Fast-track expert panel declines Taranaki seabed mining scheme in draft decision
Thursday, 5 February 2026
A Fast-track expert panel has made a draft decision to turn down an application by Trans Tasman Resources to mine iron sands off the Taranaki coast.
The decision is a huge win for environmental groups who opposed the seabed mining scheme and would leave the window open wider for offshore wind farms to be built off the Taranaki coast if confirmed in the panel’s final ruling.
Kiwis Against Seabed Mining chairperson Cindy Baxter said the ruling was “a victory for the moana, for all the people across Taranaki and Aotearoa, from iwi and hapū and councils and everyone who loves our ocean”.
“We've been fighting this ridiculous proposal since 2013, all the way to the Supreme Court, and back to the Fast-track, and it doesn't matter how many times the Government tries to help this company with ever more lenient legislation, it simply doesn't pass muster,” she said.
“This activity has been shown time and time again to be utterly inappropriate in the 21st century and it's time for Aotearoa to move to a full ban on seabed mining.”
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Greenpeace described the panel’s announcement as a “massive win”.
“The resistance to seabed mining in Aotearoa and around the Pacific is strong and persistent. From Taranaki, to the Cook Islands, and across Te Moananui a Kiwa, people are rising up against this destructive industry,” spokesperson Juressa Lee said
The Fast-track panel said in the 436-page draft ruling released at 6pm on Thursday that the project had “significant regional benefits and some national benefits”.
But it listed a number of concerns about the effect it could have on the environment.
These included uncertainty about the scale and extent of the sediment plumes and deposits that would result from the proposed operation.
These were critical to assessing the project’s effects on the environment and on existing interests, it said.
“The panel is not satisfied that conditions could control the sediment plume in a way that would avoid material harm to sensitive species and habitats.”
Trans Tasman Resources executive chairperson Alan Eggers said in statement to the Australian stock exchange he found it difficult to accept the panel intended to turn down the project’s environmental approvals “with concerns on almost every aspect”.
“All the concerns raised by the expert panel were fully addressed in our application,” he said.
The statement said Trans Tasman Resources would review the draft decision and consider its options.
A spokesperson for Resources Minister Shane Jones indicated he would wait for the final ruling before commenting.
Jones had previously appeared to voice confidence to Parliament the mining scheme would be approved.