CIM Magazine June/July 2014 by CIM-ICM Publications

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IN THIS ISSUE

54 40

CIM MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY | JUIN/JUILLET 2014

cover story

Enirgi Group and its ADY Resources team, with their brine operation high on the salt flats of Argentina, are determined to be ready to provide battery-grade lithium when the electric vehicle market takes off by Pierrick Blin and Antoine Dion-Ortega photography by Michel Huneault

40 Carbon capture

is the future of coal

But can we get there fast enough? by Graham Chandler

51 A cleaner burn

Through the use of filters, catalytic converters and more efficient engines, manufacturers and miners are making great strides in their ability to control potentially harmful diesel emissions and reduce exposure to underground workers by Eavan Moore

22 Quebec’s key asset

Created a little more than two years ago, Ressources Quebec – a subsidiary of the provincial government’s investment agency – has $1 billion to invest in local projects at all stages by Antoine Dion-Ortega

June/July 2014 | 5

contenu francophone

24 8 10 12

Editor’s letter President’s notes Letters to the editor

tools of the trade 14

The best in new technology

news

compiled by Tom DiNardo

16 24

Industry at a glance

Metallurgical coal prices are at a five-year low, causing many B.C. coal mines to delay expansions and cut production by Christopher Pollon

A fatal bear attack at Suncor’s base plant near Fort McMurray has put the spotlight on wildlife safety

columns

Part-time processing can equal big energy savings

by Michelle Levesque

by Andy Reynolds

Systems engineering for the innovation supercycle Feds can’t play favourites with rail rules

upfront: safety

A widespread outbreak of Ebola threatens the resource rich region of West Africa by Correy Baldwin

6 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

by Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

59 Profile de projet

Le Groupe Enirgi et l’équipe d’ADY Resources sont déterminés, avec leurs opérations d’extraction de saumure dans les lacs salés argentins, à offrir un lithium de qualité batteries lorsque le marché du véhicule életrique prendra enfin son envol

by Tom DiNardo

University of Alberta safety and risk guru Gord Winkel made the leap to academia from Syncrude in 2010, and continues to make the mining industry a better place to work

Record-breaking CIM Convention 2014 in Vancouver proves Mining's 4 Everyone

travel

by CIM Magazine staff

page couverture

Energy drink consumption is skyrocketing, but is the health of the workforce paying the price?

cim community

par Pierrick Blin et Antoine Dion-Ortega

10 46

65 81

Mot du président La technologie de captage et stockage du CO2 peut-elle sauver l’industrie du charbon? par Graham Chandler

La communauté de l’ICM Résumés techniques

Karratha, Australia

mining lore

by Tom DiNardo

by Brendan Marshall

Forty years ago a wildcat strike in Elliot Lake, Ontario shifted the way safety was treated across all industries

by Vivian Danielson

by Ian Ewing

Rumours of a local hunter using gold bullets in his rifle on Vancouver Island sparks an expedition, led by guide and raconteur Tomo Antoine by Correy Baldwin

77 81 81

CIM Magazine est disponible entierement en français en ligne : magazine.CIM.org/fr-CA

Technical abstracts Innovation showcase Product files & Professional directory

MAKING A COMMITMENT TO LOWERING YOUR COSTS At Caterpillar, our relationship with our customers goes way beyond selling and supporting the machines we manufacture. Our goal is to combine our products and technologies with our mining industry expertise to help you achieve your definition of success — whether that’s controlling expenses by using less fuel, getting the longest possible life out of your equipment through machine rebuilds, optimizing your site with a customized technology solution, or reducing your debt through our structured financing offerings. Get more information at M I N I N G . C AT. C O M

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Editor-in-chief Ryan Bergen, rbergen@cim.org Executive editor Angela Hamlyn, ahamlyn@cim.org Managing editor Andrea Nichiporuk, anichiporuk@cim.org

editor’s letter

Hard to win, too easy to lose

n May, CIM honoured members of the Canadian mining industry, including the winners of the John T. Ryan safety awards. The trophies were given out to mine operators who had the lowest reportable injury frequency in 2013. Though there are only three categories – coal, metal and select mines – the spotlight had to be divided six ways because contenders in two of the three categories had no reportable lost time injuries at all. Any lifetime CIM member with 50 years in the industry can tell you how remarkable that achievement is. There are some still around who remember being warned that the average cost for 500 feet of shaft development was one life. The day after the CIM awards gala, an explosion roared through the underground workings of the Soma coal mine in Turkey. The blast, subsequent fire, and the spread of poisonous gases killed 301 of the nearly 800 workers underground at the time, making it the worst mine disaster in that country’s history. It also drove people into the streets to protest Turkey’s poor safety standards in the mining industry and its government’s callous reaction to the event. Reporting on the disaster revealed that the mine had been inspected a number of times, apparently confirming the need for an investigation into the corruption and lax enforcement in the sector that opposition lawmakers had demanded just weeks before the explosion. Coal company executives have since been arrested and mining practices in the country are now subject to the scrutiny that was tragically overdue. Progress toward safer workplaces is not a slow and steady march. Forty years ago in Ontario, union members, incensed by the apparent disregard for the recently discovered cancer-risks of uranium mining, walked off the job in an illegal strike to push for better safety standards. As Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco details in “The strike that saved lives” (p. 34), the overhaul of occupational health and safety practices that followed was a catalyst for innovation and mining’s safety record in this country improved dramatically. Ten years from now, I hope the members of the Turkish mining industry will be able to boast similar advances. The terrible irony of the Soma disaster is that the vast majority of the lessons and recommendations that will come from the investigation will likely not be new. They have already been learned and integrated into operations, as the crowded stage for the John T. Ryan awards demonstrated. The deaths of Marc Methé and Norm Bissaillon at the Lockerby Mine and Lorna Weafer at Suncor’s oil sands site in May, however, highlight how elusive the goal of “zero harm” is. Regardless of the scale, whether in Canada or overseas, as quickly as progress in safety can potentially be made, it can be undone that much faster.

Section editors Peter Braul, pbraul@cim.org Herb Mathisen, hmathisen@cim.org Copy editor/Communications coordinator Zoë Koulouris, zkoulouris@cim.org Web content editor Maria Olaguera, molaguera@cim.org Editorial intern Tom DiNardo, tdinardo@cim.org Contributors Correy Baldwin, Pierrick Blin, Vivian Danielson, Peter Diekmeyer, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Ian Ewing, Graham Chandler, Michelle Levesque, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Brendan Marshall, Eavan Moore, Christopher Pollon, Andy Reynolds, Karen Rolland, Chris Windeyer Editorial advisory board Alicia Ferdinand, Garth Kirkham, Vic Pakalnis, Steve Rusk, Nathan Stubina Translations Antoine Dion-Ortega, SDL, Karen Rolland Published 9 times a year by: Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum 1250 – 3500 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West Westmount, QC H3Z 3C1 Tel.: 514.939.2710; Fax: 514.939.2714 www.cim.org; Email: magazine@cim.org Advertising sales Dovetail Communications Inc. 30 East Beaver Creek Rd., Ste. 202 Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1J2 Tel.: 905.886.6640; Fax: 905.886.6615; www.dvtail.com Senior Account Executives 905.886.6641 Janet Jeffery, jjeffery@dvtail.com, ext. 329 Neal Young, nyoung@dvtail.com, ext. 325 Account Manager Fiona Persaud, fpersaud@dvtail.com, ext. 326 Subscriptions Included in CIM membership ($174.00); Non-members (Canada), $270.00/yr (PE, MB, SK, AB, NT, NU, YT add $11.00 GST, BC add $26.40 HST, ON, NB, NL add $28.60 HST, QC add $32.95 GST + PST, NS add $33.00 HST) Non-Members USA and International: US$290.00/year. Single copies, $25.00.

This issue’s cover A collecting pond at the Rincón Salar lithium project Photograph by Michel Huneault Layout and design by Clò Communications Inc. www.clocommunications.com Copyright©2014. All rights reserved. ISSN 1718-4177. Publications Mail No. 09786. Postage paid at CPA Saint-Laurent, QC.

Ryan Bergen, Editor-in-chief editor@cim.org @Ryan_CIM_Mag

Dépôt légal: Bibliothèque nationale du Québec. The Institute, as a body, is not responsible for statements made or opinions advanced either in articles or in any discussion appearing in its publications.

Printed in Canada 8 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

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president’s notes | mot du président

Where have the past two years gone?

Sean Waller CIM President Président de l’ICM

Two years ago this month I was approached by CIM and asked to consider taking on the role of president, and I remember thinking that I had lots of time to prepare. Well those two years have flown by! In reality, the work starts right away. The four members of the president’s office – the incoming president-elect, the president-elect, president and past-president – are all fully engaged during their four years of service. This is but one of the many instances that illustrate the dedication to teamwork at all levels in CIM, which is critical to its continued success. The CIM Convention in Vancouver in May was a success by any measure: a record attendance; a sold-out exhibition; a sold-out awards gala; and a full house at the Joy Global Gala. The technical and Management & Finance Day programs were excellent, with standing room only in many presentations. When I toured the M4S pavilion, it was absolutely buzzing with excited students running from booth to booth where they participated in educational activities and spoke with volunteers. Feedback from teachers was extremely positive as well. We cannot for a minute underestimate the value of providing students the opportunity to see the variety of terrific career opportunities available in the minerals industry. The CIM Convention is the culmination of a year’s worth of effort by the CIM National Office and a team of dedicated volunteers. It is a lot of work! I wish to congratulate them all on a job well done, and thank the many sponsors whose support allows CIM to develop programs and initiatives that ensure we remain the Community for Leading Industry Expertise. I am honoured to be your president and look forward to an exciting and busy year. I am sure that all too soon I will be saying “Where did the past year go?”

Où sont passées les deux dernières années ? Il y a deux ans ce mois-ci, l’ICM me contactait pour me demander d’envisager d’accepter le poste de président de l’institut, et je me souviens de m’être alors fait la réflexion « tu as tout le temps de t’y préparer ». Eh bien, ces deux années sont passées à la vitesse grand V ! En réalité, le travail commence immédiatement. Les quatre membres du bureau du président, à savoir le président élu entrant, le président élu, le président et l’ancien président, sont tous activement impliqués pendant les quatre années de leur mandat. Ce n’est là que l’un des nombreux exemples révélant l’engagement de l’ICM envers le travail d’équipe à tous les niveaux, un facteur essentiel à son succès indéfectible. Le congrès de l’ICM, qui s’est tenu à Vancouver au mois de mai, a été couronné de succès à bien des niveaux : une participation sans précédent ; un salon commercial et une cérémonie de remise des prix qui affichaient complet ; et une salle comble au gala de Joy Global. Les excellents programmes technique et de la Journée finance et gestion minière ont attiré du monde et les salles étaient remplies pour la plupart des présentations. Au pavillon de M4S, des étudiants pleins d’enthousiasme allaient de kiosque en kiosque pour prendre part aux activités éducatives et s’entretenir avec les bénévoles. Les retours des enseignants ont également été très positifs. Ne sous-estimons pas, ne serait-ce qu’une minute, la valeur de cette occasion offerte aux étudiants de découvrir la variété exceptionnelle de carrières proposées dans l’industrie des minéraux. Le congrès de l’ICM marque l’aboutissement d’une année d’efforts déployés par le bureau national de l’ICM et une équipe de bénévoles dédiés. Le travail fourni par ces personnes est énorme ! C’est pourquoi je tiens à les féliciter pour leur excellent travail, et souhaite remercier les nombreux commanditaires pour leur soutien qui permet à l’ICM de développer des programmes et des initiatives lui garantissant de rester la communauté pour une expertise de premier plan. C’est un honneur pour moi d’être votre président, et je me réjouis à la perspective de cette année passionnante et riche en événements. Je suis certain que d’ici peu, je me demanderais « où est donc passée cette dernière année ».

10 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

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letters A call to action In Maureen Jensen’s interview (“The pioneer spirit,” March/April 2014), when asked about the barriers women face, she said the business has fewer women and the numbers are changing. She also said graduating classes are equally split between men and women. In engineering, the split is not equal – only 19.2 per cent of women are enrolled in engineering programs in Canada. The highest enrollment was in 2001 at 20.7 per cent; however, according to the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering, the percentage of women has been in decline since then, averaging 17-18 per cent for the last five years. I agree with Ms. Jensen that diversity in a workforce is needed; however companies need to do more than just talk, they need to take action. A first step may be for a company to look at the representation of men and women in every job class. If it isn’t equal, then the next step is to determine why and what can be done to enact change. There is no easy solution – this is a complex subject that encompasses, education, training, hiring practices, government policy and retention issues. It also requires a strong commitment at the executive level to bring about permanent change.

For more insight into the subject, I suggest reading a special report published in 2009 by the Wall Street Journal titled “Unlocking the full potential of women in the U.S. economy.” This article gives good insight into the business case for diversity, what holds women back, and offers a path to change. Another excellent reference is www.catalyst.org. Catalyst is a non-profit organization whose mission is to help create more inclusive, diverse workplaces where any person can thrive. I encourage the leaders of any company lacking a diverse workforce to check out these resources and see how a diverse workforce can benefit their organization. Donna M. Cortolezzis, P.Eng. Ph.D. student Laurentian University

The future of exploration Eavan Moore’s story On the Land in the May issue of CIM Magazine was a well-written, timely reminder that the future is now for aboriginal participation in the mineral industry. While access to capital for aboriginal communities to participate directly

in mine development remains a challenge, participation in early-stage exploration offers more possibilities for a lower cost entry into the business. Aboriginal Peoples are highly skilled observers of the natural environment, a skill that lends itself to traditional prospecting. Indeed, there are many examples of accomplished aboriginal prospectors but relatively few examples where these prospectors have gone the next step of staking claims and forming a company to attract partners and build a business. In addition to the many current initiatives in training and skills development to facilitate employment opportunities for Aboriginal Peoples in mining operations, as an industry, we also need to help inspire more entrepreneurial spirit in aboriginal communities so that talented young people appreciate the wealth creation opportunity that prospecting offers. This is starting to happen in a number of northern communities and in the future, I submit that aboriginal entrepreneurs will be the leaders of the mineral exploration industry in Canada. Donald S. Bubar CEO of Avalon Rare Metals

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Courtesy of Joy Global

OF TOOLS THE TRADE

◢ Packing power ◢ Drill durability Designed for use at hard rock operations in harsh conditions, Joy Global’s new rotary blasthole drill seeks to minimize maintenance downtime. The P&H 285XPC diesel hydraulic drill can operate in -40 C temperatures and is designed for 270- and 311-millimetre diameter hole applications, making it ideal for iron ore and copper operations. “We were looking to provide a drill best suited for that market that combines the reliability and productivity of other drills we have in our product line,” said Eric Wilkinson, product manager for drills. The diesel power unit in the 285XPC facilitates mobility for various drilling functions around mine sites by removing the trail cables necessary with an electric drill. The drill comes with Joy Global’s Universal Drill Cab to simplify training for operators familiar with other P&H drill models and also improve safety with unobstructed views of the drilling area through expansive windows.

What if you could add to your drilling depth while drilling more productively at the same time? In March, Boart Longyear unveiled its LM110 underground diamond coring drill, which sports a new 110-kilowatt (kW) power pack. This allows users to drill efficiently at deeper depths with one-third more torque than the 90-kW power pack in the previous model. “That just means when you’re in a deeper hole, it’s much easier [to continue drilling],” said Justin Warren, senior global project manager. Due to the modular nature of the LM drill series, Boart Longyear is selling a 110-kW power pack kit separately, as it is compatible with its older models. This allows customers to upgrade their current drills by replacing the older power packs. Drillers also have the option of adding a rod handler to the new drill rig, making the rod-loading process easier and safer. They can also add Boart Longyear’s Drill Control Interface, which includes display and optimization functions like data logging, reporting and other productivity tools.

