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CANADIANMINING
AUGUST 2020 VOL. 141, NO.6
JOURNAL
CANADA’S TOP 40
17 Our annual ranking of Canada’s Top 40 miners.
CMJ
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29 Equinox Gold joins the Top 40.
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FEATURES
14 Waubetek and Laurentian University partner to create a Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Mineral Development.
CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL
34 Pure Gold poised for production in Red Lake; Plus, five other gold projects we’re watching.
40 Hatch shares practical ways for miners to incorporate green energy into
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their operations.
NEW MINING TECHNOLOGY
43 A new gold assay method could offer a faster, simpler alternative to fire assaying.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT
47 Sandvik discusses why battery electric vehicles are becoming more popular in mining.
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DEPARTMENTS 4 EDITORIAL | Right now, it’s all about gold. 6 LAW | Alison Babbitt and Michael Cockburn of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada discuss how the updated Equator Principles will affect Canadian miners. 8 CSR & MINING | Carolyn Burns and Jane Church of NetPositive outline some considerations for driving anti-racism in the mining sector. 10 UNEARTHING TRENDS | EY’s Theo Yameogo explains how a digital strategy can help reinvent mining, during and well after COVID-19. 11 FAST NEWS | Updates from across the mining ecosystem. 51 ON THE MOVE | Tracking executive, management and board changes in Canada’s mining sector.
www.canadianminingjournal.com AUGUST 2020
ABOUT THE COVER
Newmont’s Tanami gold mine, in Australia’s Northern Territory. CREDIT: NEWMONT
Coming in September Canadian Mining Journal’s annual gold issue, which will include a feature report on screens, crushers and conveyors..
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
CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL |
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FROM THE EDITOR AUGUST 2020 Vol. 141 – No. 6
CANADIANMINING Right now, it’s all about gold Alisha Hiyate
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MJ has been publishing its ranking of Canada’s Top 40 mining companies for over 40 years. While the industry has been through many shocks during that time, including commodity price swings, the Bre-X scandal and stock market crashes, 2020 is an interesting time to be evaluating the industry’s performance. Last year’s performance was already mixed, with 22 of the Top 40 reporting a net profit, and 10 companies reporting a net loss for both 2019 and 2018. As a backward looking exercise, the effects of the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, which began in earnest in March, won’t be measured until next year’s Top 40. However, looking at the names in our ranking that have already disappeared through mergers during the first half of 2020 highlights some themes that will undoubtedly show up in next year’s report. Detour Gold (No. 20), Leagold Mining (No. 28) and Semafo (No. 30) – all gold producers – have been acquired in takeovers that closed in the first seven months of 2020. With a gold price that was heading toward US$1,900 per oz. at press time, up from US$1,500 at the end of 2019, gold M&A is certain to continue and accelerate. That’s likely to include more no-premium, merger-of-equal deals – a trend that began with the Barrick Gold-Randgold tieup in 2019. (We profile Equinox Gold, a new Top 40 entry that acquired Leagold Mining in just such a deal this year, on page 29.) By the way, keep an eye on Kirkland Lake Gold, which acquired Detour Gold this January and seems determined to make it into the top 10. The company jumped eight spots this year to No. 11 – before any impacts from the Detour takeover. Kirkland Lake has been advancing steadily in the Top 40, climbing two spots to No. 19 last year, and nine spots in our 2018 ranking. Notably, this is the first year that gold giant Newmont has been eligible for our list, after closing its acquisition of Goldcorp in April 2019. This allows us to compare the world’s two biggest gold miners, Newmont and Barrick Gold, which reported nearly identical revenue last year (see comparison on page 24-25). This is also the first year that Magda Gardner, who joined our team as news editor last fall, has compiled our Top 40 report. Trained as a mining engineer and having worked as a research associate, Magda brings a sharp eye to the analysis. Based on her experience, she’s made some changes to the ratios we use to assess financial performance. She’s also separated out oilsands companies from the main ranking, as their business is materially different from mining. As the two oilsands companies excluded from the main list would have both been in the Top 10 (Suncor Energy would be No. 2 and Canadian Natural Resources at No. 6), readers should be aware that this means that this year’s list is not directly comparable with previous years. As ever, we welcome your feedback at ahiyate@canadianminingjournal.com. CMJ
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News Editor Magda Gardner CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL mgardner@canadianminingjournal.com Production Manager Jessica Jubb jjubb@glacierbizinfo.com Art Director Barbara Burrows Advisory Board David Brown (Golder Associates) Michael Fox (Indigenous Community Engagement) Scott Hayne (Redpath Canada) Anthony Moreau (Iamgold) Gary Poxleitner (SRK) Manager of Product Distribution Jackie Dupuis 403-209-3507 jdupuis@glacierrig.com Publisher & Sales Robert Seagraves 416-510-6891 rseagraves@canadianminingjournal.com Sales, Western Canada George Agelopoulos 416-510-5104 gagelopoulos@northernminer.com Toll Free Canada & U.S.A.: 1-888-502-3456 ext 2 or 43734 Circulation Toll Free Canada & U.S.A.: 1-800-387-2446 ext 3505 Group Publisher Anthony Vaccaro Established 1882
Canadian Mining Journal provides articles and information of practical use to those who work in the technical, administrative
and supervisory aspects of exploration, mining and processing in the Canadian mineral exploration and mining industry. Canadian Mining Journal (ISSN 0008-4492) is published 10 times a year by Glacier Resource Innovation Group (GRIG). GRIG is located at 225 Duncan Mill Rd., Ste. 320, Toronto, ON, M3B 3K9. Phone (416) 510-6891. 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 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 obtain the permission of the owner of the copyright. For further information please contact Robert Seagraves at 416-510-6891. Subscriptions – Canada: $51.95 per year; $81.50 for two years. USA: US$64.95 per year. Foreign: US$77.95 per year. Single copies: Canada $10; USA and foreign: US$10. Canadian subscribers must add HST and Provincial tax where necessary. HST registration # 809744071RT001. 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 wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: Phone: 1-800-387-2446 ext 3505; Fax: 403-245-8666 ; E-mail: jdupuis@jwnenergy.com Mail to: Jackie Dupuis, 2nd Flr. 816–55th Ave. N.E. Calgary, Alberta T2E 6Y4. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.
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2020 CMJ Narrow Bolter.indd 1
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LAW
The new Equator Principles: the implications for Canadian mining By Alison Babbitt and Michael Cockburn
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he past decade has seen a significant rise in the prominence of environmental and social issues relating to project development. Investors, governments, lenders and communities are increasingly focused on promoting sustainable development, mitigating climate change, and preventing human rights abuses. In addition to the moral imperative of these goals, investors are growing more aware of the benefits to their bottom line – projects with strong environmental and social bona fides have been demonstrated to outperform those of competitors with weaker policies in the medium to long term. Recognizing the imperative for – and the benefit of – more responsible, sustainable global development, mining companies and international institutions have been taking the initiative to set up their own risk management frameworks to promote enhanced environmental and social standards. The Equator Principles are one such global risk management framework. Initially published in 2003, the Equator Principles have since been adopted by 105 major banks and financial institutions around the world, including many Canadian banks. The principles are used by signatories, or Equator Principle Financial Institutions (EPFIs), as a common baseline in identifying, assessing and managing the environmental and social risks in mining and other projects they finance. They provide a minimum standard for due diligence and monitoring to support responsible risk decision-making. EPFIs that have adopted the principles commit to implementing them in their internal environmental and social standards for financing projects and to not provide funding for projects where the client cannot or will not comply. The Equator Principles Association has released a fourth version of the Equator Principles, known as “EP4”, that will come into effect on Oct. 1. EP4 — What’s new? EP4 both expands the application and strengthens the content of the Equator Principles. The changes include lowering the threshold for in-scope projects to US$50 million, incorporating the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and adding in reporting requirements for project sponsors related to biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions that are similar to the standards set out in the Recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Perhaps the most significant change in the Canadian context is the fact that EP4 will now apply to domestic projects. The Equator Principles distinguish between “designated countries,” 6 | CANADIAN
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whose domestic environmental and social laws and regulations are considered sufficiently robust, and “non-designated countries” with less developed rules, where the Equator Principles would apply. Canada is a designated country, and as a result mining projects in Canada were previously subject only to domestic environmental rules and regulations. With EP4, while domestic Canadian mining projects may now also be required to comply with certain IFC Performance Standards. Planning ahead Mining companies in Canada should familiarize themselves with the revised EP4 standards. They are not intended to apply retroactively, but they may require additional diligence, reporting and other obligations for mining companies and financial institutions on future projects. There are a number of steps project sponsors and lenders can take to smooth the transition: Start the conversation early – doing so gives everyone an opportunity to understand expectations. Project sponsors should understand how lenders plan to categorize their project’s risk level, and what that means for additional stakeholder engagement and reporting obligations over the life of the project. Will EPFIs be requesting the support of an independent environmental and social consultant? Will IFC Performance Standards apply? If so, which ones and why? Answering these and other questions early allows parties to create a road map for the project before time and energy is spent on unnecessary or inadequate procedures. Review corporate environmental and social regimes – this is an opportunity for project sponsors to review their corporate strategy and analyze if and how environmental and social principles have already been integrated into their policies and procedures, and make any necessary changes. Consider training needs too, with the goal of developing internal talent capable of understanding and implementing the standards required under EP4. Seek external guidance – mining companies that do not possess internal expertise in these matters should consider whether to acquire or to engage professional expertise. These steps will allow project sponsors and lenders alike to recognize and mitigate environmental and social risks, while CMJ minimizing their reputational exposure. ALISON BABBITT is an English and Ontario-qualified project finance partner whose practice focuses on mining, renewables and clean technology. MICHAEL COCKBURN is a corporate and commercial lawyer who works in project financing, M&A and public private partnerships. They are both based in the Ottawa office of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada.
www.canadianminingjournal.com
JUNE 2020
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CSR & MINING
Get comfortable being uncomfortable: Driving anti-racism in mining By Carolyn Burns and Jane Church
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nti-racism is the active practice of opposing racism and promoting racial tolerance. In May, the murder of George Floyd while in police custody was the catalyst for a global discussion and reckoning about anti-racism. In Canada, the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, Chantel Moore and Rodney Levi as well as the assault of Chief Allen Adam has reinforced that discussion. Individuals, governments, companies and civil society organizations across the country are thinking and talking about anti-racism in a way we never have before. We are collectively launching ourselves into a new discussion asking: What is anti-racism? What does it mean for me personally? What does it look like for my organization? How does it affect the decisions I make? Where do I start? How do I talk about it? Where do I go to learn? What if I mess it up? If you are navigating this discussion in your workplace or personally, or both, here are some things to think about. Listen, reflect and get comfortable being uncomfortable A good place to start is to educate yourself. Start by listening to other people, reading, and sharing resources. Understanding and unwinding the systems and histories that have led us here threatens to destabilize the world that many people know. It is not easy and will be uncomfortable. If your first reaction is to get angry and deny other people’s experience – acknowledge that. Sit with it. Try to understand why it is so uncomfortable. Don’t shy away from it. Being uncomfortable and challenged is a big part of the process. Understand your scope of influence No organization lives in a vacuum. Racism and prejudice are overarching. But to be effective, organizations, especially smaller ones, have to be clear about their scope of influence. What does the organization have control over? Where does the organization have expertise? In what environments does the organization have power? Companies in the mining sector have control over: w Employment practices, including training, recruiting, hiring, and promotions; w Their approach to community relations and commitments related to land use; w Their management of social and environmental impacts, which can have a disproportionally negative impact on racialized groups; 8 | CANADIAN
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Being anti-racist is not only a job for Black, Indigenous or other people of colour. All people, including White people, have to be part of the work. White people have to make space for Black, Indigenous and other people of colour to lead, to share, and to be taken seriously.
w Their supply chain, specifically what requirements are put into contracts; and w The partnerships they choose to support with educational institutions and civil society organizations. White people have to be part of the work Being anti-racist is not only a job for Black, Indigenous or other people of colour. In order to take this seriously and be effective, all people, including White people, have to be part of the work. It’s not up to Black, Indigenous, and other racialized people to fix the problem. BUT (and this is a major but) White people have to make space for Black, Indigenous and other people of colour to lead, to share, and to be taken seriously. It’s a line between listening and providing space for Black and other racialized employees to participate and not making them responsible for systemic changes and for educating people. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are an important way of understanding the lived experience of the workforce, but they can’t be the sole resource that drives anti-racism work. This is a very different conversation for people with lived experience of racism. Sharing your lived experience with colleagues and peers can be an incredibly exhausting and challenging experience. People who participate in ERGs need to be given the time, space and resources to participate. Understand the link to mining activity Racism and prejudice touch every part of our society. They are overarching and no sector is immune. Anti-racism is particularly relevant to the mining sector because: www.canadianminingjournal.com
w The natural resource sector has played a historical and ongoing role in supporting and benefiting from racist economic policies and land access practices. Resource extraction drove colonialist policies and has had a lasting effect on land ownership and access, Indigenous Peoples economic and cultural practices and Canada’s economic and political systems (see the 2019 Land Back report by the Yellowhead Institute). w The mining sector is one of Canada’s largest employers. In 2016, the sector represented 21% of Canada’s workforce, but only 9% identified as a visible minority. The mining industry is one of the largest employers of Indigenous People in Canada, representing 7% of the mining workforce in 2016. This number hides the lack of diversity in management roles however, and should be higher given the effect and proximity of mining on Indigenous communities. w The social and environmental impacts from mining activity have disproportionate impacts on racialized groups, in particular Indigenous People. This can include the experience people have as employees, decisions made about hiring and procurement that disadvantage racialized groups, and the failure to protect cultural heritage such as the Juukan Gorge explosion in Australia this past May. Don’t silo the discussion Diversity and inclusion have been a priority for leading companies in the mining industry for over decade. Anti-racism is an important, but often ignored, part of diversity and inclusion work. Anti-racism should be central to an organization’s work on diversity and inclusion, including: w Awareness and education. Learn and share resources about what racism is, where it comes from and how it is perpetuated (explicitly and implicitly). Develop resource lists for your staff, management and other stakeholders. Make it mandatory to participate in anti-racism or intercultural awareness training – Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) just published a new training program that is free for the next year. w Systems and process change (recruitment, hiring, and promotions, land agreements, expectations and commitments to managing environmental and social impacts). Work with an expert to dissect the company’s operations and understand how they can or do support anti-racism. w Culture change. Preventing both covert and overt experiences with racism and creating a space where people feel comfortable bring their full self to work. Put your money where your mouth is Work with an expert and pay people for their time. The average person is not an expert in anti-racism work or even diversity and inclusion. There is a difference between someone who has lived experience and one who has studied organizational change and psychology. Find an organization to help support this process and pay them as you would any other consultant. AUGUST 2020
You’re not alone The 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission describes reconciliation as “establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country. For that to happen, there has to be awareness of the past, acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to change behaviour.” Recognizing that change must begin internally is difficult for both resource companies and individuals. There are signs of movement in the industry though, such as from Suncor, which acknowledges it needs to “change the way we think and act.” Suncor is also one of the few companies to make a statement about anti-Black racism. Use this moment to build relationships and drive this discussion with your peers, partners, community partners and Indigenous groups. You’re not alone in this. This moment is an opportunity to shift the industry. We hope we look back in 10 years and see this as a line in the sand. CMJ CAROLYN BURNS is director of operations at NetPositive, a non-profit that works with diverse stakeholders to help local communities see sustained positive outcomes from mining. JANE CHURCH is a co-founder and director of collaboration with NetPositive.
