Waihi Gold Discovery Centre - The Background

September 22, 2007

Waihi Gold Discovery Centre
The Background

A $20 million gold discovery centre is to be built in Waihi to attract additional tourist spending and provide a mid-way stopover between the visitor hot points of Auckland and Rotorua.

Who
 A public-private joint venture between New Zealand Mint and the Vision Waihi Trust, a group formed to ensure the area benefits long term from the opportunities provided by the gold mine.
 The project also has the support of the Hauraki District Council and Newmont Waihi Gold which owns and operates Waihi’s Martha Mine.
 New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is providing $1.8 million in Major Regional Initiative funding to assist with the fit-out of the visitor attraction area of the centre.

What
 A nationally significant tourist attraction comprising a 4,000 sq m architecturally-designed gold discovery centre expected to generate $6m a year in turnover.
 The Waihi Gold Discovery Centre will take the form of an underground experience with the building constructed and buried within the land.
 It comprises:
o An innovative and interactive visitor centre that portrays New Zealand’s gold story and the impact the precious metal has had on the country’s economic, social and environmental landscapes.
o A New Zealand Mint shop retailing the company's range of gold and silver bullion, coins and jewellery.
o A gold pouring experience provided by New Zealand Mint at which visitors can see the magic of liquid gold. It is hoped visitors will also be able to handle bullion as part of this activity.
o An inter-regional DoC office providing key conservation messages including information about the Karangahake Gorge area.
o Boutique conference facilities for groups of up to 50 delegates.
o Café and refreshment facilities.
o An adrenalin-pumping vertigo experience cantilevered out over the Martha Mine open pit.
o A step-back-in-time experience in the connected historic Cornish Pumphouse.

When
Approximate timings:
 September 22, 2007 Project announced
 Christmas 2007 Development design and budget confirmed
 January 2008 Resource consent applied for
 Spring 2008 Construction begins
 Late 2009 Centre opens

Where
 Waihi Gold Discovery Centre is located at the top of Waihi’s main street, metres from State Highway 2, beside the recently relocated historic Cornish Pumphouse and directly adjacent to the Martha Mine open cast pit. The creative street frontage emulates the shape and feel of a mine entrance.

Why
 To attract more people to the Waihi area, encourage them to stay longer and spend more.
 For the past four years Waihi as a community has been thinking about its future. The Waihi Community Vision focuses on the ways Waihi might maintain its economic growth when gold mining is completed. It is called the 2020 vision.
 The Waihi Gold Discovery Centre is a high priority in Waihi’s 2020 vision.
 An economic benefits appraisal indicates the combined annual impact is:
o the creation of an estimated 53 permanent full-time equivalent positions;
o the addition of $13.5 million marginal output per annum for the region;
o direct foreign exchange income expenditure estimated at between $1.2 million and $2.4 million per annum.
 The natural/physical world and history/heritage have strong appeal for the visitor market, especially where is a link between the location, people and authentic stories
o Antarctic Centre (targeting 250,000 visitors annually)
o Kelly Tarltons (360,000)
o Waitomo Caves (500,000 plus).

How
 New Zealand Mint will develop and construct the buildings and manage the complex.
 It will also fit out and manage the retail shop and the gold pour experience.
 Hauraki District Council is providing consents, the I-Site and visitor attraction fit out.
 Newmont Waihi Gold, which has provided significant financial and in-kind support to Vision Waihi Trust since its inception, is gifting the land on which the discovery centre will be built as well as making geotechnical reporting, earthworks and landscaping contributions.
 Vision Waihi Trust will lead the development and public fund-raising for the visitor attraction component of the Gold Discovery Centre.
 The Government’s national economic development agency, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), is providing Major Regional Initiative funding towards the fit out of the visitor attraction area.
 Trust Waikato and local community trusts are providing funding for the fit out of the visitor attraction area.
 Individual commercial operators are providing fit out and operations management for the café and the conference area.
 Research shows that 79 per cent of international and 85 per cent of domestic visitors surveyed in February 2007 in the Karangahake Gorge were very likely to consider visiting the attraction.
 Estimated entry fee is $25 for adults, $15 for students and between $10 and $12 for the optional vertigo experience.

ENDS

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