SUMMARY OF HAPPY VALLEY TITANIUM MINERALS PROJECT

BEMAX incorporating Cable Sands (WA) Pty Ltd (CSL)

March 2008

Tenure and Location

The project area is contained within four Mineral Tenements: M70/479; M70/901 (Happy Valley North) & M70/900; M70/899 (Happy Valley South).

The deposits are situated on the middle and upper slopes of the Whicher Scarp, a vast feature (6370ha) separating the Blackwood Plateau and Swan Coastal Plain.

Approximately 209 ha required for excavation or infrastructure including;

1. 106 ha of cleared farmland;
2. 54.2 ha of remnant vegetation on private land, and;
3. 43.1 ha of vegetation in unreserved State Forest.

Original proposal in CER included 216ha of native vegetation (59ha within State Forest).

1. Happy Valley deposits formed part of the original Gwindinup Project
2. Gwindinup Project referred to EPA in 1999
3. CER released in March 2000 with 4 week public review
4. 14 submissions received by the EPA
   Process stalled at this point because; in response to public submissions, CSL pursued the purchase of adjoining farmland to reduce impact on native vegetation and complete additional studies (including vegetation) EPA occupied with Ludlow project.
5. Draft response to public submissions submitted to EPA in November 2002
6. Comments from EPA on draft responses received March 2003.
7. Due to time elapsed since CER, an Addendum to CER was produced and distributed to EPA, DOE and CALM in October 2003. This contained a revised mine plan and outcomes of investigations (including additional vegetation surveys) undertaken to address comments raised on the original CER.
8. A further version of the Addendum was supplied in May 2004 which included results from a search for significant flora species conducted in Spring 2003 at DOE’s request.
9. In November 2004, DOE informed CSL that additional botanical surveys were required which could take a further 12-18 months to complete.
10. In December 2004, Cables withdrew the Happy Valley Deposits to allow the EPA to complete assessment of the Gwindinup deposits. A further floristic survey was completed in Spring 2005 and a new Notice of Intent submitted to the EPA in December 2005. The EPA set the level of assessment for the Happy Valley Project at Environmental Review and Management Programme (ERMP) The scoping document for the Happy Valley ERMP was approved by the EPA in March 2007.

     

    Floristic Studies

    Numerous vegetation surveys of the project area and surrounds have been completed by experienced botanists over the period 1999-2005 including;

    Consulting Botanist	Title	Date
    Environmental Survey and Management Pty Ltd	Gwindinup Vegetation Assessment	1998
    Environmental Survey and Management Pty Ltd	Gwindinup Landforms, Vegetation and Flora	1999
    Bennett Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd	Vegetation Survey Location 215 (HV North) Gwindinup Project	2001
    Bennett Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd	Vegetation Units – Gwindinup Mineral Sands Project	2003
    Bennett Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd	Search for Significant Species - Gwindinup	2004
    Bennett Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd Onshore Environmental Consults Pty Ltd	Flora and Vegetation of the Happy Valley Mining Leases	2006
    Bennett Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd	Extended regional vegetation survey. PATN analysis of Wildflower Society & Bemax data	2007

    No Threatened Ecological Communities have been identified. The survey’s identified one Declared Rare Flora within the project area. Several large populations (>1000 plants) of this species have since been identified well outside the project area. Four priority species were also identified, three of which are well outside the area of disturbance. The other species was identified from almost half the survey quadrants making it widespread and common across the survey area. Vegetation mapping confirms no vegetation unit is restricted to the proposed area of disturbance.

     

    Additional Studies and Documents to be Completed

    Since publication of the CER document additional studies, documents and information has been completed on the advice of the EPA. This includes;

    1. Detailed investigations into soil profiles and important geologic and hydrogeologic features of the Happy Valley landforms.
    2. Further hydrological studies including installation of additional monitoring piezometers
    3. Preparation of a draft Mining and Rehabilitation Management Plan
    4. Detailed Aboriginal Heritage Study
    5. Further Assessment of Noise including predictive noise models
    6. Additional Dieback surveys
    7. Additional Fauna Study
    8. Acid Sulphate Soils investigation

    Project timeframe.

    The required project timeframe is as follows:

    1. Happy Valley North: Commence 2010 for 20 months mining (290,000t HMC)
    2. Happy Valley South: Commence 2012 for 30 months mining (350 000t HMC)