Environmental impacts are mitigated. Closure is planned from the start. Communities are bettered. Together we can create a legacy of value.
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CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL |
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UNEARTHING TRENDS
Pivoting from crisis to transformation By Theo Yameogo
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ost mining and metals executives agree that the current pandemic has exposed the shortcomings of traditional business operation models and, at the same time, validated the value and imperative for digital transformation in key business functions. Although some companies have already progressed with digital transformation, its broad adoption in the sector could be still considered embryonic and misunderstood. For many years, the adoption of artificial intelligence and data-driven decision-making to increase productivity has helped some companies fare better in this landscape. Now, the opportunity lies in the combination of data and analytics, AI, automation, robotics and virtual ecosystems to reinvent the organization across the value chain. Given that each company faces a unique set of circumstances and varying appetite, the common fundamental self-assessment question is: how can a digital transformation strategy drive actions today that are tied to a bigger purpose in the future? During my interactions with members of the industry across the country through the CIM Distinguished Lecturer Series, there was a general consensus that successful transition into digital transformation requires a timeline prioritization of intent, actions and impacts between now, next and beyond. Right Now, companies need to focus on redefining their organization’s agenda by addressing issues and challenges unearthed or exposed during COVID-19. For example, trusted re-entry should include reviewing current workplace and workforce models to test and secure collaboration platforms so that a physical return to work strategy is more than just transitioning back to the old ways. Next, establish a digital transformation strategy and prioritize delivery of immediate and meaningful results that will drive and sustain enterprise-wide engagement on the transformation journey. To achieve such levels of commitment and reap the rewards of the invested efforts, the sector should look at creating an ecosystem of partners within and outside of the industry. Typically, a comprehensive vision statement, along with initial key pillars, execution team and governance model should underpin such strategy for it to be useful and drive results. Beyond COVID-19, companies will need to refine or redefine the purpose of their long-term value generation so that it aligns with the digital evolution of the rest of the world. For example, rethinking the approach to talent and culture that will be required to operate in a digital world by creating an environment of continuous innovation and adoption of technology breakthroughs. 10 | CANADIAN
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Throughout the digital journey, companies can pull the following five levers to stay relevant, while achieving their goals faster at a lower cost of failure. 1. Digital strategy and continuous ideation: continue to think through the fundamentals that that led to the strategy, with a constant focus on profitability, productivity and long-term value. 2. Innovation ecosystem: forgetting about innovation in a digital transformation strategy is a mistake we see all too often. Mining and metals companies should look beyond the sector for innovation to find partnerships with external ecosystems such as start-ups, accelerators, venture capital or academics. For example, recurring meetings with key suppliers could enlighten the sector on what investments and avenues are being contemplated, and which could profoundly change the mining business. 3. Organization and process: discover how to set up the business differently to drive and revitalize the innovation agenda, while measuring ongoing success. Consider the people you assign to these teams. Far too often employees that are already swamped with work are placed on digital transformation teams, pushing the strategy back in long list of priorities. 4. Enterprise scale: build the capabilities needed to scale innovation more quickly to create enterprise-wide impact – while looking at what can be built vs. bought. One simple example is digital signatures. This was a tool that could be implemented in a human resources function and then scaled to all facets of the business. It allows the company to then categorize and archive documents, while streamlining processes across the organization. 5. Culture and talent: engage and empower the workforce. Selectively release old practices to create space for renewal. Advance digital as a core capability through hiring, developing, training and incentivizing employees to develop new skills and digital capabilities. With COVID-19 and its impacts, fast-tracking digital transformation is an imperative for the mining and metals sector. Accelerating the use of collaborative technologies, cloud-based ecosystems and intelligent platforms can speed recovery and create a competitive advantage in a post-pandemic world. CMJ THEO YAMEOGO is the EY Canada Mining & Metals Co-Leader focused on helping companies execute digital transformation. He is based in Toronto. For more insights, visit www.ey.com/en_ca/mining-metals.
www.canadianminingjournal.com
FAST NEWS • SAFETY |
Updates from across the mining ecosytem
Newcrest tests secondary drilling and blasting technology from MacLean, Orica
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ewcrest Mining’s Cadia Valley underground mine in New South Wales has successfully tested new technology from MacLean Engineering and Orica in a 30-day trial. The site used remote drilling, loading and wireless blasting to remove the workers from major hazards around draw points at Cadia East. As part of the trial, Newcrest tested MacLean Engineering’s new secondary break drill and blast system (Automated Explosive Charger) as well as Orica’s Wireless Blasting System (WebGen 100) in an isolated area. Secondary break activities are used when oversized rocks need to be removed from the draw point. Although many oversized rocks can be handled by preparation loaders or rock breakers, some of these require explosives, with workers accessing the area to wire up each conventional explosive used. MacLean’s secondary break drill and blast system removes workers from these secondary break activities: the company has developed a prototype ‘bolt-on’ piece of equipment, which attaches to existing secondary break drill rigs. This Auto Explosive Loader (AEL) can drill a hole into a rock and push the wireless explosive inside the hole, without the operator leaving the cab of the drill rig. The operator
• BATTERIES |
Secondary break trial at Newcrest’s Cadia mine in Australia using MacLean Engineering’s Auto Explosive Loader enabled with Orica’s WebGen wireless technology. CREDIT: NEWCREST
can then remove the drill rig, leave the area and remotely detonate the explosive, using a wireless device manufactured by Orica. Aaron Brannigan, Cadia’s acting general manager, said the trial demonstrated the opportunity for significant safety benefits, through eliminating human exposure to the major hazards associated with secondary break activities. “The partnership with MacLean and Orica has been mutually beneficial as it has enabled specialist contracting partners to bring together their devices to
streamline an entire process in an underground mining environment,” he said. Patrick Marshall, MacLean’s VP of product management, added that finding safe and efficient ways to introduce remote or autonomous fleet operations is a key area of technology development at MacLean and that partnerships are a critical part of this process. The next step would be a more comprehensive test in a production environment to further assess the safety and productivity of the system. CMJ
Vale, Epiroc sign Batteries as a Service deal
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ale and mining gear maker Epiroc have finalized the world’s first Batteries as a Service (BaaS) agreement. Under the agreement, Epiroc will work directly with Vale to define a battery plan that suits the needs of its operations. Then, the Swedish company will be in charge of monitoring the batteries for predictive maintenance with reduced downtime and guarantee their lifespan. Epiroc’s BaaS team will also be responsible for removing old batteries from mine sites and replacing them with new ones. The older batteries will be then used for secondary applications and will be recycled at the end of the process. Along with the BaaS agreement, Epiroc said in a release that it will be providing Vale with 10 battery-electric vehicles for two Canadian mine sites. “To complement the new battery fleet, Vale AUGUST 2020
Epiroc has signed the world’s first Batteries as a Service (BaaS) agreement with Vale. CREDIT: EPIROC
will also be adding three of Epiroc’s charging cabinets and seven charging posts for equipment support,” reads the release. CMJ This story originally appeared on www.Mining.com
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FAST NEWS
• GRINDING |
Updates from across the mining ecosytem
Outotec introduces HIGmill modular solution
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afety is one of the biggest challenges in the mining industry, especially during construction and equipment installation. At the same time there is pressure to speed up return on investment and minimize plant footprints. The Outotec HIGmill Plant (HMP) is a stand-alone, modular solution for fine grinding that addresses these conflicting requirements. The HMP consists of a vertical HIGmill unit and pre-engineered auxiliary equipment modules to reduce engineering, delivery, construction, and commissioning time and cost while still providing a safe solution with the flexibility to meet various process, layout, and regulatory requirements. Modules are preassembled in the factory to reduce safety risks and maintain the highest possible quality while also reducing on-site construction time and cost. The modules and vertical HIGmill can be arranged in a compact footprint to suit the specific site layout, minimizing layout and engineering work. The HMP includes an Outotec PSI 500i particle size analyzer for continuous online process monitoring and feedback,
The Outotec HIGmill plant. CREDIT: OUTOTEC
while the HIGmill provides process flexibility by adjusting the speed to match the energy input for the required product particle size. This minimizes the risk of operational challenges and reduced recoveries resulting from variable process conditions. “The HMP combines Outotec’s leading fine grinding technology with faster installation and compact footprint while maintaining safety standards,” said Riddhika Jain, product manager, in a release.”This stand-alone modular solution comes in easily installable pre-assembled sections to speed up returns on investment.” CMJ
TEMPERATURE DETECTION CAMERAS for Employee/visitor temperature Screening can quickly determine if someone has a high temperature. The Provix COVID Camera is equipped with an Infrared camera and a built-in body temperature detection module, which can rapidly determine a person’s temperature when they stand in front of the camera. The COVID Camera can also authenticate an individual with facial recognition software if an existing photo database exists. The COVID Camera ships with the software and a mounting stand. PROVIX is Vision Enhancement! PROVIX enhances vision through the deployment of technologically advanced camera systems. Camera systems that can include thermal vision, remote viewing capability, wireless recording, programmed and triggered event monitoring, night vision and safer, more productive operations in drilling, mucking, hauling, blasting, tramming, loading and rescue operations. We supply a variety of Custom Safety Systems for the mining industry.
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• RENEWABLE ENERGY |
SHYFTinc and Rentricity turn mine water usage into hydro power
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HYFTinc has established a new Samson says: “Usually, the energy in technology initiative with those valves produces heat in what’s Rentricity to bring Rentricity’s already a hot environment; we can innovative electricity production turn the pressure into power instead.” from gravity-fed or pressurized In-pipe hydro energy recovery water pipelines directly into mines. within water distribution networks Rentricity has successfully impleis proven, reliable, and cost-effecmented its renewable energy in-pipe tive. The technology is simple: It hydro in the drinking water industry uses traditional and proven pumps since 2010. The company is now as turbines with advanced controls turning its attention to mining oper- SHYFTinc provides solutions for the mining sector, including the NRG1-ECO to manage pressure while creating ations with large water flows that energy management system. CREDIT: SHYFTINC clean electricity. The clean, renewoffset electricity costs with the able electricity is then used for MinetricitySM product line. powering systems in the immediate “We are excited about the prospects of working with area of the mine, or can be easily integrated into a mine’s elecSHYFTinc and addressing multiple applications within mine trical system, or stored on energy storage systems for back-up water distribution,” said Frank Zammataro, CEO and cofounder purposes. of Rentricity. “SHYFTinc brings both a deep understanding of “Rentricity brings proven equipment and first-class experithe mining environment and existing partners with the ability to ence for addressing water pipeline,” says Samson. “Supporting execute sustainable microgrids within mines.” the on-site generation of clean electricity will become a best “The MinetricitySM products provide multiple solutions in a practice that will elevate the Canadian mining industry to a mining environment,” said Tyler Samson, president of SHYFTinc. higher standard of sustainability.” “The products can be installed in the mine’s water distribution SHYFTinc will be aligning with their INOVINTA teampiping from 4" to 36" diameters and mimic the function of pres- mates at BESTECH Engineering to provide a full design, sure reducing valves.” That adds value in a couple of ways, installation and support package. CMJ
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CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL |
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FIRST NATIONS
WAUBETEK, LAURENTIAN,
launch mining resource FOR FIRST NATIONS
New Centre of Excellence aims to build capacity By D’Arcy Jenish
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etween 2012 and 2016, Stacey Vincent Cress served as employee development co-ordinator with Toronto-based Detour Gold (now part of Kirkland Lake Gold) to train Indigenous people for jobs at the company’s namesake open pit mine located some 180 km northeast of Cochrane, Ont. The training was conducted under the auspices of Impact and Benefit Agreements between Detour and three nearby First Nations communities, as well as the Metis Nation of Ontario, and by any measure, the ini-
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tiative was a grand success. Training programs were available for truck drivers, mining equipment drivers and health and safety officers as well as for jobs in the processing plant. By the time the program was complete, and the mine was in full production, upwards of Dawn Madabhee Leach, general manager of Waubetek, and Rio Tinto’s Richard Storrie, president and CEO of the Diavik mine, exchange a gift at the Canada 2020 Annual Indigenous Economic Development Forum. CREDIT: RIO TINTO
180 Indigenous men and women were employed at the Detour mine, representing 28% of the workforce. To put that in perspective, Indigenous employment accounts for 11.2% of the jobs in the province’s 40 mines, according to the Ontario Mining Association. Historically, such success stories have tended to be the exception rather than the rule. Indeed, for more than a century, mining has been a cornerstone of the economy of northern Ontario – employing thousands of people directly www.canadianminingjournal.com
and indirectly and pumping millions of dollars annually into local communities in the form of wages and taxes. But, for the most part, the economic benefits have not enriched the dozens of First Nations communities scattered across the north. “There’s a lot of mining in northern Ontario,” says Dawn Madabhee Leach, general manager of the Birch Islandbased Waubetek Business Development Corp. “A lot of our communities have been on the outside looking in.” Waubetek is out to change that. The corporation, where Cress is now mining project manager, serves 27 First Nation communities in an area stretching from Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury to North Bay and along the northern and eastern shores of Georgian Bay. Since 1999, Waubetek has provided financing and economic development services to over 3,000 Aboriginal-owned businesses. In 2015, the chiefs of those 27 First Nations communities instructed the staff at Waubetek to develop a mining strategy aimed at improving opportunities for individuals as well as Aboriginal-owned companies. Among other things, the corporation is attempting to create an association of Indigenous mining suppliers as well as a mining human resources database for Indigenous employees and job seekers. Earlier this year, Waubetek reached an agreement with Laurentian University in Sudbury to create a Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Mineral Development – an ambitious project that may eventually benefit First Nations communities across the province, the country and potentially Indigenous groups in other countries. “It’s all about building Indigenous capacity in the mining sector, but also to build the capacity of mining companies to work with Indigenous People and companies,” says Madabhee Leach. Jennifer Abols, executive director of Laurentian’s Goodman School of Mines and president and chief executive of MIRARCO (Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corp.), says that the university, with its mining-focused departments and programs, is a natural home for the new centre. “The biggest gain for everybody is being able to build capacity and creAUGUST 2020
First Nations communities are often overwhelmed when they receive permits and they’re not sure how to process them. With the Centre of Excellence, they can reach out to an Indigenous-led organization where they can get answers. They can become informed and make informed decisions.” – STACEY VINCENT CRESS, MINING PROJECT MANAGER, WAUBETEK BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORP.
