{"id":47256,"date":"2026-04-11T03:15:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T03:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=47256"},"modified":"2026-04-11T03:15:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T03:15:37","slug":"thatll-be-the-end-actor-sam-neill-joins-fight-to-stop-controversial-goldmine-near-his-new-zealand-vineyard-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=47256","title":{"rendered":"\u2018That\u2019ll be the end\u2019: actor Sam Neill joins fight to stop controversial goldmine near his New Zealand vineyard | New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"


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T<\/span>he grapevines in Sam Neill<\/a>\u2019s vineyard in Central Otago \u2013 a picturesque region known for its undulating hills and wines \u2013 are pregnant with pinot noir grapes, almost ripe for picking as autumn arrives.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family has been here for over 150 years. I\u2019m connected to this land like nowhere else on earth,\u201d the 78-year-old actor and winemaker says. \u201cIt\u2019s perfect for wine. It\u2019s great for tourism. And it\u2019s one of the most beautiful and strange, remote places in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this unblemished landscape could soon change permanently.<\/p>\n

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Mere kilometres from Neill\u2019s vineyard lies the Dunstan mountains, shrouded in a crown of clouds. It is an area legally enshrined as \u201coutstanding natural landscape\u201d by the Central Otago district council, and it is in those ranges Australian mining company Santana Minerals is pushing to expedite a controversial 1,000 metre by 850 metre open-cast goldmine, called Bendigo-Ophir. In November, the company applied for consent from the New Zealand<\/a> government to tap into an estimated $6.75bn of gold deposits.<\/p>\n

Located 20km north of Cromwell in a region where a gold rush exploded in 1861, Bendigo-Ophir has been dubbed by its proponents as the country\u2019s most significant gold discovery in decades.<\/p>\n

But the proposed goldmine has ignited a fierce division between communities.<\/p>\n

Local environmental group Sustainable Tarras views the mine as a fast track to environmental destruction and a threat to tourism in one of New Zealand\u2019s best wine-producing regions, which also has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>The Dunstan mountains site where Santana Minerals is proposing its goldmine.<\/span> Photograph: Aina Khan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Post-Covid, two New Zealands are emerging: one that draws tourists globally to its Lord of the Rings-esque landscapes; and another, where the government has moved to abolish its dedicated environment ministry<\/a> and is fast-tracking mining projects<\/a> it says will boost the economy.<\/p>\n

Critics claim Bendigo-Ophir mine will dampen tourism and threaten up to 650,000 native lizards, which Santana Minerals disputes. Opponents have also warned that a dam storing toxic waste from the mine could burst in an earthquake, a claim the company calls unfounded.<\/p>\n

A Sustainable Tarras spokesperson says this \u201cindustrial-scale mine in the middle of one of New Zealand\u2019s most pristine and iconic districts is not just a major risk to our environment, it\u2019s also damaging to New Zealand\u2019s \u2018clean, green, 100% pure\u2019 reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neill, best known globally for his role in the Jurassic Park movie franchise, is backing the group and has presented a mini-documentary<\/a> for the cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not against mining. I\u2019m against this mine,\u201d says Neill, who has grown wine under his Two Paddocks label in the region for 30 years. \u201cIf this mine goes ahead \u2013 and God willing it won\u2019t \u2013 everything that you see [there] is under a claim [by the mining company]. And there will be mining all around us, and that\u2019ll be the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bendigo-Ophir goldmine is among hundreds of applications<\/a> being considered under the coalition government\u2019s controversial fast-track law, which prompted thousands to march in protest in 2024 and nearly 30,000 public submissions on the bill.<\/p>\n

The resources minister, Shane Jones \u2013 a self-avowed disciple of the \u201cdrill, baby, drill\u201d mantra \u2013 says the mine will create 357 jobs and indirectly support another 500 jobs annually. He wants New Zealand to double<\/a> its mineral mining exports by 2035.<\/p>\n

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Map showing location of the proposed Bendigo-Ophir goldmine in Central Otago, New Zealand.<\/a><\/figure>\n

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Tarras local Mark Davidson, 64, who has worked in farming and the wine industry, says the mine is a local solution to record numbers of New Zealanders<\/a> leaving the country \u2013 most departing for Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s getting harder and harder to put a deposit on a house,\u201d Davidson says. \u201cIf the economy here was better, I think you\u2019d find that a lot of people overseas would come home.\u201d He claims most locals are in favour of the mine.<\/p>\n

