Queenstown man Michael Reedy applied for a 10-year mining permit over 47ha from New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZPAM) to search for gemstones on the beach, which is about 70km from Invercargill.
Semi-precious stones such as jasper, sapphire and garnet have been found on the beach over the years.
Mr Reedy told the Otago Daily Times earlier this week he would not be running a mechancial or commercial operation and would simply be walking up and down the beach with a bucket.
He would be using the stones to bed into a concrete floor at a new house he was building in Queesntown.
Mr Reedy said no-one would be banned from the beach. It was a popular fossicking spot.
Mr Reedy said he had applied for the permit as it was the correct thing to do.
But that led to the question whether anyone who took a stone from the beach would now have to possess a permit.
A NZPAM spokesperson said under the Crown Minerals Act 1991 (CMA) a person or company required a mining permit from New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZPAM) to mine Crown-owned minerals.
This gave the operator rights to specified Crown-owned minerals within the area of the permit, subject to conditions and obligations such as paying royalties.
‘‘This is to ensure that all New Zealanders benefit from our mineral estate.’’
Mining or removing Crown-owned minerals without a mining permit was an offence under the CMA.
However, NZPAM took a discretionary approach to its compliance activities that prioritised fair, reasonable, and proportionate responses and effective use of its resources.
At Gemstone Beach, where Crown-owned industrial rock and non-metallic minerals were collected by hand, or using hand tools, in small, non-commercial volumes, it would not seek to enforce the requirement for a mining permit.
It said as Mr Reedy’s application was still under evaluation, it was unable to comment further.
steve.hepburn@alliedmedia.co.nz
