Re: Authorization for Use of Pigeon Haul Road Pond Water for Road Watering Purposes

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1 April 21, 2017 Marty Sanderson Manager, Diamond Resource Management North Slave Regional Office Department of Lands Government of the Northwest Territories #16 Yellowknife Airport Yellowknife, NT X1A 3T2 Dear Mr. Sanderson: Re: Authorization for Use of Pigeon Haul Road Pond Water for Road Watering Purposes Dominion Diamond Ekati Corporation (DDEC) is seeking authorization for use of the Pigeon Haul Road Pond (see attached figure) water as a source for road watering along the Pigeon and Sable Haul Road. Upon your approval, DDEC intends to use water from Pigeon Haul Road Pond for dust suppression along the road route. This request is made in accordance of the requirements in Part D, Item 1 in Water Licence (WL) W2012L2-0001, which states: The Licensee may only obtain water for domestic purposes, processing, road watering, and associated uses from Long Lake Containment Facility, Koala South and East Sumps, Desperation Pond, King Pond Settling Facility, Two Rock Lake, Two Rock Sedimentation Pond, Falcon Lake, Lac de Gras, Grizzly Lake, Little Lake, and Thinner Lake (Misery Camp), unless otherwise approved by the Board. Water will be withdrawn using the Water Supply Facilities, unless otherwise authorized in writing by an Inspector. Fish community and fish habitat surveys were conducted at this unnamed pond, also known as Pigeon Haul Road Pond ( E, N, see attached), to evaluate the potential impacts of extracting water for road watering purposes (see attached memorandum). The surveys showed: A shallow depth of approximately 2 to 3 m and water was not present in the outflow; A small inflow stream was observed, but was classified as ephemeral; The pond is not connected to any adjacent or nearby waterbodies; No fish were observed during the habitat survey; No fish were observed during the community survey; and, No fish were captured by minnow trapping or by backpack electrofishing. Record #: HSE RCD ENV 681 Document Owner: Environment Department Date: Template # EKA TEM

2 Based on the surveys conducted, Pigeon Haul Road Pond is unlikely to be suitable fish habitat or to be fish-bearing and has no connections to adjacent waterbodies. Water quality results (see attached) also indicate compliance with the effluent quality criteria (EQC) set out in Part H, Item 12 (a) of the WL. Therefore, the Pigeon Haul Road Pond is an appropriate source for road watering. Please note that water sampling will be conducted in compliance with the EQC as set out in Part H, Item 12 (a) of the WL. DDEC will not use the water for road watering purposes without first requesting permission from the Inspector or in the unexpected event that EQC be exceeded. We trust that you find this information meets your requirements for the approval of Pigeon Haul Road Pond as a road watering source. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this request please contact Lynn Boettger, Team Leader Environmental Permitting at Lynn.Boettger@ ddcorp.ca, or the undersigned at Sincerely, Dominion Diamond Ekati Corporation April Hayward, Ph.D. Superintendent Environment Attachments - Location of Pigeon Haul Road Pond and Photo (date of photo May 2016) - Pigeon Haul Road Pond Fish and Fish Habitat Assessment Memorandum (dated March 31, 2017) - Table of Water Quality Results Record #: HSE RCD ENV 681 Document Owner: Environment Department Date: Template # EKA TEM

3 ¹ LOCATION OF PIGEON HAUL ROAD POND Pigeon Pit Pigeon Office Photo direction X Pigeon Haul Road Pond Kilometers EKATI Diamond Mine 2015 Main and Misery Camp Inset Satellite Imagery Projection UTM 12N Datum NAD83

