tailings storage facility 3 raise 4 supporting … · works approval application licence...

GOLDEN GROVE PROJECT

WORKS APPROVAL APPLICATION Licence L8593/2011/2

TAILINGS STORAGE FACILITY 3 RAISE 4

Supporting Documentation

October 2019

Contact Details:

EMR Golden Grove Suite 1, 38 Colin Street WEST PERTH WA 6005

Phone +61 (8) 9956 4222

Site Contact – Stephen Neill Senior Environmental Advisor

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

EMR GOLDEN GROVE Works Approval Application – TSF 3 Raise 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 ATTACHMENT 1A: COPY OF DWER OPERATING LICENCE L8593/2011/2.......................................... 3

2 ATTACHMENT 1B: ASIC COMPANY EXTRACT ...................................................................................... 19

3 ATTACHMENT 2: PREMISE MAPS .......................................................................................................... 21

4 ATTACHMENT 3A: PROPOSED ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................... 24

5 ATTACHMENT 3B: MAP OF AREA TO BE CLEARED ............................................................................. 30

6 ATTACHMENT 3C: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR CLEARING ..................................................... 31

7 ATTACHMENT 4 – BIODIVERSITY SURVEYS.......................................................................................... 31

8 ATTACHMENT 5: OTHER APPROVALS................................................................................................... 32

9 ATTACHMENT 6A: EMISSIONS, DISCHARGE AND WASTE ................................................................. 32

10 ATTACHMENT 7: SITING AND LOCATION ............................................................................................ 32

11 ATTACHMENT 9: WORKS APPROVAL FEE CALCULATION .................................................................. 33

12 OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION ........................................................................................................ 33

12.1 Appendix 1 ............................................................................................................................... 33

12.2 Appendix 2 ............................................................................................................................... 33

12.3 Appendix 3 ............................................................................................................................... 33

12.4 Appendix 4 ............................................................................................................................... 33

12.5 Appendix 5 ............................................................................................................................... 34


1 ATTACHMENT 1A: COPY OF DWER OPERATING LICENCE L8593/2011/2


2 ATTACHMENT 1B: ASIC COMPANY EXTRACT

ASIC Forms Manager Australian Securities & Investments Commission Company Officeholders

Company: EMR GOLDEN GROVE PTY LTD ACN 114 868 325

Company details

Date company 21-06-2005

registered

Company next review 01-09-2019

date

Company type Australian Proprietary Company

Company status Registered

Home unit company No

Superannuation trustee No

company

Non-profit company No

Registered office

SUITE 1, 38-40 COLIN STREET, WEST PERTH WA 6005

Principal place of business

SUITE 1, 38-40 COLIN STREET, WEST PERTH WA 6005

Officeholders

HEGARTY, OWEN LEIGH

Born 07-03-1948 at YACKANDANDAH VIC

SUITE 4537, FOUR SEASONS PLACE, 8 FINANCE STREET, CENTRAL, HONG KONG

Office(s) held: Director, appointed 28-02-2017

SMITH, IAN KINGSLEY

Born 15-11-1957 at BROKEN HILL NSW

8 BLACK STREET, BRIGHTON VIC 3186


APOSTOLOU, ANASTASIA

Born 02-04-1966 at SOUTH PERTH WA 42 RIDGE

STREET, SOUTH PERTH WA 6151

Office(s) held: Secretary, appointed 07-03-2019

MANINI, ANTONY JAMES

Born 21-05-1963 at ORBOST VIC

43 SACKVILLE STREET, KEW VIC 3101


LOADER, STEFANIE EVA

View company details Page 1 of 2


Born 24-06-1972 at MAINZ GERMANY

https://www.edge.asic.gov.au/004/compportal?update/requestViewCompany/s=b6419...28/06/2019 View company details Page 2 of 2

510 KANGAROOBIE ROAD, KANGAROOBIE NSW 2800


CHOMLEY, JOHN GRIFFITH

Born 14-06-1968 at COLERAINE VIC

11 CLAREMONT AVENUE, NEWTOWN VIC 3220


FERGUSON, RALPH MITCHUM

Born 02-07-1964 at CARLTON VIC

FLAT A LEVEL 37 AZURA, 2A SEYMOUR RD, MIDLEVELS, HONG KONG


Company share structure

Share

class

Share description Number issued Total amount paid Total

amount

unpaid

ORD ORDINARY SHARES 1 121752.24 0.00

Members

EMR GOLDEN GROVE HOLDINGS LEVEL 2 , 150 COLLINS STREET , MELBOURNE VIC

PTY LTD 3000

Share class Total number held Fully paid Beneficially held

ORD 1 Yes Yes

Document history

These are the documents most recently received by ASIC from this organisation.