The prospective mine will be assessed under the fast-track law<\/a>, which can expedite energy, mining, roads and other large projects.<\/p>\n

Some fast-track applications include \u201czombie projects\u201d \u2013 such as a previously rejected hydro scheme on the Waitaha river. Despite being rejected in 2019 under Jacinda Ardern\u2019s Labour government, it was provisionally approved<\/a> under the fast-track law in March.<\/p>\n

The former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark accuses the current government of having \u201clittle regard\u201d for the environment. \u201cIts fast-track legislation overrides key environmental and conservation protection laws. It is amending planning law over all in favour of development,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Hayden Johnston, a local businessman of M\u0101ori Ng\u0101i Tahu and Scottish descent, runs a wedding venue and the Kuru Kuru winery within 5km of the mine site.<\/p>\n

The opencast mine won\u2019t be visible from his venue. But its processing plant will operate 24 hours every day under a 30-year permit, so he says it will probably be heard, a claim Santana Minerals says is not supported by modelling data.<\/p>\n

Johnston, who has run his wine label for 24 years, says: \u201cWe would never have created a world-class wine region [here] in Bendigo if we knew there was going to be an opencast pit among us.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Winemaker Hayden Johnston stands in an area where prospectors mined for gold during Central Otago\u2019s 19th century gold rush. <\/span> Photograph: Aina J. Khan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Growing grapes is sustainable, he says. \u201cGold is a one-off. You crush the land. You make a huge, toxic legacy, but you can only take the gold out once.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mining industry has a long history of environmental disasters caused by poorly stored waste in tailings dams<\/a> \u2013 a type of dam that will also be built for Bendigo-Ophir. Poisonous waste, including arsenic, will be stored there in perpetuity.<\/p>\n

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Prominent M\u0101ori businessman Ian Taylor worries about the 600km-long alpine fault<\/a> running down the South Island. \u201c[The dam] is going to hold toxic material in an area that has a seismic zone,\u201d he says. \u201cThe liability or the risk we are placing \u2013 or Santana is placing \u2013 will last generations after they are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santana Minerals states the dam has been carefully designed to withstand a one-in-10,000-year earthquake<\/a>, and insists \u201cthere is no credible long-term failure mode that could result in a breach\u201d. The company rejects its mine will negatively affect tourism, and says it is investing $10m in two lizard sanctuaries, totalling 67 hectares. The majority of the hundreds of jobs created, it says, will stay in the region. Many of the claims opposing the mine lack evidence, it says. \u201cCritics have produced fear,\u201d the company says.<\/p>\n

A few kilometres from the proposed site, the only remnants of the 19th-century Central Otago gold rush are scars from dynamite blasts and rosehip bushes planted by Chinese miners.<\/p>\n

For mine supporter Davidson, concerns over the tailings dam are unfounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe miners back in the 1800s didn\u2019t really give a toss about the environment,\u201d he says. \u201cTimes have changed \u2026 Now, you\u2019ve got things like the Environmental Protection Agency who make sure that things are done properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

But since taking office in 2023, New Zealand\u2019s rightwing coalition government<\/a> has faced growing criticism for its environment and climate policy agenda.<\/p>\n

Under the previous government, Ardern had promised to ban new mines on conservation land \u2013 but the three parties in government failed to reach an agreement over the proposal. However, in 2018, they did halt the granting of new offshore oil and gas exploration permits.<\/p>\n

Jones has described<\/a> Ardern\u2019s permit ban as \u201cthe most destructive decision in the history of New Zealand\u2019s industry\u201d, and he has promised to restart<\/a> exploration. Jones declined to comment on the mine.<\/p>\n

A decision on Bendigo-Ophir mine is expected by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Back at Neill\u2019s farm he points out the native trees and the vineyards he has personally grown and tended to for decades.<\/p>\n

Mounds of dirt punctuate the horizon stretching ahead of Neill\u2019s vineyard from another mine.<\/p>\n

For Neill, it is not simply an eyesore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI own land, but I\u2019m not a land owner. The land is part of me, and I\u2019m a part of the land,\u201d Neill said, referring to the M\u0101ori concept of kaitiakitanga, being a custodian for future generations. \u201cIt comes with a responsibility, and you need to leave the land better than you found it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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