Biodiversity and conservation

Our approach

Biodiversity Management and Action Plans

South Africa

The mine closure plans of long-life South African sites include biodiversity management, environmental management, and specific biodiversity action plans.  Ensuring compliance, these activities are aligned with biodiversity disclosure projects we implement operation-wide. Biodiversity offset projects are planned per region, considering the prevailing endemic climate and vegetation:

• In the North West province, our Moab Khotsong operation is beside the Vaal River, the main tributary of South Africa’s largest river, the Orange River. This is a critical biodiversity area with sandy and rocky grasslands, riverine and valley bottom wetlands, and endangered, vulnerable ecosystems (including endemic vegetation like the critically endangered Brachystelma canum and Aloe braamvanwykii). Habitat loss in this province is due to agricultural activity in recent decades. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species (the Red List), the only critically endangered fauna is the white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus).

• Our Free State operations are in the endangered Vaal-Vet sandy grassland conservation area and the western Free State clay grassland ecosystem, with one species of conservation concern living in these habitats.

• While in peri-urban Gauteng, our operations are not in critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable biodiversity areas we do protect near-threatened ecosystems and species.

Invasive alien plant eradication

We map identified invasive alien plants and divide infested areas into prioritised management units. In FY16 we began at Kusasalethu, (some 5 000ha of the surface mining right area has been cleared to date), with annual assessments and indigenous species conservation. We use the same approach at Vaal River, Moab Khotsong, Kalgold and West Wits. We will be extending this programme to Doornkop where we preserve sensitive wetlands and rocky outcrops.

Biodiversity and conservation objectives

Our offsets and trade-off objectives:

• Develop one offset project in each region to ensure net zero impact during life-of-mine
• Investigate carbon trading.

Land conservation and objectives:

• Continue demolition and rehabilitation programmes
• Determine land use in terms of capability
• Revegetate areas with indigenous grasses or create alternative, economically viable post-closure land use

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Home to the third-largest block of unbroken tropical forest, and the largest tract of primary forest remaining in the Asia-Pacific region, Papua New Guinea supports over 5% of the world’s plant and animal species. Some two-thirds of its flora and fauna are endemic. Morobe Province, where our Hidden Valley and Wafi-Golpu assets are located, hosts various habitats and flora and fauna communities. The Huon Peninsula forms most of the province and has moderate to high species richness with a variety of threatened mammal fauna. Of some 3.3 million hectares in Marobe, two-thirds is forest, and lowland forests are heavily deforested or degraded.

Over a long period, human activities have disturbed the area around Hidden Valley. The area is home to several mammal and bird species protected under Papua New Guinea’s Fauna (Protection and Control) Act 1976, the Red List and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Vulnerable or endangered fauna includes two tree-kangaroo species (Dendrolagus dorianus and Dendrolagus goodfellowi), the long-snouted or giant echidna (Zaglossus bruijni), the rare nectar bat (Syconycteris hobbit) and the New Guinea harpy eagle (Harpyopsis novaeguineae).

Hidden Valley operations remained within a confined footprint in FY23 and for many years before.

At Wafi-Golpu, as part of baseline characterisation, three ecological subdivisions have been used to assess the national conservation status of principal forest types across the project area:

• Floodplain forest vegetation is assessed as vulnerable, as it has reduced by more than 30% over the past 50 years due to ongoing commercial logging across Papua New Guinea.
• Mixed hill forest is not assessed as threatened, as it has an estimated occurrence of 13.3 million hectares across Papua New Guinea, and its reduction is estimated to have been less than 30% over the past 50 years.
• Swamp forest is not assessed as threatened, due to its difficulty to access and because drainage and clearing of swamps for agriculture is not widespread in Papua New Guinea.

We have recorded seven fauna species of conservation significance as part of ecological studies. One is classified as critically endangered, three as vulnerable, another as near-threatened and the rest as data-deficient. Two other near-threatened species, Doria’s goshawk (Megatriorchis doriae) and Forest bittern (Zonerodius heliosylus), are likely or potentially located in the terrestrial ecology study area.

The Wafi-Golpu Project design includes extensive efforts to avoid potential biodiversity impacts, minimising unavoidable impacts, and considering restoration and offset opportunities. We will assess these findings as the project advances beyond the permitting stage.

AUSTRALIA

The project site for Eva Copper is in the Cloncurry region of north-west Queensland. The project site and immediate surrounding area are comprised of native Australian vegetation communities that are commonly found within this region. The project site does not host any flora species of International or Australian national conservation significance.

The site is gently undulating across the entire tenement, with occasional sharp hilly outcrops of the Knapdale Range. The most prominent geological feature on site is the discrete north-south ridgeline rising to approximately 285m above sea level and characterised by ridges of exposed silicified rock, comprising what is known as Mount Rose Bee and Green Hills. Geological features of the Knapdale Range provide habitat for many mammal and reptile species, including the Queensland (State) listed Vulnerable purple-necked rock wallaby. Other mammal and bird species of significance to Queensland conservation are known to, or may occur, at the project site including Troughton’s Sheathtail Bat (Taphozous troughtoni), Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus), Black Bittern (Ixobrachus flavicollis), Black-chinned Honeyeater (Melithreptus gularis), Pictorella Mannikin (Heteromunia pectoralis) and Square-tailed Kite (Lophoictinia isura).

Future focus areas

The group will continue focusing on planning and designing biodiversity and climate change offset programmes. We will also accelerate our rehabilitation and mine closure programmes.

• In South Africa, we will continue to focus on rehabilitation, especially the eradication of invasive alien plants. We will complete biodiversity assessments for new projects with potentially negative impacts whilst conserving protected areas. Our efforts are also channelled into building our partnerships to support the biodiversity impact offset objective.
• In Papua New Guinea, our focus is on advancing our revegetation management plan as part of Hidden Valley closure planning project activities. This with associated rehabilitation trials, will help to guide successful future revegetation and rehabilitation of mine disturbance areas.
• In Australia, our focus is to further enhance our baseline understanding of the ecological composition at the Eva Copper site. This will stand us in good stead to monitor the impacts of our activities as the project moves to the next phase.