The mining sector in the West Coast is hopeful a new National-led Government - and a new local MP - will mean more mining in the region.
National MP Maureen Pugh - who won the West Coast-Tasman seat off long-time Labour MP Damien O'Connor in the recent election - is backing the mining sector's calls to get access to Department of Conservation land.
Pugh took Q+A to meet local miner Ian Whyte. He said his company Whyte Gold "wouldn't survive with the previous government" because "they just want too much from the miner".
Q+A met Whyte at an open-cast gold mine - privately owned land that would soon be filled and turned into pasture. Whyte said DOC's stewardship land "holds all the cards for us".
"That's where the alluvial gold is… no one wants to go and mine the national parks like everyone thinks of."
But Forest and Bird regional conservation manager Nicky Snoyink is worried the protections in place on the West Coast could be unwound.
Among recent decisions about mining on the West Coast is the Environment Court's rejection of a new coal mine at Te Kuha, near Westport, in April. Forest and Bird first challenged the resource consent decision for the mine in 2017.
In February, the Labour government began drafting a bill to ban new mines on conservation land, but didn't commit to a timeframe for the legislation.
Local MP: It's a trade-off
Meanwhile, in Barrytown, mining company TiGa Minerals and Metals is applying for resource consent for an open-cast sand mineral mine on existing farmland south of Punakaiki.
The final decision on the proposal will be made by independent commissioners.
The company wants to mine rare earth elements and minerals, which are used in modern technologies like electric vehicles, wind turbines, consumer electronics, and batteries. The minerals are said to be needed for the transition to a greener economy, and it's been found in old gold mines and hills across the West Coast.
It's for that reason Snoyink said environmentalists on the Coast are now being accused of not supporting a move to a green future when opposing the mining of rare earth elements. But, she said the proposed mines are in the wrong place.
Barrytown resident Suzanne Hills said mining at the site would mean about 50 heavy truck and trailer movements every day.
"It is relentless along this road, which is a celebrated tourist route," Hills said.
When asked if it was appropriate to have mining at the location, West Coast Tasman MP-elect Pugh said while the road is beautiful, it is a trade-off.
"We could lock ourselves away and not do anything or we could open ourselves up to some of this stuff."
She said the region can't survive into the future on just tourism and its reputation as an untamed wilderness. Mining on the West Coast contributes $183 million to the local economy - the third largest after agriculture and tourism.
When asked if she'd be against further milling of native forest, Pugh said: "I can't answer that today."
Grey District Mayor Tania Gibson is among those supporting the Barrytown mining proposal after speaking with the mining company locals, and visiting the site. She was confident there would be minimal impacts to the area but lots of potential benefits.
Gibson said she knew some people were worried about the possibility that rare earth minerals could be used in weaponry but that they shouldn't just focus on the negatives.
"They go into Boeing, for aircraft, they go into weapons, they go to NASA… I don't feel cool about that, but they go into a multitude of other things."
Gibson said while the local economy was healthy and there was a lot of activity, "we kind of don't want to shout too loud that we are doing well, especially when we're under a Labour Government because of all those regulations that were hanging over our head or the proposed no new mining on DOC land".
Wishing for an 'enabling and permissive' Government
Josie Vidal, CEO of the mining industry advocacy group Straterra, said businesses were looking forward to a Government that is more "enabling and permissive".
"Mining is very capital intensive, and money comes from outside New Zealand. For the past six years, the international investment market has been nervous about New Zealand's policy direction.
"We want the Government to say: 'Hey, we're open for business. And there are minerals here we are happy to mine.'"
The incoming National-led Government has been more willing to listen to the industry's feedback, Vidal said.
She said it was important New Zealand isn't left out of growing global demand for minerals as the world moves to a highly electric future.
Vidal said this meant the Government should abandon its policy of no new mines on conservation land as miners could only go to where mineral prospects are, which happened to be on DOC's estates.
She said mining on national parks is a "no go", and that companies were asking for only a very small percentage of DOC stewardship land.
New Zealand's mining industry has been boom and bust throughout its history. The West Coast town of Waiuta was abandoned in the 1950s after a mine shaft collapse was too uneconomic to repair. In the King Country, Ōhura's population collapsed after its coal mining heyday.
In Central Otago, Macetown is one of a string of ghost towns settled in the 1860s gold rush. It's now a ghost town.
Responding to concerns the West Coast could suffer further after a mining boom is over, Vidal said people could look to the past, but that the situation was different this time because there will continue to be a big demand for minerals until at least 2050.
"There's a lot of future of mining. Do we want to be part of it? Or do we want to import everything?"
Addressing the climate impacts of the ongoing use of coal and coal mining on the West Coast, Vidal said "coal is necessary" while New Zealand transitions to increasingly using renewable energy as the sun doesn't always shine and the rain doesn't always fall.
"If we're going to be completely reliant on energy… it's very dangerous not to have a Plan B"
Most of the coal mined in the West Coast is exported to Asia, she said.
*An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to TiGa Minerals and Metals as an Australian mining company. It is a New Zealand registered company with a combination of New Zealand and Australian investors.
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