ate opportunities for people,” says Abols. “We can help connect the right people and help them get the tools they need to build capacity.” The centre, which will be located on the Laurentian campus and initially will employ an executive director and an assistant, has received funding from Natural Resources Canada and FedNor, the federal government economic development agency for Northern Ontario. Montrealbased Rio Tinto Canada – the first private sector partner – has agreed to contribute $1 million over the next five years. Rio Tinto contribution The contribution is part of Rio Tinto’s commitment to working with First Dawn Madabhee Leach and Robert Haché, president of Laurentian University sign a letter of intent to create the Centre of Excellence for Mineral Development at PDAC 2020. CREDIT: LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY
Nations communities. Last November, the company signed a partnership agreement with the Innu of Ekuanishit to create employment and economic development opportunities at the company’s open-pit titanium dioxide mine near the town of Havre-Saint-Pierre on Quebec’s North Shore. In February, Rio Tinto signed its New Day agreement with B.C.’s Cheslatta Carrier First Nation. The company’s Nechako hydroelectric reservoir and generating station, which supplies electricity to its aluminum smelting operation in Kitimat, is located on the traditional lands of the Cheslatta Carrier. Under the agreement, Rio Tinto will provide job training, employment, and business opportunities at its hydro-electric operation, as well as environmental stewardship. In addition, the company has worked closely with First Nations of the Northwest Territories to ensure that the Diavik diamond mine benefitted remote, northern communities. Currently, Indigenous People, most of whom are from the North, comprise 27% of the workforce of 1,100. In 2018, Diavik purchased goods and service valued at $158.4 million from Indigenous-owned business and between 2000 and 2018 such purchases totalled $3 billion. “The catalyst for us investing in the Centre of Excellence and becoming a partner was Dawn’s leadership and vision,” says Todd Malan, Rio Tinto’s Washington, D.C.-based vice-president of corporate relations. “Dawn really wants to make sure First Nations have the tools required to understand what they have in terms of mineral resources and rights.” That can be more complicated than it sounds even in a region like Northern Ontario with long-established mines producing nickel, copper, gold and zinc. “There are all sorts of newly-attractive minerals and metals like vanadium,” Malan says. “One of the things the centre can do is help First Nations understand what they have in their territories, how valuable it is and what it’s used for.” 2021 launch Conflict resolution is another high-potential role for the centre, says Waubetek CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL |
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FIRST NATIONS
Left: Rio Tinto’s Lac Tio mine, in Quebec. Right: Signing an agreement between Rio Tinto and B.C.’s Cheslatta Carrier First Nation in February. CREDIT: RIO TINTO
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It’s all about building Indigenous capacity in the mining sector, but also to build the capacity of mining companies to work with Indigenous people and companies.” – DAWN MADABHEE LEACH, GENERAL MANAGER, WAUBETEK BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORP.
mining project manager Cress. Most First Nations communities don’t have the in-house expertise necessary to assess the complex exploration, development and environmental permits granted to mining companies operating on or near their traditional territories. That can and frequently does lead to opposition to mineral development. “First Nations communities are often overwhelmed when they receive permits and they’re not sure how to process them,” Cress says. “With the Centre of Excellence they can reach out to an Indigenous-led organization where they can get answers. They can become informed and make informed decisions.” Waubetek is hoping to have an executive director in place by October, with a public launch planned for PDAC 2021 and services available by April 2021. Cress says the centre will focus initially on assisting the 27 First Nations within its service area, but will expand its reach once established. “We’d eventually like to have satellite offices or affiliations with universities elsewhere in Canada and even the U.S.” he says. “Internationally there’s so many opportunities. There’s Indigenous People throughout the world that could benefit from the Centre of Excellence.” CMJ www.canadianminingjournal.com
Barrick Gold’s 80%-owned Loulo mine in Mali. CREDIT: BARRICK GOLD
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A YEAR OF CONSOLIDATION CMJ NEWS EDITOR MAGDA GARDNER TAKES AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE PERFORMANCE OF CANADA’S TOP 40 MINING COMPANIES AUGUST 2020
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Consolidation takes root among miners Newmont debuts on our list at No. 2 By Magda Gardner
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s we kick off our 42nd annual Top 40 round up of miners in Canada, this year’s numbers speak to some of the major news stories of the past few years. Underlying these is the theme of consolidation among some of the biggest companies, which, over the past few years grew considerably through mergers and acquisitions and generate the bulk of the revenues in our analysis. We will continue to watch this trend as 2020 unfolds and a pandemic-driven gold rally spurs M&A among intermediate and junior miners to see whether the revenue distribution shifts amongst industry players. The biggest addition to this year’s list is Newmont, following its US$10-billion acquisition of Goldcorp, which closed in April 2019. The gold miner now holds operating mines in Canada and thus meets the criteria for our list, despite its U.S.-based headquarters. Notable departures include North American Palladium, where a turnaround at its Lac des Îles mine coupled with an upswing in palladium prices spurred a $1-billion cash bid from South Africa’s 18 | CANADIAN
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Impala Platinum by October. Imperial Metals is another company leaving our roundup, as the miner sold a 70% stake in its Red Chris open pit to Australia’s Newcrest in August for US$807 million and its revenues from last year don’t meet our Top 40 cutoff. As a result of this transaction, the company classified Red Chris as a discontinued operation for both the eight-and-a-half month period in 2019 as well as 2018 and restated income statements, which, in retrospect, would also impact the company’s position on our ranking last year. Nutrien tops the list – again Last year, potash continued to hold the top spot, with Nutrien coming in first for the second year in a row with $26.6 billion in reported revenues. The company was formed in January 2018 as a result of a $36-billion merger between Agrium and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan. From here, gold producers take over the next two spots – Newmont, followed by Barrick, with the two reporting nearly identical headline revenues of just under
$13 billion – see Figure 1 for a visual representation of the 40 revenue numbers. Like Newmont, Barrick has also grown significantly over the past two years, as in September 2018, it announced plans to merge with African-focused Randgold Resources. The deal, valued at US$18 billion, closed at the beginning of January 2019. In addition to these larger transactions, in July, Newmont and Barrick formed a joint venture in Nevada – Nevada Gold Mines – where both miners generate a substantial portion of their production from multiple assets. This came as a result of Barrick’s hostile bid for Newmont, which it launched shortly after the Newmont-Goldcorp tieup was announced. Although this bid was ultimately rejected, the two agreed to join forces across most of their assets in the state. Interestingly, the revenue growth between 2018 and 2019 for both ‘Newmont 2.0’ and ‘Barrick 2.0’ was nearly identical, at just over 37%. Rounding out the top five are two (primarily) base metals producers – Teck www.canadianminingjournal.com
At Leagold’s RDM mine in Brazil, now part of Equinox Gold after a March 2020 merger of the two companies. CREDIT: EQUINOX GOLD Top: Newmont’s Ahafo mill in Ghana. CREDIT: NEWMONT Above left: Nutrien’s Rocanville potash mine in Saskatchewan. CREDIT: NUTRIEN Above right: Pan American Silver’s La Colorada silver operation in Mexico. CREDIT: PAN AMERICAN SILVER
AUGUST 2020
Resources with revenues of $11.9 billion, followed by First Quantum Minerals, with $5.4 billion in sales. Impressively, it is these top five companies that generated over 60% of the total revenues in our Top 40 list. From here, the remainder of the top 10 includes three gold producers (Kinross Gold, Agnico Eagle Mines and Yamana Gold), one diversified miner – Lundin Mining – and Cameco, a uranium company.
Year-on-year revenue moves driven by both fundamentals and M&A When looking at substantial numbers, context is often helpful, and this is where comparing numbers against last year’s can shed some light on corporate developments. We note that this year, we have chosen a slightly different methodology for the Top 40 – oilsands producers are in a separate table, outside of the main rankCONTINUED ON PAGE 20
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Consolidation takes root among miners, continued from page 19
ing – and that a handful of companies restated their 2018 revenue numbers, which could affect last year’s rankings. When comparing year-on-year changes in revenue, the standout is
Equinox Gold – a company new to our ‘Top 40’- with revenues increasing almost tenfold, to $374 million from $39 million in 2018. A full year of production from the Mesquite open pit as well as the
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75
%
of the TOP 40 are primarily precious metals companies Aurizona mine, which achieved commercial production in July, led to this upswing (see page 29). Pan American Silver is another major revenue mover, with sales increasing to $1.8 billion, up 76% over the prior year. This company’s 2019 financials were largely propelled by M&A, with the closing of a US$1-billion acquisition of Tahoe Resources in February 2019. Production growth from existing mines drove year-on-year revenue increases for Kirkland Lake Gold, Champion Iron Mines and Torex Gold Resources. New mines inched sales higher for both Semafo and SSR Mining, with 2019 representing the first full year of production for both the Boungou and Puna operations, respectively. Also along the revenue spectrum, some companies did not record major moves year-on-year. Notably, the five “Runners-up” companies that meet the criteria for the Top 40 but just miss the revenue mark, all reported headline sales for 2019 within $15 million of those from the year prior. These include Golden Star Resources, a gold miner with two mines in Ghana, Fortuna Silver with mines in Mexico and Peru, as well as three base metals miners – Taseko Mines, Sierra Metals and Copper Mountain Mining. Revenues don’t always translate into profits Headline revenue numbers are in no way a measure of a company’s profitability. The traditional net income measure is one; cash flow generated from operations is another metric that can help assess mines’ CONTINUED ON PAGE 23
www.canadianminingjournal.com
How we choose the Top 40 To be eligible for CMJ’s Top 40 Canadian miners list companies must meet two of the following three criteria: 1 Be domiciled in Canada. 2 Trade on a Canadian stock exchange. 3 Have a significant share of an operating mine or advanced development in Canada.
The Kibali joint venture mine in Democratic Republic of Congo, owned by Barrick Gold (45%) AngloGold Ashanti, and Société Miniére de Kilo-Moto (10%). CREDIT: BARRICK GOLD BARRICK GOLD
Sometimes we have been tripped up and non-Canadian miners have slipped onto the list. However, we have put extra effort into checking the eligibility of all the miners on the current list. We remain open to the suggestions of our readers.
THE FINE PRINT We recognize that revenues are an imperfect way of looking at companies, as they discount the value of near-term expansions and development projects. Since the cutoff for our Top 40 can be very close, we have also included a runners-up table to highlight other companies generating strong revenues. Please see above for the criteria for our Top 40 eligibility, which is unchanged from past years. Rankings between this year and last are not directly comparable: oilsands producers
are outside of the main ranking (see page 23), and a handful of companies have restated revenues after the publication of last year’s Top 40. For comparability, cash flow from operations is after changes in working capital across the companies. For two of the companies on our list, Detour and Leagold, their respective acquisitions closed before the publication of full-year financials. We have estimated revenues for the fourth quarter
based on production (or sales, if available) and average commodity prices and exchange rates for the period. Lastly, financial results are largely impacted by commodity prices and exchange rates. Given the predominance of gold miners within our ranking, we provide a price comparison for the yellow metal: in 2019, the gold price averaged US$1,393 per oz., while in 2018 it averaged US$1,269 per oz. The U.S. dollar cost $1.33 in 2019 and $1.30 in 2018.
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AUGUST 2020
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All figures in the tables are expressed in millions of Canadian dollars.
