Canadian Mining Journal December 2013

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December 2013

GOOD OL’ CANADIAN KNOW-HOW Canadian miners make historic U.S. sites look new again

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Departments 5 Editorial

This month Editor Russell Noble looks at Canada/U.S. relations and how the similarities between the two countries make cross-border mining relatively safer and easier than venturing out in search of minerals in distant countries where political uncertainties can lead to broken contracts and lost earnings.

6 Law

Norton Rose Fullbright Canada’s Janne Duncan takes a serious look at Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

7 Investing

Ned Goodman’s regular ‘Investing’ column highlights the U.S. economic problems and why the country’s economy is in a much more dangerous and precarious place today than it was five years ago.

CANADIAN Mining Journal CONTENTS

Canadians Working in the U.S.

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Five turning 31

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Goldcorp’s (five-year) Wharf Mine in South Dakota continues to produce gold 31 years after it was discovered.

24 Products 26 Company Profile

This month BTI (Breaker Technology Industries) of Thornbury, ON is the featured company in CMJ’s company profile department.

30 Unearthing Trends

Blake Langill, a partner and Ontario Mining & Metals Leader at EY in Toronto, looks at women and why they’re the ‘next chapter’ as leaders of mining companies, boards and entire countries.

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12 Hot Nevada Mine Kinross Gold’s Round Mountain Mine overcomes a number of challenges in rugged and hostile Nevada desert.

16 Old mine, new hope

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Mineral Mountain Resources’ historic “Holy Terror” mine in Black Hills of South Dakota shows signs of new life.

20 New mine takes shape ’

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December 2013

GOOD OL’

ABOUT THE COVER This month’s cover shows the abandoned inner workings in the head frame at Mineral Mountain Resources’ “Holy Terror” mine in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

CANADIAN KNOW HOW

Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40069240

Canadian miners make historic U.S. sites look new again

Coming in January

Canadian Mining Journal will take a look at mining and exploration & development projects from coast-to-coast-coast across Canada.

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Nevada Copper’s “Pumpkin Hollow” mine moves carefully underground before transitioning into an open-pit operation.

For More Information

Please visit www.canadianminingjournal.com for regular updates on what's happening with Canadian mining companies and their personnel both here and abroad. A digital version of the magazine is also available at www.digital.canadianminingjournal.com

www.canadianminingjournal.com December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

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Shaft Sinking Mine Development Contract Mining Raiseboring

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Raise Mining Underground Construction Engineering & Technical Services Specialty Services

Editorial

CANADIAN Mining Journal December 2013 Vol. 134 — No. 10 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, Ontario M3B 2S9 Tel. (416) 442-5600 Fax (416) 510-5138 www.canadianminingjournal.com Editor Russell B. Noble 416 510-6742 rnoble@canadianminingjournal.com Field Editor Marilyn Scales 613-270-0213 mscales@canadianminingjournal.com Art Director Mark Ryan

Cross-border miners are great neighbours

By Russell Noble

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anada and U.S. relations is a topic that’s usual pretty boring because Circulation Manager rarely does anything of interest come Cindi Holder 416 442-5600, ext. 3544 from this long and humdrum relationship. cholder@bizinfogroup.ca In fact, not since the War of 1812 and Publisher the Americans’ failed invasion of our Robert Seagraves 416 510-6891 country has there been anything remotely rseagraves@canadianminingjournal.com close to either country being a real ‘threat’ Sales to the other.

Western Canada, Western U.S.A. Bonnie Rondeau Sure there’s the proposed Keystone 416-510-5245 pipeline that is viewed by some Americans brondeau@canadianminingjournal.com Toll Free Canada: as a potential threat to their lands along its 1-800-268-7742 ext 6891 or 5245 route, and then there’s our gasoline that Toll Free USA: 1-800-387-0273 ext 6891 or 5245 some major retailers have boycotted Group Publisher because of its ‘mis-perceived’ high lead Doug Donnelly content, but overall, nothing done or pro President Vice-president duced on either side of the border is seri Bruce Creighton Alex Papanou ously worth worrying about.

Established 1882 Canadian Mining Journal provides articles and information of practical Unlike too many other parts of the use to those who work in the technical, administrative and supervisory aspects of exploration, mining and processing in the Canadian mineral exploration and world where neighbours are blowing each mining industry. Canadian Mining Journal (ISSN 0008-4492) is published 10 times a year by Business Information Group L.P. BIG is located at other to bits, the relationship between 80 Valleybrook Dr., Toronto, ON, M3B 2S9. Phone (416) 442-5600.

Canada and the United States is friendly Legal deposit: National Library, Ottawa. Printed in Canada. All rights reserved.

The contents of this magazine are protected by copyright and may be used only with an “open-for-business” attitude. Sure, for your personal non-commercial purposes. All other rights are reserved and commercial use is prohibited. To make use of any of this material you must first both countries have their own peculiariobtain the permission of the owner of the copyright. For further information ties when it comes to people, permits and please contact Russell Noble at 416-510-6742.

Subscriptions — Canada: $47.95 per year; $76.95 for two years. USA: US$60.95 properties but for the most part, mining is per year. Foreign: US$72.95 per year. Single copies: Canada $10; USA and foreign: US$10. Canadian subscribers must add GST and Provincial tax where necessary. mining on both sides of the border.

GST registration # 809744071RT001.

Canada and the U.S. contain some of From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not the more prolific mines found anywhere wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: Phone: 1-800-668-2374; Fax: 416-442-2191; on earth and thanks to both countries E-mail: privacy officer@businessinformationgroup.ca; Mail to: Privacy Officer, practicing open-door policies, mining Business Information Group, 80 Valleybrook Dr., Toronto, ON, M3B 2S9.

Publications Mail Agreement #40069240. PAP Registration No. 11000. We companies are pretty much free to come acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publication Assistance Program towards our mailing costs. Return undeliverand go as they please. able Canadian addresses to: Circulation Dept., Canadian Mining Journal, 80 Valleybrook Dr., Toronto, ON, M3B 2S9. E-mail: bigcirculation@bizinfogroup.ca Canadian companies’ miners go there Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement PM40069240. Please forward and many American miners still look Forms 29B and 67B to 80,Valleybrook, Toronto, ON M3B 2S9. north with visions of the Klondike Gold Canadian Mining Journal, USPS 752-250. US office of publication: 2221 Niagara Falls Blvd., Niagara Falls, NY 14304-5709. Periodicals Postage Paid at Niagara Falls, Rush repeating itself.

NY. US postmaster: Send address changes to Canadian Mining Journal, PO Box 1118, Niagara Falls NY 14304.

And permission to do so is relatively We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Magazine Fund toward our editorial costs. straightforward because unlike some of the horror stories coming out of Mexico, South America and Africa lately, the written word means what it says; “A deal is a deal,” and that’s what helps make cross-border mining in the top two thirds of North America safer and increasingly attractive.

