amendment notice 2 · 2017-12-08 · licence l4597/1988/14 ir-t08 amendment notice (major) template...

Licence L4597/1988/14 IR-T08 Amendment Notice (Major) template v2.0 (July 2017) 1

Licence Number L4597/1988/14

Licence Holder TIANYE SXO GOLD MINING PTY LTD

ACN 161 566 490

File Number: DER2014/000887

Premises Minjar-SXO

MARVEL LOCH WA 6426

Legal description –

Mining Leases M77/7, M77/8, M77/10, M77/26, M77/31, M77/86, M77/112, M77/113, M77/114, M77/137, M77/138, M77/175, M77/193, M77/239, M77/347, M77/352, M77/380, M77/424, M77/431, M77/525, M77/554, M77/555, M77/631, M77/638, M77/640, M77/660, M77/668, M77/702, M77/745, M77/721, M77/746, M77/747, M77/790, M77/811, M77/969, M77/977, and M77/1036, Miscellaneous Licences L77/91, L77/112, L77/113, L77/114, L77/126, L77/128, L77/145, L77/162, L77/167, L77/173, L77/281, P77/3792, P77/3793 and General Purpose Leases G77/1-3

Date of Amendment 8 December 2017

Amendment

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) has amended the above Licence in accordance with section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 as set out in this Amendment Notice. This Amendment Notice constitutes written notice of the amendment in accordance with section 59B(9) of the EP Act.

Date signed: 8 December 2017

Tim Gentle

Manager Licensing – Resource Industries

an officer delegated under section 20 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA)

Amendment Notice 2


Definitions and interpretation

Definitions

In this Amendment Notice, the terms in Table 1 have the meanings defined.

Table 1: Definitions

Term Definition

AACR Annual Audit Compliance Report

ACN Australian Company Number

AER Annual Environment Report

AS 4156.6 – 2000 Australian Standard AS 4156.6 – 2000: Determination of Dust/moisture Relationship for Coal.

Category/ Categories/ Cat.

categories of Prescribed Premises as set out in Schedule 1 of the EP Regulations

CEO means Chief Executive Officer.

CEO for the purposes of notification means:

Director General Department Administering the Environmental Protection Act 1986 Locked Bag 33 Cloisters Square PERTH WA 6850 [email protected]

CS Act Contaminated Sites Act 2003 (WA)

Delegated Officer an officer under section 20 of the EP Act

Department means the department established under section 35 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 and designated as responsible for the administration of Part V, Division 3 of the EP Act.

DWER Department of Water and Environmental Regulation

EPA Environmental Protection Authority

EP Act Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA)

EP Regulations Environmental Protection Regulations 1987 (WA)

Existing Licence The Licence issued under Part V, Division 3 of the EP Act and in force prior to the commencement of and during this Review

Licence Holder TIANYE SXO GOLD MINING PTY LTD

mᶟ cubic metres

mailto:[email protected]


Minister the Minister responsible for the EP Act and associated regulations

mtpa million tonnes per annum

Noise Regulations Environmental Protection (Noise) Regulations 1997 (WA)

Occupier has the same meaning given to that term under the EP Act.

Prescribed Premises has the same meaning given to that term under the EP Act.

Premises refers to the premises to which this Decision Report applies, as specified at the front of this Decision Report.

Risk Event as described in Guidance Statement: Risk Assessment

UDR Environmental Protection (Unauthorised Discharges) Regulations 2004 (WA)


Amendment Notice

This amendment is made pursuant to section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act) to amend the Licence issued under the EP Act for a prescribed premises as set out below. This notice of amendment is given under section 59B(9) of the EP Act.

This notice is limited to the following:

Amending Licensee’s legal entity from ‘Hanking Gold Mining Pty Ltd’ to ‘Tianye SXO Gold Mining Pty Ltd’;

Increasing the Category 6 Mine dewatering design capacity from 4.8 million tonnes to 6 million tonnes per annual period;

Inclusion of Category 57: Used tyre storage;

Inclusion of an additional location under Category 64: Class II or II putrescible landfill site at the Transvaal (Aquarius) pit; and

Inclusion of conditions for the construction of the Tailings Storage Facility 3 (TSF3).

