The GreenplanetFM Podcast with Tim Lynch

“Is mining undermining the community in NZ and our global standing?”Denis Tegg, the spokesperson for Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki. A member of the group since the early 1980s, involved in all components of the campaign - bringing communities together, raising awareness, media, peaceful and non-violent direct action, political lobbying, etc.  A lawyer, he lives in Thames.Question: How is it that it only needs the Prime Minister and the Minister for Conservation to say yes to mining? No one else and no Act of Parliament is required! Gold mining generates huge volumes of hazardous waste (tailings), which is dumped in a tailings dam. The gold is only a tiny proportion of the material extracted, less than 10 parts in one million.The gold is extracted using cyanide, so safe storage of the mine waste poses a serious problem.  Waste rock (overburden) that is not processed, as well as the highly toxic processed waste, is hazardous. Processed rock takes up several times more volume once extracted. The tailings stay t