West Coast Region
West Coast shows extractive succession: coal/gold mining since 1860s, now 2025 gold boom and glacier tourism sustaining NZ's least populous region (0.7%).
The West Coast exists as New Zealand's resource periphery—the least populous region (34,700 people, 0.7% of national population) at 1.49 persons per square kilometre, sustained by extractive industries that have cycled through boom and bust since the 1860s gold rushes. The region holds New Zealand's only bituminous coal deposits, with the Stockton Mine representing the country's largest opencast operation. Yet coal prices weakened through 2025, and rail tunnel repairs disrupted Buller coal exports, demonstrating the vulnerability of remote extraction dependent on distant markets.
Gold mining offers a counterpoint. In 2025, drilling companies report business "doubled or tripled" as explorers like Rua Gold spend nearly $1 million monthly on the Reefton goldfield. Greymouth's mechanical services sector grows to support mining equipment, while critical minerals extraction (garnets, ilmenite, rare earths) at Westland Mineral Sands near Westport suggests a new extractive generation focused on battery technologies rather than steel or power generation.
Tourism represents the post-extractive future many imagined when coal declined. The 1965 Haast Pass road created a circuit linking Christchurch, Arthur's Pass, Greymouth, Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, Queenstown, and Milford Sound—turning isolation into destination. The Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, Hokitika's nephrite jade industry, and Paparoa National Park attract visitors to landscapes formed by the same geological forces that deposited coal and gold. The West Coast's economy continues to extract value from the land, but the commodity has shifted from minerals to scenery.