Letter to Minister Jones on minerals strategy and critical minerals list
21 February 2025

Garvey's Creek coal mine Westport. Lakeview Images, iStock.
The Commissioner has written to the Minister for Resources Shane Jones with questions on the Minerals Strategy for New Zealand and the Critical Minerals List for New Zealand. He has asked whether environmental limits will be lowered when developing preferential pathways for critical minerals, and if the public will be able to provide input into this process. He has also asked for the rationale behind the inclusion of metallurgical coal and gold on the critical minerals list, given these do not appear on most other countries' critical mineral lists.
Read the letter and the Minister's response.