INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2018

CASE STUDY / ENVIRONMENT Historically, dust emissions associated with the transport and ship loading of heavy metal concentrates at Esperance Port were not well managed. The emissions resulted in a range of environmental impacts and the creation of a public health hazard. In selecting Esperance Port to export our nickel and copper concentrates, IGO did so while mindful of this history and with the clear imperative that both we and the Port had to operate to an exemplary standard to win community confidence and maintain a licence to operate. To this end, the Port and IGO employ best-practice methods for the transportation of concentrates, ship loading and associated impact monitoring. Prior to the commencement of shipping, and in consultation with the State Government, IGO conducted baseline soil metal assessments along our transportation route and implemented noise, dust, odour and weather monitoring at Esperance Port to establish the pre-existing baseline conditions. With this information in hand, IGO has continued monitoring concurrent to the commencement of our operations. We are pleased to note that there has been no detectable dust emissions associated with our activities. To achieve this result, IGO and Esperance Port have partnered with Qube Ltd. Qube load IGO’s concentrates at the mine into half-height purpose-built sea containers. The containers are then sealed with a lid, prior to being washed down, and then trucked to the Port of Esperance. In Esperance, the product remains sealed in the containers until a ship is ready to be loaded. During loading, Qube use their Rotabox™ device to lift the containers into the ships hold. Once in position, the Rotabox device removes the lift, rotates the container to empty it, replaces the lid and returns the container to the wharf. The empty containers are then returned to the mine for refilling. The combination of tipping our product from a limited height within the ship's hold, and the concurrent use of dust suppression water sprays, results in the minimisation of fugitive dust emissions. The ongoing use of the Port of Esperance for the shipping of IGO’s Nova concentrates was subject to the completion of a successful trial period. The trial was successfully completed by the end of FY18 with the Port and IGO satisfying the regulators that the ship loading methodology worked as intended. IGO is pleased to note that, at the time of publication, Esperance Port had received an amended licence to permit the ongoing exportation of nickel and copper concentrate, using the successfully trialled loading technology. In its first full year of production, over half of the Nova Operation's concentrate was exported through Esperance Port. ESPERANCE PORT SHIPPING In its first full year of production, over half of Nova Operation's concentrate was exported through Esperance Port. Industry, innovation and infrastructure IGO SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2018— 75