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A climate activism group is claiming victory for shutting down a national mining conference and disrupting operations at a Huntly coal mine, while a mining leader says “winning wasn’t difficult” with Covid-19 creating many roadblocks.
The Extinction Rebellion group under the name Stop the Mineral Forum Coalition, began protesting at the Rotowaro coal mine near Huntly on Tuesday at 6.30am.
They were to protest in front of the 2020 Mineral Forum, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at Hamilton’s Claudelands event center, however organizers canceled the event late last week citing security concerns about the coronavirus and limited security.
The Minerals Forum has since been connected and 30 activists gathered at the Rotowaro mine in protest.
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Tom Lee / Stuff
Jelle Bone chained herself to a fence surrounding the Rotowaro Coal Mine in protest of climate change.
The group blocked three entrances on Waikokowai Rd for hours in the rain, stopping access and disrupting work. Some protesters chained their necks to the doors.
While others held signs like “Declare climate change now” and “Buried the Minerals Forum”.
The Rotowaro Coal Field and Open Pit is the second largest open pit coal mine in New Zealand. It is owned by Bathurst Resources Ltd, an Australian company that owns several coal mines in New Zealand, including Marumarua, Takitimu, Cascade, Canterbury Coal and Stockton.
Coal is exported and used domestically in steelmaking, lime making, meat processing, wood processing, horticulture, agribusiness, and light industrial plants.
Climate activist Felix Hoornaert said that after the conference was canceled, the group decided to target Bathurst because the company was the platinum sponsor of the Mineral Forum 2020.
Tom Lee / Stuff
The national coalition of activist groups disrupted the Rotowaro coal mine on Tuesday.
“We are the Stop the Mineral Forum Coalition and we are a group of around 30 activists who have come together to stop the mining conference in Kirikiriroa, Hamilton,” said Hoornaert. Stuff.
“We were quite successful with that because last week they announced that they weren’t going to do it. Although we see that as a victory for our movement, we realize that it is not the end, our goal is not only to stop the conference, but also the leaders who allowed this conference to take place. “
He said the group believes that mining should not be “the central principle” of the New Zealand economy.
“We should look for other ways to investigate our materials. If mining is a future part of that, it would be a minor part.
“We realize that some minerals are needed to support our renewable energy position, so we do take that into account, but we must focus on urban mining and recycling systems to support this system much more than we need more infrastructure.” .
TOM LEE / STUFF / Waikato Times
The protesters blocked the entrance and chained themselves to the doors.
Tim Jones of Coal Action Network Aotearoa said Bathurst has also requested consent to “massively expand a coal mine in Canterbury, despite having already breached several consents for its current mine.”
“Fonterra and the dairy industry will burn this coal, while continuing to assert that their industry is sustainable, largely ignoring the obvious renewable alternatives,” Jones said.
“It’s time to stop looking for fossil fuels and make the switch.”
Mining Straterra Chief Executive Officer and Mineral Forum spokesman Chris Baker said the cancellation was not due to protesters, but a lack of security.
“We would like to think whether or not the protesters will be able to continue,” Baker said. Stuff.
“The event, like most things in 2020, has been under a cloud all year with Covid-19 and all the associated social and economic disruption and uncertainty, the election year, the date changes and now the concern about the safety of delegates and protesters.
Tom Lee / Stuff
The Rotowaro coal field and open pit mine is New Zealand’s second largest open pit coal mine and can be further expanded.
“We were not satisfied that the level of police and security support allowed us to keep delegates or protesters safe.”
While admitting that without the number of protesters, the event “may have moved on,” he said complications from Covid made it “not a good time” to continue the conference anyway.
“The forum is the industry’s annual event, but it’s not that important that we compromise on safety. Safety is paramount. “
The theme of this year’s Minerals Forum was “The role of mining in a prosperous, low-emission economy.”
Baker said he believes there is a world where mining and environmental awareness can exist.
While Hoornaert regards the issue as a “green wash”, with these “dinosaur industries” showing little evidence of change.
“The protesters want us to completely stop using fossil fuels to stop mining immediately, but our position there is that the solution is worse than the problem, but clearly theirs is different,” Baker said.
“When we look at the protest messages, they are ironic and hypocritical. All New Zealanders benefit from the products of mining, be it infrastructure, food production, export earnings, telephones or windmills.
“The cancellation of the forum is a disappointment, but will have little impact on the legitimate and highly encouraging investment and development of resource activity in New Zealand.
“Gold prices are near an all-time high and New Zealand has world-class gold resources and potential, demand for iron and coking coal from the global steel sector is strong. This is good for our industry and good for New Zealand.
Stuff He reached out to Bathurst for comment, but did not reply before the deadline.
Tom Lee / Stuff
Sue Boyde chained herself to a fence at Huntly’s Rotowaro coal mine on Tuesday.