We’ve all read, and emotionally bled Canadian Business Press Indexed by Canadian Business Periodicals Index roduction Manager Print Production Manager P Steve Hofmann Phyllis Wright

somewhat for the mining companies that have been forced to walk away from socalled ‘done deals’ involving millions and billions of dollars in investments with potentially billions of dollars in revenue being left hung out to dry because of the criminal and unscrupulous behaviour by foreign partners.

Luckily most dealings here in Canada and the United States are above board and carefully monitored by Federal, State and Provincial laws and thanks to these strict rules and regulations, mining in both countries isn’t a ‘threat.’

It is, however, still a ‘risk’ because as you know, that’s the very nature of all mining, regardless of where in the world the minerals are found.

Two of the stories in this issue feature Canadian-based mining companies that know what taking risks is all about and for those of you who know Nevada Copper and Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd., both based in Vancouver, you know that the ‘reward’ is what drives these two companies through the ‘risk’ stage of the projects they tackle.

Both Nevada Copper and Mineral Mountain Resources are aggressive companies that have made money, lost money, and made more money and part of the reason they have is that they have looked beyond the comfort zones of mining in their own countries and have crossed the 49th parallel in search of new properties and healthy deposits.

Those two companies, and many others like them, treat mining in another country as a priviledge and it’s through their understanding of the local rules and regulations that have made them so successful.

Mining and prospecting beyond borders is not a ‘threat’ provided it’s done with respect to others and that’s why Canada and the United States are such great neighbours.

CMJ December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

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Law

CSR: A new era?

Janne Duncan is a partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Toronto office.

By Janne Duncan

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an a Canadian parent mining company with a foreign subsidiary be liable for human rights violations that occur at the subsidiary? An Ontario court has recently allowed this issue to proceed to trial in three related actions against HudBay Minerals Inc. and its former subsidiary Compania Guatemalteca de Niquel (CGN). The court rejected arguments that the claims brought by the plaintiffs, all of whom are residents of the foreign jurisdiction, disclose no reasonable cause of action.

The court’s decision and liability will ultimately be determined at trial. One thing is clear: public expectations are changing, and directors and officers of Canadian mining companies need to be aware of the potential risk of claims by foreign plaintiffs seeking redress for alleged harm committed beyond Canada’s borders.

Two Key Issues Under Current Proceedings Indirect liability as authorized agent. Under Canadian law, companies are treated as separate legal entities, and parent companies are not liable for the acts or omissions of their subsidiaries. As one exception, a parent may be liable for the acts or omissions of its subsidiary, if the subsidiary is acting as the parent’s “authorized agent.” Whether an agency relationship existed between the parent and its foreign subsidiary is an issue the court has allowed to proceed to trial in one of the actions.

Direct liability in negligence. Parent companies currently have no established duty of care to ensure that foreign subsidiaries conduct their operations in a way that protects the residents of the communities they operate in. The plaintiffs argued that, under tort law, if a duty of care can be established, a parent and its subsidiary can be found jointly and severally liable for negligence if the direct actions of each result in damage. The Ontario court found that the plaintiffs in all three actions had pled the material elements required to support the establishment of a novel duty of care, and allowed the issue to proceed to trial. These elements are: foreseeability of harm; proximity between the defendants and the foreign plaintiffs; and whether policy reasons negate or otherwise restrict the recognition of a duty of care.

Questions and Key Takeaways Agency relationship. If it is found that the foreign subsidiary was acting as the “authorized agent” of the Canadian parent, it 6 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

will be important to consider the basis for the finding of “agency,” as it could impact corporate governance structures as a way to mitigate liability. And, no matter how the company is structured, companies will still have to consider issues of reputational risk and enterprise value risk, and the potential for liability under specific statutes that disregard corporate separateness (such as certain anti-bribery and corruption legislation).

Novel duty of care and the role of international law. The parent company’s alleged public statements was a factor the court took into account in considering whether to establish a novel duty of care. Also important is that Amnesty International was granted intervener status, and cited voluntary, international codes of conduct as evidence that a novel duty of care may exist. If the adoption of voluntary codes could adversely impact the legal risks of a Canadian parent company in its foreign operations, this would appear to undermine the overarching goals of these codes, which is to promote best practices globally including in the area of human rights. Further, it begs the question whether any duty of care emerging from voluntary codes could be construed as a duty applying to an industry as a whole, making it irrelevant whether the individual company has voluntarily adopted the code.

In the meantime, Canadian companies now need to exercise caution when making public statements about their corporate social responsibility practices, implementing written policies, and adopting voluntary codes, including in the area of human rights.

Common law versus statutory liability. The Government of Canada has made a clear choice not to implement a prescriptive approach to enforcing international human rights standards (at least as yet). From a policy perspective, establishing a novel duty of care at common law could create uncertainty for Canadian parent companies by not providing clear guidelines about whether their obligation is to prevent harm or whether taking steps proportionate to the risk to prevent harm mitigates against such liability.

Due diligence. Some of the alleged violations took place before the Canadian parent acquired the foreign subsidiary.

Canadian companies need to be mindful of the importance of human rights issues when acquiring companies and to make sure they have appropriate contractual provisions in place to deal with litigation risk.

CMJ www.canadianminingjournal.com

Investing

‘Faith and Credit’ go only so far Ned Goodman is President and Chief Executive Officer of Dundee Corporation

By Ned Goodman

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he U.S. stock market’s complacency that the debt ceiling will be increased is a matter of dire concern and even though the U.S. stock market is hitting all-time highs and real estate markets are in a mini boom, the root cause of all the U.S. economic problems remain unrepaired, but undeniably in need of fixing.

As we watch the U.S. dollar ticking like a time bomb with unknown timing, the possibility of it exploding would have a devastating impact on the economy because we regard the U.S. dollar as the “stock price” of the U.S. government since there is nothing else but the ‘faith and credit’ of the U.S. government standing behind the value of the dollar. The stock price of the U.S. government has been plunging since July of this year and unfortunately, it’s very likely that it will continue for some time.

The U.S. stock market is overvalued but I am a long- term optimist and still an investor. Today, however, we have to look worldwide for new and hopefully sound business investments, but they are there. Unfortunately, most of the investment advisory industry seems to have forgotten that there is a greater danger of poor performance by not owning certain stocks, or even the danger of a large stock market selloff.

And perhaps even greater yet is the danger that faces their clients, many of whom are likely closer to my age bracket than theirs, is that they may in fact outlive their money.

For me, that is the single greatest risk in existence today and this thought brings me right back to the theme you may have heard from me before. Yes inflation, as calculated by the governmental bodies, remains at historically low levels but from someone who learned this business in the 1970s and 1980s, you learn that inflation can change rapidly.

I do not intend to watch my personal wealth disappear before I need the pine box and a hole in the ground and I most certainly do not intend for my portfolio to kick the bucket before I do.

