OceanaGold (ASX, TSX: OGC) has received New Zealand’s green light to acquire 180 hectares of farmland near its Waihi gold mine, in the country’s North Island.
The mid-tier gold producer, which petition
had been previously denied, said the property will be used to build new tailings
ponds to storage waste from the extraction process at Waihi.
“We are very pleased with this decision as we seek to make further significant economic contributions to the Waihi and surrounding communities,” president and chief executive, Mick Wilkes, said in the statement.
OceanaGold’s application to buy the
land was denied in May by the Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). The miner resubmitted
the request in August and the officials who evaluated it this time concluded
the project would result in “substantial and identifiable benefit” to the
country.
LINZ’s Overseas Investment Office (OIO) said the move protected about 340 full-time jobs and exports valued at almost $2 billion over nine years.
The Australian company had already been granted a permit to begin mining at an underground extension at the Martha open-pit mine. The project is estimated to host a measured and indicated resource of 140,000 gold ounces and an inferred resource of 339,000 ounces and will potentially add another ten years to the operation’s productive life.