Prime Minister John Key says he will sell his small shareholding in a mining company that has uranium interests.Mr Key has a declared an interest in Jackson Minerals and was quizzed today about that holding on TVNZ's Q&A programme.Mr Key said he was u
Prime Minister John Key says he will sell his small shareholding in a mining company that has uranium interests.
Mr Key has a declared an interest in Jackson Minerals and was quizzed today about that holding on TVNZ's Q&A programme.
Mr Key said he was unaware the company had last year merged with Scimitar Resources to form Cauldron Energy, which has numerous uranium exploration projects in Australia and Argentina.
When Mr Key had bought the Jackson shares in 2001 it had just been a gold mining company, and at that time he had been a large shareholder.
Since then he had sold the majority of the shares and what was left was worth a few cents each, he believed.
A spokesman for Mr Key said he had not even received the paperwork for last year's merger and any remaining holdings would be sold to ensure there was no appearance of a conflict of interest.
New Zealand has an anti-nuclear policy and Mr Key's Government is shortly to release a proposal to open up parts of the conservation estate to mining.
Mr Key said it would boost the economy and create jobs in under-used land without causing environmental damage.
American conservation group the Sierra Club wrote to Mr Key saying the mining plans were an "affront to the international community" that would lead to less tourists coming to New Zealand.
Sign up to get the latest stories and insights delivered to your inbox – free, every day.
