Site Summary

This Annual Environmental Report has been prepared in order to meet Karara Mining Limited’s (KML) Tenement Reporting conditions, and has been prepared in accordance with the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) Guidelines for the Preparation of an Annual Environmental Report (March 2015).

The Karara – Blue Hills reporting group covers three mining projects operated by Karara Mining Limited. These projects are comprised of;

Karara Iron Ore Project (KIOP)

KIOP is a magnetite mining and processing operation with a project life of at least 40 years, based upon an estimated magnetite reserve of 497 million tonnes. This project commenced in 2010 and consists of an open cut mining pit, a processing plant, accommodation facilities, a 330kV power transmission line between the minesite and Three Springs, and a raw water pipeline to the Yandanooka borefield. During the reporting period it was in active mining operations phase and continuing. 

Mungada Iron Ore Project (MIOP)

MIOP is a hematite mining operation which encompasses four open cut pits in two areas, Blue Hills North and Terapod. Blue Hills North consists of a single open cut mining pit, and Terapod consists of three open cut pits, one of which has been backfilled using direct return of waste rock. Active mining operations at MIOP ceased in 2014 and rehabilitation works have been completed, with the exception of supporting infrastructure such as laydown areas, turkey’s nests and pipelines. These will continue to operate and support the long term KIOP mining operations. 

Hinge Iron Ore Project (HIOP)

HIOP is a hematite mining operation comprised of an open cut mining pit and an on-site crushing and screening facility. Active mining operations ceased during the reporting period. Rehabilitation works have been completed, with the exception of supporting infrastructure such as laydown areas, ROM pad and haul roads to allow for recommencement of mining activities. Whilst operations have been suspended at HIOP, the ore resource has not been extinguished and processing of ore may recommence.

The location of each of these projects are shown in the attachment - Figure 1 Project Overview Map

Exploration Programs

No exploration works were conducted during the reporting period.

Key Environmental Achievements

Key Environmental Achievements within the reporting period have included:

-       Rehabilitation of the Hinge waste rock dump;

-       Depositional dust returning to background levels following the cessation of mining at MIOP and HIOP;

-       Malleefowl continue to occupy varying mounds around KMLs operations. Operations are not resulting in reduced Malleefowl activity.

-       Presently no overall detectable impact of mining activity on the Shield-backed Trapdoor Spider, with monitoring results confirming no difference in population parameters between control and operations sites.

-       Reduced fauna mortalities attributed to a reduction in operational areas and subsequently a reduction in impacts to fauna resulting from mining activities.

-       All rehabilitation sites are tracking towards achieving 70% species composition of the control sites. This suggests that there has been successful seedling emergence at these sites.

-       Improvements made to management and monitoring procedures pertaining to the following areas:

• Vegetation Health;
• Western Spiny-tailed Skink (Egernia stokesii badia); and
• Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata).

-       Improvements made to seed collection and distribution methods in collaboration with Botanical Gardens Parks Authority;

-       Enhancement of all environmental monitoring databases resulting in improved reporting efficiency and data quality; and

-       DMP approval of the KML Mine Closure Plan in February 2016.

For further detail, refer section 6.1 – Environmental Monitoring and section 6.3 – Improvements to Strategies