FLORA & VEGETATION ASSESSMENT – SPRING 2020 NORSEMAN GOLD PROJECT, NORSEMAN, WA Prepared By Prepared For Pantoro Ltd Date December 2020 DOCUMENT STATUS DOCUMENT REFERENCE: CNG2003/30/20 VERSION TYPE AUTHOR/S REVIEWER/S DATE DISTRIBUTED V1 Internal review E. Chetwin E.M. Mattiske - V2 Draft for client E. Chetwin E.M. Mattiske 09/12/2020 V3 Final E. Chetwin/S. Ruoss E.M. Mattiske 17/12/2020 (ACN 063 507 175, ABN 39 063 507 175) PO Box 437 Kalamunda WA 6926 Phone: +61 8 9257 1625 Email: [email protected] Photo Low-lying vegetation at the northern edge of the Gladstone survey area, Norseman Gold Project, Cover: Spring 2020 COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER Copyright The information contained in this report is the property of Mattiske Consulting Pty Ltd. The use or copying of the whole or any part of this report without the written permission of Mattiske Consulting Pty Ltd is not permitted. Disclaimer This report has been prepared on behalf of and for the exclusive use of Pantoro Ltd, and is subject to and issued in accordance with the agreement between Pantoro Ltd and Mattiske Consulting Pty Ltd. This report is based on the scope of services defined by Pantoro Ltd, the budgetary and time constraints imposed by Pantoro Ltd, and the methods consistent with the preceding. Mattiske Consulting Pty Ltd has utilised information and data supplied by Pantoro Ltd (and its agents), and sourced from government databases, literature, departments and agencies in the preparation of this report. Mattiske Consulting Pty Ltd has compiled this report on the basis that any supplied or sourced information and data was accurate at the time of publication. Mattiske Consulting Pty Ltd accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for the use of, or reliance upon, the whole or any part of this report by any third party. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 1 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 3 1.1. Location and Scope of Project ................................................................................................ 3 1.2. Environmental Legislation and Guidelines ................................................................................ 3 2. OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................................................. 5 3. METHODS ...................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1. Field Survey ......................................................................................................................... 6 3.2. Survey Timing ...................................................................................................................... 7 3.3. Analysis of Site Data.............................................................................................................. 8 3.4. Vegetation Descriptions ......................................................................................................... 8 3.5. Survey Limitations ................................................................................................................. 9 4. FIELD SURVEY RESULTS ............................................................................................................. 11 4.1. Flora .................................................................................................................................. 11 4.1.1. Threatened and Priority Flora ............................................................................................... 18 4.1.2. Other Significant Flora ......................................................................................................... 25 4.1.3. Introduced (Weed) Species and Declared Pest (Plant) Organisms ............................................ 27 4.2. Vegetation .......................................................................................................................... 27 4.2.1. Statistical Analysis ............................................................................................................... 27 4.2.2. Vegetation Communities ...................................................................................................... 29 4.2.3. Threatened and Priority Ecological Communities .................................................................... 34 4.2.4. Vegetation Condition ........................................................................................................... 41 5. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 42 5.1. Flora .................................................................................................................................. 42 5.2. Vegetation .......................................................................................................................... 43 5.2.1. Eucalyptus woodlands ......................................................................................................... 43 5.2.2. Other vegetation communities .............................................................................................. 44 5.2.3. Species Richness ................................................................................................................. 44 5.2.4. Comparison with previous mapping ...................................................................................... 44 5.3. Local and regional context and impact .................................................................................. 45 6. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 46 7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................... 48 8. PERSONNEL ................................................................................................................................ 48 9. REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................... 49 TABLES 1: Potential limitations affecting the conclusions made in this report 2: Location and extent of priority species within the Norseman Gold Project Spring survey areas Location and extent of Eremophila parvifolia ?subsp. auricampi within the Norseman Gold Project 3: Spring survey areas Taxa recorded within the Norseman Gold Project survey area in Spring 2020 representing an 4: extension to currently known distributions 5: Introduced (weed) taxa recorded within the Norseman Gold Project survey areas, Spring 2020 6 Vegetation communities in the Hills survey areas, Spring 2020 7: Vegetation communities in the Flats survey areas, Spring 2020 8: Vegetation Condition by Vegetation Community in the Hills and Flats survey areas, Spring 2020 FIGURES 1: Locality of the Norseman Gold Project and Spring survey areas 2: Rainfall and temperature data for Norseman Aero WA (012009) 3.1-3.5: Survey Site Locations and Tracks, Spring 2020, with Autumn 2020 Mattiske Consulting Pty Ltd Vegetation Mapping, Sites and Tracks 4.1-4.2: Average randomised Species Accumulation Curves for the Hills and Flats survey areas, Spring 2020 5.1-5.2: Dendrograms for the Hills and Flats survey areas, Spring 2020 6.1-6.3: Vegetation Mapping for the Hills survey areas, Spring 2020 7.1-7.3: Vegetation Mapping for the Flats survey areas, Spring 2020 PLATES 1a, 1b: Allocasuarina eriochlamys subsp. grossa (P3) (Photos: E. Chetwin) 2: Eremophila purpurascens (P3) (Photo: S. Ruoss) 3a, 3b, 3c: Eucalyptus brockwayi (P3) (Photos: M. Behn) 4a, 4b: Eucalyptus websteriana subsp. norsemanica (P1) (Photo: S. Ruoss) 5a, 5b: Gooodenia laevis subsp. laevis (P3) (Photo: S. Ruoss) 6: Melaleuca coccinea (P3) (Photo: E. Chetwin) 7a, 7b: Micromyrtus papillosa (P1) (Photos: S. Ruoss) 8: Philotheca apiculata (P1) (Photo: S. Ruoss) 9: Eremophila parvifolia ?subsp. auricampi (Photo: S. Ruoss) APPENDICES A1: Threatened and priority flora definitions A2: Threatened and priority ecological community definitions A3: Categories and control measures of declared pest (plant) organisms in Western Australia A4: Other definitions A5: NVIS structural formation terminology A6: Definition of vegetation condition scale for the South West and Interzone Botanical Provinces B: Survey site locations, Spring 2020 C: Vascular plant species recorded by Survey Site, Spring 2020 D: Summary of Vegetation Communities in the Hills survey areas, Spring 2020 E: Summary of Vegetation Communities in the Flats survey area, Spring 2020 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BAM Act: Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (WA) BC Act: Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (WA) BOM: Bureau of Meteorology CLUSTER: Hierarchical clustering DAWE Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment DBCA: Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions DPaW: Department of Parks and Wildlife (now under DBCA) EP Act: Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) EPA: Environmental Protection Authority EPBC Act: Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Commonwealth) MCPL: Mattiske Consulting Pty Ltd NVIS: National Vegetation Information System Pantoro: Pantoro Limited PEC: Priority Ecological Community PRIMER: