Discovery of rare moth may thwart mine expansion plans
A rare native moth may have scuppered part of OceanaGold's Macraes mine expansion plans.
The "nationally vulnerable" moth Orocrambus sophistes , which lives in short tussock grasslands, has been found at Golden Bar, one of three open pits about 55km north of Dunedin that OceanaGold has applied to expand.
The mining company has asked to wait for the conclusions of a forthcoming report on the expected adverse environmental effects of its proposed Golden Bar expansion before deciding whether to proceed with it.
It is a position independent commissioner Rob van Voorthuysen called an "unusual proposition" and one he warned the company could result in a delay of the hearings scheduled to start in July.
This was a risk the company "seems to be willing to take", he said in a second minute issued ahead of hearings.
The company wanted section 42A reports by the Otago Regional Council, Waitaki District Council and Dunedin City Council due on June 9 to assess the full slate of extensions proposed — at the Innes Mills, Coronation and Golden Bar open pits, and second stage tailings disposal in the Frasers storage facility.
However, the company submitted it reserved the right not to pursue Golden Bar at the hearing based in part on the outcome of the reports, Mr van Voorthuysen said on behalf of the commissioners.
"We find this to be an unusual proposition.
"It is our experience and preference that section 42A reports and an applicant's evidence circulated prior to a hearing address the actual proposal for which consent will be sought.
"Nevertheless, we acknowledge [OceanaGold's] advice that they may wish to follow a different process."
OceanaGold was unable to respond to Otago Daily Times questions yesterday, but a memorandum on behalf of the company noted the Department of Conservation, Forest & Bird and Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki, Te Rūnanga o Moeraki, and Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou (collectively Kā Rūnaka) all addressed potential effects on biodiversity values in their submissions.
"Kā Rūnaka also provided a cultural impact assessment (CIA) on May 1 which, among other things, identified concerns with potential effects on Orocrambus sophistes , a moth which the invertebrate report ... noted as having one recorded finding within the Golden Bar footprint," the company's counsel Pip Walker said.
"The same issue had also been identified in the ORC's notification report, which classed the presence of the moth as 'a fundamental issue' with the express direction that: 'the applicant should give further consideration to these matters'."
With the submissions and cultural impact assessment in mind, the company determined some of the potential biodiversity effects of the overall expansion plans could be avoided by removing the Golden Bar element, Ms Walker said.
A "heads up" was given to the three councils and Kā Rūnaka last week.
"ORC's planner initially suggested that it was too late to exclude Golden Bar from the section 42A report, and [OceanaGold] made further inquiries about this on May 16.
"ORC's planner said it would seek legal advice on this and raise this with the commissioners.
"[OceanaGold] had anticipated it would be included in any such communication with the commissioners, but it was not."
The Golden Bar area was "spatially separated" from the main part of the Macraes mine and situated about 10km south of the processing plant.
In the company's view and that of its consultants, the Golden Bar plans could be "readily severed from the remainder of the project without requiring amended technical reports to be supplied".
hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz
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