Pike River welcomes aero-magnetic surveys
The Government's decision to conduct aero-magnetic surveys in Northland and the West Coast of the South Island is welcome news for the mining sector, Pike River Coal Ltd chief executive Gordon Ward said.
The Government's decision to conduct aero-magnetic surveys in Northland and the West Coast of the South Island is welcome news for the mining sector, Pike River Coal Ltd chief executive Gordon Ward said.
"We are also encouraged by the strong signal the Government is sending in announcing that decisions around access to Crown land will, in future, be made by both the Minister of Energy and Resources and the Minister of Conservation. It shows the Government is serious about giving equal weight to the economic and environmental considerations inherent in such a decision," Mr Ward said.
Mr Ward said it was regrettable that much of the debate around the Government's discussion document was derailed by misinformation from the anti-mining lobby.
Pike River Coal operates an underground coal mine under Department of Conservation administered land on the eastern slopes of the Paparoa Ranges, 50kms north-east of Greymouth.
The Government said yesterday that specially protected areas of conservation land won't be mined.
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said the negative reaction to proposals to open up 7000 hectares of conservation land in the Coromandel, Great Barrier Island and Paparoa National Park to prospecting for valuable minerals meant they were not worth it.
Tens of thousands of people marched, protested, signed petitions and made submissions against the move to remove those areas from special protection under schedule four of the Crown Minerals Act.
Labour leader Phil Goff said National's U-turn was a forced and humiliating back-down while the Green Party said it showed the value of people power.
NZPA
Wed, 21 Jul 2010
Wed, 21 Jul 2010
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Pike River welcomes aero-magnetic surveys
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