Submission on draft Critical Minerals List for New Zealand

^{Garvey's Creek coal mine, Westland. Lakeview Images, iStock.}

The Commissioner has made a submission to the Ministry of Business, Employment and Innovation on the Government’s draft Critical Minerals List.

In this submission, he notes that the purpose of the list is unclear, but that the Fast-track Approvals Bill appears to allow for the finalised list to inform approvals processes for domestic mines. He warns that:

“Basing approvals processes solely on an assessment of benefits is both inappropriate and short-sighted. New mines come with a range of environmental costs, and these should be just as central to the approvals process as royalties, jobs and downstream multiplier effects.”

The submission also questions the criteria and methodology used to determine which minerals to include in the draft list and advises that transparency is necessary if the list is to stand up to regulatory scrutiny.