Santana hits pause button on application, final decision moves into next year

Santana Minerals has paused its fast-track application for the gold mine in Bendigo, expecting this will be the last delay with a final decision pushed into next year. But a mine opponent says they and others are getting annoyed with the constant flow of information and the realisation how limited the original application was. The pause will be for 10 days and comes after a strongly worded minute by fast-track panel chairman Matthew Muir KC last week. Santana said in a note to the Australian Stock Exchange late on Monday it would pause the application for 10 days. The company had previously paused the application on June 26 until September 7, although it was seen as a statutory pause and work was still going on. Santana said in the note consent conditions had been worked through in workshops led by Mitchell Daysh with expert planners from interested parties. A final workshop planned this week will address remaining items, including matters arising from the request for information responses, ahead of an updated set of conditions being provided to the panel by this Friday. The company was also pleased to advise Kā Rūnaka had filed its preferred set of mana whenua conditions with the company, whilst reserving its position. Santana Minerals chief executive Damian Spring said in the note although another pause had been introduced, it was actually further ahead. “We expect this is the final request for a pause from the expert panel before they begin their decision-making process,” Mr Spring said. “Detailed conditions are on the table with councils, the Department of Conservation and Kā Rūnaka. We are two weeks further out, but materially closer.” The due date for the final decision was set for December 16 but would now head into next year with the 10-day pause. Mr Muir said in last week’s minute the timetable had been set on the assumption the applicant would have produced a complete application, and referred to some information given that “should in fact have been provided at the time of the initial application’’. It was up to Santana to find a way forward to get all the information in and leave enough time for the panel to make a decision, he said. With the 10 days added, the final decision would not now be released until January at the earliest. The Christmas break for decisions means December 20 to January 10 are non-working days. Santana Minerals said, in a further note to the stock exchange, in a presentation made at a mining conference in Rotorua, the decision was due in January. Earthworks would commence in March, followed by bulk pre-strip, the removal of vegetation and top soil, carried out in June. The first mining of gold would be carried out in 2028. Only rules of law on any decision can be appealed to the High Court under fast-track legislation. A Sustainable Tarras spokesperson said the group expected the pause would happen after what Mr Muir had written last week. The challenge for the group and others was new evidence was being presented and they had to go to their experts for advice and it all took time. It could have been solved if Santana had presented a better application. The spokesperson said the proposed consent conditions would be presented on Friday and would not be complete so more work would needed to be done on them. “I can’t see how this is going to be resolved in 10 working days either. Maybe they expect that the Christmas break will somehow help them, but, you know, regional authorities, EDS [Environment Defence Society], ourselves, we’re starting to get pretty peeved off with this ongoing intricate process,” the spokesperson said.