An expert panel turned down Trans-Tasman Resources’ Fast-Track application to mine the seabed off Pātea in a draft decision two weeks ago.

Trans-Tasman had till Thursday to respond with fresh evidence before a final ruling, but the Australian company said there was no point and instead quit the Fast-track Approvals Act process.

Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) said the panel misunderstood key foundations of its application and the company believed it couldn’t “resolve or lessen these issues.”

The Fast-track panel found TTR failed to prove its mine could avoid environmental and cultural damage, and the experts weren’t convinced claimed economic benefits were worth the risk.

Trans-Tasman’s lawyers wrote that the panel had given no hint of its “negative views across such a wide range of issues”.

“The issues of concern to the Panel could have been addressed by TTR within the time available under the fast-track process, by directing the Panel to relevant parts of the information that TTR has already provided.”

But last August the panel said the company had slowed its fast-track bid with a cynical failure to hand over more evidence demanded by officials.

Mana whenua from South Taranaki to Whanganui have fought Trans-Tasman for over a decade, with the miners losing court cases right through to the Supreme Court.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui pou whakahaere Rachel Arnott worried history was repeating itself.

“In 2024, TTR suddenly sulked away when they realised the Environmental Protection Authority process was going against them.

"They banked on the newly-minted Fastrack process to circumvent the will of the people."

Arnott said TTR’s latest withdrawal avoided a formal rejection, keeping the project “on life-support while they look for a new back door, or friendlier legislative loophole”.

"After forcing our uri and the public through the gruelling and experimental fast-track process, they have cut and run.”

Trans-Tasman announced it had quit the fast-track the same day the Government announced an $80 million fund to develop critical minerals.

The resources and regional development minister Shane Jones said money from the Regional Infrastructure Fund would turn resources into “jobs, investment and long‑term value for communities”.

“It makes sense to create this $80m package to help realise those benefits while supporting our Minerals Strategy,” Jones said.

Kate Paris of Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) said Jones’ announcement on the same day as TTR’s withdrawal “feels super slimy.”

“If TTR thinks it can attempt another pathway, especially through what looks like a potential backdoor being set up by this Government, it’ll be met with the same resistance it has faced every step of the way,” said KASM’s Pātea spokesperson.

Greenpeace Aotearoa seabed mining campaigner Juressa Lee said TTR had arrogantly dismissed the panel’s careful deliberation of a wealth of expertise and evidence.

"They know their project doesn’t measure up even under the pro-industry Fast-track Approvals Act process,” Lee said.

“TTR is out of ideas and fast running out of options.”

Whanganui District councillor Charlotte Melser convinced her colleagues to oppose the mine then travelled to Taranaki councils lobbying for the same.

Melser said the Fast-track law might be suitable for bridges, roads and housing developments – but not for seabed mining.

“It’s the wrong vehicle for projects of this magnitude and complexity,” Melser said.

“Mining needs robust scrutiny and environmental safeguards that I just don't see within the Fast-track Approvals Act, especially now in its amended form.

“It’s designed to shut out the voices of communities and iwi and hapū.”

Te Tai Hauāuru MP Debbie Ngarewa-Packer began fighting TTR as kaiarataki of Te Runanga o Ngāti Ruanui 13 years ago.

The Pāti Māori co-leader has lodged a Members Bill to outlaw seabed mining in New Zealand.

Ngarewa-Packer said regulators had concluded the risks were too high and it was time for a blanket ban.

“Be warned Shane Jones will let them rebrand, regroup and reapply."

“We should as a nation – we should as a Parliament – agree and say for Christ's sake there're other ways to make money.”

The miners want to suck up 50 million tonnes of South Taranaki seabed sediment annually for at least 20 years, to extract iron, titanium and vanadium.

A factory ship would discharge 45 million tonnes of slurry a year back into the waters of the Pātea Shoals – 170,000 tonnes a day, allowing for downtime.

Ecological risks include drifting sediment plumes smothering thriving reefs and the impact of underwater noise pollution on protected marine mammals.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.