Biologic Environmental Survey Pty Ltd PO Box 179 Floreat, WA, 6014 15th April 2019 Attn: Jeremy Shepherdson Ecotec (WA) Pty Ltd 3 Glenunga Way Craigie WA 6025

Dear Jeremy,

Ecotec (WA) Pty Ltd (Ecotec) are currently undertaking approvals for Fenix Resources Ltd (Fenix) for tenement M20/118 (the Project Area) within the Murchison bioregion, Western Australia. Ecotec has commissioned Biologic Environmental Survey Pty Ltd (Biologic) to undertake a status review of the trapdoor nigrum Main 1952 (shield-backed trapdoor spider) and an assessment of further survey requirements for the species, taking into account the survey work undertaken by Biologic for this species at the Project Area (Biologic, 2012). This letter presents the results of that status review and assessment.

In 2012, Biologic undertook a targeted survey at tenement M20/118 for Atlas Iron Ltd. This work provided a comprehensive assessment of the I. nigrum population at the Project Area taking into account previous work undertaken (Bamford, 2009; Ecologia, 2009) and the greater population throughout Weld Range. This work was required at the time as I. nigrum was listed under Schedule 1 of the WA Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 as Vulnerable.

In 2018, a conservation systematics review was published (Rix et al., 2018) that detailed the revision of the Idiosoma. One of the results of this review was that Idiosoma nigrum was shown to contain multiple species and I. nigrum was relimited to include only those populations within the central and central-western Wheatbelt bioregion (Figure 1) (Rix et al., 2018). The Idiosoma populations recorded through the Murchison bioregion and the northern sections of the Yalgoo bioregion, which includes the Project Area, are now regarded as Idiosoma clypeatum Rix and Harvey, 2018 (Figure 1), and now commonly referred to as the northern shield-backed trapdoor spider. The review included an examination of material from Weld Range and Rix et al. (2018) concluded that I. clypeatum is the only known species from this genus in the Murchison bioregion.

Figure 1: The known distribution of Idiosoma nigrum and I. clypeatum (from Rix et al. 2018). The large green circle identifies the approximate location of the Project Area.

Idiosoma clypeatum has a widespread distribution in Western Australia’s inland arid zone, extending from near Paynes Find, the Blue Hill Range, Kadji Kadji Nature Reserve, and Karara in the south, north and north-east to at least Coolcalalaya Homestead, Jack Hills, Albion Downs, Yakabindie, and Yeelirrie (Rix et al., 2018) (Figure 1). This distribution appears to correlate strongly with an annual rainfall of less than 250 mm (Rix et al., 2018) making it one of the most arid adapted species of the genus Idiosoma.

In 2017, Idiosoma clypeatum was formally assessed as ‘priority 3’ fauna using a standard International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) approach and is currently listed as such under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act); specially protected fauna under section 13(1). Rix et al. (2018) concluded that while the species’ extent of occurrence of over 120,000 km2 excludes it from consideration as threatened under Criterion B, a ‘priority 3’ recommendation was made due to the occurrence of the species in areas prospective for mining and mineral resources. Rix et al. (2018) also concluded that close assessment under Criteria A and B is warranted in the future.

Priority 3 fauna are regarded as “Poorly-known species” and defined as follows;

• Species that are known from several locations, and the species does not appear to be under imminent threat, or from few but widespread locations with either large population size or significant remaining areas of apparently suitable habitat, much of it not under imminent threat. Species may be included if they are comparatively well known from several locations but do not meet adequacy of survey requirements and known threatening processes exist that could affect them. Such species are in need of further survey (DBCA, 2019).

Based on this assessment, it can be concluded that the species of Idiosoma present within the Project Area is Idiosoma clypeatum, which is currently regarded as ‘priority 3’ under the BC Act. While species under this ranking are regarded as in need of further survey, the extent of survey work previously undertaken at the Project Area can be regarded as adequate for an approval.

In conclusion, further survey work is regarded as not required; however, the previous report provided by Biologic (Biologic, 2012), which also incorporated the previous survey work (Bamford, 2009; Ecologia, 2009), could be updated to reflect the current conservation status.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Yours sincerely,

Brad Durrant Managing Director [email protected] 0417 998 440

References Bamford Consulting Ecologists (2009) Weld Range Direct Shipping Ore Project. Targeted Shield-backed Trapdoor Spider, SRE Invertebrate and Vertebrate Fauna Survey: September 2009. Report to Atlas Iron Limited. Biologic (2012) Weld Range Idiosoma nigrum Survey. Report to Atlas Iron Limited. Ecologia Environment (2009b) Weld Range Iron Ore Project. The Shield-back Spider Idiosoma nigrum Targeted Survey: October 2009. Report to Sinosteel Midwest Corporation Ltd (SMC). DBCA (2019) Conservation Codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Rix MG, Huey JA, Cooper SJB, Austin AD, Harvey MS (2018) Conservation systematics of the shield-backed trapdoor of the nigrum-group (, , Idiosoma): integrative reveals a diverse and threatened fauna from south-western Australia. ZooKeys 756: 1– 121. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.756.24397 Western Australian Government Gazette (2018) Wildlife Conservation (Specially Protected Fauna) Notice 2018, 11 September 2018. https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/plants-and-animals/threatened-species-and- communities/threatened-?view=categories&id=109 [accessed April 2019]