Iron Hill Deposits Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) Supplementary information for controlled action to a listed threatened species - Darwinia masonii December 2015 Iron Hill Deposits Mount Gibson Mining Limited Supplementary Information – Darwinia masonii December 2015 Document History Rev No. Author Distribution Date Status 0.1 M. Hamilton T. Collie 16/10/2015 Draft 1 M. Hamilton Department of the 19/10/2015 Revision 1 Environment Final M. Hamilton Public 10/12/2015 Issue Citation This document should be cited as: Mount Gibson Mining Limited (2015) Iron Hill Deposits, Supplementary Information for Controlled Action to a listed threatened species – Darwinia masonii. Prepared by Mount Gibson Mining Limited, December 2015. Acknowledgement The assistance and contributions of personnel from Mount Gibson Mining Limited towards the development of this document is acknowledged and appreciated. Grateful appreciation also goes to staff at Extension Hill Pty Ltd for their advice and feedback. This document includes the work of (in alphabetical order) Astron Environmental Services Pty Ltd, Bennett Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd, Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, CAD Resources, Coffey Environments Pty Ltd (including formerly as ATA Environmental), Ecologia Environment Pty Ltd, Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd, EnPeritus Pty Ltd, Globe Environments Australia Pty Ltd, Maia Environmental Consultancy Pty Ltd, Martinick Bosch Sell Pty Ltd, Dr Sacha Ruoss, University of Western Australia, and Verterra Ecological Engineering, whose contributions within this document are also acknowledged and appreciated. 2 Iron Hill Deposits Mount Gibson Mining Limited Supplementary Information – Darwinia masonii December 2015 Executive Summary Mount Gibson Mining Limited (MGM) is proposing to extend the operational life of its approved Extension Hill hematite mining operations (EPBC 2005/2381) by developing the Iron Hill deposits immediately south of Extension Hill on the Mount Gibson ranges. The project is located approximately 270 km east-south-east of Geraldton in the Shire of Yalgoo. The extension to operations is within a development envelope occupying 127.4 ha and will increase the operational mine life by two to three years. MGM referred the project to the Department of Environment (DoE) in June 2015 as per requirements of the Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) for potential matters of national environmental significance. The DoE determined the project to be a controlled action with relevant controlling provisions being listed threatened species and communities, especially for the listed threatened species Darwinia masonii. Darwinia masonii is an erect shrub growing up to three metres in height and is found extensively across the Mt Gibson Ranges. Implementation of the proposal would result in the removal of 1,327 individuals, which represents approximately six percent of the known abundance of the species. To avoid, mitigate and offset potential impacts to Darwinia masonii due to implementation of the proposal, MGM proposes to utilise and further build upon the management measures implemented by the approved mining operations at Extension Hill (EPBC 2005/2381) and make commitments as regulated by State legislation ( Environmental Protection Act 1986, WA – EP Act) and Federal legislation (EPBC Act). The existing approved operations (EPBC 2005/2381) have successfully avoided indirect effects to Darwinia masonii through implementation of environmental management and monitoring plans aimed at mitigating potential effects such as dust, fire and weeds which may be associated with mining operations. Research and trials for the re-establishment of Darwinia masonii at the approved mining operations (EPBC 2005/2381) have also demonstrated that Darwinia masonii can be re-established in disturbed areas by: • Natural colonisation; • Transplanting of individual specimens; and • Transplanting of cuttings grown from tube stock. Also, Darwinia masonii may be re-established through the collection and subsequent broad acre spreading of viable Darwinia masonii seed, targeting areas subjected to revegetation within the Mt Gibson Ranges. MGM proposes a set of commitments to mitigate and offset the potential impacts of the proposal to address requirements of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) and the Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 , as follows: Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) These items summarise the key environmental management measures to be considered for conditioning of any approval by WA Ministerial Statement: a. Commitment S1: MGM will implement an Environmental Management Plan applicable to the proposed Iron Hill mining operations based on the principles, management and mitigations for the existing approved operations at the Mount Gibson Iron Ore Mine (EPBC 2005/2381) (Appendix 3); b. Commitment S2: Develop and implement a Mine Closure Plan in accordance with WA’s Department of Mines and Petroleum and Environmental Protection Authority Guidelines for Preparing Mine Closure Plans, 2015. c. Commitment S3: Darwinia masonii Environmental Offsets. MGM will complete direct and indirect environmental offsets for Darwinia masonii in accordance with the 3 Iron Hill Deposits Mount Gibson Mining Limited Supplementary Information – Darwinia masonii December 2015 environmental offsets framework to be agreed for the Project under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA). Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 . Commitments made by MGM may be considered for any future approval and may involve a combination of prescriptive and outcomes based conditions; commitment C1 is prescriptive, whilst commitment C2 has been developed by following the Department of the Environment Outcomes Based Conditions Policy (DoE 2015a) and the Department of the Environment Outcomes Based Conditions Guidance (DoE 2015b). d. Commitment C1: Implement a Darwinia masonii Management and Monitoring Plan to the Iron Hill Deposits proposal based on that currently applied for the approved mining operations and required by EPBC 2005/2381 (Appendix 2). e. Commitment C2: Darwinia masonii from the development envelope are re- established within areas subjected to rehabilitation and revegetation by the proponent within the Mt Gibson Ranges. The recovered plants should: i. originate from Darwinia masonii ‘parents’ collected at Iron Hill and Iron Hill South; ii. represent more than 100% or greater the number of individuals of plants actually taken from the development envelope; iii. produce flowers and viable seeds on or before the time of mine closure. 4 Iron Hill Deposits Mount Gibson Mining Limited Supplementary Information – Darwinia masonii December 2015 Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................... 3 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 7 2 Regional Contribution ........................................................................................ 11 2.1. MGM Operations in the Mid-west Region ................................................................... 11 2.2. Economic and social benefits ....................................................................................... 13 3 Community Consultation .................................................................................... 14 4 Darwinia masonii ............................................................................................... 16 4.1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 16 4.2 Species Abundance and Distribution .......................................................................... 20 4.3 Species Impact Assessment ........................................................................................ 23 5 Measures to Avoid, Mitigate and Offset ............................................................. 27 5.1 Avoidance ........................................................................................................................ 27 5.2 Mitigation ......................................................................................................................... 27 5.3 Offsets .............................................................................................................................. 30 5.3.1 Current Situation ............................................................................................................. 30 5.3.2 Offsets Suited to Iron Hill Deposits .............................................................................. 33 6 Summary and Commitments ............................................................................. 38 7 References ........................................................................................................ 40 Appendix 1 – Referral of Proposed Action – Mt Gibson Ranges, Iron Hill Deposits . 43 Appendix 2 – Iron Hill & Iron Hill South, Darwinia masonii Management and Monitoring Plan ........................................................................................................ 44 Appendix 3 – Iron Hill Deposits, Environmental Management Plan (Draft) .............. 45 Appendix 4 – Community Consultation, EIA-PER Process Full Description ............. 46 Appendix 5 – Management Plans and Technical Reports .......................................