Seabed mining application abandoned

Tuesday, 24 September 2024

Iwi, conservationists and the fishing industry are all opposed to environmental harm from seabed mining.

An application for a prospecting permit to mine the seabed off the coast of Taranaki has been withdrawn.

Ngarara Exploration Limited (NEL) had its sights on 500 square kilometres south of surf town Ōpunake where it hoped to find vanadium ‒ a renewable alternative to lithium in batteries.

But NEL’s sole director, Andrew Stewart, confirmed to The Post on Monday the request has been voluntarily withdrawn, citing warnings that the Government faces a choice between approving seabed mining or offshore wind farms.

Earlier this year controversial Australian company Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) pulled out of consent hearings in anticipation of the Government’s proposed new fast-track approvals regime.

Stewart is a former chief financial officer of TTR.

“Since the time of application the Government has introduced the Fast Track Approvals Bill for projects of regional and national significance, Trans-Tasman Resources has withdrawn from the EPA hearing in respect of the EEZ consenting process, and there are now proposals to implement an approvals regime to consent offshore wind developments in the area,” Stewart said.

“The investors I have been in touch with have, over time, become increasingly more circumspect and more cautious about NZ’s approval processes for natural resource projects.

“So, seeing change now they prefer to wait until the landscape is settled.”

It was widely expected TTR would make an application under the fast-track regime.

However, in May, two large consortia intending to establish wind farms off the coast warned sinking sediment and an uneven seabed would rule out prospective development.

Environmentalists and iwi have fought a near-decade-long battle to prevent extraction from the South Taranaki Bight, after TTR was granted a minerals mining permit for iron sands in May 2014.

In 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted marine consents, but the decisions was subject to continued legal challenge.

Four years later, the Supreme Court upheld previous High Court and Court of Appeal decisions quashing the marine consents.

The court referred the matter back to the EPA for consideration, and 20 environmental groups, fishing companies and iwi voiced their opposition.

Kiwis Against Seabed Mining’s chairperson Cindy Baxter was concerned NEL’s withdrawal might give TTR’s application “a clear run”.

“Any seabed mining in the Bight is a stupid idea, one that's already been rejected by the Supreme Court, and we know that if the first one gets across the line, it would set a precedent and open the floodgates to a lot more.

Blue whales in the South Taranaki Bight. There is a heated debate about the damage deep-sea mining inflicts on New Zealand’s marine ecosystems.

“The Government must not include this risky industry on its fast-track approvals list.”

Catherine Cheung, from Climate Justice Taranaki, said: “Our oceans are already under tremendous stress, from oil and gas drilling to overfishing.

“The Southern Ocean has taken the brunt of global heating, saving us from the worst of climate impacts so far.

“But it won’t be able to keep doing that for long. We need to look after the ocean and protect it from more industries.”

The NEL application was lodged with MBIE’s New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals branch in December 2022, and covered almost 500 square kilometres in waters beyond the territorial sea, which extends to 12 nautical miles.

It was focused on the common, but relatively unknown, vanadium. For many years the metal was used to strengthen steel in car chassis, high-rise buildings and bridges.

NZ First's coalition agreement with National says the Government intends to “investigate the strategic opportunities in New Zealand's mineral resources, including vanadium, and develop a plan to develop these opportunities”.