Good morning. I am very pleased to be invited to present the
Opening Address to this inaugural New Zealand Minerals & Mining Conference.
It is indeed a pleasure to see so many representatives of this industry, which
is so important to New Zealand's economy, present here today.

I extend a warm welcome to all delegates, particularly those
from outside New Zealand. To those of you who have travelled from offshore,
please closely observe our industry, and do not hesitate to ask Crown Minerals
staff here for any further information you may want. I trust you will soon come
to the same conclusion that my two following speakers have; that New Zealand is
a good investment destination, and further that many of you will decide to
invest in New Zealand's minerals and mining industry.

In New Zealand the minerals
industry - minerals, coal and petroleum - together constitute an approximate
$2.5 billion per year business. In broad terms this is about 3% of our Gross
Domestic Product.