Source: Radio New Zealand
The paper road is legally designated as a public road, but it is indistinguishable from the surrounding forest and not easily accessible, even on foot. Supplied / OceanaGold
A community conservation group has won a legal victory against a multinational gold mining company, but the company says the ruling will not thwart its plans to tunnel under conservation land in the Coromandel.
Ours Not Mines has spent the past three years fighting OceanaGold’s license to put vents on an unformed “paper road” for a proposed underground mine at Wharekirauponga that extends its operations in the Waihī area.
This week Ours Not Mines won in the Court of Appeal, voiding the license granted by the local council.
But according to OceanaGold, the consents they have under the government’s Fast-track Approvals regime means it can forge ahead.
OceanaGold plans to tunnel 7km beneath Wharekirauponga, a forest park administered by the Department of Conservation, to extract gold and silver ore.
But the plan requires no more than four ventilation and escape shafts above ground for safety reasons.
In 2021, the Hauraki District Council gave OceanaGold a 40-year license over a paper road it owns to allow the gold mining company to install vents for the tunnel.
The paper road is legally designated as a public road, but it is indistinguishable from the surrounding forest and not easily accessible, even on foot.
OceanaGold would have paid just $1 a year to use it.
Wharekirauponga Forest. Supplied / Ours Not Mines
But the Court of Appeal found the license was unlawful as it interfered with the public’s right to access the road, overturning an earlier High Court decision.
Ours Not Mines co-founder, Morgan Donoghue, a prominent music industry figure, said he had a personal connection to the Coromandel.
“I went to school there. Mum still lives down there, and it was something that was really important to me to fight for what we think is right.”
He questions why the council agreed to license the road to a multi-million dollar company.
“They did it for $40.
“They will have spent tens of thousands of dollars defending this position [in court], to make no money out of it, which is a terrible waste of council money. They should never have let this happen.”
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki is another group opposing mining in the area.
Chairperson Catherine Delahunty said the court’s decision means OceanaGold cannot claim its underground mine will have no above-ground impacts on conservation land.
“They wanted to be able to say, we are not building these vents for the next 40 years on conservation land.
“They wanted to get away with using the paper road, and they have failed.”
She said the case validated that public roads are for the public.
“This case has led to a very useful decision that actually gives status to paper roads and acknowledges the importance of mining not being given a 40-year consent over something that belongs to the public of this country.”
OceanaGold senior vice president for Legal and Public Affairs, Alison Paul, was unavailable for an interview, but in a statement she said the mine, including an option for alternative vent locations, had already been approved.
“While we are surprised by this decision, it is important to understand that it in no way affects the fast-track approval of the Waihi North Project, which we received in December 2025 or the Company’s plans.
“Our timeline for project development and eventual ore production from Wharekirauponga remains unchanged.”
But Donoghue feared OceanaGold’s activities would have devastating consequences.
“The reality is, it’s underground, but you’re still going to have to pull all of the tailings out of the ground. It’s going to be a huge mess. And if something happens, a major once-in-a-100-year weather event, which seems to be happening more than once a year now, then that could wash all of that toxic tailings into the rivers.”
Both Donoghue and Delahunty felt their concerns had not been properly heard during the fast-track process.
In a statement, Hauraki District Council chief executive David Speirs said while councils could grant licences over roads they own, the Court’s decision came down to “the scale and length of the particular licence”.
“We will consider the implications carefully.”
The council said a nominal fee, like one dollar a year, was standard for licensing agreements like this one, and as road reserves are public assets held in trust for the community, fees are not set on a commercial basis.
The council declined to answer questions about how the license would benefit the community.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
