Yesterday, OceanaGold celebrated its entry into the world’s oldest, most influential exchange — the New York Stock Exchange.
Listing on the NYSE marks a milestone in OceanaGold’s 36-year history and reflects its evolution from a local Otago gold producer to a globally recognised mining company, with operations across New Zealand, the United States and the Philippines.
Company representatives went to the official opening bell-ringing ceremony at the New York exchange and in Dunedin OceanaGold employees from the Macraes site and the Dunedin office gathered at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum for their own ‘‘bell-ringing’’ ceremony.
Ringing the bell was Mr Jones.
‘‘[Mining in Otago] is only going to improve and become brighter because we are a pro-mining government.
‘‘We realise that guardrails are essential, but guardrails must never turn into economic death row.’’
Mr Jones said the mining workforce had a chance to lift New Zealand ‘‘out of the mire where our country currently finds itself’’. Few firms domestically could say they evolved from a Kiwi-based mining entity to a global gold producer.
OceanaGold senior vice-president of legal and public affairs Alison Paul said Dunedin was the city where New Zealand’s first stock exchange opened in 1866 and that happened off the back of the Otago gold rushes.
‘‘We can be immensely proud of how far we’ve come from our origins here in Otago to the global stage.’’
She said OceanaGold had weathered many storms, from its beginnings as a single mine at Macraes, to today, where it employed 4600 people globally.
‘‘This country has earned a strong global reputation as a stable, well-regulated, and highly skilled mining jurisdiction, and we are extremely proud to continue investing here, building on that reputation for decades to come.’’
