Merian Project Final ESIA Report Volume I - Introduction and Environmental and Social Baseline 31 January 2013 The world’s leading sustainability consultancy TABLE OF CONTENTS – VOLUME I 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1-1 1.1 OVERVIEW OF PROPOSED PROJECT 1-1 1.1.1 Purpose and Need for Proposed Project 1-1 1.1.2 Proposed Project 1-1 1.1.3 Project Proponent, Ownership and Licenses 1-4 1.2 OVERVIEW OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROCESS 1-4 1.2.1 Purpose of the Environmental and Social ESIA Process 1-4 1.2.2 Objective 1-5 1.2.3 ESIA Phases 1-6 1.3 ESIA STUDY TEAM 1-11 1.4 SCOPE OF THE ESIA STUDY 1-12 1.5 ESIA ORGANIZATION 1-16 1.5.1 Volume I: Introduction, Environmental and Social Baseline 1-16 1.5.2 Volume II: Environmental and Social Impact Assessment 1-16 1.5.3 Volume III and IV: Appendices 1-17 1.6 REFERENCES FOR CHAPTER 1 1-18 2.0 LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 2-1 2.1 SURINAME LAWS AND REGULATIONS 2-1 2.1.1 Legal and Institutional Framework 2-4 2.2 LEGAL FRAMEWORK 2-6 2.3 SURGOLD STANDARDS 2-21 2.4 INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 2-22 2.4.1 IFC General Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines 2-22 2.4.2 IFC EHS Guidelines for Mining 2-22 2.4.3 International Cyanide Management Code 2-22 2.4.4 Principles and Standards of Practice 2-22 2.4.5 International Council of Mining & Metals (ICMM) Guidelines 2-23 2.5 REFERENCES FOR CHAPTER 2 2-25 3.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 3-1 ERM i SURGOLD-MERIAN 3.1 GENERAL PROJECT DESCRIPTION 3-1 3.2 EARLY WORKS 3-9 3.3 MINE SITE 3-10 3.3.1 Mine Pits 3-12 3.3.2 Waste Rock Disposal Facilities 3-13 3.3.3 Mining Equipment 3-16 3.3.4 Process Plant 3-17 3.3.5 Tailings Storage Facility 3-21 3.3.6 Labor Force 3-23 3.4 MINE INFRASTRUCTURE 3-25 3.4.1 Power Plant 3-25 3.4.2 Airstrip 3-27 3.4.3 Borrow Sites 3-27 3.4.4 Fuel and Chemical Storage 3-28 3.4.5 Operations Camp 3-30 3.4.6 Waste Management 3-31 3.5 MINE-SITE WATER MANAGEMENT 3-33 3.5.1 Site Drainage and Sediment Control 3-34 3.5.2 Pit Dewatering 3-38 3.5.3 Waste Rock Disposal Area Runoff and Seepage 3-38 3.5.4 Tailings Water Management 3-38 3.5.5 Water Treatment Plant (WTP) 3-50 3.5.6 Treated Water Storage Reservoir (TWSR) 3-50 3.5.7 Fresh Water Supply 3-50 3.5.8 Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) 3-51 3.6 TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR 3-51 3.7 PROJECT PHASES 3-52 3.7.1 Pre-Production 3-52 3.7.2 Operation 3-56 3.7.3 Closure 3-56 3.7.4 Post-Closure 3-57 4.0 PROJECT ALTERNATIVES 4-1 4.1 PLANT LOCATION 4-1 4.2 POWER SUPPLY 4-1 4.3 SITE ACCESS 4-9 ERM ii SURGOLD-MERIAN 4.4 WORKER ACCOMMODATIONS 4-14 4.5 AIRSTRIP 4-17 4.6 TAILINGS STORAGE FACILITY 4-18 5.0 PROJECT LOCATION AND SETTING 5-1 5.1 LAND USE AND OWNERSHIP 5-1 5.2 CLIMATE 5-4 5.2.1 Regional Climate 5-4 5.2.2 Project Site Climate 5-5 5.2.3 Rainfall 5-5 5.2.4 Temperature 5-7 5.3 GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY 5-10 5.3.1 Regional Geology and Topography 5-10 5.3.2 Project Site Geology 5-14 5.3.3 Regional Site Topography 5-16 5.3.4 Project Site Topography 5-19 5.4 NATURAL HAZARDS 5-22 5.4.1 Seismic 5-22 5.4.2 Flooding 5-23 5.5 REFERENCES FOR CHAPTER 5 5-27 6.0 AIR QUALITY AND GREENHOUSE GAS BASELINE 6-1 6.1 EXISTING AIR QUALITY 6-1 6.1.1 Air Quality Sampling 6-1 6.2 GREENHOUSE GASES 