\u201cIt\u2019s the future of Central, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cromwell businesses are among those increasingly putting their names behind the proposed Bendigo-Ophir gold mine, about 20km northeast of the town. Photo \/ File<\/p>\n
Norton, who previously lived in the Thames Valley, pointed to the history of gold mining in Waihi and Otago and the development it had helped fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the gold from Santana and the other mines that will happen will help Central Lakes, which we desperately need if you look at all the infrastructure issues around Queenstown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through his work, Norton said he spoke to people from a broad cross-section of the community and had not personally encountered anyone opposed to the mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people sort of like to keep to themselves because they open up and they get shot down, but if you look at the Santana Mine supporters page, nearly 15,000 people now, people have had enough of the naysayers and they just want to get on with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did not believe the increased visibility of supporters necessarily represented people changing their minds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the support\u2019s always been there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elevate Central business group chairman Dewald de Beer said he was seeing more businesses publicly support Bendigo-Ophir, but similarly believed much of the underlying support was not new.<\/p>\n
He said he had not often encountered business leaders opposed to the project and believed some had previously been reluctant to express their views.<\/p>\n
The Dunstan mountains as presented on the Santana Minerals website. Photo \/ Simon Williams, Santana Minerals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s probably just the fact that people can now actually \u2013 they don\u2019t feel victimised almost by showing support.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Beer said businesses saw economic growth as important for creating opportunities in the region, but that did not mean development should occur regardless of its consequences.<\/p>\n
He said Santana still needed to listen closely to those living near the proposed mine, who would potentially experience its effects most directly.<\/p>\n
His own support was conditional on the project being developed responsibly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to hold them accountable to that; that\u2019s the thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cromwell contractor Ruben Connelly said the potential benefits were more immediate.<\/p>\n
Connelly\u2019s company Precise Fencing employs six people and has previously carried out work connected with exploration at the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big one for us, that long-term steady flow of work for our company.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not guaranteed work, but it gives you that security that you can look to grow and invest in your business knowing that you\u2019ve got that potential workflow coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Connelly said Precise Fencing had been involved at the site since 2018, initially working with Matakanui Gold before Santana took over the project.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s work included removing and replacing boundary fences to allow drill rigs through, and it had completed more recent projects for Santana.<\/p>\n
The Bendigo-Ophir project is Australian mining company Santana Mineral’s core focus. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
However, Connelly said Precise Fencing would still have to compete for any future work.<\/p>\n
He said he had supported the project from early on: \u201cI just feel that the positives far outweigh the negatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Custom Fabricators Ltd owner Scott Canham was similarly enthusiastic about the potential flow-on effects for Cromwell businesses.<\/p>\n
Canham expected an \u201cabsolute abundance\u201d of opportunity in Cromwell if the mine went ahead, and a benefit for businesses beyond those directly supplying the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to get a lot more foot traffic coming through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Connelly, Canham already had links to Santana. He said he had been involved with the company since it arrived in Cromwell, initially through another company that worked alongside it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be a part of the growth, I want to be a part of the support, I want to be a part of everything moving forward \u2013 and them moving forward will help my business move forward as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canham said he had always supported the project and, like Norton, said he had not personally encountered local opposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t met someone so far that has had a bad thing to say about Santana.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has also been distributing \u201cDig Baby Dig\u201d supporter stickers, including around New Zealand and overseas.<\/p>\n
Santana has described the increasing willingness of businesses to publicly associate themselves with Bendigo-Ophir as an important change in the debate surrounding the project.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Damian Spring said more businesses were becoming comfortable publicly expressing views they had previously held privately.<\/p>\n
The company says the proposed mine would produce about 120,000 ounces of gold annually at peak production over a 14-year mine life and create hundreds of jobs.<\/p>\n
The project remains one of the highest-profile proposals being considered under the Government\u2019s Fast-track Approvals process.<\/p>\n
Santana plans four open pits, including one up to 1km long, 800m wide and 200m deep, alongside a processing plant and tailings storage facility. <\/p>\n
An economic impact report commissioned for the fast-track process projected the mine would contribute about $360 million to GDP annually on average and employ about 350 workers directly.<\/p>\n
The proposal has faced significant opposition over its potential effects on water, landscapes, the environment and nearby communities. <\/p>\n
Sustainable Tarras, which has been campaigning against the project, has previously warned that the mine could create long-term risks for Central Otago despite its potential short-term employment benefits.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s Stop Central Otago Gold Mine campaign has raised more than $53,000 from more than 400 donors, with donations surging following the death of prominent mine opponent Sir Sam Neill in July.<\/p>\n
Santana has spent about $17.7m pursuing Fast-track approval for the project. <\/p>\n
Processing of its application was due to resume on August 17 after a pause, with the company expected to provide final workshopped consent conditions to the expert panel later this month.<\/p>\n
Sustainable Tarras did not respond when approached for comment.<\/p>\n
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He Joined the Herald in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s the future of Central, really.\u201d Cromwell businesses are among those increasingly putting their names behind the proposed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[36671,23748,16717,182284,138,1853,4241,16774,440,149851,57537,208445,111,139,69,9629,21518,29056,5659,20420,684,6736],"class_list":["post-577516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-always","tag-backing","tag-becoming","tag-bendigoophir","tag-business","tag-central","tag-gold","tag-larger","tag-local","tag-louder","tag-mine","tag-necessarily","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-otago","tag-otagos","tag-proposed","tag-say","tag-supporters","tag-there","tag-was"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577516","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=577516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}