Newmont Mining, one of the worlds largest gold producers has won the right to explore 3000ha near Pauanui in the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand, for gold and silver.
Newmont already has a large open cast mine in nearby Waihi which is nearing the end of it’s life. You can read the full NZ Herald article here.
There is still potentially plenty of precious metals remaining in New Zealand to be mined although with much of it likely to be in conservation areas there will be many hurdles for potential miners. The National Government has made murmurings of doing a “stock take” of what may be present however.
Unfortunately with much of the gold and silver mined in NZ being exported the gain to NZ of more precious metal being dug up is not as great as it could be. It’s a pity more kiwis weren’t buying and storing some of their “wealth” in real money instead of in over-priced housing.