Mining permits spark outrage in hills above Wellington

Friday, 12 September 2025

Mystery surrounds a flurry of prospecting permit applications in the bush-clad hills above Wellington – with one already granted and neighbours caught in a bitter dispute over land, gold and access rights.

Documents released to The Post under the Official Information Act show that seven separate applications have been lodged with New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZPAM) for Long Gully, close to Zealandia and the Long Gully Bush Reserve.

The permits would give applicants the exclusive right to search for minerals over two-year periods, carrying out activities such as mapping, aerial surveys, soil and rock sampling, panning and trenching.

While many specifically target gold, others seek rights to explore for all metallic minerals.

One permit has already been issued. Quicksand Ltd, linked to Brooklyn residents Travis Mackay and Louise Clark, was granted rights in July to prospect for all metallic minerals across a one-square-kilometre block. Mackay told The Post his application was simply to allow him and his son to pan for gold on their own land.

“It’s been blown out of all proportion,” he said. “We’ve only ever found a few flakes. This is just so we can legally muck around in the creek with a pan and a shovel.”

He pointed to the steep terrain and forest. “You couldn’t do commercial mining up there even if you wanted to.”

But the Mackay permit appears to have set off a rush of applications from neighbours. Members of the Watson family – Samuel, Joanna, Stephen, Benjamin, Timothy and Josiah – have lodged multiple bids for “Golden Hills” and “Long Gully” blocks, targeting gold across parcels ranging from half a square kilometre to more than three square kilometres.

Steve and Christine Watson own Long Gully Station and have gradually subdivided the property for their children. The Watsons were contacted, but Steve Watson said it was unlikely they family would comment.

Other applications have come from Joseph Hugo Lupi, who has registered two “Long Gully Mining” permits, and from LG510 Ltd, a company linked to director John McDougall.

The sudden burst of interest has inflamed tensions in the valley, which is semi-coastal hill country southwest of Wellington's city centre.

Several neighbours, some who spoke on condition of anonymity because of strained relationships in the community, say they were shocked to find their land included in prospecting applications without their consent.

Naomi and Frans Steenkamp described being offered $2 million for their property just weeks before discovering a permit had been lodged over it.

“A gold mine is not something we want for our property,” they said. “Since 2020, we’ve been working towards protecting our land under the QEII programme [that protect significant natural, cultural, and scenic areas in perpetuity]…the idea of being surrounded by gold mining operations is deeply unsettling.”

Another has also planted thousands of trees and worked for years to regenerate the land and was horrified at “the idea of strangers digging holes and looking for gold on our property.”

Prospecting permits do not give miners the automatic right to enter private land, though “low-impact” activities can be carried out without explicit permission. If viable deposits were ever found, separate land access agreements and further permits would be needed before any extraction.

The Post understands some residents have already issued trespass notices.

Others expressed scepticism that the applications were casual. Application fees are $3000 and often companies must commit to minimum work programmes, from sampling and aerial surveys to mapping and trenching, to keep the permit active.

The permits cover parts of the Long Gully valley, a rugged landscape of steep ridges, forested slopes and streams. The area sits between Zealandia, and Long Gully and Kinnoull Stations.

It includes Long Gully Bush, a 100-hectare reserve adjacent to Zealandia and the largest area of protected private land in Wellington city.

The reserve is largely covered in regenerating native forest, the result of decades of recovery after the end of farming in the 1980s. It is fenced against goats and intensively managed for pests and weeds and public access is restricted.

Chris Livesey, a trustee of to the Wellington Natural Heritage Trust, which owns and manages the reserve, was unaware of the prospecting applications until contacted by The Post this week.

'Long Gully Bush, an area of native bush legally protected in perpetuity, ls downstream of the land to which the prospecting permits apply,“ he said. He declined to make any further comment ”at this early stage.“

The area that now houses Zealandia was previously a gold and quartz mining area in the mid-late 1800s. The ecosanctuary referred questions to Wellington City Council.

Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul and Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter, both from the Green Party, expressed concern at the permits.

“While the permits at this stage are for prospecting only, I think most people in Rongotai and the wider population of Wellington would be pretty shocked,” Genter said.

“Areas of Long Gully were previously identified as Significant Natural Area’s (SNA’s) containing significant indigenous biodiversity. Unfortunately, Government changes have meant that these areas are no longer required to be identified and protected, which is incredibly disappointing.”

Genter noted that if the landowners genuinely only want to pan for gold in the creek, they would likely only need a hobby or recreational gold mining permit.” According to NZPAM, such permits cover small-scale operations limited to riverbeds or beach sand.

In contrast, the Tier 2 prospecting permit already issued to Quicksand Ltd allows a broader range of activities, including geological mapping, hand sampling, offshore sampling using low-impact mechanical methods, aerial surveys, and literature searches.

Genter says this indicates that the permit is “on a far larger scale than simply panning,” even if it’s considered a smaller industrial or hobby operation.

She added: “I would expect any future proposed mining operation to face huge push-back, but the risk is that the current Coalition’s Government’s fast track process could be used to override environmental and community concerns, if it were still in place.”