Community information sheet 2August 2011

Bulga Coal Optimisation Project – Feedback Focus

1

As many residents will now be aware, the Bulga Coal Optimisation Project is seeking to ensure the continuation of operations at Bulga until around 2035 and enable current resources to be maximised within the existing mining operations footprint.

Since commencing project planning in April 2011, over the past two months, the Bulga team has met with approximately 150 stakeholders including local landholders, state and local government representatives, community groups and residents of the Bulga and Broke communities, to better understand the social and environmental issues/concerns and opportunities associated with the Project.

The project team would like to thank all those who participated in the first round of consultation for giving up their time and providing input, whether through personal interviews or attendance at the Bulga or Broke BBQs – we appreciate your feedback.

A number of different engagement methods have been used to gather information to inform the Project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessments, these include:

• Internal employee briefings

• Personal meetings with local landholders

• Local and State Government briefings

• Presentations to key community groups e.g. Hunter Valley Protection Alliance, Broke Fordwich Wine and Tourism Association

• Community Barbecues in Bulga and Broke Villages.

Through these mechanisms, an overview of the project has been presented and feedback and questions captured. At the Community BBQs there was also the opportunity for those attending to fill in a community survey and participate in a collective ranking of project issues.

This information sheet provides a summary of the information collected from the consultation to date and an update on the broader Environmental Assessment program.

Who have we consulted?

This information sheet provides a summary of the information collected through the consultation to date, with approximately 150 stakeholders in the local area. We have grouped those involved according to the different localities in which they live, to better understand which issues/impacts are of more importance to different areas of the community. These areas are summarised in the following chart. Although all areas commented on most of the issues, Bulga/Milbrodale Rd had a particular focus on Air Quality, Noise, Mine Life/Land Use and Visual Impacts. Mt Thorley, Broke Village and Wollombi Rd were most concerned about Air Quality and for the Fordwich/Charlton Rd locality transport, noise and water were key issues.

Broke Village Area

Bulga Area

Fordwich/Charlton Rd Area

Milbrodale Rd Area

Mt Thorley/Mitchell Line Area

Regional Stakeholder Groups (eg. Council, HVPA, BFWTA)

Wollombi Rd Area

Participants by locality

Bret Jenkins, Bulga Coal Optimisation Project Approvals Manager at a community consultation.

Community information sheet 2 – feedback focusAugust 2011

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existing dust (38)

existing noise (21)

project noise (22)

communication (13)

existing landform (15)

existing visual (17)

project dust (16)

proposed bund (13)

water (18)

existing rehabilitation (12)

lack of trust in industry (9)

lack of trust in xstrata (9)

land value (12)

mining operations (11) monitoring (10)

end land use (7)

environment (7)

existing blast vibration (8)

existing lighting (7)

mine footprint (8)

quality of life (7)

wine tourism industry (8)

additional employment (5)

community consultation (6) community engagement (5)

dust in watertanks (5)

existing fumes (5)

mushroom farm odour (5)

opposed to open cut (6)

project visual (5)

road realignment (5)

understanding of the community (5)

opposed to csg (3)

differences between broke and bulga (3)

environment and road realignment (4)

extended mine life (4)

extended mine life (4) health (4)

land acquisiton (4)

opposed to csg (3)

part 3a (4) pest management (4)

safety of mine traffic (3)

safety of mine (3) safety of roads (3)

water quality (4)

behaviour of mine staff (2)

end land use (2)

european heritage (2)

land use (2)

profit orientated (2)

broke road realignment (1) charlton road realignment (1)

community sustainability (1) community viability (1)

health (1) end land use (1)

natural landform (1)

project blast vibration (1)

property management (1)

road subsidence (1)

school student numbers (1) school transport (1)

wollombi brook (1)

Key issuesAfter our community consultation, we were able to categorise the responses obtained into approximately 60 common issues. These issues were then organised by common theme. The graph at right provides an overview of the themes.

The feedback suggests that the community is most concerned about Air Quality, Noise, Mine Life & Land Use, Visual Impacts and Community Sustainability. It was also noted that our past performance and the performance of the mining industry affects your confidence in our future projects. You also highlighted the importance of effective community engagement/consultation, and in relation to this area, you thought we were doing quite well.

Issues Spectrum – Key Themes

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Freq

uenc

y of

issu

es r

aise

d

Issue Themes

Wollombi RdRegionalMt Thorley/Mitchell LineMilbrodale RdFordwich/Charlton RdBulgaBroke Village

Air Quali

tyNoise

Visual

Mine Li

fe/Land U

se

Community Su

stainab

ility

Community Enga

gement

Industry R

eputation

& Cumulative

Effects Wat

er

Transp

ort/Road

s

Health

Reputation

Environment –

Genera

l

Other

Blast V

ibration

Remember the Sticky Wall?

