The fight for iron sands: the bitter battle to protect New Zealand's sea-floor riches

Government's push to fast-track projects in NZ stirs fears deep-sea mining off Taranaki, long opposed by the community, could go aheadThree fishers sit around a bare table in P?tea Boating Club, a few hundred metres back from New Zealand's south Taranaki coastline. Pigeons have left droppings on the floorboards, and through the salt-dusted windows the ocean pounds against the black sand."This is one of the best fishing areas in the country," the club's commodore, Steve Corrigan, says of the South Taranaki bight, which sweeps along the vast west coast of the North Island. "And it's at risk of being ruined." Continue reading...