Citronen Base Metal Project Environmental Impact Assessment (Volume 1) January 2015 Rev 6 Licence 2007/02 Licensee Bedford (No. 3) limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Ironbark Zinc Limited) Prepared by Ironbark Zinc Limited Level 1 350 Hay Street Subiaco 6008 Western Australia Tel.: + 61 8 6461 6350 and Orbicon A/S Ringstedvej 20 DK-4000 Roskilde Denmark Tel: + 45 46 30 03 10 REV. NO ISSUE DATE DESCRIPTION OF REVISION 01 Feb 2011 Draft report issued to BMP. Inclusion of NERI preliminary comments (February 2011). 02 March 2011 Shipping impacts update. Dust impacts update. 03 Aug 2012 Inclusion of BMP comments (April 2011). 04 March 2013 Inclusion of BMP comments (December 2012). Inclusion of BMP comments (February 2013). 05 July 2014 Final report submitted to MLSA (English, Danish, Greenlandic) Inclusion of BMP comments (December 2014). 06 January 2015 Final report submitted to MLSA (English, Danish, Greenlandic) ii Contents 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 1 2 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Project setting ....................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Ironbark Zinc Limited ............................................................................................ 13 2.3 Project history ....................................................................................................... 14 3 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK AFFECTING THE PROJECT ................................................ 15 3.1 Greenlandic legislation .......................................................................................... 15 3.1.1 Mineral Resources Act (2009) ..................................................................................15 3.1.2 The Northeast Greenland National Park .....................................................................17 3.2 International obligations ....................................................................................... 20 3.3 Shipping Regulations ............................................................................................. 23 4 EIA PROCESS .............................................................................................................. 24 4.1 EIA Guidelines for mine operations ....................................................................... 24 4.2 Plan of Study ......................................................................................................... 24 4.3 Public hearing ....................................................................................................... 25 5 EXISTING ENVIRONMENT .......................................................................................... 26 5.1 Climate .................................................................................................................. 29 5.2 Topography ........................................................................................................... 30 5.3 Geology ................................................................................................................. 31 5.3.1 Deposit Types ........................................................................................................33 5.3.2 Mineralisation ........................................................................................................33 5.4 Soils ...................................................................................................................... 34 5.5 Permafrost and Groundwater ................................................................................ 35 5.6 Surface Water Resources ...................................................................................... 35 5.6.1 Lake Platinova .......................................................................................................35 5.6.2 Eastern River .........................................................................................................36 5.6.3 Esrum Lake and River .............................................................................................44 5.6.4 Gossan Puddles/ Gossan Creeks...............................................................................45 iii 5.7 Marine Waters ....................................................................................................... 45 5.7.1 Citronen Fjord .......................................................................................................45 5.7.2 Wandel and Greenland Seas ....................................................................................51 5.7.3 Sea Ice .................................................................................................................52 5.7.4 Icebergs ...............................................................................................................52 5.7.5 North East Water Polynya (NEW) .............................................................................53 5.8 Flora and Fauna ..................................................................................................... 55 5.8.1 Flora ....................................................................................................................55 5.8.2 Fauna ...................................................................................................................57 5.8.3 Fauna – Greenland Sea ...........................................................................................60 5.8.4 Threatened Species ................................................................................................70 5.8.5 National Responsibility Species ................................................................................71 5.9 Socio and economic setting ................................................................................... 71 5.9.1 Local inhabitants and their use of the area ................................................................71 5.9.2 Archaeology and cultural heritage ............................................................................72 6 PROJECT DESCRIPTION .............................................................................................. 74 6.1 Construction .......................................................................................................... 74 6.2 Mining ................................................................................................................... 74 6.2.1 Underground Operation ..........................................................................................74 6.2.2 Open Pit Operations ...............................................................................................78 6.3 Ore Processing ...................................................................................................... 79 6.3.1 Ore Transfer to ROM ...............................................................................................79 6.3.2 Crushing ...............................................................................................................79 6.3.3 Dense Media Separation .........................................................................................79 6.3.4 Milling ..................................................................................................................80 6.3.5 Flotation and Reagents ...........................................................................................80 6.3.6 Concentrate Dewatering .........................................................................................83 6.4 Concentrate Storage .............................................................................................. 83 6.5 Mine Waste ............................................................................................................ 83 6.5.1 Waste Geochemical Characterisation ........................................................................84 6.5.2 Waste Rock Management ........................................................................................93 iv 6.5.3 Tailings Management ..............................................................................................94 6.6 Port Facility and Loading of Product .................................................................... 102 6.7 Shipping .............................................................................................................. 103 6.7.1 Shipping Guidelines and Regulations ...................................................................... 103 6.7.2 Shipping vessel .................................................................................................... 106 6.7.3 Route and Periods of Passage ................................................................................ 107 6.7.4 Emergency Procedures – Shipping .......................................................................... 110 6.8 Supporting Infrastructure ................................................................................... 110 6.9 Personnel, Transport and Accommodation .......................................................... 110 6.10 Power Supply and Fuel Storage ........................................................................... 111 6.11 Explosives ........................................................................................................... 111 6.12 Water Supply 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