Too Maatou Whakapapa
Our Origin
In the first half of the 20th Century, concentrations of iron ore were known to exist in Tahaaroa. This discovery collectivised landowners of various Taharoa A Block land holdings to consider the potential opportunities for them and their descendants.
In 1970, six carefully selected visionaries brought together more than 600 landowners to establish The Proprietors of Taharoa C Block Incorporated. In partnership with the Government and NZ Steel, they founded a mine site in Tahaaroa with the purpose of extracting iron ore from the sands the lands were made of. The main goal was to determine royalty mechanisms for shareholders through negotiations with NZ Steel.
The original mission of the business was to provide opportunity for the landowners to have employment in Tahaaroa and to create an income stream for the landowners. Many meetings took place between the founding members and investors such as Sir Woolf Fisher and Sir John Ingram in the initial negotiating stages.
As set out by the founders, the venture of mining iron ore was to be an economic opportunity for the shareholders of the land, while being sustainable in that sand could be reinstated to the whenua once the iron ore had been extracted.
We pay respect to our founding members of Taharoa C who, without Government aid or settlement funds, established what we have now. These founders included:
- Robert Kerr – Chairman
- George Kana
- Sue Mauriohooho
- Ken Bowker – Secretary
- Graham Anderson
- B D O’Shea
- Ngahinaturae Te Uira