It is very obvious in today’s financial world that prices are actually rising and governments are not being truthful about the extent of their increases. At the same time, in order for the U.S. to be capable of paying interest on its rising debts, the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates very low.

Personally and corporately, I have decided that our investment portfolio should be protected from inflation and have

selected real estate, agriculture, resources, infrastructure and gold as the protector of our wealth. But let me quote the person whose values and investment theory I follow carefully – Warren Buffett – who said at the time of the October 2008 stock market collapse: “Over the long term, the stock market news will be good. In the 20th Century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts, the 1930s depression, a dozen or so recessions and financial pains, oil shocks, a flu epidemic etc., etc.”

We at Dundee Goodman remain in the same position that has existed for many months as far as the U.S. economic position. The government officials and the media present the view that the situation appears to be improving.

As a symptom of the recent failing political system, the U.S. government shutdown should have been savaging the markets and U.S. dollar. Thank goodness for the President’s working group of “Plunger Protection on Financial Markets!”

Created under President Ronald Reagan in the wake of the 1987 stock-market crash, the Plunger Protection Team (PPT), as some called it, was intended as a government vehicle of market stability, a group assigned the responsibility of maintaining orderly financial markets. Headed by the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the PPT has often intervened largely to prop the stock market, as seen with the S&P downgrade in 2011 of U.S. Treasury securities.

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, also indicated PPT actions had been taken to buy the U.S. dollar and to sell gold and oil during the Iraqi crises.

What happened overnight with the U.S. shutdown was a circumstance that had to be watched by the PPT., Supportive actions for stocks and the U.S. dollar, and continued selling of gold were extremely useful, but market fundamentals eventually will prevail.

The stock market has essentially recovered; real estate – by virtue of mass purchases on total debt – appears to be in a rebound. Unemployment has stopped increasing because of “drop outs,” but it is still all a Russian Potemkin Village made to look good while the reality is that “the U.S. economy is in a much more dangerous and precarious place today” than it was five years ago.

CMJ December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

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| Canadians working in the U.S.

Five-year mine just turned

Gold mine continues to keep giving and giving

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By Russell Noble

any people have heard of Mount Rushmore and its granite-face carvings of former United States’ Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, but as famous as those profiles are, few people actually know where they’re located in the Unites States, or even more, in what state?

Other than the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit the attraction every year, the vast majority of people don’t know that Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota and near Keystone, in The Black Hills and the famed Homestake Gold Trend , a place the U.S. Bureau of Mines still recognizes as one of the more prolific mining regions in the entire country.

With no fewer than a dozen working and historical mines along the trend, The Black Hills continue to provide new and continuing opportunities for miners. One of those companies is Vancouver-based Goldcorp at its Wharf Mine.

Located almost in the shadows of the Presidents’ noses, the 8 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

Wharf Mine is located about 60 kilometres to the east of the famous tourist attraction at Mount Rushmore but more importantly, it continues to serve as an inspiration to other miners working the Homestead Trend because of its longevity and continuing production of gold.

When the Wharf Mine was discovered by Goldcorp in 1982, it was deemed to be a five-year mine because of its low grades of gold. Even today with its average grade being around 0.023 ounces per ton mark, it still takes a lot of work by Goldcorp to keep the mine on the books.

However, 31 years later and millions of dollars already invested in the property, Goldcorp is obviously not giving up and neither is the mine. In fact, as Michael McClelland, Wharf Mine’s General manager says, “ Successful exploration has continued to grow the gold reserves and extend the mine’s life thanks to several areas of adjoining mineralization that have enabled us to build a series of open pits in the area.”

With mining claims for more than 435 ha and only 12 ha containing open pits so far, it’s clear that Goldcorp has plenty of www.canadianminingjournal.com

South Dakota’s famous Mount Rushmore.

A spectacular aerial view of Goldcorp’s Wharf Mine clearly shows how the company has been responsible with its “concurrent reclamation” program by planting and restoring the site as it goes.

room for expansion and again, McClelland says that although the average grade of gold is low and not visible to the naked eye, the Wharf Mine still produces about 60,000 ounces of gold and more than 200,000 ounces of silver a year.

Gold reserves at Goldcorp’s Wharf Mine are 270,000 ounces (Proven) and 310,000 ounces (Probable).

As with all mining operations, equipment is one of the keys to success and the Wharf Mine is well equipped by CAT with 12, 100 ton haul trucks, three 993 loaders, and four dozers that combine to move more than 60,000 tons of material a day.

Each truck of ore holds approximately 2.3 ounces of gold and as McClelland says, “They’re not cheap to operate. Each truck tire costs about $14,000; loader tires are anywhere from $45,000 to $100,000 and in most cases, they last less than a year and each truck has six tires, loaders have four tires.”

Haul times play a major factor on the wear and tear on equipment so Goldcorp chooses where to mine its property very carefully.

“We determine where to mine gold by distinguishing the ore body from waste through drilling. We drill on 20-foot benches and

sample every 10 feet and assay the sample for gold and silver. Drill patterns are drilled on a spacing of 15’ x 15’ for a pattern size of between 200 and 300 holes. Each hole is filled with about 200 pounds of ammonium nitrate that will fracture the rock so that we can mine it. We blast about four times a week.,” said McClelland.

By operating 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 357 days a year, crews move about 20 million tons a year to a crusher that also operates 24 hours a day. It’s a highly mechanical crusher, but only requires a two-person team to operate and is capable of handling 3.8 million tons of ore a year.

Rock is crushed to 0.5 inch material then loaded onto five heap leach pads with each pad rated at about a two-million ton capacity.

“Once the ore is on the pad and stacked in 20-foot lifts, we begin applying a diluted cyanide solution to the material through drip tubes spaced every three feet to saturate the crushed rock.

All pads have three layers of plastic liner to make sure the gold solution is not lost and to help ensure there’s no adverse impact to the environment,” says McClelland.

“The cyanide solution is a weak concentrate of less than 50 December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

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| Canadians working in the U.S.

parts per million when applied and once it enters the process plant and ponds it is less than 15 ppm due to dilution. The weak concentration is then at a level where it is not considered harmful to wildlife or humans.�

McClelland further explained that the gold in the rock is broken down to a molecular level by the cyanide (oxidation) which then falls to the bottom of the pad, hits the plastic liners, then gravity flows to the process plant through a series of pipes. Once it enters the plant, McClelland says the solution flows across a series of carbon tanks, gold attaches itself to the carbon, which is

then stripped off the carbon and sent to a refinery to extract the gold from any impurities.

The cycle time of the gold, from when it’s mined, crushed, loaded onto the pads, leached, and stripped is approximately 15 months. Goldcorp recovers about 80 per cent of the gold that is mined and out of that, 90 per cent comes out of the solution.

Once the gold is recovered, Goldcorp neutralizes the crushed rock by rinsing it to flush out any remaining cyanide so that it can either unload the pads for backfill or for future in-place reclamation.

