Min ing Area
A
C Sou
utherrn Fla
ank:
Sttygoffauna
a Ass essm ent
Pre
epared fo
or:
BH
HP Billiiton Irron Ore
O
De
ecemb
ber 2016
Fin
nal Rep
port
depauperate Mining Area C Southern Flank:
Stygofauna Assessment
Bennelongia Pty Ltd
5 Bishop Street
Jolimont WA 6913
P: (08) 9285 8722
F: (08) 9285 8811
E: [email protected]
ACN: 124 110 167
Report Number: 276
Report Version
Prepared by
Reviewed by
Submitted to Client
Method
Date
Draft 1
Renee Young
Stuart Halse
email
6 July 2016
Draft 2
Renee Young
Stuart Halse
email
5 September 2016
Final 1
Stuart Halse
Michael Curran
email
21 October 2016
Final 2
Stuart Halse
Michael Curran
email
7 December 2016
K:\Projects\B_BHPBIO_70\Draft Report\BEC_SF_Stygo Report_Rev 5_7xii16
This document has been prepared to the requirements of the Client and is for the use by the Client, its
agents, and Bennelongia Environmental Consultants. Copyright and any other Intellectual Property
associated with the document belong to Bennelongia Environmental Consultants and may not be
reproduced without written permission of the Client or Bennelongia. No liability or responsibility is
accepted in respect of any use by a third party or for purposes other than for which the document was
commissioned. Bennelongia has not attempted to verify the accuracy and completeness of information
supplied by the Client. © Copyright 2016 Bennelongia Pty Ltd.
vi
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BHP Billiton Iron Ore Pty Ltd (BHP Billiton Iron Ore) proposes to develop and operate a new satellite
iron ore deposit located immediately south of the existing Mining Area C Mine at Southern Flank
which will become part of the Mining Area C Mine (the Proposal). The Proposal is located
approximately 90 kilometres (km) north east of Newman in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia.
The Proposal will construct and utilise ore processing facilities, including ore handling plant, stockpiles
and train load out facilities located at the existing Mining Area C mine. Primary crushing and open pit
mining activities will take place in the Southern Flank locality. This approach reflects BHP Billiton Iron
Ore’s current approach of developing new orebodies which are able to utilise infrastructure around
established mining hubs. This approach will also minimise the amount of clearing required for
development of the new deposit.
For the purpose of assessment three areas have been described to categorise stygofauna habitat
within the groundwater of the Mining Area C Southern Flank Project. These are:
 Groundwater Assessment Area – the proposed additional area of reduction in groundwater
levels of ≥2 m associated with implementation of the Proposal and considering cumulative
impacts of all mining operations within the catchment;
 Approved Drawdown Area - the area previously approved under Ministerial Statement 491 for
groundwater drawdown of ≥2 m, noting that this area has been reduced where it falls outside
the Groundwater Assessment Area ;
 Reference Area - areas of no groundwater drawdown within the regional catchments.
This report provides an assessment of the potential impacts of the Proposal on stygofauna within the
Groundwater Assessment Area, and considers cumulative impacts for all species within the
Groundwater Assessment Area and Approved Drawdown Area.
Stygofauna surveys in the Groundwater Assessment Area, Approved Drawdown Area and Reference
Area were conducted in accordance with the recommendations of EPA Environmental Assessment
Guideline 12 and Guidance Statement 54A. In total, 1170 stygofauna samples relevant to this
assessment have been collected, with 224 samples from the Groundwater Assessment Area, 724
samples from the Approved Drawdown Area and 222 samples from the Reference Area. Sampling
effort and survey methods at Mining Area C meet the EPA’s expectations for stygofauna survey.
Of the 60 stygofauna species collected during sampling, 27 species were recorded in the Groundwater
Assessment Area. Of these 27 species, six (the worm Ainudrilus sp. WA26 PSS), mite Halacaridae sp.
B1, copepod Schizopera sp. B02, syncarids Bathynella sp. 1 and Notobathynella sp., and amphipod
Paramelitidae sp. S04 (BR South)) are currently known only from the Groundwater Assessment Area.
However, it is considered likely that the distributions of all six species extend outside the Groundwater
Assessment Area and there is little conservation threat to these species from dewatering.
Weeli Wolli Spring PEC and its buffer contains 36.1 km2 of calcrete, of which 34.4 km2 is within the
Approved Drawdown Area and may potentially experience drawdown of ≥2 m, mostly associated with
dewatering activities at Hope Downs. A further 1.6 km2 is within the Groundwater Assessment Area
and is also predicted to experience ≥2 m drawdown as a result of the Proposal and operations at Hope
Downs and Mining Area C. It is considered that the conservation values of individual stygofauna
species occurring in the Weeli Wolli Spring PEC are unlikely to be threatened because of the existence
of abundant stygofauna habitat downstream in the Lower Weeli Wolli and Marillana subcatchments.
As a result, it is considered that the Proposal meets the EPA’s objective for stygofauna to maintain
representation, diversity, viability and ecological function across the Groundwater Assessment Area at
the species level. Given what is known of the distribution of stygofauna in the Pilbara generally, and
the pattern of distributions in the vicinity of the Proposal, it is unlikely that the Groundwater
Assessment Area contains outlying, genetically or ecologically unique populations of stygofauna
vii
species (geographically separated from the main ranges of the species) that may be threatened by the
Proposal. Therefore, the Proposal is also considered to meet the EPA’s objectives at the population
level.
While it is unlikely any species or unique populations will be threatened by the proposal, the predicted
occurrence of groundwater drawdown within the calcrete area inside the Groundwater Assessment
Area suggests the EPA’s objective to maintain representation, diversity, viability and ecological
function at the assemblage level may possibly not be maintained without mitigation measures.
However, any impact on the stygofauna assemblage of the Weeli Wolli Spring PEC as a result of
drawdown in the Groundwater Assessment Area is likely to be small compared with the effects of
drawdown in the Approved Drawdown Area. In both areas, the primary cause of impact is the
operation of Hope Downs, which will result in 14 m of (mitigated) drawdown many years in advance of
the smaller drawdown caused primarily by the Proposal. This smaller drawdown has a likely maximum
extent (80th percentile of model predictions) of 2.5 m. It is considered that a drawdown of this
magnitude is unlikely to cause any further alteration in the stygofauna assemblage and ecological
character of the PEC.
viii
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................VII
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Overview of Operation ................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Approvals History ............................................................................................................................................................. 1
1.3. Current Proposal ............................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.4. Report Objectives ............................................................................................................................................................. 2
1.5. Survey Program ................................................................................................................................................................. 2
2. BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................................... 2
2.1. Stygofauna .......................................................................................................................................................................... 2
2.1.1. Habitat Requirements.............................................................................................................................................. 3
2.1.2. Principal Impacts of Mining on Stygofauna ................................................................................................... 3
2.1.3. Other Impacts of Mining on Stygofauna ......................................................................................................... 4
2.2. Legislative Framework .................................................................................................................................................... 5
2.3. Environmental Impact Assessment ............................................................................................................................ 5
3. GROUNDWATER ASSESSMENT AREA ................................................................................................ 6
4. HYDROGEOLOGY .................................................................................................................................. 7
4.1. Geology of the Weeli Wolli Creek Catchment ...................................................................................................... 7
4.2. Hydrogeology of the Upper Weeli Wolli Subcatchment .................................................................................. 7
4.3. Geology of the Coondewanna Catchment ............................................................................................................. 7
4.4. Hydrogeology of the Coondewanna Catchment ................................................................................................. 8
5. STYGOFAUNA SURVEYS ...................................................................................................................... 8
5.1. Stygofauna Surveys in the Groundwater Assessment Area ............................................................................. 8
5.2. Stygofauna Occurrence and Abundance .............................................................................................................. 14
6. IMPACT EVALUATION ........................................................................................................................ 14
6.1. Habitat Connectivity ...................................................................................................................................................... 14
6.2. Future Conservation Status......................................................................................................................................... 17
6.2.1. Impacts on the Weeli Wolli Spring PEC .......................................................................................................... 18
7. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 20
8. LITERATURE......................................................................................................................................... 22
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................ 26
Appendix 1 - Field and Laboratory Methods ........................................................................................................... 27
Appendix 2 - Summary of Timing of all Stygofauna Surveys at Mining Area C and Southern Flank 28
Appendix 3 - Stygofauna identified only to higher levels (immature or damaged specimens).......... 28
Appendix 4 – Locations of restricted species and species of note.................................................................. 31
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1. LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED MINING AREA C DEVELOPMENT ENVELOPE AND GROUNDWATER ASSESSMENT
AREA. ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
FIGURE 2. THE GROUNDWATER ASSESSMENT AREA IN RELATION TO THE PROPOSED MINING AREA C DEVELOPMENT
ENVELOPE, APPROVED DRAWDOWN AREA, WEELI WOLLI SPRING AND COOLIBAH-LIGNUM FLATS PECS, AND
CATCHMENT AREAS. ................................................................................................................................................................. 2
FIGURE 3. STYGOFAUNA SAMPLE EFFORT IN THE GROUNDWATER ASSESSMENT, APPROVED DRAWDOWN AREA AND
REFERENCE AREAS .................................................................................................................................................................... 9
FIGURE 4. DEPTH TO WATERTABLE IN THE VICINITY OF THE PROPOSAL. .................................................................................... 15
FIGURE 5. LOCATIONS OF SPECIES OF POTENTIAL CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANCE. ................................................................... 16
FIGURE 6. GROUNDWATER ASSESSMENT AREA, APPROVED DRAWDOWN AND MAPPED CALCRETES OF THE WEELI WOLLI
PEC. ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1. NUMBERS OF STYGOFAUNA SAMPLES COLLECTED IN THE GROUNDWATER ASSESSMENT AREA AND REFERENCE
AREA. ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
ix
TABLE 2. STYGOFAUNA SPECIES COLLECTED WITHIN THE GROUNDWATER ASSESSMENT AREA, GROUNDWATER
DRAWDOWN AREA AND REFERENCE AREAS....................................................................................................................... 10
x
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
1. INTTRODUCTTION
1.1. Ov
verview of
o Operattion
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
e Pty Ltd (BH
HP Billiton Iro
on Ore) prop
poses to dev
velop and op
perate a new
w satellite
iron ore
e deposit loccated immed
diately south
h of the exissting Mining Area C Minne at Southe
ern Flank
which w
will become part of the Mining A
Area C Mine
e (the Propo
osal). The Proposal iss located
approxim
mately 90 kilometres (km
m) north easst of Newman in the Pilb
bara Region of Western Australia
(Figure 1). The Yan
ndi deposit is
i reaching tthe end of its economic
c life, with aavailable ore reserves
expected
d to be dep
pleted by ap
pproximatelyy 2020. Add
ditional ore sources are required to
o provide
sufficien
nt feed in ord
der to sustaiin the curren
nt level of iro
on ore production from the BHP Billliton Iron
Ore Pilb
bara mines. The Propossal will consstruct and utilise
u
ore prrocessing faccilities, including ore
handling
g plant, stocckpiles and train
t
load ou
ut facilities located
l
at th
he existing M
Mining Area C mine.