The following guidance statements have informed the decision made on this amendment:

Guidance Statement: Regulatory Principles (July 2015)

Guidance Statement: Setting Conditions (October 2015)

Guidance Statement: Land Use Planning (February 2017)

Guidance Statement: Decision Making (November 2016)

Guidance Statement: Risk Assessment (November 2016)

Guidance Statement: Environmental Siting (November 2016)

Amendment description

The Licence Holder would like to increase the amount of mine dewater discharged into the environment, add category 57: used tyre storage to the licence, add the Transvaal pit as an approved site to operate a class II landfill and construct the TSF3 facility.

Table 2 below outlines the proposed changes to the Licence.

Table 2: Proposed changes

Category Current capacity Proposed capacity Description of proposed amendment

5: Processing or beneficiation of metallic or non-metallic ore

2 600 000 tonnes per annual period


Construction of the new TSF3

6: Mine dewater 4 800 000 tonnes per annual period


Increase of mine dewater due to dewatering of the Aquarius, Transvaal and Polaris open pits

57: Tyre storage N/A 200 tyres Tyre storage area located near the Aquarius workshop

64: Class II landfill 2 000 tonnes per annual period

2 000 tonnes per annual period

Additional cells constructed at Transvaal operations


Re-opening of the Aquarius, Transvaal and Polaris operations

Mine dewater operations at the premises are undertaken at a number of sites across a number of tenements. The proposed re-opening of the Aquarius, Transvaal and Polaris pits require Minjar Gold to dewater the pits to allow extraction of the ore body. Currently, Minjar Gold estimate that there is over 190 000 kL of mine water in the Transvaal Pit, over 620 000 kL of mine water in the Polaris Pit and 200 000 kL of mine water in the Aquarius Pit. This water will need to be pumped out of the respective pits prior to resumption of mining activities and then a dry environment maintained. The life of the project is expected to be 18 months and in this time it is estimated that 1 200 000 kL of inflow will also need to be dewatered over that period.

Dewater will be initially pumped to a constructed and lined ‘turkeys nest’ containment facility, then piped to the Frasers Pit for disposal. The area for the construction of the ‘turkeys nest’ will be approximately 0.27 ha and constructed similar to the design shown in diagram 1 below.

Diagram 1: Aquarius Turkeys Nest


Discharging from the turkeys nest will be via polyethylene pipe (PE), manufactured according to AS4130 and installed according to AS2033. Abstracted groundwater will be piped to the Frasers Pit mine void lake. Pipes will be installed within “V” drains to minimise the risk of saline water contacting vegetation in case of a pipe failure. Catchment sumps will be established along the 2.5 km pipeline from Aquarius to Frasers Pit. The pipeline route is wholly within the premises boundary.

Frasers Pit is an ex-mine void that has historically been used to dispose of mine dewater from various mining projects in the area and is classified as a “mine void lake”, having a steady balance between inflow and outflow. Water levels in Frasers Pit are currently 10 to 18 meters below pre-mining groundwater levels. Information supplied by the Licensee states that to reach the pre-mining groundwater levels in Frasers Pit, over 2 000 000 kL of water would need to be discharged, far exceeding the planned discharges. The groundwater flow into Frasers Pit fluctuates and surface water levels are affected by a high evaporation rate.

Clearing of vegetation for the construction of the turkeys nest and pipeline route is covered in clearing permit CPS 7753/1.

Used tyre storage under category 57 will be undertaken at the Aquarius Pit Workshop. Tyre storage will be within the laydown area to ensure fire management practices are maintained. Tyres are disposed of regularly at various landfill sites on the premises, so storage numbers will rarely exceed 100 tyres. Due to the size of the premises though, the cumulative number across the premises boundary may occasionally exceed 100 tyres.