The Black Hills of South Dakota provide Goldcorp with a four-season environment that includes cold and snowy conditions at its Wharf Mine.

10 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

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A varied fleet of heavy machines work 24-hours a day, seven days, 357 days a year at the Wharf Mine.

As mentioned earlier, the pads are carefully protected with three plastic layers; the bottom being 30 mil with a bentonite layer; the second is 60 mil plastic; with the primary liner being constructed of 80 mil plastic.

A leak protection pipe collection system is placed between the top and second liner to monitor any leaks and to drain any solution back to the plant and a solution collection system of pipes is on the top layer to collect the cyanide with gold solution.

After more than 30 years at the Wharf Mine site, Goldcorp has demonstrated great determination in making the mine a home for the 165 full-time people who work there but more than that, it has proven to the State of South Dakota that it’s a good neighbour too. One of the most obvious ways it has demonstrated its commitment to community partnerships has been in the way the company has made reclamation a top priority.

“Most believe that reclamation begins at the end of mining but here at Wharf, we believe it starts immediately after the beginning of mining,” says Michael McLelland.

“In a process called concurrent reclamation, we backfill pits as we complete them. This way we have reclamation that is complete at the end of mining and final reclamation after the mine production ends takes only a few months.

“We plant a diversity of grasses, shrubs, and trees on the reclaimed slopes that ultimately attract deer, elk, coyotes and mountain lions back to the slopes, which are great for South Dakota’s many wildlife enthusiasts.”

CMJ

December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

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HOT SITE

SURVIVES DRY SPELLS IN DESERT

Gold prices to determine Nevada mine’s future

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By Correspondent David Godkin

ack in 1946 when Bugsy Segal famously rolled into Las Vegas with a view to scoring it rich in the casino business, he might just as easily pointed his Packard Limo 430 km to the north. Gold at Round Mountain Mine had been a mainstay of Nevada’s economy since Segal’s birth 40 years earlier, producing 350,000 ounces by 1969 and helping to make the state one of the world’s largest gold producers.

Since then, of course, far more reputable forces than Segal have been at work in Nevada. Among them is Toronto-based mining company Kinross Gold which acquired a 50% interest in Round Mountain in 2003 in a joint venture with Barrick Gold that, to date, has seen the mine produce nearly 5.75 million ounces of gold. Still in sight for the duo’s Smoky Valley Common Operation are proven and probable gold reserves of 1,200,000 ounces.

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Kinross Gold’s Round Mountain Mine in Nevada is located near snow-capped mountains but photos of the actual mine clearly show that it’s in a hot-and-dry setting on the desert floor.

Not surprisingly, the challenge here, as elsewhere, is the recent drop in the price of gold - and where it will go in the future?

Where prices once topped $1,800 per ounce, mining execs like Randy Burggraff worried when it plummeted as low as $1,200, then breathed more freely when it eventually stabilized - this year to around the $1,300 mark. Burggraff, Kinross’s Vice-president and General Manager at Round Mountain reminds us that mining companies everywhere live or die on the basis of changes like this.

“There’s an incredible difference between getting $1,300 per ounce and $1,500 an ounce. Production costs are relatively high and really this affects the health and growth of any operation,” said Burggraff.

The challenge becomes even greater when the resource is a highly disseminated deposit as it is at Round Mountain.

This has compelled Kinross to expand operations outward to exploit an increasingly diminished ore grade “feathered out into the country rock.” Fortunately, the dip in the price of gold has not stalled the operation. Unfortunately, says Burggraff, “we’re about at the end of the rope. We have about five years of mine life.”

“Now there’s still a lot of gold here yet, but it’s very very deep and the price will have to go up considerably to make that mineable.”

However, that hasn’t stopped Kinross from exploiting gold deposits closer to the surface. A large tonnage open pit operation, Round Mountain runs approximately 8,200 feet long north-west and south-east and 5,000 feet wide in the

north-east to south-west direction.

Mining is done by electric shovels, two large Komatsu 1200 loaders and two CAT 993K production loaders working along 35-foot high benches and supported by 150, 190 and 240 ton capacity haul trucks. All of it, Burggraff says, “will take us through mine life.”

“The loading machinery is three P&H 2300 rope shovels. They’re very old machines but run very, very well. And we have as good a maintenance group here as I’ve ever been associated with.”

Hot, dry, with a chance of rain…

The first thing that strikes you flying over Round Mountain country is the look of it.

The topography along the floor of the Big Smoky Valley and as far as the 12,000-foot ascent up the adjacent Toquima Mountain Range is very dry and arid. From the main facilities at the foot of Toquima, mining operations spread out into a very large, epithermal, volcanic-hosted precious metal deposit of gold and silver. Prestripping the overburden, the result of millions of years of erosion off the mountain range, says Burggraff, “is the single substance that increases the mining cost.”

“The ore zone depths and the surface is relatively flat so that means the overburden gets deeper and deeper as we progress down the dip of the ore zone.

The eluvium is anywhere from zero to a thousand feet thick.”

Despite very dry conditions, the mine does not suffer from a lack of water (the site sits on a fairly ample ground water table). In fact, quite the opposite problem arises on those days when the sky decides December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

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| Canadians working in the U.S. Heavy machines are dwarfed by the height of the mine’s walls as they continue to remove and step out in search of more material.

“to dump a lot of rain in a very short time.” Flash floods, says Burggraff, are the bane of operations at Round Mountain. “I would say we probably have up to five of those events a year and they can be very difficult to deal with, very damaging.”

Never, Burggraff adds, is the company’s investment in CAT graders and dozers more valuable than when they’re dispatched to keep the mine’s roads open in the midst of biblical rains.

Another challenge: Round Mountain’s bench widths. Because they’re mining on the edges of the ore zone, men and equipment have a relatively narrow ledge of 100 to 300 feet of bench width to operate within. “For such a massive place we have tight mining conditions,” says Burggraff.

At times, operators have had to drop to single-side loading of the shovel. At other

times benches are so narrow Kinross is forced to dispatch loaders instead of shovels, a much less efficient option.

“It’s 200 miles to Walmart...”

Gold at Round Mountain is recovered using four separate processing operations.

Seventy five per cent of the ore is heap leached with lower grade, oxidized ore placed directly on the dedicated pads and higher grade oxidized ores crushed, placed on the reusable pad before transit to the dedicated pad. A gold sludge produced from the recovery circuit is then smelted into ore. Burggraff estimates that two to three times a year crews hit high grade pockets “loaded with nuggets and a lot of coarse gold. That’s probably one per cent of our total material and it’s most effectively addressed with a gravity plant.”

Crushing the high grade and leaching the low grade oxide ores doesn’t address the sulphide ores. Pyrite in sulphide ore inhibits leaching, which requires milling to ensure the cyanide can reach the gold.

