MDMER Schedule 2 Fish Habitat Compensation Plan and Fisheries Act Paragraph 35(2)(B) Authorization Offset Plan Executive Summary
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Magino Gold Project, Draft - MDMER Schedule 2 Fish Habitat Compensation Plan and Fisheries Act Paragraph 35(2)(b) Authorization Offset Plan Executive Summary Dubreuilville, Ontario TC180502 Prodigy Gold Inc. Prepared for: Prodigy Gold Inc. Box 309, 3 Dree Road, Dubreuilville, Ontario, P0S 1B0 Prepared by: Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions a Division of Wood Canada Limited 160 Traders Blvd. E., Suite 110 Mississauga, Ontario, L4Z 3K7 T: (905) 568-2929 Copyright and non-disclosure notice The contents and layout of this report are subject to copyright owned by Wood (© Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions a Division of Wood Canada Limited) save to the extent that copyright has been legally assigned by us to another party or is used by Wood under license. To the extent that we own the copyright in this report, it may not be copied or used without our prior written agreement for any purpose other than the purpose indicated in this report. 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Magino Gold Project Draft - MDMER Schedule 2 Fish Habitat Compensation Plan and Fisheries Act Paragraph 35(2)(b) Authorization Offset Plan Executive Summary October 2018 Table of Contents Page List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................. ii 1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 Description of the Types of Proposed Works Likely to Result in Loss of Fish Frequented Waterbodies and Impacts to Fisheries ........................................................................................... 3 3.0 Measures and Standards to Avoid or Mitigate Impacts to Fish Frequented Waters and Serious Harm to Fish ........................................................................................................................ 4 4.0 Residual Impacts to Waterbodies Frequented by Fish and Fisheries Likely to Result from the Proposed Works, Undertaking or Activity ..................................................................................... 4 5.0 Measures to Compensate and Offset the Loss of Waters Frequented by Fish and Serious Harm to Fish Likely to Result from the Authorized Work, Undertaking or Activity ................ 5 6.0 Monitoring the Implementation and Effectiveness of the Compensation and Offset Measures ............................................................................................................................................ 7 7.0 Fish Habitat Compensation / Offset Accounting and Balance .................................................... 7 List of Tables Table ES-1: Coordinates of Waterbodies Affected by Project ......................................................................................... 11 Table ES-2: Fish Community Coefficient Summary .............................................................................................................. 11 Table ES-3: Summary of Impacts Requiring Fisheries Act Authorization or MDMER Schedule 2 Listing ....... 12 Table ES-4: Offset Area Accounting and Balance Summary............................................................................................. 14 List of Figures Figure ES-1: Project Location ........................................................................................................................................................... 9 Figure ES-2: Fisheries Impact and Offset Locations ............................................................................................................. 10 Page i Magino Gold Project Draft - MDMER Schedule 2 Fish Habitat Compensation Plan and Fisheries Act Paragraph 35(2)(b) Authorization Offset Plan Executive Summary October 2018 List of Acronyms CPUE Catch per Unit Effort DFO Department of Fisheries and Oceans EA Environmental Assessment ECCC Environment Canada and Climate Change EIS Environmental Impacts Assessment FAA Fisheries Act Authorization ha Hectare LOM Life of Mine LSWBM Lake and Stream Water Balance Model Magino Magino Gold Project MDMER Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations MNRF Ministry or Natural Resources and Forestry Mt Million tonnes MRMF Mine Rock Management Facility OMNR Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Prodigy Prodigy Gold Incorporated TMF Tailings Management Facility tpd Tonnes per Day UTM Universal Transverse Mercator WQCP Water Quality Control Pond Page ii Magino Gold Project Draft - MDMER Schedule 2 Fish Habitat Compensation Plan and Fisheries Act Paragraph 35(2)(b) Authorization Offset Plan Executive Summary October 2018 1.0 Introduction Purpose Prodigy Gold, Inc., a subsidiary of Argonaut Gold (Prodigy) is in the process of developing the Magino Gold Project (the Project) located approximately 40 kilometres (km) northeast of Wawa, Ontario, in Finan Township, Algoma District (Figure ES-1). Prodigy proposes the Project to include the construction, operation and closure of an approximately 150 million tonnes (Mt) of ore and approximately 430 Mt of mine rock open pit gold mine and associated infrastructure. The proposed open pit will be situated in the same location as a past-producing underground mine, and as such the Project is considered a brownfield site. The Magino Gold Project will include an open pit, milling and processing complex, roads and pipelines, ore processing plant, a tailings management facility (TMF) and mine rock management facility, and stockpiles for the storage of overburden and waste rock. To facilitate development of the Project, there will be a need to overprint or otherwise impact waterbodies (lakes, streams and wetlands) that contain fish and/or provide fish habitat (Table ES-1); consequently necessitating the provision of compensatory offsetting measures to replace the impacted fisheries values associated with the water features. The purpose of this draft fisheries offset and compensation plan is to describe the impacts and currently proposed measures associated with fish bearing waters to demonstrate that appropriate avoidance, mitigation and offsetting of fisheries values has been provided for by the Project. Waterbodies frequented by fish located within the footprint of the Project are also under consideration by Environment Canada and Climate Change (ECCC) for the purpose of amending Schedule 2 of the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations (MDMER). Part of the process associated with adding a waterbody to Schedule 2 is the development of a fish habitat compensation plan as per Section 27.1 of the MDMER, to compensate for the loss resulting from the deposition of mine waste into naturally occurring fish bearing waters. Additional fisheries values impacted by the Project due to works, undertakings or activities (e.g., dewatering, open pit development, plant site, creek diversion) other than mine waste deposition, have been identified by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to likely result in Serious Harm to Fish as per Section 35 of the Fisheries Act, and as such will also require offsetting measures through implementation of a fisheries offset plan. Discussions with ECCC and DFO have confirmed that Prodigy will work in cooperation with DFO to develop an acceptable combined Fisheries Offset Plan that will include compensation fish habitat required for Schedule 2 waterbody impacts, and fisheries offset measures for the Section 35 impacts. This document is a draft plan, which presents the fisheries impacts and offset measures consistent with the proposed site plan and design details. Subsequent advancements of this document will accommodate any necessary site plan changes, detailed design modifications, further clarify impacts as either Serious Harm to Fish associated with a Section 35 Authorization or waterbodies requiring Schedule 2 amendment, and incorporate stakeholder engagment. Page 1 Magino Gold Project Draft - MDMER Schedule 2 Fish Habitat Compensation Plan and Fisheries Act Paragraph 35(2)(b) Authorization Offset Plan Executive Summary October 2018 Stakeholder Consultation and Engagement The Draft EIS/EA was distributed in May 2017. Consultation with DFO and ECCC to date has advanced the development of the offsetting measures presented in the Draft EIS/EA to support the Compensation Plan presented herein. Likewise, there has been engagement with other stakeholders such as First Nation and Métis representatives