WAI-985-000-LC-0007 Executive Summary The Waihi North Project comprises several components to expand the Waihi operation including a new open pit (Gladstone Open Pit) and one new underground mine, Wharekirauponga (WUG). This report provides an ecological assessment of the terrestrial components associated with the (WUG) only. The Project Site for the WUG includes two discrete areas, Willows Road Farm where the portal and supporting surface infrastructure will be located, and Coromandel Forest Park where ventilation raises will be located. Willows Road Farm The primary effect associated with Willows Road Farm activities is the loss of low value vegetation (2,500 m2) and potential fauna habitats that vegetation provides within the project footprint. As part of the integrated mitigation package, OGNZL propose to revegetate approximately 56,600 m2 of the available riparian areas for ecological and landscape mitigation purposes. The remaining effects (construction noise and discharges to air) will be minimised through engineering design and site management processes. The level of effects with mitigation and management measures on Willows Road Farm range from Low to Very Low. Coromandel Forest Park The primary effect of the Project within Coromandel Forest Park is the temporary loss of vegetation / habitat (0.0576 ha) at the four ventilation raise sites and associated change in vegetation community when these sites are restored (at the close of mining). These effects will be offset by replanting and facilitating the natural regeneration of an approximately 4.15 ha area on the north east ridge of Willows Road Farm to connect Coromandel Forest Park with a forest fragment on Willows Road Farm. Additional ecological benefits associated with this project include replanting the forest boundary on Willows Road Farm (5.5 ha). Additional potential ecological effects associated with WUG include disturbance to fauna from construction and helicopter noise; continuous noise emissions from the vent raises; increased predator activity around camps and vent raise sites during construction; and the potential to introduce kauri dieback disease into the forest environment during works. Activities around vent raise sites occupy a very small area within the context of the forest and we consider that these effects can be minimised to a low level of effect using a combination of avoidance measures (i.e. locating vent raise sites in areas not occupied by native fauna); engineering and design solutions (i.e. construction of the vent raise from the underground rather than from the surface, vent raise design to maximise emission dispersion, and location of the fan at the base of the raise to reduce noise); site management and timing (i.e. avoiding vent raise construction during nesting or active periods for fauna, minimising helicopter activity and using a small helicopter model); and using established hygiene and biosecurity control practices (i.e. local predator control around camp and construction sites, and testing, cleaning and surveillance practices to prevent kauri dieback introduction and spread). There is a low (but uncertain) risk for this project to generate residual adverse effects on Archey’s and Hochstetter’s frogs from water and air discharges from the vent raises and the surface expression of blast vibrations. The primary offset / compensation measure to
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