Canada-based gold and copper producer OceanaGold has submitted an application for fast-track approvals for its Waihi North Project (WNP), a proposed underground mining project in New Zealand, which includes the Wharekirauponga Underground (WUG) project.
The WNP is located north of OceanaGold’s existing Waihi gold mining operations.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The company anticipates that the project will be fully permitted by the end of 2025, pending any appeals, under New Zealand’s Fast-track Approvals Act 2024, which is designed to expedite major projects with regional or national benefits.
The fast-track application aligns with OceanaGold’s schedule for obtaining approvals by December 2025, with the aim to commence decline and underground development work for the WUG in 2026.
The company also plans to invest C$40m–45m in 2025 in early works that do not require fast-track approvals.
Additionally, OceanaGold announced results from its ongoing exploration at Wharekirauponga, with gold intercepts across five drill-holes.
These findings include high-grade gold intersections such as 6.3m at 8.7 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold and 1.7m at 24.6g/t of gold, indicating the potential for resource growth and conversion.
Since 14 November 2024, five drill-holes have been completed, including four extensional holes that have intersected “significant” mineralisation in the East Graben (EG) vein zone’s southern shoot.
The results confirm the continuation of high-grade mineralisation and suggest further potential for exploration.
The 2025 drilling programme will focus on resource expansion from multiple drill sites, with 8,600m planned, primarily targeting the EG vein zone.
OceanaGold president and CEO Gerard Bond said: “Results continue to demonstrate the continuity and upside potential at Wharekirauponga beyond the 1.2moz (million ounces) of reserves we declared with the PFS [prefeasibility study] in December 2024.
“Continued growth of Wharekirauponga through drilling and exploring for further discoveries in the district in 2025 is one of the best investments we can make and we look forward to the potential to continue to grow the resource.”
In June 2024, OceanaGold sold its Blackwater project in New Zealand, earning $30m in cash.
