Unlocking Investment and Collaboration in New Zealand's Natural Resources: Minister Shane Jones at International Conferences

Promoting opportunities for investment and collaboration in the development of New Zealand’s natural resources is at the top of the agenda during three upcoming international mining and geothermal conferences, Resources Minister Shane Jones says.

Mr Jones leaves tomorrow for the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Sydney, Australia. He will speak to attendees on the growing momentum in New Zealand’s mineral sector.

We are in the midst of a resource renaissance with strong growth in permit applications, driven by interest in gold and other minerals. This is bolstered by the policy settings the Coalition Government has put in place that lay the foundations for an enduring, productive mining sector, Mr Jones says.

We are now actively working to rebuild international investor confidence in our mining opportunities, which means we need to be proactive and visible on the international stage. New Zealand will return to this year’s conference as an exhibitor, supported by local operators keen to collaborate with new partners.

IMARC attracts the sector’s most influential international operators and investors, and I look forward to providing them with an update on the progress we have made since my speech last year, as well as putting the call out for responsible operators who want to partner with us to realise our minerals potential.

Following IMARC, Mr Jones travels to the United States to attend two major geothermal conferences, the Indigenous Geothermal Symposium and the Geothermal Rising Conference, where he will promote New Zealand’s supercritical geothermal energy exploration.

Doubling the production of geothermal energy by 2040 for electricity generation and direct heat applications is part of my ambitious plan to harness the vast potential of New Zealand’s geothermal resources, Mr Jones says.

New Zealand’s long-standing leadership and expertise in geothermal energy is well known around the world but it is our work to harness the potential of supercritical geothermal energy that I will be promoting.

Our early-stage exploration could help prove the viability of supercritical geothermal energy, which has the potential to deliver several times the power output of conventional geothermal. This groundbreaking work could be a game-changer for how the world utilises geothermal resources.

My message is one of ambition. We are leading the world in the development of technology to unlock a new generation of geothermal – and we are looking for global collaboration, across disciplines and borders, to do it.

The Minister returns to New Zealand on 1 November.