Before a joint hearing of the Otago Regional Council and Waitaki District Council RM 20.024 IN THE MATTER of the Resource Management Act 1991 AND IN THE MATTER of applications by Oceana Gold (New Zealand) Limited for resource consents for the Deepdell North Stage III Project _______________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF EVIDENCE OF MATTHEW HINE FOR OCEANA GOLD (NEW ZEALAND) LIMITED 4 August 2020 _______________________________________________________________ QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE 1 My name is Matthew Saul Hine. 2 I am General Manager and Site Senior Executive of Macraes Gold Operation (Macraes Operation), owned and operated by OceanaGold (New Zealand) Limited (OceanaGold). I am also an appointed Director on the Board of OceanaGold (New Zealand) Limited. 3 I am a mining professional with a Bachelor of Mining Engineering degree with first class honours from the University of Queensland, Australia. I am currently studying a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Management externally through Central Queensland University. I am a certified First Class Mine Manager and Site Senior Executive. I have extensive mining experience working across 14 surface and underground mining operations throughout my career. Before joining OceanaGold at the Macraes Operation in 2018 I worked in Management roles with Evolution Mining and Glencore Xstrata throughout Australia. As General Manager of the Macraes Operation I am responsible for all aspects of the Macraes operations including the Deepdell North Stage III Project. SCOPE OF EVIDENCE 4 On behalf of OceanaGold I will provide background on OceanaGold and the Macraes Operation. I will provide an overview of the proposed expansion of mining operations called the Deepdell North Stage III Project (Deepdell) with the detail to be covered in the evidence of Gavin Lee. My involvement in Deepdell has been to oversee all teams evaluate its viability and benefits, and more recently the OceanaGold Environment and Community consenting team progress its consent. I will outline the consultation we have undertaken and the measures that we intend to use to avoid, remedy, mitigate and offset or compensate for potential adverse effects of the development. 5 My evidence will cover: (a) Background to OceanaGold and a summary of the history of the Macraes Operation; Evidence of Matthew Hine 4 August 2020 1 (b) A description of the Deepdell project including the existing environment; (c) An outline of the alternative options considered during the development of the Deepdell project; and (d) OceanaGold’s environmental and community commitments. CONTEXT: BACKGROUND TO OCEANAGOLD AND HISTORY OF MACRAES OPERATION Overview 6 OceanaGold is a wholly owned subsidiary of OceanaGold Corporation (OGC). OGC is a publicly listed company on the Australian and Toronto stock exchanges, and can be described as a mid-tier, multinational gold producer with a portfolio of high-quality assets located in the Philippines, the United States of America and New Zealand. OGC is internationally recognised as a responsible miner that is a leader in sustainability. 7 OceanaGold has a portfolio of exploring, development, operating and closing assets within New Zealand. We have operating gold mines at Macraes and Waihi and a closed mine on public conservation land in Reefton which is under rehabilitation. Although today OceanaGold has a global presence, it was the company’s New Zealand assets the company was founded on, almost 30 years ago. Our mines employ over 900 people directly across Otago and the Bay of Plenty. Not only is the Macraes Operation the largest producing gold mine in New Zealand, contributing significantly to the local, regional and national economies, it is New Zealand’s largest producer of gold and the most successful gold mine in New Zealand history. 8 The Macraes Operation is located about 30 kilometres to the northwest of Palmerston, in East Otago. The mining operation is located 1 to 2 km to the east of the Macraes village and is predominantly surrounded by farmland. 9 The Macraes Operation includes open pit mining - currently at Frasers, Coronation and Coronation North Pits - and underground mining at Frasers Underground (known as FRUG) which has been operating since 2006. Mining focuses on the Hyde-Macraes Shear Zone, a geological feature which extends about 35 kilometres through the Macraes site. Evidence of Matthew Hine 4 August 2020 2 10 The Macraes Operation has been operating continuously since 1990 when a gold processing plant to treat ore mined from open pit methods was constructed and commissioned. Originally the processing plant capacity was 1.5 million tonnes of ore per annum but that was increased through a series of upgrades. The plant now processes nearly 6 million tonnes of ore per annum. Until March 2016 this included ore concentrate from OceanaGold’s Reefton Mine. Figure 1: Macraes Snapshot 11 As Figure 1 shows, today annualised gold production from the Macraes Operation is around 