We – and millions of others who have not visited Aotearoa New Zealand – have been introduced to the stunning beauty of North Island’s Coromandel Peninsula through the trending television series, The Rings of Power.

Not surprisingly, the Coromandel Peninsula is now high on many people’s bucket list of places to visit.

We were therefore shocked to learn that global mining giant OceanaGold is trying to dig deeper into the heart of legally-designated “conservation land” in this peninsula to mine gold.

As experienced development economists and ecologists who have followed OceanaGold for more than a decade, we know its record to be that of an irresponsible mining giant in other countries.