Attended Noise Monitoring - Quarter Ending September 2013

Transcription

1 Unity Mining Level 10, 350 Collins St Melbourne VIC 3000 Version:

2 Page 2 PREPARED BY: ABN Units 7-8, Napier Close Deakin ACT 2600 Australia (PO Box 9344 Deakin ACT 2600 Australia) T: F: E: canberra@slrconsulting.com This report has been prepared by with all reasonable skill, care and diligence, and taking account of the timescale and resources allocated to it by agreement with the Client. Information reported herein is based on the interpretation of data collected, which has been accepted in good faith as being accurate and valid. This report is for the exclusive use of Unity Mining. No warranties or guarantees are expressed or should be inferred by any third parties. This report may not be relied upon by other parties without written consent from SLR Consulting. SLR Consulting disclaims any responsibility to the Client and others in respect of any matters outside the agreed scope of the work. DOCUMENT CONTROL Reference Status Date Prepared Checked Authorised R4 Final Draft Murray Neish Zhang Lai Murray Neish

3 Page 3 Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 4 2 CRITERIA - DEVELOPMENT CONSENT CONDITIONS Operational Noise Criteria Operating Hours 5 3 ATTENDED NOISE MONITORING Noise Monitoring Locations Measurement Data and Procedures 6 4 NOISE MONITORING RESULTS 7 5 DISCUSSION SUMMARY Wind Noise Noise Levels 9 6 SUMMARY OF RESULTS AND FINDINGS 10 TABLES Table 1 Mine Operating Times 5 Table 2 Noise Monitoring Locations 6 Table 3 Daytime Measurements 7 Table 4 Evening Measurements 8 Table 5 Night Measurements 9 FIGURES Figure 1 Site plan indicating approximate attended noise monitoring locations 1 1 Figure 2 Site plan indicating approximate attended noise monitoring locations 2 1 Figure 3 Site plan indicating approximate attended noise monitoring locations 3 2 APPENDICES Appendix A Site plan indicating noise assessment and measurement locations

4 Page 4 1 INTRODUCTION Dargues Reef gold mine is currently undergoing preliminary construction work at Majors Creek, NSW. Major s Creek is located 16 km south of Braidwood, NSW, and approximately 55 km south east of Queanbeyan, NSW. The attended noise survey was originally planned for mid- September 2013, but had to be postponed until October due to high winds. On the day of the survey (Tuesday 15 October 2013), the road widening adjacent to the main site entrance had been completed. Equipment significant to noise emissions was primarily located along the main access road through the site, with periodic semi-trailer movements to and from site. Site works are understood to have commenced around 7:30 am and ceased around 4:00 pm with the last vehicles leaving the site at 4:30 pm. Unity Mining commissioned (SLR) to conduct quarterly attended noise monitoring as part of the requirements of the Noise Management Plan 752/12 dated February The objectives of the attended noise monitoring/survey for this quarter were as follows: Operator-attended monitoring at six designated locations with one 15 minute measurement at each location for each of the Day, Evening and Night periods, as defined by NSW environmental noise legislation. The monitoring was undertaken in accordance with Section 8.2 of the Noise Management Plan. Unity Mining currently has responsibility for the unattended noise monitoring component of the Noise Management Plan. As such, the results of unattended noise monitoring are not presented in this report.

5 Page 5 2 CRITERIA - DEVELOPMENT CONSENT CONDITIONS 2.1 Operational Noise Criteria Environment Protection Licence Section L4 Noise Limits states the following conditions: Noise from the premises must not exceed the sound pressure level (noise) limits presented in the Table below. Note that the limits apply to the operation of the project and represent the sound pressure level (noise) contribution, at the nominated receiver locations in the table. Location Day Evening Night LAeq (15 minute) LAeq (15 minute) LAeq (15 minute) LA1(1 minute) Any residential premises Majors Creek State Conservation Area (when in use by any person) Notes: within 30 metres of a dwelling façade, but not closer than 3m, where any dwelling on the property is situated more than 30 metres from the property boundary closest to the premises; or, where applicable within approximately 50 metres of the boundary of a National Park, Nature Reserve or State with the LA1(1 minute) noise limits in the Noise Limits table, the noise measurement equipment must be located within 1 metre of a dwelling façade. with the noise limits in the Noise Limits table, the noise measurement equipment must be located at the most affected point at a location where there is no dwelling at the location; or at the most affected point within an area at a location prescribed by these conditions. The noise limits in Table 1 apply under the following meteorological condition: - wind speed up to 3 m/s at 10 metres above ground level; or - temperature inversion conditions of up to 3 C/100m and wind speed up to 2 m/s at 10 metres above ground level. A breach of this licence will still occur where noise generated from the premises in excess of the appropriate limit is measured at a location other than an area prescribed in these notes and/or at a point other than the most affected point at a location. 2.2 Operating Hours The operating hours for the mine are summarised in Table 1, as defined in the consent conditions. Table 1 Mine Operating Times Activity Operating Hours 3 Vegetation clearing, topsoil stripping, construction of the box cut and rehabilitation Remainder of construction operations Mining, maintenance and processing operations Crushing operations (including operation of front-end-loader) 1 Transportation 2 Day Day / evening / night Day / evening / night 7am-7pm, 7 days per week Day / evening Notes: 1. Crushing operations may be undertaken outside these hours on a maximum of 20 days per year 2. - Maximum 4 concentrate trucks from site per hour - these trucks may exit the site from 7am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 8am to 10pm Sundays and Public Holidays - trucks will not operate between 7am -8:30am and 3pm-5pm on school days - feasible and reasonable measures will be implemented to reduce the impact of site generated traffic on local roads 3. Day is 7am to 6pm, Evening is 6pm to 10pm and Night is 10pm to 7am