Minjar has applied to construct a number of landfill cells within the Aquarius waste rock dump (WRD). L4597/1988/14 currently allows the Licensee to construct cells and dispose of Class II waste at three separate sites (Marvel Loch, Axehandle, Nevoria) across the premises. The cells constructed at Aquarius will be undertaken as per condition 1.2.5 of the licence. The distance to groundwater at the Aquarius site is 30 meters. The additional height of the WRD provides additional separation to the groundwater. Permeability of surrounding soils is considered to be low and the risk of groundwater contamination is considered low.

To undertake mining operations at the Aquarius site, the License is required to add the following mining tenements to the licenced premises boundary:

M77/225, M77/109, M77/66, L77/31, L77/42 and L77/69.

All of the above mining leases have been approved for mining activities by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.

Tailings Storage Facility 3 (TSF3) construction

The Licence holder has proposed the construction and operation of the Tailings Storage Facility 3 (TSF3). The location of the TSF3 will be immediately south of TSF2, approximately 1km east of the Marvel Loch processing plant, within the premises boundary. The proposed TSF3 footprint will cover approximately 99 ha and provide 8 years of operational life for the processing plant. This also consists of a 2 metre lift to the TSF3 walls every two years of operation. The proposed TSF3 location is shown in Diagram 2.

TSF3 construction will consist of two paddock-type cells constructed using upstream methods with dried tailings. The total storage capacity at the final construction stage is expected to be approximately 17 million tonnes. The TSF3 embankment is designed to reach a maximum height of 9 metres, equating to 456 metres AHD.

Prior to construction, cleared organic material and topsoil will be stockpiled in a 2m bund surrounding the base of TSF3 for later rehabilitation. Starter embankments will have a slope of 1:2.75 (V:H) downstream and 1:1.5 (V:H) upstream.


Diagram 2: TSF3 location


The Southern Cross operations produces approximately 150 000 ounces of gold per year, resulting in approximately 2 Mt of tailings per year requiring disposal. The typical characteristics of the tailings to be disposed of in TSF3 are shown in Diagram 3 below.

Diagram 3: Tailings characteristics

Embankment construction and subsequent lifts will be constructed using homogenous horizontal layers not exceeding 300 mm compacted thicknesses. Each 300 mm lift is compacted by a heavy duty vibrating pad foot drum roller. Lifts will be constructed with a downstream angle of 33 degrees and upstream 20 degrees. A typical cross section of the embankments is shown in Diagram 4 below.

Diagram 4: TSF cross section


Permeability tests at the TSF3 site shows the base substructure to have a very low permeability. An underdrainage system will be installed to collect any potential seepage and direct it to the return water sump to be reused in the processing plant. Standing water on the TSF3 is to be kept at a minimum. Observations will be regular and any excess standing water in the TSF3 will be continually pumped out to the process water dam.

Freeboard will be kept at a minimum operational height of 300 mm (200 mm beach freeboard). TSF3 has a design capacity to store a 1 in 100 year rainfall event over 72 hours.

TSF3 construction will include an underdrainage system to recover seepage losses from the tailings. Seepage captured by the underdrainage system will be directed to the return water sump and used in the processing plant.

Monitoring of TSF3 will include five arrays of vibrating wire piezometers (VWP’s) each consisting of three VWP’s to monitor the phreatic surface within the perimeter’s embankment. Monitoring bores will also be installed to monitor groundwater levels and quality.

Other approvals

The Licence Holder has provided the following information relating to other approvals as outlined in Table 3.

Table 3: Relevant approvals

Legislation Number Approval

Mining Act 1978 Mining proposal RegID # 69253 Live status to commence mining operations on M77/225, M77/109, M77/66, L77/31, L77/42 and L77/69

Environmental Protection Act 1986 CPS 7753/1

CPS 7734/1

Native Vegetation Clearing Permits

Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914

Licence # 59227 Rights to abstract water for mining purpose

Amendment history

Table 4 provides the amendment history for L4597/1988/14

Table 4: Licence amendments

Instrument Issued Amendment

L4597/1988/14 26/3/2015 Change to licence conditions and to construct a new landfill.

L4597/1988/14 7/1/2016 Amendment to incorporate the works undertaken in W5818/2015/1 to dewater the Axehandle Pit.