Primary crushing an
nd open pit mining activvities will tak
ke place in the
t Southernn Flank locality. This
HP Billiton Irron Ore’s cu
urrent approach of developing new orebodies which
w
are
approacch reflects BH
able to utilise infrasstructure around establisshed mining hubs. This approach w
will also miniimise the
amount of clearing required
r
for development
d
t of the new deposit.
1.2. Approvals History
An envirronmental im
mpact assesssment (EIA) ffor Mining Area
A
C was conducted
c
inn 1997 via th
he Public
Environm
mental Revie
ew (PER) proccess. The PEER presented
d BHP Billiton Iron Ore’s proposal to mine 14
iron ore deposits in the Northern
n Flank Valleey at Mining Area C (i.e. deposits
d
A, B
B, C, D, E, F, R,
R P1, P2,
P5, P6, and the Brockman
n Detrital Deeposit), referrred to as the
e Current App
proved Deve
elopment
P3, P4, P
Envelope
e.
The PER
R was assesse
ed by the Env
vironmental Protection Authority
A
(EPA
A) and its reccommendations were
publishe
ed in Bulletin No. 913 in 1998.
1
A Min isterial Statement of App
proval (MS) N
No. 491 was issued
i
by
the Miniister for the Environmentt in Decembeer 1998 under Part IV of the Environm
mental Prote
ection Act
1986 (EP
P Act). Only two depositts were speciifically assesssed in the PE
ER – C Depossit and the Brockman
B
Detrital Deposit. In addition
a
to the specific a ssessment of these two deposits,
d
MSS 491 provide
ed an ongoing m
mechanism fo
or the develo
opment of th e remaining 12 deposits.. This involvves the Minin
ng Area C
Environm
mental Mana
agement Plan
n (EMP) bein
ng reviewed and updated
d to the requuirements off the EPA
as the other deposits came on line. MS 491 also require
ed that each new version of the EMP be made
available
e for public review
r
to the
e requiremen
nts of the EP
PA. Depositss A, B, C, D, EE, F, R, P1, P2
2, P3, P4,
P5, P6 and the Brockkman Detrita
al have been described and
a assessed in previous versions of the EMP.
ough to 6 de
escribe the cu
urrent extentt of mining below
b
the watter table (A, C, E, F, R,
EMP Revvisions 1 thro
P1, P2, P
P3, P5 and P6
6 deposits) and
a above th
he water table
e (B, D, P4 an
nd Brockmann Detrital deposits) at
Mining A
Area C. The
e Mining Area C EMP Revvision 6 asse
essed the im
mpact of all 114 deposits approved
a
under th
he original MS
M 491.
1.3. Cu
urrent Pro
oposal
BHP Billiton Iron Orre is seeking to add the satellite ore
e bodies at Southern
S
Fla nk to Mining Area C
(Figure 2), as well as
a formalising the disturrbance that was assesse
ed as part o f the approv
ved EMP
revision 6 assessmen
nt. New pro
ocessing facil ities will be constructed to support iincremental increases
in mining activity as follows:





Priimary Crushing facilities located south
h of existing infrastructurre;
Ru
un of Mine pa
ads and topssoil storage aareas;;
Ovverland conveyors;
Co
oarse Ore Sto
ockpile;
Orre Handling Plant
P
within existing
e
Miniing Area C le
ease area;
1
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore





Up
pgrade to the
e existing sto
ockyards and
d outflow facilities;
Du
uplication of the existing rail loop and
d addition of a second Train Loadout;;
Ad
dvanced mine
e de-watering to supportt mining at Southern
S
Flan
nk;
Insstallation of supporting
s
non-processe
n
es infrastructture (eg pow
wer lines, acceess roads) to
o support
ne
ew mining are
ea: and
Exp
pansion of existing non
n-processing infrastructu
ure (NPI) and industrial facilities to support
pro
oduction
For the p
a
three
t
differen
nt areas have
e been recog
gnised in relaation to the potential
purpose of assessment,
impacts on stygofauna associated with the Prroposal (Figu
ure 2). These
e are:
 Groundwate
er Assessmen
nt Area – thee proposed additional area of reducction in grou
undwater
levels of ≥2 m associated with impleementation of
o the Propossal. The cum
mulative impa
acts of all
n the catchm
ment were con
nsidered whe
en calculating
g drawdown
n;
mining operrations within
 Approved Drawdown Area - the areaa previously approved
a
un
nder Ministerrial Statemen
nt 491 for
groundwater drawdown of ≥2 m, n
noting that this area ha
as been reduuced in som
me places
e Groundwateer Assessment Area to re
eflect currentt modelling; and
a
where it fallss outside the
 Reference Area - areas of
water drawd
o no groundw
down within the
t regional catchments.
This rep
port provides an assessment of thee potential impacts to stygofauna in the Grou
undwater
Assessm
ment Area as a result of implementat ion of the Prroposal, and considers cuumulative im
mpacts to
es occurring within the Groundwater
all specie
G
Assessment Area and Ap
pproved Draw
wdown Area.
1.4. Re
eport Objjectives
The obje
ectives of this assessmentt were:
(1) To identify the stygofaun
na species prresent in the Groundwate
er Assessmennt Area.
(2) To assess th
he potential impacts
i
on sstygofauna within
w
the Grroundwater A
Assessment Area
A
and
the cumulative impacts on
o species w
within the Approved Draw
wdown Area ffrom implem
mentation
of the Propo
osal.
The fram
mework in which
w
the asssessment wa s set is that the lowering of ground
dwater levels through
mine de
ewatering and
d groundwatter abstractio
on by 2 m or more from the natural state may re
educe the
occurren
nce of stygoffauna (see Se
ection 2.1.2 ffor more detail). Hence information aabout the sty
ygofauna
species present with
hin the Grou
undwater Asssessment Area and theirr likely rangee outside this area is
importan
nt for assessment.
1.5. Su
urvey Pro
ogram
The styg
gofauna survveys undertaken within tthe Groundw
water Assessm
ment Area w
were mostly part of a
broad-sccale subterra
anean fauna survey know
wn as the Reg
gional Subterrranean Faunna Sampling Program
(RSFSP) that began in Novembe
er 2007. To date, the RS
SFSP has ressulted in surv
rvey of more
e than 30
mining aand explorattion areas across the Pilb
bara, includin
ng Mining Arrea C and neearby locatio
ons in the
Weeli W
Wolli and Coo
ondewanna catchments.
c
More recently in 2015, baseline
b
styg
gofauna surv
veys have
been conducted to the
t west and east of Miniing Area C an
nd around So
outhern Flan k.
2. BAC
CKGROU
UND
2.1. Sttygofauna
a
Stygofau
una are aqu
uatic animals that live in groundwater. They are predom
minantly crustaceans,
although
h stygofauna
al worms, sn
nails and waater mites also exist. In addition, g
groundwater contains
nematod
des, bdelloid
d rotifers and
d some otheer groups with
w
taxonom
my so poorlyy resolved th
hat stygal
species ccannot be re
eliably disting
guished from
m surface form
ms. In generral, stygofaunna are characcterised
2
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
Figure 1. Location
n of the proposed Mining Area C De
evelopment Envelope and Groundw
water Assessment Area.
1
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
FFigure 2. The Groundwater Assessm
ment Area in relation to the propo
osed Mining Area C Development En
nvelope, Approve
ed Drawdown Are
ea, Weeli Wolli SSpring and Coolibaah‐Lignum Flats P
PECs, and catchmeent areas.
2
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
by the lo
oss of eyes and
a skin pigm
mentation an
nd the develo
opment of a vermiform b
body shape and
a more
elongate
ed appendag
ges than surfface relativess, although some
s
species retain reduuced eyes an
nd not all
have a vvermiform sh
hape. Stygofauna speciess are a focus of environm
mental assesssment because a high
proportiion of them have restricted distributio
ons (Gibert and
a Deharveng 2002). Ac
According to Eberhard
et al. (20
009), about 70
7 % of Pilba
ara stygofaun
na species arre likely to be short rang
ge endemics (SREs) as
defined by Harvey (2
2002), with many
m
of them
m having much smaller ranges than Harvey’s criiterion of
10,000 kkm2. Speciess with restriccted ranges aare vulnerab
ble to extincttion following
g habitat de
estruction
or enviro
onmental cha
anges (Ponder and Colgaan 2002; Fontaine et al. 2007).
Studies to date sug
ggest that the
t
Pilbara rregion conta
ains the rich
hest stygofaauna commu
unities in
Australiaa, with up to
t 54 specie
es collected from indiviidual bores and approxximately 350
0 species
collected
d from the re
egion by 200
05 (Eberhard et al. 2009). New species are constanntly being discovered
(Finston et al. 2008;; Karanovic and Hancoc k 2009) and
d it has been
n estimated that more than
t
550
species o
of stygofaun
na may occurr in the regio n (Halse et al.
a 2014).
2.1.1. H
Habitat Req
quirementss
Stygofau
una occur in an array of differen
nt groundwa
ater habitatss including porous, karrstic and
fractured
d-rock aquiffers, springs and the hyp
porheos of streams
s
(Ebe
erhard et al. 2005). Calccrete and
alluvium
m are typically considered
d to be prod
ductive habittats for stygofauna, altho
ough mafic volcanics
support rich stygofa
auna commu
unities comp
pared with the
t
moderate abundanc e of commu
unities in
Both lateral and
a vertical connectivity
c
of fissures and
a voids
banded iron formation (Halse ett al. 2014). B
ortant for the occurrence
e of stygofau
una. Lateral connectivity
y enables an imals to move about
are impo
underground, while vertical con
nnectivity th
hrough to th
he surface enables
e
rechharge of carrbon and
mmunity. TThere is a cle
ear correlation between transmissivity of an
nutrientss to the styygofauna com
aquifer aand its suitab
bility for styg
gofauna.
una have mo
ostly been re
ecorded in frresh to brackish groundwater but m
may occur in salinities
Stygofau
(expresssed as condu
uctivity) of up to 55,000 µS/cm (Wattts and Hum
mphreys 20066; Schulz et al.
a 2013).
Apart fro
om salinity, the
t physicochemical tole rance of styg
gofauna to different grouundwater parrameters,
especially in the Pilbara, has been
n poorly defiined (see Halse et al. 2014).
2.1.2. P
Principal Im
mpacts of Mining
M
on SStygofauna
a
Only impacts causing direct hab
bitat loss aree likely to thrreaten the persistence off stygofauna
a species.