6 Page 6 3 ATTENDED NOISE MONITORING 3.1 Noise Monitoring Locations In accordance with the Noise Management Plan, attended noise monitoring was conducted at the six noise monitoring locations shown in Table 2 for one 15 minute period during the each of the Day, Evening and Night periods. The locations are displayed in Appendix A. Table 2 Noise Monitoring Locations Residence Identifier R20 R27 R29 R34 R81 R108 Landowner A and MZ Page M Dickinson B and C James A Davies J and I Wolford J and K Spring 3.2 Measurement Data and Procedures Measurements were undertaken in conformity to the following standards and codes: EPA NSW Industrial Noise Policy, 2000(INP) AS Acoustics - Description and Measurement of Environmental Noise - General Procedures SLR Consulting s noise measurement instruments are Type 1 meters which conform to AS IEC , Electroacoustics - Sound Level Meters. The following sound meter was used for these measurements: Rion NA28 integrating sound level meter, serial number The operator present for these measurements was Murray Neish, Senior Acoustic Consultant, MAAS. Measurement data and observations were recorded in accordance with the requirements of Section of the Noise Management Plan.

7 Page 7 4 NOISE MONITORING RESULTS Operator attended noise measurements were conducted between Tuesday 15 October and Wednesday 16 October Results of the pre-commencement operator attended noise measurements are given in Table 3, Table 4 and Table 5. Ambient noise levels given in the tables include all observations on the contributory noise sources such as traffic, insects and birds. Table 3 Daytime Measurements Location Date/ time R20 15/10/13 2:32 pm R27 15/10/13 2:05 pm R29 15/10/13 12:27 pm R34 15/10/13 3:30 pm R81 15/10/13 3:01 pm R108 15/10/13 12:35 pm Note: Weather 1 -temperature -wind speed -cloud cover -humidity 20 C 0-2m/s 5% 31% 20 C 2-4m/s 1% 32% 20 C 0-0.4m/s 3 19 C 2-4m/s 5% 34% 20 C 1-2m/s 1% 34% 20 C 0.5-2m/s 28% Sound pressure level (db re 20 µpa), 15 minute measurement period LAmax LA10 LA50 LA90 LAeq Description of Noise Emission and Typical Observed Maximum Noise Levels LAmax, dba Lmax due to car pass by on local road ( paused for return trip). Site noise not audible during lulls in wind. Bird noise to 50-60, 4 cars on main road during period, 33 to Low bird noise, no insects. Site noise barely audible during lulls in wind (Diesel engine noise). Two car pass-bys on main road, Maximums and Leq/L10 due to sheep in nearby paddock. Site noise barely audible as low rumble when sheep quiet. Wind picked up to 2m/s in last 2 mins of measurement Lmax due to passing cars. Small birds to 35dBA. Wind in pine trees Barking dog 45. Site noise not audible Site noise barely audible at wind speeds <1.5m/s. Birds to 45. Mower to 40. Lmax due to passing petrol tanker Livestock in nearby paddock audible to 30 db. Birds to 30. Site noise intermittently audible. Tree noise to 37 db during wind gusts. Lmax likely due to wind. 1.Weather observations are approximate, for information only. These are based on measurements of temperature wind speed and humidity with a handheld instrument, and subjective assessment of cloud cover made during the attended noise measurement period.