Received Number Form Description Status

19-03-2019 7EAJ56576484 CHANGE TO COMPANY DETAILS Processed and imaged

30-10-2018 7EAF52496492 REQUEST FOR CORRECTION Processed and imaged

27-09-2018 7EAE53462484 CHANGE TO COMPANY DETAILS Processed and imaged

ASIC Home | Privacy Statement | Conditions of use | Feedback Copyright

2003 Australian Securities & Investments Commission.


3 ATTACHMENT 2: PREMISE MAPS

EMR Golden Grove is located 54 km from Yalgoo township within the Yalgoo Shire of Yalgoo, in the Midwest Region of WA Figure 1). Golden Grove hold multiple mining tenements located on multiple pastoral leases (Figure 2). The TSF3 Raise 4 Project is located on mining leases M59/90 and M53/003 (Figure 3).

Figure 1. Location Map


Figure 2. Golden Grove Tenements with Pastoral Station Boundaries


Figure 3. Site Layout Plan


4 ATTACHMENT 3A: PROPOSED ACTIVITIES

EMR Golden Grove (EMR) plans to construct an additional lift (Raise 4) on Tailings Storage Facility 3 (TSF3) to increase capacity for storage of processed mineral waste on site. It therefore submits this application for a Works Approval to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) as per requirements of the Environmental Protection Act WA 1986 and Regulations.

The objective is to continue processing operations by raising TSF3 by 3 metres from RL 378 to RL 381. The raise will be constructed using clay from an existing borrow pit and existing Waste Rock Landform and on-site waste rock material from the ROM for the decant causeway.

TSF3 was designed to contain processed tailings with an operational life until 2024. The original design concept was to construct seven 2.5 metre upstream lifts to an ultimate crest of RL 386.5m. This design was based on a tailings production rate of 0.95 Mt/a, a tailings slurry constitution of 25% solids and a well-managed central decant pond, achieving a stored tailings density of 1.8 t/m3 as documented in Mining Proposal (Registration ID: 23922).

Six different construction materials (Zones) have been defined in the design of TSF3 Raise 4. The estimated volumes of each zone, material type and purpose for construction is as follows:

• Zone 1: 11,000 m3 - clayey embankment fill (perimeter embankment fill)

• Zone 2: 7,000 m3 - gravel (wearing course and windrows)

• Zone 3: 19,000 m3 – mine waste rock (decant accessway and erosion protection at spigot location)

• Zone 7: 11,000 m3 - coarse tailings (Construction bunds)

• Zone 8: 80,000 m3 - selected general fill (drainage material)

• Zone 9: 350,000 m3 - rock lining (perimeter embankment downstream fill and access ramps)

Zone 1 material will be sourced from the approved Borrow pit north west of TSF2. No approvals are required for this pit as the expansion will not exceed what was previously approved for lift 2 and 3. Zone 2 material will be harvested from the existing embankment. If required more material will be harvested from the approved gravel pit south east of TSF1. Zone 3 material will be PAF from the Gossan Hill ROM. Zone 7 will be the tailings beach of TSF3. Zone 8 will be harvested from the Gossan Hill Open Pit waste dump. Zone 9 will utilise the overburden stockpile from the borrow pit as well as the Gossan Hill Open Pit waste dump.

The clay material will be moisture conditioned and compacted in layers to the geotechnical engineer’s recommendations (no less than 98% of standard maximum dry density). The crests of the completed raise will be graded to the inside (upstream) of the storage with a 2% cross fall. A 400 mm high windrow with side slopes of 1(V):1(H) will be constructed from Zone 2 material along the downstream edge of the crest. The exposed crest of the Raise 3 embankment will be graded so that it slopes downstream so as not to accumulate water. The downstream slope of the embankment will be constructed to a gradient of 1v: 2.8h as per the original TSF3 designs.