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Economic contributions

Concern regarding size of proposed open-cut mine

Environmental disruption due to road realignment

Long- term structural safety of new roads (risk, responsibility)

Increased travel distance after road alignment

Noise from proposed power station

Uncertainty and angst towards proposed mine -life extension

Loss of European heritage value due to road realignment

Safety of mined area at closure

Employment opportunities

What happens to the mine site if the price of coal falls and the project stops?

Subsidence impacts

Ground water losses or contamination

Poor opinion of/trust in Xstrata

Visual impact of gas wells

Final Void/Land use at closure

Supporting/Sustaining Bulga community

Negative impact on quality of life

Credibility of noise and dust monitoring

Negative impact on wine/tourism industry (economic, cultural)

General environmental impacts of mining

Visual impact and rehabilitation of proposed bund

Increased noise from Project

Changes to ground/surface water levels and quality

Increased dust from Project

Land / Property value depreciation due to the presence of mining

Health issues from dust pollution in air and drinking water

Bulga BBQ

Broke BBQ

The sticky wall activity at the BBQs provided the opportunity for those attending to highlight their top issues in relation to the project.

The following chart summarises the ratings across both BBQs. The issues which received the most sticky dots were around health, land value, dust and water impacts.

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Community information sheet 2 – feedback focusAugust 2011

Community information sheet 2 – feedback focusAugust 2011

Community information sheet 2 – feedback focusAugust 2011

32

Key issuesAfter our community consultation, we were able to categorise the responses obtained into approximately 60 common issues. These issues were then organised by common theme. The graph at right provides an overview of the themes.

The feedback suggests that the community is most concerned about Air Quality, Noise, Mine Life & Land Use, Visual Impacts and Community Sustainability. It was also noted that our past performance and the performance of the mining industry affects your confi dence in our future projects. You also highlighted the importance of effective community engagement/consultation, and in relation to this area, you thought we were doing quite well.

Issues Spectrum – Key Themes

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Freq

uenc

y of

issu

es r

aise

d

Wollombi RdRegionalMt Thorley/Mitchell LineMilbrodale RdFordwich/Charlton RdBulgaBroke Village

Air Quali

tyNoise

Visual

Mine Li

fe/Land U

se

Community Su

stainab

ility

Community Enga

gement

ndustry R

euta

on

Cumulae E

ects Wat

er

Transp

ort/Road

s

Health

Reputaon

Eniro

nment

eneral

Other

Blast V

ibraon

Remember the Sticky Wall?

0 5 10 15 20 25

Economic contributions

Concern regarding size of proposed open-cut mine

Environmental disruption due to road realignment

Long- term structural safety of new roads (risk, responsibility)

Increased travel distance after road alignment

Noise from proposed power station

Uncertainty and angst towards proposed mine -life extension

Loss of European heritage value due to road realignment

Safety of mined area at closure

Employment opportunities

What happens to the mine site if the price of coal falls and the project stops?

Subsidence impacts

Ground water losses or contamination

Poor opinion of/trust in Xstrata

Visual impact of gas wells

Final Void/Land use at closure

Supporting/Sustaining Bulga community

Negative impact on quality of life

Credibility of noise and dust monitoring

Negative impact on wine/tourism industry (economic, cultural)

General environmental impacts of mining

Visual impact and rehabilitation of proposed bund

Increased noise from Project

Changes to ground/surface water levels and quality

Increased dust from Project

Land / Property value depreciation due to the presence of mining

Health issues from dust pollution in air and drinking water

Bulga BBQ

Broke BBQ

The sticky wall activity at the BBQs provided the opportunity for those attending to highlight their top issues in relation to the project.

The following chart summarises the ratings across both BBQs. The issues which received the most sticky dots were around health, land value, dust and water impacts.

existing dust (38)

existing noise (21)

project noise (22)

communication (13)

existing landform (15)

existing visual (17)

project dust (16)

proposed bund (13)

water (18)

existing rehabilitation (12)

lack of trust in industry (9)

lack of trust in xstrata (9)

land value (12)

mining operations (11) monitoring (10)

end land use (7)

environment (7)

existing blast vibration (8)

existing lighting (7)

mine footprint (8)

quality of life (7)

wine tourism industry (8)

additional employment (5)

community consultation (6) community engagement (5)

dust in watertanks (5)

existing fumes (5)

mushroom farm odour (5)

opposed to open cut (6)

project visual (5)

road realignment (5)

understanding of the community (5)

opposed to csg (3)

differences between broke and bulga (3)

environment and road realignment (4)

extended mine life (4)

extended mine life (4) health (4)

land acquisiton (4)

opposed to csg (3)

part 3a (4) pest management (4)

safety of mine traffic (3)

safety of mine (3) safety of roads (3)

water quality (4)

behaviour of mine staff (2)

end land use (2)

european heritage (2)

land use (2)

profit orientated (2)

broke road realignment (1) charlton road realignment (1)

community sustainability (1) community viability (1)

health (1) end land use (1)

natural landform (1)

project blast vibration (1)

property management (1)

road subsidence (1)

school student numbers (1) school transport (1)

wollombi brook (1)

Mine Life/End Land Use

“What will you leave to our children in terms of landscape?”

