B-1 - Area 1, Coromandel Forest Park – Assessment of Environmental Effects 1 1. INTRODUCTION The Coromandel Forest Park (“CFP”) is administered by the Department of Conservation (“DOC”). Activities within the CFP will include: The Waihi North Biodiversity Project – a large scale predator control and habitat enhancement project within a 18,870 ha area of the CFP (“Biodiversity Project Area”); and Underground mining within a much more confined 430.5 ha area at the southern end of the CFP (known as “Area 1”). The specific objectives and details of the Waihi North Biodiversity Project will be developed and implemented in consultation with tangata whenua and other key stakeholders. It will involve company spending of at minimum $8.4 Million on predator control and habitat enhancement within an 18,870 ha area over at minimum, a 10 year term. Underground mining of the Wharekirauponga orebody will largely be a subsurface activity. The orebody will be accessed via an approximately 6.9 km long underground dual tunnel (“Wharekirauponga Dual Tunnel") network which commences at a boundary of the CFP and connects to the Willows Surface Facility Area (“SFA”) and Waihi SFA via the Willows Farm Access Tunnel and Wharekirauponga Access Tunnel respectively. New surface infrastructure for underground mining within the CFP will be limited to four ventilation shafts constructed on Hauraki District Council (“HDC”) paper roads as well as monitoring equipment. The final surface expression of each shaft will be 10 m by 10 m requiring clearance of up to 12 m by 12m (or, if different dimensions, the equivalent in square metres) and will be constructed mostly from underground using a bottom-up method, with servicing undertaken via helicopter. This sub-Assessment of Environmental Effects (“sub-AEE”) has been prepared in support of resource consent applications by OGNZL under the Resource Management Act 1991 (“RMA”) to authorise all necessary activities associated within the CFP. It comprises eight sections as follows: Section 1: Is this Introduction. Section 2: Provides a description of the existing environment. Section 3: Provides a description of the proposed activities for which resource consent is sought.
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