Fast Track Mining threatens Golden Bay, Tākaka, & Te Waikoropupū Springs
Yet more MAGA'fuckation from Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Environmental Destruction
Newsroom have a great article on another (see Denniston) Fast Track mining threat to precious land, and possibly—via runoff—the pristine Te Waikoropupū Springs:
Fox Meyer
Some quotes:
Australian mining company Siren Gold has resumed exploration in earnest and has applied for a mining permit as it works towards a full fast-track application. A gold deposit at Sams Creek – once considered too speculative to advance – is being touted as a potentially significant contributor to New Zealand’s mining future.
The risk is run off:
Water flows from the mine down to the Tākaka farmers, the mussel farms in Golden Bay, and potentially the Waikoropupū Springs. The springs hold some of the clearest water in the world, and are of significance to tangata whenua and the wider community.
And mine tailings:
Stone uses Siren Gold’s mining permit application to work out roughly how much waste rock would need to be disposed of in the tailings facility, which he estimates at 3.6 million cubic metres, after factoring out any material able to be pumped back underground.
According to this calculation with arsenic making up 1.5 percent of that weight, and assuming Siren Gold’s flotation process catches 95 percent of the original arsenic, that leaves 2700 cubic metres of arsenic, or 7290 tonnes, to be stored behind a rock dam in the Sams Creek catchment. These are not Siren Gold’s numbers, which has yet to determine a final design for the mine.
And, from another article, mine tailings are forever:
“It’s not even like uranium or nuclear waste that has a half-life,” said Joy. “These tailings are dangerous forever.”
Freshwater ecologist Dr Mike Joy on Stockton coal mine | Newsroom
Company no comment
Siren Gold has declined multiple requests for an on-the-record interview with Newsroom about its decision to pursue a gold mining project with such a storied past, present and (likely) future.
But the Australian listed company’s new chief executive tells Newsroom that though he appreciates local connection to the beautiful locations where these mining sites are so often situated, he doesn’t get to choose where the gold is.
My view
Fuck him, and the Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Environmental Destruction, who's enabling this.
What's at stake
What can you do?
The Sam's Creek Collective, Save Our Springs, and Friends of Golden Bay have information on how you can help, from anywhere in the world. Even if you haven't been to Golden Bay, help preserve it for others and maybe your own future enjoyment.
Sam's Creek Collective
Save Our Springs (SOS) is an incorporated society that is working to organise a legal challenge to Siren Gold (and they’d like your donations)
My connection
I'm not from the area but have visited several times and know what this threat means.
My photos of the area and Te Waikoropupū Springs from a 2011 cycle trip.
Flying into Tākaka from the West Coast
And 2022 after a Farewell Spit Tour (when cycling in the region)