A 70-80 per cent mill rate is more than acceptable, Burggraff says, as is a mill throughput of approximately 13,000 tonnes. The mine’s total throughput capacity is up to 240,000 tonnes a day.

Finished bullion is transported to North America refineries for further processing.

Equipment operators and engineering staff must remain behind, of course, and that in itself poses a problem. How to get qualified people to work in barren, isolated conditions where the nearest town of any size is more than 200 miles away in any direction? “That makes manning a workforce of 800 people extremely diffi-

A view from the top shows the depth of the mine and the tight mining conditions.

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cult,” says Burggraff. “That’s by far my biggest challenge. We’re recruiting outside all the time.” The mine is situated near the small, local communities of Hadley and Carvers, which provide much of the housing for mine personnel.

How staff get to the mine is another matter altogether.

“When we hire, getting to work is their responsibility. We have people who live in Las Vegas and Reno 250 miles away. They tend to come up here, work their turn and then go back home on the weekend.”

Contrary to what you might think, the mine’s relative proximity to one of the world’s premier gambling cities has had little or no impact on Kinross’s efforts to recruit staff or to maintain discipline on the job. These are serious people. Many have families, so that the main draw at Round Mountain is the operation itself.

“It’s kind of ironic, I struggle to get people while Nevada kind of leads the nation in unemployment. So our biggest attraction is that we’ve got a good paying job.”

Still, turnover remains high and while most of the equipment is state-of-the-art with comfort-controlled technology, the work load for maintenance and processing personnel is very hard, says Burggraff.

That said, he’s quick to defend the working conditions. Below-zero temperatures are a bigger issue than extreme heat and easily preferable to temperatures experienced at mines in Wyoming and Alaska.

“Our weather normally runs between 20 and 90 degrees F here. The weather is very favourable.”

Burggraff is hoping that will entice more new personnel to Round Mountain, notably electricians who are in constant demand keeping facility lighting, electric shovels and drills in good working order.

As for mining, metallurgy and geological engineers, he’s hoping career opportunities will be a major draw - and not just here in Nevada. Kinross has a presence on four continents. “We promote our people and we move them around so the opportunity to grow in your career is very good.” And

if that’s not enough to swell the ranks at Round Mountain, then, says Burggraff, there’s the mine operations itself, “very clean, very safe and very healthy.”

“The roads are in good shape, the facilities are in good shape, you don’t see trash lying around. It’s a neat, clean operation for such a huge place. People take pride in what they do here.”

Meantime, Burggraff ’s eye remains trained on the price of gold. While price dips so far have had minimal impact on operational expansion at Round Mountain, no-one has a crystal ball on where things will stand six years from now. That’s when the next potential additional expansion – approximately 1,500 feet beyond the current pit - is expected to proceed. Expansion would also mean increasing the depth and width of the pit, as well as its capacity for related mining and mineral processing infrastructure.

“We’ve got rough designs, we’re getting permits, but definitely, it requires higher gold prices.”

CMJ

December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

15

| Canadians working in the U.S.

BLACK HILLS

GOLD

ARE LINED WITH

By Russell Noble

Historic U.S. gold belt offers new opportunities for Canadian miners

Holy Terror Mine and mill site in Keystone, circa 1928.

W

ith a name like “Holy Terror,” one can only speculate what the founders of this mine in The Black Hills of South Dakota were thinking when they named it in the late 1890s?

Even to this day, visitors to the Keystone area of the historic mining communities in the famed Black Hills still wonder where the name came from and why was the mine tagged with such a menacing monicker?

Sketchy historical documents and old wives’ tales* spell out some of the myths behind the name but nevertheless, the mine is real and the name lives on as a legally registered claim with the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

The Holy Terror Mine is located in the Keystone Mining District of the Black Hills, about 35 km southwest of Rapid City and is one of no fewer than a dozen high-grade mines that formed a chain along the historical Keystone gold belt.

Mining in the Keystone district dates back to 1874, with the most notable deposit being the famous Homestake Mine which produced nearly 40 million ounces of gold, making it the richest, deepest and 16 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

most successful gold mine in U.S. history.

Holy Terror, just 60 km southeast of Homestake and in the same greenstone belt, was also a respected gold producer of approximately 62,000 ounces during its years of operation and by 1903, it had reached a depth of 1200 feet. That same year, however, the mine was plagued with excessive underground water and litigation due to fatalities and, as a result, it was closed and allowed to flood.

Typical of many historical mines revis-

ited by new investors looking for old reserves, Holy Terror was no exception and over the years there have been sporadic attempts to revive what was once known as “one of the richest gold producers in the country.”

Today, thanks to Vancouver-based Mineral Mountain Resources, the Holy Terror Mine is back in the headlines as result of this Canadian company taking over with the first drilling program on the property in decades. www.canadianminingjournal.com

Holy Terror Mine historic plaque in Keystone, Keystone Area Historical Society.

In fact, Company President and Director Nelson Baker (former President and CEO of Rainy River Resources) says the Holy Terror Project is one of the more exciting projects he’s undertaken in his 40 years of exploration and mine development.

“Since acquiring the property a couple of years ago, we’ve been confirming historical grades and through new technologies involving airborne geophysics, a LIDAR survey, plus good-old-fashioned, on-the-ground sampling and diamond drilling, we’re convinced that site holds great promise for new development.”

Supporting Baker’s enthusiasm from recent drill targets on the 5,100-acre property are recent high-grade results that will enable the company to go forward to define a 43-101 compliant resource and do more exploration drilling for yet undiscovered targets within the same trend.

Historical data at Holy Terror had averages of 9 g/t Au whereas the latest drill results from Mineral Mountain include 5.54 g/t over 6.92 m, 7.02 g/t over 2.97 m, 7.14 g/t over 4.82 m, 10.02 g/t over 3.90 m, 17.07 g/t over 5.00 m, 24.00 g/t over 3.0 m and 10.04 g/t over 8.0m

The story behind the name? * Prospectors William B. Franklin, Thomas C. Blair and Jacob Reed located the Keystone Mine and named the new community which emerged after the mine. Jacob Reed plotted the original town site on the placer claim named for him. The town grew slowly until the discovery of the rich ledge of gold-bearing quartz at the base of Mount Aetna. This new claim was discovered

by Franklin and his adopted daughter, Cora, in 1894. Many of Franklin’s friends suggested he name the new mine after his wife, a fairly common practice at the time. Franklin was said to frequent the many saloons that had increased proportionate with the number of new miners in the area and his wife, Jenny, would end up having to drag him home by the arm. Franklin was said to wink at his friends and say, “Ain’t she a holy terror?”

IDA FLORENCE MINE

BISMARCK MINE EGYPTIAN MINE

H

O

JUNIPER MINE

M

NATHANIEL POPE MINE

E

A

K G

BULLION MINE

O

KEYSTONE MINE

D

EN

LUCKY BOY MINE

TR

HOLY TERROR MINE

Bullion Mine open cut located along the regional NE-trending mineralized structure with historical gold mines (inset) located along the Homestake Gold Trend.

