’s annual general meetings of the organisations, which will be held in Reefton on the 28th of October. The West Coast Commercial Goldminers' Association's full constitution is available here and the deed of Minerals West Coast available here. NEW ZEALAND PETROLEUM AND MINERALS TAKES ON MORE STAFF TO ADDRESS PERMIT APPLICATION QUEUE Minerals West Coast is continuing to work with New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals on addressing the mining industry’s concerns with the processing of permit applications and other permissions under the Crown Minerals Act. Minerals West Coast understands that New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals is taking steps to address the backlog of permit applications in the queue. This includes filling two vacancies within the organisation’s permitting team with the recent recruitment of two new minerals advisors, and in addition the engagement of a temporary contractor to help with reducing the number permits waiting in the queue. Minerals West Coast is working with New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals staff on the reestablishment of processing performance reports, to give the industry greater visibility and clarity of New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals’ workload and how quickly permits are being processed relative to how many are lodged in a given period.  CONSULTATION ON FRESHWATER POLICY MAY ALLOW CONSENTS TO BE GRANTED FOR EARTHWORKS IN WETLANDS The government, through the Ministry for the Environment, is consulting on changing regulations put in place in the course of its freshwater law changes that prohibited earthworks in wetlands. This effectively made mining, quarrying, and earthworks for construction and infrastructure impossible under the laws as written. The consultation document, ‘Managing our wetlands’, sets out proposals to:
Minerals West Coast will be submitting on this consultation – the 17-page consultation, while no contender for the Whitcoulls’ top ten, is available here. If you have any points you think Minerals West Coast should raise in its submission, please contact Patrick Phelps on either 021 238 6846, or manager@mwc.org.nz  MINING MATTERS #11: KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON Through winter in 2021 New Zealand's experienced power cuts and coal-fired electricity generation that’s been up on lower levels in recent years. For instance, on 2016, New Zealand burned only 228,179 tonnes of coal for electricity generation, but in 2020, 798,723 tonnes. In Mining matters #11, Minerals West Coast’s manager, Patrick Phelps, takes a look at coal use in New Zealand’s electricity sector. MINERALS WEST COAST AND WEST COAST COMMERCIAL GOLDMINERS' ASSOCIATION MEETING Minerals West Coast and the West Coast Commercial Goldminers' Association will be meeting on Wednesday the 6th of October as part of the process of amalgamating Minerals West Coast and the West Coast Commercial Goldminers' Association. At the last meeting all those in attendance were in favour of amalgamation, which will result in the two entities becoming one organisation - Minerals West Coast - and a consolidation of assets and working as one entity. Members will have further opportunity to put their views forward on the amalgamation, which subject to the support of members will be finalised this year at Minerals West Coast's and the West Coast Commercial Goldminers' Association's joint annual general meetings. The upcoming meeting will be held in the side room of the Paroa Hotel on Wednesday the 6th of October at 6:30pm. If you have any questions about this meeting, please contact Patrick Phelps on 021 238 6846, or manager@mwc.org.nz MINERALS WEST COAST FORUM DELAYED Minerals West Coast has decided to postpone its annual forum, initially scheduled for late October 2021, until early 2022. Last year's forum was held at alert level 2 with a limit of 100 attendants. Unfortunately, due to the new meaning of alert level 2, events like the Minerals West Coast forum can have no more than 50 people in attendance - at this limit, such a forum is not feasible. At this stage it is difficult to know if or when New Zealand will return to alert level 1, and as such, Minerals West Coast has decided it would be prudent to postpone the forum until early next year - most likely late February or early March. Once new forum dates have been selected with some degree of confidence they won't need to be shifted, members and the wider industry will be notified, and tickets will be made available. For Minerals West Coast members, an annual general meeting will still be held on the 28th of October, with some speakers, a social gathering, and a field trip of some description. Members will be notified once this itinerary has been prepared. If you have any questions in the mean time, please get in touch with Minerals West Coast's manager, Patrick Phelps, via phone (021 238 6846) or email manager@mwc.org.nz |
Patrick PhelpsMWC's full time manager and part time writer. Come here for occasional news and musings on mining, conservation, and regional economics. |
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