Boffa Miskell Ltd | Pest Animal Management Plan | Wharekirauponga Compensation Package | 30 May 2022 1 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Project 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, GOP, and one new underground development (Wharekirauponga). OceanaGold (New Zealand) Limited (OGNZL) has proposed the Waihi North Project as part of extending the life of the existing mining operations near at Waihi beyond 2030. The Waihi North Project comprises several elements, including: • A new underground mine and associated facilities (the 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 or NRS); • Upgrades to the existing Waihi Processing Plant (Processing Plant); and • Upgrades to the existing Water Treatment Plant and reconsenting of the existing discharge of treated water to the Ohinemuri River. 1.2 Project impacts on ecology The potential adverse ecological effects of the WUG are associated with both construction and operational activities (Boffa Miskell Ltd, 2022). Broadly, the construction phase includes all site works at Willows Road farm and construction of the access tunnels (i.e. drilling and blasting that advances toward the resource). The operational phase includes ongoing activities associated with underground mining such as drilling and blasting to access and recover the resource (localised around the orebody) and associated sustained noise and vibration effects. The operational phase of underground mining is longer in duration (up to 10 years) and activities may be concentrated in particular areas). The level of effects with mitigation and management measures ranges from Low to Very Low (Boffa Miskell Ltd, 2022). The primary effect is the temporary loss of habitat (576 m2) and associated change in vegetation community when the site is restored (at the close of mining). These effects will be offset by replanting and facilitating the natural regeneration to connect Coromandel Forest Park with a forest fragment on Willows Road Farm (41,500 m2), and replanting the forest boundary on Willows Road Farm (55,000 m2), resulting in an anticipated net gain. Additional potential ecological effects include disturbance to fauna from construction and helicopter noise; continuous noise emissions from the vent raises, water and air discharges from the vent raises; increased predator activity around camps (see Appendix 3 for predator management plan around camps) and vent raise sites during construction; and the potential to introduce kauri dieback disease into the forest environment during works. A Kauri dieback Management Plan will be used to reduce the potential transfer of the disease into the
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