Inconsistent and unexpected blasting results due to the unknown characteristics and variables in rock have the potential to cost companies millions of dollars in cleanup and additional fuel consumption. To improve blasting results, WipWare has added BlastCast to its suite of blast of fragmentation analysis software. The new tool allows customers to forecast blast fragmentation before actual blasting occurs. Users adjust their blasting parameters such as hole diameter and rock density, and BlastCast generates a graph that predicts blast fragmentation. After blasting, users compare the actual results with predicted results using photo-analytic technology and as they continue to blast and update parameters, BlastCast predictions become more accurate, unearthing previously unknown variables. “By solving that unknown, you’ve got a very accurate predictive model for the rock type under your operation,” said Tom Palangio, company 14 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

Courtesy of WipWare

◢ Predict your blast fragmentation

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Prez takes a pie CIM past-president Bob Schafer is presented with a pie by Mining Association of British Columbia president and CEO Karina Briño at the annual Teck Celebrity Pie Throw in downtown Vancouver on May 15. Schafer and 16 other mining professionals took pledges prior to receiving a pie in

Canada faces a zero-spam future Canada’s new anti-spam legislation will come into effect July 1, forcing many Canadian businesses to change their current electronic communications practices or potentially face large fines. The new act will apply to “commercial electronic messages” (CEM) sent by email and text message and through social media like Facebook and Twitter, originating from both within and outside Canada. Individuals contravening the act will face up to $1 million in penalties, while businesses could be fined up to $10 million. Victor Dudas, a lawyer at Vancouver firm Clark Wilson, said the first step companies must take is to determine if the messages they send are in fact CEM as defined by the new law. Such messages include offers to purchase, sell, barter or lease a product, goods, a service, land or an interest or right in land. For example, an email sent out by a junior mining company reporting new mineral discoveries or assay results with the hopes of driving investment is considered a CEM and would be subject to the new law. 16 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

the face for the Mining for Miracles charity, which is raising funds to create a biobank at the B.C. Children’s Hospital. Schafer raised $17,944.45 and the event brought in a total of $777,259. – Herb Mathisen

A major thrust of the law is to ensure recipients of commercial messages have granted consent in advance of receipt. According to analysis by the firm, the law will require that “prior express consent” be obtained from a recipient before the message is delivered. The onus will be on the sender of commercial messages to prove that this mandatory prior consent has been granted, meaning all companies will need to create new systems to properly document all consent received, while continually updating all customer email lists and databases. In many cases, companies will also need to obtain “fresh” consent from their customers to ensure they are compliant with the rules. Finally, Dudas said companies must document all the steps taken to comply with the act. – Christopher Pollon

Agnico Eagle pledges $5M for Nunavut university The news came pretty much out of the blue. Agnico Eagle Mining’s (AEM) chairman, Jim Nasso, stood on stage at the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit in April and did something nobody had done before: commit

money – $5 million to be exact – to the establishment of a university in Nunavut. Canada remains the only circumpolar nation without a university in its polar regions. Training opportunities for trades and specific professions like nursing and teaching abound, but aspiring students of the humanities, sciences and commerce must leave the territory to pursue their studies. But do not expect a U of Nu to open its doors any time soon. Nunavut suffers from a high school dropout rate approaching 75 per cent, and government policy is focused on that problem, said Wende Halonen, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education. “The gesture by AEM and interest in building a university is appreciated and came as a surprise,” Halonen said, but added, “there has not been any lengthy discussion around a university.” By contrast, Nasso is bullish on the project. He expects the first donation to inspire more benefactors to come forward. “We were bent on doing it,” he told Iqaluit’s Nunatsiaq News. “I think a lot of people are going to come forward [with funding] and this will come to fruition sooner than you think.” - Chris Windeyer

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news NRCan’s Rickford optimistic with new Quebec regime Quebec’s extractive industries could see renewed vigour following the election of Philippe Couillard’s Liberal provincial government, said Greg Rickford, Canada’s recently appointed federal

minister of natural resources. “We want to extend our hand to work together,” said Rickford in a mid-April presentation to the Conseil des Relations Internationales de Montréal (CORIM), his first to a Quebec audience. Rickford cited several areas of potential cooperation including a better climate on federal-provincial joint review

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panels, implementation of the 2011 Canada-Quebec agreement related to the development of hydrocarbons in the Saint Lawrence River, mine safety issues, and building new export markets. “We always liked the Plan Nord,” said Rickford, referring to the previous Liberal administration’s plan to develop minerals in the province’s northern region. That plan was essentially put on hold following the Parti Québécois defeat of the Liberal Charest government in 2012. The Parti Québécois regime was widely seen as having done damage to Quebec’s miningfriendly reputation through its efforts to toughen the existing royalty regime. Several aspects of Rickford’s biography suggest that he will extend more than just a friendly ear to Quebec mining sector stakeholders. The new minister hails from northern Ontario’s mineral-rich “Ring of Fire” region, completed both law school and his MBA in Quebec, and in his first press conference demonstrated a good knowledge of local issues. Raymond Chrétien, CORIM chairman, echoed Rickford’s optimism about the province’s resource extraction sector, saying that the new federalist Couillard regime would bring “four years of stability.” Chrétien added that recent challenges with the proposed Northern Gateway and Keystone pipelines increased the chances of a possible flow reversal of Enbridge’s 9B pipeline, which would see shipments of Alberta oil sands production to terminals in Montreal and possibly Quebec City. This change would boost economic development in Quebec and reduce the province’s dependency on foreign energy sources, he said. – Peter Diekmeyer

Jochen Tilk named PotashCorp CEO CONTACT YO OUR WESTEEL DE EALE ER TODAY Y. 800-665-2099 inffo@westeel.com WES STEEL.COM 18 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

PotashCorp announced in early April that Jochen Tilk will take over as the next president and CEO of the company. After stepping down from the top position, CEO Bill Doyle will stay on as a senior advisor to Tilk until June 2015, to aid in the transition.

industry at a glance The appointment, effective July 1, 2014, ends a three-year selection process for PotashCorp’s new leader. Tilk has worked in the mining industry for 30 years, most recently serving as president and CEO of Inmet Mining, although he has no previous experience in potash. “He has a very strong reputation as an operating CEO with an ability to manage a company’s assets very wisely and he’ll be a very good leader,” said Bill Johnson, senior director of public affairs at PotashCorp. Outgoing CEO Bill Doyle served as PotashCorp head for nearly 15 years, building it into the largest potash producer in the world. During his tenure, PotashCorp staved off a 2010 hostile takeover bid by BHP Billiton. However, in the last year, the potash price drop has hit the Saskatoon-based company hard: in December 2013, it cut roughly 18 per cent of its workforce. “Bill Doyle has been a tremendous leader of this organization and overseen incredible growth in not only our potash operations but also our nitrogen and phosphate operations as well,” said - Tom DiNardo Johnson.

Two dead in latest Sudbury accident On May 6, a “fall of ground” incident killed two drillers at First Nickel’s Lockerby nickel mine southwest of Sudbury. In the wake of the accident, two stop work orders were issued by the Ontario Ministry of Labour for water drainage and ground fall issues at the mine. According to the company, work at the mine was suspended until May 8, when activities resumed everywhere except at the accident site. The tragedy comes exactly one month after a 36-year-old worker died and another was seriously injured at Vale’s Copper Cliff smelter in Sudbury, and two years after two perished at the city’s Stobie mine. This latter incident, caused by a muck slide, led the labour ministry to launch a one-year “safety and prevention review” this February, which has brought together experts

The battle for Osisko In April, Osisko announced it was being acquired by Yamana Gold and Agnico Eagle, ending a dramatic four-month bidding war. In the deal, Yamana and Agnico Eagle each acquired 50 per cent of Osisko for a total of $3.9 billion, while creating a spinoff company, New Osisko. The partners will form joint committees to operate Osisko’s Canadian Malartic gold mine in Quebec. The process, however, started in January with a hostile takeover bid by Vancouverbased Goldcorp, which Osisko fought tooth and nail. Here is a look at the timeline of the bids: - T.D. JANUARY

Goldcorp offers $2.6 billion in cash and shares for all outstanding common shares of Osisko, representing $5.95 per share in cash and stocks.

APRIL

Osisko announces a friendly acquisition agreement with Yamana Gold, which would see Yamana acquire a 50 per cent interest in Osisko’s mining and exploration assets for $441.5 million in cash and 95.7 million common shares of Yamana (worth $929.6 million) for an aggregate cash and stock value of $7.60 per share.

Goldcorp increases its offer for Osisko common shares to $7.65 per share for a total consideration of $3.6 billion.

from industry, labour and health and safety to review ways to make current mining operations safer. Topics for review include worker training, water management practices, and the proper use of barricades and warning systems around open holes. Technological advances like new bolting and reinforcement techniques to prevent collapse and rock bursts will also be reviewed. “We have assembled a group of experts committed to occupational health and safety in the mining sector to provide advice to the review,” said George Gritziotis, chief prevention officer for Ontario, who is leading the process. “This will be a targeted, wellfocused consultation.” In the meantime, Labour’s investigation into the causes of the Lockerby accident continues. – C.P.

Yamana Gold and Agnico Eagle announce a deal to jointly acquire 100 per cent of Osisko’s issued and outstanding common shares for $3.9 billion ($8.15 per share). The deal would also create a spinoff company, New Osisko, which would receive royalties from the Canadian Malartic project and future royalties from any projects from Osisko’s Kirkland Lake assets. New Osisko retains $155 million and Osisko’s Mexico properties.

Goldcorp announces it will not amend its offer to Osisko.

Goldcorp’s final offer to acquire Osisko shares expires.

MAY

Osisko shareholders approve the Agnico Eagle/Yamana offer. New Osisko is born.

Fire claims 301 at Turkish coal mine An explosion and fire in a Turkish coal mine killed 301 workers on May 13. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the explosion in the mine in Soma, roughly 230 kilometres southwest of Istanbul. Carbon monoxide poisoning is thought to have claimed the most victims, as an underground fire carried the deadly gas throughout the entire mine, which is owned by the Soma Coal Mining Company. Reports from Turkish media indicate that company officials ignored high levels of carbon monoxide on sensors in the mine days prior to the fire. Government and mining officials claim, however, that the mine was inspected regularly and that safety standards were met. June/July 2014 | 19

Following the incident, the Turkish court arrested eight suspects for “causing multiple deaths” in the mine disaster including Ramazan Dogru, general manager of the company, and CEO Can Gurkan, Reuters reported. The tragedy is the worst mining accident in the country’s history. The incident has sparked unrest in Soma and demonstrations across – T.D. Turkey.

Northern Dynasty upbeat despite new setbacks for Alaska’s Pebble mine Storm clouds continue to gather over Northern Dynasty Minerals’ proposed Pebble mine, one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold-moly resources on the planet, located upstream of the world’s biggest sockeye salmon fishery at Alaska’s Bristol Bay. Concerns about potential impacts to the salmon resource have brought attention from international media and more recently, the U.S. government. In February, the Environmental Protection Agency took the unusual step of launching a Clean Water Act process to identify options to protect the Bristol Bay salmon fishery. On May 22, Northern Dynasty applied for an injunction to stop the process, which the company says threatens to derail the project even before a development proposal is submitted. As the court action unfolds, the estimated US$6-billion project has become a political hot potato for potential partners. In April 2014, Rio Tinto abandoned the project, “gifting” its near-20 per cent stake in Northern Dynasty to two Alaskan charitable foundations. This was after Anglo American withdrew from an option agreement with Northern Dynasty last year, and Mitsubishi divested in 2011. In late May, Sean Magee, Northern Dynasty’s vice-president of public affairs, said the company is pursuing two priorities: identifying new funding partners and finalizing documents needed for an environmental review. He noted that both Anglo and Rio Tinto’s departures were influenced largely by the 10year lag time between investment and Pebble production. Northern Dynasty’s share price dropped from over $21 in early 2011 to under 90 cents at the end of May. – C.P.

Cline compensated for B.C. coal properties Toronto-based Cline Mining reached a settlement agreement with the government of British Columbia in April to abandon coal licences and applications in the province in return for $9.8 million in cash. The settlement resolves a civil claim, filed two years ago by Cline against the provincial government, over three affected mining leases in southeastern B.C. In a surprise announcement in 2010, the provincial government declared a moratorium on mining in the Flathead Valley of B.C., just north of the Montana border. Following that decision, Cline, which had been granted three mining leases in the area prior to the ban, filed a claim for compensation of the property valued at $500 million. After attempts 20 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

industry at a glance to negotiate a settlement stalled, Cline filed a civil claim with the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 2012. The company alleged that the provincial government had expropriated their coal properties in the area. “The B.C. government recognizes the value of mineral exploration and mining but there are instances where this must be balanced with the need to protect environmentally sensitive areas, like the Flathead,” said mining ministry spokesperson Matt Gordon. “Including the recent Cline mining settlement of $9.8 million, eight of 10 tenure holders’ claims have now been settled and their tenures relinquished for a total cost of $21.56 million.” In December 2010, Cline Mining had a market capitalization of around $500 million. Since then, however, it has lost nearly all of its value, and the company recently extended a forbearance agreement with senior lenders to – T.D. June 30, 2014.

By the numbers: N.W.T. ice road Though it was a common gripe across most of the country this winter, you likely did not hear any miners in the Northwest Territories complaining about how cold it was. That is because those consistently frigid temperatures allowed their vital winter ice road, which connects northern mines to the southern highway system in Yellowknife, to open – and stay open – supplying them with much of the fuel, commodities and equipment needed to sustain year-round operations. The 365 kilometre road opened on January 30 and closed March 30, according to Tim Tattrie, project manager of ice roads for Nuna Logistics. - H.M.

Thickness of ice in inches required to transport largest loads

-42.1

The coldest day in Yellowknife during the ice road season (without windchill) in degrees Celsius

+100,000

26 7,482 245,116 Number of loads transported this season

Weight of the largest load – a loader, transported on a 13-axle trailer – in kilogrammes

Days during the ice road season where the temperature dipped below -30 C in Yellowknife

Total combined weight of those loads in metric tonnes

injuries Source: Nuna Logistics and Environment Canada

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June/July 2014 | 21

news

Quebec’s key asset Ressources Québec’s $1 billion fund helping local projects advance

In April, Montreal-based Stornoway Diamonds put together $944 million in financing, clearing the way to build its Renard diamond mine. As part of the deal, the company secured $220 million from a relatively new subsidiary of the Quebec government, Ressources Québec, and another $105 million from the Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec, for a total of $325 million in government funding – a little more than one third of the total construction cost. “The successful completion of these transactions will remove the last remaining financing risk for the project and allow principal project construction to commence,” said Stornoway CEO Matt Manson, when the financing was announced. Ressources Québec (RQ) was born just two years earlier, as a subsidiary of Investissement Québec (IQ). Jean Charest’s Liberal government set aside $1.2 billion to invest in oil and gas and mining projects through the new body. To try to maximize Quebec’s benefits from the extractive sector, RQ would gather up the government’s $236 million in existing holdings and invest $1 billion more in future projects. Despite two provincial elections and a fair amount of political debate over mining regulations, RQ has become a key player in the financing of new projects in Quebec. “RQ was the cornerstone of our fundraising,” said Benoit Gascon, president and CEO of Mason Graphite, which completed two funding agreements for a total of $15.6 million on April 28 to advance its Lac Guéret graphite project. “They said: ‘We’re here. Go get the rest, but we’re here.’” RQ’s $3-million investment in the project convinced other brokers of its solidity, he explained. “RQ was clearly the big boost that enabled us to close the campaign on time, and with much more money than we had expected.” Mason Graphite plans to complete its feasibility 22 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

Courtesy of Stornoway Diamonds

By Antoine Dion-Ortega

Ressources Quebec, a subsidiary of the provincial government’s investment agency, Investissement Québec, has been active since its inception two years ago, funding local resource projects, like Stornoway’s Renard diamond project, seen above.

study in early 2015. Currently, its project has estimated Measured and Indicated Resources of more than 50 million tonnes with an average graphite grade of 15.6 per cent. When RQ was created, the government’s idea was to cover the entire mining cycle, not only the exploration phase, which fell under Soquem’s domain as a government organization that helps fund local exploration companies and research. “RQ was the subsidiary that would take on the whole development of mining projects, from exploration to production – something that Soquem did not do,” said Luc Séguin, RQ’s vice-president for business development. “We currently have 10 to 12 partnerships in our portfolio, but we have an equal amount in our pipeline.” RQ selects the projects it will support based on five main criteria. First, the project must make an “easily measurable” contribution to the province’s economic development. “We don’t make investments only to get a return,” explained Séguin. That said, the project must also be profitable. “If there is

enough probability that the project will see light, we jump on board.” Projects must have an experienced management team. “We are patient investors; we don’t interfere in the company’s operations. We thus need to trust the managers because they will make the difference after a while,” said Séguin. The organization also seeks to take positions on emerging markets, rather than declining ones. “We target the new minerals: rare earths, lithium, nickel in the stainless steel production chain, vanadium,” he said. “We look at how these markets evolve to decide whether we step in.” Finally, the project must have social licence. Here, the lessons of the Mine Arnaud apatite project, a joint venture between Yara International and IQ, loom large. The project, in the Sept-Îles region, has been the target of protests recently. “We never anticipated that there would be so much opposition to the project,” Séguin said. “We underestimated the public’s intervention.” RQ’s most common support consists of taking minority equity participation in companies, often with a debt portion conditional to the completion of the

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financing package. RQ will often seek to negotiate a royalty or a streaming deal. Its portfolio is currently worth about $300 million, with the Renard project clearly acting as its flagship. “Stornoway’s project is the most likely to see light in the short term, since we are about to complete the fundraising, which means that construction could start this summer,” said Séguin. On May 23, Stornoway announced it had raised more than $132 million in a public offering of subscription receipts, which was a precondition of the RQ investment. In a time where markets are depressed, having RQ on board is priceless for junior mining companies. “For a lot of companies, one of the most difficult stages is the scoping study through

your feasibility study,” said Mark Selby, interim CEO of Royal Nickel Corp (RNC). “A lot of investors want to be there for the exploration potential, but when you get the scoping study is when the heavy lifting starts.” RQ invested $12 million in RNC’s Dumont project in August 2012, in exchange for a 0.8 per cent royalty on the net smelter return – an agreement that Selby qualified as an “invaluable help.” “When government agencies are investing alongside, it sends a strong signal of support to potential partners that the province wants the project to go forward,” he said. “It makes it a much easier sale in Asia or Europe.” RNC completed its feasibility study in June 2013. Selby said he is hoping to find a minority partner for a 30

to 45 per cent interest in the Dumont project by the fall, which would allow it to start construction early next year. “It is a $1.2billion capital expense, so we are talking to RQ to see if they are interested in advancing the project through production. “Only maybe in Finland would you see anywhere close to this level of support from government to the mining industry,” said Selby. According to Gascon of Mason Graphite, Quebec has a developmentoriented mentality which is not opposed to government interventions when it is time to finance mining projects: “It is not just subsidies, it is about holding interests in companies to attract foreign investors and support the local ones. The rest of Canada doesn’t have that.” CIM

June/July 2014 | 23

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Under pressure Metallurgical coal operators navigating tough times in B.C.