COLUMBIA MINE

LD

GENERAL CUSTER GROUP

T

E

GRAND ISLAND MINE

S

PAST PRODUCING GOLD MINE

KNOWN GOLD TRENDS

BIG HIT MINE 400 metres

December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

17

| Canadians working in the U.S. Mineral Mountain Resources Project Geologist Kevin Leonard at the Bismarck Mine Adit and at the muck pile/refuse dump at the mine’s open cut.

MMR’s core storage facility in Keystone.

SW

NE

KEYSTONE MINE HOLY TERROR MINE

0 mASL

BULLION MINE SURFACE MINED AREA MINED AREA

11.94 g/t / 8.0m

MINED AREA

7.44 g/t / 8.9m 6.88 g/t / 7.3m

4.09 g/t / 9.8m

-200 mASL

9.15 g/t / 5.0m AREA NEVER DRILL TESTED

MINED AREA

10.22 g/t / 9.5m

-400 mASL

AREA NEVER DRILL TESTED AREA NEVER DRILL TESTED

-600 mASL

4.18 g/t / 3.0m

Legend Mine Workings Gold Zone

AREA NEVER DRILL TESTED

Drillhole Gold Intersection

-800 mASL 0

100

200

400

metres

Cross-sectional view of the gold-bearing structures in the Keystone district.

18 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

Encouraging to say the least, but what also makes Baker and his team from Mineral Mountain excited about the Holy Terror Project is the potential it has to once again be one of the richest gold producers in the country thanks to data that shows that grades and widths of ore increase with depth.

With more than 6,900 m of diamond drilling already punched into the property, the degree of high-grade gold mineralization continues to display many similarities with the historic Homestake ores, a sign that convinces Mineral Mountain that a new mine is a true possibility.

Given the condition of the Holy Terror Mine, including shafts, adits, head frames, buildings and portal entrances, Mineral Mountain has a clear picture of historical work at the site but what’s even more encouraging is the existing infrastructure that will enable the company to perform future work.

As mentioned earlier, the mine is locate about 35 km southwest of Rapid City with ready access to Interstate Highway I-90 and a regional airport by a series of secondary and tertiary gravel roads offering access to most portions of the property.

With ease of access, plus a nearby source of power and water resources, the Holy Terror Mine shows all the potential to be back in production and thanks to Mineral Mountain Resources’ know-how and understanding of exploration and development, the once-popular Keystone Mining District of South Dakota could once again be the envy of gold miners around the world.

CMJ www.canadianminingjournal.com

Headframe of the historic Holy Terror Mine, the largest gold-producer in the Keystone Mining District.

Banded Iron Formation (inset) hosts replacementtype gold mineralization.

Decemeber 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

19

| Canadians working in the U.S.

EASY

DOES IT Nevada Copper models open-pit expansion at Pumpkin Hollow

By Matthew Keevil*

M

arkets have become hesitant towards projects with large development costs, so many companies are contemplating mine development that allows for smaller initial operations that are later expanded.

For Vancouver-based Nevada Copper and its Pumpkin Hollow copper project in Yerington, Nevada, that means starting with a lower-cost underground mine before transitioning to a full-blown, open-pit operation.

Nevada Copper released a feasibility study nearly a year ago that outlined a US$330-million underground operation at Pumpkin Hollow that would operate at 5,900 tonnes per day and produce 75 million pounds of copper in concentrate annually over its first five years.

On October 3, the company unveiled the second phase of its build-out plan, which adds a 63,500-tonne-per-day open-pit operation for US$924 million.

“It is our view that cash flows from [stage one] will enhance the available financing alternatives for the much

20 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

A crew of miners is lowered as underground work continues with a goal of hitting a production target in mid-2015.

larger open-pit operation, which, once built, will transform Nevada Copper to a mid-tier copper producer,” said President and CEO Giulio Bonifacio..

“We are extremely pleased with these results, as it further confirms that the Pumpkin Hollow project will support an economically robust, large copper mine built on a staged basis, which is unlike any other copper project currently in construction.”

If Nevada Copper can finance both stages, it would produce 285 million pounds of copper, 45,000 oz. gold, and 1.1 million oz. silver annually in its first five years, which would generate www.canadianminingjournal.com

The headframe at Nevada Copper’s Pumpkin Hollow copper project is under construction in Nevada.

December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

21

| Canadians working in the U.S.

Two views from underground at the Pumpkin Hollow Mine.

US$500 million in operating cash flow at US$2.75 per pound. copper prices.

In-pit reserves jumped by 29% when compared to a hybrid open-pit, underground feasibility study Nevada Copper released last year, and stand at 497 million proven and probable tonnes grading 0.38% copper, 0.04 gram gold per tonne and 1.4 grams silver per tonne.

Pumpkin Hollow’s reserves were boosted by 44,000 metres of drilling, which also resulted in mine-plan improvements due to the merging of the North and South pits.

Open-pit production is estimated to reach 197 million pounds of copper annually in its first 10 years, with mine life pegged at 22 years.

Nevada Copper enjoys a lot of infrastructure benefits in Nevada. The com22 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

pany will need to contract 10 km of 120 kV power lines to tap into a nearby substation for US5.5¢ per kilowatt hour. An 8 km access road will connect the site to Highway 95, with concentrates shipped by a rail load-out facility on the Union Pacific tracks.

Milling infrastructure will consist of a conventional concentration circuit, including a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill and secondary ball-mill grinding and copper sulphide flotation.

Final copper concentrate will be produced at an average grade of 25.5% copper and contain payable gold and silver.

Copper production costs — including site-operating costs, copper smelter charges and concentrate transport — are pegged at US$1.69 per pound for the first www.canadianminingjournal.com

10 years, net of gold and silver credits, and excluding royalties.

Under Nevada Copper’s baseline scenario — which pegs metal prices at US$3.33 per pound. copper, US$1,376 per oz. gold, and US$23.07 per oz. silver — Pumpkin Hollow’s open pit would carry a US$1.2-billion after-tax net present value (NPV) at a 5% discount rate, along with a 17.9% internal rate of return (IRR) and a 4.3-year payback period.

Assuming metal prices are bumped to US$3.71 per pound copper, US$1,550 per oz. gold, and US$30.50 per oz. silver, the operation would carry a US$1.8billion after-tax NPV, 22.9% IRR and 3.5-year payback.

Nevada Copper also needs permitting.

The company has full permits in place for its underground operation — which is under construction and expected to a hit a production target in mid-2015 — but will need more regulatory approvals before building its open pit.

Nevada Copper is negotiating with the

City of Yerington to complete a federal land transfer, which would overrule the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), since all claims at Pumpkin Hollow would report to the State of Nevada.

If the company is successful, permitting for Pumpkin Hollows’ open-pit would be slated for mid-2014, with initial production planned for 2016. The timeline would otherwise be delayed due to more stringent BLM requirements.

