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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2009 15:36:04 GMT 12
Otago Miners might want to write to crown minerals also before there is nothing left available to mine
Chris,
I have an auto reply saying Mathew is out of the office, I wish to bring the following to your attention also.
Regards Mark Skinner
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Skinner
To: matthew.brown@med.govt.nz
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 3:47 PM
Subject: Glass earth.
Dear Mathew,
I am writing to you to express my great concern of the behaviour of Glass Earth Ltd.
According to their press releases they were intially after hard rock targets, I was sorta ok with that despite getting a million dollars from the Otago Regional Council. Hard rock is out of the league of us smaller miners so we put things aside for a couple of years while they did their thing.
Now we find they are after alluvial targets and wish an extension of their original permit, This is not on !!!!!!! They have tied up much of Otago and will not even reply to emails requesting they might drop part of their claim that they probably wont even work or take a look at.
I got threatened by Mr Hart of having my claim taken from me because I hadnt started work because I still hadnt got the resource consent through , How can this be justified when Glass earth has so much land virtually sterilised to mining and not a chance of prospecting it thoroughly.
I understand they are applying for an extension of time this I and many local miners object to strenuously. I am that ---------- off I am seriously considering asking the minister to look into it. It cant be within the mining laws as I understand them. We are virtually being treated like a third world people getting pushed aside to let multinationals in on assetts that belong to New Zealand not a bunch of Canadians.
I wish a reply to my concerns and can be contacted at the above or ****************, Dunedin.
Regards Mark Skinner.
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Post by RKC on Mar 6, 2009 11:36:33 GMT 12
G'day Mark,
It might be worth contacting Bob Kilgour to see if the Otago Miners Assoc is planing on doing something about this important issue. Good letter ... and great to see a small scale miner getting involved in issues such as this, which will effect us all. Lets hope others will also get involved.
A few days ago I was thinking about a letter I once received from Crown Minerals in reply to a submission I sent on the suction dredge issue in which they said that they were no longer looking into the issue of suction dredge mining because of the lack of a response from suction dredge miners to a call for submissions on the issue. Their attempt at getting in touch with suction dredge miners consisted of a single newspaper add ... which I had even missed seeing. And the vast majority of Kiwi suction dredge miners would not have been aware of the add.
Now, because of the Internet we at least have the means to let suction dredge miners know of an issue when it arises and Crown Minerals will no longer be able to use the excuse that they get no response from miners. But it still nevertheless requires other miners to do something, such as write a letter, once they learn of the issue from the Internet.
What is happening in California at present with the New 49'ers deciding to fight back instead of continually being on the defense is a significant development and change in tactics, and it will be interesting to see how it will finish up for the miners in California.
Regards,
Rob (RKC)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2009 13:13:09 GMT 12
Hi Rob Thanks for that. when crown minerals was asked why they permtted such a large claim their reply was none of small guys complained, not that we heard anything till it was a done deal. They couldnt even leave the waterways alone they just blanket claimed everything. And now they want an extension on time !!!! How long  ?? I know of another miner who requested a copy of their application but got refused because it was comnmercially sensitive. It should be public knowledge !!!! Now they have to go thru the ombudsman to get it. This guy has a heavyweight lawyer behind him so things should turn interesting. Will keep you posted. But others affected should get up crown minerals or all our fun will be over. Cheers Mark |
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Post by powderburns on Mar 11, 2009 4:29:44 GMT 12
GE are quickly running out of cash, and are desperate. They will be lucky if they get any approvals for surface alluvials before they're skint. Won't be able to extend any permits.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2009 8:18:23 GMT 12
Hi powderburns, that news is a bit of a worry, dont like seeing anyone going under. All we asking is a fair suck on the sav. These big companies can be useful to us smaller guys with their ability to get information that we cant possibly afford. Lime and marbles reports are still providing buckets of opportunities for us. However with glass earth getting a million dollars from the orc little is getting back to us, they claim commercial sensitivity when we helped pay for it, with otago's case one third of it. Cheers Mark
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2009 16:25:44 GMT 12
To all southern NZ miners or those who have had a gutful of big internationals locking up ground. Glass earth limited has a renewal hearing comming up next week I think it is. Letters of objection can be sent to Mr Mathew Brown of Crown minerals by emailing mathew.brown@med.govt.nz it doesnt have to be eloquent just make your objection to the extension of such a large claim. Cheers Mark
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Post by fudnz on Mar 19, 2009 10:55:24 GMT 12
hey Mark - I sent this to Welly.... I wonder if the replies will be forth coming.... Dear Mathew - I am one of the Otago group of small scale suction dredge miners and have a couple of areas in mind that I have been able to prospect with the possibilty towards making a claim. This has not been possible because of the blanket claim lodged by glass earth. Now news has come to me that Glass earth may well be in the hunt to extend their searching for alluvial ground - is this correct?. It was also said that they would use the existing blanket that they have in place to carry this out - is this also correct?. How the hell are we supposed to lodge claims to remain in the legal system when things like this happen. Just how much of the sausage does this Canadian based company require.... is it not time for them to shorten up their area? so that we can lodge some areas of our/mine own. A while back I mailed in on a claim that was being taken out on the Taieri River by one small time operator - 70 k's of river - bloody rediculous.... and in the