Cultural values would be destroyed by controversial Central Otago gold mine, panel hears
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
The company proposing a major gold mine near Cromwell, has acknowledged the project will have “significant enduring effects” in part of what is classified as an Outstanding Natural Landscape.
However, Santana Minerals’ landscape expert, Rhys Girvan, told a panel considering the Australian company’s proposal to dig four open pits, and a 2km tailings dam for storing toxic waste, in the hills near Cromwell that the overall effects of the mine would be “moderate” on the landscape.
The comments came on the first day of experts giving evidence in front of the Fast-track panel, which will decide if the controversial mine will be given the green light.
The expert conferencing, or “hot-tubbing”, will continue for two weeks, covering a range of issues such as ecology, water quality, economics, and heritage.
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On Tuesday in Wellington, the Fast-track panel heard arguments about the mine’s effect on the landscape of the Dunstan Mountains, where the mine is planned.
Girvan accepted the mine would have significant effect: “I’m not resiling from that.”
But he said rehabilitation and conditions imposed by the panel could help mitigate these effects, and only a portion of the Dunstan Mountains Outstanding Natural Landscape would be impacted.
But Kā Rūnaka expert Alayna Rā said the mine’s effects would be permanent and could not be addressed with conditions.
Kā Rūnaka, the governing authority of four southern Ngāi Tahu rūnaka affected by Santana’s proposed Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project, has opposed the mine on numerous grounds.
On Tuesday, Rā said the mine was in the middle of wāhi tūpuna (landscapes and sites of significance to iwi), and sever ara tawhito (traditional travel routes) that linked the east coast with central South Island lakes.
“The in-perpetuity effects of the destruction of these can not be mitigated. They can not be offset. And management conditions can not alleviate an in-perpetuity effect,” Rā said.
“We can not build back the ara tawhito, and the land uses throughout this site where we sourced mahikakai (gathering food and natural resources).”
Rā said all the experts agreed the effects on mana whenua values would be unavoidable and permanent.
She said Santana’s landscape assessment was guilty of “methodological failure”, was “materially deficient”, and didn’t grasp the importance of bi-cultural values.
The comments come at a time when disagreements between Santana and Kā Rūnaka have been exposed, along with racial comments by Santana’s chairman, Peter Cook, that “shocked and disappointed” Kā Rūnaka.
Girvan said landscape was a complex issue, with many layers, and the company was trying to align and “synthesise” Māori and Pākehā world views.
And while the mine would cause localised effects, the wider Dunstan Mountains Outstanding Natural Landscape would not change.
While Santana couldn’t return the land to its pre-mining state, “sympathetic” rehabilitation could occur, and other ecological improvements made, Girvan said.
But Central Otago District Council expert Stephen Brown said the change in the landscape would “remain evident for a long time to come … There is no possibility of reinstating the site, because the changes will be so fundamental.”
Brown said it wasn’t possible for the mine area to be covered in native vegetation or even pines after mining finished, given the dry landscape and environment.
In this respect, it was very different from rehabilitating mines on the West Coast, which were isolated and surrounded by bush, Brown said.
While almost all surrounding areas of Central Otago were modified, the Dunstan Mountains were not modified in the same way.
And Brown said the mountain range should not be seen in isolation, with virtually all locations nearby having some “engagement” with it.
If you severed part of that mountain chain, “then you do so in a way that challenges the integrity of the mountain range”, Brown said.
The Fast-track panel is due to make its decision on whether the mine will be approved or not, by October 29.