RIO TINTO - BORROW AREA DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (CLOSURE)
PROJECT
Preclearance Fauna Survey of the Residue Disposal Borrow Area (Closure)
CLIENT
Rio Tinto
LOCATION
Australia
OVERVIEW
Rio Tinto has governmental approval to clear 230 hectares (ha) of Eucalyptus tetrodonta woodland in order to extract materials for capping and rehabilitating residue disposal ponds at the Gove bauxite project. This project is known as the Borrow Area Development Project.
Preclearance fauna surveys that fulfilled commitments made in the NOI were undertaken in March and August 2021. These surveys involved a range of methods (including motion-activated cameras, owl playback, bird surveys, and targeted nest searches) designed to target the detection of the Black-footed Tree-rat (Mesembriomys gouldii gouldii) and other threatened animals that historically occurred in the region.