L4597/1988/14 28/4/2016 Amendment to install a new water pipeline from Glendower to Triad Pit.

L4597/1988/14 8/2/2017 Amendment to allow landfill activity at the Axehandle Pit.


Location and receptors

Table 5 below lists the relevant sensitive land uses in the vicinity of the Prescribed Premises which may be receptors relevant to the proposed amendment.

Table 5: Receptors and distance from activity boundary

Residential and sensitive premises Distance from Prescribed Premises

Residential premises – Southern Cross Townsite

Approximately 4 km from the minesite and approximately 100 meters from Fraser’s Pit.

Approximately 5.5 km from TSF3 location

Residential premises – Marvel Loch Townsite Approximately 1.5 km west of TSF 3

Table 6 below lists the relevant environmental receptors in the vicinity of the Prescribed Premises which may be receptors relevant to the proposed amendment.

Table 6: Environmental receptors and distance from activity boundary

Environmental receptors Distance from Prescribed Premises

Threatened flora community Approximately 1.5 km WSW of Fraser’s Pit

Risk assessment

Tables 7 and 8 below describe the Risk Events associated with the amendment consistent with the Guidance Statement: Risk Assessments. Both tables identify whether the emissions present a material risk to public health or the environment, requiring regulatory controls.


Table 7: Risk assessment for proposed amendments during construction

Risk Event

Consequence rating

Likelihood rating

Risk Reasoning Source/Activities

Potential emissions

Potential receptors

Potential pathway

Potential adverse impacts

Cat 5 Processing or beneficiation of metallic or non-metallic

ore

Construction of tailings storage facility

Dust: associated with construction activities

Residence 1.5 km west of the TSF3 site.

Air / wind dispersion

Health and amenity impacts

Minor Rare Low

The Delegated Officer considers that separation distance to the receptors is a sufficient buffer to prevent dust impacts. The Delegated Officer considers that Section 49 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and the Environmental Protection (Unauthorised Discharges) Regulations 2004 are sufficient to regulate dust emissions during construction, if necessary.

Noise: associated with construction activities

Minor Rare Low

The Delegated Officer considers that the separation distance to the receptors is a sufficient buffer to prevent noise impacts. The Noise Regulations are also applicable.

Cat 6 Mine

dewatering

Construction of dewatering infrastructure

Dust: associated with construction activities

Residence 4km NE of the Aquarius site, closing to 200 meters at the nearest point of the pipeline.



Minor Rare Low

The main earthworks will be undertaken at the minesite, 4 km from the nearest receptor. Minor earthworks in constructing a “V” drain for the dewatering pipeline will have a minimal impact. The Delegated Officer considers that Section 49 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and the Environmental Protection (Unauthorised Discharges) Regulations 2004 are sufficient to regulate dust emissions during construction, if necessary.


Table 8: Risk assessment for proposed amendments during operation

Risk Event

Consequence rating

Likelihood rating

Risk Reasoning Source/Activities

Potential emissions

Potential receptors

Potential pathway

Potential adverse impacts

Cat 5 Processing or beneficiation of metallic or non-metallic ore

Operation of TSF3

Dust: associated with dried tailings

Residence 1.5 km west of the TSF3 site.



Minor Rare Low

Tailings will be kept in a moist state at all times to avoid drying. The Delegated Officer considers that Section 49 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and the Environmental Protection (Unauthorised Discharges) Regulations 2004 are sufficient to regulate dust emissions if necessary.

Waste: Tailings disposal

Groundwater – local shallow aquifer is hyper-saline, up to 60,000 mg/L TDS

Infiltration through the base of the TSF to soil profile and groundwater

Contamination of groundwater with metalloids. Groundwater mounding or lateral seepage with negative impacts on roots of vegetation.

Moderate Possible Medium

Groundwater quality is saline and unacceptable for domestic and livestock uses. Decant water is recycled back to the processing plant for reuse. The Delegated Officer considers that the proposed measures to control leachate seepage are sufficient to minimise the risk of an adverse environmental impact.

