44 | REGIONAL Terra Firma Mining The future of mining Terra Firma Mining is a leading underground mining contractor, employing almost 40 people and working on projects from Waihi to the West Coast and Southland. T T Nick Walker “Flexibility and adapting to the difficult mining conditions in New Zealand is critical. We’re also different because we don’t specialise in a single commodity - we work across hard rock, coal and other underground mineral projects.” If New Zealand is serious about the energy transition, we’ll need more mining, not less. That’s according to Terra Firma Mining managing director Lincoln Smith, who points to the critical role minerals play in the manufacture of solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and other modern infrastructure. For example, metallurgical coal is essential in producing silicon from quartz. Silicon is a key component in solar panels, among its many other uses. Lincoln says unfortunately the mining industry doesn’t always explain particularly well how we are all dependent on minerals. “As an industry, we’re lousy at communicating the importance of what we do. Maybe as a result, there’s a misperception that mining is not necessary, and that it’s bad for the environment,” he says. “But this energy transition is going to require an ongoing increase in the demand for minerals worldwide. New Zealand is well positioned to help meet this demand, and do it in a really sustainable, low-impact way.” Lincoln points to one Coromandel operation where the entire surface footprint is the size of a tennis court, despite many kilometres of underground roadways beneath the surface. Founded in 2013, Terra Firma Mining is now in demand as a leading underground mining contractor, employing almost 40 people and working on projects from Waihi to the West Coast and Southland. Its services span underground mine development, production mining, tunnelling, rehabilitation, ventilation and specialist underground engineering projects. The company has also expanded into mine ownership, acquiring a 50 percent stake in an operating New South Wales gold mine. Several of its New Zealand mining projects are also progressing towards development. What sets Terra Firma apart, Smith says, is its end-to-end capability, from feasibility studies of a potential mine all the way through to mine operation. “Flexibility and adapting to the difficult mining conditions in New Zealand is critical. We’re also different because we don’t specialise in a single commodity - we work across hard rock, coal and other underground mineral projects,” he says. That diversity helps the business to weather commodity cycles while applying the same underground expertise across different industries. Supporting that capability is a substantial fleet of specialised underground mining equipment, along with an experienced team covering engineering, geology, surveying, mine planning and underground operations. Terra Firma’s growth has been deliberately steady over many years. Lincoln says profits have been continually reinvested into new equipment, capability and strategic acquisitions. An engineering workshop in Reefton has been transformed into a thriving operation. It also has plans to re-open Spring Creek mine on the West Coast, which Smith says is proceeding well. Looking ahead, Terra Firma’s ambition extends well beyond contracting. The longterm vision is to become one of New Zealand’s leading multi-generational mining companies by combining operational expertise with ownership of producing mining assets. “If we’re not farming it or growing it, we’re mining it,” Lincoln says. “No matter how we live, everything depends on one of those three things - we have a really important role to play, and that’s exciting.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=