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Canada’s Top 40 by gross revenue C$ millions 2019 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
Company
Ticker
Primary output
Revenue
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
1 5 2 6 7 9 11 10 12 19 16 18 13 15 14 17 20 23 21 24 25 28 26 29 32 27 38 34 30 31 37 35 41 33 -
Nutrien Newmont Barrick Gold Teck Resources First Quantum Minerals Kinross Gold Agnico Eagle Mines Lundin Mining Yamana Gold Cameco Kirkland Lake Gold Centerra Gold Pan American Silver HudBay Minerals Turquoise Hill B2Gold IAMGold Wheaton Precious Mtls Franco-Nevada Detour Gold Alamos Gold China Gold Int’l Torex Gold New Gold Eldorado Gold SSR Mining Champion Iron Leagold Mining Pretium Resources Semafo Dundee Precious Mtls Capstone Mining Trevali Mining First Majestic Silver Teranga Gold Gran Colombia Gold Osisko Gold Royalties Ero Copper Equinox Gold Argonaut Gold
NTR NGT ABX TECK FM K AEM LUN YRI CCO KL CG PAAS HBM TRQ BTO IMG WPM FNV DGC AGI CGG TXG NGD ELD SSRM CIA LMC PVG SMF DPM CS TV FR TGZ GCM OR ERO EQX AR
Potash Gold Gold Diversified Copper Gold Gold Copper, gold Gold Uranium Gold Gold Silver Copper Copper, gold Gold Gold Gold, silver Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold, silver Iron Gold Gold Gold Gold Copper Zinc, lead Silver Gold Gold Gold Copper Gold Gold
$26,569 $12,924 $12,893 $11,934 $5,397 $4,641 $3,310 $2,511 $2,139 $1,863 $1,831 $1,825 $1,792 $1,642 $1,547 $1,533 $1,414 $1,143 $1,120 $1,116 $906 $872 $850 $837 $820 $805 $792 $686 $643 $631 $556 $556 $512 $483 $469 $433 $393 $378 $374 $357
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2018
Net income
Operating cash flow Revenue
Net income
Operating cash flow
$1,316 $3,722 $6,069 $356 ($68) $952 $628 $251 $299 $74 $743 ($124) $148 ($456) ($633) $419 ($528) $114 $457
$4,863 $3,803 $3,759 $3,484 $1,180 $1,625 $1,170 $749 $692 $527 $1,220 $443 $374 $412 ($15) $653 $482 $666 $820
$128 ($43) $94 ($98) $98 $74 $131
$346 $210 $400 $350 $220 $178 $263
$54 $81 ($96) ($21) ($47) ($54) ($40) ($174) ($234) $123 ($27) ($124)
$292 $288 $132 $123 $149 $186 $132 $137 $92 $170 $79 $99
$4,630 $442 ($1,859) $3,145 $658 ($33) ($423) $279 ($386) $166 $355 $139 $16 $111 $511 $58 ($26) $553 $180 ($1) ($94) ($5) $30 ($1,607) ($492) ($0) $90 $20 $47 ($9) $48 ($31) ($299) ($265) $17 ($4) ($106) ($4) ($87) ($10)
$2,659 $2,367 $2,287 $4,438 $2,565 $1,022 $785 $617 $524 $668 $711 $282 $201 $621 $233 $584 $248 $619 $615 $334 $277 $201 $294 $318 $88 $77 $96 $62 $256 $140 $127 $170 $154 $43 $119 $103 $82 $107 ($30) $41
$25,442 $9,398 $9,385 $12,564 $5,139 $4,163 $2,839 $2,236 $2,330 $2,092 $1,187 $1,463 $1,016 $1,908 $1,529 $1,362 $1,440 $1,029 $846 $1,005 $845 $739 $574 $783 $595 $545 $473 $488 $589 $384 $489 $539 $602 $390 $405 $348 $490 $302 $39 $254
www.canadianminingjournal.com
Runners-up C$ millions 2019 Rank 2019
Rank 2018
41 42 43 44 45
45 43 42 44 45
Company
Ticker
Primary output
Golden Star Fortuna Silver Taseko Sierra Metals Copper Mountain
GSC FVI TKO SMT CMMC
Gold Silver Copper Copper, zinc Copper
3
The number of royalty & streaming companies in the TOP 40
Revenue
Net income
$351 $341 $329 $304 $288
($89) $32 ($53) $12 ($26)
2018 Operating cash flow Revenue
$30 $84 $43 $53 $51
$354 $341 $344 $301 $296
Net income
Operating cash flow
($23) $44 ($36) $33 ($27)
($10) $108 $94 $80 $51
Oilsands C$ millions Rank 2018
Company
Primary output
2019 Revenue
2018 Revenue
SU
Oilsands
$13,948
$12,039
CNQ
Oilsands
$11,340
$11,521
Ticker
3
Suncor Energy
4
Canadian Natural Resources
continued from page 21
performance before the impacts of major non-cash items. We have chosen to analyze two ratios to assess financial performance – net income to revenue (known as the net profit margin), as well as cash flow from operations to revenues (operating cash flow to sales ratio), as shown in Tables X and Y. Looking at net profit margins, last year, Barrick was the standout in our ranking, reporting 47% of its revenues into net income. Newmont, Barrick’s closest production peer, reported a net profit margin of 28.8%. We took a deeper look into the companies’ income statements for the year to gain some more insight on this difference in margins and noticed that substantial noncash items increased the reported net incomes for both companies. For Barrick, these include a US$1.9-billion gain from a remeasurement of the value of the Turquoise Ridge mine, part of the Nevada Gold Mines partnership with Newmont, following its contribution to the JV. A US$1.4-billion impairment reversal fur-
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Newmont: U.S.-based miner enters Canada
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Largest revenue gains year-over-year C$ millions
Rank
Company
39 13 27 30 11 23 26 28 40 25 2 3 19 38 12 36 34 22 7 35 31 16 8 6 18 20 29 21 24 5 1 32 15 17 4 9 10 14 33 37
Equinox Gold Pan American Silver Champion Iron Semafo Kirkland Lake Gold Torex Gold SSR Mining Leagold Mining Argonaut Gold Eldorado Gold Newmont Barrick Gold Franco-Nevada Ero Copper Centerra Gold Gran Colombia Gold First Majestic Silver China Gold International Agnico Eagle Mines Teranga Gold Dundee Precious Metals B2Gold Lundin Mining Kinross Gold Wheaton Precious Metals Detour Gold Pretium Resources Alamos Gold New Gold First Quantum Minerals Nutrien Capstone Mining Turquoise Hill IAMGold Teck Resources Yamana Gold Cameco HudBay Minerals Trevali Mining Osisko Gold Royalties
2019 Revenue
$374 $1,792 $792 $631 $1,831 $850 $805 $686 $357 $820 $12,924 $12,893 $1,120 $378 $1,825 $433 $483 $872 $3,310 $469 $556 $1,533 $2,511 $4,641 $1,143 $1,116 $643 $906 $837 $5,397 $26,569 $556 $1,547 $1,414 $11,934 $2,139 $1,863 $1,642 $512 $393
2018 Revenue
$39 $1,016 $473 $384 $1,187 $574 $545 $488 $254 $595 $9,398 $9,385 $846 $302 $1,463 $348 $390 $739 $2,839 $405 $489 $1,362 $2,236 $4,163 $1,029 $1,005 $589 $845 $783 $5,139 $25,442 $539 $1,529 $1,440 $12,564 $2,330 $2,092 $1,908 $602 $490
Revenue change
856.5% 76.3% 67.4% 64.2% 54.3% 48.2% 47.7% 40.7% 40.4% 37.8% 37.5% 37.4% 32.3% 25.1% 24.7% 24.5% 23.9% 18.0% 16.6% 15.8% 13.8% 12.6% 12.3% 11.5% 11.1% 11.0% 9.2% 7.3% 6.8% 5.0% 4.4% 3.1% 1.2% -1.8% -5.0% -8.2% -10.9% -13.9% -14.8% -20.0%
Given that this year is Newmont’s first appearance on our Top 40 list, we’ve decided to include an overview of the company alongside a brief comparison with Barrick, its closest peer in the major gold mining space. Newmont was founded in 1921 and has evolved into one of the world’s largest mineral companies with a market capitalization estimated at $65.5 billion and operations across the Americas, Australia and Africa. Over the next decade, Newmont expects to produce 6 million oz. to 7 million oz. of gold annually with an additional 1.2 million oz. to 1.4 million oz. of gold-equivalent output anticipated each year. The company’s gold reserve base totals 96 million oz. The miner holds eight assets that it defines as “world-class,” based on annual output of over 500,000 gold-equivalent oz. at all-in sustaining costs of under US$900 per oz., a
continued from page 23
ther increased the company’s net income for the year. Newmont also recorded a US$2.4-billion gain on the formation of the Nevada Gold Mines JV. We therefore expect that Barrick’s relative margin outperformance was, in part, driven by larger one-time items than those recorded by Newmont. Overall, we believe that the 2020 financial statements, reflecting the first full year of operations of the Nevada JV, will provide a more accurate representation of the two companies’ financial performance. In the meantime, we have compiled a brief overview and comparison of the two companies (See Page 25). The next two closest runners up – Franco-Nevada, a royalty and streaming company, as well as gold miner Kirkland Lake Gold both generated net profit margins of just over 40%. Ero Copper, which generates the majority of its production from the MCSA copper mining complex in Brazil’s Bahia State, translated 33% of revenues into net income. Newmont and B2Gold reported net profit margins of CONTINUED ON PAGE 27
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www.canadianminingjournal.com
Canadian-born Barrick focuses on Nevada, Africa mine life of over 10 years and location in a top-tier mining jurisdiction (based on credit agency ratings). Operating mines in this category include assets within the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture, where it holds a 38.5% interest, the Penasquito open pit in Mexico as well as a 40% interest in the Pueblo Viejo joint venture in the Dominican Republic (Barrick holds the 60% stake). After closing the US$10-billion acquisition of Goldcorp in April of last year, Newmont now holds three operating units in Canada. These include the Éléonore mine in northern Quebec, the Musselwhite operation in Ontario as well as the Porcupine complex in Timmins, where ores from a mining operation in the city and from the Borden underground mine, which is 160 km away and achieved commercial production in October, are processed at the Dome facility.
Barrick Gold, one of Canada’s best-known mining companies was founded in 1983. Today, the company has a market capitalization of approximately $58.5 billion and holds copper and gold assets in the Americas, Africa, Papua New Guinea and Saudi Arabia. The company released its 10-year plan in March: it aims to produce approximately 5 million oz. of gold a year between 2020 and 2029. Roughly half of this is expected to come from the company’s North American assets, about 1.5 million oz. of gold a year from mines in Africa, and the remaining 1 million oz. from its Latin American and AsiaPacific assets. Similar to Newmont, the company’s business model is built around the concept of a “Tier One” gold asset, with annual production of at least 500,000 oz. at life-of-mine total cash costs in the lower half of the industry’s cost curve and a mine life of over 10 years.
Barrick’s Tier One mines include operations within the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture, where it holds a 61.5% stake, the 80%-owned Loulo-Gounkoto complex in western Mali and the Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in which it has a 45% interest. After closing the US$18-billion Randgold acquisition in January 2019, the company added the Loulo-Gounkoto and Morila mines in Mali to its portfolio, the Tongon open pit in Côte d’Ivoire as well as Kibali. Just as Newmont enters the Canadian mining realm, Barrick appears to be gradually decreasing its share of revenues from the country. In November, the miner announced that it was looking to modernize and upgrade its open-pit and underground Hemlo operation in northern Ontario into a Tier 2 asset. To do so, it would be looking to transition to a smaller, more profitable underground-only operation and switch to contract mining.
