Wildlife Mitigation Plan
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€:J'erraX ____________________________________________________________________________ TerraX Minerals Inc. YELLOWKNIFE CITY GOLD PROJECT, NT WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AND MITIGATION PLAN NTS 085J / 07, 08, 09 and 16 Latitudes 62O 20’ 00”N and 62O 58’ 00”N Longitudes 114O 05’ 00”W and 114O 32’ 00”W Original: November 30, 2016 1 TerraX Minerals Inc. –Yellowknife City Gold Project – Wildlife Management & Mitigation Plan €:J'erraX ____________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. 1.0 INTRODUCTION 3 2.0 INTERNAL POLICIES 4 3.0 PREDICTED IMPACTS TO WILDLIFE 7 4.0 SPECIES-SPECIFIC MITIGATION MEASURES 7 Caribou 7 Bears and Other Carnivores 8 TABLES Table 1 Contact Phone Numbers for Bear Interactions 6 APPENDICES Appendix 1 Safety in Grizzly and Black Bear Country (GNWT) Appendix 2 Assessed Species That May Be Encountered in the Project Area Appendix 3 Wildlife Log Appendix 4 Freshwater Fish Screen Guideline (DFO) Appendix 5 Protocol for Winter Water Withdrawal from Ice-Covered Waterbodies in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (DFO) 2 TerraX Minerals Inc. –Yellowknife City Gold Project – Wildlife Management & Mitigation Plan €:J'erraX ____________________________________________________________________________ 1.0 INTRODUCTION TerraX Minerals Inc. (“TerraX”) is a Canadian exploration company with a head office based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The Yellowknife City Gold Project (YCGP) is located in the south-central Northwest Territories. The YCGP is located immediately east, south and north of the City of Yellowknife and covers 782.23 square kilometers (78,222.50 hectares). It is comprised of 164 mineral claims totaling 715 square kilometers (71,513 hectares) and 134 minerals leases totaling 67.10 square kilometers (6,709.5 hectares). TerraX is the registered holder with 100% interest in all the mineral claims and mineral leases. The annual diamond drill programs are expected to drill 40 to 80 drill holes and between 10,000–20,000 metres with anticipated drill hole depths of 50 to 650 metres. Coring will be completed at NQ size (47 mm diameter). Historical trail roads and trails will be used for access. As well TerraX will utilize the established ice roads along various lakes to transport drill equipment to the target areas. Well established historical drill trails occur overland in the areas surrounding most lakes on the YCGP. Proposed holes would be drilled at least 100 metres from lake shores, unless otherwise authorized in writing by an Inspector. It is expected the winter portion of the drilling programs will take 3 months. These programs are planned to start in January with drilling continuing to the spring break-up in mid-April. This will maximize the utilization of lake access and also minimize environmental damage along access roads by using frozen ground and snow-covered trails. Continued drilling on the YCGP will be contingent on drilling success, and the success of other ongoing below threshold exploration surveys, such as, mapping, prospecting, geophysics and geochemistry sampling. Based on historical results available to TerraX it is deemed highly probable that continuing drill programs will be needed to develop a possible economic deposit. In addition, it must be recognized that with continued below threshold exploration there is also a possibility of newly discovered areas of mineralization on all areas of the YCGP and that these may require drilling. All employees and contractors of the company will be trained in the internal policies and procedures. Additionally, employees and contractors will be made familiar with the Terms and Conditions of the project’s licences and permits and with the legislation as it applies to the project. Training will include, but not be limited to: • Emergency Response; • Bear Safety; • Worker Safety; • Environmental Policies; • Wildlife Mitigation Measures; and • Caribou Protection Measures. 3 TerraX Minerals Inc. –Yellowknife City Gold Project – Wildlife Management & Mitigation Plan €:J'erraX ____________________________________________________________________________ TerraX has reviewed the draft Bathurst Caribou range plan and used the information contained within this draft plan while developing this Wildlife Mitigation Plan. This project is not located near any caribou calving grounds and is several hundred kilometers away from the active range of the Bathurst Caribou herd. However, this area does support a variety of wildlife. This document describes the efforts that the company will undergo to provide best management practices toward the protection and mitigations against disturbances to wildlife and sensitive areas. 