Since 1983 we’ve kept mining out of Hauraki Coromandel
KAMAG
Established in the 1980s, KAMAG (Kūaotunu Anti Mining Action Group) members were at the forefront of a momentous endeavour to prevent mining in the Kūaotunu area and to ultimately seek the protection of the wider Hauraki Coromandel region from destructive and toxic industrial mining. KAMAG is a local group defending the Kūaotunu and wider area from mining. We are one of many groups on the Peninsula connected by the umbrella group Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki. Both Watchdog and KAMAG need your support if we are going to stop underground mining expanding from Waihi.
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki
An incorporated society founded in 1980, we are an umbrella group for all the anti-mining groups and communities across the across the Hauraki Coromandel. We provide information and support with research, public education, policy advocacy, capacity building, political lobbying and direct action, as needed by our communities.
Coromandel Watchdog are currently fighting to save Wharekirauponga, an area near Whangamatā that should be protected by its conservation status.
Watchdog currently have a petition requesting that the Labour Government honour their 2017 commitment to no mining on conservation land. Help us save this very special area and the taonga species that dwell within it.
Moratorium on Mining Permits for Conservation Land
To learn more about the crucial work that Watchdog do, find out more here:
Our History
The First Gold Rush: 1880s
The Coromandel Peninsula in the late 1800s to the early 1900s experienced a campaign of colonisation that primarily saw the whole of the Peninsula deforested, with gum digging, mining and finally settlement farming following.
The traditional owners of Kūaotunu, including Ngati Hei, were at this time alienated from much of their rohe and cheated out of the ownership of their land.
Two significant gold mines in the area were situated at ‘upper’ Kūaotunu and in the Waitaia. At the onset of the WWI the mines were abandoned.
Today, over 120 years later, tests carried out on the groundwater that issues from these mines record that the water is dangerous to human health with toxic carcinogens such as arsenic and cadmium still present.
The Second Gold Rush: 1980s
In the early 1980s, the small Coromandel community of Kūaotunu became a battleground as local residents fought back against various overseas-owned multinational mining companies who were demanding the right to mine both private and state-owned land. At that stage, private land owners could not under law refuse miners access to their land.
Grand statements were made by the mining companies about how they would establish opencast mines in the area and fill various valleys in Otama and Kūaotunu with toxic tailing dams. They also promised to generate employment and make Kūaotunu and the surrounding communities in the Mercury Bay area rich.
The Fight Back: 1980s to 2000s
This spectre of proposed mining activity generated much discussion in the small community, as it did in many other communities on the Peninsula, and led to the formation of the Kūaotunu Anti-Mining Action Group, or KAMAG.
The group’s goal was to reject mining in the area and, if necessary through direct action, assist in the protection of the surrounding environment, its community and culture.
This protection came at a price for many of its members, as the next 15 years meant sacrifices on many fronts.
With other similarly determined groups on the Coromandel, a change was negotiated with the Government, and the Crown Minerals Act was amended to protect Conservation Land under Schedule 4 from mining, and to allow private landowners the right to refuse mining companies access over their lands.
This unbelievable achievement by a grassroots group even inspired a movie about the fight: The Znail Gang.
The March on Queen Street: 2010
In 2010, John Key’s National Government attempted to remove the Schedule 4 protection of the Conservation Estate north of the Kopu-Hikuai Road.
The result of this proposal saw between 40,000 and 50,000 New Zealand citizens march up Auckland's Queen Street to demand that the protection remain. Jacinda Arden proudly marched the protest route carrying a sign proclaiming ‘OURS. NOT MINES’.
In the face of this public pressure the Government backed down from the proposal.
The Fight Returns: 2016–2018
Following the Queen Street march, Prime Minister John Key unfortunately suggested that mining ‘under’ might be an acceptable avenue using surgical or ‘key hole’ mining techniques, thus signaling that once again many areas in the Coromandel could be viewed as open for business by overseas mining companies. This included the Canadian/Australian owned OceanaGold, the current operators of the Waihi mine.
In 2016 the Ministry of Business Innovation (MBIE) and OceanaGold put in a joint appeal against the current District Plan which would have significantly weakened protections against mining, particularly in the northern Coromandel. There would have been more objectives to meet to build a subdivision if they had won.
Watchdog and a number of private citizens challenged the appeal while KAMAG ran a communications campaign, all of this work led to MBIE and OceanaGold dropping their case. The end result was a double win with an even stronger set of rules enshrined in the District Plan.
The Fight Continues: today
Today there are huge areas of land in the Coromandel subject to Exploration Licences. Once again Watchdog and KAMAG will ask our residents and holidaymakers alike to become active and to Lock the Gate against mining to protect our special communities in the area as well as the whenua (land), the ngahere (bush) and the moana (ocean) from this highly toxic and remorseless industry.
