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Fountain Head Gold Project

Overview

PNX Metals Limited (PNX) proposes to recommence mining of the Fountain Head open pit, which is situated on granted mineral leases north of the Mt Wells road between the towns of Pine Creek and Adelaide River, approximately 170km south of Darwin. Ore will be mined using traditional drilling and blasting techniques and gold extracted using a carbon-in pulp process. The life of mine is 3 years.

Stage 1: Notice of intent

On 16 March 2020 the NT EPA decided the Fountain Head Gold Project requires assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act 1982 at the level of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

Fountain Head Gold Project Type
Notice of intent PDF 9.1 MB
NT EPA statement of reasons PDF 271.1 KB
Terms of reference for an EIS PDF 221.1 KB

Stage 2: Assessment

Draft environmental impact statement

NT EPA notices about the draft EIS

Public consultation on the draft EIS

Statutory notice (9 June 2021)

The NT EPA published a statutory notice on 9 June 2021 inviting public comment on the draft EIS for the Fountain Head Gold Project, proposed by PNX Limited. Interested persons were invited to make a submission by Friday 6 August 2021.

The NT EPA published the notice in accordance with clause 9 of the Environmental Assessment Administrative Procedures 1984.

Submissions received on draft EIS Type
Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority PDF 411.2 KB
Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security PDF 2.6 MB
Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade - Tourism PDF 871.9 KB
Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade - Resources PDF 2.3 MB
Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities - Heritage Branch PDF 69.6 KB
NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services PDF 114.7 KB
Public submission PDF 45.5 KB

Documents

Draft EIS Type
Declaration form PDF 176.5 KB
Executive summary PDF 2.9 MB
Table of contents PDF 415.0 KB
Environmental impact statement main report PDF 23.5 MB
Appendices
1 Air quality and greenhouse gas assessment PDF 1.9 MB
2 Environmental noise assessment PDF 1.2 MB
3 Site water and solute balance modelling PDF 4.0 MB
4 Flood assessment and surface water management PDF 9.9 MB
5 Soil infiltration and solute fate assessment PDF 1.1 MB
6 Geochemical characterisation of waste rock and ore PDF 4.8 MB
7 Geochemical characterisation of Fountain Head CIL tailings PDF 475.1 KB
8 Hayes Creek Project flora and fauna report PDF 6.0 MB
9 Aquatic baseline characterisation report - Fountain Head and Hayes Creek zinc, gold and silver projects PDF 14.6 MB
10 Archaeological assessment of PNX Metals Fountain Head Gold Project PDF 14.6 MB
11 Socio-economic impact assessment report PDF 8.2 MB
12 Traffic impact assessment PDF 1.4 MB
13 Traffic management plan PDF 1.7 MB
14 EIS contributors PDF 128.6 KB
15 EIS cross-reference PDF 237.1 KB
16 Water management plan PDF 17.4 MB
18 Mine closure plan PDF 3.2 MB
19 Water quality results tables PDF 339.8 KB
20 Macroinvertebrate SIGNAL 2 score calculations PDF 113.8 KB
21 Stakeholder engagement plan PDF 1.2 MB
22 Commitments register PDF 223.7 KB
23 Risk register PDF 96.8 KB
24 Cultural heritage management plan PDF 12.8 MB
25 Estimates of PAF waste rock volumes at Fountain Head PDF 1.8 MB
26 Tailings storage facility scoping study PDF 6.7 MB
27 Fountain Head evaporator emissions study PDF 1.9 MB
Supplement to the Draft EIS Type
Supplement to the draft EIS main report PDF 11.1 MB
Appendices
1 Submissions received PDF 6.3 MB
2 NT EPA direction PDF 116.9 KB
3 Emission concentration review PDF 228.4 KB
4 Groundwater monitoring plan PDF 7.2 MB
5 Water management plan PDF 67.0 MB
6 Waste rock management plan PDF 699.2 KB
7 Commitments register PDF 212.6 KB
8 Pit Lake water quality assessment PDF 5.4 MB
9 Blasting impact report PDF 2.2 MB
10 Mine closure plan PDF 2.8 MB
Other information for the draft EIS Type
Response to request for additional information for the draft EIS PDF 5.4 MB
Appendices
1 Appendix 1 - NTPA direction PDF 999.2 KB
2 Appendix 2 - agency comments PDF 4.9 MB
3 Appendix 3 - Fountain Head Gold Project water management plan PDF 10.1 MB
4 Appendix 4 - Fountain Head Gold Project mitigation/commitments register PDF 208.2 KB
5 Appendix 5 - Fountain Head Gold Project Pit Lake water quality PDF 13.8 MB
6 Appendix 6 - Fountain Head Gold Project groundwater model - update for supplementary EIS response 2022 PDF 16.0 MB
7 Appendix 7 - peer review statement - Fountain Head groundwater model PDF 242.4 KB
8 Appendix 8 - Fountain Head Gold Project model synthesis PDF 148.9 KB
9 Appendix 9 - Fountain Head Gold Project technical memo - Aquatic Ecology Services drone surveys PDF 2.8 MB
Maps and figures
1 Figure 2.1 - location of pods within the pit PDF 1.3 MB
2 Figure 2.2 - identified GDEs PDF 1.2 MB
3 Figure 2.3 - GDE assessment survey area PDF 1.8 MB
4 Figure 2.4 - project timeline PDF 191.2 KB
5 Figure 3.4 - predicted solute flowpath 0-50 years post mining commencement PDF 7.6 MB
6 Figure 3.5 - predicted solute flowpath 0-50 years post mining commencement PDF 6.6 MB
7 Figure 3.8 PNG 1.2 MB
8 Figure 3.9 PNG 758.5 KB
9 Figure 3.10 PNG 720.4 KB
10 Figure 3.11 - predicted mean drawdown at end of mining PDF 584.3 KB
11 Figure 3.12 - predicted mean drawdown at end of mining PDF 370.9 KB
12 Figure 3.13 - surface water and groundwater monitoring locations PDF 893.2 KB

Stage 3: Assessment completed

NT EPA notice

Statutory notice (3 January 2023)

The NT EPA completed its environmental impact assessment on 3 January 2023 and provided its Assessment Report and draft Environmental Approval to the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water Security, under sections 64 and 65 of the Environment Protection Act 2019 (EP Act).

The Assessment Report and draft Environmental Approval may be inspected and obtained above.

The NT EPA publishes this notice in accordance with section 67 of the EP Act.

Once the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water Security’s decision is made, it can be viewed on the Environmental approvals page.

Last updated:
20 February 2023

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