Glassey PJ, Tang X, Lawson RV. 2022. Copper in the Coromandel and New Zealand’s energy transition : societal perceptions and management of mineral resources. Lower Hutt (NZ): GNS Science. 42 p. (GNS Science report; 2022/62). doi:21420/AJKF-DY02.
Abstract
As the world is taking more ambitious actions to combat climate change, critical minerals will be essential for the clean-energy transition, such as using solar, wind and batteries, as well as battery electric vehicles and electricity distribution. The minerals sector will support New Zealand’s transition to a low emissions future, and the government has developed a high-level Minerals and Petroleum Resource Strategy for Aotearoa New Zealand (MBIE 2019b) to guide the transition for the minerals and petroleum sectors. New Zealand has deposits of critical minerals that could contribute to meeting its demandand to the global stocks, including copper that is invaluable and almost irreplaceable across many low-carbon energy technologies. New Zealand currently imports 100% of its copper requirements. It is projected that copper demand will increase by 7% by 2050 to support the development of green energy in order to meet global emission pledges. The mining of critical elements has been under increasing public scrutiny due to environmental and social impacts in a few countries. While there is a relatively vocal anti-mining lobby in New Zealand, there is good resource management legislation and governance, and mining in general has minimal environmental impact and provides social and economic benefit. In New Zealand, understanding current and future demand for critical minerals is led bythe Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE), while the management of mineral resources, access to them and provision for their extraction occurs at multiple levels. Yet, the Strategy does not provide directions on some important issues around land-use conflict and particularly how it relates to land-use planning and legislation reform. At a regional and district governance level, mining is fundamentally controlled by the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). At all levels of governance, partnership with tangata whenua (Māori indigenous people) under the Treaty of Waitangi is required (kotahitanga), with expectations of the principles of kaitiakitanga (guardianship, stewardship) to be to the fore. Land-use planning and mineral policy have been identified as the main tools to safeguard deposits for future use. Copper deposits in the Coromandel area of New Zealand are used as an example to explore the regulatory environment, demographics and social attitudes that need to be negotiated if considering developing mining for the extraction of critical minerals. Key legislation such as the Crown Minerals Act and Resource Management Act are currently being reformed, and the mining industry will have to navigate this and invest significantly in partnering with iwi/Māori, particularly given that the rights to some mineral resources have been invested with them under land settlement agreements. Positive effects associated with mineral extraction include local employment and investment in infrastructure and amenities, along with expanded recreational and commercial activity. While Waihi township has benefitted from gold mining, the Thames-Coromandel Hauraki (TCH) districts have high social deprivation, indicating that benefits are not radiating outward. An ageing population and lower than average youth population will require that the mining workforce will have to come from outside the area, with investment in infrastructure. Social license to operate (SLO) will require investment in communication and education, especially given the vocal anti-mining lobby in the Coromandel and as deposits are close to conservation land. Any future development needs to be climate-smart and forest-smart. Innovative extraction, targeting more than one commodity from a deposit and recycling (including mine waste) all play a part in climate-smart mining, as outlined by the World Bank (Hund et al. 2020). (The authors)
