Yet another, with a $50 donation, wrote: \u201c#SaveItForSam\u201d.<\/p>\n
The campaign, run by Sustainable Tarras Incorporated Society, has now raised more than $53,000 from more than 400 donors, exceeding its original $50,000 target.<\/p>\n
Sir Sam Neill was a vocal opponent of Santana Minerals\u2019 proposed Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project in Central Otago, describing the planned open-cast mine as a threat to the region he called home. Photo \/ Simon Williams, Santana Minerals.<\/p>\n
The fundraising money is intended to support awareness campaigns and expert advice as the group challenges the proposed Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project, planned by Australian company Santana Minerals in the Dunstan Mountains between Bendigo and Ophir.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson from Sustainable Tarras said they were heartened, \u201cbut not at all surprised, by the outpouring of affection for Sam since his death was announced on Monday\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the last 36 hours, we\u2019ve seen another surge of people signing up to add their names in opposition alongside Sam\u2019s – many of them leaving messages in Sam\u2019s honour,\u201d the spokesperson said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve also had an uptick in donations – again in Sam\u2019s name – from people all around Aotearoa New Zealand. All of those donations will go towards expert analysis of any new information brought to the fast-track process by Santana.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo those who have joined, donated, and spoken up in Sam\u2019s name: thank you for your support and contributions. Like Sam, we are determined to stop this mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Santana Minerals has been approached for comment. <\/p>\n
Neill became one of the most recognisable opponents of the proposed open-cast mine, arguing the development posed a major threat to Central Otago\u2019s landscape, environment and way of life.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the actor said he stood by his opposition to the project after receiving online abuse, including threats of physical violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stand by those views, and I\u2019m glad I voiced them. What I wasn\u2019t prepared for was the personal abuse I would come in for,\u201d Neill said.<\/p>\n
Neill said the proposed development was \u201ca big, actually a vast, open-cast goldmine\u201d that was being fast-tracked \u201cin my neighbourhood, in central Otago\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fight goes on \u2026 and we really need to stop this filthy mine. That will be the end of everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Neill was also among speakers at the Wine NOT Mine fundraising event earlier this year, where more than 150 people gathered to raise money for the opposition campaign.<\/p>\n
Sir Sam Neill, known internationally for his role as Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, was a prominent voice opposing the proposed mine. <\/p>\n
\u201cSantana\u2019s aggressive and unwelcome plans will be ruinous for our region,\u201d Neill said at the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want this, and we simply cannot let this happen to our land or our people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supporters of the mine argue the Bendigo-Ophir project could deliver jobs, higher wages and economic activity in a region facing high living costs and limited high-paying employment.<\/p>\n
The project is being assessed through the Government\u2019s Fast-track Approvals process.<\/p>\n
Opponents argue the scale of the proposed open-cast operation risks permanently altering Central Otago\u2019s landscapes and creating impacts for water, agriculture, tourism and the wider community.<\/p>\n
The actor, known internationally for roles in Jurassic Park, The Piano, Peaky Blinders and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, has been remembered as one of New Zealand\u2019s most celebrated performers and a passionate advocate for causes close to his home.<\/p>\n
He is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yet another, with a $50 donation, wrote: \u201c#SaveItForSam\u201d. The campaign, run by Sustainable Tarras Incorporated Society, has now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3376,23748,1738,1853,66417,634,33489,156,44973,15124,36091,4241,7568,64408,33490,57537,18461,259980,111,139,69,1118,38631,9629,12064,29056,7241,21532,18460,8485,1324,20420,61,102],"class_list":["post-526468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-actor","tag-backing","tag-campaign","tag-central","tag-championed","tag-death","tag-donations","tag-entertainment","tag-environmental","tag-fight","tag-funds","tag-gold","tag-honour","tag-honouring","tag-influx","tag-mine","tag-neill","tag-neills","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-opposing","tag-otago","tag-prompted","tag-proposed","tag-publicly","tag-rush","tag-sam","tag-sir","tag-stop","tag-supporters","tag-to","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}