Coastal Restoration Trust of New Zealand

Coastal Dune Ecosystem Reference Database

Coastal stability in the South Taranaki Bight - Phase 1 Historical and present day shoreline change

Author
Terry Hume, Ron Ovenden, Iain MacDonald
Year
2015
Journal / Source
NIWA Client report HAM2012-083 prepared for Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd
Pages
96 pp
Keywords
2012, updated 2015
Summary
Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd (TTR) has secured permits and is prospecting for offshore iron sands in the South Taranaki Bight along the West Coast, North Island. At the time of writing this report (September 2012) the plan was for mining to involve dredging large depressions in the seabed, concentrating iron ore on board vessels and then returning the de-ored sand (tailings) to the seabed, where it will partially fill the depressions and also form mounds. Mining sites and areas where de-ored sand might be deposited are about 15 to 35 km offshore from Patea. Depressions and mounds on the seabed have the potential to alter the direction of wave approach and wave height at the shoreline and therefore longshore transport and patterns of erosion and accretion at the shoreline, depending on the scale of the operations.