Less than a year after being defeated by strong public opposition, the mining industry is planning another bid to gain access to minerals lying beneath the conservation estate, leading industry figures have indicated.

Labour MP David Parker yesterday said “senior” mining industry sources had told him they planned to seek an increase in the size of pockets of Schedule Four land, which may be used for mining related activities.

Under current law, miners could obtain permits to allow “interference” on Schedule Four land restricted to areas 10m by 10m. (Read on …)

A Chinese-backed Australian mining company has revealed plans to explore for oil in the seabed off the Abel Tasman National Park coastline, across much of Golden Bay and the northwest corner of the South Island.

Golden Bay iwi are alarmed at the plans by Sydney-based Greywolf Goldmining NL. It is proposing drilling the seabed for oil and gas, as well as prospecting for coal in Golden Bay and developing Port Tarakohe.

The news comes on the heels of a controversial oil exploration project by South American company Petrobras off the North Island’s East Coast, which has sparked high-profile protests by environmentalists and iwi.

Speaking from Sydney, Greywolf chief executive Edward Lancaster said the company hoped to start explorations and eventual mining operations once approval was granted from Crown Minerals – and if its Chinese partners considered it worthwhile. (Read on …)

Three companies found guilty of spilling 10,000 litres of petrol have been ordered to pay the heaviest fine imposed in a regional council case in Auckland.

Petrol Alley Services (GAS), URS New Zealand and Brown Bros (NZ) were found guilty in the Auckland District Court over a fuel leak from a petrol station in Line Rd, Glen Innes.

The companies have been ordered to pay a fine of $160,000, as well as court costs of $80,000.

The court has also demanded an investigation of the fuel which remained in the ground, and the companies could be forced to pay a further $200,000 for a clean-up.

Prosecutor Auckland Regional Council said the charges and fine sent a strong message to large companies to be tighter in their procedures. (Read on …)

SOFTWARE TO TAME THE RMA EVEN FASTER

Online environmental compliance company CS-VUE has been named New Zealand’s 28th fastest growing company in the annual Deloitte/NBR Fast 50 competition. Having achieved growth of 217.77% across the last 12 months, CS-VUE’s innovative technology is catering to a niche market and providing clients with an online system that enables organisations to track and manage and report on consent compliance, saving significant time and money. (Read on …)

Microsoft Exchange and Outlook are on the way out at NZ Post, with 2100 staff moving to Google Apps in a bid to save $2 million over three years. The deal marks the first time a major New Zealand account has swallowed its qualms about putting its documents out in the cloud – at least on such a scale. But now the first domino has fallen, others could follow. (Read on …)

Global Career Link CEO Simon Swallow has moved his company’s ICT operations into the cloud computing environment. He says the decentralised system suits the company’s offshore expansion.

(Read on …)

A Gartner forecast states that SaaS spending will more than double by 2012.
By Chris Kanaracus, Boston | Thursday, October 23 2008 (Read on …)

Managers are looking more closely at software-as-a-service as the number of unfinished IT projects grows, skilled workers become increasingly scarce, and upgrade and maintenance costs skyrocket.

(Read on …)