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of the TOP 40 reported a profit in 2019
Operating Cash Flow 2019, C$ millions Rank Company
18 11 17 22 29 28 37 15 23 33 20 7 6 16 19 26 9 35 8 2 4 3 32 10 34 39 24 14 12 21 30 36 31 25 5 38 13 1 27
Revenue
Franco-Nevada Kirkland Lake Gold Wheaton Precious Metals Torex Gold Semafo Pretium Resources Ero Copper B2Gold New Gold First Majestic Silver Alamos Gold Agnico Eagle Mines Kinross Gold IAMGold Detour Gold Champion Iron Yamana Gold Gran Colombia Gold Lundin Mining Newmont Teck Resources Barrick Gold Trevali Mining Cameco Teranga Gold Argonaut Gold Eldorado Gold HudBay Minerals Centerra Gold China Gold International Dundee Precious Metals Osisko Gold Royalties Capstone Mining SSR Mining First Quantum Minerals Equinox Gold Pan American Silver Nutrien Leagold Mining
$1,120 $1,831 $1,143 $850 $631 $643 $378 $1,533 $837 $483 $906 $3,310 $4,641 $1,414 $1,116 $792 $2,139 $433 $2,511 $12,924 $11,934 $12,893 $512 $1,863 $469 $357 $820 $1,642 $1,825 $872 $556 $393 $556 $805 $5,397 $374 $1,792 $26,569 $686
Operating cash flow
OpCF/ Revenue
$820 $1,220 $666 $400 $288 $292 $170 $653 $350 $186 $346 $1,170 $1,625 $482
73.2% 66.6% 58.2% 47.0% 45.7% 45.4% 44.9% 42.6% 41.8% 38.5% 38.1% 35.3% 35.0% 34.1% 33.2%* 33.2% 32.4% 31.6% 29.8% 29.4% 29.2% 29.2% 29.0% 28.3% 28.2% 27.8% 26.8% 25.1% 24.3% 24.1% 23.7% 23.3% 22.2% 22.1% 21.9% 21.2% 20.9% 18.3% 12.6%*
$263 $692 $137 $749 $3,803 $3,484 $3,759 $149 $527 $132 $99 $220 $412 $443 $210 $132 $92 $123 $178 $1,180 $79 $374 $4,863
Net Income 2019, C$ millions Rank Company
3 19 11 38 2 16 6 7 27 21 9 30 25 23 18 8 26 29 13 1 28 10 4
Revenue
Barrick Gold Franco-Nevada Kirkland Lake Gold Ero Copper Newmont B2Gold Kinross Gold Agnico Eagle Mines Champion Iron Alamos Gold Yamana Gold Semafo Eldorado Gold Torex Gold Wheaton Precious Metals Lundin Mining SSR Mining Pretium Resources Pan American Silver Nutrien Leagold Mining Cameco Teck Resources
$12,893 $1,120 $1,831 $378 $12,924 $1,533 $4,641 $3,310 $792 $906 $2,139 $631 $820 $850 $1,143 $2,511 $805 $643 $1,792 $26,569 $686 $1,863 $11,934
Net income
NI/ Revenue
$6,069 $457 $743 $123 $3,722 $419 $952 $628 $131 $128 $299 $81 $98 $94 $114 $251 $74 $54 $148 $1,316
47.1% 40.8% 40.6% 32.5% 28.8% 27.3% 20.5% 19.0% 16.5% 14.1% 14.0% 12.8% 11.9% 11.1% 10.0% 10.0% 9.2% 8.4% 8.2% 5.0% 4.1%* 4.0% 3.0%
$74 $356
*Ratio estimated from 2018 numbers
At Golden Star Resources’ Wassa gold mine in Ghana. CREDIT:GOLDEN STAR RESOURCES
*Ratio estimated from 2018 numbers
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www.canadianminingjournal.com
continued from page 24
29% and 27%, respectively. With respect to operating cash flow to sales, royalty and streaming companies top our list, with Franco-Nevada and Wheaton Precious Metals coming in first and third, with ratios of 73% and 58%. Under the cash flow metric, Kirkland Lake Gold again emerges as a strong performer, coming in second with an operating cash flow to sales ratio of 67%. Torex Gold, which operates the El Limon Guajes complex in Mexico, is fourth, reporting 47% of revenues into cash flow from operations. Moving down the list, Semafo, Pretium and Ero Copper all generated operating cash flow to sales ratios of approximately 45%. Watching industry moves and impacts in 2020 We close out this roundup watching precious metals prices take off as investors brace for the long-term financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the major theme of last year’s numbers is a
47
%
Barrick’s net profit margin in 2019 concentration of revenue amongst some of the largest players, in 2020 thus far, several M&A deals among some of the smaller miners have either closed or been announced. These include Kirkland Lake Gold’s $4.9-billion acquisition of Detour Gold, which closed at the end of January. Also in January, Equinox Gold closed on a $770-million acquisition of Leagold. Other deals announced this year include the merger of Argonaut Gold and Alio Gold, West Africa-focused Endeavour
Mining’s $1-billion purchase of Semafo as well as the merger between SSR Mining and Alacer Gold. While revenues matter, they are not the only metric that investors look at when analyzing companies. As some of our numbers show, intermediate miners can generate strong returns, both in terms of income as well as cash flow. However, while true pre-production developers are traditionally single-asset companies, most of the top performing producers are not. From the recent deals, we gather that a diverse group of robust producing assets is expected to diversify technical and geopolitical risk and bring operational and financial synergies. However, both meaningful revenues and strong ratio-based performance are important for mining companies looking to create long-term shareholder value. We wrap up this year’s Top 40 watching the ongoing M&A and looking to see how transactions within the sector move our ranking and impact profits. CMJ
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TOP
Dec 2017 Equinox becomes a producer with the US$158M acquisition of the Mesquite mine
Jul 2019
Equinox set to climb the ranks New entry to Top 40 eyes 1M oz gold
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Equinox Gold is created through the merger of Trek Mining, NewCastle Gold and Anfield Mining
Oct 2018
The Aurizona mine in Brazil achieves commercial production
Construction begins at the Castle mine in California
Oct 2019
Mar 2020
Equinox closes acquisition of Leagold
Equinox is added to the GDXJ and GDX ETFs
Mar & Apr 2020
Jul 2020
Equinox’s market cap reaches $3.4B
By Alisha Hiyate
D
ebuting on our Top 40 list this year at No. 39, Equinox Gold has grown at an incredible pace since its inception in 2017. With three acquisitions completed over the course of three years, the company has gone from zero production to expected production of more than half a million ounces gold in 2020. In addition to appearing in the Top 40 for the first time this year, Equinox has also claimed the No. 1 spot in our top revenue gainers chart (see page 24), with an increase of more than 850% between 2018 and 2019 as it brought its second mine online. While that is impressive enough, the company is set to climb higher in next year’s Top 40. It completed the acquisition of Leagold, which ranks No. 28 in this year’s
Christian Milau
Top 40 list, in March. With that acquisition, Equinox now has six assets in production, a seventh coming onstream in the third quarter, and additional project expansions planned that have the company eyeing 1 million oz. of annual gold production in the near term.
Focus on growth From the company’s beginnings in 2017, when it was created through a three-way merger of juniors Trek Mining, NewCastle Gold and Anfield Gold, it was focused on growth, says CEO Christian Milau. CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
Equinox Gold’s Aurizona mine in Maranhao state, Brazil. Commercial production at the open pit operation began last summer.
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CREDIT: EQUINOX GOLD
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Miners at Equinox Gold’s Los Filos mine in Guerrero state, Mexico. CREDIT: EQUINOX GOLD
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“We wanted to create an Americas-focused mid-tier gold producer and to do it at a time when the gold price was relatively low,” says Milau, the former CEO of True Gold, which was acquired by Endeavour Mining in 2016 for its Karma mine in Burkina Faso. With the backing of mining entrepreneur Ross Beaty, both financially (he currently owns 8% of the company) and as chairman, Equinox was able to make investments in gold, between 2016 and 2018, when the yellow metal was out of favour and under US$1,200 an oz. The company began construction at its past-producing Aurizona project in Brazil in late 2017, and in 2018, bought its first producing asset for $158 million from New Gold – the Mesquite mine in California. During 2019, Equinox brought Aurizona into production, and began construction on a third mine – Castle Mountain in California, slated to begin production in the third quarter. The merger with Leagold – a no-premium deal announced in December – has given it four more mines: Los Filos in Mexico, and Fazenda, RDM and Pilar in Brazil. The all-share deal, which has given Leagold shareholders 45% of the merged company, has been transformative, providing scale and liquidity that now qualify the company for inclusion in the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) and Junior Gold Miners (GDXJ) ETFs. In a sense, the merger gave the market what it wanted, Milau says. “The big fund managers in New York have been screaming for some no-premium mergers – create some efficiencies by cutting out corporate costs, and creating larger, more liquid companies so investors can invest in them – including the generalists.” Closing a merger of this scale isn’t easy. But Milau notes that the deal made sense geographically and culturally, with memwww.canadianminingjournal.com
Left: A member of the team at the Aurizona mine in Maranhao state, Brazil, with children from the local community. CREDIT: EQUINOX GOLD
bers of both the Leagold and Equinox teams having helped build West Africa-focused gold miner Endeavour Mining, including Leagold CEO Neil Woodyer, who was the founding CEO of Endeavour. “There were some of those old Endeavour team members building both Equinox and Leagold in a similar manner – focused on the Americas, similar-scale assets, similar approach and philosophy,” Milau says. “We were doing it in parallel and in a way, competing against each other, so I said to Neil, ‘Why don’t we do this together?’” At the time of the announcement last December, the combined market capitalization of the two companies was $1.3 billion. At presstime in mid-July, Equinox’s market cap had grown to $3.7 billion. “The market really embraced (the merger) because you put together a very logical deal in similar companies, you were able to mesh management teams, refinance the balance sheet and you come out of it as a multi-million dollar company,” Milau says. In addition, the growth focus of the company at a time when many other gold companies had stagnant or shrinking reserves and production, got investors’ attention. “We almost became a new name in the space and a very undervalued, interesting story for people to be looking at,” Milau notes. At the end of March, the company released production guidance for 2020 of 540,000 oz. to 600,000 oz. gold at all-in sustaining costs of US$1,000-1,060 per oz. (The numbers, which will be updated to take into account any effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, don’t include Leagold production before the merger closed on March 10.)
done, with much of the Leagold team on the operations side of the business and the Equinox team on the corporate side, the combined company can focus on its two major expansion projects – Los Filos and Santa Luz. The company is getting the teams in place to execute on both projects and working on updating capital cost estimates, with official construction decisions expected soon. Both projects are expected to add production beginning in early 2022. Leagold began the expansion of the Los Filos mine in Mexico last year, with additional open pit and underground development projected to increase production from 180,000 oz. gold per year to 350,000 oz. Post-merger, Equinox is now evaluating building a larger CIL (carbon-in-leach) plant than the planned 4,000 t/d plant, which would increase capital costs from the current estimate of $115 million. The second project, the past-producing Santa Luz mine in Brazil, could add another 100,000 oz. gold a year of production over 11 years at an AISC of US$856 per oz. if it gets the green CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
Managing growth Milau says the key to managing such rapid growth over a short time has been people. “Once you have the right people – and there are a number of people here who helped build Endeavour Mining from scratch or built New Gold from scratch or other companies – they kind of know how to go from a standing start to a multi-asset company, and in a sense have taken a risk by stepping down to a smaller company, rolling up their sleeves and saying, ‘let’s do it again.’” Now that the post-merger integration of Equinox is mostly AUGUST 2020
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Top: The Mesquite mine, in California. Middle: Core samples at the Aurizona open pit mine in Maranhao state, in northeastern Brazil. Bottom: The mill at Aurizona. CREDIT: EQUINOX GOLD
light. The project’s capex, according to an October 2018 feasibility study completed by Leagold, is US$82 million. In addition, the first gold pour at the 45,000-oz.-per-year Castle Mountain mine in California is slated for the third quarter. The company is already working on a feasibility study to bring production up to 200,000 oz. annually. It’s also considering an expansion of its Aurizona open-pit mine in Brazil, which is expected to produce an average of 130,000 oz. gold per year over its initial seven-year mine life. A preliminary economic assessment released in May shows underground development could add a total of 740,500 oz. gold over 10 years. Add up all of that potential growth, and the company could be looking at over 1 million oz. of gold production annually. In addition to growth, the company is turning its attention to sustainability-related goals this year, aiming to have more ESG (environmental social and governance) disclosure and metrics on its website.
