WA IHI NORTH PROJ ECT ECONOMI C IMPACTS For New Zealand consenting purposes only. Forward looking information must not be relied on for investment purposes. 14 range of businesses and jobs in the region, far in multiple of the direct employment in the mine. 3.4. Regional economic effects Many provincial centres are small and specialised. This means their economies can be affected by shocks, usually weather related, or from global economic shocks, and currently the Covid19 pandemic. New investments and sources of growth will play a crucial role in creating stable and long term economic contributors. Mining is already a significant economic contributor to the region. WNP will inject new investment into the economy and sustain robust levels of economic activity and employment (directly and indirectly). This will provide an insulating effect. As noted earlier, around 30% of the wider benefits are likely to be in the local district, around 45% in the wider region, around 15% in the rest of the country and around 10% outside the country. Presence of mining attracts highly skilled and well-paid staff into the region, with both economic and non-economic spill-overs from this. The mine’s suppliers benefit from transacting with a large business, which often has better systems and processes than small and medium sized enterprises (businesses with less than 20 staff make up 92% of business in the Waikato region). This can lead to improved performance of the mine’s suppliers, either through procurement activities, or through osmosis. 4. Conclusion Our analysis of WNP shows that it would be a transformational project to the local and national economy. It would more than triple gold and silver exports from the Waihi mine, increase royalties revenue to the Crown by more than 4 times, increase and extend economic activity and well-paid jobs to 2036 (from current life of mine ending in 2030). The economic benefits of direct employment and supporting suppliers will be overwhelmingly positive both locally and nationally.
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