Questions & Answers
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TiGa Minerals & Metals is a New Zealand registered company set up to progress the mining of minerals on the Barrytown Flats of the West Coast, New Zealand.
It has applied to the Grey District Council and West Coast Regional Council for the resource consents necessary to allow the mining to start.
Initially started by a group of West Coast entrepreneurs, TiGa is now owned by a group of Australian and New Zealand investors. 30% of its shareholding is held by New Zealanders, including the original West Coast investors.
Contingent upon the outcome of its resource consent application, TiGa will promote a new investment opportunity nationally and internationally to progress the mining operation.
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Resource consent is sought to carry out mineral mining and processing to obtain ilmenite, garnet, gold and other minerals over an area of approximately 63 hectares. A maximum of five hectares will be actively mined at any one time. The proposed site is privately owned farmland.
Read the resource consent application to Grey District Council and West Coast Regional Council
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TiGa commissioned an independent economic report, which found that economic negatives are “negligible to zero” and economic benefits are “substantial”.
These include:
57 mining jobs
80 support jobs
$6.6 million per year in wages into the community
$27 million operational spending, almost all in the community
$63 million per year in export earnings
46% boost to Grey District’s exports
$33.7 million per year additional GDP
$1.5 million per year in minerals royalties to the New Zealand Government
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No, the proposed site is on privately-owned, highly modified humped and hollowed farmland currently used for dairy farming. Man-made and natural wetlands border the south and west of the site, there is a small modified drainage channel to the north, while Collins Creek runs along the southern boundary.
The application area is proposed to be zoned as a “Minerals Extraction Zone” under the proposed Te Tai o Poutini Plan.
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TiGa commissioned an independent hydrologist to draft a Water Management Plan that will not only prevent damage to the water quality of neighbouring wetlands, it will result in net environmental improvement. The site’s existing native vegetation will be expanded by planting buffers and riparian zones with additional native vegetation.
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TiGa has consulted widely to ensure that impacts on wildlife are negligible to zero.
Site lighting will meet international standards for preventing ‘light pollution’ impacts on wildlife. The processing plant lighting will be designed to avoid light spill towards the coastline. The risk of our lighting to Tāiko/Westland Petrel will, therefore, be appropriately managed. Volunteered conditions will ensure that if trucks pass the colony it will only be during daylight hours.
We will include:
Buffer zones from the Barrytown Beach to prevent impact on kororā habitat
Pest control to remove introduced mammal pests from the area – a considerable advantage for wildlife, especially kororā
Special downward lighting in the yellow spectrum to minimise the risk of harm to the tāiko moving to and from their landing site near Punakaiki. During the breeding season, TiGa will not transport mineral ore at night along the state highway neighbouring the tāiko colony
The mine not presenting a noise disturbance to tāiko, and noise disturbance to kororā being mitigated to well within acceptable levels
Specifically developed protocols in the unlikely event that lost penguins or tāiko are found on the mining site
Funding a postgraduate research study into tāiko to better understand how the birds can be protected from human impact while on the land at their breeding colony
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The proposal will have “no more than minor” adverse effects on the environment. TiGa will implement substantial mitigation measures to reduce environmental effects, including effects on landscape and visual amenity, noise, traffic, indigenous flora and fauna, and water bodies.
Read the relevant plans here:
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An Integrated Transport Assessment carried out by Novo Group concludes that the effects on the traffic environment can be considered as being “less than minor”.
The proposed activity will generate approximately three truck and trailer movements per hour with voluntary limits on night travel. We will employ local drivers who know the road well. Our drivers will not have tight deadlines, so they can pull over whenever safe to do so to let traffic by, or delay/reschedule journeys to work around traffic pressure points.
The coastal highway is not merely a tourism route, it is a state highway already carrying domestic and commercial traffic essential to the economic and supply activities of the region. The additional traffic generated over the comparatively short life of the current proposal is within the capacity of the state highway.
The impact of workers commuting to and from the mine will also be minimal as TiGa plans to provide a workers’ bus.
TiGa has also volunteered the below conditions to the consent hearing that it believes will mitigate traffic concerns on the state highway.
These proposals include:
Truck movements associated with removal of heavy mineral concentrate to and from the south of the site (towards Greymouth) must be limited to 50 per day and five per hour (both averaged over a one week period) between the hours of 5am and 10pm.
Truck movements associated with removal of heavy mineral concentrate to and from the north of the site (towards Westport) must be limited to 50 per day and five per hour between the period starting 30 minutes before sunrise and ending 30 minutes after sunset each day.*
*This proposal removes the risk of adverse impacts on tāiko (Westland petrel) from trucks operating with lights.
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No. Independent radiation analysis shows the background levels of radiation from the exposed minerals is so low that the provisions of the New Zealand Radiation Safety Act (2016) do not apply. The IAEA Transport Regulations (IAEA SSR6) also do not apply as the results are well below the limit.
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The Barrytown mineral sands proposal has been planned as a small and short duration bespoke mining operation. This approach allows for a constrained site with reduced impact regarding noise, dust and water management, along with protecting the natural living environment and neighbouring activities such as tourism.
The mining operation involves excavation to a depth of only nine metres, progressing across the land area in strips with no more than five hectares of land involved at any one time.
Unwanted soils from the mined strips will be replaced and the area restored to productive agricultural pasture. Planting and bunds will shield the site from the main highway, preventing visual, noise and dust disturbance. All that will remain when mining operations are completed will be fully-restored farmland and the new native plantings TiGa has put in place.
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We believe there will be little to no impact on local tourism businesses – indeed there could be advantages as increased economic activity in the region will bring in more people and their families.
Our products will be exported throughout the world with prominent ‘West Coast of New Zealand’ branding driving people to our website. The opening page on the website will celebrate the West Coast. This will amount to considerable free advertising of the West Coast as a destination.
We have met with local operators and the community and discussed ways we can avoid any negative impact on their activities. We are eager to have similar meetings with any other operators who approach us.
Have another question? We are happy to provide more information if your question has not been answered above.