Kintyre Uranium Project Environmental Scoping Document
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Kintyre Uranium Project Environmental Scoping Document for assessment under the Western Australian Environmental Protection Act 1986 and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 Prepared for: Cameco Australia Pty Ltd Perth, Western Australia Prepared by: ENVIRON Australia Pty Ltd Date: August 2011 Project Number: AS110500 Cameco Australia Pty Ltd Kintyre Uranium Project August 2011 Environmental Scoping Document Page ii Prepared by: ENVIRON Australia Pty Ltd Authorised by: Cameco Australia Pty Ltd Name: Brian Bell Name: Simon Williamson Title: Principal Title: Environmental Manager Phone: 08 9225 5199 Phone: 08 9216 7500 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Signature: Date: 09/08/2011 Signature: Date: 09/08/2011 This document is issued to Cameco Australia Pty Ltd as an Environmental Scoping Document for assessment of the Kintyre Uranium Project under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It should not be used for any other purpose. Whilst reasonable attempts have been made to ensure that the contents of this report are accurate and complete at the time of writing, ENVIRON Australia Pty Ltd disclaims any responsibility for loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this report. © ENVIRON Australia Pty Ltd VERSION CONTROL RECORD Document File Name Date Issued Version Author Reviewer AS110500A_Kintyre 20 December 2010 0 K. Pope B. Bell ESD_20-12-10 S. Williamson AS110500A_Kintyre 11 February 2011 1 S. Williamson ESD_110211 AS110500A_Kintyre 17 February 2011 2 (presentation to S. Williamson ESD_110211 EPA) AS110500A_Kintyre 24 March 2011 3 (Public Release) S. Williamson ESD_240311 AS110500A_Kintyre 9 August 2011 4 (Response to S. Williamson ESD_090811 Public Submissions) AS110500 AS110500A_Kintyre ESD_090811 Final Cameco Australia Pty Ltd Kintyre Uranium Project August 2011 Environmental Scoping Document Page iii (This page has been left blank) AS110500 AS110500A_Kintyre ESD_090811 Final Cameco Australia Pty Ltd Kintyre Uranium Project August 2011 Environmental Scoping Document Page iv Contents Page Executive Summary viii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Overview 1 1.2 Purpose of Document 1 1.3 Proponent 2 1.4 Project History 2 2 The Project 3 2.1 Project Location 3 2.2 Proposal Summary and Key Characteristics 3 2.3 Mining 6 2.4 Dewatering 6 2.5 Mineral Processing 7 2.5.1 Tank Leaching of Beneficiated Ore 7 2.5.2 Tank Leaching of Whole Ore 8 2.5.3 Heap Leach of Whole Ore 8 2.6 Tailings Management 8 2.7 Radiation Management 9 2.8 Waste Management 11 2.9 Product Packaging and Transport 12 2.10 Supporting Infrastructure 13 2.10.1 Power 13 2.10.2 Water 13 2.10.3 Access Roads 14 2.10.4 Accommodation and Personnel Transport 14 2.10.5 Parkeston Transport Hub 14 2.10.6 Other Facilities 14 2.11 Workforce 15 2.12 Rehabilitation and Closure 15 3 Project Justification and Alternatives 17 3.1 Basis for Justifying Proposal 17 3.2 Alternatives Considered 19 3.2.1 Mining Methodology 19 3.2.2 Waste Rock Disposal 19 3.2.3 Processing Options 19 3.2.4 Plant and Infrastructure Locations 20 3.3 Customers 20 4 Applicable Legislation and Environmental Impact Assessment Process 21 4.1 Western Australian Environmental Assessment Process 21 AS110500 AS110500A_Kintyre ESD_090811 Final Cameco Australia Pty Ltd Kintyre Uranium Project August 2011 Environmental Scoping Document Page v 4.2 Federal Environmental Assessment Process 22 4.3 Other Approvals Required 22 4.4 Radiation Management Legislation 25 4.5 Guidelines, Standards and Policies 26 5 The Environment 33 5.1 Regional Setting 33 5.2 Climate 33 5.3 Geology 35 5.3.1 Geochemistry 35 5.4 Landforms and Soils 36 5.5 Surface Water 38 5.6 Groundwater 39 5.7 Flora and Vegetation 42 5.7.1 Significant Flora 43 5.7.2 Weeds 44 5.7.3 Groundwater Dependent Vegetation 45 5.8 Fauna 45 5.8.1 Terrestrial Fauna 46 5.8.2 Aquatic Fauna 48 5.8.3 Short Range Endemic Species 49 5.8.4 Subterranean Fauna 49 5.9 Threatened and Priority Ecological Communities 50 5.10 Radiological Environment 50 5.10.1 Physical radiological environment 50 5.10.2 Biological radiological environment 52 5.10.3 Human radiological environment 53 5.10.4 Transport and Radiation 55 5.11 Air Quality 55 5.12 Noise 57 5.13 Conservation Areas 57 5.13.1 Karlamilyi National Park 57 5.13.2 Register of the National Estate 58 5.14 Social Environment 58 5.15 Indigenous Heritage 59 5.15.1 Heritage Surveys 60 5.15.2 Heritage Management within the Project Area 60 5.15.3 Section 18 Consent 61 5.16 European Heritage 61 5.17 Traffic 62 AS110500 AS110500A_Kintyre ESD_090811 Final Cameco Australia Pty Ltd Kintyre Uranium Project August 2011 Environmental Scoping Document Page vi 6 Principles of Environmental Protection 63 7 Potential Impacts and Management 65 8 Scope of Works 91 8.1 Flora and Vegetation Survey 91 8.2 Fauna Surveys 91 8.2.1 Terrestrial Fauna 92 8.2.2 Subterranean Fauna 93 8.3 Surface Water