Boffa Miskell Ltd | Waihi North Project | Terrestrial Ecology Values and Effects of the WUG | 22 June 2022 1 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background The current Waihi life of mine plan (LoMP), including Project Martha, is to complete production by the end of 2030. Study work conducted between 2016 and 2020 identified opportunities to expand the Waihi operation with one new open pit, Gladstone Open Pit (GOP), and one new underground development (Wharekirauponga). OceanaGold New Zealand Limited (OGNZL) has engaged Boffa Miskell Limited (BML) to prepare an Assessment of Ecological Effects for the Wharekirauponga elements of the proposed Waihi North Project (WNP, the Project). This report is the first of two volumes, provided to inform the preparation of the Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE, Mitchell Daysh 2022), and further project details are contained therein. The Waihi North Project comprises several elements, including: • a new underground mine and associated facilities (Wharekirauponga Underground Mine or WUG); • a new open pit (Gladstone Open Pit, GOP); • a new tailings storage facility (TSF3); • a new rock stack (the Northern Rock Stack, NRS); • upgrades to the existing Waihi Processing Plant and Water Treatment Plant (WTP); and • reconsenting of the existing treated water discharge to the Ohinemuri River. BML has worked with OGNZL and the consultant team to avoid, where practicable, and minimise impacts on the ecological values throughout the project design. 1.2 Approach This report is the first of two volumes that comprise the Ecological Assessment of Effects. Volume 1 describes the terrestrial ecology assessment for the WUG component of the WNP, including site context; ecological survey and assessment methods; ecological values and significance assessment; ecological effects assessment and proposed impact management strategy to address those effects. Volume 2 describes the freshwater ecology assessment of the WNP (BML, 2022a). A third report details effects on the terrestrial ecological values of the other components of the Project (Bioresearches, 2022). Our approach utilises the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ) impact assessment guidelines (Roper-Lindsay et al., 2018) approach to assess ecological values and significance, and the magnitude of the project’s adverse effects on the site’s ecological values. Criteria for assessing significance also included those contained the Waikato Regional Policy Statement (RPS) (WRC, 2016). Jointly, our reports describe the assessment of the environmental effects of the project on any: • Terrestrial, wetland and freshwater ecological values of the Wharekirauponga underground mine and associated facilities; and
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