{"id":578562,"date":"2026-08-24T07:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T07:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/578562\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T07:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T07:00:11","slug":"steven-spielberg-donates-to-group-opposing-central-otago-gold-mine-in-memory-of-sir-sam-neill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/578562\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Spielberg donates to group opposing Central Otago gold mine, in memory of Sir Sam Neill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neill was a vocal opponent of Santana Minerals\u2019 project<\/a>, describing the planned open-cast mine as a threat to the region he called home.<\/p>\n

Spielberg\u2019s donation has honoured Neill\u2019s legacy \u2013 \u201cnot just in opposing the economic degradation of New Zealand\u2019s unique and stunning landscapes, but in all the work he did for his community and for the environment,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe two first worked together on the 1993 dinosaur blockbuster Jurassic Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re deeply grateful to Steven Spielberg and the whole Amblin Entertainment team for such a generous and heartfelt tribute, and for helping continue work that meant so much to Sam.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s yet another reminder of the incredible impact Sir Sam Neill had in his lifetime \u2013 and after his passing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santana Minerals has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n

The two first worked together on the 1993 dinosaur blockbuster Jurassic Park, in which Neill played the lead role of Dr Alan Grant in the Spielberg-directed classic.<\/p>\n

After Neill\u2019s death, the 79-year-old director remembered him as \u201cexceptionally collaborative\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the actor said he stood by his opposition to the project<\/a> after receiving personal online abuse.<\/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

Supporters of the mine argue the project could deliver jobs, higher wages and economic activity.<\/p>\n

Opponents say the scale of the proposed open-cast operation risks permanently altering the region and creates impacts for water, agriculture, tourism and the wider community.<\/p>\n

The project is being assessed through the Government\u2019s Fast-track Approvals process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Neill was a vocal opponent of Santana Minerals\u2019 project, describing the planned open-cast mine as a threat to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1853,98756,26325,156,54101,4241,209,50218,4223,78,1362,6805,57537,18461,111,139,69,1118,125064,38631,9629,29056,18460,8485,137742,52164,61],"class_list":["post-578562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-central","tag-donates","tag-donation","tag-entertainment","tag-generous","tag-gold","tag-group","tag-heavyweight","tag-hollywood","tag-in","tag-made","tag-memory","tag-mine","tag-neill","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-opposed","tag-opposing","tag-otago","tag-proposed","tag-sam","tag-sir","tag-spielberg","tag-steven","tag-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578562","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=578562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}