The legislative operating environment, or the mineral regime, that a country has to offer is one of the key determinants
that a company wanting to invest in an area takes into account in formulating its investment decision. The New Zealand Government recognises this and the importance of getting the regime right in order to provide for
continuing investment in mineral exploration and mining in New Zealand. In recent years, the Government has given
considerable attention to developing legislation which provides for investment to take place; for those making the
investments to have a stable, fair and open investment environment with government intervention only when considered
absolutely necessary because other approaches are not working; and for the people of New Zealand to know that
investment must meet acceptable health and safety standards and have acceptable impact on the environment. Also of
key importance is having a clearly defined mining regime which includes rules on how to obtain a permit and rules in
respect of ongoing permit compliance, rights to develop a mineral resource and permit conditions (in particular, the
royalty regime). In New Zealand, these matters will all be addressed in what are referred to as "minerals programmes".