A New Zealand based mining company which has claimed that there is over a million dollars of gold waiting to be recovered from the seabed located off the West Coast, is all set to begin the exploration voyage and project on Monday.

Seafield Resources, the prospecting NZ Company, has reportedly contracted a subsidiary of South African diamond-mining giant De Beers to act as a vibracoring rig, which is a seabed sampling tool, to drill as many as 400 holes 12 nautical miles off shore. The sampling is expected to reveal that there is a large concentration of heavy minerals across the area.

In 2006, Seafield Resources was awarded a prospecting permit, prospecting licence and resource consent, to look for gold on the Westland continental shelf between Karamea and Jackson Bay.

Over the coming two months, the company will be testing the seabed located off Westland, but the firm has also confirmed that in case any worthwhile deposits are discovered, it will need to look for additional permits and consents to start with the mining process.