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Noting that Beaty is an environmentalist at heart, and that the management has significant ownership in the company, Milau says: “As owners of the company, we care about what people think of us and we want to have a positive impact.” Equinox will also be looking into reducing the environmental footprint at its sites through the potential use of renewable energy, as well as dry stack or filtered tailings technology. COVID crisis The COVID-19 virus has presented challenges to all miners. But even though Equinox’s assets are all located in jurisdictions with a higher spread of the virus www.canadianminingjournal.com
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– Brazil, Mexico and the United States – the only major production interruption has been at Los Filos, in Guerrero state. Mining there was temporarily suspended in early April before restarting at the beginning of June. “(COVID-19) definitely is a contributing factor to the complexity of the business and interestingly, again, the old Endeavour Mining team lived through Ebola in West Africa, which had a lot of similarities to this,” Milau says. “It wasn’t global, but it was a very contagious virus that was affecting a lot of people locally and causing some of the same reactions where mine sites had to put in place very strong protocols on health and safety to try to protect the workforce and communities.” In addition to testing, isolation and distancing protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is working with local health authorities as the spread of the virus varies by region. Luckily, global supply chains have held up surprisingly well. While the virus has added uncertainty for miners, the company has a strong financial position. Equinox drew the remaining US$180 million from its US$400-million revolving credit facility in late March (although it says it has no plans to use those funds) and had more than US$350 million in cash and equivalents in May. With so many acquisitions in its recent past, Equinox clearly has its hands full delivering on its organic growth potential. However, Milau says the company is open to more aquisitions, if the asset is a good fit. “Partly, this company has been built through being opportunistic and I think particularly in this type of environment with COVID and the uncertainty in the world right now, we really believe that multi-assets platforms and businesses are stronger and more liquid and better valued.” With the gold price on the rise, and growth to 1 million oz. of production in sight, Milau hopes Equinox can fill some of the space left vacant by the diminished Canadian presence of gold miners like Goldcorp following recent acquisitions. “We’re excited to be a Canadian champion company and CMJ doing it right.” AUGUST 2020
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PURE GOLD POISED FOR PRODUCTION
Plus a look at five other advanced gold projects By Alisha Hiyate
P
ure Gold Mining is set to pour first gold at its PureGold Red Lake mine before the end of the year, and the timing couldn’t be better. The past-producing mine – formerly known as the Madsen mine – will be coming online at a time when the gold price is rallying, few other projects are actually being built, and in a jurisdiction that’s been pretty much untouched by the global COVID-19 pandemic – Red Lake, Ont. While much of the heavy lifting is
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behind it, Pure Gold had to do it while markets were less favourable to gold. The junior made the decision to move the project to production two years ago, even though management knew the potential to expand the project through exploration was enormous. “There wasn’t a lot of love for the industry at the time,” says president and CEO Darin Lebrenz. “And you can only go back to the market so many times before you dilute yourself out of any kind of value. We saw a non-dilutive path to
Left: Test mining at Pure Gold’s underground gold mine in Red Lake, Ont. Above: Pure Gold has launched a 30,000-metre drilling program at the same time as it prepares to enter production later this year. CREDIT: PURE GOLD MINING
www.canadianminingjournal.com
The mill at the past-producing PureGold Red Lake project is being expanded to 800 t/d from 550 t/d. CREDIT: PURE GOLD MINING
generate cash flow to self-fund our growth.” In a different market, the company would have had the option to continue exploration and then “right-size” the mine based on the results, Labrenz notes. “Today, we’re starting to see exploration stories get attention and see real value increase through exploration. We delivered over the past four years, arguably some of the best drill results and discoveries in Canada and really haven’t seen a lot of appreciation over that period because of the market we were in.” This year, however, the company’s stock price has taken off – starting the year at around 80¢ per share and more than doubling that to over $2 per share at presstime. Phased development The PureGold mine is expected to produce an average of 80,000 oz. gold annually over a mine life of 12 years at all-in sustaining costs of US$787 per oz. A feasibility study released in early 2019, and using a gold price of US$1,275 per oz., projected an after-tax net present value (NPV) of $247 million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 36%, with after-tax cumulative cash flows pegged at $383 million. At US$1,500 per oz. gold (the price is over US$1,850 per oz. at press time), the project’s IRR rises to 51%, its NPV to $390 million and free cash flow generated to $583 million. CONTINUED ON PAGE 36
AUGUST 2020
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DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS As it is, with a diluted head grade of 9 g/t gold, the mine will be the fifth highest grade in Canada, and 17th in the world, Labrenz notes. But Pure Gold sees the current development as just the first phase of a larger project. And now that the market is friendlier to gold miners and explorers, the company’s in the unique position of being able to focus on starting up the mine, while at the same time conducting an aggressive exploration program in preparation for the next phase of growth. In June, the company launched a 30,000-metre drill program at the project, aimed at upgrading resources to reserves, expanding surface discoveries on the 47-sq.-km property, and finding more high-grade zones similar to the 8-Zone – which boasts resource grades of 20.5 g/t gold. “Most companies don’t have the financial capacity to continue to look at the growth aspect of their project when they’re in the midst of building out a mine,” Labrenz says, noting that Eric Sprott is a 12% shareholder. The exploration program will build on 20,000 metres drilled at the project last year, as well as a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released in early 2019 that looked at adding production from three near-surface satellite deposits: Wedge, Russet South and Fork. That study showed potential to add 3.7 years of mine life and total production of 210,000 oz. of gold. The opportunity to expand the 8-Zone (which has an indicated resource of 458,000 tonnes grading 20.5 g/t gold for 301,000 oz.) and find similar high-grade zones is especially exciting. “The 8-Zone is in the same geologic environment as the Red Lake mine High-Grade Zone, which obviously was the springboard to Goldcorp’s success,” Labrenz says.“It sits in a mafic-ultramafic contact, similar to the High-Grade Zone and that context stretches for 10 km along our property.” The 8-Zone is open down-plunge as well as towards surface, and Pure Gold has established geologic continuity between it and the Russett South discovery, which 36 | CANADIAN
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Underground development at the PureGold mine. In early July, ramp development had reached 200 metres depth. CREDIT: PURE GOLD MINING
outcrops at surface. The second hole testing the gap between the 8-Zone and its updip continuation at Russett South cut 51 metres of 1 g/t gold, including 0.9 metre of 9.9 g/t gold in December. Past producer As the Madsen mine, PureGold Red Lake produced 2.5 million oz. gold between 1938 and 1976. Claude Resources restarted the mine briefly in the late 1990s. Systematic exploration and a solid understanding of the geology developed by Pure Gold over the past four years will likely ensure that this time, the mine stays in production much longer. As a brownfields site with an existing mill, tailings facility and other infrastructure, a modest US$90-million financing closed last August, was enough to cover the estimated $95-million project capex. Pure Gold has completed a new water treatment facility at the site, and is working on a mill refurbishment and expansion to 800 t/d from 550 t/d. That expansion will include a new ball mill and gravity circuit that will allow the company to cheaply recover free gold in the ore and reduce the use of reagents in recovery. In addition, in the second year of production, the company plans to install a new hoist for the existing 1,275-metre shaft that will support a transition to an all-electric underground fleet that will reduce ventilation costs as the company mines deeper. With Red Lake having experienced only a handful of COVID-19 cases, and
most of Pure Gold’s contractor workforce being local, the company and construction project lead JDS Energy and Mining have not experienced any construction delays due to the virus. Underground productivity has in fact been much better than expected. As of June 19, the company had completed 1,285 metres of underground development, with an advance rate of 8 metres a day – 60% higher than the 5 metres a day anticipated. Labrenz puts the rapid pace down to a combination of experienced workers, good ground conditions and modern technology, and says it bodes well for potentially bringing the 8-Zone forward in the mine plan. “Basically we touch the 8-Zone at the end of year 4 (in the current mine plan) and the first real production from it comes in year 5,” says Labrenz, noting the top of the zone is at about 800 metres depth. “With some of the engineering work we’re doing onsite right now and the productivity improvements, we think we can reach it as early as year 3 – so it’s a very material change from the feasibility mine plan.” With development progressing nicely, Pure Gold is poised to enjoy the spotlight both for its new producer status later this year, and for its exploration results as it expands the project’s scope. “We’re coming into the strongest Canadian gold price we’ve ever seen, so our timing couldn’t be better from that perspective,” Labrenz says. www.canadianminingjournal.com
Five more projects to watch
W
ith gold trading at US$1,850 per oz. at press time, we’ve compiled a list of a few other advanced gold projects we’re watching with near-term development potential.
VALENTINE
CÔTÉ At press time, 70-30 joint-venture partners Iamgold and Sumitomo Metal Mining had just announced a construction decision for the Côté gold project in northern Ontario, 20 km southwest of Gogama. JV partners Iamgold and Sumitomo Metal Mining are building the Construction at the US$1.3- Côté gold project, in northern Ontario. billion open pit project will CREDIT: IAMGOLD begin in the third quarter, and continue for 32 months, with commercial production expected in the second half of 2023. The project is expected to produce 367,000 oz. gold annually over a mine life of 18 years, with the mill processing 36,000 t/d. The economics of the low-grade project, with probable reserves totalling 233 million tonnes grading 0.96 g/t gold for 7.3 million oz., will benefit from the current high gold price environment. At US$1,700 gold, the project’s NPV is US$2 billion, the IRR is 22.4% and the payback period 2.6 years. With project operator Iamgold looking into the use of autonomous trucks at Côté, this would be the first such use at a mining operation in Canada outside of the oilsands.
PREMIER In April, Ascot Resources released a feasibility study for its Premier and Red Mountain projects in northwest British Columbia’s Golden Triangle. The study looks at restarting the mill at Premier, a past-producing site, located 25 km away from The existing mill at Ascot Resources’ past-producing Premier Stewart. Mill feed would come gold project, in B.C. from underground production at CREDIT: ASCOT RESOURCES three deposits at Premier and one at Red Mountain, 23 km southeast. With an initial capital investment of $146.6 million, the 2,500 t/d project would produce an average of 132,375 oz. of gold and 370,500 oz. silver annually over a mine life of eight years. The study projected all-in-sustaining costs at US$769 per oz., an after-tax IRR of 51%, and an NPV of $341 million (at a 5% discount rate). Reserves at Premier total 3.6 million tonnes grading 5.45 g/t gold and 19.1 g/t silver for 637,000 oz. of gold and 2.2 million oz. of silver. Red Mountain reserves stand at 2.5 million tonnes grading 6.52 g/t gold and 20.6 g/t silver, totalling 534,000 oz. gold and 1.7 million oz. silver. AUGUST 2020
Marathon Gold’s Valentine project in Newfoundland. CREDIT: MARATHON GOLD
Marathon Gold released a prefeasibility study for its Valentine gold project, about 80 km southwest of Buchans, Nfld., in April. The study outlined an open pit operation with a mine life of 12 years that would produce an average of 175,000 oz. gold annually for its first nine years. All-in sustaining costs were projected at US$739 per oz. of gold. The initial capital cost of $272 million would build a 6,800 t/d mill, and an additional $42-million investment would fund an expansion in year 4 to 11,000 t/d. At a gold price of US$1,350 per oz., the study estimates an after-tax NPV of $472 million (at a 5% discount rate) and an IRR of 36%. Marathon plans to submit an environmental impact statement later this year, with a feasibility study expected in the first half of 2021, and a potential production start in late 2023. The Marathon and Leprechaun deposits at Valentine contain proven and probable reserves of 41.1 million tonnes grading 1.41 g/t gold for a total of 1.9 million oz. gold.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 38
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KIENA In May, Wesdome Gold Mines released a preliminary economic assessment for its past-producing Kiena mine near Val-d’Or, Que., that projects an initial capex of $35 million, a mine life of eight years, and annual production of 85,931 oz. gold. All-in sustaining costs were estimated at US$512 per oz., with an after- Wesdome Gold Mines’ past-producing Kiena gold project, in Quebec. tax NPV of $416 million and CREDIT: WESDOME GOLD MINES an IRR of 102%. The company is now working on a prefeasibility study for Kiena and looking to make a production decision early next year. The project, which was put on care and maintenance in 2013, already contains a 2,000 t/d mill, and other infrastructure. Indicated resources total 2.8 million tonnes averaging 8.51 g/t gold for 798,100 oz., with a resource update expected later this year. Exploration drilling this year will focus on up-plunge potential of the high-grade Kiena Deep A Zone. CMJ
www.canadianminingjournal.com
ADVERTORIAL
IMPROVED PROTECTION PLATFORM CONNECTS SLOPE MONITORING TO MINE OPERATIONS
B
usy traffic, noise, poor visibility, and operator distraction and fatigue make mines potentially dangerous places to work. Add the threat of slope failure and rock falls, and it’s easy to appreciate the very real obstacles mining companies face in achieving zero harm. Safety, sustainability and efficiency can suffer at any mine where the data from planning, operations, safety and business analytics are siloed. Recent integration between Hexagon’s Mining division and Hexagon subsidiary, IDS GeoRadar now means that these important data sources can be shared in one platform. Hexagon is a leader in sensor, software and autonomous solutions. Recognizing the risks miners face, the company now connects systems for safety and radar-based slope stability hazards. The single platform is part of HxGN MineProtect Collision Avoidance System (CAS) 4.6.
It means mines can now receive real-time equipment visualization with timely alerts about hazardous areas for people and machinery. Workers and equipment are protected from injurythreatening events by being forewarned of no-go-zones. No-go zones are identified in IDS GeoRadar’s IBIS Guardian software, which creates geofenced zones and hazard maps, and is correlated with radar alarms. Guardian’s integration with CAS 4.6 and complementary HxGN MineProtect solutions, Personal Alert and Tracking Radar, ensures that alarms are automatically triggered when a no-go zone is approached. “The additional layer of information created by this integration means better risk evaluation and is one more way to ensure everyone gets home safely,” said Nick Hare, President of Hexagon’s Mining division. “It’s also a great example of our autonomous connected ecosystems strategy – connecting
Integration between IDS GeoRadar and the HxGN MineProtect portfolio means that mines can now receive real-time equipment visualization with timely alerts about hazardous areas for people and machinery. Workers and equipment are protected from injury-threatening events by being forewarned of no-go zones.
previously siloed processes in one platform that will save lives.” IDS GeoRadar President, Alberto Bicci, said: “Guardian can now improve risk management being integrated with the HxGN MineProtect portfolio. Vehicles and machinery are visualized in real time on the 3D radar displacement map and consequently traffic management, based on slope hazards, can be further optimized through real-time monitoring data from our complementary solutions, Hydra-X, IBIS-FM and IBIS-ArcSAR.”
GREEN ENERGY
RENEWABLE
energy IN MINING
A practical application for active operations
By Jocelyn Zuliani and Joel Guilbaud
Historically, mines have been powered using fossil fuels, a costly endeavour when you consider the high price of transportation and storage, not to mention the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted into the atmosphere — a very high cost to the natural environment. Recently, several mine operators have set ambitious targets to significantly reduce emissions, with aspirations of achieving net zero operations within the next 25 to 30 years. Their strategy: incorporate green technologies for power generation, as well as energy storage capabilities whenever and wherever possible. So, the question remains, how do we get there?
