The Mining Operation. The well known black sand beaches sweeping down the west coast of the North Island are the sites of New Zealand's greatest known reserves of ironsand. Its potential for commercial use was recognised from the early days of European settlement. This black ironsand was formed 2.5 million years ago from rock deposited on the ...

In May of this year, offshore iron sand mining firm Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) became the first company to be granted a licence to explore …

The Taranaki Iron Sands Mining Appeal: An Environmental Precedent. By Grace Goodwin. Seabed mining has never occurred commercially in New Zealand, and with the release of a recent Court of Appeal decision, it remains uncharted territory. The Taranaki Iron Sands appeals have been hard-fought, setting down interesting precedent and giving greater ...

BlueScope last year took a $162 million impairment on Taharoa, writing the value of the business down to zero. It seems clear enough that, barring some …

Nouvelle Zélande. Nauruan: ... Mining is mainly confined to coal and gold. Coal has been mined extensively around the northern west coast of the South Island, centred on Greymouth and Westport, and is presently mined around Huntly in the central north of the North Island. ... Two large scale iron sand mines are found on the west coast of the ...

New Zealand now faces the prospect of iron sand mining offshore. A High Court decision is pending on plans to mine 50 million tonnes of iron sand a …

The char is burnt at a predetermined rate by the air blown in through the fans mounted on the kiln shell. The hot gases generated during combustion raise the temperature of the kiln refractory lining (bricks) and as the kiln rotates (at one revolution every two minutes), the bed of iron sand, char and limestone slides over hot refractory.

NZ Iron Sands claims promises were made that it was the preferred bidder. Instead, a sale was made in early 2017 to a different bidder, Taharoa Mining Investments Ltd: a joint venture between Taharoa C and Melrose Private Capital Ltd. Taharoa C is a Maori land corporation owning land on which the iron sand is mined.

This mineral rich sand could be a valuable economic resource for New Zealand's revenue, possibly bringing in tens of billions of dollars. When mining for ironsand from the sea bed, the iron rich sand is sucked onto the plant, where the iron is separated from the sand. The iron-depleted sand is then dumped back into the ocean.

It was formed by the nearby volcanic cones of Taranaki, Pirongia and Karioi, which over the millennia, eroded vast quantities of black, iron-rich sand, down the streams and rivers on their flanks. Ocean currents then moved the sand north and southwards away from its source. The result is a series of deposits along 480 km of coastline from ...