Saudi and China to establish sand-mining industry
Posted: 20 April 2005
Chinese and Saudi Arabian interests, with billions of dollars at their disposal, are behind moves to establish a sand-mining industry based in Taranaki.
Representatives are in the region holding behind-the-scenes meetings with various parties over the industry, which they say has the potential to be one of New Zealand's biggest export earners.
The proposal involves mining sand from the seabed off the North Island west coast, and extracting the iron ore for export to the world steel industry.
If the proposal went ahead, Taranaki would be the land base for the operation.
Specialised vessels would excavate sand from the sea bed then discharge it at Port Taranaki. The ore would be removed, then loaded on to bulk carriers for export.
A spokesman for the visiting group, Christchurch solicitor John Rutherford, confirmed that Taranaki was being viewed as the base for the industry.
That was because of its proximity to the raw material and because of its deep-water export port with a draught deep enough to handle big bulk ore carriers, he said.
An Australian-registered Chinese consortium called Best Quality of Life Group (BQL) is also carrying out its own feasibility study into mining the seabed, Mr Rutherland said the consortium he represented was different altogether.
He said his group - which he would not name - was far more advanced in its investigations, to the extent it had already been granted a prospecting permit by the New Zealand Government to study the seabed over a 1300sq km area of ocean from New Plymouth to west of Auckland.
"A vessel will be in the area within the next two weeks to begin the survey. It will be sinking 50mm holes into the sea bed to find out if there is sufficient raw material," Mr Rutherford said.
He also said if an offshore ironsand mining industry were established in New Zealand, it would be a world first.
But the fact that its potential was being seriously investigated reflected the fact that there was huge international demand for steel.
In recent years the price of steel has gone up from $US75 a tonne to more than $US250 a tonne.
"Of course it is very early days yet, and for any of a number of reasons it may never go ahead," Mr Rutherford said.
"But it does have the potential to be a multi-billion project for New Zealand , and which could become one of the country's biggest export earners."
Posted by Editor Offshore Arabia Magazine
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