Metallurgical coal prices have fallen to their lowest point since 2009, and nowhere in Canada has the fallout been more severe than in British Columbia, where nearly 90 per cent of all steelmaking coal in the country comes from. Hard coking coal lost more than half of its value between the second quarter of 2011 and early 2014, falling from US$313 per tonne to roughly US$120 per tonne in May, prompting B.C. miners to slash jobs and scale back plans for new expansions. The downturn could also derail B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s target, set back in 2012, of realizing eight new mines and nine expansions by 2015. The biggest blow so far came on April 15, when Alabama-based Walter Energy announced the suspension of operations at the Wolverine mine in the province’s northeast, leaving 415 fulltime workers in limbo. The company will cut another 280 jobs this July with the idling of the Brazion mine operations. “Particularly at Wolverine, the complex geologic conditions and distances involved in moving coal to the port influences our costs of production and cost of sales,” said Tom Hoffman, Walter Energy’s spokesman, of the decision to halt operations. Meanwhile Teck Resources, Canada’s biggest coal producer with five metallurgical coal mines in B.C. and western Alberta, deferred its newly permitted Quintette mine expansion near Tumbler Ridge last year. In a conversation with CIM Magazine in May, Teck spokesman Chris Stannell would not confirm the fate of two other recently permitted metallurgical coal expansions in B.C., noting only that the economics of expansion remain bleak. “We estimate that as much as 35 to 40 million tonnes of global seabornetraded steelmaking coal is currently being produced at a negative margin at current prices, which is not sustainable,” he said. For comparison’s sake, 24 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

Courtesy of Anglo American

By Christopher Pollon

Metallurgical coal prices have plummeted since mid-2011 and B.C. producers are feeling the effects, leading to layoffs and project delays. Anglo American is bucking this trend, though, by forging ahead with its Trend-Roman expansion, shown above.

Teck produced 26.9 million tonnes of metallurgical coal in 2013. A continued slowdown in coal production does not bode well for the province: the mineral represents over 50 per cent of its total mineral production revenues and is B.C.’s single largest export commodity. Most of it is exported to South Korea, Japan, and China, where it is used to manufacture steel. B.C.’s rich deposits of metallurgical coal are concentrated to the eastern extremities of the province, much of it controlled by Teck Resources, which became the second biggest global exporter of seaborne metallurgical coal after it purchased Fording Canadian Coal Trust for about US$14 billion in 2008. One bright spot is Anglo American’s ongoing expansion of its Trend mine near Tumbler Ridge. Last August, as prices were already dropping, Anglo American’s CEO Mark Cutifani made a point of visiting Trend-Roman for an earth-turning

ceremony, as a symbolic show of confidence not only for the project but in the future of B.C. metallurgical coal. At the time, the company said the expansion was made economic by the low production costs at the new Roman site, located next to the Trend mine with an existing rail link to tidewater. In March, the company received final permitting allowing roads and a bridge to be built to access the Roman deposit. “Our project is moving ahead despite the present market conditions,” said Federico Velásquez, Anglo American’s director of corporate and external affairs Canada, in May. “This is good news in terms of metallurgical coal for British Columbia.” The proposed Murray River underground coal project near Tumbler Ridge also appears to be moving forward. The project gained notoriety across Canada in 2012 when its owner, HD Mining, planned to hire temporary foreign workers from China to work on the site. The company is proceeding under a

permit that will allow for the bulk sampling of 100,000 tonnes of coal as the prelude to a potential mine, as the project continues to advance through the B.C. and federal environmental assessment processes. The current low prices partially reflect global oversupply brought on by a glut of coking coal from Australia, said Geordie Mark, a researcher at Vancouver’s Haywood Securities. But his firm is forecasting a rebound in metallurgical coal prices leading to an anticipated 2016 price of $175 per tonne. This optimism is based on two interrelated facts: a fixed amount of metallurgical coal exists in the world, and it is indispensible in making steel. And while concerns persist about a slowdown in the rate of

Courtesy of Anglo American

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Chinese growth, Mark said the important thing is that continued strong growth is still occurring year-on-year. For the interim, the situation remains dire for companies hoping to raise money and advance early-stage projects like Compliance Energy’s Raven coal project on Vancouver Island. “Mining companies across the world, particularly those in the exploration and development phase, are finding it tough right now to attract funding from the equity markets,” said Mark. “But the sector will pull through; we’ve been through this cycle many times.” CIM Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani, left, and B.C. mines minister Bill Bennett at the Trend-Roman earthturning ceremony on August 15, 2013.

June/July 2014 | 25

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Wildlife safety in the spotlight Tragic event at Suncor plant raises questions about how to protect workers By Ian Ewing

26 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

surveillance around the company’s Fort McMurray site. Will Gibson, a spokesperson for Syncrude, which has a large oil sands operation north of Fort McMurray, said the community is really shook up over the incident. “Fort McMurray is a city, but in some ways, it’s very much a small town,” he said. “I’ve lived here 10 years and I’ve never heard of something like this and I’ve never heard of a black bear doing something like this.”

Courtesy of U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region

On May 7, a Suncor Energy instrument technician, Lorna Weafer, was mauled and killed by a black bear while working at the Suncor base plant north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. Although bear attacks are uncommon to begin with, what makes this incident especially perplexing is the apparent determination shown by the animal during the attack. The site in question is a large industrial facility, which bears typically avoid. As many as six of Weafer’s co-workers used fire extinguishers, air horns and even a water cannon to try to scare the animal away, to no avail. The adult male bear would back off momentarily but then return. The mauling lasted roughly an hour, Mike Ewald, an Alberta Fish and Wildlife investigator, told CBC News. Predatory attacks like this are extremely unusual but do account for most black bear fatalities. The last black bear fatality recorded in Alberta occurred in 1991 and was the result of a predatory attack. Fewer than two fatal black bear encounters happen per year in all of North America. At Suncor, bear safety awareness materials, advisories, and information sessions are made available to workers, according to spokesperson Sneh Seetal. During times of high bear activity, increased emphasis is placed on bear safety. This includes placing posters around work sites and facilitating discussions during safety meetings. Employees working in the bush carry bear spray and those in the base camp carry air horns to scare aggressive wildlife away. Suncor remains tight-lipped about any potential changes to its wildlife safety training and procedures while their investigation is ongoing, but Seetal said additional bear safety reminders have been provided to employees, and provincial Fish and Wildlife officers have increased bear

BLACK BEAR ATTACK FACTS: 63

At least reported black bear deaths in Canada and the United States between 1900 and 2009 ***

49 of those incidents occurred in Canada and Alaska

*** per cent of fatal attacks occurred when the victim was alone or with just one other person ***

92 per cent of fatal attacks involved a predatory male bear Source: “Fatal attacks by American black bear on people: 1900–2009” in The Journal of Wildlife Management

Since the incident, Gibson said Syncrude has issued “dos and don’ts” reminders about bear safety, adding wildlife protection is part of its employee orientation training. But the event has not caused Syncrude to review its wildlife training and protection policies, as it is waiting until the investigation is completed “to see if there’s anything that we can learn from it,” he said. At that point, the company will decide whether to reassess or change its policies. Many jurisdictions have put in place measures to try to ensure safety for those working in the wilderness. “We have some general outlines according to the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) legislation in Alberta,” said Brookes Merritt, a spokesperson with Alberta’s OHS department, noting that a lot of the specific responsibilities about training are left up to employers. Companies are required to complete hazard assessment plans for each potential workplace risk, for instance. If a company was found to have inadequate plans, Merritt said the department could demand that a plan be updated, enforce a stop work order or level more punitive measures. Like in Alberta, companies in Yukon must also develop a wildlife management plan. “That plan has to identify the risks associated with the surrounding environment and mitigate those risks,” said Richard Mostyn, a public affairs liaison at the Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board. “Companies must outfit their at-risk workers with appropriate protective gear. That gear might include bear spray or any other deterrents.” Compliance is hard to track, however. Yukon OHS officers perform random inspections to determine if the risk assessments and mitigation measures taken by companies are adequate, but they are not responsible for assess-

ing risk. That is up to employers, supervisors and workers, said Mostyn. The territory’s government is in the early stages of developing a database to track the number and severity of bear encounters, among other things. Eventually, that would provide them with more data-driven conclusions about wildlife encounters and how to prevent or mitigate them. The Yukon government publishes a widely used brochure, entitled “Guidelines for Industrial Activity in Bear Country,” which represents a consolidated set of recommendations to help companies navigate the planning requirements to reduce bear attractants. Good camp design and maintenance is essential, and vigilance will ensure that bears never become habituated to humans or conditioned to associate humans with food sources. Ensuring that bears cannot access food, garbage, and other attractants like petroleum products, and also setting boundaries for wildlife around camps are highly effective measures. Incinerating food waste after every meal – not burying it or burning it in an open pit or drum – eliminates many attractive odours. Total prevention is very difficult, though, since humanwildlife conflicts are a product of numerous variables, explained Ramona Maraj, a carnivore biologist with the Yukon government. The availability of natural food resources and the location of the camp are big factors. So too is the personality of individual animals – bears, like any animal, can be unpredictable. Indeed, for all the wildlife safety procedures in place, some experts doubt whether any amount of training could have prevented a determined attack like the one at Suncor. CIM

MOVING ON UP Lisa Colnett joins Detour Gold board of directors Ms. Colnett is a human resources executive with over 20 years of experience in a variety of industries ranging from mining to information technology. She began her career at IBM Canada and was a founding executive of Celestica Inc. Since 1991, she has held senior roles in human resources, information technology and strategy including senior vicepresident and chief information officer of Celestica Inc., senior vice-president, human resources, also of Celestica Inc. and senior vice-president, human resources and corporate services, of Kinross Gold Corporation. She is currently an independent director of TSX-listed Parkland Fuel Corporation.

June/July 2014 | 27

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ENERGY

Wait until you’re full – part-time processing can equal big energy savings BY MICHELLE LEVESQUE

nergy costs are increasingly a drain on an operating mine’s budget. However, miners can make low-cost changes like running mills at full capacity through careful scheduling to save millions. In 2008, a consultant conducted an energy use study, which began with an energy audit at a base metal milling facility that assessed electricity use to identify potential savings. After gathering and analyzing a year’s worth of hourly electricity data for each of the plant’s 292 pieces of electrical equipment, 10 energy conservation measures were indentified that could reduce this facility’s energy use by about five per cent. In 2012, MIRARCO (Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation) conducted a subsequent analysis to determine the influence of plant use relative to design capacity on unit electricity consumption (kilowatt per hour/tonne of ore milled). An electricity part-load model for the plant was derived to illustrate how much electricity per tonne of ore processed was consumed at different throughputs. Not surprisingly, the most efficient use of electricity occurred when the plant operated at design capacity. If the plant studied had been operated at 100 per cent of design capacity instead of 74 per cent, the electricity savings would have amounted to 14 per cent. In energy management terms, this was the “elephant in the room.” A mill can operate below design capacity for many reasons such as unplanned maintenance, changes in ore characteristics, fluctuating market conditions or a shortage of ore supply. But if the reason is due to reduced ore production, a mill can implement an intermittent schedule to ensure the facility operates at design capacity. Management must consider the costs of ore storage, additional material handling, and recovery losses and labour, as well as operational issues in the mill and downstream processes when making such a decision. But if the savings outweigh the costs, this presents an opportunity for milling facilities to improve their bottom line. Following the initial audit, MIRARCO surveyed 13 mills operating in Ontario in 2012 to examine how these facilities were run. The three base metal mills that we looked at were operating between 47 per cent and 74 per cent of design capacity, whereas the 10 gold milling facilities were run between 59 per cent and 120 per cent of design capacity. It should be noted that nine out of these 10 gold mills were operating above 75 per cent. It became clear that these companies could save electricity and, ultimately, money if they modified their operating schedules. This would entail shutting down the facility periodically while stockpiling ore, then processing the ore, and repeating the

28 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

cycle. For example, a facility operating at 50 per cent of design capacity could adopt a two-week on/two-week off schedule; a mill running at 75 per cent of design capacity could have a one-week shutdown period for every three weeks of operation. One mill in Ontario has already started to realize the efficiencies that can be gained by modifying its schedule and optimizing milling operations. North American Palladium has been operating its Lac-des-Iles mill intermittently since 2010. Still, in 2012, when the facility operated on a two-week on/two-week off schedule, it ran at 74 per cent capacity, demonstrating that there is room for improvement and it could benefit from additional savings. After completing our follow-up survey, we developed partload models for the three base metal facilities we looked at by using the part-load model derived from the original audit. We also adopted cost models to reflect economies of scale. Intermittent operation of the three base metal facilities in 2012 would potentially have reduced electricity consumption by between 16 per cent and 36 per cent. Understanding billing structures is also important to maximize financial savings. In Ontario, facilities with an average demand greater than five megawatts are considered “Class A” customers and their demand charges can be significant. By shutting down mills during peak demand hours in Ontario, thereby decreasing energy consumption when power is most expensive, miners can reduce costs even further. Shutting down a mill can potentially reduce its total electricity load by 90 per cent, with only equipment like lights, fans and agitators remaining in operation. In 2012, every megawatt saved by a “Class A” facility during the five peak demand hours corresponded to savings of roughly $275,000 per year. For a mill with an average demand of five megawatts, this translates to more than $1 million in annual savings; the savings would be proportionally greater for larger operations. It is possible to significantly reduce energy expenditures at milling facilities, especially those with low utilization, considering the current billing structure in Ontario. Energy conservation measures can provide savings, but it is equally important that whenever energy is used at a facility, it is done as efficiently as possible. Confronting the elephant in the room may be intimidating, but the rewards are worthwhile and sustainable in terms of both efficiency and overall savings. CIM Michelle Levesque is a researcher at MIRARCO. She is pursuing a PhD in natural resources engineering from Laurentian University and the focus of her research concerns energy management for the mining sector.

Leaders in safety innovation. With over 20 active shaft sinking and mine development projects across two continents, Dumas brings a culture of safety innovation to some of the world’s most challenging underground mines. From planning to production, our team of industry pros has an unsurpassed record of bringing operations online, safely; we are proud to be the recipient of several prestigious industry awards, including three for safety innovation. After all, we’ve been to the depths of the earth. We’ll go to the ends of it to ensure success for your project.

