Environmental Assessment
Volume B-1
Mine
Alternatives Considered
Ambatovy Project
2
January 2006
and environmental impacts and still be feasible from an operations and
engineering perspective. Areas that offered options for development include:
•
ore slurry preparation plant location;
•
water storage ponds for mine drainage catchment and water storage for
slurry preparation;
•
water supply pipeline routing;
•
overburden and waste rock stockpiles; and
•
access roads.
At an early stage of design, the exact placement of each of the areas was the
result of an iterative process to arrive at an optimum development plan. The
primary driving force was to minimize the disturbance and preserve the residual
azonal habitats with additional natural buffer zones of transitional and zonal
forests.
1.2.1
On-site and Off-site Protection Areas
The project proponents strongly believe in the benefits of conserving on- and
off-site habitats, and have identified two azonal conservation areas immediately
adjacent to the mine (containing representative habitats of the Ambatovy and
Analamay azonal forests) and one off-site azonal conservation area at Ankera to
protect. In both cases, several alternatives were considered. The protection areas
at Ambatovy and Analamay were selected since they represented the largest
intact habitat areas that were not absolutely vital to the success of the mine even
though they overlie low grade ore. The off-site conservation area was identified
from 28 potential ultrabasic formations, to be the highest-quality intact area of
habitat similar in structure to the azonal habitats at the mine site (Volume J,
Appendix 1.1, Attachment 2). This assessment was based on reviews of map
data, an aerial reconnaissance and a field survey of the site.
1.2.2
Water Intake Alternatives
Two alternatives were considered with respect to supplying water to produce an
ore slurry to allow transfer of ore via pipeline from the mine to the process plant.
The first option was to use collection pond water from storm runoff exclusively,
and the second option was to employ a Mangoro River water intake pipeline to
supplement runoff water. The Mangoro River intake pipeline was selected in
order to provide the flexibility so that downstream watersheds can always be
maintained at seasonal flow levels similar to the baseline, minimizing ecological
and social effects.