Two actiivities lead to
o most of the
e stygofaunaa habitat loss associated with
w mining. These are:
(1) Groundwaterr drawdown
n. Drawdown
n of aquife
ers from de
ewatering o f mine pitss or the
abstraction of groundwater for ore processing is likely to threaten thee persistence of any
s
restriicted to the aarea of drawdown.
stygofauna species
(2) Pit excavatio
on. Removal of stygofaun
na habitat when excavatiing mine pitss is likely to threaten
the persistence of any stygofauna species resttricted to th
he mine pit. This impact can be
assessed wh
hen considering ground
dwater drawd
down becau
use the minee pits are contained
c
within the arrea of drawdown.
Identifying the amou
unt of drawd
down requireed to threate
en the persisstence of a sstygofauna species
s
is
potentiaally a comple
ex process. Natural annu
ual variationss in baseline
e groundwateer levels in hard
h
rock
aquifers are usually <1 m (Worley Parsons 22012), alluvia
al aquifers may
m show sliightly more variation
(Waterhouse and Howe 1994), while annuaal baseline changes in alluvial aquifeers along the Pilbara
coast ou
utside of the
e flow paths of rivers aree mostly abo
out 2 m with
h very occassional larger changes
after substantial reccharge events (data fro m Departme
ent of Wate
er, Water Infformation Reporting,
http://wir.water.wa.g
gov.au/Pagess/Water-Inforrmation-Rep
porting.aspx).
3
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
The thre
eshold drawd
down at which stygofau
una species may be thre
eatened bec ause of losss of their
preferred
d habitat is likely to be smaller in sshallow or sttratified aquifers than inn deep uniform ones.
However, in most styygofauna asssessments in the Pilbara and
a adjacentt areas the thhreshold has been set
ndently of th
he depth of tthe aquifer and
a its charac
cteristics. M odelled grou
undwater
more orr less indepen
drawdow
wns of betwe
een ≥1 to ≥5
5 m ‘over and
d above natu
ural groundw
water fluctuattions’ have been used
for different projectss (e.g. Biota 2008, 2010; Bennelongia
a 2013; MWH
H 2014). If aappropriately
y applied,
al fluctuations in Pilbara b
baseline grou
undwater
such thrresholds reprresent about twice the levvel of natura
levels, so
o that any drawdown
d
exxceeding thee threshold is reducing stygofauna
s
hhabitat in a way that
rarely occcurs naturally. Most of the
t area of g
groundwater impact will, of course, exxperience mu
uch more
drawdow
wn than the assessment
a
threshold.
t
For this assessmentt a modelled
d drawdown
n of ≥2 m compared
c
with
w
pre-draw
wdown cond
ditions is
al to impact o
on stygofaun
na because it
i representss the point where
w
the
considerred to have the potentia
scale of anthropoge
enic change exceeds thee extent of natural fluctuations in b
baseline grou
undwater
levels. Pre-drawdow
wn condition
ns are repressented by a single value
e in the mod
delling, rathe
er than a
ations.
considerration of the range of nattural ground water fluctua
2.1.3. O
Other Impa
acts of Miniing on Styg
gofauna
There haas been little
e research in
nto the impaact of reduced habitat quality,
q
ratheer than direcct habitat
removal, on stygofauna. Factorrs potentiallyy reducing habitat
h
qualitty include waater quality changes,
d habitat stru
ucture, reducced energy so
ources, or ingress of pollutants (see H
Humphreys 2009).
2
In
changed
this asse
essment, it iss considered that reduced
d habitat quality is more likely to res ult in lowere
ed animal
densitiess than to th
hreaten speccies persisteence. Possib
ble consequences of so
ome factors reducing
habitat q
quality are su
ummarised below:
b
(1) Water qualitty changes. In
I most situaations, water quality chan
nges occupy relatively sm
mall areas
(Rösner 199
98; Zhu et al.
a 2001), altthough incre
eases in gro
oundwater saalinity may be more
extensive (C
Commander et al. 1994; Sharma and
d Al-Busaidi 2001) and ssalinity chan
nges may
potentially threaten som
me species in the Pilbara, where stygofauna occur mostly in fre
esh water
(<1,000 mg//L). The tole
erance of styygofauna spe
ecies in the Groundwater
G
r Assessment Area to
increased sa
alinity is unkn
nown but baased on surfa
ace studies it
i is likely thaat overall sty
ygofauna
species richn
ness will deccline sharply if groundwa
ater salinity reaches 2,0000 mg/L (Pind
der et al.
2010). Chan
nges of this magnitude h
have been observed
o
in parts
p
of the Pilbara as a result of
mining (Com
mmander et al.
a 1994).
(2) Percussion frrom blasting.. Blasting m
may have a direct effect on stygofaunaa through pe
ercussion
and indirect detrimenttal effects tthrough alte
ering underrground struucture (usua
ally rock
on and collap
pse of voids)) and causing
g transient in
ncreases in g roundwater turbidity.
fragmentatio
Subterranean fauna have been co
ollected adja
acent to are
eas where b
blasting is occurring
o
regularly (Bennelongia 2008), sugg
gesting that impacts arre experiencced only ov
ver short
nd are unlikely to be signiificant.
distances an
(3) Overburden stockpiles and
a
waste ddumps. The
ese artificial landforms may cause localised
reduction in rainfall rech
matter and nutrients.
harge and asssociated enttry of dissolv
ved organic m
n
o reduced carbon
c
and n
nutrient inpu
ut are likely to
t be expresssed over ma
any years
The effects of
and are unliikely to sign
nificantly imp
pact on stygofauna as la
ateral movem
ment of grou
undwater
should bring
g in carbon and nutrients .
(4) A
Aquifer recharge from ru
un-off over ddisturbed grou
und. Quality
y of rechargeed water witthin mine
sites is ofte
en poor beccause of rocck break-up
p and soil disturbance
d
((e.g. Gajowiec 1993;
McAuley and
d Kozar 2006
6). Impacts will be minim
mised throug
gh managem
ment of surfa
ace water
and installing drainage channels,
c
sum
mps and pum
mp in the pitt to prevent recharge tho
ough the
pit floor. While
W
poor qu
uality of rech arge water may
m reduce population
p
d
densities, it iss unlikely
to affect spe
ecies persiste
ence.
4
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
(5) Contaminatiion of groundwater by hyydrocarbons.. Any contamination is likely to be localised
and will be minimised
m
by engineerin
ng and mana
agement practices to enssure the containment
of hydrocarb
bon productss.
2.2. Le
egislative
e Framewo
ork
Environm
mental Assesssment Guid
deline 12 (EP
PA 2013), which
w
superse
edes the fraamework pro
ovided in
Guidancce Statementt No. 54 (EPA
A 2003), provvides advice on assessme
ent of stygoffauna within Western
Australiaa. The recom
mmendations regarding s ampling metthods in Guidance Statem
ment 54A (EPA 2007)
remain iin place. The assessmen
nt of new acctivities within the Proposed Mining A
elopment
Area C Deve
Envelope
e was conducted according to the geeneral princip
ples laid out in these docuuments.
Legislative protection of species and commu
unities in We
estern Australia is provideed at two lev
vels. The
Wildlife Conservation
n Act 1950 (W
WC Act) opeerates at the state level, while the Ennvironment Protection
P
and Biod
diversity Con
nservation Act 1999 (EP BC Act) ope
erates at the
e national leevel. No sty
ygofauna
commun
nities or species listed under the EPBC Act occur at Mining
M
Area C or nearby areas
(Departm
ment of Environment 201
16). Similarlyy, no stygofauna species listed under the WC Act occurs at
Mining A
Area C or in
n the vicinity (Departmen
nt of Parks and
a
Wildlife [DPaW] 20166). Commun
nities are
not liste
ed under the WC Act but a list of threeatened com
mmunities prepared by thhe DPaW is endorsed
e
by the M
Minister for the
t Environm
ment. No th
hreatened styygofauna community occcurs in the vicinity
v
of
Mining A
Area C.
There iss a further, informal pro
ocess where by priority species
s
and priority eco
ological com
mmunities
(PECs) are listed by DPaW.
D
Two PECs occur iin the Groun
ndwater Asse
essment Areaa (Figure 2). They are
Weeli W
Wolli Spring PEC
P and Coolibah-Lignum
m Flats PEC (DEC
(
2014). The
T Coolibahh-Lignum Fla
ats PEC is
listed fo
or its unique flora attribu
utes. It is nott recognised for its value
e to stygofauuna and hen
nce is not
discusse
ed further in this
t
document.
Wolli Spring PEC
Weeli W
The Wee
eli Wolli Sprring PEC com
mprises Weeeli Wolli Spriing and a pe
ermanent waater hole colloquially
known aas Ben’s Oasis (Figure 2). Weeli Wollli Spring is co
onsidered to
o support a uunique comm
munity of
animals and plants, including en
ndemic speccies of stygo
ofauna (van Leeuwen 20009). The ricchness of
stygofau
una species in the PEC is attributed to
o the large-sscale calcrete
e and alluviaal aquifer sysstem (van
Leeuwen
n 2009; DPaW
W 2015). Tw
wo species o
of stygofauna
a are considered by DPaaW to be endemic to
Weeli W
Wolli Spring ittself: the watter mite Arreenurus sp. no
ov. 1 (PSS) and the oligo
ochaete Ainudrilus sp.
WA26 (P
PSS) (van Lee
euwen 2009). Despite beiing included as a part off the Weeli W
Wolli PEC, very little is
known aabout the vallue of stygofauna commu
unities that are
a associated
d with Ben’s Oasis.
2.3. En
nvironme
ental Impa
act Assesssment
All know
wn locations of
o stygofaun
na within the Coondewan
nna and Weeli Wolli catchhments were mapped
in relatio
on to the Approved Draw
wdown Area aand the Grou
undwater Assessment Areea. Species recorded
within th
he Groundwa
ater Assessm
ment Area thaat have not also
a
been rec
corded withi n the Refere
ence Area
or surrou
unds were id
dentified as species
s
that m
may potentia
ally be threattened by gro
oundwater drrawdown.
Species recorded wiithin the Gro
oundwater A
Assessment Area
A
and Refference Areaas or surroun
nds were
not con
nsidered to be at risk from groun
ndwater dra
awdown and
d are treateed as not being
b
of
conservaation significcance.
Species of stygofaun
na that have
e been asses sed under EMP Revision
ns 1 through to 6 are inccluded in
species ccounts but consideration
c
n of the impliications of drawdown is restricted to those specie
es known
only from the Groundwater Asssessment Areea (or the Groundwater
G
A
Assessmentt Area and Approved
Drawdow
wn Area) for which the le
evel of impacct will change
e from previo
ous assessmeents.
5
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
Some sp
pecimens co
ollected during sampling
g were too damaged, ju
uvenile or thhe wrong se
ex to be
identified to speciess level. In most
m
cases, th
hey probablyy belong to species
s
that were identiffied from
other sp
pecimens. However,
H
in a few casees the specim
mens must belong to sspecies not collected
elsewhere because their
t
genus (or whatever identificatio
on level was possible) waas not represented by
any othe
er specimenss, and therefo
ore the speccimens could not represent a species already colle
ected. In
this case
e the specime
en(s) was inccluded as a seeparate speccies with a higher taxono mic level.