I N N O VAT I O N

Systems engineering for the innovation supercycle BY ANDY REYNOLDS

nnovation impacts industries in waves of activity that last for SE to bring rigour to solutions, and to ensure that the required years or even decades, bringing major change to some sectors, system capability is achieved. and creating entirely new supply chains while destroying old The mining sector could use SE tools to understand how canones. Over the past century or two, these waves have become didate technologies can enable profitable extraction of declining steeper, bringing change with increasing complexity and speed. ore grades without leading to unforeseen management or mainSoon the mining industry will be in the midst of a major change tenance problems, or contributing to future liabilities. Requireas the realities of low-grade ores create a need for new, advanced ments for skills, training, revised procedures and operating technologies. This impending coincidence of growing needs and interfaces, maintenance capacity, or other contingencies would an explosion of suitable but diverse solutions will create an be identified upfront as part of the innovation cycle. The risk bur“innovation supercycle.” The mining industry will be challenged den, so often a barrier to innovation, would be understood in to manage new roles and interactions during the design, con- terms of the whole-system capability and rationally allocated struction, operation, retirement and remediation phases. among role players. This would facilitate long-term alliances that In the past miners were, in reduce the capital investment a sense, competing only with risks of mining development. In the past miners were, in a sense, fluctuating commodity values The ability to manage techcompeting only with fluctuating commodity nology risk in a system conwhere the source of their competitive advantage was values where the source of their competitive text is what makes SE ideally the quality of their deposits. to the adoption of new advantage was the quality of their deposits. suited In the new era of undifferentitechnologies. This holds true In the new era of undifferentiated deposits not only when the system is ated deposits and growing labour costs, miners will and growing labour costs, miners will created, but throughout its life increasingly find efficient new requirements or obsoincreasingly find efficient operations to be an as operations to be an lescence demand the insertion inescapable imperative. of new technologies. Systems inescapable imperative. Productivity will become much integrators practising SE have more important, and the source of competitive advantage will become good at technology selection, and end users have shift from geology to technology. Automation alone could turn learned to see the benefits of outsourcing these kinds of deciout to be a way station, beyond which system integration is sions even if it puts them at a technical knowledge disadvanlikely to be the source of further progress. tage. With this approach, consultants have a critical role to play Systems engineering (SE) formalizes the integration of inter- as trusted partners who can speak with experience about risks disciplinary components of complex systems to meet the and opportunities. SE adoption by the mining industry would requirements of operators as well as many other affected parties also impact equipment suppliers as improved operations and through entire system life cycles. It has become a profoundly processes interact with developments in automation, capability important enabler for dealing with rapidly changing technol- and operability. Deliberate management of interfaces and interogy. SE demands significant upfront effort in analyzing the actions at all stages of the life cycle would further strengthen capability requirements of the whole system across its entire life equipment supply chains. cycle. Extensive use is made of modelling and simulation to The challenge of the innovation supercycle is clear: using determine how the richly detailed requirement set can best be the right technologies to increase mining productivity in the met. Crucially, this activity continues throughout the system’s new era of undifferentiated geology will lead to previously life – and so it must – because requirements will inevitably unseen levels of complexity. Miners should consider whether change with time. As the system comes into existence, integra- SE can help prepare them for this seismic change. Are their tion is constantly revisited from a whole-system perspective; supply chain relationships future-proof? Who will execute the this is quite different from managing component interfaces in a systems integrator role? Are investment models ready for front-end engineering design. It ensures that the whole system increased upfront engineering effort? New alliances that outmeets the whole capability requirement for its whole life. The source technology risk management and integration functions aerospace, defence and, more recently, the information and may be part of the answer. CIM communication technology, and nuclear power sectors have Andy Reynolds is general manager, energy, mining and environment with the successfully embraced complexity using formal approaches like National Research Council of Canada.

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M A C E C O N O M I C C O M M E N TA R Y

Feds can’t play favourites with rail rules BY BRENDAN MARSHALL

his spring, the federal government instituted mandatory prevents companies from expanding their market share internagrain-shipping quotas for railways in an attempt to rem- tionally, and creates a perception of company unreliability in their edy delays in agriculture shipments incurred this winter. relations with customers. Rail service caused a range of challenges But similar rail service issues have also plagued other industries for miners through the winter period, resulting in some instances like mining. The government’s interventionist and sector-spe- in the downscaling of production at operations. It is a perennial cific approach to addressing Canada’s rail transportation chal- issue across the network and needs to be addressed as such. lenges runs counter to its trade and economic development In order to tackle rail service issues effectively, it is essential priorities, and will not address the problems. Reliable and effec- to properly identify the nature and extent of the problem. If tive rail service is no less essential for mining and other prod- sector- and company-specific data were available to the governucts as it is for the movement of grain. Transportation policy, ment and shippers, they would be able to more easily deterinformed by railway data, mine the cause of service should reflect this. disruptions. Various performTransparency would likely lead to less of an A particularly harsh winance measures could provide ter, causing trains to travel adversarial relationship between railways evidence of capacity displaceslower with fewer cars in tow, and shippers, as both parties, being aware ment from one shipper to converged with a bumper another or, conversely, prove of the strength of each other’s position, crop to create a significant that railways are acting grain backlog on the Prairies. would be motivated to negotiate in order to responsibly and that service The government’s response avoid a legal proceeding and arrive at disruptions are, as the railwas to mandate grain sectorways maintain, beyond their mutually beneficial results. specific volume commitments direct control as but one part for Canada’s Class I railways. of the larger transportation First, through an Order in Council, and then through Bill C- ecosystem. Moreover, transparency would likely lead to less of 30 Fair Rail for Grain Farmers, the federal government enacted an adversarial relationship between railways and shippers, as requirements for Canada’s Class I railways – CN and CP – to both parties, being aware of the strength of each other’s posicarry no less than one million tonnes of grain combined each tion, would be motivated to negotiate in order to avoid a legal week. Failing that, they would be subject to monetary penal- proceeding and arrive at mutually beneficial results. ties. The current order in council keeps the one-million-tonne While appearing before the House of Commons Agriculture minimum until August 3, 2014, after which a new minimum and Agri-Foods Committee on Bill C-30, MAC advocated for level could be instituted by the government. Bill C-30 sunsets policies informed by accurate data, recommending the governin August 2016, meaning these exclusive volume commitments ment enact a railway requirement to provide both regular would be in force for at least the next two years. monthly public rail performance data on a sector basis, and The government acted under the auspice that it needed to confidential company-specific performance data upon request. protect Canada’s trade reputation as a world-class grain supAs the government begins the 2015 Statutory Review of plier, when in reality the provisions enacted may dampen our the Canada Transportation Act, it would be wise to ensure reputation with regard to the rest of the economy. Railways those conducting the review have the information required to have a limited number of cars, crew and equipment at their dis- make informed public policy decisions. Data transparency posal to service all sectors. Requiring minimum volume com- would permit the government a clearer understanding of how mitments for grain effectively allocates rail capacity to the grain the logistics supply chain is performing, where challenges sector at the expense of all other shipping sectors. exist, and what policies are needed to properly address them As the largest customer group of Canada’s railways, consis- to the benefit of shippers and the tently accounting for more than half of the total rail freight rev- Canadian economy as a whole. CIM enue generated in Canada and nearly half of the total volume carried by Canadian railways annually, this is a big issue for mining. Though the issues surrounding agriculture shipments this winter were severe, the problems are systemic in nature, wide- Brendan Marshall is director of economic affairs at MAC. He works to advance mining industry’s interests and understanding of key economic issues such spread throughout the shipper community and longstanding. the as taxation, international trade and investment, transportation, energy and Poor rail service creates unpredictable operating environments, climate change, and innovation.

June/July 2014 | 31

Courtesy of International SOS

Beating back an Ebola outbreak Prevention and planning critical in defence against infectious diseases By Correy Baldwin

International SOS has set up emergency clinics similar to this one in Liberia throughout West Africa.

bola is a nasty virus – some victims suffer both internal and external bleeding – and with a death rate approaching 90 per cent, it is difficult to imagine a worse scenario for a remote mining camp than a possible outbreak. But that threat is real for companies operating in Africa, and particularly in West Africa. In lateMarch, the virus broke out in southern Guinea, quickly spread to the north, and by May had crossed into Liberia and Sierra Leone, where several people who fell victim to the disease in Guinea were buried. More than 200 people have died. Dr. Sajjad Ahmed Gill followed the crisis closely. As group health advisor for Tullow Oil, a British oil and gas exploration and production company that operates throughout West Africa, it is his job to protect the company’s people and operations from such outbreaks. In this instance, it meant constantly monitoring the surrounding countries, and communicating with staff and a network of industry and health organizations. “There were lots of rumours and it was a big challenge to extract accurate information,” he recalls.

Plan for the worst “West Africa has a unique pool of diseases that are not usually present in other parts of the world,” says Gill. “Any company working in such areas should be well aware about the risk of such diseases around them and should have a robust emergency management system to manage disease outbreaks.” A disease prevention strategy and a health emergency response plan are the first lines of defence. An outbreak can have a devastating effect on operations, says Gill, but a 32 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

solid plan can minimize this risk and allow a company not only to respond quickly and effectively to an outbreak but play a proactive role in controlling the spread of the virus as well. Getting to this point takes a lot of work and often requires assistance from medical emergency management experts. Tullow Oil sought the services of International SOS (ISOS), the world’s largest integrated medical and security assistance company. “We have medical and security responses for any level of issue,” explains Doug Quarry, medical director at ISOS. “We also provide medical staff and often the facility itself to assist companies in their ventures and adventures around the world, everything from having medics on oil rigs to running full-sized, 40-bed hospitals.” For Tullow, ISOS helped make travel planning decisions and provided advice, but it did not arrange field clinics. “Not every operation will require the same facilities,” says Gill. “Some locations may have well-equipped clinics while other locations may only have first aiders. It all depends on various factors, such as the number of people on site, the chances of injuries or illnesses, the distance to reliable health facilities and the availability of medical emergency support in the area.” The remoteness, duration and extent of an operation all help determine its overall health risks. Other factors include the local environment, wildlife, and endemic diseases, and any activities that could increase the risk of exposure to diseases and infected wildlife. These include land development, hunting of wild game, poor waste management and food storage, as well as the lack of sanitation and potable water in the local communities.

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Know what you are up against Health risk assessment begins before any project development and continues through construction, production and reclamation activities. “We will visit the site, and look at the endemic diseases and the quality of the medical services in the area,” says Quarry. “Then we give the client a realistic set of suggestions as to what sort of medical services they might need around the site, and what sort of training or support the national employees might need.” The Ebola virus is particularly contagious and lethal; the current strain is the most severe, with a 70 to 90 per cent death rate. There is no vaccine and no known cure. The virus is likely carried by bats, and humans are infected after hunting and eating an infected bat or another wild animal that the bat has infected. It then spreads between humans through contact with infected body fluids. An outbreak can be difficult to identify, as the early symptoms resemble other less-dangerous fevers. It can also be difficult to track, with a relatively lengthy incubation period of up to 21 days. The best defence is often a good offence, and public health measures and support for local health facilities are some of the most effective areas on which to focus resources. “In most developing countries, the local health facilities are quite limited and the local health system needs external support,” says Gill. Companies like ISOS can provide assistance through malaria-control and vaccination programs and public health education services, which are important for a virus like Ebola, since people in remote communities often know very little about how it spreads.

contributed with other international health organizations to public medical treatment. Similar work is being done by ArcelorMittal, which operates an iron ore mine in Liberia, just across the border from the most affected area in southern Guinea. ArcelorMittal has worked with ISOS to set up an on-site clinic. “When the crisis started, we realized very early there was a big risk for this clinic because it really is the best clinic in the area,” says Quarry. “The medical services in that area are pretty poor, so it was quite likely that if there were cases, that they would come to our clinic. But it’s not set up to be a public health facility, or a general hospital.” ISOS brought in educational material, and ArcelorMittal relied on them to train its national staff. An isolation unit was set up at the mine clinic, and personal protective equipment was brought in for clinic staff and staff at the nearest local hospital – health care workers are some of the most at-risk of exposure. Most importantly, says Quarry, they also brought in a senior infectious diseases doctor from South Africa, who supervised the modification of the clinic and the training of its health staff. He travelled to other national hospitals to help establish isolation units and train staff on the use of personal protective equipment and infectious disease spread, and worked with Guinea’s Department of Health to set up the Ebola containment strategy. CIM

Safety at odds with tradition Some West African customs pose a major challenge to mitigating the spread of Ebola: according to traditional funeral rites, the dead body is washed prior to burial. So ISOS developed a series of educational materials for its client companies, which distribute these to the general public and use them to educate and train their own staff. “Education is a big part of the management of this disease,” says Quarry. “Training is so important.” The risk to foreign workers is generally low, says Quarry: “Ebola is spread by direct contact with infected body fluids, and that is really more likely when you’ve got a sick family member, when you’re living in the same house and caring for them. The main risk is really to the local, national folk, and much less for expatriates and business travellers.” Still, companies must be prepared to act if the disease poses a risk to their operations. “The response depends on the level of risk,” explains Gill. “It ranges from restriction of travel, to the evacuation of staff and closure of operations. The operational personnel may be reduced in number, the workforce from certain areas may be monitored and operations may be stopped for a short or long term.” Tullow made important business decisions for staff safety. Operations were quickly modified to minimize the exposure of Tullow staff at all levels. At the same time Tullow June/July 2014 | 33

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Elliot Lake wildcat walkout By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

The Elliot Lake Standard

The strike that saved lives

The 1974 wildcat strike in Elliot Lake instigated major changes in mine safety and was a catalyst for change across all industries.

Ontario government representatives 40 years ago presented research linking radiation to lung cancer at a conference in Paris, France. In the audience were several members of the United Steelworkers of America (USW), whose organization had been fighting the mining industry and the Ontario government for improved health and safety at the Denison and Rio Algom uranium mines in Elliot Lake, Ontario. In addition to a high incidence of injuries, hundreds of miners were ill or dying from silicosis and lung cancer, which the union believed was caused by silica dust. The union representatives were shocked to discover the government had found there was another cause behind the high rates of lung cancer – radiation – and had not bothered to inform miners or to take any action to protect them. The USW members shared the news with their co-workers back in Elliot Lake, and this proved to be the last straw. On April 18, 1974, about 1,000 miners from Denison went on a three-week wildcat strike. “I think the conference, combined with the general dissatisfaction with the occupational health and safety regulations and laws in the province at that time, caused the strike,” says Fergus Kerr, now vice-president of operations at Global Atomic Fuels Corp., who joined Denison in 1977 and became its general manager a decade later. The strike drew the attention of the media, the public and Ontario’s politicians. Mining health and safety suddenly became a hot-button issue. The response from mining companies is remembered differently, depending on who you speak to. Some recall an industry that embraced change while others are less positive. “Just around that time, the uranium market improved dramatically,” says Kerr. “So there was pressure from politicians at both a federal and provincial level and pressure from the unions, and the industry realized if they were going to expand their operations, they better do it right. There was a combination of events and circumstances that came together at that time.” Leo Gerard, USW’s current international president, moved to Elliot Lake shortly after joining the union in 1977, and he sees it slightly differently: “[The mining companies] were 34 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

brought in kicking and screaming. Eventually, when it became inevitable that there would be changes, toward the end, they came to understand it had to be resolved.”

The birth of modern health and safety regulations Despite the controversy, there is universal agreement that then Premier William Davis’s decision to launch a royal commission to investigate health and safety in mines was one of the best things to have happened to the province’s mining sector. Chaired by engineering professor James Ham, the Ham Commission came back in 1975 with more than 100 recommendations. This report became the bedrock of the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), which came into force in the fall of 1979 not just for mining but across all industries. Vic Pakalnis, now president and CEO of the Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation, who worked for 30 years in occupational health and safety for the Ontario Ministry of Labour, describes Ham as the father of occupational health and safety in Canada. “Ham coined the concept of an ‘Internal Responsibility System,’” says Pakalnis, “which is the foundation of the culture of safety we have in the mining industry as well as all of its health and safety regulations.” The OHSA, known as the “green book,” became a trendsetter, Kerr says. It is used by mining operations around the world as a best-in-class guide for worker health and safety to this day. According to Pakalnis, in the mid-1970s, Ontario’s mining industry had the highest injury rates of all industrial sectors in the province. “Today, mining has one of the lowest rates of injuries,” he points out. But the act also improved productivity, with safety driving many of the technological innovations. “And it all started with a wildcat strike,” Pakalnis says. “It was an illegal strike, but they did the right thing and then the government and industry did the right thing too.” Ironically, because the federal government deemed uranium, a resource for nuclear energy and weapons, under its jurisdiction, Elliot Lake’s miners were not initially protected

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The next challenge: reducing fatalities

The Elliot Lake Standard

under the new act. “It was bureaucratic baloney,” says Gerard. “We fought our way through it and ended up getting a resolution two or three years later. By then, we’d negotiated most of the provisions of the OHSA into the collective agreements at Elliot Lake.”

