Central Otago District Council (CODC) has issued a formal warning to the company behind a proposed gold mine near Cromwell, saying it is carrying out activities that don’t comply with the district plan.

The letter, sent on June 25, was addressed to the landowner and occupier of Bendigo Station and outlined several breaches at the site.

Council acting group manager of planning and infrastructure Quinton Penniall told the Central App the company had until August 1 to either stop the unconsented activity or apply for the correct permissions.

He said Matakanui Gold - which operated as a wholly‑owned subsidiary of Santana Minerals - had since applied for retrospective consent for an existing site office, geology compound, and storage area. 

The company’s application, lodged on July 18, also sought permission for wider mineral exploration across 20 properties in the area, he said.

“As of now, council has not formally accepted this application under Section 88 of the Resource Management Act 1991,” Quinton said.

The council’s enforcement action was triggered by a public complaint and details Matakanui Gold itself provided during other consenting processes, he said.

In a statement provided to the Central App, a spokesperson for Santana Minerals said the company was “actively engaging with the Central Otago District Council to address the matters raised in their letter”.

The spokesperson said Matakanui Gold had developed plans to shift its exploration base to nearby Ardgour Station for the duration of any future mine granted under the Fast-Track Approvals legislation.

“We submitted the early works resource consent application to CODC on May 16 in accordance with the district plan to establish new buildings and facilities,” the spokesperson said.

“We believe this solution will satisfy the issues raised by CODC. We are yet to receive those consents.

“We are committed to working collaboratively to resolve any concerns and to ensure a long-term, compliant solution is in place.”

Vocal local opponents of the mine claimed the district plan breaches revealed a “cavalier approach” to consenting and represented the latest incident to further undermine Santana Mineral’s credibility with the community.

A spokesperson for Sustainable Tarras said residents living closest to the proposed mine site had raised concerns about the unconsented activities, which the group then brought to the council’s attention.

The mine is being pursued under the coalition government’s new fast-track approvals legislation, designed to speed up consenting for major projects.

A Santana spokesperson said the fast-track application was “imminent”, and that the company expected to submit it in the coming weeks once all required reports had been received.

Meanwhile, Sustainable Tarras maintained the streamlined process was not appropriate for what it described as a “highly complex and highly environmentally impacting project”.

Ardgour Station and Bendigo Station are neighbouring rural properties in the Dunstan Ranges, just north of Cromwell, forming the core footprint of Santana Minerals’ proposed Bendigo-Ophir gold project.

Santana Minerals announced earlier this month it had purchased Ardgour Station outright, which is earmarked for the mine’s supporting infrastructure, including the processing plant and tailings storage.