Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment for the Beyondie Sulphate of Potash Project Prepared for Kalium Lakes Potash Pty Ltd March 2018 Final Report Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment for the Beyondie Sulphate of Potash Project Prepared for Kalium Lakes Potash Pty Ltd Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment for the Beyondie Sulphate of Potash Project Prepared for Kalium Lakes Potash Pty Ltd Final Report Author/s: Volker Framenau, Jarrad Clark Reviewer: Karen Crews Date: 14 March 2018 Submitted to: Gavin Edwards, Phil Scott, Brett Hazelden Chain of authorship and review Name Task Version Date V.W. Framenau Draft for client comments 1.0 6 June 2017 J. Clark Final submitted to client 2.0 14 March 2018 Choose an item. NOTE ON REPORT CURRENCY This report was prepared prior to the completion of a detailed H3 hydrological assessment for the Beyondie Sulphate of Potash Project (Advisian 2017a) and therefore some hydrological information in this report may not be current. Updated hydrological information and interpretation of its relevance for subterranean fauna will be presented in the subsequent level 2 subterranean fauna survey report for the Project. ©Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd 2018 The use of this report is solely for the Client for the purpose in which it was prepared. Phoenix Environmental Sciences accepts no responsibility for use beyond this purpose. All rights are reserved and no part of this report may be reproduced or copied in any form without the written permission of Phoenix Environmental Sciences or the Client. Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd 1/511 Wanneroo Rd BALCATTA WA 6021 P: 08 96323 5410 E: [email protected] Project code: 1148-TM-KAL-ECO Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment of the Beyondie Sulphate of Potash Project Prepared for Kalium Lakes Potash Pty Ltd Contents CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................ I LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... II LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................ II LIST OF APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................... II EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... III 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................. 5 1.2 Survey objectives and scope of works .................................................................................... 7 1.3 Study area ............................................................................................................................... 7 2 LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT .................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Commonwealth ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 State ........................................................................................................................................ 8 3 EXISTING ENVIRONMENT .............................................................................................................. 10 3.1 Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia ............................................................. 10 3.2 Climate and weather ............................................................................................................. 12 3.3 Geology ................................................................................................................................. 13 3.3.1 Brine extraction area..................................................................................................... 13 3.3.2 Freshwater development envelope .............................................................................. 13 3.4 Hydrology .............................................................................................................................. 15 3.4.1 Brine extraction area..................................................................................................... 15 3.4.2 Freshwater development envelope .............................................................................. 15 3.5 Biological context .................................................................................................................. 16 3.5.1 Stygofauna .................................................................................................................... 16 3.5.2 Troglofauna ................................................................................................................... 17 3.5.3 Threatening processes .................................................................................................. 17 3.5.4 Calcretes as subterranean fauna habitat ...................................................................... 18 3.5.5 Salinity ........................................................................................................................... 19 4 METHODS ...................................................................................................................................... 20 4.1 Desktop review ..................................................................................................................... 20 4.1.1 Database searches ........................................................................................................ 20 4.1.2 Literature review ........................................................................................................... 20 4.2 Field survey ........................................................................................................................... 21 4.2.1 Survey ............................................................................................................................ 21 4.2.2 Fauna sampling ............................................................................................................. 23 4.2.3 Bore and water quality data ......................................................................................... 23 4.2.4 Morphological species identifications .......................................................................... 23 4.2.5 Molecular identifications .............................................................................................. 23 4.3 Project personnel .................................................................................................................. 24 5 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................ 25 Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd i Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment of the Beyondie Sulphate of Potash Project Prepared for Kalium Lakes Potash Pty Ltd 5.1 Desktop review ..................................................................................................................... 25 5.1.1 Database searches ........................................................................................................ 25 5.1.2 Threatened and Priority species or ecological communities ........................................ 25 5.1.3 Literature review ........................................................................................................... 25 5.2 Field survey ........................................................................................................................... 28 5.2.1 Water quality ................................................................................................................ 28 5.2.2 Subterranean fauna ...................................................................................................... 29 5.3 Survey limitations ................................................................................................................. 34 6 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................... 35 6.1 Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 36 7 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 37 List of Figures Figure 1-1 Location of the Beyondie Potash Project and study area for the Level 1 subterranean fauna assessment ............................................................................................................ 6 Figure 3-1 Location of the Beyondie Sulphate of Potash Project in relation to IBRA regions and subregions ..................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 3-2 Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Newman (BoM 2017) ....................... 12 Figure 3-3 Surface geology of the Beyondie Potash Project .......................................................... 14 Figure 4-1 Location of bores sampled