“It's simple, in 30 years time; people will want an environment that is comfortable to live in, green trees…”

“What's the mine's responsibility when mining is finished? Does it fall onto the tax payers? What if it collapses after you’ve finished…?”

“Leave and green everything and make it nice. You're on notice. Make it best practice”

“What do you do with the big hole in 25 years time?

“Can you fill the void with water and use it for water-skiing?”

“You won't have a rubbish dumping ground here!”

Blast vibration

“Our biggest problem is vibration – it causes us no end of problems.”

“I didn't think much of them. I feel them all the time (blasts).”

“Our windows rattle when you blast. I document the dates.”

Visual/landform

“The bund is a good idea but the landscaping and rehabilitation needs to be done properly or it will look terrible”.

“When you drive up Milbrodale Road you can see the top of that. It is terrible. It is not pretty – the existing dump. It shocks people.”

“We don’t have square hills (naturally).”

“So, it's going to be grey for a long time.”

"Green up areas sooner, its grey for too long."

Community sustainability

“We (Wine and Tourism industries) don't have certainty. If [the project] goes up Charlton Road that is the viticulture area. These are world recognised areas for wine-growing. If you go into these areas then there's a precedent that you can mine in these areas.

“If you are changing our lifestyle and our income and our investment - then you are having an impact.”

“I want to live in the rural area, but this isn't my dream anymore.”

“Create a centre for the community which includes Broke Hall and sporting facilities.”

“We want to sell and people come here and say we don't want to be so close to a mine."

“We need to help brand the wine and accommodation side of the town.”

“Undertake mine tours for tourists and locals”

“Does this (the project) mean an increase in employment for the people here?"

Create a viewing platform for tourists to see the operations."

Mining industry

“I feel like David and Goliath.”

“You guys keep getting bigger and bigger and there's more and more mines in the area.”

“All the companies need to get together to work out what they can do for Bulga.”

Dust

“Dust is bad enough now, so it will only get worse (with the new project).”

“Shut down operations more on windy days.”

“We can wipe something down and by the afternoon there's dust on it again.”

“Take dust samples off roofs and water tanks.”

Water

“What will be the acidity of the water? What will the quality of water be? Where will the salty water go…into the aquifer? If it’s too salty, there will be a problem.”

“So, there's no chance the current southern tailings pit will seep water?”

“Fish won't want to live in that water.”

Health

“I came to give our kids a better life, a healthy life, and our kids are breathing in dust.”

“We drink the water from the tanks!”

"Monitor fine dust to check for health impacts.”

Lighting

“It’s a never ending sunset.”

“Limit activities on the top of high walls and dumps after 7pm at night to reduce lighting impacts.”

“The impact I find most annoying is the light at night. We know you still have to work safely. We're not complaining. We're just impacted.”

“We live in the country and we don't want to see lights at night. It doesn't need to be pointing here.“

"Don't point the lights in our direction."

Here are some of the issues you spoke about as well as some ideas to address them...

Noise

“Four or five times a week it is so loud - like the army is coming over the hill. You can feel and hear the gears changing, the booms of loading and dumping.”

“Provide the results of real-time monitoring on the internet.”

“We can tell which drag line worker is working each night. It sounds like a dinosaur. The noise channels up the valley, it’s a massive issue.”

“We don't want to shut ourselves away because you guys are operating.”

“Use trucks with noise controls.”

Communication

“Have a night at the local hall, that way no one will have a chance to say they didn't know."

“We like email and the BBQs as techniques. Keep it personal rather than public.”

“Work with other mines to address problems.”

“Follow through on your commitments – do what you say you will.”

“Give the public access to the consultants doing the technical studies.”

“Have a dedicated community consultation contact point which can be accessed day-to-day.”

"Develop a Broke Notice Board."

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Community information sheet 2 – feedback focusAugust 2011

Community Sustainability has been raised as a key issue theme during the consultation, and consequently we are now commencing the Visioning Project we mentioned in the first information sheet and discussed at the community barbeques.

The Project aims to identify what each of the communities of Bulga and Broke value most (from a social, economic and environmental perspective) and to identify common views for the future. The Project will hopefully assist in developing a road map for community development and future planning that is a resource for all groups and organisations – community, industry and government.

