The government will consider mining in some areas where there are national parks.
The Minister for Energy and Resources, Gerry Brownlee, said that New Zealand is a country which is rich in minerals. In 2008, we exported $2 billion worth of coal, metal and minerals for industry including gold. The two big open-caste gold mines are in Coromandel at Waihi, and Macraes mine in Central Otago. If you visit these two areas, you can see trucks and other big machines taking rock from the ground. When all the gold is gone, the hole will be filled with water to make a lake.
The government wants to find out if other parts of New Zealand have minerals like gold, silver or oil. Brownlee said that mining will be allowed only in places which are not the most important conservation areas. However, the Green Party has found out that the government will consider three National Parks, Fiordland, Kahurangi and Paparoa, all on the West Coast of the South Island. Fiordland National Park has mountains, lakes, rivers and forests as well as the famous Milford Sound. It is a very big national park, 1.2 million hectares. Kahurangi National Park, about half a million hectares, is famous for its caves and forest tracks. Paparoa National Park, is the smallest, about 30,000 hectares. It is famous for the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki.
If mining is allowed in these national parks, it will have to be in areas where most people do not go. The Minister also said that mining companies would clean up the land when the mining was finished. |