PDAC JV video: New Zealand aims to fast-track mining

New Zealand is holding up its fast-track and “one-stop shop” legislation as ways to streamline project approvals and reinvigorate the economy, resources minister Shane Jones says.

The new processes are to help the island nation develop its gold, coal and rare earth minerals while respecting Indigenous rights, Jones said. The legislation also seeks to avoid complex environmental consent measures that have bogged down projects in excessive litigation.

“With fast track and one-stop shop legislation there’ll be no shortage of opportunity for people to have their say,” he told The Northern Miner during the annual PDAC convention in Toronto. “But it’ll be judged on development criteria, and ensure that conditions on energy and mining projects (are) proportionate to the risk that’s actually being managed.”

New Zealand’s government, elected in late 2023, intends to recover natural resource opportunities that were marginalized by past administrations, Jones said.

Watch the full interview below with The Northern Miner western editor, Henry Lazenby.

Joint venture videos are paid-for content in arrangement with The Northern Miner.