end I seem to remember that 40k's of river was granted - it would take 3 lifetimes to work this claim on this river. I really think that it is time for some reform both in the large area claims by offshore companies and in the smaller operators that tend to be a tad 'greedy' in their claiming. In the past I had two small claims running but made sure when these were placed that I was physically able to work the **** things - not just tie up land because I could. I am thinking now that as a hobby group like we used to be here in Otago it is time to start making noises once again. Mayhap it is time to lobby the minister on this, and to see if we are able to do, without being restricted, hog tied, and down trodden by those that seem to be able to move in on our country and take away that right of a small minority group to do what they like to do in their spare time...... enjoying the hobby of seeing a bit of gold in the pan at the end of a day...... It would be nice to have a reply to this mail in your own words/thoughts about what could/should happen... Thanks in advance Allan Dunford. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2009 22:31:16 GMT 12
Cheers Allan ;D We still need more come on guys. Cheers Mark
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2009 23:28:41 GMT 12
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Post by RKC on Mar 20, 2009 12:02:14 GMT 12
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Post by powderburns on Mar 22, 2009 10:43:41 GMT 12
Then there's this: www.odt.co.nz/news/business/48409/crunch-time-now-glass-earthThere's a monument on Mt Puketapu commemorating the busting up of the huge 19th century Otago pastoral leases by Sir John Mackenzie. It'd be nice to see Glass Earth's Permit busted open. Glass Earth did some interesting work. I'm not sure how they convinced the government to hand out such a massive lease (maybe Mines Dept are as practicable as DOC). Good on Glass Earth. It appears they are now attempting to become miners. That is a new playing field. What is a "boutique" mine look like? Sounds like a hair salon. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2009 11:17:04 GMT 12
Oh how the mighty shall fall  Reduced to scratching in the dirt like the rest of us. The ODT article is starting to sound a bit desparate. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2009 7:15:03 GMT 12
And now ........
Claim gold miners impeded
Home » News » Business
By Simon Hartley on Wed, 25 Mar 2009
News: Business
Click photo to enlarge
Glass Earth Gold prospects. ODT Graphics. Glass Earth Gold's blanket mining permit in Otago, the largest in the country, is impeding other gold miners from gaining prospecting and exploration permits at a time gold has hit record prices.
Glass Earth chief executive Simon Henderson, however, has defended the 15,400sq km permit, saying he hoped to "come to an accommodation" with two would-be miners within a week to allow them access to Glass Earth-permitted areas.
"Everyone got excited when gold hit a record [New Zealand] price, for a day. [But] there's no way we want to stand in the way of the smaller miners," Mr Henderson said yesterday.
Glass Earth, already operating on a permit extension, is seeking a two-year extension from Crown Minerals to November 2010.
It has carried out a $4 million aerial survey and spent more than $3 million testing for hard-rock and alluvial gold.
Mr Henderson said little Otago ground had been pegged by miners during the past 20 years, while Glass Earth had spent more than $7 million in the past two years. The company had relinquished ground to between five and 10 miners in that period.
Glass Earth is meeting government permit agency Crown Minerals soon. Issues of coverage would be addressed, he said.
The original permit application was criticised in 2007, with miners predicting then that Glass Earth would "lock up" large tracts of Otago. Mr Henderson said Glass Earth had been steadily decreasing its stake, from about 30,000sq km, to 22,000sq km to the present 15,400sq km.
Crown Minerals operations manager Matt Brown said the Glass Earth permit situation posed a "conundrum" for all concerned. He had sympathy for both points of view.
"With the price of gold up, more people are starting up their screens, especially where there are marginal gold deposits."
Details of Glass Earth's latest application could not be released; it was still being processed.
Glass Earth confirmed last week it was shifting from its role as a gold explorer to that of producer, intending to begin small hard-rock and alluvial mining operations in the Ida Valley before the end of the year.
It aims to produce up to 9000oz of gold during the first year's operations. This work covers the two-year extension sought by Glass Earth for its Ida Valley activities, and encompasses its existing hard-rock exploration activities in East Otago and beyond.
Mr Brown said interest at Crown Minerals in alluvial mining in Otago had increased "dramatically" since about January this year. New permit numbers granted for each of the past two years to March were respectively 23 and 25.
The rise in interest coincided with record New Zealand gold prices, which were underpinned by the weakness in the New Zealand dollar.
Gold hit $NZ1886 an ounce in late February, and at 7pm yesterday was $US941 ($NZ1647) in Asian markets.
• Listed Australian iron-ore giant Fortescue Metal Group's application to Crown Minerals in July last year for 11 sweeping permits around New Zealand, including one covering 4000sq km on the West Coast, is coming under scrutiny from small miners.
Details of its application were unable to be released until Crown Minerals made a final decision, Mr Brown said.
However, several alluvial miners were successfully applying to Fortescue for access to prospects within its areas.
There were no permit amendment applications being processed covering any Glass Earth holdings, Mr Brown said.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2009 14:59:08 GMT 12
Hi Guys can I get a show of hands (no names will be used ) of who is for and who is against glass earths extension. I need some numbers to reply to news paper article. Cheers Mark
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Post by RKC on Mar 25, 2009 19:06:14 GMT 12
G'day, There is an interesting artical in todays Greymouth Star', as below ... img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/Coochee/greystarHHHH.jpg?t=1238013340Glass Earth should exclude all of the live rivers in Otago from their permit area before there is any extension of their present permit, or they start mining in the Ida Valley. This isssue with Glass earth got a mention on Morning Report (National Radio) this morning. Regards, Rob (RKC) |
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Reduced to scratching in the dirt like the rest of us. The ODT article is starting to sound a bit desparate.