Government funding for Waihi golden experience

Prime Minister Helen Clark today announced government funding of $1.8 million for the development of the Waihi Gold Discovery Centre.

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The government is investing $1.8 million into the development of an interactive tourism experience for the proposed $20 million Waihi Gold Discovery Centre, Prime Minister Helen Clark announced today.

The Waihi Gold Discovery Centre is being developed as a unique world-class, under-ground facility. It will be one of the largest tourist attractions built in New Zealand in the next decade, and it has nationwide significance.

"Waihi has a strong identity based on its rich gold mining heritage, as well as on its stunning natural features. This centre will tell the stories of the district's heritage to international and domestic visitors alike," Helen Clark said.

"The government funding comes from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's Major Regional Initiative Fund. It is backing this project to help create, build, and market the New Zealand gold mining story in an engaging and interactive way.

"The government is pleased to be associated with other public and private partners, including New Zealand Mint, Newmont Waihi Gold, the Hauraki District Council, and other community-based funding programmes.

"The Waihi Gold Discovery Centre will give visitors a sense of what it was like to work underground, including recreating the sense of descending into the Martha Mine.

"It is expected to become a significant tourism hub for the Coromandel region, attracting visitors to Waihi, and encouraging them to visit other attractions in the area. It will help to transform the region's economy and move it to a sustainable basis beyond any eventual closure of current mining operations," Helen Clark said.

"I see the centre also complementing existing attractions, such as the popular Department of Conservation heritage walkways in the historic Karangahake Gorge, which I was pleased to open last year. As well, an all-weather tourism attraction in the district helps to spread visitor numbers throughout the year and encourage longer stays.



"It is expected that other tourism facilities will be developed in the area off the back of the investment in the centre. Within five years, the centre is expected to generate 53 full-time equivalent jobs, and an extra $13.5 million income a year for the region, of which about $2.4 million is expected to come from international tourists," Helen Clark said.

The centre will be built at the top of Waihi's Seddon Street, next to the relocated historic Cornish Pumphouse and the still operating Martha Hill Gold mine pit.

Note: Background information follows


Waihi Gold Discovery Centre background information:

The proposed Waihi Gold Discovery Centre will be constructed and buried in the land, giving visitors an underground experience.

The concept includes an iconic street frontage which complements Waihi's Cornish Pumphouse and makes visitors feel like they are walking into an underground mine.

Interactive exhibitions, which include film, audio, hands on working exhibits, a live gold poor, and modelling elements will focus on the geology of the region, the discovery of gold; and the development of the gold mining industry, its current practices, and its future.

Another visitor experience will recreate the experience of descending into the Martha Mine and show the scale of the mining operation at Waihi. Visitors will also be able to buy actual Waihi Gold, believed to be a first in New Zealand.

The centre is expected to cost about $20 million in total to build. About $4 million has been budgeted to fit out the centre, including $2.75m to develop the interactive story-telling elements.




About New Zealand Trade and Enterprise:
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) is the government's economic development agency. It works to stimulate economic growth by helping to boost export earnings, strengthen regional economies, and deliver economic development assistance to industries and individual businesses.

Up until 30 June 2007, NZTE ran a Regional Partnerships Programme which included funding of Major Regional Initiatives (MRIs). The Waihi Gold Discovery Centre is one of the last projects to be funded through the MRI programme.

Now, NZTE runs a Regional Strategy Fund to help regions develop and implement regional economic development strategies and the projects which flow from them. As well, regions can apply for funding for large projects through the contestable Enterprising Partnerships Fund, which is administered by the Ministry of Economic Development.