140,000 – 150,000 ounces. In 2019 OceanaGold poured the five millionth ounce of gold from Macraes Operation 12 Macraes Operation currently provides about 595 FTE jobs for employees and about 140 FTE jobs for contractors, with a further 25 staff engaged in the Dunedin office. We pay about $65M per annum in wages, with an average salary of $100,000 or more (when the New Zealand average is $55,000). Our PAYE is $28,002 per person compared to the average in NZ of $9,450 per person. Evidence of Matthew Hine 4 August 2020 3 13 Less than 20% of our workforce holds a university degree, and we provide people an opportunity to advance their skills with on-the-job training and qualifications. Currently 14% of our workforce is female and we have an active diversity programme which aims to increase that to 20% by 2022. 14 We are enthusiastic about supporting local businesses. Dunedin and Oamaru are our main hubs, with Waikouaiti, Palmerston and surrounding townships also being supported by our operation. Our 2019 spend with contractors was $290M with our contractors very supportive of our operation. Many contractors were established or gained significant scale as a result of the work they do for the Macraes Operation. One example is Skevingtons: the Managing Director began at Macraes as a drill offsider in the mid 1990s and now operates a company that Macraes spends $11M per annum with. I have attached a letter of support from the Skevingtons Managing Director as Appendix A, along with an e-mail from another site contractor, Site Weld NZ (attached as Appendix C). WAE is another: they began working on Mill relines at Macraes and now export their specialised services internationally. An economic study commissioned in 2016 identified that 88% of every $1 spent at the Macraes Operation stays in New Zealand 15 Some other highlights in sustainability performance at the Macraes Operation include: (a) Safety: We have been able to create and maintain a safe and healthy working environment for all employees. In 2017, Macraes launched a behavioral-based safety programme which has played a significant role in reducing the number of injuries to employees and contractors. Between 2013 and June 2020 the total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) has dropped from 14.15 to 1.5, making Macraes one of the safest workplaces in New Zealand.1 ² (b) Diversity: 2018 saw Macraes set a target to achieve 20% female representation in the workforce by 2022. A Women In Mining committee was established to better understand the barriers to women 1 Air New Zealand recorded a TRIFR of 10.3 in 2018: (https://p-airnz.com/cms/assets/PDFs/2019-Sustainability-Report.pdf). ² http://www.zeroharm.org.nz/assets/docs/benchmarking/2015-Benchmarking-report-Published-May-2016.pdf Evidence of Matthew Hine 4 August 2020 4 entering the mining workforce and leadership roles within Macraes. In order to assist in removing those barriers in 2020 we began piloting a flexible work programme and are midway through implementing ‘lunch roster’ for the Open Pit operations to facilitate the (re)entry of mothers into the workforce. (c) Community: In the period between 2013 and 2019 total contributions towards community sponsorship and donations were $1,834,329. The sponsorship program focuses on health, education, community resilience and conservation. This excludes a further $1,558,393 payment made to the Macraes Community Development Trust in 2015 to support development of the Macraes Village beyond mining. (d) Partnerships: Macraes Mine has developed a number of important partnerships with local organisations, these include. (i) Fish & Game in connection with the operations of the Macraes Trout Hatchery which provides over 10,000 rainbow trout fingerlings annually to DoC-approved reservoirs around Otago, (ii) University of Otago in conducting research on aspects associated with the mine including biodiversity, social and geological research. (iii) Macraes has recently signed a Protocol of Engagement with the tangata whenua in which Macraes mine operates. (e) Emergency Response Support: During 2018 and 2019 the Macraes Emergency Response Team responded to 16 emergency scenes as either the first responder in support to of other emergency teams. (f) Understanding of Macraes Ecological District: Over 50% of the specimen identifications of threatened species in Macraes Ecological District are a result of surveys conducted for the Macraes Operation. (g) Recognition: In 2019 We received awards for sulphate management as the New Zealand Minerals Forum and for biodiversity management at the Future of Mining Awards in Sydney. Evidence of Matthew Hine 4 August 2020 5 History of Macraes Figure 2: Macraes History 16 As Figure 2 demonstrates mining has a rich history in Otago, commencing with a goldrush within 15 years of Dunedin being settled by colonial migrants. This led to a population growth from 4,000 to 60,000 within 12 months. Mining operations sustained WW1 and WW2 efforts. 17 Mining has evolved to meet societal expectations over time.