In April, the company finished the access tunnel to the mine and is currently working to determine the purity and quantity of the deposits in the ground.
The ore is approximately 130 meters below the surface, but the current conditions of the proposal dictate that operations will be conducted 157 meters underground.
Construction of the new mine was stalled by a lengthy legal battle and protests from locals as it is directly underneath a residential community of 45 homes. Public hearings were held for the citizens of Waihi to voice their concern over blasting that will occur underneath the neighborhood.
Glen Grindlay, the general manager for Newmont Waihi stated that the new mine would be a modern operation (gold mining has been occurring off and on in Waihi since the 1800s) and that tight restrictions would be in place to reduce the worries of the locals. "This is a new mine with new conditions. While they are workable for us, they certainly place some very tight restrictions on our operations." said Grindlay.
Last year, the mine was granted approval by the Environment Court and a 12-year permit for operation.
The mine will be accessed by spiral decline and drives from two other Newmont mines, the Favona and the Trio.
This marks the first ever sub-residential mine in New Zealand. The company plans to offer real-time monitoring of vibration events of the operations online as well as a blast notification system that can alert residents of upcoming blasts via text, email, or phone.
Newmont is also planning to test a new warning system called the Tsunado, which will be a small device residents can keep in their homes that will play a short piece of music a few moments prior to a blast. The intention of the Tsunado device is to minimize the "startle effect" that comes with vibrations immediately following a blast.
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