Southern Cross Operations Annual Environmental Report 2008 - 2009

2009 Annual Environmental ReportSouthern Cross Operations7.5 Air Quality (Noise and Dust)During the 2008/2009 reporting period, no monitoring of blasts at the open pits wasconducted.Dust from operational areas (Marvel Loch, Burbidge, Nevoria & Transvaal) wascontrolled using water carts as required. Dust generated at the process plant iscontrolled using specialised equipment such as water sprays and enclosures.No incidents or complaints were raised during this reporting period related to dustmanagement.7.6 Flora and FaunaClearingSt Barbara manages clearing of native vegetation and rehabilitation activities throughan internal permitting process known as Surface Disturbance Permits (SDP). Duringthe year, 25.5 ha of native vegetation was cleared within the scope of the 10 ha pertenement per year exemption to the Environmental Protection (Native VegetationClearing) Regulations (Table 7-5). Rehabilitation activities completed included primaryearthworks on 51.6 ha of existing disturbance, and seeding of 17.0 ha of newrehabilitation (ie rehabilitation that was ripped for the first time, see Table 6-1).Table 7-5 Clearing of Native Vegetation During 2008/2009Tenement Area Cleared (ha)M77/225 9.5M77/1052 5.7M77/138 0.4M77/31 9.9Total25.5 haDuring the year St Barbara held discussions with DEC regarding the proposedexpansion of mining activities in the Southern Cross region and in particular in theEdwards Find project area which is situated within a Schedule 1 area. Despite mineplanning carried out to date suggesting that less than ten hectares of clearing will berequired, DEC has advised that a clearing permit application will need to be submittedand approval granted before native vegetation can be cleared.48