Southern Cross Operations Annual Environmental Report 2008 - 2009

2009 Annual Environmental ReportSouthern Cross Operations• Corinthia – Inadequate vegetation cover and erosion issues;• Yilgarn Star – Low-grade stockpiles need to be removed and/orrehabilitated. The stockpiled material has been placed at an angle ofrepose which is encroaching onto surrounding vegetation, potentiallymaking rehabilitation without damaging surrounding vegetation difficult.The laydown area should be rehabilitated, with remaining material (coretrays) removed;The large dam area at the entrance of the mine needs to be rehabilitated.It is unclear what the purpose of the dam was, but it is full of sediment andpossibly hydrocarbons;• Edwards Find Tails Area – A large area of what appears to be tailings orfines associated with a heap leach should be removed and rehabilitated.NB – subsequent enquiries suggest that tenure of this area is held byanother party;• Marvel Loch TSF – A lack of nearby capping material may hinder anyproposal to rehabilitate the TSF following closure and decommissioning;• Marvel Loch Workshop – Hydrocarbons were inappropriately stored outsideof containment bunds. The Barminco fuel storage area was also inundatedwith water following recent rains, and the Hampton’s oil separation arearequires upgrading to prevent the leakage of hydrocarbons;• GVG Workshop – Water/oil separation tanks were overly full and appearedto be leaking, as was the triple interceptor system. NB – The GVGworkshop area was decommissioned in July 2009 and the areas of concernnoted by DMP have been addressed; and• Exploration – Much of the exploration that was observed during the auditdid not meet DMP standards. Numerous unplugged drill casings wereobserved, for both historical and recent drilling. St Barbara should developan exploration rehabilitation plan for the site, documenting where theuncapped drill holes are and when they will be rehabilitated. NB – Aprovision has been included in the 2009/10 Environment Budget to collateand analyse existing exploration data, conduct opportunistic ground truthingand surveying of legacy drill sites, and begin strategic rehabilitation of noncompliantexploration sites.41