Activists Occupy Stockton Mine Cable Cars in Bold Protest Against Massive Coal Expansion Stockton Mine. Six climate activists have climbed onto and are now occupying cable cars used to transport coal from Bathurst Resources' Stockton Mine, halting operations and drawing attention to the company’s plan to expand coal mining across the nearby Denniston Plateau.

The action follows a five-day protest encampment of over 70 people on the Denniston Plateau - right in the heart of the proposed mine site - where banners read “Protect Denniston Plateau” and “Just Transition Off Coal.” The camp included people aged from 8 months to 74 years, showing the widespread intergenerational opposition to Bathurst’s plans.

More are expected to join the climbers on-site in a powerful show of solidarity, making it clear: the public won’t stand by while this climate-wrecking mine is forced through under so-called “Fast Track” legislation.

“We are here because this mine is a line in the sand,” said Adam Currie, a rangatahi climate justice activist. “This is a classic David vs Goliath battle - regular people, defending a sacred landscape, up against a coal company backed by billions and enabled by banks like ANZ. Bathurst’s plans would blow 53 million tonnes of carbon into our atmosphere, equivalent to all of Aotearoa’s annual emissions. We simply cannot let that happen.”

Bathurst Resources, New Zealand’s largest coal company, is seeking consent to extract 20 million tonnes of coal from both the Denniston and Stockton Plateaux over the next 25 years. Their application is currently being considered under the government’s controversial Fast Track Bill, which sidesteps normal environmental protections and public consultation.

Bathurst’s existing operations have already devastated parts of the Stockton Plateau, leaving toxic lakes and a barren landscape behind. Activists fear the same future for Denniston, home to great spotted kiwi, green geckos, and ancient sandstone ecosystems found nowhere else on Earth.

“Our generation’s right to a liveable future is more important than Australian companies profiting from the extraction of fossil fuels,” said Rosie Cruickshank (20 yrs). “New Zealanders are already living with the impacts of climate breakdown - floods, fires, and rising costs. We cannot afford another coal mine.”

Bathurst’s shareholders are over 90% foreign-owned, and the majority of its profits are sent offshore. Campaigners say that the environmental cost is being borne by local communities while the benefits bypass them entirely.

This is the second major public intervention in as many weeks, with more actions planned. Activists say the campaign will continue to grow until Bathurst’s plans are scrapped and ANZ pulls ends banking services to coal companies.

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