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he mine of the future will need to generate nearly 100% of its energy requirements – for powering the mine and supplying the vehicle fleet – with emission-free energy. Currently, there are many technologies in development to help us achieve mass electrification in mining. This includes high efficiency renewable generation, low-cost energy storage for both short duration and longer duration, high-density battery and hydrogen powered vehicles, combined heat and power generation from 40 | CANADIAN
MINING JOURNAL
solar-enclosed technologies, and small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). One of the most appealing use cases to date lies in a hybrid microgrid approach. Several mines have started down this path, integrating wind or solar photovoltaic (PV) generation with short duration lithium-ion batteries. These configurations typically generate 10-25% of a mine’s total electricity needs. In these low penetration microgrids, the microgrid continues to be controlled by the diesel gensets with renewables acting as a reduction to
the overall mine load, while short duration lithium-ion batteries are utilized to reduce the variability that stems from renewable generation. The batteries essentially act as an operating reserve and will either generate or store electricity if there is a significant drop or increase in renewable generation, that is until a diesel genset can be safely ramped up or down. This approach allows for fewer gensets to remain online at any given time, reducing both fuel consumption and operating costs. Today, many mining operations are targeting medium renewable penetration, aiming for 40-60% of total electricity generated from renewable sources. Continually reducing costs and improving performance of wind and solar PV, as well as innovations to support reliable operations in extreme climates have made these generation sources more attractive. However, in order to achieve medium to www.canadianminingjournal.com
Integrated wind-storage diesel energy project at the Raglan mine in Nunavik, Quebec. CREDIT: COURTESY OF TUGLIQ/PHOTO BY JUSTIN BULOTA
high renewable penetration, the dispatch of the diesel gensets must be modified. The renewable generator’s contribution to the microgrid is significant and can no longer be treated as a simple reduction in load. Energy storage integration is a must, allowing all diesel gensets to be turned off for several hours. During these short periods, the wind or solar PV generation is high enough to cover the mine’s electricity needs. When the gensets are off, the energy storage will control the grid, maintaining power quality and controlling the variability of the renewable generation. In the future, as more aggressive and higher renewable penetration targets are set, aiming for near 100% renewable penetration, a significant shift in operating strategies is required. In this scenario, AUGUST 2020
diesel gensets will only be operated during extended periods of low renewable generation. This will require both high- power energy storage to smooth short-duration intermittency and long-duration energy storage to support the supply of renewable generation, shifting it over several hours of the day. Long-duration storage is key to enabling this operating mode and there are many technologies being developed to support this requirement, including flow batteries, zinc batteries, geothermal and thermal storage, compressed gas storage, and hydrogen storage. As mines reach higher renewable penetration, there will be excess power available at virtually no cost. The amount of excess renewable power available depends on both the mine’s location and the tech-
nologies adopted, with up to 50% of the total renewable generation available for heat demand and truck charging. Batterypowered trucks are expected to dominate the market for 100 tonnes of production or less. Heavy payload trucks of 300 tonnes and above will be hydrogen-powered and refilled with green hydrogen, mostly produced with excess power from the mine’s renewable generation output. In sunny locations, heat-intensive mining processes will use solar-enclosed technologies to produce both heat and power with a single generation technology. Lithium mines require large amount of process steam and will benefit the most from solar-enclosed heat and power technologies. This will consequently lead to a decarbonization of the entire lithium mining processes, further accelerating the uptake of lithium-based batteries for renewable integration and electric vehicles. And finally, SMRs are another highly anticipated technology pathway for remote mining. SMRs can be factory-produced and meet scaleable power demands, giving the mine the flexibility to add modules based on current and future power demand. SMRs can produce megawatt-scale baseload power that can be complemented by other traditional renewable and storage technologies to meet the mine and fleet energy demand. In Canada alone, a dozen companies have pre-licencing engagements with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Once a successful demonstration is achieved, the mining sector is set to be a primary target for commercialization, due to its high reliance on expensive diesel fuel in remote areas. It’s no secret that off-grid mines are faced with electricity generation challenges, but with all of these technologies in the commercial development pipeline, we have an incredible opportunity to drastically curb climate change impacts in mining. The time is now! CMJ – Jocelyn Zuliani, PhD, is Hatch’s Energy Storage Lead. Her work focuses on assessing energy storage technologies and partnering with companies to select the appropriate solutions to address their needs. – Joel Guilbaud is Hatch’s Hybrid Power Lead. He has expertise in modelling and optimizing energy projects such as hybrid power, wind, solar, thermal power, and energy storage. He holds a PhD in Energy and Economics from University College London on hybrid renewable power systems for mining. CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL |
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Productive mines know technology drives their success. Companies must be smarter, safer, and quicker to respond to change. Their future depends on it. We believe integration is the key to a safer, more productive mine where monitoring, design, fleet management, collision avoidance, production optimization, and surveying connect in real time. Our customers are informed and empowered to make sense of their data for smarter, faster decisions. We are a global network of experienced mining professionals, delivering technology, service, and support for the life of your mine.
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hexagonmining.com www.canadianminingjournal.com
NEW MINING TECHNOLOGY
Simplifying sample processing New gold assay method offers faster turnaround By Carl A. Williams
D
he ene s o he echno og inc e o incre se in s e si e, re ce s e re r ion re ire en s, o e n non es r c ive n sis, s er rn ro n i es, n he e i in ion o he se o o ic or c s ic che ic re gen s
etermining the grade of mineralization in an orebody from initial exploration to resource definition and estimation is essential for assessing whether a deposit represents a potentially economically viable mine. It also provides valuable information on which mineral extraction and processing methods to employ to maximize the value of the finished product. The chemical analysis of geological materials, including rocks, soils, and stream sediments, from within or around a suspected orebody allows mining and mineral exploration companies to determine the concentrations of saleable products in mineral ores. However, for gold prospecting and mining, the analysis of gold in mineral ores present unique challenges. For example, gold is mined commercially at low concentrations, is often irregularly distributed in ores, and can be difficult to sample due to its malleability and resistance to pulverization. In addition to the analytical challenges of determining gold
concentrations in mineral ores, the chemical and physical properties of samples need to be altered before analysis. For instance, depending on the expected level of gold, the type of material, and the choice of analytical technique, ore samples are usually crushed, powdered, fused, or digested in strong acids. A variety of analytical techniques, including inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), induced neutron activation analysis, and atomic absorption spectrometry are then used to determine the concentration of gold in the sample. The most commonly used method for assaying gold is fire assay. However, the method is complicated and time-consuming, requires skilled technicians who work with molten materials at temperatures of over 1,000° Celsius, involves the use of toxic reagents like lead, and destroys the samples being analyzed. CONTINUED ON PAGE 44
The Chrysos PhotonAssay technology is a fully penetrative assay technique that allows processing of coarse crushed material and rock chip samples.
AUGUST 2020
CREDIT: CHRYSOS
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NEW MINING TECHNOLOGY
A Chrysos PhotonAssay unit in Perth, Australia.
CREDIT: CHRYSOS
Furthermore, because it uses small amounts of materials, the analysis of highly heterogeneous mineral ores using fire assay can be particularly challenging, and the results may not necessarily provide an accurate determination of the gold content. ch enger o re ss ing A new technology called Chrysos PhotonAssay that uses high-energy X-rays to determine the gold content of mineral ores could now challenge the pre-eminence of fire assay. The technology, also called gamma activation analysis, was invented in the 1960s, but its lack of sensitivity and accuracy limited its widespread application. Then, around 15 years ago, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia significantly improved the method, leading to a technique that can rapidly and accurately determine the gold concentration of mineral ores. Building on the work of CSIRO, an Australian-based company called Chrysos has commercialized the technology and is delivering it to miners and laboratories across the world. “I was part of a team at CSIRO that was focused on developing new instrument solutions for the minerals industry,” says James Tickner, the company’s chief technology officer and inventor of the trademarked Chrysos PhotonAssay technology. “There weren’t any real-time, online technologies that could measure gold quickly, accurately, or with sufficient sensitivity that would be useful for industry.” Fortunately, Tickner added, the technology that eventually became Chrysos PhotonAssay worked exceptionally well for gold and could provide the industry with an alternative to fire assay. 44 | CANADIAN
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ign re g r sign The technique uses an electronic linear accelerator to generate high-energy X-ray beams with energies up to 8.5 million electron-volts (MeV) that irradiate the sample for around 15 seconds. The beams are sufficiently energetic to induce short-lived changes in the nuclei of any gold atoms present in the sample. As gold has only one naturally occurring isotope, 197Au, excitation by the X-rays pushes the gold atoms into an excited, or isomeric state, which has a half-life of about 7.73 seconds. “When this isomeric state returns to the ground or unexcited state, the gold atoms emit gamma-rays with a characteristic energy of about 279 keV (thousand electron-volts),” says Tickner. This signal, Tickner added, is unique to gold, “so, you don’t have to contend with background signals from other elements like silicon, aluminium, oxygen, for example, which are usually present in the rock at much higher levels and is a particular bugbear for other techniques.” By detecting and then measuring this signature gamma-ray signal, which is proportional to the amount of gold in the sample, the gold concentration and grade of ore can be easily estimated. Furthermore, the energy of the incident X-rays and emitted gamma-rays is high enough to penetrate several centimetres of rock easily. Therefore, relatively large samples of around 400 to 600 grams can be analyzed, providing a more accurate assessment of the entire sample’s actual grade. “The technology is fully automated and provides a fast, accurate, and reliable method for detecting gold and other metals,” says Dirk Treasure, CEO of Chrysos. “Unlike fire assay, it’s a non-destructive technique and leaves the original sample www.canadianminingjournal.com
Chrysos engineers monitor the PhotonAssay process via an HMI (human machine interface), allowing for safe startup, operation and troubleshooting.
intact, which allows for multiple analyses to be performed on the same sample.” The company has undertaken extensive factory and laboratory testing of more than 200 certified reference materials (CRMs) prepared from a variety of naturally occurring ores, synthetic blended materials, gold-copper and polymetallic concentrates, and carbon pulps. In CRMs containing one part per million (ppm) gold, a detection limit of 30 parts per billion (ppb) with a precision of about 3.5% was achieved for a prototype instrument, which increased to less than 1.5% for samples of around 10 ppm. Factory testing of a commercial unit led to an improvement in the detection to 30 ppb. In addition to testing carried out by Chrysos, MSALABS, a provider of geochemical laboratory services to the global exploration and mining industry and headquartered in British Columbia, has also conducted trials on the technology. “We used the technology for a mining client with two issues – nuggety gold samples and rapidly increasing sample volumes,” said Stuart Thomson, CEO of MSALABS. “It’s well known that assaying for nuggety gold deposits is difficult, and there are compromises with any method selected during both sample preparation and the final assay.” Thomson and his team conducted trials using both the Chrysos PhotonAssay and fire assay techniques. “We found that the two techniques demonstrated a very strong correlation in the results despite the sample grades spanning multiple orders of magnitude,” Thomson noted. “However, the Chrysos PhotonAssay technology is a simpler process that AUGUST 2020
CREDIT: CHRYSOS
requires fewer people and a lower technical skillset with less likelihood for error.” The simplified process, he added, provides a much faster sample turnaround and higher throughput and also eliminates human and environmental exposure to the waste lead created by fire assay. “Extensive testing of the technology on real mineral ores provided by more than 20 companies produced results that were consistent and interchangeable with those from fire assay,” Treasure said. The benefits of technology, he added, include a 10-fold increase in sample size, reduced sample preparation requirements, automated and non-destructive analysis, faster turnaround times, and the elimination of the use of toxic or caustic chemical reagents. The International Organization for Standardization and Australia’s National Association of Testing Authorities have certified the technology, and grade results for drill core samples have been used in Joint Ore Reserves Committee Code and National Instrument 43-101 compliant reports, Treasure noted. “Currently, the technology can analyze around 50,000 samples per month and is designed for use in either large, centralized assay laboratories, or on-site laboratories at large gold mines,” Tickner said. “A new unit is currently being designed that is targeted for smaller gold operations and is scheduled for delivery in 2020.” The technique, he added, is currently being extended to other elements and could be used for commercially relevant concentrations of both silver and copper. CMJ – Carl A. Williams is a senior staff writer with The Northern Miner. CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL |
45
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HEAVY
EQUIPMENT
p48
AUGUST 2020
BEVs gain ground
CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL |
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HEAVY EQUIPMENT
BEVs
GAIN GROUND Cost-saving benefits extend beyond greenfield sites By Kate Burns
Industry-OEM collaboration along with parallel technology developments in battery compositions and mine digitalization have elevated BEVs to be a viable equipment option for many operations.
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MINING JOURNAL
I
n 2020, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are nothing new for the mining industry – Kirkland Lake Gold had already recognized enough value in the technology to implement it at its Macassa mine in Ontario in 2012, and Newmont’s Borden Lake recently achieved commercial production with a battery-electric fleet. Attention towards BEV technology has increased exponentially since these first movers in the BEV space emerged. Vale now targets to have 20 BEVs in operation by the end of 2020, Pretium Resources is evaluating the potential for BEVs to improve costs, environmental health, and safety at the Brucejack mine in B.C., and Glencore plans for both Onaping Depth and Nickel Rim Deep in Sudbury, Ont., to be diesel-free underground projects. Engineering firms like JDS Energy & Mining are now including BEV fleet recommendations in feasibility studies – JDS indicated battery-powered load and haul equipment should be used where possible at the PureGold Red Lake mine to reduce ventilation requirements – and countless other projects are making the same recommendation. There has been a learning curve to arrive at this point where BEVs are so prevalent. The mining industry and OEMs collaborated to develop products that deliver the functionality and productivity that is required by the industry, and collaborated to answer the questions that come
along with any new product. Originally BEVs were limited to smaller LHDs, but the industry required machines that could match the power and productivity of their diesel fleets, with higher capacity battery cells and longer drive times. OEMs listened to that need and recently Sandvik-owned Artisan Vehicles released a 50-tonne battery powered truck that matches and even exceeds the productivity of its diesel equivalents. This industry-OEM collaboration along with parallel technology developments in battery compositions and mine digitalization have elevated BEVs to be a viable equipment option for many operations. As a new product, there was uncertainty around the maintenance costs of battery-powered machines. However, BEVs are no longer just prototypes – there is a growing fleet in production around the world that can be analyzed to provide real insights on maintenance costs. Brian Huff, VP of Technology at Artisan Vehicles says that considering the analyses Artisan has done, “over the life of the machine (total cost of ownership) is about 12% lower.” He adds that “this is only the direct costs, it excludes things like parts holding costs, fuel handling and disposal costs, ventilation reduction, and any tax credits for GHG emissions.” One reason leading to the reduction in direct maintenance costs is that due to the static nature of the electric drive, there are fewer moving parts www.canadianminingjournal.com
Above and page 47: An Artisan Z50 conducting a battery self-swap. The 50-tonne haul truck is emissions-free. CREDIT: SANDVIK
requiring repair and maintenance in BEVs versus a diesel counterpart. An indirect cost-benefit of BEVs comes in their energy efficiency – with battery power, a greater percentage of energy purchased is converted to power, whereas the energy potential of diesel is greatly reduced once idling time, transmission losses, and other factors associated with an internal combustion engine are considered. Ultimately, the cost per kWh of power is less for a battery engine than a diesel engine. Aside from the uncertainty about operating costs of battery-powered machines, mines were initially apprehensive about purchasing batteries as a capital expense because diesel is an operating cost. As a result, OEMs are now considering service and maintenance options like a batteryas-a-service offering, which would allow mines to continue allocating fuel (now batteries instead of diesel) to their operating costs in the form of a monthly battery service and usage charge. Finally, the safety of batteries in an underground environment is a common concern, specifically with respect to fires. AUGUST 2020
The LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate or LFP) chemistry is the safest when it comes to an underground environment where rough walls and roads, acidic water, high temperatures and differing operator techniques can lead to hazards for batteries. While other chemistries offer solutions for less hostile, more predictable environments (such as surface construction equipment), LFP stands out as one
The industry is undergoing a technology revolution and a number of these new technologies have also supported the BEV revolution.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
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HEAVY EQUIPMENT
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of the most forgiving chemistries for use in the often-unpredictable world of underground mining. The LFP chemistry will withstand hazards like overcharge, mechanical shock and vibration, external and internal short-circuits, crushing and penetration without resulting in an uncontrollable fire event. Sandvik uses LFP chemistry in its custom designed and built Artisan batteries and has accumulated over 400,000 hours of operation in tough underground environments without a single thermal event. Battery conversion As the BEV offering is becoming more aligned with the industry’s requirements, mine operators and engineers are also increasingly understanding that the operational and economic benefits can be realized without significantly modifying existing mine infrastructure. Previously, BEVs were thought to primarily benefit new mines because those projects could optimize ventilation systems from the outset of mine design. However, evidence is increasingly mounting that BEV benefits can be realized in many situations other than just greenfields projects and the economic potential of these options are being explored and proven by engineering and consulting firms. For example, SRK Consulting conducted a BEV study comparing ventilation requirements for an all-diesel fleet versus battery powered haul trucks and LHDs. The study demonstrated that without modifying the mine’s existing infrastructure, ventilation demand could be reduced by 50% and total fan power reduced by 80% just by adopting BEV trucks and loaders and retaining diesel for the remainder of the mobile fleet. The benefits of battery conversion will only potentially increase as battery usage is adopted in applications outside of just loading and hauling. Battery power was first only considered practical for smaller LHDs, however there are now battery powered options for LHDs, haul trucks, development drills, production drills, rock support drills, and utility vehicles, essentially meaning the entire underground mining process can now be battery pow-
Kirkland Lake Gold’s Macassa mine in Ontario. CREDIT: KIRKLAND LAKE GOLD
ered. This is a significant development for deep mining projects where ventilation costs can be so extreme as to limit the economic viability of the project. The industry is undergoing a technology revolution and a number of these new technologies have also supported the BEV revolution. Underground personnel and vehicle tracking devices, like Newtrax’s personnel and equipment monitoring system, enable mines to implement systems like ventilation on demand, putting additional focus on the potential for ventilation savings. And fully autonomous machines will also modify the way mine planners consider ventilation requirements. Diesel powered loading and hauling is so embedded into the industry’s understanding of the haul cycle that it is a challenge to consider the productivity and efficiencies gained by removing refuelling stops and diesel costs. “We are adding these more frequent but quicker delays for battery swapping but removing the longer delays that we don’t even question anymore because they are built into our understanding of the diesel haul cycle,” says Artisan’s Brian Huff. “What we have found is that with such a short battery swap time, of six minutes, and faster haulage speeds, there is actually an increase in production.” With an array of battery-powered products available that are suited to the industry’s needs, and mounting data to support the business case for BEVs in mines, the last step in the industry’s adoption of this new technology will be a shift in the way operators think about the fuel and refuelling aspects of the mining cycle, and that CMJ shift is already well underway. Kate Burns is the marketing, intelligence, and strategy manager for Sandvik Canada.
