Waihī gold mine expansion unaffected by adverse Court of Appeal ruling, OceanaGold says

“We have criteria for site selection (as per the fast-track panel’s decision) that will allow us to select sites in conjunction with DoC [Department of Conservation],” Paul said.

Oceana’s Waihī North expansion for the Coromandel-area mine was a landmark decision for the fast-track system – it was the first mining project consented under the new process.

Oceana is now quickly accelerating its Waihī North work to extend the mine’s operations by a decade, to 2040; a planned new underground mine at Wharekirauponga is at the heart of the expansion.

The Wharekirauponga Forest is part of the DoC-managed Coromandel Forest Park; the Hauraki District Council-owned paper road in question passes through it.

In a statement, Ours Not Mines claimed that Oceana and the HDC had tried to “quietly repurpose a public road in a way that would be horrendous for the environment”.

Paper roads exist in law but are not formed; the paper road in question was set aside roughly a century ago, but the road was not built and the strip of land is not distinguishable from the surrounding bush.

The court ruled that the council consent was unlawful because the vents would constitute an appreciable interference with the public’s right of passage over the road. It noted that council-owned roads are held on trust for a public purpose.

The consent ran to 2061.

“As the licence permits activities and structures on the road that constitute an appreciable interference with the public’s right of passage, it purports to authorise a public nuisance, which the council has no power to do. The decision to grant the licence is accordingly declared unlawful and is set aside,” the judgment said.

The ruling overturned an earlier High Court decision which upheld the consent.

The Herald asked Donoghue why he chose to pursue the paper road ruling when OceanaGold’s fast-track approval appears to allow the company to sink its vents on adjacent DoC land.

“We asked OceanaGold if they would relinquish the licence to the paper road if they no longer needed it. It said it would not, and even before the hearing in the Court of Appeal, OceanaGold said perhaps one or two vents would not be constructed on the road. If it made no difference to them, then they could have surrendered the licence, at least,” Donoghue said.

“The court asked to be told if the issue was moot, and OceanaGold seemed to want to keep what it thought it had secured from HDC. This gives rise to real questions about the fast-track process – as OceanaGold’s application was approved despite the fact it proceeded on the basis that mining infrastructure could be built on a public road under the (unlawful) licence,” Donoghue said.

The consent allowed the installation of steel and concrete infrastructure and vents of up to 8m tall within a footprint of up to 150sq m each.

Total capital investment at Waihī is expected to be US$215 million ($377m) this year, which will include US$25m in exploration drilling at Wharekirauponga, focused on converting mineral resources to mineral reserves.

Vancouver-based Oceana is New Zealand’s largest gold miner and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

Earlier this year, the company confirmed it will pay a record sum of nearly $200m to the New Zealand Government in corporate income tax and royalty payments for 2025, on the back of a gold price that soared past a whopping US$5000 an ounce.

Like many gold miners, Oceana enjoyed record profits in 2025; net profit in the year was US$645.7m, more than triple the US$192m from the previous year.