Waste: Release of tailings or tailings decant process water (return water), pipeline failure

Local soils, vegetation and surface water

Direct discharge from pipeline or containment facility failure

Contamination of soil, vegetation, and surface water with salt, metals or metalloids.

Moderate Rare Medium

The Licence Holder has committed to the following controls for TSF3 operations;

Secondary containment to collect spills;

stormwater diversion;

Isolation valves installed at discharge pumps and return water pumps;

vibrating wire piezometers; and

daily inspections of TSF’s.

Given these controls, the Delegated Officer considers the overall risk of tailings or decant water release in the event of a containment failure is deemed to be “medium”.


Waste: Tailings and decant pond

Localised fauna

Direct ingestion (fauna drinking the water)

Fauna sickness or death from drinking water. Entrapment / death of fauna in the tailings

Moderate Possible Medium

TSF supernatant is saline, similar to seawater and is unattractive to fauna for drinking purposes . Main potential risk is fauna entrapment in the wet tailings / TSF process/decant water.

Management strategies undertaken include a constant removal of excess surface water from the TSFs and daily observations to detect any entrapped fauna.

Given these controls, the Delegated Officer considers the overall risk of fauna impacts is “medium”.

Cat 6 Mine dewatering

Dewatering and pipeline transfer to Fraser’s Pit

Leachate: Dewater to groundwater

Groundwater

Groundwater interaction with Fraser’s Pit

Contamination of groundwater

Slight Likely Medium

Mine discharge from the project has a similar quality to the receiving water in Fraser’s Pit. The Delegated Officer considers that the proposed dewatering into Fraser’s pit will have a minimal impact on surrounding receptors.


Licence Holder’s comments

The Licence Holder was provided with the draft Amendment Notice on 10 November 2017. Comments received from the Licence Holder have been considered by the Delegated Officer as shown in Appendix 2.

Amendment 1. Definitions of the Licence is amended by the deletion of the text shown in strikethrough

below and the insertion of the bold text shown in underline below: ‘Annual Audit Compliance Report’ means a report in a format approved by the CEO as presented by the Licensee or as specified by the CEO from time to time and published on the Department’s website’ ‘CEO’ means Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation;

‘CEO’ for the purpose of correspondence means;

Chief Executive Officer Department Administering the Environmental Protection Act 1986

Locked Bag 33 CLOISTERS SQUARE WA 6850 Email: [email protected]; Department Div.3 Pt. V EP Act Locked Bag 33 Cloisters Square Perth WA 6850 [email protected]

‘Department’ means the department established under section 35 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 and designated as responsible for the administration of Division 3 Part V of the EP Act’;

2. Table 1.2.1 of the Licence is amended by the insertion of the bold text shown in

underline below:

Table 1.2.1 Containment infrastructure

Containment cell or dam number(s)

Material Infrastructure requirements

TSF 1, and 2 and 3 Tailings Lined with in-situ clay to limit seepage to groundwater

Decant Water Ponds 3 and 4 Decant Water Lined with 1mm HDPE to achieve a permeability of at least <10-9 m/s or equivalent

Glendower, Jaccoletti, Nevoria, Fraser’s, Triad and Yilgarn Star

pits. Mine dewater Bedrock

Bioremediation pad Hydrocarbon contaminated waste

Ensure soil is bio remediated by:

maintaining a suitable soil thickness;

maintaining an appropriate moisture content and nutrient level within the soil which sustains biological activity; and

at least quarterly soil aeration.

1.2.15 The Licensee shall ensure waste that does not comply with condition 1.2.2 1.2.14 is removed from the

Premises to an appropriately authorised facility as soon as practicable.




3. Table 2.2.1 of the Licence is amended by the insertion of the bold text shown in underline below:

Table 2.2.1: Monitoring of point source emissions to groundwater

Emission point reference

Parameter Units

Frequency

Mine dewatering discharge points G, J, N, T, F & Y.

