It is the first approval for any mining proposal in the extensive offshore Exclusive Economic Zone in New Zealand in compliance with the EEZ Act 2012.
The approval to TTR’s marine consent application by the Board of the Environmental Protection Authority appointed Decision-making Committee (DMC) was a conditional one.
The DMC had imposed conditions and operating restrictions on TTR to check the scale, intensity and duration of the sediment plume and also impacts on marine mammals caused by the mining activity.
DMC in its summary stated: “Although some submitters had misgivings about the quality of information, we determined that it was sufficient for our purposes… and we are satisfied that we have been able to make our decision based on the best available information in accordance with… the EEZ Act.”
TTR had applied for the marine consent with the EPA in August last year. The hearing began only in February 2017 after receiving a huge number of submissions relating to the possible impact caused by the proposed mining in STB.
Although the hearing closed in May end, the DMC approval could only come now after detailed explanation on why it had given its nod to the marine consent through a more than 300-page decision document.
Trans-Tasman Resources executive chairman Alan J Eggers stated: “TTR understands the time taken for the DMC to deliver the decision is not without precedent, reflects the need to document fully their reasons for the decision and deal fairly with an unusually high number of public submissions on a wide range of complex issues.
Eggers added that TTR had carried out extensive marine environmental work in the STB and as a result of its research, the STB is now considered to be the most studied and documented area of ocean floor and marine environment across New Zealand.
TTR now plans to proceed with the South Taranaki Bight project by constructing and commissioning a 345m integrated mining vessel (IMV) along with the support vessels and infrastructure. The company anticipates first iron ore shipments from the STB to begin in 2020.