6-12 6.3 REFERENCES FOR CHAPTER 6 6-14 7.0 NOISE AND VIBRATION BASELINE 7-1 7.1 EXISTING NOISE CONDITION 7-1 7.1.1 Mine Site 7-1 7.1.2 Transportation Corridor 7-7 7.2 EXISTING VIBRATION CONDITION 7-12 7.3 REFERENCES FOR CHAPTER 7 7-13 ERM iii SURGOLD-MERIAN 8.0 LANDSCAPE AND SOILS BASELINE 8-1 8.1 SOIL QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY 8-11 8.2 REFERENCES FOR CHAPTER 8.0 8-15 9.0 WATER RESOURCES BASELINE 9-1 9.1 CLIMATE 9-4 9.2 SURFACE WATER 9-7 9.2.1 Commewijne River Watershed 9-9 9.2.2 Study Area Streamflow - Commewijne River Watershed 9-13 9.2.3 Marowijne River Watershed 9-26 9.2.4 Study Area Streamflow – Marowijne River Watershed 9-27 9.3 WATER QUALITY 9-34 9.3.1 Artisanal and Small Scale ASM Mining 9-34 9.3.2 Project Surface Water Quality 9-36 9.4 REGIONAL HYDROGEOLOGY 9-58 9.5 PROJECT HYDROGEOLOGY 9-61 9.5.1 Project Hydrogeologic Units 9-65 9.5.2 Groundwater Quality 9-79 9.5.3 Conceptual Model of Groundwater Conditions 9-81 9.6 REFERENCES FOR CHAPTER 9 9-83 10.0 TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BASELINE 10-1 10.1 TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS 10-1 10.2 SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS 10-8 10.2.1 East-West Highway 10-8 10.2.2 Moengo Road 10-10 11.0 BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES BASELINE 11-1 11.1 ECOLOGICAL SETTING 11-1 11.1.1 Vegetation Setting 11-1 11.1.2 Faunal Setting 11-2 11.2 BASELINE DATA COLLECTION 11-4 11.2.1 Data collection and analysis methodology 11-7 ERM iv SURGOLD-MERIAN 11.3 TAXONOMIC DISCUSSION OF BASELINE BIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 11-11 11.3.1 Vegetation 11-11 11.3.2 Mammals 11-24 11.3.3 Birds 11-34 11.3.4 Insects 11-40 11.3.5 Herpetofauna 11-45 11.4 REFERENCES FOR CHAPTER 11 11-52 12.0 AQUATIC RESOURCES BASELINE 12-1 12.1 PLANKTON 12-2 12.2 AQUATIC FAUNA 12-10 12.2.1 Macroinvertebrates 12-10 12.2.2 Fish 12-12 12.2.3 Aquatic habitat 12-16 12.2.4 Special Status Species 12-22 12.3 REFERENCES FOR CHAPTER 12 12-31 13.0 PROTECTED AREAS BASELINE 13-1 13.1 INTRODUCTION 13-1 13.2 INTERNATIONAL GUIDANCE ON PROTECTED AREAS 13-1 13.3 PROTECTED AREAS IN SURINAME 13-2 13.3.1 Internationally Recognized Protected Areas in Suriname 13-2 13.4 PROTECTED AREAS NEAR THE MERIAN GOLD PROJECT 13-6 13.5 OTHER IMPORTANT BIODIVERSITY AREAS 13-7 13.6 CONCLUSION 13-11 14.0 SOCIAL BASELINE 14-1 14.1 INTRODUCTION 14-1 14.1.1 Socio-Economic Indicators 14-2 14.1.2 Historical Overview of Suriname 14-4 14.1.3 Project Social Study Area 14-6 14.1.4 Structure of the baseline chapter 14-11 14.2 NATIONAL AND REGIONAL SUMMARY 14-19 14.2.1 National and Regional Governance Systems 14-19 ERM v SURGOLD-MERIAN 14.2.2 Indigenous and tribal peoples’ land rights 14-20 14.2.3 National Demography Overview 14-20 14.2.4 National Education Overview 14-21 14.2.5 National Overview of Health Status 14-22 14.2.6 National Overview of Social Infrastructure, Resources and Services 14-24 14.2.7 National Livelihoods and Socio-Economics Overview 14-25 14.3 NATIONAL AND REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURAL HERITAGE14-25 14.3.1 Introduction 14-25 14.3.2 Precolonial Cultual Context for Suriname 14-25 14.3.3 Known and Potential Archaeological Sites in the Region Around the Merian Area 14-28 14.3.4 Archaeological Sensitivity of the Project Site 14-29 14.4 MAROWIJNE AREA 14-32 14.4.1 