Soil and Land Suitability Assessment

A Soil and Land Suitability Assessment (SLSA) documents the nature and distribution of major soil types in the target area and assesses their suitability for the land uses of cattle grazing and dryland cropping. The assessment establishes baseline environmental characteristics and values relating to land use and suitability and provides recommendations for the management of soil resources. Part of the assessment involves the collection of soil cores from the study area.

Positive PEA for Vendetta Mining Corp

AARC is proud to support our clients in acheiving great outcomes for their businesses.

AARC was involved in a recent Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Vendetta Mining Corp. for their Pegmont lead-zinc Project in Queensland. A PEA is a study that includes an economic analysis of the potential viability of the targeted mineral resource.

Further details regarding this project can be found through the link below.

Canada’s Vendetta receives positive PEA for Australian lead-zinc project

BioCondition Benchmark Update

A recent review of the existing Queensland BioCondition Benchmarks has been published by the Queensland Herbarium. This review has resulted in additional BioCondition benchmarks for four Bioregions within Queensland and additional Ecological Condition Profiles for South East Queensland.

BioCondition Benchmarks are an integral part of the BioCondition vegetation condition assessment framework and form the basis of objective comparisons of vegetation condition states within and between regional ecosystems. Ecological Condition Profiles are a form of rapid evaluation/appraisal of broad ecological condition states of that are typical of a regional ecosystem. For more information on these updates and how they may impact upon your project(s) please contact AARC at: info@aarc.net.au or on (07) 3217 8772.

The Australian Coral Snake

A perfect example of the variability of colours and patterns between individual snakes. These two Australian Coral Snakes (Brachyurophis australis) are showing off their brilliant colours in a photo our ecologists captured on a trip to the north eastern Surat Basin in the Brigalow Belt Bioregion. The Australian Coral Snake is classed as ‘Least Concern’ under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.

This species is a nocturnal burrowing snake and is commonly found within a wide variety of habitats from coastal forests to open savannah woodlands and scrublands. During the day the Australian Coral Snake is usually found under logs, soil and other forms of shelter on the ground. Due to its nocturnal nature this species is seen above ground only at night.

AARC conducts all its fauna surveys in accordance with the latest version of the ‘Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Survey Guidelines for Queensland’ by the Department of Environment and Science.

Micro-bat Surveys

Micro-bats (Microchiropterans) form an extremely diverse group of wildlife and the identification of individual species requires the use of specialised survey methods due to the superficial similarity of many species, their small size, and largely inaudible calls. The Nyctophilus genus has several species in Australia and cannot be identified further then the genus level through bat call detection devices.

AARC staff are trained in conducting targeted micro-bat survey utilising equipment such as Harp Traps and Mist Nets in accordance with the ‘Survey Guidelines for Australia’s Threatened Bats’. This is a photo of a Lesser long-eared Bat (Nyctophilus geoffroyi) that was identified during field surveys conducted by AARC staff.

Regional Ecosystem Description Database Update

In December 2018 the Queensland Department of Environment and Science released the latest version of the Regional Ecosystem Description Database (REDD) (Version 11). Regional ecosystems and their subsequent statuses are regularly revised and refined as more information and a greater understanding is gained around their importance. The REDD was developed using data compiled by the State of Queensland as represented by the Queensland Herbarium.

The latest version is available for download from:

www.qld.gov.au/environment/plants-animals/plants/ecosystems/descriptions/download

Welcome Stuart Ritchie

AARC Environmental Solutions is excited to welcome the newest member of our Brisbane team. Stuart Ritchie is joining as our new Principal Scientist. Stuart is an environmental engineer with a career spanning over 30 years’ as an environmental professional. His experience is broad and extends through operational environmental management, implementing sustainability strategy, stakeholder engagement, climate change and energy policy, government relations, mine rehabilitation and mine closure.

Stuart holds a Masters of Environmental Management and brings experience in corporate environmental and sustainability roles across both national and multi-national mining and manufacturing companies. Stuart has an extensive environmental background with expertise in environmental risk and compliance management, mine rehabilitation and closure, environmental sustainability strategies, government and community engagement support and environmental project support.

World of Drones Congress, Brisbane 2018