Stop Central Otago Gold Mine
Help us to stop the development of large-scale industrial gold mining in beautiful Central Otago.
Cromwell, Otago
Santana Minerals (Australia) is planning to develop a series of open cast goldmines in the outstanding Dunstan Mountains, above Tarras, in the Bendigo Ophir area. This gold mine, if it goes ahead, will dramatically alter our natural landscape, has the potential for severe adverse effects to the environment, water supply, and will be a negative impact for our visitor experiences and will greatly impact the wine and agricultural industries of the area.
Mining is a very dirty industry!
We need your help! While Santana Minerals have made it on to the list of the Fast Track Approvals Act, they haven’t yet got consent. We need to fully understand the impacts of this hasty project, which if not planned properly has the potential for failure. If we can get more people making more noise opposing this development, then that’ll make it harder for them to get approval. It may even force this project back to a proper evaluation under the RMA which will include community and independent expert inputs.
The Fast Track Panel has an extremely short period to make a decision. There is a very real risk that they will seek no other advice than that "bought and paid for" by the people who are applying - hence we need independent expert voices now!
Any small donation you can give us will be truly appreciated and very helpful to the cause.
Use of funds
Awareness raising campaigns and experts who can help us unpack and critique the developer's application, which will be thousands of pages of technical evidence covering everything from impacts to water, air, noise, the economy and more.
Other page links
Latest update
The week a gold mine laid bare a region’s deepest fears and fiercest loyalties 5 May 2026
Mike White writes: For three days this week, a panel considered arguments about a controversial gold mine planned for Central Otago. There were high-powered experts and expensive lawyers. But perhaps the greatest truths came from the smallest people. Mike White was there.
[...] “If the mine goes through, we’ll still have to be there,” Claire told the panellists. “No one will buy our properties.” “We will bear quite considerable costs,” Geoff added. “But we will see no benefits.”
[...] “I realise I’m only a very small cog in the big decision-making process that’s come upon us,” Reinecke told the panel, his words hinting how his life had been swallowed by Santana’s actions, and his future had slipped out of his hands.
[...] “When we finally got them to sit at the table with us and have a cup of coffee and a discussion, there was more substance in the scone than there was in the conversation,” Beau remembers.
[...] “The incompatibility of this project means I can’t be there - I’ve got to get out. It will completely blow the wind out of my sails.”
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Hi Phil, we're very grateful for your support - this is very much a David & Goliath battle and the crowd on this page helps so much.
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