Subterranean Fauna Assessment – B2018 Project (Phoenix Environmental Sciences)
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APPENDIX K: SUBTERRANEAN FAUNA ASSESSMENT – B2018 PROJECT (PHOENIX ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES) Appendix K Appendix K Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment for the St Ives Gold Mine Beyond 2018 Project Prepared for St Ives Gold Mining Company Pty Ltd December 2016 Final report Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment for the St Ives Gold Mine Beyond 2018 Project Prepared for St Ives Gold Mining Company Pty Ltd Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment for the St Ives Gold Mine Beyond 2018 Project Prepared for St Ives Gold Mining Company Pty Ltd Final Report Author: Volker Framenau Date: 12 December 2016 Submitted to: Andrew Mack, Elina Vuorenmaa (Talis Consultants Pty Ltd) Chain of authorship and review Name Task Version Date Volker Framenau Draft for client comments 1.0 3 December 2016 Volker Framenau Final submitted to client 1.1 12 December 2016 ©Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd 2016 The use of this report is solely for the Client for the purpose in which it was prepared. Phoenix Environmental Sciences accepts no responsibility for use beyond this purpose. The validity of any third party data contained in this report has not been verified by Phoenix. All rights are reserved and no part of this report may be reproduced or copied in any form without the written permission of Phoenix Environmental Sciences or the Client. Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd 1/511 Wanneroo Rd BALCATTA WA 6021 P: 08 9345 1608 F: 08 6313 0680 E: [email protected] Project code: 1129-SI-SI-SUB Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment for the St Ives Gold Mine Beyond 2018 Project Prepared for St Ives Gold Mining Company Pty Ltd Contents CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................ I LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... II LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................ II LIST OF APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................... II EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... III 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Study objective and scope of work........................................................................................ 3 2 LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT .................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Commonwealth ..................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 State ....................................................................................................................................... 5 3 BIOLOGICAL CONTEXT ..................................................................................................................... 6 3.1 Troglofauna ........................................................................................................................... 6 3.2 Stygofauna ............................................................................................................................. 8 3.3 Identifying troglofauna and stygofauna ................................................................................ 8 3.4 Threatening processes ........................................................................................................... 9 4 EXISTING ENVIRONMENT .............................................................................................................. 11 4.1 IBRA ..................................................................................................................................... 11 4.2 Climate ................................................................................................................................. 11 4.3 Landforms and vegetation ................................................................................................... 12 4.4 Geology ................................................................................................................................ 12 4.5 Hydrology ............................................................................................................................ 16 5 METHODS ...................................................................................................................................... 19 5.1 Desktop review .................................................................................................................... 19 5.1.1 Database searches .......................................................................................................... 19 5.1.2 Literature review ............................................................................................................. 19 5.2 Reconnaissance survey ........................................................................................................ 19 6 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................ 20 6.1 Database searches ............................................................................................................... 20 6.2 Threatened and priority species or ecological communities .............................................. 20 6.3 Literature review ................................................................................................................. 20 6.3.1 Relevant subterranean surveys ....................................................................................... 20 6.3.2 Geology ........................................................................................................................... 21 6.3.3 Hydrology ........................................................................................................................ 25 6.4 Likelihood of subterranean fauna to occur in the study area ............................................. 25 6.4.1 Troglofauna ..................................................................................................................... 26 6.4.2 Stygofauna....................................................................................................................... 26 7 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................... 27 7.1 Regulatory framework ......................................................................................................... 27 Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd i Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment for the St Ives Gold Mine Beyond 2018 Project Prepared for St Ives Gold Mining Company Pty Ltd 7.2 Assessment .......................................................................................................................... 27 7.3 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 28 8 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 29 List of Figures Figure 1-1 Location of the St Ives Gold Mine Beyond 2018 Project ................................................... 2 Figure 4-1 Average monthly temperatures (maximum and minimum) and rainfall recorded from City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport (BoM 2016) ............................................................... 12 Figure 4-2 Archaean geology of the B2018 study area .................................................................... 14 Figure 4-3 Surface geology of the B2018 study area (Griffin 1989) ................................................. 15 Figure 4-4 Pre-Eocene drainage system in the Kambalda-Norseman region (from Griffin 1989) ... 17 Figure 4-5 Location of Lake Lefroy palaeochannel ........................................................................... 18 Figure 6-1 Geological cross-section at Intrepide (from Connors et al. 2005) ................................. 21 Figure 6-2 Stratigraphic column for Argo Cainozoic sediments (from Connors et al. 2005) ........... 23 Figure 6-3 Photo of surface geology of the southern island in Lake Lefroy, east of the causeway . 24 List of Tables Table 5-1 Subterranean fauna studies conducted within the B2018 study area ........................... 19 Table 6-1 Approximate surface geology of the B2018 study area (see Figure 4-3) ........................ 22 List of Appendices Appendix 1 Conservation significant subterranean fauna in Western Australia (DPaW 2015c) Appendix 2: Subterranean Threatened Ecological Communities in Western Australia (DPaW 2015a) Appendix 3: Priority Ecological Communities (DPaW 2015b) Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd ii Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment for the St Ives Gold Mine Beyond 2018 Project Prepared for St Ives Gold Mining Company Pty Ltd EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In September 2016, Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd (Phoenix) was commissioned by Talis Consultants Pty Ltd