New Zealand supreme court blocks seabed mining consent

Campaigners hail ruling preventing TTR dredging 50m tonnes of iron-sands from South Taranaki coast, though mining firm says it will try again

Race to the bottom: the disastrous, blindfolded rush to mine the deep sea

A New Zealand offshore mining company has lost its supreme court bid to overturn a decision preventing it from mining millions of tonnes of iron-sand off the coast of South Taranaki, on New Zealand's North Island.

Thursday's unanimous ruling by New Zealand's supreme court, which upheld previous high court and appeal court decisions revoking Trans-Tasman Resources' (TTR) permission to mine, was welcomed by environmentalists and the mining company, albeit from opposing perspectives.