Martha Mine Educational Resources for Schools: Introduction

The Martha Mine is one of two hard rock gold mines operating in New Zealand.

The aerial photograph below shows the Martha Mine and the town of Waihi.

Click here to view a larger version of this image.

1. Martha Mine open pit
2. Surface Facilities Area
3. Conveyor
4. Water Treatment Plant
5. Process Plant.
6. Tailings storage facility (storage 2)
7. Waste rock loadout
8.Tailings storage facility (storage 1A)
9. Waste Rock Embankment
10. Black Hill
11. Gladstone Hill
12. Union Hill
13. Waihi Gold Mining Company Ltd Administration Office
14. Martha Mine Education Centre, dump truck display and viewing platform

Above: Looking southeast towards the Bay of Plenty and Tauranga. The open pit (1) is surrounded by a residential area. The processing plant,(5) water treatment plant (4) and tailings storage areas (6,8) are about two kilometres away. A conveyor belt (3) links the open pit to the rest of the operation.

Gold was first discovered in Waihi in 1878. The town grew around the underground mine that operated from the 1880s until its closure in 1952. After closure most of the buildings were removed, some of the shafts were capped and the miners went to jobs elsewhere.

left: Historic workings similar to this example are common in the Waihi area. Miners sank vertical shafts and then drove horizontal tunnels in their search for veins containing gold-bearing ore.

In those days attitudes to the environment were very different and mining companies were not required to carry out any rehabilitation work. The mined area was fenced off and became overgrown with scrub and bush.

There was no more gold mining activity in Waihi until prospecting work began in the 1970s for the current project.

The New Martha Mine
Environmental attitudes and values had changed from the early days. It was no longer okay to mine without considering the environment. Planning for the new Martha Mine had to take into account that the mine would be operating very near to people’s houses and properties. The planners had to look at ways the open pit mine and its activities might affect neighbouring areas. If any effects could be seen as negative, the planners had to work out ways those effects could be avoided or lessened.

To do this they collected a large amount of information about Waihi, such as the area’s climate, geology, waterways, air quality, noise, flora and fauna, social and economic environment and much more. This took about seven years.

They also had to plan ways that the mined land could be rehabilitated afterwards, so that the area would be left the same as it was before mining started … or better.

above: An impression of the proposed Martha Lake which
will replace the present open pit once mining is complete.

All the information that was gathered was used to support applications for a mining licence, water rights and clean air licence.

The Mining Licence was granted in July 1987 for 30 years. It allowed the open pit to be mined to a depth of 200 metres. This would be reached by 2000 – 2001. The clean air licence and water rights consents followed.

The licences and water rights had strict conditions for factors such as noise, dust, vibration, hours of work and water quality.

The Extended Project
In the 1990s the company studied the possibility of mining deeper in the open pit - to a depth of 250 metres instead of 200 metres. This meant that the pit would need to be wider and longer than was first planned. Another round of information gathering began.

Due to changes in New Zealand law, licence applications now came under the control of the Resource Management Act, which was introduced in 1991. To permit an extension to the Martha Mine applications for new resource consents were made to the Hauraki District Council and Environment Waikato; the Environment Court in Wellington heard appeals.

Consents were granted in December 1998. Once again, strict conditions were imposed, including conditions for environmental monitoring and reporting.

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