NLR 10/22 - Valentine Gold Project Release Order under the Environmental Protection Act

Short title

1. This Order may be cited as the Valentine Gold Project Release Order .

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Definitions

2. In this Order

(a) "department" means the Department of Environment and Climate Change;

(b) "Marathon Gold" means Marathon Gold Corporation; and

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Release from environmental assessment

3. The project is released from environmental assessment.

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Terms and conditions of release

4. The release of the project from environmental assessment under section 3 is subject to the following terms and conditions:

(a) Marathon Gold shall adhere to all mitigation, monitoring and commitments stated in the Environmental Impact Statement submitted on November 3, 2020 and amended on August 6, 2021 and January 7, 2022;

(b) Marathon Gold shall, prior to the start of mining construction, submit an Environmental Protection Plan for all applicable mining construction activities for the minister’s approval;

(c) the Environmental Protection Plan referred to in paragraph (b) shall describe the environmental protection and mitigation measures that shall be applied throughout the life of mining construction activities of the project to avoid or minimize potential negative effects on the environment associated with the project, and shall be updated by Marathon Gold as needed;

(d) Marathon Gold shall, prior to the start of mining operations, submit an Environmental Protection Plan for all applicable mining operations activities for the minister’s approval;

(e) the Environmental Protection Plan referred to in paragraph (d) shall describe the environmental protection and mitigation measures that shall be applied throughout the life of mining operations activities of the project to avoid or minimize potential negative effects on the environment associated with the project, and shall be updated by Marathon Gold as needed;

(f) Marathon Gold shall implement, review, and update the Caribou Protection and Environmental Effects Monitoring Plan in collaboration with the Wildlife Division of the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture;

(g) the review of the Caribou Protection and Environmental Effects Monitoring Plan referred to paragraph (f) shall

(i) occur twice per year, every year of project operation and prior to each caribou migration, and

(ii) include sharing and reviewing of all data collected during the most recent migration, including the operational response of the mine site;

(h) Marathon Gold shall fund the hiring of one full-time Environmental Ecologist position and one full-time Environmental Effects Monitor position to report to the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture for all phases of the project, and shall provide financial support to offset additional survey activities required by the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture;

(i) Marathon Gold shall provide annual funding to support 3 graduate students, over all phases of the project, to study specific and cumulative project effects;

(j) Marathon Gold shall submit a Fish Data Collection Plan for the approval of the Wildlife Division of the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture by May 1, 2022;

(k) Marathon Gold shall, in consultation and partnership with the Water Resources Management Division of the department, establish a real-time water resources monitoring network that shall be comprised of water quantity, quality, climate and groundwater monitoring stations;

(l) Marathon Gold shall bear all costs associated with the water resources monitoring network referred to in paragraph (k) and shall install the required stations to collect baseline data prior to project commencement and throughout the life of the project;

(m) Marathon Gold shall, prior to commencement of project construction, submit a plan, developed in consultation with Water Resources Management Division of the department, to address remediation of the Victoria River valley in the case of a tailings dam breach that blocks the flow of water in the Victoria River and results in water backing up towards the Victoria Dam;

(n) Marathon Gold shall meet with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro at least quarterly, commencing with project construction, to discuss issues of mutual concern including, but not limited to, dam safety, blasting, site access and further studies and shall undertake and cover the cost associated with the following work, in consultation with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro:

(i) modelling of the tailings dam breach that incorporates outflows from the Victoria Reservoir and development of dam breach inundation maps, which shall include assessment of a range of annual exceedance probability floods where incremental differences may be of more impact, and further refinements to improve the accuracy of the model used in the analysis, including survey work to establish accurate elevations and shall be submitted to the Water Resources Management Division of the department for review prior to the commencement of project construction,

(ii) monitoring and review of ground acceleration and blasting impacts on the Victoria Dam by a qualified geotechnical engineer to ensure impacts are maintained within acceptable limits, and

(iii) notification of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro of changes to the project design, site access, the commencement of major works that may result in increased vehicle traffic on the access road, blasting operations and any other activities which may affect the operations of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro or the safety of it's assets, including the Victoria Dam;

(o) Marathon Gold shall consult Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro on the review referred to in subparagraph (n)(ii) prior to the undertaking of any blasting operations that have the potential to impact existing Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro assets, including the Victoria Dam;

(p) Marathon Gold shall undertake further investigation to confirm the hydraulic conductivity of the Valentine Lake thrust fault and further characterization of the Victoria Lake Group rock units;

(q) full characterization of the Victoria Lake Group rock units referred to in paragraph (p) shall be undertaken prior to the start of mine development and the data shall be used to update the groundwater model and the new modelling results shall be submitted to Water Resources Management Division of the department and determined to be sufficient prior to the start of mine development;

(r) Marathon Gold shall prepare a Benefits Agreement that meets the approval of the Minister of the Department of Industry, Energy and Technology and that includes a Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Plan that meets the requirements of the Minister responsible for Women and Gender Equality;

(s) Marathon Gold shall finalize the Benefits Agreement and Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Plan referred to in paragraph (r) and obtain ministerial approval prior to the commencement of site activities;

(t) Marathon Gold shall submit an Outfitter Environmental Effects Monitoring Plan in partnership with the Newfoundland and Labrador Outfitters Association that aligns with the Memorandum of Understanding that Marathon Gold Corporation and the Newfoundland and Labrador Outfitters Association signed on October 4, 2021;

(u) Marathon Gold shall submit the Outfitter Environmental Effects Monitoring Plan referred to in paragraph (t) to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation for review in consultation with the Newfoundland and Labrador Outfitters Association and it shall be approved by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation prior to construction activities; and

(v) Marathon Gold shall construct its facility and operate it in a manner consistent with the best available control technology requirements prescribed in the Management of Greenhouse Gas Regulations .

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