Update 1.49pm: Police has been called to the scene of a protest at a gold mining exploration site on Mt Karangahake, Coromandel and issued some of the protesters with trespass notices.

Protect Karangahake spokesman Duncan Shearer says Newcrest the company working on the site called police this afternoon.

Protect Karangahake protestors bring mining to a halt in the Coromandel. Photos: Supplied.

He says five people from the group of about 15 people have been issued with trespass notices.

Earlier 12.02pm: Local conservation group Protect Karangahake has shut down Newcrest's gold exploration drilling rig on the side of Mt Karangahake in the Coromandel this morning.

The group arrived on site at 11am this morning and the drill rig was promptly turned off. Protect Karangahake's chairperson Duncan Shearer says the group is committed to protecting the mountain however necessary.

"Yesterday we were out pulling weeds, as we do every month, on the eastern slopes of our mountain and today we are on the other side protecting it from another invasive species, mining corporations."

"Karangahake is a precious ecological corridor and a visitor hot spot. Each year locals and tens of thousands of visitors come here to enjoy the regenerating native flora and fauna. And we think that is worth protecting," says Duncan.

He says the growing tourist industry will sustain the local community and economy much better long term than mining, which is a boom and bust industry.

"We realise that letting them sample is the start of a slippery slope, potentially leading to full scale mining and all the contamination and degradation that comes with it," Duncan says.

Last Tuesday, the group temporarily prevented Newcrest Mining Ltd from working on the site and delivered a letter to outline their position to the mining company.

On Newcrest's website it says through exploration, Newcrest seeks to identify and secure large mineral districts, or provinces, in order to establish long term mining operations, while enhancing the potential for further discoveries.

Two Australian mining companies have contracted Waihi company Alton Drilling to conduct an exploratory drilling programme in the area, a historical gold and silver mining region.

Supporters of Protect Karangahake, an organisation set up to prevent mining in the gorge, have vowed to disrupt activity to protect the mountain and its diverse ecology.