The Project is timely, as the Singleton Council is also in the process of developing a strategic plan for the region and we are keen to ensure the Visioning document expands on Council’s strategic plan and provides specific focus for local communities of Bulga and Broke.

In the next month we will be making contact with a range of stakeholders across a variety of different community sectors – education, health, environment, local government, tourism, youth etc.

If you would like to participate in the Community Visioning or Infocus Series please email BOP@coakesconsulting.com or call Laura at Coakes Consulting on 02 4933 2188 with your details and particular areas of interest. Alternatively you can contact one of the Bulga Project team members whose contact details are on the back page.

Where to from here – how can I be involved?In the next phase we want to now get more focused on the issues of relevance to you – the community – and are proposing the following ways of providing you with more information on project issues and opportunities and obtaining further feedback. Some of the ideas we have obtained from your feedback to date:

• We would like to establish a project information point in Broke where project staff will be available to provide further details and information on the project and get your feedback directly.

• Participate in developing a vision for Broke and Bulga going forward – through involvement in the Community Visioning Project (see below for more details).

• Participate in our ‘Infocus Series‘ of community based focus groups which will be addressing key issues identified during the first round of consultation. Community members will be able to review and discuss the outcomes of the environmental studies and present ideas on how such issues could be

better managed or enhanced for the benefit of the community. We want your input so that you can influence our management planning. The outcomes of these groups will be made available through information sheets, broader community information sessions/BBQ’s

and the project information hut in the community.

The community will continue to be informed through Community Information Sheets, access to specialists and through the project team.

Visioning Project

Depositional dust gauge (left) and real-time noise monitoring (right).

Community information sheet 2 – feedback focusAugust 2011

Bret Jenkins – Bulga CoalOptimisation Project Approvals ManagerT 6570 2923 M 0428 832 997E brjenkins@xstratacoal.com.au

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Xstrata’s commitment to Sustainable Development We are committed to the goal of sustainable development. We balance social, environmental and economic considerations in how we manage our business. We believe that operating to leading standards of health, safety and environmental management, contributing to the development of sustainable communities, and engaging with our stakeholders in two-way, open dialogue, regardless of our location, enhances our corporate reputation and is a source of competitive advantage. This enables us to gain access to new resources, maintain a licence to operate, attract and retain the best people, access diverse and low-cost sources of capital, identify and act upon business opportunities, and optimise our management of risks.

For further information contact:

Ralph Northey – Bulga ComplexEnvironment & Community Manager T 6570 2539 M 0418 439 874

www.bulgacoal.com.au

Having identified issues of importance to the community we are now in the process of assessing these in more detail as part of our planning process. Technical environmental studies are also now well underway and cover the following key areas:

• Ecology

• Air quality

• Surface water and ground water

• Archaeology and Aboriginal heritage

• Visual impacts

• Noise

• Closure, post mining land use and landform.

Already, we have made certain changes to our mine plan based on feedback to date and we will be back out in the community to further discuss some of the key issues that the community has raised with us and the results of our environmental studies. This is likely to be around the end of August/early September. We look forward to your further involvement.

Where to from here – next steps?Changes to Part 3A

The NSW Government has introduced changes to the process for conducting environmental assessments of major projects in NSW. Previously it was anticipated that the Bulga Coal Optimisation Project would have been assessed under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.

The project will now be assessed under Part 4 which the government is currently introducing legislation to modify. We will provide further details of these changes when they are accepted by parliament.

Project approval processConceptual Mine Plan Design

Commencement of social and environmental studies

Lodgement of Preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA) with the Department of Planning (DoP)

Planning Focus Meeting

Government Provision of specific EA requirements

Refinement of mine plan and completion of assessment studies

Lodgement of draft EA and Statement of Commitments with DoP

DoP and key Agency (inc Council) evaluation of draft EA

Lodgment and Public Exhibition of final EA and Statement of Commitments

Assessment of EA and Submissions by DoP

Minister for Planning determines whether approval should be granted

Indicative timing

Dec 2010

June 2011

July 2011

Jan 2012

March 2012

Indicates Government review.

Community BBQs and Stakeholder interviews

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Infocus series – workshops focusing on key issues

Information Centre in Broke

Visioning Project

Community Information Sheets

Access to specialist consultants

If you would like to be involved in the consultation program or would like to learn more about the project, please contact:

Bret Jenkins – Bulga Coal Optimisation Project Approvals Manager on 6570 2923 or 0428 832 997.

Ralph Northey – Environment and Community Manager – Bulga Coal on 6570 2539 or 0418 439 874.

Email: brjenkins@xstratacoal.com.au

We look forward to your involvement and participation and welcome your feedback as the project progresses.

Want more information?

Bret Jenkins (above left) and Ralph Northey.