Mount Aspiring believed to be under threat from the NZ National Government's mineral stocktake plans...

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Is the NZ Govt planning to mine Mt Aspiring?



 Claims that another national park could be opened up for mining have put the Nw Zealand Government under more pressure. It has recently been highly criticised for its general support for more mining on conservation estates around the country.



ONE News  obtained documents suggesting Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee is looking at allowing mining in the Mount Aspiring National Park, despite public assurances it remains a "no go" area.



"The government has, for its own reasons, decided that Kahurangi and Mount Aspiring are no-go areas," Brownlee had said back in March.



The recently obtained plans are on a government map that conservationists think show that it is under discussion for mining.



"These maps are drawn to close off permitting for this area because there is a survey being undertaken and therefore it suggests that the government does have an interest in mining these areas," says Quentin Duthie of Forest & Bird Society. Maps obtained suggest strong consideration for the Mount Aspiring National Park area, despite the government's denial. It is obvious that the New Zealand Government is deadly serious about raiding more of the country's highest value conservation lands over time.


The Government revealed a proposal back in March of this year, 2010, to remove 7000 hectares of  land from  Schedule 4 protection, but had said then that Mount Aspiring itself would remain protected. But it had posted a notice on its website that applications for mining large tracts of land - including Mount Aspiring National Park, and parts of other national parks - would be closed for the nextnine months while a mineral stocktake was carried out. This stocktake had now been carried out.

The website indicated the NZ Government's intentions were bigger than the public discussion paper disclosed. The Governmen's intentions were still not clear and above board. Forest & Bird would ask the government for more specific details.



The maps are on the website for the agency helping Brownlee with his minerals stocktake. The minister has declined interview requests today.



In March, Brownlee signed an official notice telling mining companies not to bother applying for permits in areas where his officials are about to spend $4 million assessing if there's enough gold and other minerals there to make it worth discussing mining potential. That notice includes Mount Aspiring.



"There is a chance that there is an innocent explanation. But it does seem that this matches government's earlier intentions to mine in this area so there could well be information that is being kept from the public here," says Duthie.



The minister's spokesman had denied this, saying that simply no-one in government thought it was worth ruling a more complicated line on the maps, and that the park remains off limits for mining.

The time for the Zenn - but exactly when...

The founder of a Canadian- made fully 100% electric car(the Zenn)says the Canadian Government is blocking him from selling the cars in Canada, despite the fact they have been sold in the US and Mexico for some time. The Zenn is an acrymon for Zero Emission No Noise.

Has the Canadian Government made a deal with another manufacturer?

Zenn is only a small company in Saint-Jerome, just north of Montreal. The car was founded by a Toronto entrepreneur named Ian Clifford in 2001 - at a time other companies were still obsessed by SUV's.

The Zenn company has developed a model that uses a revolutionary ultra-capacitor, not the usual battery.

The updated model, the so-called 'City Zenn', will have a top speed of 125 kpm, a range of 400 km, and a phenomenal recharge time of only five minutes. The estimated ticket price is only $30,000.

But after a little research I have discovered a fly in the ointment, a problem with the delivery of the ultra-capacitor which was originally promised for 2007, then again in 2008. The capacitor could actually be worth $2 billion annually to Zenn by 2013.

There appears also to be a bureaucratic problem to get Zenn approved for use on the roads, because it is a new class of vehicle, not the typical LSV class.

Read here