Flat worrms (Platyhellminthes), ro
ound worms (Nematodess) and rotiferrs are includ
ded in specie
es counts
but are ttypically not assessed in EIA in Westeern Australia because the
e taxonomic fframeworks for these
groups aare insufficie
ent for reliab
ble identificaation at the species level. Further, t he poorly de
eveloped
knowled
dge of life histories of th
hese groups makes it diffficult to distinguish betw
ween true sty
ygofauna
and surfface dwelling
g species.
3. GROUNDWATER ASS
SESSMEN
NT AREA
The Proposed Minin
ng Area C Development Envelope an
nd associated Groundwaater Assessm
ment Area
that con
nstitute the Proposal
P
lie primarily
p
with
hin the Uppe
er Weeli Wolli subcatchm
ment, which ultimately
u
drains in
nto Fortescue Marsh. The western p art of the Groundwater Assessment Area falls within
w
the
Coondew
wanna catch
hment, an internally-draaining surfacce water sysstem with a catchmentt area of
approxim
mately 866 km
k 2
pper Weeli Wolli
W
subcatc
chment: 1) tthe orebody
y aquifer,
Three primary aquiffers exist within the Up
on of bandeed iron form
mation; 2) the Wittenoom
m dolomite which is
developed through mineralisatio
located within the to
opographic low areas; an
nd 3) the ove
erlying alluvial tertiary deetritals and calcretes.
c
The perm
meability and
d storage volumes of thee aquifers varry laterally an
nd vertically through each aquifer
unit and
d the hydraulic connectio
on between tthe systems is considered to be variaable and con
nstrained
by structtural controls, mineralisation and verrtical permea
abilities. Recharge of the groundwate
er system
primarilyy occurs in th
he Coondewanna Flats arrea with grou
undwater mo
oving throug
gh the Southern Flank
and Norrth Flank valle
eys to ultima
ately discharg
ge at Weeli Wolli
W
Spring.
Assessin
ng the likely impacts on stygofauna
s
aas a result off the dewatering associatted with the Proposal
is a com
mplex process. The existing mining o
operations and
a
associate
ed de-wateriing at Mining Area C
wn in the vicinity
and Hop
pe Downs have
h
led to a large areaa of approve
ed groundwa
ater drawdow
v
of
Mining Area C (Fig
gure 2). Th
his approved
d drawdown
n is located within thee Upper We
eeli Wolli
hment and Coondewann
C
na catchmen
nt. The Hop
pe Downs mining
m
operaation is approved to
subcatch
partially dewater the
e Weeli Wollli Spring PE C and also to
t discharge
e water into that PEC (EPA 2001,
2011).
The grou
undwater drawdown resu
ulting from tthe additiona
al mining and groundwatter abstractio
on in the
Propose
ed Mining Arrea C Development Envellope has bee
en modelled.. Two catego
ories of grou
undwater
drawdow
wn are recognised; the Approved G
Groundwater Drawdown Area coverss 855.2 km2 and the
Groundw
water Assessment Area co
overs 261.5 kkm2 (Figure 2)
2 (see Sectio
on 1.3).
of the Groundwater Assessment Areaa lies within the
t buffer off the Weeli W
Wolli Spring PEC and
A part o
covers W
Weeli Wolli Spring itself, which
w
is conssidered to be
e the most ecologically
e
ssignificant sty
ygofauna
receptorr within the Upper Weeli Wolli subcaatchment. Th
he Weeli Wo
olli Spring PEEC and buffe
er occupy
an area of 266.4 km
m2 (Weeli Wo
olli occupiess 182.2 km2 and Ben’s Oasis
O
occupiees 84.2 km2). Within
these arreas, 101.8 km
k 2 of drawdown has p
previously be
een assessed
d. The Grouundwater Asssessment
Area covvers an addittional 20.9 km
k 2 (11.5% o
of the relevan
nt section off PEC) at Weeeli Wolli Sprrings and
9.0 km2 (10.7%) at Be
en’s Oasis. The
T cumulati ve impact off mine dewattering will co
over 52.4% of the PEC
and bufffer at Weeli Wolli
W
and 43.2 % of the B
Ben’s Oasis buffer (Figure 3).
6
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
4. HYD
DROGEO
OLOGY
4.1. Ge
eology off the Wee
eli Wolli C
Creek Cattchment
The geo
ology of the Weeli Wolli Creek catch ment is dom
minated by th
he Hamersley
ey Group and
d Tertiary
Detritalss valley-fill su
uccessions. Mining
M
Area C contains Marra
M
Mamba Iron Formaation in the Jirrpalpur
J
Range aand Brockma
an Iron Formation in the Packsaddle Range. Terttiary Detrital successions occur in
the Nortthern Flank and
a other valleys to deptths of up to 200
2 m. Calcrrete also occcurs in these valley-fill
successions, formed because of fluctuating w
water table settings
s
durin
ng the Tertiaary to Recent periods
(Johnson
n and Wrightt 2001). Sou
uthern Flank lies on the so
outhern limb
b of the Wee li Wolli anticline, with
the Marrra Mamba Iro
on Formation being the o
outcropping stratigraphy
y. The main sstructural fea
atures are
two thru
ust faults, wh
hich dip shallowly to the south and are observed to be continnuous across the area
of South
hern Flank. Folding
F
is stro
ongest proxi mal to the fa
aults (BHPBIO
O 2016a)
4.2. Hy
ydrogeollogy of th
he Upper Weeli Wo
olli Subca
atchmentt
The locaal hydrogeolo
ogy in the Upper Weeli W
Wolli subcatcchment has been
b
describ
bed in RPS (2
2013) and
the inforrmation is su
ummarised here.
h
Weeli W
Wolli Creek and
a its tributtaries flow allong valleys confined
by hills of Marra Ma
amba and Brockman Iro
on Formation
n. Preferentiial weatherinng of the Wittenoom
Formatio
on between these outcro
ops resulted in a low lying area that has
h since beeen filled with
h Tertiary
Detritalss deposits larrgely composed of alluviu
um sourced from the surrrounding ouutcrop and ch
hemically
precipitaated calcrete. Tertiary sediments are up to 75 m thick
k upstream of the sprring and
approxim
mately 20 m thick at the spring.
s
In the be
edrock under Weeli Wolli Spring and the calcrete aquifer imm
mediately upsstream of it there is:
 Wittenoom Formation. The Parabu
urdoo mem
mber farthestt from the spring hass a high
permeabilityy whereas th
he Bee Gorg e member, stratigraphic
cally higher tthan the Parraburdoo
member and
d closer to th
he spring, is of low perm
meability. The
e Wittenoom
m formation occurs at
depths of between 40
0-70 mbgl an
nd gets sha
allower closer to the sspring as the more
weathering resistant
r
Bee
e Gorge mem
mber subcrop
ps.
 Mount Sylvia
a Formation (low permeaability).
 Mount McRa
ae Shale (low
w permeabilitty).
 Brockman Iron Formation (unminerallised and of low permeab
bility).
The Brockman Iron Formation and
a
Mt McRaae Shale are
e particularly
y resistant to
o erosion and form a
promine
ent ridge (Wildflower Ran
nge) along tthe northern extent of th
he catchmennt. Weeli Wo
olli Creek
flows th
hrough this ridge (acrosss the region
nal geologica
al strike) in a narrow faault-controlle
ed valley.
Under tthe creek, th
he erosion-resistant Bro ckman Iron and Mt Mc
cRae Formattions rise to
o shallow
subcrop (i.e. they forrm a rock-bar).
The Terttiary sedimen
nts contain an
a extensive calcrete dep
posit that hass a saturated
d thickness of
o around
5 m and
d is vuggy an
nd permeable. Based on
n the morpho
ology of Ausstralian grou ndwater calccrete and
because
e the base off the calcrete
e sits just beelow the water table, Weeli Wolli Sprring is likely to be an
area of active calcre
ete formation
n. The calcreete is incised
d by the cree
ek channel w
which is in-fiilled with
Quaternary alluvium. The calcrete
e is underlain
n by poorly sorted
s
alluviu
um of clay, saands and gra
avels that
overlies the bedrockk.
4.3. Ge
eology off the Coo
ondewann
na Catchm
ment
The Coo
ondewanna catchment lies adjacen
nt to the Jirrpalpur Ra
ange and iss dominated
d by the
Wittenoom Formatio
on stratigrap
phic units, w
while Tertiary Detrital valley-fill succeessions reside
e in lowlying top
pographic arreas. Areas of
o calcrete occcur across th
he valley-fill, ranging in tthickness from 3 m to
14 m. D
Dolomite is also
a
present within the ccatchment, persisting
p
below the Terttiary boundary of the
7
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
detrital ssequence. Based
B
on drilling data, th
he dolomite is likely to occur
o
across the entire ca
atchment
area. Do
olerite dykes occur in the
e southeast aareas of the catchment.
c
4.4. Hy
ydrogeollogy of th
he Coond ewanna Catchmen
C
nt
The locaal hydrogeollogy in the Coondewann
na catchmen
nt has been described i n URS (2014
4) and is
summarrised below.
The Coo
ondewanna surface
s
water catchment operates as an internally
y draining syystem. However, it is
hydraulically conneccted to the regional
r
aqu ifer systems and ground
dwater is inteerpreted to flow
f
east
into the North and South
S
Flank valleys.
v
The key hydrogeolog
gical units prresent within
n the Coonde
ewanna catch
hment includ
de:
 Tertiary Detrritals valley-ffill;
 Calcrete/silcrete; and
 Dolomite.
Overall, the structurre of aquifers in the Co
oondewanna
a catchment is highly vaariable and not well
docume
ented. Weatthered, vugg
gy and karsttic formation
ns associated
d with hydraated zones, dolomite
within tthe Wittenoo
om Formatio
on and alluvvial successiions may ac
ct as locallyy significant aquifers.
Calcrete// silcrete horrizons show only small caavities and vugs,
v
which may
m mean th e upper detrrital zone
containss perched aquifers with which
w
calcretee is associate
ed.
The norrtheast to so
outhwest strriking doleritte dykes in the southea
ast of the ccatchment may
m form
hydraulic barriers an
nd impede groundwater
g
r flow, causin
ng local mou
unding and shallow watter tables
m of the dykkes. The watter table is aaround 18-23
3 mbgl in most of the caatchment. There
T
is a
upstream
drop of around 30 m in groundw
water levels (tto 50+ mbgl) across the dykes
d
in the southeast.
5. STY
YGOFAUN
NA SURV
VEYS
5.1. Sttygofauna
a Surveyss in the G
Groundwa
ater Assesssment Arrea
Altogeth
her, 224 styg
gofauna sam
mples have b
been collecte
ed within the
e Groundwatter Assessme
ent Area.
An addittional 724 were collected
d from the A pproved Dra
awdown Area
a and 222 sa mples were collected
from the
e Reference Area to prov
vide informaation on the wider distrib
bution of styygofauna outside the
areas off drawdown (Table 1, Fiigure 3). So
ome stygofa
auna were also collected
d as by-catch during
troglofauna sampling
g.