Investigations 93 8.4 Groundwater Investigations 94 8.4.1 Pit Dewatering 95 8.4.2 Water Supply Borefield 95 8.5 Seepage Investigations 96 8.6 Radiation Assessments 96 8.7 Meteorology and Ambient Dust Study 97 8.8 Noise Assessment 98 8.9 Greenhouse Gas Assessment 99 8.10 Geochemical Characterisation 99 8.11 Ethnographic and Archaeological Studies 100 8.12 Social Impact Assessment 100 8.13 Transport Risk Study 100 8.14 Environmental Management Plans 101 8.15 Mine Closure and Rehabilitation Plan 102 9 Community and Other Stakeholder Consultation Programme 103 9.1 Overview 103 9.2 Consultation Programme 103 10 Project and Assessment Schedule 107 11 Study Team and Peer Review 109 12 References 111 13 Glossary 115 List of Tables Table E1: Indicative Project Characteristics viii Table 1: Indicative Project Characteristics 4 Table 2: Other Approvals Required 23 Table 3: Radiation protection and radioactive substances legislation 25 Table 4: Environmental Guidelines Standards and Policies 26 Table 5: Radiation Guidelines 28 Table 6: Soil Units in the Kintyre Area 37 AS110500 AS110500A_Kintyre ESD_090811 Final Cameco Australia Pty Ltd Kintyre Uranium Project August 2011 Environmental Scoping Document Page vii Table 7: Significant Fauna listed under the EPBC Act that may occur in the Project Area 47 Table 8: Significant Fauna listed under the Wildlife Conservation Act that may occur in the Project Area 48 Table 9: Typical Radiation Levels from Trailer of Uranium Oxide Concentrate (UOC) 55 Table 10: Principles of Environmental Protection 63 Table 11: Key Environmental Factors Table 66 Table 12: Indicative Environmental Assessment Schedule 107 List of Figures Figure 1 Regional Location Figure 2 Project Location Figure 3 Conceptual Project Layout Figure 4 Preferred Transport Route from Kintyre to Kalgoorlie Figure 5 Location of Meteorological and Air Quality Monitoring Stations Figure 6 Surface Water Catchment Areas Figure 7 Vegetation Units of the Project Area List of Appendices Appendix A: Radiation Assessment Scope AS110500 AS110500A_Kintyre ESD_090811 Final Cameco Australia Pty Ltd Kintyre Uranium Project August 2011 Environmental Scoping Document Page viii Executive Summary Cameco Australia Pty Ltd (Cameco) is proposing to develop the Kintyre Uranium Project located approximately 1,200 km north northeast of Perth in the Shire of East Pilbara of Western Australia (WA). On 20 September 2010 the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority advertised the level of assessment for the Kintyre Uranium Project as an Environmental Review and Management Programme (ERMP) with a 14-week public review period. This level of assessment requires a proponent to prepare and release an environmental scoping document for public review for at least two weeks and to modify the document in response to submissions. This Environmental Scoping Document (ESD) has been prepared to enable key stakeholders and the public to comment on the proposed scope of works for the environmental impact assessment of the proposed Kintyre Uranium Project (the Project). The Project will consist of an open-cut uranium mine, process plant and associated infrastructure. The Project will produce between 2.7 and 3.6 kilotonnes (kT) (six and eight 1 million pounds ) per year uranium oxide concentrate (UOC) as U3O8 equivalent for transport via road from the mine site to the proposed Parkeston transport hub near Kalgoorlie, WA. Transport of UOC by road and/or rail from Parkeston to export ports in Adelaide South Australia or Darwin in the Northern Territory will be the subject of a separate environmental assessment. Indicative project characteristics are outlined in Table E1 below. Table E1: Indicative Project Characteristics Project Element Description Life of Project Nominally 15 years (based on current geological modelling) Timing Commencement of construction after 2013 (subject to approvals) Commencement of operations after 2015 Size of orebody 28 – 36 kT (62 – 80 million pounds) uranium oxide (U3O8) with ore grade of 0.3 – 0.4% U3O8 Exploration drilling is ongoing to define the resource in compliance with Canadian Mineral Resource and Reporting Standards. Mining method Selective open pit mining Major components Open pits Permanent waste rock dump Temporary waste rock dump BOGUM dump ROM pad Process Plant 1 The standard unit of measurement in the uranium industry is pounds. AS110500 AS110500A_Kintyre ESD_090811 Final Cameco Australia Pty Ltd Kintyre Uranium Project August 2011 Environmental Scoping Document Page ix Table E1: Indicative Project Characteristics Project Element Description Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) Mine workshop and administration buildings Mining method Rock blasting, with conventional excavator and truck Mining rate 15 Mtpa – 24 Mtpa (140 Mt total) Area of disturbance Approximately 600 ha Processing method • Acid or alkaline tank leaching of beneficiated ore; and/or • Acid or alkaline tank leaching of whole ore; and/or • Acid or alkaline heap leaching.