OceanaGold | Waihi North Project | Recreation and tourism assessment 10 3 Wharekirauponga Underground Mine As part of the Waihi North Project, OGNZL is proposing to establish a new underground mine targeting the Wharekirauponga orebody which lies under the southern end of the Coromandel Forest Park Conservation Area (the Park) administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC). A tunnel portal (Willows Portal) is proposed to be located on land owned by OGNZL to the south of the Park, and a series of ventilation raises (raises) will be constructed along the tunnel alignment to provide air circulation and an emergency exit. Up to four raises are proposed within the Park, but will emerge on unformed legal road alignments (not on DOC-administered land). Although the exact locations are not yet known, the four raises will be clustered at the northern extent of legal road nearer the Wharekirauponga Track on the Wharekirauponga to Golden Cross Track. An additional raise on OGNZL-owned land south of the Park is not considered in this assessment. The raises will be located near low-use and largely unformed tramping and pig hunting routes and each will include a ventilation stack similar to that shown in Figure 1. Other developments are proposed as part of the Wharekirauponga Underground Mine (WUG). These are located on land owned by OGNZL at the tunnel portal, including an additional ventilation raise to the south of the Park, along with a temporary rock stack and other infrastructure. This recreation assessment focuses on only the ventilation raises located on publicly accessible land in the Park. Figure 1: Design of surface infrastructure for ventilation stack (OGNZL supplied – note that exclusion fencing is not proposed)
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