Details o
of sampling methods are
e provided in
n Appendix 1 with the dates and loccations of the
e surveys
provided
d in Append
dix 2. Addittional inform
mation on sp
pecies ranges was obtainned from otther BHP
Billiton sstygofauna sampling
s
pro
ograms, prevvious surveyys by Eberhard and Hum
mphreys (199
99), Biota
(2004a, 2004b), Pilba
ara Biodiverssity Survey (H
Halse et al. 2014),
2
and su
urveys of Rio
o Tinto’s Hop
pe Downs
(Biota 20
006) and Yan
ndicoogina Projects (Biotaa 2005, 2010
0).
Table 1
1. Numbers of stygofau
una sampless collected in the Grou
undwater Asssessment Area
A
and
Referencce Area.
Area
Groundwate
er Assessment A
Area
Approved Drawdown
D
Area
Reference Area
A
Total Samp
ples
Samp
ples
224
4
724
4
222
2
1170
8
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
Figure 3. Stygofau
una sample effortt in the Groundwaater Assessment, Approved Drawdown Area and Refference Areas 9
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
Ta
able 2. Stygofauna
a species collected within the Groundwater Assessment Area, Groundwater Drawdown Area and Referen
nce Areas.
N
Note: Includes specime
ens collected as by-cattch during troglofauna
a sampling. Higher orrder level identification
ns that are not conside
ered to represent addiitional species are shown in Appendix 3.
C
Cosmopolitan = distrib
bution across much of the world.
G
Groundwater Approv
ved
Occcurs in
Reference Reco
orded Outside of
Taxonomy
Lo
owest ID
A
Assessment Drawdo
own
P
PEC
Other Occcurrences, Comments
Area
the
e GAA and ADA
A
Area (GAA) Area (A
ADA)
buffer
P
Platyhelminthes
Turbellaria
Turbellaria sp..
Not assessed in EIAs¹
5
Probably wide
espread²
N
Nematoda
Nematoda sp..
45
94
282
Not assessed in EIAs¹
W
WW
Probably wide
espread²
R
Rotifera
Eurotatoria
Bdelloidea
Philodinidae
Rotaria sp.
1
Bdelloidea sp.. 2:2
3
Bdelloidea sp.. 2:3
Bdelloidea sp.. 5:4
Not assessed in EIAs¹
Probably wide
espread²
500
Not assessed in EIAs¹
Probably wide
espread²
101
Not assessed in EIAs¹
Probably wide
espread²
1
Not assessed in EIAs¹
Probably wide
espread²
5
6
Not assessed in EIAs¹
Probably wide
espread²
Monogononta
Flosculariacea
Filiniidae
Filinia sp.
2
A
Annelida
Aphanoneura
Aeolosomatid
dae
Aeolosoma sp. 1 (PSS)
1 Yes
Pilbara-wide²´´³
Yes
Cosmopolitan
n⁵
Yes
Cosmopolitan
n⁵
Yes
Elsewhere in Pilbara⁴
P
Clitellata
Haplotaxida
Naididae
Dero nivea
180
Pristina longisseta
Phreodrilidae
Phreodrilidae sp. S06
5
1
Phreodrilidae with dissimilar
ventral chaeta
ae
Pilbara-wide²´´³
20
23
76 12
14
Phreodrilidae with similar ventral
Ainudrilus sp. WA26 (PSS)
WW
W, BO
Yes
chaetae
Tubificidae
Yes
11
No
Pilbara-wide²´´³
W
WW
Known only frrom these records
Enchytraeida
1
10
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
Taxonomy
Enchytraeidae
e
Lo
owest ID
G
Groundwater
Approv
ved
A
Assessment
Drawdo
own
A
Area (GAA)
Area (A
ADA)
Reference Reco
orded Outside of
Area
the
e GAA and ADA
Occcurs in
P
PEC
Other Occcurrences, Comments
buffer
Enchytraeidae
e sp. S01
Packsaddle Ra
ange in approved
Enchytraeus sp
p. 1 (PSS) Pilbara
1
16
Enchytraeus sp
p. 2 (PSS) Pilbara
1
Halacaridae
Halacaridae sp
p. B01
1
Unionicolidae
Recifella sp. P1
1 (nr umala) (PSW)
1
drawdown, previously assessed
Yes
19
Yes
W
WW
Species complex, Pilbara-wide²´³
1
Yes
W
WW
Species complex, Pilbara-wide²´³
1
Yes
W
WW
Known only frrom these records
Yes
W
WW
Hamersley Range²
Yes
W
WW
Near West Angelas²
Yes
W
WW
Weeli Wolli ca
atchment⁷
W
WW
Weeli Wolli ca
atchment, eastern
W
WW
Lower Weeli Wolli,
W
Marillana
Weeli Wolli ca
atchmenti³
172
A
Arthropoda
Chelicerata
Arachnida
Trombidiformes
Crustacea
Ostracoda
Popocopida
Candonidae
Areacandona cf. mulgae
Meridiescando
ona facies
1 35
5
19
Meridiescando
ona lucerna
Yes
1
Meridiescando
ona marillanae
Notacandona boultoni
43
3
Notacandona modesta
20
5
Origocandona
a grommike
Cyprididae
Cypretta seura
ati
Limnocytherid
dae
Gomphodella yandii
y
76
Fortescue³ ⁷
16
Yes
2
Yes
W
WW
catchments³
Yes
W
WW
Eastern Upperr Weeli Wolli catchmen
nt⁴
8
Yes
W
WW
Camp Hill and
d perhaps more widelyy³
W
WW
Eastern Weeli Wolli catchmenti³
15
Yes
1
22
Yes
1
1
Yes
53
11
Yes
Cosmopolitan
n⁸´⁹´¹⁰
Maxillopoda
Calanoida
Ridgewayiidae
e
Stygoridgewayyia trispinosa
Pilbara, Exmou
uth peninsula¹¹
Cyclopoida
Cyclopidae
Diacyclops cocckingi
85
Diacyclops hum
mphreysi
humphreysi
28
41
1142
W
WW
Pilbara-wide²´´¹²
W
WW
Pilbara-wide²´´¹³
Yes
1
11
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
Taxonomy
Lo
owest ID
G
Groundwater
Approv
ved
A
Assessment
Drawdo
own
A
Area (GAA)
Area (A
ADA)
Diacyclops sob
beprolatus
2
Reference Reco
orded Outside of
Occcurs in
P
PEC
the
e GAA and ADA
72
Yes
Pilbara-wide²´´¹³
No
previously asssessed
buffer
Dussartcyclopss sp. B10
Known only frrom this record,
3
Mesocyclops brooksi
b
Other Occcurrences, Comments
Area
2
Metacyclops pilbaricus
1
8
Yes
13
Yes
W
WW
Southern Austtralia²´¹²
Pilbara-wide²´´¹³
Metacyclops sp
p. B01 (nr
Central Pilbara
a²´¹³
pilbaricus)
1
Microcyclops varicans
v
1
Pilbaracyclopss sp. B03 (nr
frustratio)
3
Thermocyclopss decipiens
1
Yes
63
Yes
Cosmopolitan
n¹⁴
Yes
Central Pilbara
a²´¹³
Yes
Cosmopolitan
n¹⁴
Harpacticoida
Ameiridae
Gordanitocrellla trajani
Canthocamptiidae
Australocampttus sp.
74
23
63
Yes
1
25
Yes
W
WW
Coondewanna
a catchment
1
No
previously asssessed
1
No
1
Yes
nr Epactophan
nes sp. B01
Miraciidae
Schizopera sp.. B02
Parastenocarid
didae
Parastenocariss jane
Eastern Weeli Wolli catchment³´¹⁵
Known only frrom this record,
7
W
WW
4
Known only frrom these records
Pilbara-wide²´´¹³
Malacostraca
Syncarida
Bathynellidae
Bathynella sp. 1
Bathynellidae
Bathynella sp. 2
Atopobathyneella sp. B04
Notobathynellla sp.
4 No
Known only frrom this record
previously asssessed
15
Yes
Eastern Weeli Wolli catchment³
2
2
No
Known only frrom these records
15
57
Yes
catchments³
21
No
previously asssessed
Yes
Coondewanna
a catchment³
nr Billibathyneella sp. B02
(=Parabathyne
ellidae sp. S03)
W
WW
Known only frrom this record,
Parabathynellidae
No
1
4
Weeli Wolli an
nd Coondewanna
nr Notobathyn
nella sp. S01
Known only frrom these records³,
Amphipoda
Paramelitidae
Chydaekata sp
p. B01
4
7
1
12
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
Taxonomy
Lo
owest ID
Chydaekata sp
p. E
G
Groundwater
Approv
ved
A
Assessment
Drawdo
own
A
Area (GAA)
Area (A
ADA)
27
Reference Reco
orded Outside of
Area
the
e GAA and ADA
7
6
Yes
3
7
11
Yes
44
211
9
Yes
Maarrka weeliiwollii
Paramelitidae Genus 2 sp. B02
P
PEC
Yes
175
WW
W, BO Lower Weeli Wolli
W
catchment³
Lower Weeli Wolli
W
and Marillana
catchments³
WW
W, BO Eastern Weeli Wolli catchment³
W
WW
Lower Weeli Wolli
W
and Marillana
catchments³
5
6
30
6
Yes
Weeli Wolli ca
atchments³
1
Yes
Known only frrom a single drill hole³³
Yes
Yes
catchments
Paramelitidae sp. B04
Paramelitidae sp. B16
Lower Weeli Wolli
W
and Marillana
4
Paramelitidae sp. S04 (BR South)
Other Occcurrences, Comments
buffer
W
WW
Paramelitidae Genus 2 sp. B03
Paramelitidae sp. B03
Occcurs in
55
33
16
7
4
Known only frrom these records³
Isopoda
Tainisopidae
Pygolabis weeeliwolli
W
WW
20
Yes
Lower Weeli Wolli
W
and Marillana
catchments³´¹⁶´¹⁷
¹EEPA (2007); ²Halse et al. (2014
4); ³Regional Subterranean Fau
una Sampling Program; ⁴Benn
nelongia unpublished data; ⁵P
Pinder and Brinkhurst 1994; ⁶Biota (2010); ⁷Karanovic (2007
7); ⁸Reeves et al. 2007; 9Okubo 1973; 10Martens and Savate
enalinton (2011); 11Tang et al.
(2
2008); 12Karanovic (2006); 15Karanovic and Hancock (2009); 13Pesce and De Laurentiis (19
996); 14Sars (1863); 16Keable an
nd Wilson (2006); 17Finston ett al. (2009).
