Rodney Hide: Standover Tactics - $180 Million for a Gold Mine

An iwi group allegedly demanded $180 million from Santana Minerals to approve the Bendigo Santana gold mine in Central Otago. This is not consultation. It is standover tactics enabled by our planning laws.

ACT Resources spokesman Simon Court has called it exactly what it is. Documents and meetings show iwi representatives pointed to a previous seven-figure payout for a hydro project as the benchmark. Pay up or face opposition. The company calculated the lifetime “contribution” at around $180 million. Kā Rūnaka say $180 million has not been their “focus,” but they have not denied the report.

Peter Williams: Let the Experts Decide Bendigo’s Future

Today, February 25 is a significant day for Bendigo — Bendigo in Central Otago that is.

Like its Australian namesake, this district was built on gold. In Victoria, large-scale mining never entirely stopped; the Fosterville Gold Mine continues to operate as one of that state’s major producers. In Central Otago, by contrast, the last meaningful gold operations wound down in 1942.

Now the question is whether Bendigo, Otago returns to the industry that created it.