Despite the dramatic decrease in the number of non-fatal injuries, mining fatality rates have not decreased to the same degree over the last few years. While fatality rates are far lower than they were in 1974, over the last five years there has been little movement in the fatality rate, with an average of 5.6 worker deaths a year between traumatic injury and occupational illness-triggered deaths. “We’re scratching our heads as to why this is,” says Kerr. “It’s the same internationally.” The USW pushed for an inquiry back in 2011 when two men were killed at one of Vale’s Sudbury nickel mines. In February 2013, the Ontario government launched a review of mining safety headed by the Ministry of Labour’s first chief prevention officer, George Gritziotis. “I’m not suggesting that all incidences are not tragic and of concern,” says Gritziotis, “but for me, eliminating the fatalities is at the core of what drives me in this job.” The review, which included 11 public consultation sessions across Ontario’s mining communities between March and May and considers feedback from the public and the mining industry, “will release deliverables and best practices as we go along,” says Gritziotis. “There may be a regulation that needs to be refreshed.” Gerard would like to see another inquiry and points to the improvements that resulted from the Ham Commission, the Stevenson Commission in 1986 on ground control and mine rescue, and the Burkett Commission on mine and plant safety in 1982. “Each one of them drove forward some meaningful suggestions and recommendations,” says Gerard. “A review process is a review of things that have already occurred and looking at what transpired. An inquiry gets in-depth into what things were done. If you look back at the history, it’s been some 30 years since the last inquiry.”

Dave Mellor was president of United Steelworkers of America Local 5762 during the Elliot Lake strike.

of the big challenges today will be the consistency of training as the industry recruits young workers to replace retiring boomers. “I remember when I was at Elliot Lake,” says Kerr. “Both companies were going through a major expansion. Neither could find miners or tradesmen. We decided if we can’t hire the miners, we’ll make them. They set up what were state-ofthe-art facilities at the time for miner and trades training. We were young, having families, developing our skills and knowledge together. I look very fondly on those days. I think that had a huge impact on health and safety, taking a whole new workforce and training them from scratch with best practices.” Gerard also remembers those days. “We grew up together. We had our issues with the people who ran the smelters and mines, but our kids played hockey together,” he says, adding the sale of many mines to foreign companies has changed that dynamic. CIM

A lot has changed since 1979 While no one yet understands why fatality rates have not budged, much has changed since the health and safety act was introduced. Kerr, who is employer vice-chair of the advisory group to the government’s current review, thinks one June/July 2014 | 35

Peter Braul

Safety managers abuzz over energy drinks Mining companies wonder how to deal with excessive consumption By Tom DiNardo

Energy drink consumption is on the rise and excessive consumption has been linked to seizures, abnormal heart rhythm, nausea and other harmful side effects.

hree years ago, a haul truck operator at a gold mine in Nevada collapsed on the catwalk at the end of a 12hour shift. The man worked for Gold Canyon Mining and Construction, a company that did contract work in various mines around Nevada. Witnesses said he appeared to have a seizure. He had shown up that day, just like every other, with a lunch that consisted of about four energy drinks and nothing else, according to John Moss, safety and compliance officer for the company at the time. Following the incident, energy drinks were outlawed. Without a medical diagnosis, it is impossible to say for sure that the energy drinks the worker consumed caused his collapse. But his is not a unique incident; energy drinks are increasingly common on the worksite and many stories circulate in the industry about miners experiencing adverse health effects from overconsumption. The health and safety sector has taken note of these aggressively marketed caffeine, sugar, and additive-laden beverages. Roberta Spicer, superintendent of health and safety at J.S. Redpath Limited, is collecting data on the drinks’ adverse effects to produce educational material for her company. As part of her project, she started several discussions on banning energy drinks in mining on different LinkedIn message boards. Spicer says she was impressed with the response from mining professionals, and those from other industries, but the stories were sometimes horrific. “That was a huge part of the discussion, people reporting, ‘Oh this guy had a seizure, this guy had to be taken to the hospital, this guy’s heart exploded, this guy has permanent heart damage,’” she says. “The amount of stories was unbelievable.”

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Cause for alarm It is difficult to determine how big an issue energy drinks is in mining because there are a lot of anecdotes but no hard facts on accidents related to their consumption on mine sites. Adverse health effects are, however, well documented in society at large. One reason for the rise in concern is increased consumption. In 2005, U.S. residents consumed an estimated 2.3 billion energy drinks, according to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. By 2010, that number was six billion and has continued to climb. Anecdotally, at Redpath, Spicer says safety professionals have also noticed an increase in consumption by workers and are concerned. Jim Mathiasen, general safety supervisor at Vale Canada’s Ontario nickel operations, has been vocal about the detrimental effects of energy drinks and has also seen a rise in consumption among workers at the sites he oversees. “I’m seeing these cans and these little bottles everywhere,” he notes. The increase in consumption appears to be correlated to the number of energy drink-related hospital visits. The Drug Abuse Warning Network report for 2011 disclosed that visits to emergency departments in the United States involving energy drinks doubled from 2007 to 2011, totalling more than 20,000 in that year. Of that number, 58 per cent were connected only to energy drinks, meaning no other drugs acted as contributing factors. Known side effects of energy drinks range depending on their ingredients but include nausea, increased heart rate, altered heart rhythm, chest pains, dehydration, vomiting,

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insomnia, and seizures, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

The root of the problem The health risks associated with energy drinks stem in part from the high levels of caffeine, but what sets them apart from other caffeinated drinks like coffee or tea are the additives. Energy drinks contain large quantities of sugar – sometimes above the maximum recommended daily intake of 32 grams per 2,000 calories – that provide a temporary rush of energy. Excessive sugar consumption over a long period of time is linked to diabetes and obesity. Guarana is another additive that contains the highest levels of naturally occurring caffeine of any plant in the world. Natural caffeine, like what is found in the seeds of guarana plants, is not always calculated into the amount listed in nutritional facts on energy drink cans, so consumers may be ingesting more than they know. Health Canada recommends a maximum daily intake of 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine. In practice, these additives, along with others such as taurine and ginseng, are mixed with caffeine. A 16-ounce can of NOS contains 170 mg of caffeine, about the same as 16 ounces of coffee (depending on the brand), and an eight-ounce cup of black tea contains about 55 mg. In 2012, Health Canada capped the maximum allowable caffeine content from all sources at 180 mg per can and required the drink manufacturers to provide annual reports on consumption figures as well as any health incidents. In the past, NOS had levels as high as 260 mg per can. On site, safety supervisors are focused on curbing reckless consumption habits. An extenuating problem for miners is that caffeine is a diuretic, increasing urine production and leading to a loss of fluids and sodium. This causes consumers to dehydrate at a faster rate than normal, a serious concern for workers in high heat or physically demanding environments such as underground mines. A recent newsletter issued by Vale on the potential dangers of energy drinks after a planned maintenance period warns workers, “Dehydration has been shown to adversely affect decision-making and cognitive performance, which could be associated with an increased risk of incidents and may contribute to a decline in productivity.”

Reducing consumption One way to deal with this concern is to ban energy drinks outright from mine sites, as Gold Canyon did. After the seizure incident, the company that owned the mine also banned the drinks from its underground operations. “They had guys who were showing up with heart palpitations or going into seizures because of not being adequately hydrated for what they were doing underground,” Moss remembers. This may be hard, however, as workers are unlikely to respond well to bans on a legal substance. “[Workers] are permitted to drink whatever they want in the rest of their lives and for them to come into the workplace and have us say ‘it’s banned,’ it can be taken as a very negative thing, especially without first providing the education,” says Spicer.

Another more subtle way to deal with the issue is to make energy drinks unavailable on site. This is easier at fly-in/fly-out sites, for example, where companies control what is sold in cafeteria vending machines and in stores on site. By not stocking energy drinks, workers do not have access to them unless they bring them on site themselves. This is the tactic taken by Goldcorp in one of its remote sites in northern Quebec. The company does not sell energy drinks in the cafeteria, but workers would not be penalized for consuming energy drinks they bring to work. Spicer says many other mining companies are doing the same thing. Some companies are educating employees of the potential dangers of energy drinks. In its newsletter, Vale recommends that employees avoid drinks with high caffeine and sugar content including energy drinks. “Energy drinks increase risk of several health problems including heart attack and stroke,” it cautions. “This is a major concern with the number of young workers on site.” Sudbury-based Pioneer Construction Inc. also recently published a safety bulletin for employees on the dangers of energy drinks, listing the possible side effects and harmful ingredients. CIM

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Dealing with energy drinks Roberta Spicer’s tips for safety professionals • Teach about the dangers of energy drinks and advise employees to only drink in moderation or avoid them all together (discuss in safety huddles/meetings, provide educational posters/pamphlets, et cetera). • Ensure heat stress management programs and training include hazards of drinking caffeine and energy drinks, which speed up dehydration. • Recommend healthier alternatives (water, fruits and vegetables) to support energy needs. • Advocate getting more sleep, exercising, et cetera. • Encourage management to remove energy drinks from vending machines. • Create a corporate culture discouraging the use of energy drinks. • Limit or eliminate use of energy drinks for work: – that requires the use of PPE – in hot environments – that is physically demanding • Provide fatigue management and awareness training and discuss the hazards of energy drinks in that training. • Advise those with fatigue issues to talk to their doctors – there may be an underlying health problem.

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Jon Benjamin Photography

Raising the safety bar An interview with Syncrude veteran and safety guru Gord Winkel By Vivian Danielson

anada’s mining industry has a safety record that beats many other industrial sectors, yet Gord Winkel believes miners can do even better by continuously improving and sharing their practices. Toward that end, in 2010 he retired as a vice-president from Syncrude Canada to lead the engineering safety and risk management (ESRM) program at the University of Alberta. This pioneering program is the only one of its kind in Canada and has operated since 1988 to develop strategies to continuously reduce risks to people, the environment, facilities and production. Winkel, a three-time CIM Distinguished Lecturer (2002, 2008 and 2013), has been a tireless safety advocate, working to advance practices in the surface mining industry through knowledge sharing, technology, best practices and innovation.

CIM: What motivated you to make the leap from the mining industry to academia? Winkel: During 30 years of operations management in mining and mineral processing, we received many opportunities to learn and build up bench strength in safety and risk management that will be helpful to the next generation of engineers and business leaders. It’s fair to say that this journey turned into an opportunity to give back to students the benefit of this learning. 38 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

CIM: What goals do you hope to achieve with the ESRM program? Winkel: The vision is that every engineering student will take safety and risk management as part of their curriculum and take it with them as a core competency into the future. We also want to open up these studies to all disciplines – other sciences and business. Safety is a moral imperative and the most important workplace value. A thousand people die nationally every year only because they went to work. That has to change. CIM: Canada’s mining industry has evolved into one of the safest heavy industries, yet the public seems unaware of this achievement. Why, and what can be done to change that? Winkel: Good news seldom makes the front page so people tend to look at mines based on perceptions that are formed from media reported incidents. Everyone in the Canadian mining industry (418,000 people as of 2013) should be an ambassador and help people understand the positive facts about responsible development, cutting-edge technology application to improve performance, award-wining reclamation programs, how mining contributes greatly to our standard of living, and of course achievement in improved safety performance. Facts are friendly and it’s everyone’s job to share them.

upfront ---SAFETY

CIM: You have a great deal of experience in the oil sands industry. What are the most challenging issues there and how are they being met? Winkel: This industry constitutes mining, mineral processing, utilities, upgrading and more all under one roof, and each sector has different risk exposures and challenges to be managed. Each part of the operation needs to be risk-assessed, right from the ground up, and you also have to risk-assess over the life cycle of the project. I think the industry is doing a good job of managing this unparalleled diversity of risk, and in the face of rising societal expectations and some disappointing incidents, needs to continue this improvement journey. CIM: The oil sands industry has been transformed by advanced technologies. Can you provide an example? Winkel: Syncrude pioneered hydrotransport technology that moved extractive processing into the mining cut. Crushers were used in combination with new technologies to mix the mined oil sands with hot water in-pit, and the resulting slurry was piped to the processing plant. The utilization of efficient pipeline transport also vigorously mixed the oil sand slurry and liberated the bitumen from the sand and water. This in turn enabled another new technology called low temperature extraction. This suite of new technologies significantly reduced the energy footprint for mining and mineral processing. We did our first commercial-scale hydrotransport pilot project in October 1993 and incorporated it into our next mine pit development in 1997. We made hydrotransport technology available to the rest of the industry, where it has become the baseline technology for all surface mining operations in the oil sands. It’s been a game-changer. As with any new technology, you must have a protocol in place to assess risk at every development step, and take the time and effort to safely integrate it into the overall operation. CIM: Do you see technologies in development that will improve safety in the future, perhaps examples that are already commercialized but not used in mining? Winkel: The industry is always looking at other sectors, and conducts its own research and development, but always with risk in mind even at the conceptual stage. When things are too risky, it’s best to back off until better solutions are found. The industry also shares information worldwide through forums such as SMART [Surface Mining Association for Research and Technology]. Automated mining equipment, vibration reduction, collision avoidance and fatigue monitoring systems are just some of the new safety supportive technologies under consideration.

safety culture. But safety isn’t just about training or best practices. It has to be instilled as a core value and an imperative ahead of any other objective. That requires leadership from the top, and the involvement of all employees to become leaders in safety at every organizational level. CIM: The “human factor” is often cited as a cause of safety incidents even when safety training programs are in place. How important are drug and alcohol policies and other types of initiatives to reduce human error in the workplace? Winkel: We need to be careful how we view the human factor and humbly acknowledge that none of us is perfect; there will be lapses in judgment and errors will be made. Good safety systems are designed with this reality in mind. This works best with a team approach, where people are engaged, observing and looking out for each other. CIM: Do you see a need for greater collaboration between industry, educational institutions and government agencies to ensure best practices in industrial health and safety? Winkel: I think they’re doing a good job now, and new opportunities for collaboration are opening up through the Internet and other networking technologies. There is also an opportunity to increasingly engage smaller companies and contractors and extend this type of collaboration to them. CIM

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CIM: The oil sands attract thousands of employees from all over the world. How do you design and implement health and safety programs for such a diverse workforce? Winkel: People from diverse cultures may have done things differently before, so you have the responsibility to support them with the latest and best training in practices to manage workplace risks. People like to work in places with a strong

Canada + 800 414-8314 miningsolutions@golder.com www.golder.com

June/July 2014 | 39

CAN

CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE

COAL MINING

With worldwide attention focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired electricity generation, the case for producers to invest in new technology is stronger than ever. By Graham Chandler Peter Kent was Canada’s environment minister on September 5, 2012, when he announced regulations for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from coal-fired electricity generation plants. The announcement ended years of speculation and anxiety for Canadian coal producers including the majority that sold thermal coal for domestic consumption. Ottawa reckoned something had to be done: coal-fired electricity was responsible for 11 per cent of the country’s total GHG emissions and the vast majority of emissions from the electricity and heat sector. That was two years ago, and about one year remains before they begin to apply to new coal plants on July 1, 2015. The regulations apply a performance standard to all coal-fired electricity generation units, both new and those reaching the end of their useful life. The standard is set at 420 tonnes per gigawatt hour – the emissions intensity of natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) technology (where gas turbines use their exhaust heat to boost electricity generation by 50 per cent) and impossible to achieve for coal-fired units without emissions reduction technology. Coal plants currently release about twice the carbon dioxide (CO2) per megawatt as NGCC plants, and if they cannot match their competitors, they must be shut down. First closures are expected in 2020. Most Canadian coal plants are expected to be forced to cease operations by 2029. It is not only Canada taking action. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently proposing new GHG emissions performance standards on fossil fuel-fired electric utility steam generating units and integrated gasification combined cycle units that burn coal, petroleum coke, and other fossil fuels. These standards are based on partial implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) as the best system of emission reduction.

How to duck a big punch Coal producers with markets in the electricity generation sector are left with a choice: invest in a solution or wait for the fate sure to be handed to them. An HSBC report from 2012 estimates that the thermal coal industry could see coal asset valuations plummet by as much as 44 per cent. The bank predicted the “big four” U.K. miners – BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Xstrata (now Glencore) – will lose between $12 billion and $25 billion in stock value if June/July 2014 | 41

in order to achieve this, Anglo American has to invest heavily in technologies and research and build constructive relationships with partners across academia, industry, government, and in the NGO community. “Our participation in FutureGen is part of that approach.” Blyth says Anglo American’s overall investment in GHG emissions reduction to date – including CCS – is US$201 million.

Vera Kailova

there is no dramatic shift in the way burning coal releases CO2 into the atmosphere. “The new GHG regulations on coal may force a significant amount of low-cost coal capacity to be retired long before it otherwise would,” says Dave Butler, the executive director of the Canadian Clean Power Coalition, an association of Canadian and American electricity producers devoted to developing and advancing commercially viable solutions for lowering coal power plant emissions. “There is a significant economic loss associated with retiring these plants prematurely.” But with the application of CCS, most of these plants would not need to be retired. CCS is essentially the only way coal-fired electricity generating plants will be able to meet the new standards. The technology involves removing CO2 from the generating process and sequestering it in safe underground geological formations. This can reduce GHG emissions by 90 per cent or more. Recovered CO2 can also be sold to enhance oil recovery in some situations.