1
13
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
5.2. Sttygofauna
a Occurre
ence and Abundan
nce
Within tthe Groundw
water Assesssment Area, Approved Drawdown Area
A
and Reeference Are
ea, 4,412
specime
ens of stygofa
auna have be
een collected
d (Table 2). These
T
specim
mens represeent at least 60 species
and belo
ong to 10 higher
h
level groups:
g
flatw
worms (1 species), nema
atodes (treatted as 1 spe
ecies, but
potentiaally more), ro
otifers (5 spe
ecies), segmeented wormss (10 speciess), mites (2 sspecies), ostrracods (9
species),, copepods (16
( species), syncarids (66 species), am
mphipods (9 species) and
d isopods (1
1 species)
(Table 2
2). Of the 60
6 stygofaun
na species c ollected, 27 species were recorded in the Grou
undwater
Assessm
ment Area (Ta
able 2).
The num
merically dom
minant groups and speccies were nem
matodes (Ne
ematoda sp.)), rotifers (Bd
delloidea
sp. 2:2, Bdelloidea sp. 2:3), worms
w
(Deroo nivea, Phreodrilidae with
w
dissimiilar ventral chaetae,
Enchytra
opepods (D
aeus sp. 1 (PSS)
(
Pilbara
a), ostracodss (Gomphodeella yandi), cyclopoid co
Diacyclops
cockingi and D. humphreysi humphreysi),
h
, harpactico
oid copepod
ds (Gordonittocrella traja
ani) and
ods (Parame
elitidae Genu
us 2 sp. B0 2, Paramelittidae sp. B03). Most off these speccies were
amphipo
represen
nted by more than 100 specimens.
s
Twenty-five species were
e representeed by <10 sp
pecimens
(Table 2)).
Wolli Spring itself is the
e richer of tthe two parrts of the Weeli
W
Wolli SSpring PEC, with 26
Weeli W
stygofau
una species recorded witthin this parrt of the We
eeli Wolli Spring and buuffer. Twenty
y-four of
these we
ere collected
d in the Grou
undwater Asssessment Arrea or Approved Drawdo
own Area. Only three
species h
have been co
ollected within the bufferr at Ben’s Oasis.
6. IMP
PACT EVA
ALUATIO
ON
6.1. Habitat Co
onnectivitty
The con
nsiderable exxtent and habitat connecctivity of the
e alluvial aqu
uifers (and to
o a lesser exxtent the
calcrete deposits) of
o the Tertiary Detritalss valley-fill successions in the We eli Wolli Crreek and
Coondew
wanna catchments proba
ably provide for easy disp
persal of styg
gofauna speccies between
n areas of
groundw
water drawdo
own and surrounding aq
quifers. For example,
e
the amphipods Paramelitida
ae Genus
2 sp. B2
2, Chydaekata
a sp. E and Maarrka weeeliwolli occur both in the
e Groundwatter Assessme
ent Area,
Approve
ed Drawdow
wn Area and
a
surroun
nding catch
hments (Up
pper and Lower Wee
eli Wolli
subcatch
hments, Marillana subcattchment), as does the iso
opod Pygolab
bis weeliwollii. This sugge
ests there
are few, if any, physsical barriers to restrict th
he wider ran
nges of speciies occurring
g in the Grou
undwater
Assessm
ment Area.
Stygofau
una are rarely species-ricch or abundaant in the Pilbara if depth
h to the wateertable is mu
uch more
than 30 m (Halse ett al. 2014). Using modeelled depth to watertab
ble of 40 m as the thresshold for
una habitat, the eastern part of the Groundwater
G
r Assessmentt Area and Approved
A
prospecttive stygofau
Drawdow
wn Area aro
ound the We
eeli Wolli PEC
C is considerred prospecttive for stygo
ofauna (Figu
ure 4). A
large secction of the western
w
partt of the Grou
undwater Asssessment Are
ea and Appro
oved Drawdo
own Area
also app
pears to be prospective, while the i ntervening central
c
part of the Grouundwater Asssessment
Area and Approved Drawdown Area has a relatively deep watertable and is l ikely to sup
pport low
abundan
nces of stygo
ofauna and fe
ew species (FFigure 4).
There iss little inform
mation abou
ut the likely effect of a deeper watertable on habitat connectivity,
although
h it might be expected to reduc e connectivvity as a co
onsequence of reducing
g animal
abundan
nce and speccies richnesss. Although several speccies of stygofaunal isopo
od and amph
hipod are
quite widespread in the Weeli Wolli
W
Creek ccatchment, only
o
the amp
phipod Param
melitidae Genus 2 sp.
B02 occu
urs in both the eastern and western p
parts of the Groundwate
G
r Assessmennt Area and Approved
A
Drawdow
wn Area (see
e Bennelongia 2015).
14
Mining Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
F
Figure 4. Depth to
o watertable in the
e vicinity of the Prroposal.
G
Groundwater contou
urs (m) shown in inssets; locations of spe
ecies of potential co
onservation significa
ance also shown.
1
15
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
F
Figure 5. Location
ns of species of po
otential conservatiion significance.
(C
Conservation signifiicant species are kno
own only from Grou
undwater Assessme
ent Area, or Groundw
water Assessment Area
A
and Approved Drawdown
D
Area).
1
16
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
6.2. Fu
uture Con
nservation
n Status
Six speccies (the worrm Ainudrilus sp. WA26 (PSS), mite Halacaridae sp. B01, cop
pepod Schizo
opera sp.
B02, syn
ncarids Bathyynella sp. 1 and Notobbathynella sp
p. and amph
hipod Param
melitidae sp. S04 (BR
South)) are known only from the
t
Groundw
water Assesssment Area or this areaa and the Approved
A
wn Area (Fig
gure 5). The locations of these spe
ecies are pro
ovided in Ap
ppendix 4 and more
Drawdow
informattion on their distribution is provided below.
6.2.1. Im
mpacts to species
s
Ainudrilus sp. WA2
26 (PSS)
The oligochaete Ainudrilus sp. WA26
W
(PSS) w
was collected
d from bore GWB0032S aat Weeli Wolli Spring
in May 2
2010 and fro
om bore GWB
B0032D (parrt of the same nested pie
ezometer) byy DPaW in Ap
pril 2003.
It is one
e of the speccies recognizzed by van LLeeuwen (200
09) to be endemic to thee Weeli Wolli Spring.
Although not well sa
ampled, nearrly all surfacee species of Ainudrilus in
n Australia arre known fro
om single
localitiess or relatively small area
nd Brinkhursst 2000; Pind
as (Pinder an
der and Halsse 2001), su
uggesting
Ainudrilu
us sp. WA26
6 (PSS) is also
o likely to h ave a small range. How
wever, this sp
pecies is loca
ated only
500 m from the Groundwate
G
nt Area boundary and is consideered likely to
t occur
r Assessmen
downstrream of the Weeli Wolli Spring and the Groundw
water Assessment Area b
because therre are no
apparen
nt hydrologiccal barriers to downstreeam movem
ment. The potential
p
co
onservation threat
t
to
Bathynella sp. is considered to be
e low
Halacarridae sp. B01
1
The water mite Hala
acaridae sp. B01
B was colleected from two
t
bores 50
00 m apart aat Weeli Wolli Spring.
One reco
ord is in the Approved Drawdown
D
Arrea and the other
o
is in the Groundwaater Assessment Area.
Most miites of this fa
amily are ma
arine, althoug
gh freshwate
er species do
o occur in no
orth-western Australia
and Halsse et al. (201
14) recorded at least two
o species of stygofaunal halacarids inn the Pilbara. One of
these waas represente
ed by multip
ple records w
with a range of nearly 400 km and onne was know
wn from a
single re
ecord at Para
aburdoo. Th
hus, the likelyy range of Halacaridae
H
sp. B01 is unccertain but it may be
wide-ran
nging. A norrthwards extension of thee range of Halacaridae
H
sp
p. B01 by 5000 m would mean
m
it is
known ffrom outside
e the Ground
dwater Assesssment Area and Approv
ved Drawdow
wn Area. Given that
habitat cconnectivity along Weeli Wolli Creek is likely to be high for all stygofauna l species, Halacaridae
sp. B01 is considered
d likely to occcur outside the areas off drawdown. Consequenntly, although
h there is
ncertainty ab
bout the species’ biologyy the potentiial conservation threat to
o Halacaridae
e sp. B01
some un
is consid
dered to be low.
Schizopera sp. B02
erse in the Y
Yilgarn and Pilbara and many
m
species have been described
d
The genus Schizoperra is very dive
from the
ese regions (e.g.
(
Karanov
vic and Coop
per 2012; Karranovic and McRae
M
2013)). Species diversity in
calcretess can be verry high altho
ough only a single speccies has been recorded iin the vicinitty of the
Proposal. Schizoperra sp. B02 iss known from
m the weste
ern side of Weeli
W
Wolli SSpring and has
h been
recorded
d in five samples, with four samples ffrom nested piezometer bores
b
GWB00032S and GW
WB0032D
and one
e sample from
m bore GWB
B0017D. Thee two sampliing locationss are within 5500 m of each other.
While th
he known ran
nge of Schizo
opera sp. B022 is small, a northwards extension off this range by
b 500 m
would m
mean the sp
pecies is kno
own from ou
utside the Groundwater Assessment Area and Approved
A
Drawdow
wn Area. Giiven that habitat connecctivity along Weeli Wolli Creek is likeely to be hig
gh for all
stygofau
unal species, Schizopera sp. B02 is co
onsidered lik
kely to occurr outside thee areas of drrawdown.
Thereforre, the poten
ntial conserva
ation threat tto Schizopera
a sp. B02 is considered to
o be low.
Bathyne
ella sp. 1
Syncarid
ds are a com
mmon eleme
ent of stygaal communitties worldwide and are frequently collected
during stygofauna surveys in
n Australia.
Some Western
W
Ausstralian speecies of the
e family
Parabath
hynellidae have been studied both genetically (Abrams et al. 2012; Guuzik et al. 20
008) and
17
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
taxonom
mically (e.g. Cho and Humphreys
H
22010; Cho et
e al. 2005). Some sp
pecies of th
he family
Bathynellidae in the Pilbara (to which
w
the gen
nus Bathynellla belongs) are
a currentlyy the subject of a PhD
study byy Guilia Perin
na (see Perin
na et al. 20116). The ava
ailable data indicate therre is high div
versity of
Bathynella species and that ra
anges are tyypically short. Bathyne
ella sp. 1 w
was collected
d in the
Groundw
water Assesssment Area near Weeli Wolli Sprin
ng and is treated as seeparate speccies from
Bathynella sp. B2 in the Approve
ed Drawdow
wn Area beca
ause they are
e 27 km apaart, although they are
both genus level ide
entifications. If the rangee of Bathynellla sp. B1 exttends >2 km
m northwards it would
occur ou
utside the Grroundwater Assessment
A
A
Area. It is co
onsidered like
ely that the sspecies occurs farther
north be
ecause of the
e occurrence
e of extensivee suitable ha
abitat along Weeli
W
Wolli C
Creek. There
efore, the
potentiaal conservatio
on threat to Bathynella
B
sp
p. 1 is consid
dered to be lo
ow.
