Freelance documentary filmmaker Timothy Firkin announced on Monday afternoon that he and several Golden Bay residents had scaled the remote site in protest of the potential gold mine.

On Friday evening, the group trekked into the bush from the Cobb Valley before they initiated their direct action before dawn on Saturday.

Two women chained themselves to one of the drills while another group unfurled a banner that read ‘Stop Toxic Mining’ on the roof of a field office.

The activists have since left the site, though they speculated the banner remains in place.

Siren Gold is currently undertaking exploratory drilling at Sams Creek to gather a more comprehensive picture of the gold deposits in the area.

The Australian company has lodged an application for a mining permit.

But the potential mine has proved contentious in Golden Bay, largely due to the environmental risk posed by the toxic arsenic tailings produced during the gold mining process.

The mine would be located above the porous marble aquifer, which gives much of the Tākaka area its water and feeds the tapu Te Waikoropupū Springs – some of the clearest water in the world.

“I think this is a very stupid gamble for something that is very important to a lot of people,” one activist said.

“The fallout would be huge if that arsenic gets out of that rock, it doesn’t go back in,” said another.

Firkin said the group of “normal, everyday community members” felt compelled to take the non-violent direct action because of the lack of community engagement from Siren Gold.

“Siren Gold is pushing ahead without genuine community consent, and the residents here have pretty much had enough at being silenced,” he said.

“We think it’s absolutely ridiculous that they’re considering doing this in a place that should be part of the Kahurangi National Park.”

He added that the group acknowledged the legal risk and were “willing to put themselves on the line”.

Firkin said the action was “completely independent” of local groups opposed to the mine.

Save Our Springs coordinator Kevin Moran said the group had previously organised training sessions for non-violent direct action but had not known about the plan.

“The community just got together and organised this,” he said.

“It’s amazing; it’s a total surprise.”

While not every person in Golden Bay was opposed to the mine, he said the majority “don’t want it”, and there was a subset of that group who appeared to be prepared to take direct action.

He thought Siren Gold should “go away”.

Sams Creek Collective member Axel Downard-Wilke said the group was not involved.

He said he didn’t know enough about the incident to say whether it was appropriate, but said any action taken should be non-violent.

“Non-violent action is good… For example, vandalism [is] totally unacceptable.”

Downard-Wilke, also a member of the Golden Bay Community Board, said many who were informed about the mine were concerned about a possible tailings dam.

“There’s short-term profit, that goes to Australia mostly, and the long-term consequences, they will stay locally.”

Siren Gold has been approached for comment.

Former chief executive, Victor Rajasooriar, has previously told Local Democracy Reporting that he understood community frustrations with the limited information.

“However, until the experts have completed the detailed investigations, technical and environmental studies, we will not have sufficient certainty with respect to the proposed final mine design to allow an informed community consultation process.”

The storage of tailings would also be a key aspect of the detailed site investigation.

“We are very conscious of the understandable sensitivities with respect to the environmental impact of a potential mining operation… and will take these matters into consideration as investigations progress.”

A mining permit would need to be gained before other approvals, such as resource consents, could be lodged.

John Buick-Constable, national manager petroleum, minerals, and offshore renewable energy at the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment said the Sams Creek minerals mining permit was currently under assessment.

“There are no statutory timeframes for assessing or deciding a permit application. Each permit application brings its own complexities, and there also may be times when more information is required to progress an application.”

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