What is Trans-Tasman Resources?

Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) is an Australian-owned mining company. For more than 10 years, TTR has tried unsuccessfully to start seabed mining in the South Taranaki.

What does Trans-Tasman Resources want to do?

Trans-Tasman Resources wants to be the first company in the world to start seabed mining – and they want to start it right here in Aotearoa. Seabed mining is the destructive practice of stripping the ocean’s seabed for metals and minerals. Mining companies want to extract these metals by using gigantic machines.

Seabed mining would be extremely destructive, destroying beautiful habitats and ecosystems that aren’t yet fully understood. It would cause massive damage to the ecosystems which sustain life all the way up the food chain, that all of us rely on.

Trans-Tasman Resources is planning to suck up 50 million tonnes of iron sand from the South Taranaki Bight every year for 35 years to extract vanadium, iron and titanium. Trans-Tasman Resources will then dump 45 million tonnes a year back into the ocean.

Trans-Tasman Resources was also given the go-ahead to nearly quadruple the size of the area it wants to mine in the South Taranaki Bight from 6600 to 24,300 hectares.

Where does Trans-Tasman Resources want to mine?

Trans-Tasman Resources wants mine the shallow waters between 22km and 36km off the coastal town of Pātea in South Taranaki. TTR originally applied to mine 66 square kilometres. But in July 2024, the industry regulator quietly approved TTR’s application to increase the size of its mining permit from 66 square kilometres to 243 square kilometres! That’s nearly the size of Great Barrier Island!

The South Taranaki Bight is home to some beautiful and rare marine wildlife, including eight at-risk mammal species like the pygmy blue whale and critically endangered Māui dolphin. For over 10 years, local iwi, residents and environmental groups have successfully protested against TTR’s plans to mine the South Taranaki Bight. And the Supreme Court repeatedly agreed that environmental protection is the bottom line, and that seabed mining would jeopardise that.

But Trans-Tasman Resources is set to bypass these environmental protections by using the Luxon Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill.

How bad would seabed mining be for the environment?

Seabed mining would be devastating for the fragile ecosystems, wildlife and environment. Below are just some of the risks seabed mining would pose:

• Noise pollution – Seabed mining is a very noisy process. Scientists are concerned that the noise from the seabed mining machines would harm mammals like whales. Many marine mammals rely on sound to communicate, navigate and forage. Studies have found that noise pollution can disrupt this behaviour.
• Destruction of habitats – When scooping up sand, seabed mining would hurt habitats and creatures on the seabed, like coral, anemones and octopus
• Sediment plumes – Seabed mining would also create massive plumes of sand when it is disposed of. These sand plumes would clog corals and sponges and likely smother the animals and ecosystems on its path.
• Blocking green investment – The South Taranaki Bight was set to be the site of an offshore wind farm. This project has now been cancelled, as it’s incompatible with Trans-Tasman Resource’s seabed mining plans. Instead of investing in renewable energy, Luxon’s government is set to invest in a destructive extraction industry. “It’s straight-out climate denial,” says Juressa Lee, Greenpeace’s seabed mining campaigner.

The scariest thing is we don’t yet know the full consequences that seabed mining would have. If approved, Trans-Tasman Resources would be the first large-scale seabed mining project in the world.

But one thing is for sure: protecting nature is more important than the profits of Trans-Tasman Resources.

PETITION: Ban seabed mining in Aotearoa

Seabed mining is a new threat to the oceans. Now is our chance to prevent the destruction before it’s too late.

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Companies linked to Trans-Tasman Resources

What is Manuka Resources?

Manuka Resources is an Australian-owned mining company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, with offices based in Sydney. They have interests in gold and silver mining in Australia. They are also the sole owners of Trans-Tasman Resources.

Manuka Resources recently had to backtrack on claims that the proposed Taranaki project would contribute a billion dollars a year to New Zealand’s exports. This included a formal retraction to the Australian Stock Exchange.

What is Straterra?

Straterra is a group that represents the mining industry in New Zealand. Its members include mining companies and well-known organisations such as Deloitte and Beca. Straterra runs campaigns to persuade the public about mining and tries to influence the government to help miners.

Straterra lobbies on behalf of wannabe seabed miners Trans-Tasman Resources. This is despite TTR losing in court several times and facing strong opposition from local iwi and hāpu, environmentalists, boaties, and the fishing industry.

It has openly backed the Luxon government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill. In August 2024, CEO Josie Vidal talked to different media about the changes to this bill, putting Straterra at odds with environmental groups and the many people who oppose it.