Kiwis Against Seabed Mining

Government releases Draft Replacement Minerals Programme for Minerals and Coal for consultation

21 December, 2005  The Associate Minister of Energy, Hon Harry Duynhoven, releases the Draft Replacement Minerals Programme for Minerals and Coal for a forty working day statutory public and iwi consultation process.

“The draft replacement programme will ensure the continued efficient allocation of rights to prospect, explore and mine for minerals and coal, and a fair financial return to the Crown as owner," said Mr Duynhoven.

The Crown Minerals Act 1991 requires the Minister of Energy to issue minerals programmes, review them within ten years and issue replacement programmes. The Minerals Programme for Coal, and a Minerals Programme for Minerals other than Coal and Petroleum, which were both issued on 1 October 1996, have been reviewed and a draft replacement Minerals Programme for Minerals and Coal has been prepared. The Act provides for public consultation on the draft replacement programme.

“The draft replacement programme released today proposes an allocation regime which promotes the responsible discovery and development of New Zealand’s mineral and coal resources for energy, infrastructure, and regional economic development.

“It builds upon the knowledge and experience gained in the ten years since the current programmes were issued. It will provide increased certainty and transparency in administering the Crown Minerals Act 1991 which should strengthen the confidence of exploration companies in investing in New Zealand,” said Mr Duynhoven today.

The draft replacement programme significantly simplifies the current two programmes. The main changes result primarily from a desire to increase competition for prospective acreage, to simplify the royalty regime, to better align the programme with the Act and Regulations, to reduce compliance costs and to improve the clarity of the drafting. It does not deal with environmental issues connected with mineral allocation, which are regulated under the Resource Management Act 1991.

Public submissions are now called for on the Draft Replacement Minerals Programme for Minerals and Coal. These should be forwarded by 3 March 2006 to:
Manager, Petroleum and Minerals Policy
PO Box 1473
Wellington
New Zealand