Notobatthynella sp.
Four ind
dividuals of Notobathyne
N
ella sp. have been record
ded, two from
m a single b
bore in the Approved
A
Drawdow
wn Area and an additio
onal two fro
om a secon
nd bore 13.4
4 km away in the Grou
undwater
Assessm
ment Area. Both bores are in area s that are not
n prospecttive for styg
gofauna because the
watertab
ble is deep (Figure 4) and
d a depaupeerate stygofa
auna community would b
be expected. As with
Bathynella species, Notobathyne
N
lla sp. is like ly to have a small range (see Abramss et al. 2013)) and it is
unclear w
whether the specimens in the two lo
ocations are the
t same or separate speecies. However, both
bores arre within 1.5
5 km of the edge of thee Groundwater Assessme
ent Area or A
Approved Drawdown
Area and
d there appe
ears to be no
o hydrologicaal barrier pre
eventing the species’ rannge(s) from extending
e
eastward
ds or southw
wards into areas of no iimpact (Figure 5). There
efore, the co
onservation threat to
Notobatthynella sp. is considered
d to be low, irrespective of whether the specimeens belong to one or
two speccies.
elitidae sp. S04
S (BR Soutth)
Parame
Eighty-e
eight individu
uals of Param
melitidae sp. S04 (BR South) have be
een recorded
d in 21 samp
ples from
13 drill h
holes with a linear range of approxim
mately 11 km
m. While therre is no hydrrological barrier, such
as a dykke, to prevent a broad we
estern extenssion of the range of Para
amelitidae sp
p. S04 (BR So
outh), the
depth to
o groundwater increases in the west ((Figure 4) and
d the effect of
o greater deepth on the suitability
s
of habitaat for Param
melitidae sp. S04
S (BR Soutth) is unknow
wn. However, at the locaal scale Param
melitidae
sp. S04 (BR South) iss certain to occur
o
outsid e the Groundwater Assessment Areaa on the wesstern side
his bore is located only 5 m within the
e Groundwatter Assessmeent Area. Wh
hile there
of bore EXR0733. Th
he home rang
ges of stygo
ofauna specie
es within an aquifer, larg
ger, active sty
ygofauna
are no ffigures on th
species such as amphipods are
e likely to haave ranges extending over distancees of at leasst several
b
the an
nimal collectted from bo
ore EXR0733
3 may itself have been partially
metres. On this basis,
occupyin
ng the habita
at outside the Groundwa ter Assessme
ent Area.
bitat to the west
w
of bore EXR0733 is hydrogeolog
gically the sa
ame as that aaround the bore and
The hab
was sho
own to provvide habitat for Paramellitidae sp. S04 (BR Soutth) by the ccollection off another
individual of Parame
elitidae sp. S0
04 (BR South
h) at bore AN
N0119R, which is approxximately 4 km
m west of
3 and once again
a
inside the
t Groundw
water Assessm
ment Area by
y 280 m (Fig ure 5). This indicates
EXR0733
it is highly likely that the 4 km
m of habitat between th
he two boress (and outsiide the Grou
undwater
Assessm
ment Area) forms part of the
t range of Paramelitida
ae sp. S04 (BR
R South).
Given th
he very strong evidence
e that the d istribution of
o Paramelitidae sp. S044 (BR South) extends
outside the Groundw
water Assesssment Area, tthe conserva
ation threat to
t this speciees from grou
undwater
wn associated with the Prroposal is co
onsidered to be very low.
drawdow
6.2.2. IImpacts on
n the Weeli Wolli Sprin
ng PEC
Modellin
ng suggests that the exte
ent of groun
ndwater draw
wdown assoc
ciated with thhe Proposal itself will
not exce
eed 1 m at Weeli
W
Wolli Sp
pring (BHPBIO
O 2016b). In
n 2054, follow
wing the end
d of aquifer re
eplenish-
18
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
Figure 6. Groundw
water Assessment Area, Approved Drawdown and ma
apped calcretes of the Weeli Wolli PEC.
1
19
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
ment an
nd mitigation
n actions at Hope
H
Downs,, the dewaterring at South
hern Flank is predicted to
o result in
between
n 0.2 and 0.5 m of ground
dwater drawd
down at the spring (BHPB
BIO 2016b).
water drawdo
own from alll dewatering
g activities shows a morre significantt change,
Cumulattive groundw
wherebyy water levelss in the Weeli Wolli Sprin
ng area will be
b lowered by
b an amounnt between 3 to 14 m.
Modellin
ng suggests this is prima
arily associatted with absstraction from
m Hope Dow
wns (BHPBIO
O 2016b).
The timiing and succcess of Hope Downs clos ure plans in regard to th
he recovery o
of groundwater levels
will also influence the potential for a continueed impact att Weeli Wolli Spring.
Modellin
ng suggests that followiing closure of Hope Do
owns the combined cum
mulative grou
undwater
drawdow
wn in 2054 is likely to be
e within a raange of 1 – 2. 5 m in the spring areaa, with the predicted
p
median drawdown being
b
1.75 m.
m This is si milar to the previously assessed
a
chaange of 1.6 m in the
spring area (BHPBIO 2016b).
Habitat connectivityy along We
eeli Wolli C
Creek is like
ely to be high for all stygofaunall species
ongia, 2015),, so that mosst of the speecies found in
n the PEC alsso occur in b
both the Low
wer Weeli
(Bennelo
Wolli an
nd Marillana subcatchmen
s
nts (e.g. Meriidiescandona
a marillanae). Thus, whilee modelling suggests
that the cumulative impact of th
he Proposal and other groundwater operations w
within the ca
atchment
ult in some groundwater
g
mall area of calcrete prevviously unafffected by
will resu
drawdown aacross the sm
drawdow
wn (Figure 6), this draw
wdown is co
onsidered unlikely
u
to have
h
a signiificant effectt on the
conservaation values of the PEC. It is considerred unlikely that
t
PEC species will be tthreatened as a result
of drawd
down for the
e reasons outtlined in Secttion 6.2.1. Any
A changes to the ecolo gical charactter of the
PEC are likely to be the
t result of the larger d
drawdown associated with the operattions of Hope
e Downs,
although
h the repleniishment and mitigation m
measures be
eing undertak
ken in conjunnction with the
t Hope
Downs o
operations sh
hould minimise such chan
nges.
No grou
undwater dra
awdown is an
nticipated at the Ben’s Oa
asis component of the W
Weeli Wolli Sp
pring PEC
as a result of dewattering from the Proposaal or cumulattive drawdow
wn within thhe Upper We
eeli Wolli
subcatch
hment.
7. CO
ONCLUSIO
ON
Stygofau
una surveys in the Groundwater Asssessment Are
ea, Approved
d Drawdownn Area and Reference
R
Area we
ere conducte
ed in accord
dance with t he recomme
endations off EPA Enviro
onmental Asssessment
Guidelin
ne 12 and Guidance
G
Sta
atement 54A
A. In total,, 1170 stygo
ofauna samp
ples relevant to this
assessment have be
een collected
d, with 224 samples fro
om the Groundwater Asssessment Area,
A
724
samples from the Approved
A
Dra
awdown Areea and 222 samples
s
from
m the Refereence Area. Sampling
S
nd survey me
ethods at Min
ning Area C m
meet the EPA
A’s expectations for stygo
ofauna surve
ey.
effort an
Of the 6
60 stygofauna
a species collected during
g sampling, 27 species were
w
recorded
d in the Grou
undwater
Assessm
ment Area. Of
O these 27 species,
s
six (tthe worm Aiinudrilus sp. WA26 PSS), mite Halaca
aridae sp.
B1, cope
epod Schizop
pera sp. B02
2, syncarids Bathynella sp.
s 1 and No
otobathynellaa sp., and amphipod
Paramelitidae sp. S0
04 (BR South
h) are curren
ntly known only
o
from the
e Groundwatter Assessme
ent Area.
ns of all sixx species ex
xtend outsid
de the Grou
undwater
However, it is likelly that the distribution
ment Area and
d there is little conservatiion threat to
o these specie
es from dewaatering.
Assessm
Wolli Spring PEC
P
and its buffer contaains 36.1 km2 of calcrete, of which 344.4 km2 is within
w
the
Weeli W
Approve
ed Drawdown
n Area and may
m potentiaally experiencce drawdown
n of ≥2 m, m
mostly associa
ated with
dewaterring activitiess at Hope Do
owns. A furt
rther 1.6 km2 is within th
he Groundwaater Assessm
ment Area
ed to experie
ence ≥2 m d
drawdown as a result off the Propossal and operrations at
and is aalso predicte
of individua
Hope D
Downs. The
e conservatiion values o
al stygofauna species o
occurring within the
20
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
Groundw
water Assesssment Area are
a unlikely to be threattened becau
use of the exxistence of abundant
a
in the Lowerr Weeli Wolli and Marillan
stygofau
una habitat downstream
d
na subcatchm
ments.
nsidered thatt the Propossal meets the
e EPA’s obje
ective for styygofauna to maintain
As a ressult, it is con
represen
ntation, diverrsity, viability
y and ecolog
gical function
n at the species level. Givven what is known
k
of
the distrribution of sttygofauna in the Pilbara g
generally, and the pattern
n of distributtions in the vicinity
v
of
the Prop
posal, it is unlikely
u
that the Ground water Assessment Area contains ouutlying, gene
etically or
ecologiccally unique populationss of stygofaauna speciess (geographically separaated from the
t
main
ranges o
of the speciies) that ma
ay be threat ened by the
e Proposal. Therefore, the Proposa
al is also
considerred to meet the
t EPA’s objjectives at th
he population
n level.
While it is unlikely an
ny species orr unique pop
pulations will be threatened by the prroposal, the predicted
p
nce of groun
ndwater draw
wdown with in the calcre
ete area insid
de the Grouundwater Asssessment
occurren
Area su
uggests the EPA’s objecctive to ma intain representation, diversity, viab
bility and ecological
e
function
n at the asssemblage lev
vel may posssibly not be
b maintaine
ed without m
mitigation measures.
m
However, any impacct on the stygofauna asssemblage of
o the Weeli Wolli Spring
g PEC as a result of
drawdow
wn in the Groundwater Assessment Area is likely to be small compared
d with the effects
e
of
drawdow
wn in the Approved
A
Drawdown Areea. In both
h areas, the primary cauuse of impact is the
operatio
on of Hope Downs,
D
which
h will result in
n 14 m of (m
mitigated) drawdown manny years in ad
dvance of
the smaller drawdow
wn caused prrimarily by th
he Proposal. This smaller drawdown hhas a likely maximum
m
extent (80th percenttile of mode
el prediction
ns) of 2.5 m. It is considered that a drawdown of this
ude is unlike
ely to cause any further alteration in
n the stygofa
auna assemb
e
magnitu
blage and ecological
characte
er of the PEC.
