Officials promote national park mines: Greens

Mt Aspiring National Park could be carved up for mining, the Green Party says.

Yesterday, the party released what it said were comments and a recommendation from Ministry of Economic Development officials that close to 20 per cent of the 350,000-hectare national park should have its protection against mining removed.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee rubbished claims that mining was about to be allowed in national parks. "This is alarming nonsense by the Green Party."

The Government remained committed to its "stocktake" of mineral deposits on conservation land, with public consultation scheduled to follow next year, he said.

"What the Greens are speculating on, who knows? There are documents floating around. I haven't received a report at this point," Brownlee said.

Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand accused the Government of considering the "dismembering" of Mt Aspiring National Park, created by a National government in 1964.

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei said the new information flew in the face of previous Government claims that any mining would be of small areas of low-value conservation land.

The officials recommended that parts of the Red Hills area in the west of the park and land in the northeast be removed from schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act.

The act bans mining access to 13 per cent of New Zealand's land, including its highest-value conservation land.

The officials' advice said the area had high mineral potential, including gold, chromium, tungsten and nickel.

"The geology suggests that the park area is prospective for at least 11 different types of mineral deposits.

"However, because of the national park status of the area since 1964, there has been little modern geochemical exploration of the area to assist in assessing its prospectivity," officials said.

Turei said removing mining protection from one-fifth of the country's third-largest national park was "unbelievable and economically short-sighted".

"This is the first evidence that suggests an area of a national park is being seriously considered for mining, but I understand there are another six similar proposals for national parks," she said. "It proves the Government hasn't been telling the truth. What else are they keeping from the public?

"The option is for the community to send a very clear message to say schedule 4 is out of bounds.

It's public pressure that will make the difference here," Turei said.

Brownlee said the Cabinet would consider the stocktake report early next year, followed by consultation, and decisions towards the middle of the year.

"We have no intention of destroying the conservation estate," he said.

Federated Mountain Clubs president Rob Mitchell found out about the proposal last week and spent the weekend "brooding over it".

"The Government hasn't got any firm agreement at this stage, but just the fact that Gerry Brownlee and the conservation minister [Tim Groser] have been actively trying to hose everything down ... this just shows there's an absolute contradiction," he said. "Is the minister telling the truth or is he just being selective? I think he's being caught out. I want to hear him say `no mining'."

Mining in areas of such convoluted geology had been "proven time and time again to be uneconomic", Mitchell said.

"It is my hope that there will be such strenuous opposition the Government has to drop the idea."

- © Fairfax NZ News