8 Page 8 Table 4 Location Evening Measurements Date/ time R20 15/10/13 7:20 pm R27 15/10/13 7:40 pm R29 15/10/13 7:03 pm R34 15/10/13 8:10 pm R81 15/10/13 6:05 pm R108 15/10/13 6:35 pm Note: Weather 1 -temperature -wind speed -cloud cover -humidity 14 C 1m/s 41% 12 C m/s 48% 16 C 0-1m/s 4 15 C 0.5-1m/s C 1-3m/s 34% 16 C 0-0.6m/s 36% Sound pressure level (db re 20 µpa), 15 minute measurement period LAmax LA10 LA50 LA90 LAeq Description of Noise Emission and Typical Observed Maximum Noise Levels LAmax, db Noise from insects and wind in trees. Noise from distant livestock audible. Some activity at nearby house was audible and contributing to L10/Leq Noise from insects and wind in trees. Noise from distant livestock audible Distant livestock noise Sheep for first two minutes (affecting L10). Occasional bird noise Frogs in dam to Moderate winds including in the adjacent pine tree. Low sources of other noise including livestock and frogs/crickets. Lmax due to two passing cars Some bird and dog noise, Lmax due to local traffic (horse rider). Local birds to 46, distant birds Some bird noise, ambient noise dominated by livestock in nearby paddock. 1.Weather observations are approximate, for information only. These are based on measurements of temperature wind speed and humidity with a handheld instrument, and subjective assessment of cloud cover made during the attended noise measurement period.

9 Page 9 Table 5 Location Night Measurements Date/ time R20 15/10/13 11:00 pm R27 15/10/13 10:35 pm R29 15/10/13 11:30 pm R34 15/10/13 10:00 pm R81 16/10/13 12:35 am R108 16/10/13 12:05 am Note: Weather 1 -temperature -wind speed -cloud cover -humidity 10 C 0-1m/s 9 52% 10 C 1-1.5m/s C 0-1.5m/s 9 45% 15 C 0.5-1m/s C 0-0.5m/s 9 45% 10 C 0-0.5m/s 9 45% Sound pressure level (db re 20 µpa), 15 minute measurement period LAmax LA10 LA50 LA90 LAeq Description of Noise Emission and Typical Observed Maximum Noise Levels LAmax, db Insect noise and wind noise only Quiet insects, wind noise in trees and distant livestock noise Insect noise and wind noise only Still, quiet conditions, low amounts of insect noise, no traffic Still, quiet conditions, a little wind noise Still, quiet conditions, low amounts of livestock noise. 1.Weather observations are approximate, for information only. These are based on measurements of temperature wind speed and humidity with a handheld instrument, and subjective assessment of cloud cover made during the attended noise measurement period. 5 DISCUSSION SUMMARY 5.1 Wind Noise Ambient noise levels at all of the measurement locations were typically low, with the main influence on the measured noise level being wind in the trees. This is a normal characteristic of this area. While the winds only briefly approached the maximum strength for valid measurements under EPA/OEH policy, wind noise clearly influenced most of the recorded data during this visit, either from noise generated by trees or directly in the microphone. The previous second quarter monitoring was unusual in this respect, as there was basically no wind during the entire measurement period. 5.2 Noise Levels Daytime LAeq levels were db. These levels were mostly due to the wind noise. Site noise was well below the project target of LAeq 35 db. The highest level of 50 dba recorded at Page (R20) and Dickinson (R27) was due to local activities (refer Table 3). Site noise was faintly audible at Dickinson (R27), James (R29), Wolford (R81) and Spring (R108) during lulls in the wind, however the noise was not sufficient to affect the LAeq noise levels. Site noise was not audible at Davies (R34) and Page (R20).

10 Page 10 The construction activities only occurred during the daytime period. Therefore the evening and nighttime measurements only captured ambient noise levels in each location. Equipment in use on the site during the measurements was generally well shielded by landforms. In addition, most activities currently occurring on site are also visually screened at the noise monitoring locations. 6 SUMMARY OF RESULTS AND FINDINGS SLR Consulting was engaged by Unity Mining Pty Ltd to conduct a quarterly noise monitoring/survey during the construction of the Dargues Reef Mine in accordance with Noise Management Plan 752/12. This report summarises the results of a full set of day, evening and night attended noise measurements during the construction phases of the project. Noise from the mining site was only audible at two locations during the time of site work (daytime period). In one of these cases, the noise may have been due to road works. Site noise was well below the operational limit of Leq 35 dba at all locations.

11 Appendix A-Attended noise monitoring locations Page 1 of 3 Figure 1 Map 1 - Site plan indicating approximate attended noise monitoring locations 1 Site plan indicating Attended Noise monitoring locations 1 See Map 3 R29 R27 R20 See Map 2

12 Appendix A-Attended noise monitoring locations Page 2 of 3 Figure 2 Map 2 - Site plan indicating approximate attended noise monitoring locations 2 To Map 1 R81

13 Appendix A-Attended noise monitoring locations Page 3 of 3 Figure 3 Map 3 - Site plan indicating approximate attended noise monitoring locations 3 R34 R108 R27 To Map 1