Traditional Pamaka Governance 14-34 14.4.2 Demography in the Marowijne Area 14-39 14.4.3 Education in the Marowijne Area 14-50 14.4.4 Marowijne Area Health Profile 14-55 14.4.5 Social Infrastructure, Resources and Services in the Marowijne Area 14-63 14.4.6 Cultural Heritage in the Marowijne Area 14-77 14.4.7 Marowijne Area Livelihoods and Socio-Economics 14-81 14.4.8 Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) 14-91 14.5 MOENGO AREA 14-101 14.5.1 Demography in the Moengo Area 14-101 14.5.2 Education in the Moengo Area 14-102 14.5.3 Moengo Area Health Profile 14-105 14.5.4 Social Infrastructure, Resources and Services in the Moengo Area 14-111 14.5.5 Moengo Area Livelihoods and Socio-Economics 14-113 14.6 TEMPATI AND COMMEWIJNE AREA 14-114 14.6.1 Traditional Saramaka Governance in the Tempati and Commewijne Area 14-114 14.6.2 Demography in the Commewijne and Tempati Area 14-118 14.6.3 Social Infrastructure, Resources and Services in the Commewijne and Tempati areas 14-120 14.6.4 Cultural Heritage in the Tempati and Commewijne Area 14-121 14.6.5 Commewijne and Tempati Livelihoods and Socio-Economics 14-122 14.7 TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR 14-122 14.7.1 Demography along the Transportation Corridor 14-123 14.7.2 Transportation Corridor Summary Health Profile 14-129 14.7.3 Transportation Corridor Summary Livelihoods and Socio-Economics 14-130 14.7.4 Cultural Heritage along the Transportation Corridor 14-131 ERM vi SURGOLD-MERIAN 14.8 HUMAN RIGHTS AND VULNERABILITY 14-131 14.8.1 Maroon Rights in Surinamese Society 14-132 14.8.2 Standard of Living 14-132 14.8.3 Availability of Household Assets 14-133 14.8.4 Child Labor 14-134 14.8.5 Vulnerable, Sensitive or Marginalized Groups 14-134 14.8.6 Vulnerable Groups 14-136 14.9 STAKEHOLDER PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES 14-139 14.9.1 Drivers of Perceptions and Attitudes in the Marowijne Area 14-139 14.9.2 Perceptions of the Project in the Marowijne Area 14-140 LIST OF FIGURES: Figure 1-1 Merian Gold Project Location and Transportation Corridor 1-3 Figure 1-2 The ESIA Process for the Project 1-7 Figure 1-3 Environmental Study Area 1-14 Figure 1-4 Social Study Area 1-15 Figure 3-1 The Project Location 3-5 Figure 3-2 Merian Gold Project Mine Site Layout 3-6 Figure 3-3 Merian Gold Project Disturbance Sequence 3-13 Figure 3-4 Example Cross-Sections of Waste Rock Disposal Areas 3-16 Figure 3-5 Process Flow Diagram 3-20 Figure 3-6 Spigotting underway at mine in Guiana Shield 3-21 Figure 3-7 Mine Site Water Management 3-37 Figure 3-8 Dam Locations at the Tailing Storage Facility 3-40 Figure 3-9 A Typical Dam Cross Section with Staged Construction Sequencing 3-42 Figure 3-10 Water Management Plan Conceptual Flow Diagram 3-46 Figure 3-11 Seepage Collection Systems at the Tailings Storage Facility 3-48 Figure 4-1 Power Supply Alternatives 4-3 Figure 4-2 Access Road and Airstrip Alternatives 4-11 Figure 5-1 Land Use and Concessions 5-3 Figure 5-2 Average Total Monthly Precipitation – Merian Site Precipitation Gauge December 2005 – December 2011 5-6 Figure 5-3 Long-Term Average Monthly Precipitation Estimates for Merian Gold Project 5-7 Figure 5-4 Monthly Summary of Temperature Values at the Merian Station (December 2005 to December 2011) 5-8 Figure 5-5 Monthly Summary of Average Relative Humidity at the Merian Station