“Fossil-based utilities and coal producers have a major strategic interest in the success of CCS” - Ken Humphreys, CEO of FutureGen

As a strategic move, some coal producers are exploring ways of getting involved with CCS projects like FutureGen, a first-of-its-kind, near-zero emissions coal-fuelled power plant, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE is contributing $1 billion, and other project partners will fund the remainder of the project’s $1.65billion capital cost. Most of those partners are coal producers: Alpha Natural Resources, Anglo American, Joy Global, Peabody Energy and Glencore. Expected to be on line in 2017, the FutureGen project will upgrade an Illinois power plant with oxy-combustion technology, which combusts coal in the presence of a mixture of oxygen and recycled flue gas to produce an ultraclean stream of CO2. Each year, some 1.1 million tonnes of CO2 will be captured from the plant – more than 90 per cent of its carbon emissions. The CO2 will be transported and stored underground. The aim is to test and commercialize an entire integrated CCS approach. Producers’ participation makes economic sense. Anglo American entered into the FutureGen alliance out of a specific corporate strategy. “Coal makes up an important part of our portfolio and we believe it has a significant role to play in the future, particularly in the developing world,” says Emily Blyth, the company’s media manager. “We do, however, accept that it is our responsibility to ensure that we keep pushing the boundaries as far as reducing the carbon intensiveness of our operations and, in fact, our goal is to run low – if not carbon-neutral – mines by 2030.” She says 42 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

Regulations are expected to force the closure of coal-fired power plants unless carbon capture and storage technology can be implemented.

Anglo American has been involved in various international CCS developments at the research and pilot scales, Blyth notes. “In Australia, we also contribute to the Coal 21 Fund for development of low emission technologies and in South Africa we are founding members of the Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage,” she says. The centre is building technical and human resources capacity in South Africa in order to make CCS implementation possible. Ken Humphreys, CEO of FutureGen, says several global and North American coal companies have made important commitments. “Notable examples [of CCS projects] with coal producer involvement include the DOE Regional Carbon

Sequestration Partnerships that cover much of the U.S. and Canada; the Australian Callide oxy-combustion pilot project and Surat basin storage project; and the South African geologic storage assessment studies.” There are other CCS projects underway in nearly all corners of the globe at varying stages of development, and many are receiving financial support from the mining industry. It

one of the world’s leading collaborative research organizations focused on CCS.” BHP Billiton is also a member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute that aims to accelerate the development, demonstration and deployment of CCS globally through knowledge sharing, fact-based advice and advocacy and work to create favourable conditions to implement CCS. But Humphreys says that while producer involvement in early stage CCS R&D and pilot projects is high, producer involvement in commercial-scale projects like FutureGen is much more limited. That is principally due to the challenging market economics that first-mover coal-based CCS projects currently face. According to the independent Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, installation of CCS technology will result in short-term electrical rate increases of 45 to 83 per cent, depending on whether it is retrofitting an existing plant or adding CCS at the construction stage of new plants. Peabody Energy’s involvement in China’s GreenGen project is a good example of a coal company forging ahead, Humphreys says. GreenGen expects CCS to be operational by 2020, storing more than 80 per cent of CO2 emissions. Peabody did not respond for comment.

A daunting project with a lot of uncertainty

can be difficult to choose which projects are most deserving of investment. Australian Coal Association Low Emissions Technology (ACALET) has several producers participating in its CCS research. “The New Hope Group, along with most other black coal producers in Australia, fund ACALET through a voluntary levy,” says a New Hope Group representative who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He says ACALET will fund up to $1 billion into various CCS projects over 10 years. “We invested US$430 million in emissions reduction and energy efficiency projects across our operations globally between FY2007 and FY2012,” says Eleanor Nichols, a spokesperson for BHP Billiton. “We participate in the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies,

Why should coal producers get seriously involved with advancing CCS? “Policy-makers are clearly moving toward policies and regulations that are intended to reduce carbon emissions,” advises Humphreys. “How fast those policies and regulations will move forward is unclear, but it is very clear that coal will continue to be a dominant global fuel, and that carbon will continue to be a business issue. Investments in advanced technology that reduce carbon emissions are a strategic hedge in an uncertain regulatory future. Investments in CCS position the coal industry as a problem solver.” In fact, Humphreys considers producers’ involvement a necessity. “Fossil-based utilities and coal producers have a major strategic interest in the success of CCS,” he says. “With low North American gas prices, most fossil utilities are shifting focus toward natural gas-based strategies. It is in the strategic interest of the coal industry to demonstrate that coal with CCS can be affordable and have a carbon footprint equal to or better than natural gas.” Butler agrees but cautions that CCS is still an expensive and unproven technology commercially: “More of these plants need to be built to bring their costs down. However, low natural gas prices have helped reduce power prices, making it more difficult to justify CCS projects on coal plants.” The Canadian Clean Power Coalition has been studying CCS technologies for a decade now, says Butler, and can help producers get involved despite the hurdles. “We help our members understand which GHG reduction options are likely to be more attractive than others,” he explains. “We also study new technologies that may be available in a decade. In addition, there are several CCS test facilities in June/July 2014 | 43

Two large scale power plant CCS projects are under construction: Mississippi’s Kemper County and Saskatchewan’s Boundary Dam. Kemper County will capture carbon precombustion (above left) while Boundary Dam will use a post-combustion carbon capture process (above right).

North America. The National Carbon Capture Center in the U.S. has also been testing new and novel carbon capture technologies. Helping to fund testing of these new technologies and joining the Canadian Clean Power Coalition would be a good way to get involved.” Butler points out that they have had very strong financial participation from Canada’s largest producer of thermal coal, Sherritt International, whose Canadian coal operations are now part of Westmoreland Coal Company. “It is in the interests of coal suppliers to help coal consumers find ways to extend the life of existing coal plants and to find ways to build new coal plants which meet the emissions control regulations. That way they will be able to grow and sell more coal,” he says. But recent low thermal coal prices of less than US$75 per tonne compared with $190 in mid-2008 challenge the economics for producers looking to get seriously into CCS investing. In fact, economics were blamed for the 2012 demise of Project Pioneer, a large CCS project in Alberta. Project Pioneer was a joint effort by coal producer TransAlta Corporation, Capital Power L.P., Enbridge Inc., and the federal and provincial governments to demonstrate commercial-scale viability of CCS technology. Although it demonstrated that the technology works and capital costs were in line with expectations, the market for carbon sales and the price of emissions reductions were insufficient to allow the project to proceed. 44 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

“One of the key components of the revenue stream that we needed to make the project’s economics work was that there would be a value on the CO2 emissions that were reduced,” explains Don Wharton, vice-president policy and sustainability, TransAlta Corporation. “As it turned out, the [federal government] regulation put no value on carbon reduced, so that revenue stream disappeared.” The second expectation for the revenue stream was to be sales of CO2 to Alberta oil and gas producers for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). “It turned out the commercial entity we were negotiating with made the decision that, rather than CO2 flooding, they were going to put their money into horizontal drilling technology, so that revenue stream dried up,” says Wharton. “Those two things happened coincidentally and essentially made it impossible for us to be able to build the project on budget.”

Wharton accepts, however, that in order for CCS to be commercially viable, a project should not rely on selling CO2. “First and foremost this was a demonstration project, and we recognized in the long haul that sequestration was going to be the big nut because Alberta [oil wells] couldn’t absorb all the CO2 that coal-fired power produces should CCS take off,” he says. “So we had both an EOR stream and a sequestration stream; we drilled disposal wells as part of the project.” Wharton has faith in the capability of CCS technology despite the current marginal economics. “I think the major thing we proved to ourselves was that the technology would work – both the capture and the sequestration.” He says what was not proven was the economics, and he still believes that is the outstanding issue as to whether CCS can be deployed on coal-fired power in a way that allows them to be competitive with other forms of electricity. “That’s still to be proven,” he says. “You can put CCS on a plant but if it’s not economic, especially in deregulated electricity markets like Alberta, you are hampering your ability to sell your product.” He says the handful of worldwide coal-fired plants with CCS that are moving ahead have an advantage: “One is that almost all of those other jurisdictions are regulated electricity jurisdictions; Saskatchewan is a perfect example. They are moving ahead very well on their Boundary Dam project but they get to pass those costs through to the ratepayer once the regulator approves it. So it is a whole different ball game

than companies fronting a lot of the capital cost and then having to sell into a competitive market.” SaskPower’s Boundary Dam project, one of the leading CCS demonstration projects as applied to power generation in Canada, has no coal producers as investors, according to project spokesperson Tyler Hopson. But Wharton feels that is no reason for producers to turn their backs on CCS: “It has huge possibilities if we can work the project economics and scale factors properly. So we are carefully watching developments on that broad global technology to see if and when it might prove to be economic and some of those will be externalities like the price of natural gas as a competitive fuel.” He figures the supply and price of natural gas will be major determining factors in whether CCS for coal-fired generation takes off. Still, Wharton does not expect to see a miracle technology that changes the game overnight. He has some advice for would-be investors: “Number one, it is a long game. Don’t expect that something is going to pop out in the next three to five years. The stage of technology development on CCS and the economics that go along with it are kind of like the oil sands were 20 or 25 years ago. In our view it is likely at least a decade away before CCS becomes a commercially competitive and viable solution and will go gangbusters.” A decade is a long time in the current regulatory environment, however; and only cash is likely to speed up the research necessary to make CCS a commercial reality. CIM June/July 2014 | 45

la technologie de captage et stockage du co2

peut-elle l’industrie du Par Graham Chandler

charbon

Le 5 septembre 2012, Peter Kent, alors ministre de l’environnement du Canada, a annoncé une réglementation visant à réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) provenant des centrales de production d’électricité à partir du charbon. Cette annonce a mis fin à des années de spéculation et d’angoisses pour les producteurs de charbon canadiens, y compris pour la plupart qui vendent leur charbon thermique à des fins de consommation domestique. Ottawa a reconnu qu’il fallait agir : l’électricité produite à partir du charbon représente 11 % des émissions totales de GES du Canada, et la majeure partie sont imputables au secteur de l’électricité et du chauffage. Voici deux ans que cette annonce a été faite, et d’ici plus ou moins une année, le 1er juillet 2015 exactement, la réglementation devra être appliquée par les centrales au charbon. Elle leur impose à toutes une norme de rendement, aux nouvelles comme à celles atteignant la fin de leur durée de vie utile. Cette norme est fixée à 420 tonnes par gigawatt-heure, à savoir l’intensité des émissions de la technologie de cycle combiné au gaz naturel (CCGN), où des turbines à gaz utilisent leur rejet thermique pour augmenter de 50 % la production d’électricité. Cette norme ne pourra être respectée à moins que les centrales alimentées au charbon ne s’équipent d’une technologie de réduction des émissions. Les centrales au charbon rejettent environ deux fois plus de dioxyde de carbone (CO2) par mégawatt que les centrales à CCGN, et si leur performance ne peut égaler celle de leurs concurrents, elles devront alors être fermées. Les premières 46 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

fermetures sont prévues pour 2020. La plupart des centrales canadiennes pourraient devoir fermer leurs portes d’ici 2029. Le Canada n’est pas le seul à prendre des mesures. Aux États-Unis, l’agence de protection de l’environnement (EPA) propose actuellement de nouvelles normes de rendement en matière d’émissions de GES pour les centrales électriques à cycle à vapeur alimentées aux combustibles fossiles et les centrales à cycle combiné à gazéification intégrée (CCGI) qui brûlent du charbon, du coke de pétrole et d’autres combustibles fossiles. Ces normes reposent sur la mise en œuvre partielle de la technologie de captage et stockage du dioxyde de carbone (CSC) en tant que système le plus efficace de réduction des émissions.

Comment esquiver les coups Les producteurs de charbon qui dépendent des marchés du secteur de la production d’électricité ont deux possibilités : investir dans une solution, ou attendre que le verdict tombe. Un rapport de HSBC de 2012 estime que l’industrie du charbon thermique pourrait voir les évaluations des actifs de charbon s’effondrer de jusqu’à 44 %. La banque prévoyait que les « quatre grandes » sociétés minières du Royaume-Uni (BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Rio Tinto et Xstrata, maintenant Glencore), pourraient perdre entre 12 et 25 milliards $ de leur valeur en bourse si elles ne réduisent pas radicalement les émissions de CO2 dans l’atmosphère issues de la combustion du charbon.

« Les nouvelles réglementations en matière de GES qui l’avenir, notamment dans le monde en développement », s’appliquent au charbon pourraient bien entraîner le retrait explique Emily Blyth, directrice des médias de la société. d’une grande partie de la capacité de production de charbon « Nous admettons cependant qu’il est de notre devoir de nous assurer de faire notre possible pour limiter l’intensité des émisà bas prix bien avant la date escomptée », explique Dave sions de dioxyde de carbone que génèrent nos activités; Butler, directeur exécutif de la Canadian Clean Power Coalition (CCPC, la coalition canadienne pour l’énergie propre), d’ailleurs, notre but est d’exploiter d’ici 2030 des mines à faible une association de producteurs d’électricité canadiens et émission de carbone, voire neutres en carbone. » Pour y paraméricains qui se consacrent au venir, explique-t-elle, Anglo American développement et à l’avancement de doit énormément investir dans les techsolutions commercialement viables nologies et la recherche et développer pour réduire les émissions des centrales des relations constructives avec des thermiques alimentées au charbon. partenaires du monde universitaire, de « Les pertes économiques associées à la l’industrie et du gouvernement ainsi que mise hors service prématurée de ces dans la communauté des ONG. « Notre centrales sont considérables. » participation à FutureGen fait partie Mais en appliquant la technologie intégrante de cette approche. » de CSC, on pourrait éviter la clôture de Mme Blyth indique que l’investissement total d’Anglo American dans la réduction la plupart de ces centrales. La techdes émissions de GES à ce jour, technologie de CSC est fondamentalement nologie de CSC comprise, est de le seul moyen pour les centrales ther201 millions $ US. miques alimentées au charbon de se Anglo American s’est impliquée dans conformer aux nouvelles normes. Elle divers développements internationaux implique d’éliminer le CO2 du procédé de production d’électricité et de le de la CSC à l’échelle pilote et de la séquestrer dans des formations recherche, explique Mme Blyth. « En AusFutureGen de général directeur Humphreys, Ken – géologiques souterraines sécurisées. tralie, nous contribuons aussi au Coal 21 Elle pourrait contribuer à réduire les Fund pour le développement de techémissions de GES de 90 %, voire plus ; nologies à faible taux d’émissions, et en en outre, le CO2 récupéré peut être vendu pour améliorer Afrique du Sud, nous sommes les membres fondateurs du la récupération de pétrole dans certains cas. Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage. » Ce centre renforce Dans une optique stratégique, certains producteurs de les capacités techniques et en ressources humaines de l’Afrique charbon explorent les moyens de s’impliquer dans des projets du Sud afin de permettre la mise en œuvre de la CSC. de CSC tels que FutureGen, la première centrale électrique à Ken Humphreys, directeur général de FutureGen, charbon en son genre qui ne génère pratiquement aucune explique que plusieurs sociétés charbonnières d’Amérique du émission, en coopération avec le Department of Energy (DOE, Nord et du reste du monde ont pris des engagements imporle ministère de l’énergie) des États-Unis. Le DOE attribue tants. « Parmi les exemples notables [de projets de CSC] dans 1 milliard $ à ce projet, et d’autres partenaires du projet lesquels se sont engagés des producteurs de charbon, citons assureront le coût en capital restant du projet, d’une valeur de les partenariats régionaux sur le captage du charbon du DOE 1,65 milliard $. La plupart des partenaires sont des producqui couvrent une bonne partie des États-Unis et du Canada ; teurs de charbon : Alpha Natural Resources, Anglo American, le projet pilote d’oxycombustion Callide et le projet de stockJoy Global, Peabody Energy et Glencore. age du bassin de Surat en Australie ; et les études d’évaluation Le projet FutureGen, qui devrait être opérationnel d’ici du stockage géologique en Afrique du Sud. » 2017, modernisera une centrale électrique de l’État de l’Illinois D’autres projets de CSC sont en cours pratiquement à l’aide de la technologie d’oxycombustion, un procédé de partout dans le monde. Ils se trouvent à divers stades de combustion du charbon dans lequel on utilise comme comdéveloppement et beaucoup reçoivent un soutien financier de l’industrie minière. Il est très difficile de déterminer quels proburant de l’oxygène pur et du gaz de carneau recyclé pour jets sont les plus dignes de bénéficier d’un investissement. produire un flux ultra-propre de CO2. Chaque année, quelque Plusieurs producteurs participent aux travaux de recherche 1,1 million de tonnes de CO2 sera capté de cette centrale, ce sur la CSC menés par l’Australian Coal Association Low Emisqui représente plus de 90 % de ses émissions de carbone. Le sions Technology (ACALET). « Le New Hope Group, ainsi que CO2 sera ensuite transporté et stocké sous terre. L’objectif du la plupart des autres producteurs d’anthracite d’Australie, projet est de tester et de commercialiser une approche intégrée financent ALCALET par le biais de cotisations volontaires », totale de CSC. La participation des producteurs est tout à fait logique du explique un représentant du New Hope Group qui a requis point de vue économique. Anglo American a intégré l’alliance l’anonymat. Il explique qu’ACALET investira jusqu’à 1 milFutureGen dans le cadre d’une stratégie d’entreprise spéciliard $ dans divers projets de CSC sur une période de 10 ans. fique. « Le charbon constitue une part importante de notre « Nous avons investi 430 millions $ US dans des projets portefeuille et selon nous, il aura un rôle important à jouer à portant sur la réduction des émissions et l’efficacité énergé-

