Santana Minerals’ fast-track application appears set to be delayed yet again. The head of the expert panel asked, on Thursday, for the process not to re-start until the company had produced its “fully workshopped” conditions in September. The mining company wants to extract gold from Bendigo and Ardgour Stations, about 20km north of Cromwell, and is going through the final stages of the fast-track hearings. On June 25, Santana requested the process be paused until August 17 "to enable the provision of additional data, reports and time to workshop conditions with the regulators". But the panel chairman Matthew Muir KC recently issued a minute asking for more time “so that, at the point of resumption, the panel can move into its deliberation phase as efficiently as possible”. Mr Muir acknowledged the receipt of evidence related to lizards and landscape values. "In both instances, the panel considers it appropriate to give leave to any party who called lizard or landscape evidence and who participated in expert conferencing to file a response to this material.” While those responses would otherwise be due next month, resuming proceedings at that time could create issues for the panel if it received final conditions the following month. The panel would be forced into “very tight timeframes” to assess and prepare its decision. The panel asked Santana to delay resumption until September, with the expectation at that time, it would have all the required information. Santana previously said it expected a final decision by December 17, over a month after New Zealand’s general election on November 7. Chief executive Damian Spring has said the company had "arrived at a date we are confident will provide all the information the panel needs to inform its decision”. Santana were approached for comment yesterday, but did not respond before deadline.