The main access ramp to the decant accessway on the north-eastern embankment and the three construction access ramps will be will be raised to the new crest level of RL 381m. The ramps are to be constructed of approved sandy gravel with cobbles and boulders on the windrows. The grade will be no more than 10%, with the northern construction access ramp to be no more than 12.5%.TSF3 Raise 4 will have minimal impacts of surface water or groundwater as it occurs within the existing TSF3 footprint and utilises the existing site water management controls. The main project related potential water impacts relate to the uncontrolled release of tailings materials to the environment, caused by:

• Earthquake loading leading to liquefaction of tailings, embankment failure and uncontrolled release of tailings.

• Insufficient foundation strength for upstream raise of perimeter embankment.

• Piping induced embankment failure.

• Increased phreatic surface within the embankment.

• Uncontrolled release of tailings into environment due to tailings pipe burst


Figure 4. Construction Material Sources and Transport Routes

The existing surface water management around TSF 3 includes surface water diversions channels; one around the north-east and the other to the south-west of the facility. These are designed to cater for 1:100-year storm events. A lined emergency spillway exists on the south-west side of TSF 3 and would feed into the south-west drain in the rare event of a storm of this magnitude.

One of the key considerations for the design of TSF3 Raise 4 was the embankment stability under normal and seismic conditions. Comprehensive geotechnical testing and analysis has been conducted over several years on the TSF 3 structure and tailings. The results indicate that for short-term and long-term static loading conditions, acceptable operational Factors of Safety (FoS) for the proposed Raise 4 embankment can be expected by maintaining the phreatic line at the vicinity of the perimeter embankment at the western side of the facility. Further information is contained within the Design Report(Appendix 1) and Technical specifications(Appendix 2).

Three new electric piezometers will be installed as part of the Raise 4. As shown in Table 1.

Table 1- New piezometer locations

Extensive hydrogeological research and investigations have been conducted on the TSF3 facility, resulting in very good understanding of the relevant hydrogeological issues, enabling the structure to be designed and constructed to minimise groundwater related impacts. Controls implemented with construction of the TSF3 starter embankment were


designed to manage seepage and groundwater related risks as part of the multistage LoM TSF3 facility and are detailed in the previous Mining Proposal (Reg. 23922). The existing controls include:

• A 0.5-metre-thick layer of compacted saprolitic clay overlying colluvial compacted soil atop caprock.

• A 1.5mm thick HDPE liner that covers the entire basin area, with a double layer provided beneath, and extending 3 metres past the toe of the decant accessway.

• An underdrainage system of drain pipes above the liner to relieve potential pore pressure and improve consolidation of the tailings.

• A paleo-channel interception drain that extends down to the caprock along the south-eastern embankment to intercept any potential seepage below the liner.

• The sealing of exploration holes within the TSF3 footprint.

• A monitoring program that includes a series of groundwater bores around the TSF3 perimeter and vibrating wire piezometers installed below the liner.

The existing long-term groundwater monitoring program demonstrates that the seepage control system in place at TSF3 is operating successfully.

The Raise 4 design includes a seepage interception drainage geonet. The drainage geonet will be placed between the existing embankment downstream face and the proposed downstream raise. The drainage geonet will extend from approximately the starter embankment crest to one metre above the Raise 1 crest. This area covers the join between the starter embankment and Raise 1 lift as well as the join of the Raise 1 to Raise 2. These two joins were identified as the most likely locations for any potential seepage to occur and covers the area where historical seepage incidents were identified. The intention of this seepage interception layer is to identify if the original starter and Raise 1 embankments are being saturated by the high phreatic levels within the facility. The drainage geonet will be placed around the facility.

The seepage interception system will report through outlet pipes down the downstream embankment face to a seepage collection trench on the downstream toe of the embankment. The seepage collection trench will report to collection sumps located around the facility. As the seepage interception system is intended to be a detection system and not expected to flow the collection sumps have been nominally sized.

Removal of Monitoring Bores

An extensive groundwater monitoring network has been established at Golden Grove with many years of data being captured and analysed (Figure 5). As a result of the construction of the Raise 4 Project, it will be necessary to remove two monitoring bores from the network.