Nevada Copper reported working capital of US$55 million at the end of June, and signed a US$200-million loan and off-take agreement with RK Mine Finance in early April. The company has traded within a 52-week window of $1.80 to $4.02, and closed at $2.10 at press time. Nevada Copper has 80.5 million shares outstanding for a $169-million market capitalization.

CMJ

A picturesque moonlit view of the Pumpkin Hollow headframe.

Matthew Keevil is a Staff Writer with The Northern Miner, a sister publication of Canadian Mining Journal.

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December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

23

| Products

GETTING ‘IN’ GEAR HUGE GEAR HEADS TO GOLD MINE

Rexnord Falk Mill Products has just completed building its largest Falk Ring Gear in weight and horsepower — 250,000 pounds (113,000 kilograms) and 24,000 horsepower (18 megawatts). In terms of weight and horsepower, the ring gear is also one of the world’s largest.

This six-part ring gear will be used to refine material in a gold mine in the Southwestern United States.With manufacturing beginning in April 2012, almost 100 Rexnord workers took part in making this giant gear a reality.

Gear fast facts:

• Bore size: 443 inches (11,252 millimeters) • External diameter: 522 inches (13,259 millimeters) • Face width: 40 inches (1,016 millimeters) • Number of teeth: 344 teeth • Tooth depth: 3.4 inches (86 millimeters) • Tooth spacing tolerance: .0016 inches (.04 millimeters)

PEOPLE CARRIER Club Car specializes in helping mining companies reduce vehicle costs and improve efficiency and at Agrium Potash in Vanscoy, Saskatchewan, that’s exactly what it did when it suggested that instead of using full sized SUVS to transport crews through narrow, dark tunnels (1.2 kilometers) underground over loose, rocky and sometimes corrosive terrain, they should try customized Club Car XRT1550-SE four-passenger diesel utility vehicles instead. The vehicles were built with diesel scrubbers to remove carbon emissions and since they have to navigate and back up more than a mile at a stretch, they were equipped with power steering. The XRTs were also fitted with brush guards, rear differential guards, and belly pans/skid plates.

24 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

www.canadianminingjournal.com

ROUGH-TERRAIN FORKLIFT Load Lifter Manufacturing announces the availability of its heavy duty, all-purpose rough terrain forklift for the mining industry.

Unlike industrial forklifts that share a smaller profile, the machine comes in two and fourwheel drive and offers true rough terrain performance for a wide range of applications.

The machine features a 65 HP Cummins Interim Tier 4 Diesel engine, a four-speed shuttle transmission and heavy duty planetary drive and steer axles. It has 6,000 & 8,000 lb. capacities with lift heights to 18 feet.

GENERATOR Atlas Copco has just introduced its QAC 1200 1MW generator featuring a Cummins QST30G5 diesel engine that is EPA Tier 2 certified and provides 1140 kVA/912 kW prime power rating (60 Hz). With this electronically governed engine, the integrated fuel tank provides a minimum run time of eight hours. The QAC 1200 was also engineered with 500-hour service intervals, resulting in low life-cycle costs. With a compact 20-foot container and a spillage-free frame, the QAC 1200 offers complete compliance with environmental regulations and efficient transportation. Low noise level (85 dBA at 1 meter) is ideal for sound-sensitive applications.

HOIST BRAKE FOR ELECTRIC ROPE SHOVELS

Caterpillar recently introduced its Dynamic Hoist Brake with optional Smart Controller for CAT 7495 and 7495HF Electric Rope Shovels. The Dynamic Hoist Brake is designed to stop the dipper from dropping during an uncontrolled event such as a power drop or an emergency stop. The new brake is designed to perform and survive a full speed dynamic brake event with a fully loaded dipper and, as a result, to minimize the risk of an uncontrolled dipper drop.

The brake is a drop-in replacement for the standard hoist brake, which was designed to be applied when the hoist motor was not rotating. The new brake offers a number of advantages including friction material that eliminates burnishing requirements and reduces variations in brake torque, increased thermal capacity, increased life, mechanical wear indication and simplified, on-machine rebuild procedures.

December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

25

| Company Department Profile Here– BTI (Breaker Technology Industries)

RIGHT

PLACE RIGHT TIME Small-town manufacturer serves worldwide market

Aerial view of BTI’s facility in Thornbury, ON., located on the south shore of Georgian Bay and near easy reach of major transportation routes and a plentiful workforce.

By Russell Noble

L

Parts assembly within the plant.

26 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

ocation, location, location are three words normally associated with prime residential real estate but for Breaker Technology Industries (BTI), they also describe where its industrial property is located in Thornbury, Ontario.

To some, the small town of 2,000 people on the south shore of Georgian Bay, 20 kilomteres west of Collingwood on Highway 26, may sound a touch out of the way for a manufacturing operation but for BTI, it’s been the company’s home since 1958 and since then, it has thrived and is now recognized as an international www.canadianminingjournal.com

Modern hand-welding techniques are used throughout the factory

designer and manufacturer of rock-breaking equipment for the mining industry.

Again, its location is a touch off the main highways of central Ontario but a closer look at its sprawling facilities, with Georgian Bay on one side and the Blue Mountain Ski Hills right out the back door, clearly shows that it’s not out of touch in any way when it comes to modern technology and designing and manufacturing high-performance mining tools and equipment.

In fact, the company has steadily grown from a three-man machine shop called JMG Manufacturing Ltd., named after its founders Jones, Meingast and Gardiner, through continuing stages of growth where its products became widely known for their strength and durability.

With this recognition came investors and in 1967, Teledyne Industries purchased JMG and with a new cash insurgence and ultimately more modern equipment, the company continued to grow and develop a broader line of applications for its core products under the Teledyne CM name.

In 1999, Teledyne CM was bought by industry giant Astec Industries as a natural addition to its mining and aggregate business and today, BTI is one of five companies (along with Astec Mobile Screens, KPI-JCI, Osborn and Telesmith) that make up the Astec Mining Group.

It’s a proud association and one that has helped put BTI on the international map but nevertheless, it’s still a smalltown company working in a big market.

By keeping its roots in Thornbury, the company takes pride in that most of its employees are mainly small-town residents

too, and “like family” in that many of them have been with the company for decades.

In fact, BTI is the second largest employer in town with about 160 workers out of the 2,000 people who call Thornbury home. Only the municipal offices for the Collingwood Region employ more.

As Terry McKague, BTI’s Customer Service Manager and Director of Sales for Canada and Mexico says, “The people who work here are truly a family that have been together for a long time. Much like the town itself, it’s a place where almost everyone knows each other’s name and there’s a feeling of community within company.”

Loyalty to company is evident by the minimal number of staff turnovers and McKague credits much of that to the products the people are making and the pride they show in what goes out the door.

