If you have not done so, you should read page 17 of Friday's National Business Review. It contains a fascinating article by Doug Gordon of the New Zealand Mineral Industry Association.
Gordon says that New Zealand's gold and low-rank coal resources are worth more than $250 billion. If you add our oil and gas resources we would be second only to Saudi Arabia in terms of natural capital per capita. The trouble is that "the court of public opinion appears to be saying we cannot afford to use our own natural resources because it will damage the planet."
Gordon references a publication The Natural Resource Potential of New Zealand (March 2008), which he says is available at www.minerals.co.nz - July issue of e-news. We will certainly be giving this a good read.
