Mining Ventures West Coast New Zealand

Finally we see some economic development occurring on the mineral rich West Coast of New Zealand.

TiGa is seeking consent to mine ilmenite, or black sand near Greymouth; separating titanium and other heavy minerals, including gold. The output will be sent by rail to Lyttelton or Timaru port on the east coast of the South Island: https://www.tigamm.co.nz/about

Then, already up and running are WMS Group, who are doing much the same thing, but instead are sending their product to the port of Nelson, but in future will be loading bulk carriers off the coast for export to China:  https://www.wmsnz.com/critical-minerals/

NZ has the world's largest resource of black sand, located both onshore and offshore. Finally, the quality of this resource is becoming known.

Just to add, there are natural oil and gas shows in the West Coast region, it is a prime strike zone but no-one is exploratory drilling. It also contains uranium, with commercial concentrations in the Buller district, near Kahurangi National Park. As you drive from Westport to Murchison, uranium ores sit by the roadside.

West Coast - Word of Advice

The West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand is under constant attack from lawmakers and environmentalists. They want to lock the coast up as some sort of living museum.

Okay, that said, my advice is for the West Coast to grow up and stop voting for EITHER Labour or National. That's right, neither offers any hope for their future. Labour was born on the coast but they've long since moved to Auckland and the all-important South Auckland party vote. National for its part curries favour with the rest of Auckland and farmers in general.

The problem for the West Coast arises out of MMP and the need for blocs of party votes. Only about 35,000 people of any age live on the coast, not enough party votes to matter. What they need to do is vote for an independent in the electorate, or a representative of a minor party. Thus, they could find themselves in the role of kingmaker. With the main parties, there is no way their voice will ever be heard. At election time they're pandered to, but when in office both Labour and National do nothing for the coast.