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Canadian-owned miner Lynx Platinum Ltd. has been awarded five exploration permits to look for platinum in New Zealand's South Island, Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges announced Thursday.
The company was awarded three exploration permits covering 355 square kilometers in the Tasman region at the top of the South Island and two permits covering 168 square kilometers in the far south.
Bridges said the permits constituted the most significant new minerals exploration activity in New Zealand by one company in several years.
"It is encouraging to see a new minerals operator enter the New Zealand market, especially when the international price of metallic mineral commodities is low and investors are understandably selective about where in the world they put their money," Bridges said in a statement.
"The minerals sector already contributes over 1 billion NZ dollars (859.62 million U.S. dollars) to the economy in GDP," he said.
"If an economic discovery is made, there could be significant benefits on both a regional and national level. We can't afford to ignore the opportunity to make the most of untapped resources potential in a safe and environmentally responsible way."
The tender process included a rigorous assessment of the company's financial and technical capability, including a high- level assessment of its ability to meet New Zealand's health and safety, and environmental requirements, he said.
Lynx Platinum is a wholly owned subsidiary of Coronado Resources Ltd., a Canadian exploration and development, power generation and retailing company.
Platinum is considered around the world as a strategic metal because of its application in automotive, agriculture, electronic, dental, medical, and aerospace industries. Platinum is also used in environmentally-related technologies such as fuel cells and solar technologies.
If an economic discovery is made at the exploration stage, the company must apply for a mining permit before production can commence.
