Central Otago landowners say they "feel sick" about a large-scale proposed gold mine, saying it will "industrialise" the landscape and threaten the unique selling point of the area.
Santana Minerals believes it's made one of the biggest gold discoveries in New Zealand history, and says it will do everything it can to minimise damage to the environment.
Di Lucas grew up on Bendigo Station, which stretches from the Dunstan Mountains to the Clutha River.
Her father bought the land in 1947 and farmed merino sheep for many years, before selling to John Perriam who now has a commercial access agreement with Australian company Santana Minerals to explore for gold.
Lucas said gold mining is part of the history of the place - she remembers a miner who lived in a hut up Bendigo Creek when she was a child - but said back then it was on a much smaller scale than what is proposed now.
She said Santana's proposal is an "industrialisation" of the landscape.
"The scale of it is so wrong, the lack of respect for nature is so wrong and the risk to the whole natural systems... that risk is huge," Lucas said.
At Welshtown are the ruins of stone huts where miners and their families lived when gold was first discovered in Central Otago 160 years ago.
In the hills behind is the permitted area for the new proposed gold mine - 252 square kilometres.
Santana Minerals CEO Damian Spring said the industrialisation of the high country is "something that's been going on certainly since Europeans arrived".
"What we hope to do is do our part, but do it with an understanding of the effects on the environment and ensure we do a good job."
Hayden Johnston owns The Canyon, an event venue tucked among schist outcrops and scrubby kānuka.
"That's my unique selling point, that's why you come here is the feeling of getting away from it all, being amongst nature," Johnston said.
He's spent hundreds of thousands obtaining resource consent and is worried about the mine's impact on his business.
"Having an industrial site within earshot and visual from here both day and night, it's really incompatible and makes me feel quite sick."
Johnston is also concerned about Santana Minerals gaining approval to mine through the fast-track legislation.
"It's a flawed framework where they're assessing information from incomplete sources from one side, and the Ministers making decisions are, by nature, biased.
"They're not neutral judges."
Resources Minister Shane Jones has made it clear he is pro-mining and that's OK, Johnston said.
"We want our politicians to be clear on what they stand for," he said.
"But what's not OK and what's not democratic is to have that same minister responsible for making decisions for everyone."
Santana Minerals has been exploring for gold in the Otago high country since 2020. Its successful find - the biggest discovery in four decades - has encouraged another Canadian company, KO Gold, which is about to launch its own drilling programme in four permitted areas across the district.
Spring conceded there will be big challenges to undertaking a large-scale mining operation in this dry, mountainous environment.
"I think water is probably the key one. The availability of it and potential for contaminants to enter the waterways," he said.
There are tailings at Bendigo from 150 years ago, which Johnston said is evidence of mining's permanent mark on the landscape.
"If you're gonna remove that hillside, you're gonna remove that hillside," Johnston said.
"It doesn't matter how you do it."
Spring said there's no question the environment will be drastically altered, but the company will do what it can to return it to its natural state.
"I'm confident that our proposal when we put it up for discussions with neighbours, they can see the amount of effort we have gone to."
He said the company has worked hard to make this discovery and aims to get consent to begin extraction by the end of the year.
"We aim to be here for a long time," he said.
"The resource indicates 10-15 years but we're going to continue to explore and if we find more, we'll stay for longer."
Lucas doesn't think her father would approve.
"I think like me, dad would say, 'Leave the gold in nature's vault'."
