The rush for the next big gold discovery in Central Otago has heated up to the point the government has rolled out a bidding process for a sought-after slice of the region.
But an environmental group is concerned the rush of exploration applications will end in open-cast mines and a "forever damaged" landscape.
The sought-after land, which lies east of Alexandra and is mainly high-country land and has waterways within it, such as the Manorburn and Poolburn Dams, is now part of a Crown Minerals process.
The equal priority in time (EPIT) process to allocate the land is being run by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment.
It is a competitive application process used by New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals when multiple applications are received for the same land area at the same time.
The EPIT process was not common, but happened when prospective acreage was held under a permit that had expired or was surrendered, or an application had been withdrawn. It has attracted a flurry of interest from the mining sector.
The EPIT process looks to ensure fairness and transparency when multiple parties are interested in the same mineral resource.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment declined to comment when approached.
Santana Minerals Ltd announced in January last year it had discovered the most significant single gold deposit in New Zealand in over four decades, in its Rise and Shine claim in the Bendigo area.
The company’s latest annual report, released last week, said they were on the verge of lodging their fast-track application.
The land covered by the contested permit is used as light grazing for sheep.
The stations there have had visits from prospectors looking over the land and looking for minerals, a landowner said on Tuesday.
Sustainable Tarras deputy chairman Rob van der Mark said the group was not aware of the application process for the land, as it was quite outside the Bendigo and Tarras area.
"It is highly likely that if the Santana Bendigo mine gets approved that many more will follow, and that Central Otago landscapes, existing economies and the tourism experience will be forever damaged." — additional reporting Tim Scott