Monitoring Bore 63 is located north-west of the decommissioned TSF2, within the clay borrow pit used for project construction. It will be necessary to destroy MB63 due to further excavation of the borrow pit. EMR does not considered it necessary to replace this bore for the following reasons:

• Groundwater monitoring results over more than 10 years show stable trends in SWL, pH, TDS and sulphate (SO4), as shown in Figures 6 – 9;

• The results are at acceptable levels and no potential environmental impacts have been indicated;

• TSF2 has been decommissioned since 2011 and there remains multiple bores in the vicinity to continue groundwater monitoring;

Monitoring Bore 73A is located at the south-east corner of TSF3 (Figure 5). A new access ramp will be constructed at this location for the Raise 4 Project and MB73A will be buried as a result. Similar to MB63, EMR does not considered it necessary to install a replacement bore, as analysis of monitoring data for MB73A over many years shows no issues with water quality or any abnormal trends in SWL (Figures 6 – 9). Adjacent monitoring bores MB74 and MB13 also show similar results.

Raw data for MB63 and 73 is shown attached in Appendix 3.


Figure 5. Location of Groundwater Bores – MB63 (in borrow pit) and MB73A (south-east corner of TSF3) to be

removed from network


Figure 6. Standing Water Level (SWL) for MB63 and MB73A.

Figure 7. pH results for MB63 and MB73A.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2/05/2010 14/09/2011 26/01/2013 10/06/2014 23/10/2015 6/03/2017 19/07/2018 1/12/2019

SWL

(mb

gl)

MB63 and MB73A SWL

MB63 MB 73A

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

9/09/2008 22/01/2010 6/06/2011 18/10/2012 2/03/2014 15/07/2015 26/11/2016 10/04/2018 23/08/2019

pH

MB63 and MB73A pH

MB 63 MB73A


Figure 8. TDS for MB63 and MB73A.

Figure 9. MB63 and MB73A Sulphate (SO4).

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

9/09/2008 18/11/2010 26/01/2013 6/04/2015 14/06/2017 23/08/2019

TDS

(mg/

L)

MB63 and MB73A TDS

MB 63 MB 73A

0

50

100

150

200

250

2/05/2010 14/09/2011 26/01/2013 10/06/2014 23/10/2015 6/03/2017 19/07/2018 1/12/2019

SO4

(m

g/L)

MB63 and MB73A Sulphate (SO4)

MB 63 MB 73A


5 ATTACHMENT 3B: MAP OF AREA TO BE CLEARED

The construction of Raise 4 will take place within the TSF3 footprint with minimal disturbance required for the project. It is proposed 6.46ha of native vegetation will be cleared for this project. The nature of the lift means the toe of the TSF will be extended an average of 5 metres from current position. This will not require any further clearing of native vegetation. An extension of the northern ramp will result in some minor clearing north of the TSF resulting in around 0.965ha of clearing. Potentially a haul road will be required if the proposed route over the ROM becomes to busy. If this is the case there are 2 optons proposed for a haul road to allow truck access between the Waste Dump and TSF. These option will potentially result in 5.49ha of clearing. Option one is a widening of existing tracks north of the ROM while option 2 is a totally new track south of the Evaporation Ponds. These are shown in Figure 10 and 11.

Figure 10. Location of proposed vegetation clearing for new access ramp.


6 ATTACHMENT 3C: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR CLEARING

The TSF3 Raise 4 will not result in any significant land clearing on site. Only 6.46ha of land will be cleared for an expansion of the northern ramp as well as 2 possible haul roads. The area to be clearing is heavily degraded from feral animal grazing (goats) and from being on the fringe of operational areas.

No conservation significant flora or fauna species or heritage sites are found within the area.

This minor clearing will be undertaken via the exception from the Environmental Protection (Clearing of Native Vegetation) Regulations 2004 under:

• Regulation 5, Item 20. Clearing resulting from low impact or other mineral or petroleum activities. Clearing that is the result of carrying out low impact or other mineral or petroleum activity, as set out in Schedule 1, if the activity is carried out – (a) in accordance with Schedule 1; and (b) in a permitted area as set out in Schedule 1. An exemption for other mineral or petroleum activities is defined in clause 2(2) of Schedule 1 and allows clearing of up to 10 hectares per financial year for clearing authorised under the Mining Act 1978 and various Petroleum Acts in an authority area.

