The move to "no new mines" will not go ahead before the general election, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says.
He made the comment in an interview with the Westport News, while on the West Coast last week.
The controversial policy was first announced out of the blue in 2017 by then prime minister Jacinda Ardern. It was rebooted late last year, although that was kept quiet until it was leaked to the Greymouth Star in February.
Labour has come under pressure from the Greens to honour its promised ban on new mining on the conservation estate, but it now seems the Government has run out of time, with the general election set down for October 14.
Mr Hipkins told the Westport News that Cabinet had yet to see a paper, and the Bill would not be passed before the election.
"There’s future decisions we’ve got to take which I can’t comment on because I haven’t seen the advice on it yet ...
"The impact on the West Coast economy will absolutely be a key factor, given it [mining] is one of the largest sort of presences in the country."
West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O’Connor, who was with Mr Hipkins when he spoke on the issue last Friday, confirmed on Tuesday the Prime Minister had stated that no new mines would happen before the election.
"Time is running out," Mr O’Connor said.
"There are many issues we still need to work through."
The reboot prompted howls of protest from the West Coast mining industry, mayors and Poutini Ngai Tahu. Almost all pounamu for the jade industry comes from goldmining sites, often on conservation land, and belongs to Ngai Tahu.
Greymouth Mayor Tania Gibson said she was very pleased to hear the policy was not progressing this term. It had caused angst in the industry and everyone had been on tenterhooks for the past seven years.
However, she cautioned that it had not gone away, and would now depend on who won the election.
"It’s still hanging in the balance."
West Coast Regional Council chairman Peter Haddock welcomed the decision, which he said would hopefully give time to have meaningful discussions with the Government on the positives of mining.
The policy had been progressing without consultation, he said.
"There needs to be a lot of thought put into locking up future potential for carbon zero," Cr Haddock said, referring to the minerals used in things such as wind turbines and solar panels.
"Being delayed is a good opportunity for industry to put forward a good case."
Minerals West Coast manager Patrick Phelps said there had been six years of talk of "a ban that’s not a ban".
"They’ve had an absolute majority in Parliament, and a courtesy coalition with the Green Party — if those circumstances aren’t conducive to the much discussed but — thankfully — hitherto unimplemented policy ... one would really have to question the commitment around the Cabinet table to such a policy."
Mr Hipkins said on Friday he understood the Government had issues to work through around the extraction of pounamu and rare earth minerals.
Neither Mr Hipkins nor Mr O’Connor could answer if a ban would stop existing mines, such as Stockton, expanding on to surrounding conservation land.
Mr O’Connor said that issue had previously been flagged and not resolved.
