Central Otago District Council would receive $1.25 million yearly from Santana Minerals Limited in a deal to access council-owned roads for the Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project.
Both parties announced the agreement, marking a key milestone for Santana Minerals as it progresses through the government’s Fast-track approvals process.
The deal covers Thomsons Gorge Rd and the Shepherds Creek paper road, plus a 20 m strip on either side. It outlines access management if the project advances, ensuring public access is maintained and compensating for any council assets affected.
Santana Minerals would start CPI-indexed annual payments of $1.25 million to CODC once commercial gold production begins.
“This agreement resolves a long-standing statutory access requirement, provides durable clarity around roading and access arrangements and establishes a transparent framework for long-term community benefit,” Santana Minerals chief executive Damian Spring said.
However, for advocacy group Sustainable Tarras, the access agreement was disappointing.
“We believe there are considerable legal pitfalls to granting such access and we have repeatedly pointed these out to CODC and cautioned them to take time to consult, consider the consequences and involve the wider community. Today, in announcing this behind-closed-doors decision, they’ve made it clear that community is secondary to their private negotiations with Santana.”
“We do not understand the urgency with which CODC has decided to conclude this agreement with Santana. From the information we have so far, it again excludes the public and local community impacted and fails to take into account what Santana has clearly stated it will do with these roads.”
150 people congregated on Saturday for a lunch to raise money against the mine, including actor Sam Neill and artist Grahame Sydney.
Neill labelled the mining plans as ruinous for the region, noting that a growing community of ordinary, hard-working people is uniting to battle a “very large, very powerful, very well-funded Australian mining company.”
Sydney described Central Otago’s landscapes as “breathtaking, mystical, pristine, and ever-changing,” urging people to resist the “madness” of an open-cast gold mine.
.