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5 Memorandum Date: March 31, 2017 Refer to File: Pigeon Road Pond Memo (FINAL ).docx To: From: Cc: Subject: Harry O Keefe, Team Leader-Environment Projects, DDEC Environment Operations Kevin Esseltine (M.Sc. Senior Fisheries Biologist) and Geneviève Morinville (Ph.D. Senior Fisheries Biologist and Project Manager) April Hayward, Superintendent Environment Pigeon Haul Road Pond Fish and Fish Habitat Assessment-FINAL 1. PURPOSE Consultants Ltd. was retained by DDEC to conduct fish community and fish habitat surveys in July and September 2016 to evaluate the potential to extract accumulated surface water from an unnamed pond (locally named Pigeon Haul Road Pond ) for road watering as a dust suppression measure during dry periods (e.g., summer months). The pond is located at 12W E, N between two haul roads east of the Pigeon Waste Rock Storage at the Ekati Diamond Mine (Figure 1-1). The purpose of this memorandum is to present fish and fish habitat information pertaining to this waterbody to support applications for surface water extraction. 2. BACKGROUND AND RESULTS Habitat surveys of Pigeon Pond consisted of an evaluation of the ponds shoreline habitat, and observations of stream inflows/outflows and potential connection with adjacent fish-bearing waterbodies. Habitat surveys were conducted on July 31, At this time, the pond appeared to be at high-water stage, as evidenced by submerged terrestrial riparian plants and shrubs (e.g., willow) approximately 0.5 m below the water surface (Plate 1). At this water level, the maximum depth of the pond was estimated between 2 to 3 m based upon water clarity, basin size, and basin shape. The historical outflow of Pigeon Haul Road Pond was west to Big Reynolds Pond; however, water was not present in the outflow during time of the survey. Habitat along the majority of the western shoreline consisted of angular rock rip-rap used to construct the Pigeon Haul Road (Plate 2). The remaining shoreline habitat consisted of natural habitat features such as boulder, cobble, and riparian vegetation (Plate 3). One small inflow stream was observed on the northeast shore of Pigeon Haul Road Pond (Plate 4). This inflow was classified as ephemeral, overland flow through tussocks and terrestrial grasses, and was not connected to other waterbodies. VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA

6 Page 2 Figure 1-1. Location of Pigeon Haul Road Pond east of Pigeon Waste Rock Storage, VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA

7 Page 3 Plate 1. Submerged terrestrial riparian vegetation (e.g., willow) along the shoreline of Pigeon Haul Road Pond, July Plate 2. Angular rock rip-rap used to construct the Pigeon Haul Road along the western shoreline of Pigeon Haul Road Pond, July VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA

8 Page 4 Plate 3. Natural boulder, cobble, and riparian vegetation habitat along the shoreline of Pigeon Haul Road Pond, July Plate 4. Small inflow stream classified as ephemeral, overland flow located on the northeast shore of Pigeon Haul Road Pond, July VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA

9 Page 5 Fish community surveys of Pigeon Haul Road Pond were conducted on September 6, Surveys consisted of backpack electrofishing and minnow trapping methods. Electrofishing was conducted with a Smith-Root LR-24 backpack electrofishing unit set at 465 volts, 30 Hz, 4 ms pulse width, and 12% duty cycle. A total of 2,633 seconds of electrofishing effort was conducted from approximately 14:34 to 16:00 at various locations along the shoreline. Minnow trapping was conducted with Gee traps (4 mm mesh size) set along the shoreline at an approximate depth of 1 m. A total of 13 traps were baited with commercial crab bait and set overnight. Each trap was set from approximately 10:45 (September 6) to 17:00 (September 7) for a total soak time of hrs. 3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Fish were not observed during the habitat survey (July 31, 2016) or during the fish community survey (September 6, 2016). Fish were not captured by minnow trapping (effort = 13 traps x hrs) or by backpack electrofishing (effort = 2,633 s). Pigeon Haul Road Pond exhibited shallow depth (estimated between 2 to 3 m), absence of streams connected to adjacent fish-bearing waterbodies, and low potential to support fish as perennial habitat. Based upon the fish community and habitat data presented above, Pigeon Haul Road Pond is classified as non-fishbearing. Therefore, Pigeon Haul Road Pond is an appropriate site for surface water extraction. Prepared by: Signature Provided on Printed Original Kevin Esseltine, M.Sc. Senior Fisheries Biologist Reviewed by: Signature Provided on Printed Original Geneviève Morinville, Ph.D. Senior Fisheries Biologist/Ekati Fisheries Project Manager Signature Provided on Printed Original Tonia Robb, Ph.D. Ekati Project Manager VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA

10 PIGEON HAUL ROAD POND SAMPLING RESULTS Parameter Average (mg/l) Min (mg/l) Max (mg/l) Aluminum Dissolved Antimony Total * < Arsenic Total Chloride Nitrate * < Nitrite-N * < Selenium Total * < Sulphate TSS 4.74* <3 10 TPH <0.25 <0.25 <0.25 ph *calculated with the LDL therefore average value is likely lower