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 The West Coast economy is underpinned by mining and the minerals industry. The sector includes coal and gold as well as aggregates pounamu, decorative stone, limestone, and other industrial minerals.
Gold mining in the region is both alluvial recovery and hard rock. Stone and aggregates is a steadily growing sector with the product used for rail ballast, roading, construction and protection works. Decorative use and landscaping projects using New Zealand’s attractive beach pebbles are a future market.
Mining in New Zealand contributes too many sectors of the economy, including construction (limestone for cement and aggregates for concrete), energy (coal), transport (road aggregates), primary industry (coal and ironsand), agriculture (fertiliser) and manufacturing (industrial minerals).
New Zealand's only source of bituminous coal is from the West Coast. Three million tonnes of coal is mined annually in the region, with the Stockton Open Cast Mine north of Westport being the largest coal mine in New Zealand, producing over 1.5 million tonnes of coal a year. The West Coast produces the majority of New Zealand’s export coal, with more than 1,500 people working in the region’s coal industry.
The mining industry provides employment in engineering, science, environmental management, machine operations and trades, as well as downstream opportunities for a range of contractors including transport operators, equipment fabricators and other suppliers.
The West Coast minerals industry currently employs in excess of 2,200 people and contributes in excess of $700 million to the national economy. |
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