Bidding has opened for an onshore block offer at the Kahili gas field in Taranaki.

The block is 5.99 square kilometres and includes an existing (Kahili-1B) well, closed but not filled in.

Although production at the field stopped in 2004 after the well unexpectedly filled with water, Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee said the crown believes significant volumes of gas might remain undiscovered.

In an indication of the country’s changing attitude to mining and increasing offshore interest, Chinese parties may join Heritage Gold in a $40 million mining project at the historic Talisman site near the Coromandel.

Heritage Gold (NZX: HGD) executive director Peter Atkinson said the  permit had been a long time coming.

“A lot of people outside the Tasman never thought it would be possible to get a mining permit for the Talisman.