Summary
Environmental Context
The project proponents recognize that Madagascar has a unique
biological diversity within a sensitive tropical environment. Because of
this, a very experienced group of over 50 local specialists joined the EA
team and conducted extensive soils, water, flora and fauna baseline
surveys in the mine area. This allowed the EA team to be in a good
position to assess potential impacts and design mitigation.
The mine area includes the eroded remnants of a plateau located at
about 1,100 metres above sea level (masl). Temperatures in the area of
the proposed mine have ranged from 8°C to 31°C with an annual
average of 17°C. The plateau is flanked to the west by the broad alluvial
plain of the Mangoro River and to the east by the Torotorofotsy Wetlands
and forested hills.
The plateau surface is fairly uneven with numerous depressions that
form ephemeral pools. Small headwater streams originate in the mine
area and flow away in all directions as part of six basins. The mean
annual rainfall is estimated to be 1,700 mm. Based on the Madagascar
classification system for surface waters, most watercourses and water
bodies near the mine site are assigned to “Class A” (i.e., water is
suitable for multiples uses). In a few samples, baseline concentrations
of lead, nickel and arsenic were higher than the World Health
Organization drinking water quality guideline values.
The mine site is covered with natural forests. The surrounding area
includes intact and degraded forests and scrublands, areas dominated
by grasses, eucalyptus plantations, woodlots and rice paddies. The soils
in the mine region are generically known as laterites, which are highly
weathered iron-rich tropical soils. The ore bodies are characterized by
ferricrete soils with a hard, rock-like surface. This has resulted in the
forests on the ore bodies being different (azonal) from the surrounding
primary forest (zonal).
Aerial view of mine site at
Analamay
These azonal forests and shrub lands have been found to have a high
percentage of listed species (listed as at risk by conservation agencies)
and locally endemic species (species only known from the local area),
especially flora. Botanists from Missouri Botanical Gardens (MBG)
based in Madagascar, working as part of the EA team, have been
studying this area extensively and identifying the species of concern
(local endemic species currently only known from the mine footprint). So
far there is a total of 127 flora species of concern at the mine site. Of
this total, 53 species are currently listed in one of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) appendices, five are on the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list, and there are 68 others currently
only known to occur in the Ambatovy/Analamay area. As MBG note,
most of these species likely occur at one or more sites outside the
Ambatovy/Analamay area, and in many cases they are probably present
January 2006
Ambatovy Project — 7
