This document may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written consent of Marshall Day Acoustics Limited Rp 001 R0 20210601 SJP (Waihi North Noise Assessment) ISSUE 26 of 79 6.0 GLADSTONE AND PROCESSING PLANT NOISE CALCULATIONS 6.1 Gladstone Open Pit (GOP) A major component of the WNP is the development of a new open pit mine on what is currently Gladstone Hill. The pit will be mined to a depth of 95 metres using conventional open pit mining methods. This part of the project broadly comprises: • Establishment and mining of a pit that excavates parts of Gladstone Hill and Winner Hill; • Replacement of the Favona portal and infrastructure and reinstatement to the north; • Establishment of Southern stockpile; • Haulage, crushing and conveying of rock to the tailings storage areas and the polishing ponds/Northern Rock Stack; • Operation of existing and new overland conveyor system; • Inclusion of a new crusher adjacent to the relocated Favona portal, used to crush rock from the Gladstone pit; and • Construction of noise bunds or screens as described below. The first few years of mining operations will be the critical phase in terms of noise emissions. Initial construction activities will occur from the top of Gladstone Hill, while initial mining will be at lower hill levels and then in a shallow pit. Noise emissions will be much lower when the GOP is ultimately excavated well below the surrounding ground level. The years 2024 to 2026, when the noise sources are more exposed on top of Gladstone Hill, are therefore a key focus of our assessment. Following completion of the open pit mining works, backfilling and rehabilitation activities will transform the pit into a new tailings storage facility (the Gladstone TSF). In terms of noise sources and machinery, the plant required for backfilling is likely to be reasonably similar to the mining plant. It is expected that the crusher will no longer be required, while the balance of machinery will shift towards bulk earth-moving plant such as dozers rather than specialist mining equipment like drilling rigs and large dump trucks and excavators and all would be working within the newly mined pit and therefore screened by the pit walls. As shown in Figure 12, there are dwellings around the site to the north, west and south. The closest to the north are along Barry Road and Moore Street, which follows a valley towards the site, thus forming a ‘corridor’ between the hills for noise transfer. To the south and south-west, mining operations are exposed to the closest receivers, with the dwelling at 33A Heath Road just over 300 metres from the western rim of the pit. Noise emissions to the west are effectively screened to residential areas by Union Hill. Figure 12: Indicative extent of Gladstone pit works and surrounding receivers
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