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In accordance with Fosterville Gold Mine’s commitment to keeping the Greater Bendigo community informed, please see the attached .pdf containing information relating to planned works to extend the McCormick’s Waste Rock Dump (MWRD).

Underground mining activity produces waste rock, which is currently used to backfill underground voids and open pits. An extension to the existing McCormick’s Waste Rock Dump is required to provide additional waste rock storage as existing voids reach capacity. A work plan variation to extend the current McCormick’s Waste Rock Dump, situated along the eastern boundary of McCormick’s Road, was approved by Earth Resources Regulation in October 2020.

McCormick’s Waste Rock Dump is approximately 900m in length, 350m in width, and has a surface footprint of approximately 36 ha. The extension will increase this surface area by approximately 13.4 ha, however, the extension height will remain lower than the existing landform and the neighbouring Mt Sugarloaf Range. The extension will provide storage for an additional 2.8 million tonnes of waste rock.

The extension to the McCormick’s Road waste rock dump offers the following benefits:

• Expands on the existing waste rock dump in the preferred area for waste storage outlined in the 1996 EES;
• Will be constructed over an existing disturbed area (back filled pit) minimising the requirement for vegetation clearance;
• Will be constructed in a similar manner to the process to that used to construct the existing McCormick’s Waste Dump; and,
• The haulage route is in close proximity to existing haulage roads, negating the need for construction of additional roads and potential disturbance.

The extension will be located to the east of the current waste rock dump, over the recently back filled southern end Ellesmere Pit located within MIN5404. See the attached .pdf which displays an image showing the maximum footprint of clearance that will include a perimeter access and/or haul road. The above map displays the location of the planned waste dump location and the proposed haulage routes from Falcon and Ellesmere pits.

Fosterville Gold Mine's McCormick’s Waste Rock Dump extension will be constructed progressively with each stage developed in elevations that will tie into the existing McCormick’s Waste Rock Dump. Berms will be constructed with a width of 5 m and at 10 m vertical increments. Final batter angles of 3:1 (horizontal:vertical) or 18° (from horizontal) will be constructed with a minimum of 0.5 m capping of oxide material to be used as a rehabilitation growth medium. The oxide material is likely to be sourced from existing oxide stockpiles near Harrier Pit.

The staged construction of the waste dump extension will enable progressive rehabilitation of the landform, with revegetation of key final faces to be prioritised, where practicable. The construction and progressive rehabilitation methodology will continue until the waste dump extension has been completed. 

The construction and operational timeframe for the waste rock extension will be largely dictated by the rate of mine waste rock production that is trucked to the surface over time, but is expected to occur over a period of approximately 3-5 years, with haulage and tipping activities occurring during dayshift only (7:00am to 5:00pm Monday – Friday and 8:30am – 1:00pm on Saturdays).

Fosterville Gold Mine will continue routine environmental monitoring (including noise and air quality monitoring) to assess and manage any potential impacts to community throughout the duration of the McCormick’s Waste Rock Dump extension construction activities.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the information provided in this letter, please contact a member of the FGM community team on 03 5439 9000 or FGM.Community@kl.gold.