The exemption is on the basis that the clearing does not impinge on any “environmentally sensitive” area as defined under the Environmental Protection (Clearing of Native Vegetation) Regulations 2004.

7 ATTACHMENT 4 – BIODIVERSITY SURVEYS

Surveys have not changed from previous licence and lifts. Appendix 4 is a fauna survey and Appendix 5 is the Flora survey for TSF3.


8 ATTACHMENT 5: OTHER APPROVALS

EMR Golden Grove is submitting a Mining Proposal addendum to the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) for approval in parallel with this Works Approval for the TSF3 Raise 4 Project. A pre-submission meeting was held with DMIRS regarding the Mining Proposal addendum on 13 August 2019. This mining proposal was submitted 18/10/2019.

A meeting was held with DWER (Suzi Roworth) on the Works Approval application for this project on 24 July 2019.

9 ATTACHMENT 6A: EMISSIONS, DISCHARGE AND WASTE

There are no new emissions, discharges or waste of significance associated with the TSF 3 Raise 4 Project and no change to the geochemical and geophysical properties of the tailings. The project will not result in any changes to potential environmental impacts on site.

TSF3 is a wholly confined structure with all inputs and outputs enclosed with the processing plant and water management circuit. Existing operational controls ensure effective management of the tailings structure and delivery and recovery systems, and will be in place for the duration of the Raise 4 construction.

Dedicated water carts will be utilised on all transport corridors and low speed limits will be in place to control fugitive dust from mobile equipment. Hydrocarbon storage and handling will be in accordance with site procedures and relevant standards and legislation. There are no sensitive noise receptors nearby and the project is relatively small in scale and contained mostly within the existing TSF3 facility footprint.

Any incidents will be reported and investigated as per site procedures and remedial actions implemented as required.

10 ATTACHMENT 7: SITING AND LOCATION

The siting of the project has been assessed using the Guidance Statement Environmental Siting (DER 2015a). The proximity of the project from specified ecosystems is described in Table 2 and shown in Figure 2.

Table 2 - Proximity of the TSF3 Raise 4 to Specified Ecosystems (Guidance Statement Environmental Siting, DER

2015)

Siting Location from TSF3

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA)

Formerly Warriedar pastoral lease is owned by DBCA. The project area is located approximately 5km from the boarder of the Warriedar pastoral lease.

Various water bodies Lake Wownaminya is located approximately 30 km north of the project area.

Public drinking water source areas

Drinking water for Yalgoo Shire is sourced from a borefield located approximately 4.5 km north-east of the townsite, approximately 68km from the project area (Department of Water, 2010)

Threatened Ecological Communities (TEC)

No TEC occurs near the Project area as defined under the Environmental Protection (Clearing of Native Vegetation) Regulations 2004.

Rare flora The Declared Rare Flora (DRF) species Stylidium scintillans is located on Golden Grove mining tenements. The closest population is more than 4 kms from the project area.


11 ATTACHMENT 9: WORKS APPROVAL FEE CALCULATION

The Works Approval fee for the TSF3 Raise 4 Project has been calculated using DWER’s online calculation tool, as shown below in Figure 12.

A Purchase Order (PO) - No. 2018405, has been raised for the Works Approval fee amount below and paid to DWER on Friday 30 August 2019 for the TSF 3 Raise 4 Project. The PO referenced DWER officer Suzi Roworth as DWER site contact for Golden Grove.

Figure 13 - Works Approval Fee

12 OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

GHD Pty Ltd has completed the design and geotechnical analysis for TSF3 Raise 4. The following documents are provided to support the Works Approval application.

12.1 Appendix 1

Detailed Design Report

12.2 Appendix 2

Technical Specifications

12.3 Appendix 3

Raw Data for MB74 and MB63

12.4 Appendix 4

Golden Grove Fauna Assessment for a Proposed Third Tailings Storage Facility.


12.5 Appendix 5

Golden Grove – Flora Survey and Vegetation mapping for TSF3 Footprint.

tailings storage facility 3 raise 4 supporting … · works approval application licence...

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