2.0 INTERNAL POLICIES Approaching and feeding wildlife is prohibited. There are absolutely no exceptions to this rule. If wildlife is present in the area, all employees and contractors are to avoid any contact with wildlife. These policies/regulations will be strictly enforced. Any employee or contractor who is found to be violating ay of these rules will find their employment terminated and removed from site immediately. Harassment and disturbance of wildlife is prohibited. If any employees and contractors are approaching a work site and wildlife are in the area, this work site will be avoided until the animals have moved on a distance of 500 metres from the site. If den sites or nests are discovered during exploration activities, these locations will be recorded and avoided until they are no longer in use. The locations are to be provided to the GNWT. Nests and/or eggs are not to be moved or disturbed. Hunting of wildlife is prohibited. While conducting business on behalf of TerraX, hunting is strictly forbidden. There will be no exceptions to this rule. Low-level aircraft and helicopter flights will be kept to a minimum. Helicopter and fixed wing aircraft will be used for the drilling and all below threshold exploration surveys. In addition, there will be airborne geophysical surveys. Airborne Geophysical Surveys - Prior to conducting any low-level airborne geophysical surveys the GNWT and MVLWB will be contacted and the following information will be provided: dates of surveys, location of surveys, how long the surveys will take to complete. If caribou, muskox or other game are seen in the area, the geophysical survey will not be flown until the animals have moved a safe distance (at least 1 km) from the area to be surveyed. The anticipated altitude of the surveys would be 100m to 300m. Caribou Protection Measures are to be strictly followed. Special caribou protection measures are required for areas of the Northwest Territories so as to avoid disturbance of migrating and calving herds. The draft Bathurst Caribou range plan will be followed and weekly checks of the Bathurst caribou mobile protection zone on the ENR website to remain informed as to the location of the herd in relation to the YCGP. Bear Safety Training will be provided. All employees and contractors will receive Bear Safety Training. Bear safety information and material will be kept in a binder on site. All human-bear interactions are to be reported immediately to the GNWT, Environment Canada, and HTO’s. The Government of the Northwest Territories 4 TerraX Minerals Inc. –Yellowknife City Gold Project – Wildlife Management & Mitigation Plan €:J'erraX ____________________________________________________________________________ published the “Safety in Grizzly and Black Bear Country” brochure. This document will be referred to in the safety orientation that all personnel, contractors and consultants receive when they arrive at site. A copy of the brochure is included as Appendix 1. Den sites will be avoided. All den sites are to be avoided. If a den site is discovered, the GPS coordinates will be recorded so that the site can be avoided. These coordinates will be provided to the appropriate regulatory authorities. No dens are to be disturbed. Any exploration activities will cease immediately. The following buffers are provided by the Government of the Northwest Territories for active dens between the den and all exploration activities: Wolves 800m buffer between May 1st and September 15th Grizzly/Black Bear 1km buffer between September 30th and March 30th Wolverine 800m buffer between February 1st and July 15th Fox 150m buffer between May 1st and July 15th Breeding Birds are not to be disturbed. No eggs or nests are to be disturbed by any activities. If any employee or contractor comes across any active nests, they are to cease all activities immediately to ensure that the nest is not disturbed. Coordinates are to be recorded on the wildlife sighting sheets and these coordinates are to be reported to Environment Canada. Moving or disturbing the nest of a migratory bird is in contravention of the Migratory Birds Convention Act. Cutting of vegetation will be done outside of the nesting season. When cutting of vegetation is required in nesting season a survey of the area(s) to be cut for nesting birds will be completed. In the boreal region of the Northwest Territories, migratory birds may be found incubating eggs from May 7th until July 21st, and young birds can be present in the nest until August. Crossbills (medium-sized finch-like birds) may nest at any time of year if there are sufficient numbers of seeds from conifer cones for food. If nests containing eggs or young of migratory birds are located or discovered, all disruptive activities in the nesting area will be halted until nesting is completed. The peregrine falcon has been identified as species