Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Court challenge for Waihi mining expansion plan

Updated at 8:48 am on 4 February 2012

A mining company's plans to drill under the existing Martha Mine on the Coromandel Peninsula will be challenged in the Environment Court.

Newmont Waihi Gold employs 400 people in Waihi and has gained approval for the $55 million project.

Collette Spalding from the Distressed Residents Action Team says many people in the community are worried about the increased noise from more drilling.

Ms Spalding says the group will challenge Newmont's plans and has support from the Green Party. She understands there could be drilling 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

But Newmont Waihi Gold says it would not drill at night as resource consent conditions strictly forbid it and do not change the noise limits the company has had in place since the late 1990s.

The deadline to lodge an objection in the Environment Court is 27 February.

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