Volumetric flow rate L/s monthly

S; As; Cr; Co; Zn; Cu; Na; Cl; Al; Fe; Mg; Ca; K; Mn; Ni; Se; SO4

2- and HCO3-.

mg/L Annually

TSS (Total suspended solids) and TDS (Total dissolved solids)

mg/L Six monthly

pH N/A Six monthly

4. Table 2.4.1 of the Licence is amended by the insertion of the bold text shown in

underline below: Table 2.4.1: Monitoring of ambient water quality

Monitoring point reference

Parameter Limit Units

Averaging period

Frequency

MB 94 D1 MB 94 G1

Standing water level Greater than 4m

mbgl Spot sample Quarterly

MB 94 F1 MB 94 E1

Standing water level -

MB 94 D1 MB 94 F1 MB 94 G1 MB 94 E1

pH* N/A Spot sample

Quarterly

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS); and Weak Acid Dissociable Cyanide

mg/L Quarterly

TSS; Cu; Na; Cl; Al; Cd; Fe; Mg; Ca; K; Mn; Ni; Se; As; Zn; Cr; Co;

SO42- and HCO3

-

mg/L Six monthly

MB 94 B1

Standing water level1 Greater than 4m

mbgl Spot sample Quarterly

pH* Greater than 6

but less than 9

Spot sample Quarterly

Weak Acid Dissociable Cyanide Less than 0.5

mg/L Spot sample Quarterly

PZ 99 B1; PZ 99 D1; PZ 99 E1; PZ 99 F1; PZ 99 G1; TSF 1; TSF 2; TSF 3; TSF 4; TSF 5; TSF 6; TSF 7; TSF 8; TSF 9.

Standing water level Greater than 4m

mbgl Spot sample Monthly

* These parameters should be measured and recorded in the field to ensure representativeness. Field samples are to be reported as per condition 5.2.1 3.2.1. An exemption from NATA laboratory analysis is allowed given

geographical remoteness of the sample site and short holding time of the parameter. Note1: SWL shall be determined prior to collection of all other water samples.

5. The Licence is amended by the removal of the Annual Audit Compliance Report

template in Schedule 2.


6. The Licence is amended by the removal of the following maps from Schedule 1:

Map of emission points; and

Map of pipeline location. 7. The Licence is amended by the insertion of the following map into Schedule 1:

Fraser’s Pit (F)

Triad Pit (T)


Appendix 1: Key documents

Document title In text ref Availability

1 Licence L4597/1988/14 – Minjar Gold L4597/1988/14 accessed at: www.dwer.wa.gov.au

2 Licence amendment application (Plus

Appendix) – 1/8/2017 N/A

DWER records (zA115037)

3 Licence amendment application –

(Plus Appendix) 29/9/2017 N/A

DWER records (zA118041)

4 DER, July 2015. Guidance Statement:

Regulatory principles. Department of

Environment Regulation, Perth.

DER 2015a

accessed at: www.dwer.wa.gov.au

5 DER, October 2015. Guidance Statement: Setting conditions. Department of Environment Regulation, Perth.

DER 2015b

6 DER, November 2016. Guidance

Statement: Risk Assessments.

Department of Environment

Regulation, Perth.

DER 2016b

7 DER, November 2016. Guidance Statement: Decision Making. Department of Environment Regulation, Perth.

DER 2016c

http://www.dwer.wa.gov.au/

http://www.dwer.wa.gov.au/


Appendix 2: Summary of Licence Holder comments

The Licence Holder was provided with the draft Amendment Notice on 10 November 2017 for review and comment. The Licence Holder responded on 13 November 2017, waiving the remaining comment period. The following comments were received on the draft Amendment Notice.

Document location Summary of Licence Holder comment DWER response

Various Administrative and spelling errors Changes made

Page 6 Information provided on CPS 7753/1 Changes made

Acknowledging 3 current landfill sites (Marvel Loch, Axehandle, Nevoria)

Changes made

Table 3 Information provided on CPS 7753/1 Changes made

Table 5 Including the Townsite of Marvel Loch as a sensitive receptor

Changes made

Table 7 Changing the “distance to receptor” to include Marvel Loch Townsite as a sensitive receptor

Changes made

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