The Supreme Court has heard that environmental protection was weighted too heavily when consent to mine iron-sand off the Taranaki Coast was declined.
Offshore mining company Trans-Tasman Resources is appealing decisions by the High Court and the Court of Appeal, which both rejected its plan to dig up 50 million tonnes of sand.
The mining is opposed by iwi, enviromentalists and fisheries groups, who say the risk to the marine ecosystem is too great.
RNZ's reporter, Meriana Johnsen, is at the Supreme Court and spoke to Māni Dunlop.
