'Critical' Minerals, Mining and Sustainable Futures Symposium

With growth in global demand for minerals essential to the energy transition and as New Zealand resumes critical mineral trade deal with the US, this symposium brings together scholarly and practitioner perspectives to examine the opportunities and challenges associated with the extraction of critical minerals in Aotearoa New Zealand and to consider how extractive practices might be pursued within existing regulatory frameworks and environmental management systems, while also addressing questions of sustainability, community engagement, and Māori rights as Treaty partners in resource governance.

PROGRAMME

12:30: Introduction (Karakia) and welcome by Head of School – SGEES, Victoria University of Wellington

12:35: First paper – New Zealand’s critical minerals: occurrence, origin, and exploration
Matt Hill – Geologist, Earth Science NZ

1:10: Second paper – Criticality and other myths: a sustainable mining sector for Aotearoa?
Glenn Banks – Professor of Geography, Massey University

1:45: Third paper – Critical mineral mining in Aotearoa New Zealand and Tangata Whenua - Insights from Ngāti Ruanui.  
Rachel Arnott Rae – Kaiwhakahaere for Ngāti Ruanui

2:20: Fourth paper – Beyond the mine – Implications of mineral refining for Aotearoa.
Morgan Lowther – Scientist, Victoria University of Wellington

2:55: Funding partner’s presentation (VUW-DEVE and AusIMM NZ)

3:00: Afternoon Tea

3:30: Fifth paper – Everyone is angry around here, and everyone is kind of right.
Sefton Darby, Independent Consultant, Sydney

4:05: Panel Session – How might mining in NZ be approached ethically and sustainably

4:50 Wrap-off and conclusion

Participation is free, but registration is required.
For more information and to register, follow the link below.
https://miningsymposium.eventbrite.co.nz