Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011

Common marine and coastal area - Interests in common marine and coastal area

16: Continued Crown ownership of minerals

You could also call this:

"The Crown owns minerals like gold and oil under the land and sea."

Illustration for Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011

You own the land, but the Crown owns the minerals. The Crown Minerals Act 1991 says the Crown owns petroleum, gold, silver, and uranium in the ground. This rule still applies to the common marine and coastal area. You can read about this in section 10 of the Crown Minerals Act 1991. The Crown also owns other minerals in the common marine and coastal area, except for pounamu. Pounamu is a special case, and you can read about it in section 3 of the Ngai Tahu (Pounamu Vesting) Act 1997. The Crown Minerals Act 1991 still applies to some special privileges. You can read about the Crown Minerals Act 1991 at the Crown Minerals Act 1991. This rule is also subject to section 83.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3213288.

This page was last updated on 9 February 2026 — View changes

Topics:

Environment and resources > ConservationEnvironment and resources > Farming and fishingHousing and property > Land use

15: No ownership in road that becomes part of common marine and coastal area, or

"Roads that become part of the common marine and coastal area are no longer owned by anyone."

17: Additions to common marine and coastal area, or

"What happens when new land near the sea is added to the common area"

Part 2Common marine and coastal area
Interests in common marine and coastal area

16Continued Crown ownership of minerals

Nothing in section 11 or 83 affects section 10 of the Crown Minerals Act 1991, which provides that all petroleum, gold, silver, and uranium existing in its natural condition in land is the property of the Crown.
For the purposes of section 11 of the Crown Minerals Act 1991, the operation of section 11 or 17 is deemed to be an alienation from the Crown and, accordingly, every mineral (other than pounamu to which section 3 of the Ngai Tahu (Pounamu Vesting) Act 1997 applies) existing in its natural condition in the common marine and coastal area is reserved in favour of the Crown.
Section 11 does not affect any privileges and the Crown Minerals Act 1991 continues to apply to those privileges in all respects.
This section is subject to section 83.