« La réussite des projets de CSC revêt un intérêt stratégique important pour les services reposant sur les combustibles fossiles et pour les producteurs de charbon »

June/July 2014 | 47

tique dans toutes nos exploitations dans le monde entre les années fiscales 2007 et 2012 », indique Eleanor Nichols, porte-parole de BHP Billiton. « Nous participons au Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies, l’un des principaux organismes de recherche collaborative au niveau mondial se concentrant sur la technologie de CSC. » BHP Billiton est aussi membre du Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (l’institut mondial du captage et stockage du carbone) qui cherche à accélérer le développement, la démonstration et le déploiement de la technologie de CSC à l’échelle mondiale en promouvant le partage des connaissances, les conseils et la défense de cette cause fondés sur des faits ainsi que les travaux nécessaires pour créer les conditions favorables à la mise en œuvre de la CSC. Cependant, M. Humphreys explique que malgré l’engagement important des producteurs dans les projets pilotes et les premières étapes de R&D sur la CSC, leur implication dans des projets d’envergure commerciale tels que FutureGen est bien plus limitée. Ceci s’explique principalement par l’économie de marché complexe à laquelle sont actuellement confrontés les premiers projets de CSC destinés aux centrales thermiques alimentées au charbon. D’après le Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, une organisation indépendante, l’installation de la technologie de CSC entraînera une augmentation à court terme des tarifs de l’électricité de 45 à 83 %, selon si elle implique la modernisation d’une centrale existante ou l’ajout de la technologie de CSC à l’étape de construction de nouvelles centrales. L’engagement de Peabody Energy dans le projet GreenGen en Chine est un bon exemple d’une société charbonnière qui va de l’avant, explique M. Humphreys. D’après les responsables de GreenGen, la technologie de CSC sera opérationnelle d’ici 2020 et permettra de stocker plus de 80 % des émissions de CO2. Peabody n’a pas répondu à ces observations.

Un projet intimidant parsemé d’incertitudes Pourquoi les producteurs de charbon ont-ils tout intérêt à s’engager aussi sérieusement vis-à-vis du développement de la CSC ? « Les décideurs politiques adoptent clairement des politiques et réglementations visant à réduire les émissions de dioxyde de carbone », explique M. Humphreys. « La vitesse à laquelle ces politiques et réglementations progresseront est incertaine, mais ce qui est sûr, c’est que le charbon continuera d’être un combustible dominant à l’échelle mondiale, et le dioxyde de carbone un enjeu commercial. Les investissements dans une technologie avancée qui permet de réduire les émissions de CO2 constituent une couverture stratégique dans un avenir très incertain en termes de réglementation. Les investissements dans la technologie de CSC font de l’industrie du charbon une solution au problème. » Pour M. Humphreys, l’engagement des producteurs est une nécessité. « La réussite des projets de CSC revêt un intérêt stratégique important pour les services reposant sur les com48 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

bustibles fossiles et pour les producteurs de charbon », explique-t-il. « Étant donné le bas prix du gaz en Amérique du Nord, la plupart des services basés sur les combustibles fossiles se tournent vers des stratégies reposant sur le gaz naturel. D’un point de vue stratégique, il est dans l’intérêt de l’industrie du charbon de démontrer que les centrales à charbon équipées d’une technologie de CSC peuvent être abordables et ont une empreinte écologique équivalente ou meilleure que celle des centrales à gaz. » M. Butler est d’accord, mais prévient que la CSC reste une technologie encore coûteuse et non éprouvée sur le plan commercial. « La plupart de ces centrales devront être construites pour réduire leurs coûts. Cependant, les prix relativement bas du gaz naturel ont contribué à faire baisser les prix de l’électricité, ce qui rend plus difficile de justifier le développement de projets de CSC dans des centrales à charbon. » La Canadian Clean Power Coalition étudie la technologie de CSC depuis une dizaine d’année, déclare M. Butler, et peut aider les producteurs à s’impliquer malgré les difficultés qu’ils pourraient rencontrer. « Nous aidons nos membres à comprendre quelles options seraient susceptibles d’être plus avantageuses que d’autres », déclare-t-il. « Nous étudions également de nouvelles technologies qui pourraient être disponibles d’ici une dizaine d’années. En outre, on trouve plusieurs installations pilotes de CSC en Amérique du Nord. Le National Carbon Capture Center aux États-Unis teste aussi depuis un certain temps des technologies innovantes de captage du CO2. Contribuer au financement de ces nouvelles technologies et adhérer à la Canadian Clean Power Coalition sont de bonnes manières de s’impliquer. » M. Butler fait remarquer que la coalition a perçu une très forte participation financière de Sherritt International, le plus grand producteur de charbon thermique canadien, dont les exploitations canadiennes de charbon dépendent désormais de la Westmoreland Coal Company. « Les fournisseurs de charbon ont tout à gagner à aider les consommateurs à trouver des manières de prolonger la durée de vie des centrales à charbon existantes et d’en construire de nouvelles conformes aux réglementations en matière de contrôle des émissions. Cela leur permettra de se développer et de vendre davantage de charbon », dit-il. Cependant, la chute récente des prix du charbon thermique à moins de 75 $ US par tonne, par rapport à 190 $ US mi-2008, représente un frein économique pour les producteurs envisageant sérieusement d’investir dans la technologie de CSC. De fait, l’économie a été mise en cause pour l’échec en 2012 de Pioneer, un grand projet de CSC en Alberta. Le projet Pioneer était un effort commun de la TransAlta Corporation, de Capital Power L.P., d’Enbridge Inc. et des gouvernements fédéral et provincial visant à démontrer la viabilité à l’échelle commerciale de la technologie de CSC. Bien qu’il ait démontré que la technologie fonctionne et que les coûts en capitaux répondaient aux attentes, le marché pour les ventes du CO2 et le prix des réductions des émissions ne suffisaient pas pour poursuivre le projet.

Vera Kailova

Il explique que la poignée de centrales à charbon dans le « L’un des éléments clés du flux de rentrées dont nous besoin pour garantir le succès économique du projet avions monde dotées de la technologie de CSC qui affichent de bons résultats présentent une différence. « L’une de ces différences était d’appliquer une valeur à la réduction des émissions de est que dans pratiquement toutes les CO2 », explique Don Wharton, viceprésident à la politique et au autres juridictions, le marché de développement durable chez l’électricité est réglementé ; la TransAlta Corporation. « Il s’est Saskatchewan est un parfait exemple. trouvé que la réglementation imposée Le projet de Boundary Dam avance par le [gouvernement fédéral] n’aptrès bien, mais la différence est que plique pas de valeur à la réduction des les responsables répercutent les coûts émissions de dioxyde de carbone, sur le contribuable une fois que l’oraussi ce flux de rentrées a disparu. » ganisme de réglementation l’a La seconde attente pour le flux de approuvé. Cela n’a donc rien à voir rentrées concernait les ventes du avec des sociétés devant avancer la CO2 aux producteurs de pétrole et majorité des coûts en capital et de gaz de l’Alberta à des fins de ensuite vendre sur un marché comrécupération assistée des hydrocarpétitif. » Le projet de Boundary Dam bures (RAH). « Il s’est avéré que l’ende SaskPower, l’un des plus grands tité commerciale avec laquelle nous projets de démonstration de la techmenions les négociations a décidé nologie de CSC appliquée à la proque, plutôt que d’investir dans l’induction d’électricité au Canada, ne jection de dioxyde de carbone, elle compte aucun producteur de charallait se tourner vers une technologie bon parmi ses investisseurs, explique de forage horizontal, aussi ce flux de Tyler Hopson, porte-parole du projet. rentrées s’est tari », déclare Mais M. Wharton a le sentiment M. Wharton. « Ces deux facteurs ont que ce n’est pas la raison pour laqueeu lieu par pure coïncidence, et ont lle les producteurs tournent le dos à essentiellement eu l’effet de nous la technologie de CSC. « Les possiempêcher de construire le projet bilités sont immenses si nous paravec le budget prévu. » venons à bien exploiter la rentabilité M. Wharton reconnaît cependant et les facteurs d’échelle du projet. La règlementation pourrait forcer la fermeture des centrales au qu’afin de faire de la CSC une tech- charbon si les technologies de captage et stockage des Ainsi, nous observons attentivement nologie commercialement viable, un émissions de carbone ne sont pas appliquées. les développements de cette techprojet ne peut pas uniquement tabler nologie au niveau mondial pour sur les ventes de CO2. « Tout d’abord, décider si et quand elle sera rentable, il s’agissait d’un projet de démonstration et nous avons et certains dépendront de facteurs externes comme le prix du reconnu que sur le long terme, la séquestration allait devenir gaz naturel en tant que combustible au coût compétitif. » un véritable problème car les [puits de pétrole] de l’Alberta ne Selon lui, la demande de gaz naturel et son prix seront des pourraient absorber tout le CO2 que rejettent les centrales élecfacteurs déterminants dans l’avènement de la technologie de triques à charbon au cas où la technologie de CSC prenne son CSC pour la production d’électricité à partir de charbon. envol », explique-t-il. « Nous avions donc d’un côté, la RAH Bien entendu, M. Wharton ne s’attend pas à voir surgir une et de l’autre, la séquestration ; nous avons foré des puits de technologie miracle qui changera la donne en l’espace d’une stockage dans le cadre du projet. » nuit. Mais il a quelques conseils à donner aux investisseurs à M. Wharton reste confiant dans la capacité de la technolovenir. « Premièrement, il faut miser sur le long terme. Ne vous gie de CSC malgré sa faible rentabilité économique actuelleattendez pas à ce qu’une solution miracle voit le jour dans les ment. « Nous sommes parvenus à nous prouver que la trois à cinq années à venir. La phase de développement techtechnologie, autant le captage que la séquestration, pouvait nologique de la CSC et les facteurs économiques qui l’accommarcher. » Ce qui n’est pas prouvé, comme il l’explique, est pagnent sont un peu comme le cas des sables bitumineux il y sa rentabilité, et il reste persuadé que cela constitue le proba 20 à 25 ans. À notre avis, il faudra compter environ une lème dominant au déploiement de la CSC dans des centrales décennie avant que la technologie de CSC ne devienne une à charbon d’une manière qui leur permette de faire concursolution compétitive et viable du point de vue commercial, et rence aux autres formes d’électricité. « Cela reste à prouver », connaisse un véritable succès. » ajoute-t-il. « On peut installer la technologie de CSC dans une Une décennie est cependant une période bien longue au centrale, mais sa non-rentabilité, surtout sur des marchés de vu de l’environnement réglementaire actuel, et seuls les l’électricité déréglementés comme ceux de l’Alberta, coninvestissements pourront accélérer la recherche pour faire de stituera une entrave à la vente de notre produit. » la technologie de CSC une réalité. ICM June/July 2014 | 49

REG IST IS O RAT PEN ION

CONFERENCE OF METALLURGISTS

Technical Themes:

• Arsenic Metallurgy • Process Control Applications • Rare Earth Elements • Process & Flowsheet Development • Risk Management • Bill Davenport Symposium • Metals & Mineral Process in honor of Dr. Ram Rao

• Light Metals Processing • Nanoscale Materials Characterization • Vanadium • Materials Manufacturing • Multiscale Modelling and Simulations of Failure in Structural Materials • Process Safety Management in Metallurgical Operations

View speakers’ list online

September 28 – October 1, 2014 Hyatt Regency Hotel, Vancouver (BC)

PROSPERITY THROUGH PROCESS ADVANCEMENTS 10 Trade Show Booths left

An Industrial Tour

6 Short Courses

BONUS: Each exhibitor receives one full-registration pass.

to CESL Pilot / Demo Plant and SGS Technology Centre.

held in conjunction and mirror the technical themes: • Control of Mineral Processing Systems • Risk Management • Process Safety and Management Awareness • Process Hazard Analysis • Energy Storage Course Overview • Process Safety and Managing Risk

A cleaner burn

technology

EMISSIONS CONTROL

Modern diesel engines keep soot and nitrogen oxides under control By Eavan Moore

Courtesy of T.F. Hudgins

On January 1, 2015, the final stage of a 20-year journey toward near-zero diesel emissions will commence. By that date, every new diesel engine sold in the United States will reduce the diesel particulate matter and nitrogen oxide in its exhaust stream by more than 90 per cent of their pre-1996 levels, in accordance with the Tier 4 Final regulations phased in by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

HJS Emission Technology’s Stratus SMF-AR system.

“T

he regulations have preoccupied every engine manufacturer,” says Kevan Browne, communications director at Cummins Engine Company. “What are the emissions levels? How do we meet them? And when do we meet them?” Diesel combustion produces a soot composed of carbon, hydrocarbons, and solid sulfur compounds and generates toxic gases and vapours like carbon monoxide, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides (NOx). The World Health Organization says that without adequate controls, such as exhaust after-treatment, these diesel byproducts can cause a range of possible health problems, including respiratory illnesses and cancer for workers. Although the degree of risk is still being debated, latest industry standards are reducing diesel emissions to near-zero levels, and the mining industry is rapidly moving ahead to introduce cleaner diesel-powered equipment. High levels of soot – otherwise known as particulate matter (PM) – and NOx have forced mine operators, governments, and suppliers to work hard on finding solutions to reduce diesel emissions and worker exposure. While a holistic approach is recommended – from cleaner fuel to vigourous maintenance practices to better ventilation in underground mines – the greatest technological change has occurred in engine combustion and exhaust aftertreatment.

June/July 2014 | 51

Courtesy of Vale

Vale installed a low-NO2 advanced continuously regenerating trap diesel particulate filter system, manufactured by Johnson Matthey, on a heavyduty load-haul-dump vehicle at its Totten mine for field testing.

After-treatment retrofits

With an older engine, the burden of dealing with PM falls to a diesel particulate filter (DPF). The basic concept has existed since the 1970s: a honeycomb-shaped ceramic, metal, cordierite or knitted glass fibre filter traps soot from the exhaust, and the accumulated soot is periodically burned off to regenerate the filter. Al Hovda, global manager of the exhaust and emissions business at Minneapolis-based filtration company Donaldson, says soot buildup problems have driven improvements in DPF design. Any burn-off during regeneration will result in some ash production, and newer generations of DPFs have larger inlet channels to collect more ash and extend service intervals. But excessive soot buildup, which can cause the DPF to require service, persists because a vehicle’s duty-cycle does not always allow the engine to run hot enough to reach the required burn-off temperature. If a DPF regenerates at 500 C, the engine will have to operate at or above this temperature at least 20 per cent of the time to avoid excessive soot buildup. A test of new DPFs, conducted from 2000 to 2004 at Vale’s underground Stobie mine, as part of the mining industry-led Diesel Emission Evaluation Program, showed that even heavily used vehicles needed assistance to get their engines to that temperature that often. Strategies for raising exhaust temperature can either be active, involving some intervention such as injecting extra fuel or starting up a heater, or passive, which can mean either raising the exhaust temperature automatically or lowering the threshold temperature for filter regeneration. One filter Vale plans to install on selected light-duty vehicles across its Sudbury operations combines both active and passive strategies. The Stratus SMF-AR, a sintered metal filter made by HJS Emission Technology and sold in North America 52 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

by T.F. Hudgins, uses heating elements encircling the filter to help it to ignite, while a ferrocene fuel additive lowers the reaction temperature. Bob Clayton, manager of international sales at T.F. Hudgins, says the filter can drop the ignition temperature by 200 C while cutting PM by up to 99.7 per cent. According to Cheryl Allen, principal engineer of ventilation at Vale, the filter reduced PM emissions by more than 99 per cent on the two engines Vale tested. Diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) can also help reach and sustain burn-off temperatures. DOCs serve many functions, but their most common use – converting carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons into water vapour with a precious-metal catalyst, often platinum and/or palladium – also produces heat that boosts regeneration in the DPF. The downside to platinum and palladium is that they convert nitrogen oxide to NO2, a respiratory irritant. But Clayton says that is another benefit of the Stratus SMF-AR: it can reduce NO2 depending on the engine’s operating condition. Johnson Matthey, which uses NO2 to oxidize soot in its CRT filters, has a new “Low-NO2” version that Vale is currently testing on heavy-duty vehicles.

