Oceana Gold's application to purchase land in the Coromandel declined

Friday, 3 May 2019

Oceana Gold Ltd's application to purchase 178 hectares of rural land for a new tailings reservoir near Waihi has been declined.

Minister for Land Information Eugenie Sage and Associate Finance Minister David Clark disagreed over whether the application met the 'substantial and identifiable benefit' to New Zealand test under the Overseas Investment Act.

Under the act, an application is declined if ministers form different views on it.

In a statement, Sage said she did not believe using productive farmland to establish a long-term tailing reservoir of mining waste would lead to substantial or identifiable benefits.

Clark believed it would.

On Friday, the Overseas Investment Office approved a separate application from Oceana Gold to allow mining in Waihi to continue to 2028.