More than 100 people converged on the Newmont Waihi Gold offices in Waihi on Monday protesting against a planned underground gold mining expansion.

Organised by the Green Party, the protestors raised placards against the plan to extend the gold mine in Waihi and presented the company with signed declarations in opposition to future mine activities.

Protestors in Waihi.

Newmont Gold operates three mines in Waihi – the Martha open pit mine, and the Favona and Trio underground mines.

In August 2011 the company announced its intention to expand underground mining operations, and Newmont Waihi Gold's external affairs manager Sefton Darby says since then the company has been engaged in extensive community consultation process.

Sefton says the Green Party protest was an attempt to hijack the positive relationship between the community and the company.

'After hundreds of meetings with individual residents and dozens of meetings with a huge variety of community groups, we are disappointed that Ms Delahunty and the Green Party are trying to hijack this positive process by bussing in people from outside of Waihi to wave placards.

'It's a strategy based on confrontation and slogans instead of dialogue.”

Protest organiser and Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty says more than 100 people from Waihi, Tauranga and the wider Coromandel region travelled to Waihi to protest.

'We are supporting the residents against the planned expansion and future mining.

'Being on a Monday it was more representative than numerical. People of all ages and backgrounds participated.

'We also presented a series of declarations signed by different communities against future mining initiatives.

'We know Newmont has permits in a range of other areas including parts of the Coromandel and eastern seaboard.”

Former Green Party leader Jeanette Fitzsimmons spoke at the protest.

Catherine says a lot of Waihi residents feel trapped by the mining operations in Waihi and are looking to sell their houses and get out.

'In these mining activities a huge amount of earth has to be moved, once it is crushed you get a lot of heavy metals, which stay toxic in the environment for a long time.

'This is a huge risk for the environment and human health.”

Sefton says Waihi Gold operates under extremely rigorous range of environmental monitoring conditions set by local, regional and national government agencies.

'We challenge the Green Party to discuss the environmental facts of modern mining at Waihi rather than simply wave a few placards for the evening news,” says Sefton.

Catherine says the Green Party's anti-mining campaign has been very successful in the past and although she says it is going to be 'difficult” to stop the planned Waihi extension, she is hopeful the party will be able to stop future mining.

Newmont Waihi Gold has operated in the Coromandel-Hauraki area for more than 25 years.

It directly employs 400 people and is responsible for another 300-400 jobs amongst suppliers and businesses.

'In these tough economic times we find it astonishing that the Green Party is advocating making 700 – 800 people unemployed in return for what appears to be imaginary green jobs,” says Sefton.