www.canadianminingjournal.com
AUGUST 2020 | VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 7
ON THE MOVE
Executive, Management and Board Changes in Canada’s Mining Sector
TOP MOVES IN THIS ISSUE
Ewan Downie
Shawn Hood
Patrick Anderson
Ewan Downie has joined the board of Clean Air Metals. Downie has served as the president and CEO of Premier Gold Mines since the company’s inception in 2006. He has over 25 years of experience in the exploration and mining industries, founded Wolfden Resources and has been involved with a number of gold and base metal discoveries. Downie is the 2003 recipient of the PDAC’s Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year award.
Shawn Hood is now the chief technology officer (CTO) of GoldSpot Discoveries, a company using artificial intelligence to generate exploration targets. Hood is a professional geoscientist with 15 years of exploration and mining experience. In the new role, he will be in charge of the company’s technology strategy for research and development, project success and data management. Hood was most recently the company’s VP of technical services.
Patrick Anderson has been appointed chairman of Strongbow Exploration’s board. Anderson is currently CEO and a director of Dalradian Resources, and succeeds Grenville Thomas in the chairman role – Thomas remains a director of the company. Anderson was the co-founder, president, CEO and director of Aurelian Resources, which was acquired by Kinross Gold in 2008. He is a geologist with over 20 years of resource sector experience.
AUGUST 2020
MANAGEMENT MOVES » 66 Resources has named R. Timothy Henneberry as its CEO and a director. Henneberry replaces Michael Dake, who has stepped down as CEO, but will remain a director. » Graeme Currie is now an advisor to Adamera Minerals. » Alto Ventures announced that in conjunction with the closing of its merger with Empress Resources, it has made changes to its leadership team. Mike Bandrowski has been appointed president and CEO, following Mike Koziol’s and Richard Mazur’s resignations from the president and CEO roles, respectively. Mazur will remain a director. Mike Bandrowski, David Rhodes, Jeremy Bond and Duncan Gordon have been appointed
to the board with Mike Koziol, David Cowan, Gary Zak and Michael Steeves stepping down as directors. » Andrey Shamis has been appointed interim CEO of Angus Ventures; Shamis, who joined the company’s board in 2017, succeeds Patrick Langlois in this role. » Miloje Vicentijevic has resigned as Benz Mining’s president and CEO but will remain on the board. Mathew O’Hara, a director of the company, will act as interim CEO. » Greg Gibson has resigned as the president, CEO, director and chairman of Bonterra Resources. Cesar Gonzalez has been appointed chairman and Normand Champigny has been named an independent nonexecutive director.
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» Pamela White has been appointed corporate secretary of Bell Copper. » Oscar Mendoza is now a special advisor, Mexico, for Brigadier Gold. » Matt Halliday has been promoted to the position of president and COO of Canada Silver Cobalt Works. He will hold this new role in addition to his duties as VP of exploration. Halliday replaces Frank Basa as president; Basa will continue as CEO. » Christopher Ecclestone is now the president and CEO of Cascadero Copper. Lorne Harder has been named interim CFO and corporate secretary. Ecclestone and Harder are also joining the company’s board. Brian Causey has stepped down as a director. » Alexandre Belleau has been named COO of Champion Iron Mines Belleau joined the company in 2016 and most recently was Champion’s general manager of projects and innovation. » Tony Barresi is now president and a director of Colorado Resources. Barresi was previously president and a director of Triumph Gold, where he continues to serve as a technical advisor and is also a director of ArcWest Exploration. » Enduro Metals (formerly Crystal Lake Mining) has announced additions to its management and technical team: Dylan Hunko is now the company’s COO; Malcolm Davidson has been named CFO; Deborah Cotter is joining as corporate secretary and John Ryan is now on the technical advisory committee.
BOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS » Andy Wallace has joined the board of Allegiant Gold. » Simon Clarke has been appointed to the board of American Lithium. G.A. Binninger is now a special advisor to the board. » Carsten Korch has been named a director of Asante Gold, following the passing of Florian RiedlRiedenstein.
» Peter O’Malley has been named an independent non-executive director of Bonterra Resources; Allan Folk has resigned from the board.
https://www.northernminerjobs.com. » Doug Reddy will transition to the COO role with Equinox Gold at the start of September, once Attie Roux, the company’s current COO, retires.
» Richard Patricio has been named president and CEO of Generic Gold following Kelly Malcolm’s resignation. Malcolm will remain a director.
» John Gammack has been appointed CEO and president of Far Resources, replacing Toby Mayo who will be moving into the position of VP technology development.
» Mike Sieb has been named president of Getchell Gold; Sieb has been a director of the company since 2018. Stephen Goodman has resigned from his post as the company’s CFO and as a director.
» Steve Cashin has joined Fiore Gold as director of technical services. Cashin is the former operations manager at Barrick Gold’s Pueblo Viejo operation in the Dominican Republic. » Marc Roy is now the CEO and a director of Focus Graphite.
editor@canadianminingjournal.com
MINING JOURNAL
» Ron Hall and Carlos Escribano have stepped down from the board of Benz Mining. Escribano will continue to act as the company’s CFO.
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» Thomas Sarvas and Timothy Froude have joined the board of Benton Resources.
» Darryl Jones has been named the CFO of Goldhaven Resources following Blaine Bailey’s resignation. » Benoit Moreau has resigned from his post as president and director of Goldstar Minerals. Director Francois Perron will replace Moreau as president. Mathieu Séguin has also resigned from the board. » Heatherdale Resources has expanded its technical team: Ryan Weymark has joined as VP of project development, Jim Oliver is now a technical advisor and Graham Neale has been
named project manager for the Niblack project in Alaska. » Paul Crath has been named the interim CEO of Highvista Gold; Janet O’Donnell is now the company’s interim CFO and has joined the board. » Randy Buffington has stepped down from as chairman, president and CEO of Hycroft Mining. Stephen Jones, the company’s executive VP, CFO and secretary has been appointed interim president and CEO and David Kirsch, a director of the company, is the new chairman. Jeffrey Stieber, VP of finance, has been appointed interim CFO. » Andre Deepwell has retired as CFO and corporate secretary with Imperial Metals. The company has appointed Darb Dhillon, its current VP of finance, to fill this role. » Tim Williams is now the COO of Marathon Gold; Williams is a professional engineer with over 25 years of experience in mine construction and operations.
» Christopher Cheng is now on the board of Canuc Resources.
» Trace Arlaud is now on the board of Global Atomic.
» Greg Andrews has been appointed to the board of Cascadero Copper.
» Anne Giardini is now a director of K92 Mining.
» Euro Manganese has started a board restructuring process, with strategic advisory roles planned for Roman Shklanka, Harvey McLeod and Daniel Rosicky and two new independent directors envisioned for the board. John Webster, Greg Martyr, David Dreisinger and Marco Romero will continue as directors. Jan Votava will resign as a director, but remain a member of the executive team as managing director of the company’s Czech subsidiary.
» Newman Wayne Reid has joined the board of Leocor Ventures, following Charanjit Hayre’s resignation.
» Murray Seitz, a director of Far Resources, has passed away. » Peter Mullens has stepped down from the board of G2 Goldfields. » Jim Mustard has joined the board of Getchell Gold. » Thuso Dikgaka and Maureen Mokgaotsane are now on the board of Giyani Metals’ wholly owned subsidiary in Botswana, Menzi Battery Metals.
» Marco Roque is now the CEO and a director of Margaux Resources. Tyler Rice will remain the company’s president. Doug Foster has resigned as a director. » Hayden Locke has been appointed president of Marimaca Copper. » Jean L’Heureux is now the COO of Mason Graphite. » Adrian McArthur is now the CEO, president and a director of Meridian Mining with Gilbert Clark stepping down from the interim CEO role; Clark will remain a director. » Ramiro Massa is now the president and CEO of Minsud Resources following Alberto Orcoyen’s resignation; Orcoyen will continue to serve as a director. Michael Johnston, the company’s CFO, has also been named corporate secretary with Ramiro Massa stepping down.
AUGUST 2020
» Peter MacPhail has joined the board of Manitou Gold. Peter Weidmann has retired from Meridian Mining’s board. » Kevin Small has joined the board of Minera Alamos. Euler De Souza is now on the board of Nippon Dragon Resources. » Ian Rice has joined the board of Oroco Resource with CFO Steve Vanry stepping down as a director.
» Craig Parry is now the chairman of QX Metals’ board. Rod McKeen and John Williamson have resigned from the board. » Steven Kahn has stepped down from SolidusGold’s board. » Peter Mitchell has been appointed to the board of Taseko Mines; Richard Mundie and Alex Morrison did not stand for re-election. » Matthew Quinlan, the interim CFO of Trevali Mining, has been appointed to the board of Noront Resources. » Thomas Masney is now a director of Orosur Mining, replacing HD Lee. » Elodie Grant Goodey has joined the board of SolGold.
» J.J. Elkin has been appointed to the board of Plato Gold.
» Réjean Gosselin has joined UrbanGold Minerals as an independent director.
» Brian Crawford is now a director of Portofino Resources.
» Stephen Motteram has stepped down from the board of Xanadu Mines.
Check out www.canadianminingjournal.com for more issues of ON THE MOVE.
» Keith Benn is now the VP of exploration for both Mistango River Resources and Orefinders Resources. » Mac Jackson has joined New Placer Dome’s advisory board. » Scott Honan has been promoted to the COO role with NioCorp Developments; Honan joined the company in 2014 as VP of business development. » Peter Mullens has been appointed VP of business development with NxGold. » Sean Spraggett is now the general manager, Panama, with Orla Mining. » Brad George is now the CEO of Orosur Mining, succeeding Ignacio Salazar. » Ron Stewart has been appointed CEO of Pacific Precious; Stewart is a mining professional with over 30 years of experience in exploration, project development, operations and capital markets.
» Patrick Godin has joined Pretium Resources as VP and COO; Godin succeeds David Prins, the company’s VP of operations. » Alex Tsakumis is now the VP of investor relations with Prime Mining. » Leonardo Elizalde has been named manager of project development with Salazar Resources. » Perry Durning and Frank Hillemeyer are now technical advisors for Silver Dollar Resources. » Standard Uranium has added Galen McNamara and Sean Hillacre to its technical team: Hillacre has been named project manager for the upcoming Davidson River drill program and McNamara, the CEO and a director of Summa Silver, has been appointed a technical advisor.
Battiston has stepped down as CFO and a director. » Russell Starr is now the president and CEO of Trillium Gold Mines, with David Velisek resigning as CEO and James Lenec stepping down as president. Velisek will remain on the company’s board while Lenec will serve as VP of business development and as a director. » Tony Barresi has resigned as president of Triumph Gold and stepped down from the board. Joe Campbell has also resigned as a director. Barresi will continue as a technical advisor to the company and Brian Bower is now the lead director. » Matthew Roma is now the CFO and corporate secretary of Western Pacific Resources with Eduardo Yu stepping down.
» Ryan Ptolemy is now the CFO of Sulliden Mining Capital and Wen Ye has been appointed to the company’s board. Deborah
CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL |
53
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