“The people who work here are true professionals who could work elsewhere if they wanted because of their skill levels but thankfully, they choose to work at BTI. We have welders who came to us when the ship yards at Collingwood

closed in the 1980s and the skills they brought with them have been instrumental in helping us turn out some of the best equipment in the market.

“Welding is an art and while robotics do a great job in mass-production applications, the detailed work in some of our custom designs require a skilled, handson touch that only certain people can provide,” says McKague.

Breaker Technology is one of only a handful of Canadian equipment manufacturers to continue servicing the mining, construction, demolition, and aggregate industries for such a long time and again, McKague credits its people for its success but not only those on the shop floor, but those in the design and engineering departments too.

As already mentioned, BTI designs and manufacturers a wide range of rockbreaking equipment but it’s also proud of the fact that it’s an ‘innovator’ when it comes to answering tough questions and solving unique problems.

One of the companies more recent

BTI’s new “Mine Rover” during assembly.

December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

27

| Company Profile – BTI (Breaker Technology Industries) A BTI machine, equipped with a scaling bit, in action.

designs is the Vibratory Pick, a scaling breaker attachment that is designed to slice off slabs of hard rock in underground applications. Shaped like the bill of a Platypus, the broad bit enables the operator of an underground boom truck to strategically remove large sections of tunnel walls and ceilings to form a uniform shape.

McKague says the new scaler shapes and makes underground workings safer and easier to work with when it comes to installing wire mesh or shotcreting. The uniform shape eliminates the rough surfaces created by conventional drilling and breaking methods and makes for better, and safer, installations.

In keeping with safety and new technology, BTI’s engineers and designers are always working on new ideas including advancing product lines to include full system monitoring capability based on CANBus technology and implementing a new design of rockbreaker design with

high velocity control called “Smart Boom.”

BTI, in its continued commitment to innovation in rock breaking, introduces its all new high-velocity control (HVC) boom system to its product line. The HVC is designed to meet with the ever increasing site operation need for faster boom speeds, without sacrificing control.

This new generation of rock breaker boom systems differ significantly by providing “fly by wire” computer assisted control, allowing simultaneous dip and hoist functionality. This enables greater production through rapid, smooth motion into and out of the gyratory crusher rock box thereby increasing the number of truck dumps per hour and overall tonnage through the crusher. In fact, tests indicate an improved boom cycle rate (in and out of the gyratory rock box) of almost 50 per cent. Combined with smoother operator control and reduced stress on boom, the Smart boom boasts several upgraded features such as:

• Higher horsepower electric motor.

• Higher flow rate pumps with constant horsepower control.

• High flow directional control valve.

• Electrical boom position feedback for speed and pressure control.

• Complete system upgrade providing superior duty cycle and performance characteristics.

This provides operators unparalleled performance in: • Improved swing speed control.

• Tool swing force control.

• Soft stops - hoist, dipper, and swing.

• Arm moment speed control.

The HVC system or “smart boom” utilizes state-of-the-art sensors through a computer “brain” or CANBus system to realize real-time position and constant force values, ensuring reduced shock loading and optimum use of force and speed where needed.

Easy to use and intuitively responsive to the joystick operation, BTI says it truly is the next generation of boom systems.

“BTI has taken things one step further and is now taking reach to the extreme with the TRX-HVC rockbreaker system, the largest boom system of its kind,” says McKague. “The TRX64 represents our 2,000th system produced; a clear milestone in our commitment to providing the best rock breaking boom system technology.

Weighing over 110,000 pounds, this system combines an unforeseen reach of 64 feet and a breaking impact force of 12,000 foot-pounds.”

As mentioned at the outset, location, location, location is key and BTI has all three: it’s located in a welcoming community; it’s located close to a skilled workforce; and it’s located within easy access to a worldwide market with worldclass products.

CMJ

A new machine is carefully loaded into a truck/container after undergoing final inspection and testing.

28 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

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EOE December 2013 • Canadian Mining Journal |

29

Unearthing Trends

Women in mining: the next chapter

By Blake Langill

Blake Langill is a partner and EY’s Ontario Mining & Metals Leader. He is based in Toronto.

W

omen lead companies, boards and entire countries. They have a proven positive impact on business across regions, and across sectors. Studies the world over have shown that companies thrive when they draw from a broad talent pool that includes men and women of different ages, cultures, experiences, orientations and abilities.

Governments are starting to take notice, too, with provinces like Ontario seeking public comments on its provincial securities commission’s approach to fostering improved gender diversity on boards and in senior management roles of listed companies.

And yet while the business case for diversity is clear, the mining sector is widely perceived as lagging when it comes to harnessing the benefits of women in leadership.

One 2012 Carleton University report shows women represent only 15% of the population at all levels in this sector — from entry positions to leadership. The report called for “a holistic approach that simultaneously addresses multiple factors adversely affecting women’s representation in leadership positions.”

Studies like these repeatedly indicate that companies with a higher proportion of women in top management show more successful growth in terms of a range of goals, including operating results, employee satisfaction, public image and stock price.

Making sure you’re drawing from a deep, broad and diverse talent pool to ensure you have the best people on the best teams isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a business imperative for companies looking to thrive in today’s new normal. Take the fact that diversity has been shown to foster better business results overall, and add in the reality that a looming skills shortage remains a top risk for the mining sector overall, and the business case for inclusiveness in the mining sector — whether it be gender, ethnicity or other differences — is clear. The key is successfully embedding that philosophy into the business plan, and everything that you do.

At both the organizational and individual levels, we need to be quite deliberate and conscious about investing in advancing women. Some believe that the path to gender equity, for example, is just about fast-tracking women to leadership positions or setting quotas. But more than that, it’s about making sure that women and men get the same development opportunities they need to reach their potential.

A recent EY study, Shaping the Future Together, found that sponsorship and flexibility are two of the most significant enablers of gender equity. Strong and committed sponsorship, where a senior individual actively champions a woman’s career development and takes personal responsibility for removing bar30 | Canadian Mining Journal • December 2013

riers, plays a crucial role in increasing the visibility of women in an organization. Meanwhile, in regard to flexibility, we’ve found that top managers who successfully champion gender equity enable and proactively implement flexible working solutions.

But initiatives like these don’t work in isolation. They must be a part of a bigger diversity and inclusiveness strategy that’s woven into the business plan — especially in light of increased regulation on the horizon in Canada and abroad. A well-established business case creates a sense of urgency to take action.

Organizational structures, manifested through processes, agreements, reward systems and rules and regulations also influence managers’ behaviours and thus play a vital role in creating an equitable workplace and culture.

The success of Canadian businesses depends on the willingness of organizations to tap into, and develop, the widest and deepest pool of talent available. Companies in the mining sector should be seeking to foster an inclusive culture. Without considering the representation of women and other groups at every level, they potentially risk regulatory penalties, reputational damage and, ultimately, financial performance.

CMJ www.canadianminingjournal.com

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