INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2017

NOVA OPERATION The Nova Operation is located at the southerly end of the Fraser Range belt of Western Australia. All groundwater at our Nova Operation is sourced from production and dewatering bores and the underground mine. In FY17 a total of 1,814ML was abstracted from groundwater sources. This water is used in our mining operations for construction activities, ore processing and dust suppression. All groundwater abstraction is controlled under a groundwater licenced issued by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. This licence prescribes our annual water entitlement and the conditions we must meet to manage and maintain our abstraction over the life of our mining activities. To meet these requirements, abstraction volumes and groundwater levels are monitored monthly, groundwater quality is assessed quarterly and annually, and vegetation assessments are undertaken annually to determine whether our abstraction is impacting the surrounding environment. Water is recycled through the processing operations wherever possible to reduce the use of raw groundwater in the processing circuit. Our bores are fitted with leak detection systems that are designed to alert personnel of any significant drop in water pressure, and weekly visual inspections are undertaken of all bores and pipeline corridors to maximize water efficiency across the operation. Each year, a report is submitted to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation outlining our water abstraction activities and monitoring results as required by our groundwater licence. Given that operations at Nova are now in full swing, abstraction into the 2017 year has significantly increased in comparison to FY16. Vegetation monitoring has demonstrated that vegetation is maintaining healthy growth, which indicates that impact from groundwater abstraction to date is not occurring. Our Nova Operation also operates a recycled water scheme to manage its wastewater. With the approval of the Department of Health and Local Government, a Submerged Aerated Filtration wastewater treatment plant has been installed to recycle water produced by the village, power plant, paste plant and other non-process infrastructure on site. This system is an efficient biological treatment process that is custom designed for the Nova Operation. Once treated, the water is then available for various uses on site including industrial processing, dust WATER MANAGEMENT THE MANAGEMENT OF WATER IS CENTRAL TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF OUR OPERATIONS. WATER MANAGEMENT Water is an important resource in IGO’s mining activities. It is used in exploration drilling, the mining process, ore processing, dust suppression, and in our camps. Water is variously extracted from underground mines and dedicated borefields. The uncontrolled release of water and process solutions can have unintended safety and environmental impacts, particularly where salinity is elevated. Consequently, the management of water is central to the sustainability of our operations. OUR NOVA OPERATION OPERATES A RECYCLED WATER SCHEME TO MANAGE ITS WASTEWATER. 82 — IGO SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2017

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