21
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
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ustaceans
(Syncarida : Bathynellace
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d Burden, D.S
S. (2001) Mul ti-componen
nt reactive transport mod
deling of natural
Zhu, C., Hu, F.Q., and
attenuation of an acid grroundwater p
plume at a uranium mill tailings
t
site. JJournal of
nt Hydrology 52, 85-108.
Contaminan
25
Mining Area C Sou
uthern Flank: Stygofauna
BHP Billito
on Iron Ore
APPEN
NDICES
26
Mining Area C Southe
ern Flank: Styg
gofauna
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
Appe
endix 1 - Fie
eld and Lab
boratory Methods
M
Samp
pling Techniq
que
Stygofauna samplling followed
d the methods recommeended by EP
PA (2007). At
A each drill hole, six nett hauls were made
using a weighted plankton nett (three hauls with a 50 µ
µm mesh net and three with
w a 150 µ
µm mesh net). During ea
ach net
t net was llowered gently to the bo
ottom of the drill hole, ag
gitated briefly to stir bentthic and epib
benthic stygo
ofauna
haul, the
into th
he water column, then retrieved slow
wly. Contentts of the nett were transfferred to a 1125 ml polyccarbonate via
al after
each haul
h
and the contents we
ere preserved
d in 100% eth
hanol.
Nets were
w
washed
d when movin
ng from one drill hole to the next to prevent
p
conttamination beetween sites.
es Sorting a
and Identification
Specie
In the
e laboratory, samples we
ere elutriated
d to separatee out heavy sediment pa
articles and ssieved into size
s
fractionss using
250, 90
9 and 53 µ
µm screens. All sampless were sorteed under a dissecting
d
microscope.
m
Stygofauna were identiffied to
specie
es or morphospecies using available keys and sp
pecies descrriptions. Wh
hen necessarry, animals were
w
dissecte
ed and
examined under a compound microscope. Morphospeecies determinations were
e based on ccharacters used in speciess keys.
Referrence
EPA (2
2007) Sampliing methodss and survey consideratio
ons for subterranean faun
na in Westernn Australia (T
Technical Appendix
to Guidance Statementt No. 54). Guidance
G
Staatement 54A
A. Environmental Protecction Authorrity, Perth, pp.
p 32.
27
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
A
Appendix 2 - Su
ummary of Timiing of all Stygo
ofauna Surveys at Mining Area
a C and Southerrn Flank
TTable 1. Sampling dates of baseline surrveys undertaken at Mining Area C and Southern Flank StudyArea
A Deposit
Round1
07 - 09 December 2008
Round2
05 September 2
2011
05-07 May 2008
05 March 201
10
B Deposit
D Deposit
05-07 May 2008
F Deposit
06 December 2007
05-07 May 20
008
R Deposit
10 April 2008
25 May 2010
0
P1 Deposit
29 May 2008
P3 Deposit
13 April 2008
P6 Deposit
21 April 2008
Southern
Flank
21 April 2008
Rou
und3
Round4
Round5
Round
d6
07 March
M
– 11 July 2012
17 Feb – 29 April 2016
2
24-25 Augu
ust 2016
06 Marrch 2015
24 Ma
ay 2010
25-26 June 20
010
16 Feb – 28 March
h 2010
04 May – 2
26 June 2010
A
Appendix 3 - Sty
ygofauna identtified only to hiigher levels (im
mmature or dam
maged specimen
ns).
N
Note: Includes specime
ens collected as by-ca
atch during troglofaun
na sampling (see Appe
endix 1 for details).
Groun
ndwater Approved
Reference
T
Taxonomy
Lowest ID
Assesssment Drawdown
Occurs in PEC
Likely Species
Area
A
Area
Area
A
Annelida
7
38
13
Any of the Hap
plotaxida or Enchytraeid
da species
Clitellata
Oligochaeta
a sp.
Haplotaxida
Phreodrilidae
Phreodrilida
ae sp.
8
19
145
Tubificidae
Ainudrilus sp.
227
1
0
Enchytraeidae sp.
7
106
479
Bdelloidea sp.
s
Rotifera sp..
1
20
1 Phreodrilidae sp.
s S06
WW
W
W
(PSS)
Ainudrilus sp. WA26
Enchytraeida
Enchytraeidae
e
Enchytraeidae sp. S01, Enchytraeus sp
p. 1 (PSS) Pilbara or
Enchytraeus sp
p. 2 (PSS) Pilbara
R
Rotifera
Eurotatoria
Bdelloidea
WW
W
3
Bdelloidea sp. 2:2 of Bdelloidea sp. 2:3
Filinia sp.
A
Arthropoda
Crustacea
Ostracoda
Ostracoda sp.
s unident.
204
Any of the osttracod species
2
28
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
T
Taxonomy
Lowest ID
Groun
ndwater Approved
Reference
Assesssment Drawdown
Area
A
Area
Area
Occurs in PEC
Likely Species
Popocopida
Candonidae
Candonidae
e sp.
Meridiescan
ndona sp.
Cyprididae
1
11
WW
W
2
WW
W
Notacandon
na ?boultoni
2 Notacandon
na sp.
2
Cypretta sp..
16
1
4
51
Areacandona cf. mulgae, Deminutiocandona murrayi,
Meridiescandon
na facies, Meridiescando
ona lucerna (PSS),
Meridiescandon
na marillanae, Notacan
ndona boultoni,
Notacandona modesta, Notacandon
na quasiboultoni, or
Origocandona
a grommike
Meridiescandon
na facies, Meridiescando
ona lucerna (PSS) or
Meridiescandon
na marillanae
Notacandona
a boultoni
Notacandona
a boultoni, Notacandon
na modesta,
orNotacandon
na quasiboultoni
Cypretta seuratti
Maxillopoda
Copepoda sp.
s
1
W
WW
anoida, Cyclopoida or Harpacticioda
H
species
Any of the Cala
Calanoida
Ridgewayiidae
e
Stygoridgew
wayia sp.
Stygoridgewayyia trispinosa
1
Cyclopoida
Cyclopidae
Diacyclops sp.
s
1
1
Mesocyclopss sp.
18
WW
W
6
Diacyclops cockkingi, Diacyclops humph
hreysi humphreysi or
Diacyclops sobeprolatus
Mesocyclops brrooksi
Metacyclopss sp.
3
0
Thermocyclo
ops sp.
1
8
Metacyclops pilbaricus or Metacyclops sp. B01 (nr
pilbaricus)
Thermocyclopss decipiens
Parastenoca
arididae sp.
1
0
Parastenocaris jane
j
Parastenoca
aris sp.
1
116
Parastenocaris jane
j
Harpacticoida
Parastenocarid
didae
Malacostraca
Syncarida
Parabathynelliidae
Atopobathyn
ynella sp.
1
Amphipoda
Paramelitidae
Atopobathynellla sp. B04
1
nr Billibathyynella sp.
1
nr Billibathynella sp. B01 or nr Billib
bathynella sp. B02
Amphipoda
a sp.
8
27
Any of the Amphipoda species
Chydaekata
a sp.
1
135
Chydaekata sp
p. B01
Maarrka sp..
1
1
Paramelitida
ae sp.
338
22
272
Maarrka weeliw
wollii
WW, BO
G
2 sp. B02, Param
melitidae Genus 2 sp.
Paramelitidae Genus
B03, Paramelitiidae sp. B03, Paramelitid
dae sp. B04 or
Paramelitidae sp.
s S04 (BR South)
Isopoda
2
29
M
Mining
Area C South
hern Flank: Stygofaun
na
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
O
T
Taxonomy
Tainisopidae
Lowest ID
Pygolabis sp
p.
Groun
ndwater Approved
Reference
Assesssment Drawdown
Area
A
Area
Area
44
2
Occurs in PEC
Likely Species
Pygolabis weelliwolli
3
30
Mining Area C Southe
ern Flank: Styg
gofauna
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
Appe
endix 4 – Lo
ocations off restricted species and
d species of note
SampleDate
Number of
o
individualls
5/27/2010
11
119.2057
11/4/2010
29
119.2006
22/03/2015
1
-22.9173
119.2056
22/03/2015
1
GWB00016S
-22.9317
119.1848
5/27/2010
1
SF30166R
-23.0102
118.9330
2/17/2016
4
Governo
or Range
EXR11 36
-23.0706
118.7977
3/25/2009
2
Alligatorr Jaws
EXR09 33
-23.0448
118.6698
2/14/2009
2
Upper Weeli
W
Wolli
GWB00032S
-22.9173
119.2056
5/10/2011
1
Upper Weeli
W
Wolli
GWB00017D
-22.9187
119.2007
8/18/2011
1
Upper Weeli
W
Wolli
GWB00032S
-22.9173
119.2056
11/02/2011
1
Upper Weeli
W
Wolli
GWB00032S
-22.9173
119.2056
3/22/2015
4
Upper Weeli
W
Wolli
GWB00032D
-22.9174
119.2057
3/22/2015
1
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07 39
-23.0394
118.7453
3/13/2008
13
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07 39
-23.0394
118.7453
6/19/2008
11
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07 33
-23.0366
118.7144
3/14/2008
1
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07442
-23.0362
118.7681
3/13/2008
1
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07442
-23.0362
118.7681
11/28/2008
1
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07448
-23.0385
118.7503
6/19/2008
1
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07448
-23.0385
118.7503
10/04/2008
1
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07 18
-23.0364
118.7734
10/04/2008
3
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07222
-23.0378
118.7619
10/04/2008
1
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07222
-23.0378
118.7619
11/28/2008
3
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07222
-23.0378
118.7619
11/28/2008
3
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07 38
-23.0382
118.7452
3/15/2008
5
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07229
-23.0375
118.7266
10/06/2008
2
Boundarry Ridge South
EXR07229
-23.0375
118.7266
3/14/2008
3
Boundarry Ridge North
GWB00038
-23.0189
118.7241
7/16/2008
2
Boundarry Ridge North
GWB00038
-23.0189
118.7241
10/06/2008
3
Boundarry Ridge North
GWB00038
-23.0189
118.7241
2/24/2009
6
Coondew
wanna Flat
GWB00037
-22.9781
118.7562
2/24/2009
1
Alligatorr Jaws
AN01119R
-23.0352
118.6786
23/08/2016
1
Alligatorr Jaws
WARP660
-23.0519
118.6718
25/08/2016
9
Alligatorr Jaws
WARP331
-23.0524
118.6782
25/08/2016
16
Specie
es
Generall Location
Bore
Ainudrilus sp. WA26
(PSS)
Upper Weeli
W
Wolli
GWB00032S
-22.9173
119.2056
Upper Weeli
W
Wolli
GWB00032D
-22.9175
Upper Weeli
W
Wolli
GWB00017S
-22.9187
Upper Weeli
W
Wolli
GWB00032S
Bathyn
nella sp. 1
Upper Weeli
W
Wolli
Bathyn
nella sp. 2
Southern Flank
Notob
bathynella sp.
Halaca
aridae sp. B01
Schizo
opera sp. B02
Param
melitidae sp. S04
4 (BR
South)
LatDec
LonDec
31