I am a geologist, explorationist and miner who has spent nearly six decades involved in the discovery and development of gold mines in Otago and Southland.
Over that time, I’ve had the privilege of working in southern New Zealand, a region once defined by what I would call a strong Presbyterian work ethic: grounded, practical and quietly resilient.
That character is changing. The migration of wealthy newcomers from Queenstown and Wānaka has brought with it a different mindset, one shaped more by lifestyle and entitlement than by production and place.
Central Otago, for some, has become a playground rather than a working landscape. Pastoral stations once owned by proud southern families, whose livelihoods rose and fell with wool, lamb and beef prices, are increasingly in the hands of absentee or foreign owners.
Where mining was once accepted as a legitimate and complementary activity, it is now often opposed outright, frequently fuelled by fear and misinformation.
I generally avoid entering these debates, as rational discussion too often gives way to rhetoric, but the intensity of opposition to the proposed Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project warrants a response.
Everything that underpins modern society depends on mined resources. From the stone and limestone used to build our infrastructure, to the metals required for energy systems, transport and technology: mining is foundational.
The key difference between mining and other forms of infrastructure is that while roads and powerlines can be rerouted, mineral deposits are fixed by geology. You cannot choose where gold occurs. It exists where nature placed it.
New Zealand, while not richly endowed with minerals overall, is relatively well-endowed in gold. Over 165 years we have produced close to 40 million ounces. Gold has played a transformative role in shaping this country.
Gold wealth contributed to the growth of Dunedin, funded early educational institutions and helped lift New Zealand economically. Yet we remain heavily reliant on imported mineral-based products: steel, fuel, fertilisers, vehicles, machinery and the infrastructure of renewable energy.
These imports are balanced in part by gold exports. It is difficult to reconcile that reliance with the insistence that mining should not occur in our backyard.
Mining in New Zealand already operates within tight limits. It occupies well under 1% of the land area, and around 8.8 million hectares, roughly one-third of the country, are effectively off-limits, including national parks, A-class reserves and other protected conservation land.
I do not advocate opening these areas. They hold intrinsic value that goes beyond economics.
But outside of them, there must be room for balanced land use.
In Central Otago there are already competing activities: tourism, viticulture, farming, lifestyle development and mining. There is no reason these cannot co-exist.
Change is often cited as a reason to oppose mining. But change is not unique to mining, and mining is not the most significant driver of it.
Over the past six decades I have witnessed profound transformation across this region.
When I first worked here in 1969, Queenstown was a small town of around 800 people. The road to Glenorchy had just opened, the airport was little more than a gravel strip and there were no vineyards in Bendigo. The Clyde Dam did not exist.
Today, the landscape and social fabric have been reshaped on a scale far greater than any mine could achieve: urban expansion, intensive agriculture and viticulture across former tussock land and infrastructure development at every turn. These changes are widespread, permanent and largely celebrated.
By contrast, a mine is localised, contained and temporary.
Mining’s reputation has been shaped by poor practices of the past. Earlier generations paid insufficient attention to environmental and social impacts.
But that was common across industries during the industrial era, and it is not the industry that operates today. Modern mining is highly regulated, technologically advanced and subject to intense scrutiny.
Environmental management, worker safety and community engagement are now central to how it functions.
Concerns about tailings storage facilities, cyanide and arsenic are often raised and often overstated. High-profile tailings failures globally are typically the result of poor design or oversight. Modern facilities are engineered to rigorous standards and independently reviewed throughout their operational life.
Cyanide is routinely detoxified before deposition. Arsenic is naturally present in the region’s geology and is well understood scientifically. These issues are addressed in detail within the consent application.
Risk is real, but it is identified, managed and mitigated through robust engineering and regulatory processes, much as it is for dams and other high-consequence infrastructure we accept without question.
The idea that mining in New Zealand operates without oversight is simply wrong. It is one of the most regulated industries in the country.
A mining company must secure a Crown permit, negotiate land access and obtain a wide range of environmental and land-use consents, each involving detailed assessment and community consultation.
Santana Minerals is already delivering strong local and national value, over $100 million having been invested across New Zealand to date including $23.6m in the past 12 months alone through wages, salaries, contractors and consultant services, and asset purchases.
The portrayal of the project as a foreign company imposing itself on a local community is misleading.
Santana is publicly listed on both the ASX and NZX, with about 43% New Zealand shareholders of the company as of December 2025.
The project was developed by New Zealanders over several years before offshore capital was brought in to advance it, reflecting the straightforward reality that New Zealand’s capital markets have limited capacity to fund high-risk, capital-intensive ventures like mining.
If approved, the Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project would deliver substantial and measurable benefits. At a gold price of $NZ5410, the project is expected to generate around $6.75 billion in revenue over an initial 14-year mine life, producing up to 120,000 ounces per year and recovering about 1.25 million ounces in total.
That translates into an estimated $448m in royalties and more than $1b in corporate tax, before accounting for PAYE and broader economic activity.
The project is expected to support around 351 direct jobs, with a further 463 indirect and induced roles across the region: skilled, well-paid positions that underpin families, small businesses and community stability.
These are not abstract numbers. They represent livelihoods and real contributions to the economy.
Mining is not without impact, but neither is any other form of development. The question is not whether change occurs, but whether it is managed responsibly and whether the benefits justify the effects.
In the case of Bendigo, the argument that they do is a strong one.
Mining has long been part of New Zealand’s story. It has shaped our communities, contributed to our economy and supported our development as a nation.
We cannot continue to rely on the products of mining while rejecting the activity itself.
Nor can we afford to turn away opportunities that deliver real economic resilience and regional prosperity.
Mining means change, but so does everything else happening around us. It means well-paying jobs and flow-on benefits for local businesses.
It means export revenue that strengthens our balance of payments and helps fund the services we all rely on.
It produces the wealth that enables regions like Central Otago not just to preserve their past, but to invest in their future.
Give mining space to deliver. There is room for everyone.
• Warren Batt is a geologist and co-founder of the New Zealand company that put the Bendigo project together. He is a significant shareholder in Santana Minerals.
