Say no to gold, yes to the environment.

Kia Ora! So I promise this blog will not be as long as the previous one, not even close. This week has been very much work oriented and now that my presentation is over, I have no motivation to study for my midterm tomorrow. Somehow I was very productive early in the week, thank goodness, I got my paper done by Tuesday morning. It helped that I happened to know my presentation was this week though. Speaking of presentation, mine was on rehabilitation after mining and it turned out to be pretty interesting. When the packets of reading were handed out for our groups, mine was 5 times the size of the other groups, typical. But the presentation went well and now I have the midterm to study for and a short journal/paper to write before we head off for the South Island. SO EXCITED!

We went to the Waihi gold mine this week which turned out to be fascinating, both good and bad ways. The day before we went to the mine a member of parliament for the Green Party came to talk to us about mining and mining companies. It was probably one of the best talks/discussions I have ever been to. She was so passionate about what she believed in, it was incredible. We watched a video that showed the Waihi mine in the 80’s, something significantly smaller than what we saw. It. Was. Huge. (pictures below) 85 ton trucks looked minuscule against the road of the mine that wound around. It was intense.

It’s kind of ridiculous how much gold mining is for jewelry. 85%....!!! Seriously? Not worth it.

After the mine we went to a gorge that used to be an old underground mine. They had a pathway that used to be one of the tunnels which was pretty cool to walk through. Hard to imagine people actually working in there for hours and hours a day. The gorge was beautiful though.

I guess I should go study. I don’t know if I will be blogging at all on the South Island so keep a lookout but don’t get your hopes up :-P If I don’t, I will be back in three weeks with a blog 5 times the size of last weeks most likely.

Fun Fact
The first person to hike Everest and a penguin are on the $5 bill. Great combo.