Saying no to NOx

NOx emissions increase in the same high-temperature combustion conditions that reduce PM and it is tougher to treat through retrofits. Under looser emissions rules, it was possible to strike a balance between PM and NOx using precise engine controls. But starting with Tier 3 engines, “the requirements to reduce both PM and NOx were such that the only way they could do that is not play one against the other, but come up with after-treatment technologies that reduce both,” says Michel Grenier, regional director of research programs with CanmetMINING. That is reflected in the technology used to meet Tier 4 Final standards, which began to apply to mid-size off-road engines – between 173 and 751 horsepower (hp) – as of January 1, 2014. These machines power most underground mining equipment and must now emit no more than 0.01 grams of PM and 0.30 grams of NOx per horsepower-hour. That is the same PM content as the Tier 4 Interim levels, but only half the previously allowable NOx. “We call it near-zero levels because it’s so low it’s virtually impossible to get any lower,” says Cummins’s Browne.

NOx-specific after-treatment, called selective catalytic reduction (SCR), is now standard across Tier 4 Final engines. A solution of water and urea, called diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), is sprayed into the exhaust stream, where the heat converts it into ammonia. The ammonia reacts with NOx to form nitrogen and water with the help of a catalyst, reducing exhaust-borne NOx by up to 90 per cent. A second slip catalyst eliminates any excess ammonia. SCR systems can reduce an engine’s operating cost as well as its emissions. Manufacturers say such systems improve fuel efficiency by up to 5 per cent because the engine operation can be optimized for criteria other than nitrogen reduction. With a typical DEF requirement of two to three gallons per 100 gallons fuel burned, the total cost of fluid and diesel is lower. This also reduces the burden on PM filters, according to Doug Mihelick, commercial manager at Caterpillar’s engine division. “The SCR system allows us to tune the engine to produce a little higher engine-out NOx and lower particulates,” he explains. For Caterpillar, that means that some Tier 4 Final machine models accomplish enough soot removal through passive regeneration that they never need supplemental active regeneration. Some of its engines do not require a DPF at all. Cummins’s Browne remarks that when the less severe Tier 4 Final kicks in for engines of 751 hp and above – like those of large surface mining equipment – Cummins will be meeting the requirements with SCR alone. That is possible in part because in-cylinder controls are steadily improving. The more thoroughly fuel burns, the fewer waste products it sends into the exhaust stream. The Tier 4 engines use high-pressure fuel injection systems controlled electronically; the more precisely timed the injection and the greater the surface area of fuel droplets are exposed to oxygen, the better combustion will occur. A typical mid-size engine also uses exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to reduce the production of NOx by cooling down the combustion chamber with a portion of the inert gas from the exhaust stream. “Since 2011, most of our off-highway engines below 751 horsepower have had EGR on them,” Browne says. “You’ll find them on almost every engine supplier now.”

A new track

While technology users will be ironing out kinks for years to come, the engine manufacturers have dusted off

Courtesy of Vale

A diesel particulate filter installed on a 10-tonne locomotive at Vale’s Creighton mine.

their hands and declared “job done” on emissions. Browne says Cummins is changing track now. “From Cummins’ perspective, emissions have driven all of the technology changes for the last 10 years,” he comments. “We’ve had dates which are fairly aggressive to meet from the EPA and the European Union.” Now, he says, the focus will be on performance improvements rather than regulatory compliance. That means back-to-basics reliability, but it also means the conversion catalysts are likely going to continue to become more efficient and the after-treatment devices smaller. Alternative fuels and electric hybrid installations may receive more attention. Meanwhile, Canmet is conducting further research into new after-treatment technologies. The American Conference of Government and Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), which proposes health-motivated workplace guidelines, has offered it a challenge by suggesting that the threshold limit value for NO2 over an eight-hour shift be reduced from 3.0 parts per million to 0.2 parts per million. Though the ACGIH does not itself set regulations, a number of provinces tend to adopt its guidelines. “This is causing a lot of concern with mine operators across Canada,” says Grenier. “So whatever technology we are looking at right now must not only take into account the need to reduce diesel particulate matter, but also to have an impact on NO2, specifically.” As well, says Grenier, “We’re working on alternative energies for powering underground equipment. In other words, whether it’s fuel cell-powered vehicles or fully electric batterydriven vehicles, our aim here is eventually to go to the zeroemission underground mine, thereby affecting workers’ safety and health in a positive way.” CIM

June/July 2014 | 53

The rechargeable battery market has sparked interest in the lithium rich salt flats or salars of Chile and Bolivia, as well as in Argentina, where ADY Resources are developing a full-scale lithium extraction operation on the Rinc贸n Salar.

54 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

ADY Resources and its parent company, Canadian-based Enirgi Group, are about to reap the benefit of years of hard work, patience, persistence and technology development in the Argentine salt flats known as salars. Together, they are poised to become a player in the global lithium market, aiming to construct and operate a 25,000 tonne-per-annum lithium carbonate operation in 2017. BY PIERRICK BLIN AND ANTOINE DION-ORTEGA PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHEL HUNEAULT

n the road that crosses the Argentine province of Salta up to the Chilean border, llama herds are the only obstacles holding drivers back in this wide-open landscape. It takes four hours to drive from the provincial capital of Salta to the Rinc贸n Salar, a 400,000-hectare crust of brown and white minerals. The region, known as the Lithium Triangle (see sidebar), is the setting for most of the South American

salars, trapped between Andean volcanic chains at the junction of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. Fifteen years ago, Daniel Galli, an original member of the ADY team, was concentrating on the sodium sulphate resources in the Rinc贸n Salar, where he had secured numerous claims. The lithium rush that started around 2004 prompted a change of focus. The price of lithium carbonate, which was less than US$2,000 per tonne in 2000, surged under the growJune/July 2014 | 55

project profile | R I N C Ó N S A L A R

The best salars are not the white flat ones, but rather the brown, sharp-edged ones such as the Rincón, which are older and contain higher concentrations of lithium.

ing demand for lithium batteries from the electronics market. When it met its peak at US$7,500 per tonne in 2007, Galli was developing a process to extract lithium with Admiralty Resources, the original project owner. Admiralty ran into financial trouble, and the project attracted attention from other investors. In late-2009, the project was acquired by Sentient Group, an independent Australian private equity investment group specializing in the global resources industry. The lithium carbonate market has stabilized since then at US$5,000 to US$6,000 per tonne, with producers ramping up to satisfy a ballooning annual global demand, which is now about 217,000 tonnes per year. Market research firm Roskill estimates that number will likely reach 238,000 tonnes by 2017. Add to that the recent announcement from the electric automobile manufacturer Tesla of its proposed US$5billion lithium-ion battery plant, and the potential for sustained growth looks good. In 2020, the company plans on producing more lithium ion batteries each year than were produced worldwide in 2013. “This news is a positive sign for the industry but it also means that important decisions will have to be made by credible lithium producers if the ‘lithium genie’ is to be released from the bottle,” says Wayne Richardson, president and CEO of Enirgi Group. “In the race to bring on new supply to support future plans such as the Tesla ‘gigafactory,’ lithium producers must invest heavily 56 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

into properly defining their resource – those who do not will lose to the companies that have demonstrated a low-cost position underpinned by technology, a long-life extractable resource, and the expertise to bring the product to market,” concludes Richardson.

Volcanic dust The richness of the Rincón Salar is derived from the neighbouring hills. “Lithium is found in the surrounding volcanic rocks, ignimbrite and tuff rocks where lithium concentration often reaches 70 parts per million,” says Sergio Lopez, geological consultant and manager at IMEx Salta. For two million years, physical erosion has drawn lithium along with other minerals from these rocks. Carried by rain, these ions cascade down the slopes and are entrapped in vast basins. Minerals have been accumulating and, under the effect of natural evaporation, concentrating to levels in the range of 0.1 per cent. In this mix are magnesium, potassium, and sodium chloride, which ended up forming the salars – huge porous sponges soaked with brine. Each salar has its own unique characteristics. The mature ones have rich mineral concentration in their brines and a brownish, sharp crystalline crust, whereas younger ones are often dazzling white lakes resembling vast ice rinks. Producers in the Lithium Triangle are looking for porous formations from which the brine can be effectively pumped

RINCÓN SALAR

| project profile

Once at the surface, the brine is pumped into evaporation ponds, where its lithium concentration will increase while less soluble minerals will end up depositing.

out like an oil reservoir. Homogeneity is also an asset. Low magnesium concentrations are ideal because they limit the cost of separating the unwanted mineral. Enirgi Group has consolidated ADY’s claims on the Rincón Salar, a 1,000-metre deep mature salar with a 0.045 per cent lithium concentration – which ranks lower than salt flats such as Atacama (0.14 per cent) but higher than many others in the region, and the lithium is easier and less costly to extract. In 2011, Sentient transferred ownership and management of its lithium assets to its Canadian subsidiary Enirgi Group as a precursor to funding the first full-scale plant expansion. That same year, Enirgi Group launched its pilot plant to further develop its process to improve extraction performance and to evolve the technology before ramping up to larger-scale production. Trial batches are being continuously tested and the quality improved to meet customer specifications in North America, Asia, Europe, and locally in Argentina. Enirgi Group plans to construct a commercial facility in 2015 and begin producing in 2017.

An elusive mineral From the air, a lithium project could well be mistaken for an exotic resort, with beautiful blue and green pools set side by side in the middle of a crystalline flat, surrounded by dramatic mountain ranges. Currently, to extract brine for the pilot process, ADY has constructed a series of 30 by 100- metre-wide pools about one metre deep, called natural ponds, where brine naturally accumulates and concentrates. However, to supply brine for full production, ADY will sink production wells some 20 to 60 metres deep into the salar to pump the brine. The brine is pumped into a series of shallow, lined pools where the sun and wind accelerate the evaporation process, concentrating the

Once the magnesium and calcium are separated, brine is heated up to 90 degrees Celsius and mixed with sodium carbonate.

lithium. A portion of the undesirable minerals that are less soluble are eventually precipitated to the bottom, just like a glass of salt water left to sit on the counter. The main challenge in the extraction process is the presence of magnesium. It is primarily precipitated out using lime. In the original process, calcium and remaining magnesium bond with sodium sulphate and, when pressed through a filter, large tablets of gypsum with magnesium hydroxide are left behind. “This is the most potentially deleterious waste in the process,” says Carlos Galli, Daniel Galli’s son, and the general manager June/July 2014 | 57

project profile | R I N C Ó N S A L A R of operations for ADY Resources, as he crumbles a piece of gypsum with his bare hands. “And it’s not dangerous.” In the commercial plant, though, the filtering process will be upgraded so that it will not need sodium sulphate anymore, further reducing costs. As lithium remains soluble until the end, it is finally extracted by heating the brine to 90 degrees and adding sodium carbonate. At this temperature, the lithium attaches

itself to the carbonate and precipitates. Once dry, the lithium carbonate resembles table salt. “Unlike lithium metal, lithium carbonate is benign and safe to transport,” says Carlos. “The whole process brings lithium concentration from 0.045 per cent in the brine, to 18.0 per cent in the final product.” The most abundant byproduct of this process is naturally occurring sodium chloride – table salt. However, bringing it to market is out of the question for ADY. Local communities, from which the majority of the company’s 160 employees come, have been producing it from the salt flats for centuries. Competition from an industrial production nearby would certainly damage their artisanal market. “We don’t wish to create such disruption, and it is not a viable business for ADY,” says Carlos.

The end product

Though the glass and ceramics market accounts for more than a third of lithium demand, the promise of the growing electric auto industry is the carrot for many investors.

A small market with growing competition Comprised of the northern regions of Chile, Argentina, and the Bolivian South, the Lithium Triangle consists of a series of high and arid plateaus holding numerous salt flats with varying concentrations of lithium. A 2011 U.S. Geological Survey report stated that the region holds more than 45 per cent of worldwide resources. Chile alone produces nearly 33 per cent of the global output. Interest in the lithium global market has exploded since 2004. Still, it remains a minor commodity market that is barely worth US$1 billion. Chile’s lithium exports are worth a little more than $US200 million, not even equal to half of one per cent of its copper exports. Lithium is increasingly extracted from pegmatite granite rock. In Canada, two lithium mines were recently launched by Canada Lithium and Nemaska Lithium. “It’s more profitable to produce from salt flats,” says Sergio Lopez, a consulting geologist with IMEx Salta. “While production costs from rock are decreasing and could eventually compete with them, energy and reagents form a large portion of operating costs and today are high.”

58 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

ADY currently produces three grades of lithium carbonate, which are exported to global markets in 700-kilogram packages, mostly for glass, ceramic and battery production. The carbonates generated by ADY are all 99 per cent pure, but the composition of the one per cent of impurities varies depending on the customer. Battery producers are especially demanding. “For automobile batteries, the level of quality is much higher,” explains Galli. “The [preferred] concentration reaches 99.3 per cent, and even up to 99.5 per cent. The secret is managing the impurity distribution.” Impurities include calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and boron. Although clients from any industry would rather reduce impurities to a minimum, lithium battery producers have much higher standards than those in the glass and ceramic field. The “battery grade” thus requires an extra refining step. ADY has been refining its extraction process for seven years now. In 2012, after substantial investment, ADY produced its first commercial quantities of lithium carbonate and has gradually raised its annual production rate. Enirgi Group’s initial goal is to build a facility with a 25,000-tonne capacity by 2017 – expected to cost at least US$200 million – with the determination to be one of the top three global producers.

Step by step The pilot plant was critical in refining the trial process, as it has become clear that it is necessary to make changes before scaling up to a larger plant. “It’s like being at school,” says Carlos. “The intermediate steps we are taking right now are allowing us to gain a deep understanding of our resource and the technical challenges.” As part of this careful progression, Enirgi Group decided to build a demonstration plant of the commercial process to validate it at higher production volumes. Constructed in Sydney, Australia, the plant will be shipped to the high-altitude Rincón Salar to verify it performs well at 13,500 feet above sea level. With both the process and the engineering in hand, ADY will ensure it can compete with other major players in the region, such as SQM and FMC, which already run 45,000- and 23,000-tonne-per-year plants respectively. CIM

RINCÓN SALAR

| profil de projet

Le marché des batteries rechargeables suscite un intérêt grandissant pour les salares riches en lithium du Chili, de la Bolivie et de l’Argentine, où ADY Resources développe son usine de production commerciale au Salar del Rincón. Carlos Galli, directeur des opérations d’ADY (ci-dessus), explique le procédé de traitement.

ADY Resources et sa société mère canadienne, Enirgi Group, sont en voie de récolter les fruits de dures années de labeur, de patience, de persistance et de développement technologique dans les lacs salés argentins – les salares. Ils souhaitent maintenant mettre un pied dans le marché mondial du lithium, grâce à la construction d’une usine qui devrait produire 25 000 tonnes de carbonate de lithium dès 2017. PAR PIERRICK BLIN ET ANTOINE DION-ORTEGA PHOTOGRAPHIE PAR MICHEL HUNEAULT

ur la route qui traverse la province argentine de Salta jusqu’à la frontière chilienne, le seul obstacle qui retarde la conduite sont les troupeaux de lamas, massés çà et là sur les côtés. Il faut quatre heures pour faire le trajet de la capitale provinciale Salta au Salar del Rincón – une étendue de roche acérée brune et blanche de quelque 400 000 hectares. Il se trouve au cœur du « triangle du lithium » (voir encadré) qui – coincé entre les chaines de volcans andins à la jonction de l’Argentine, du Chili et de la Bolivie – concentre la plupart des salares d’Amérique du sud.

Il y a quinze ans, Daniel Galli, un membre des premières heures d’ADY, se concentrait sur les ressources de sulfate de sodium dans le Salar del Rincón, où il avait consolidé plusieurs concessions. La ruée vers le lithium qui a commencé aux alentours de 2004 l’a incité à rectifier le tir. Le prix du carbonate de lithium, qui était inférieur à 2000 $USD par tonne en 2000, a bondi grâce à la demande croissante de batteries au lithium sur le marché des appareils électroniques. Quand il a atteint son pic à 7500 $USD par tonne en 2007, M. Galli développait un procédé d’extraction de lithium avec Admiralty Resources, qui manquait toutefois de June/July 2014 | 59

profil de projet | R I N C Ó N S A L A R financement pour aller plus loin. Mais le projet attirait déjà l’attention d’autres investisseurs. Fin 2009, le projet a été acquis par le groupe privé australien Sentient, qui se spécialisait dans les ressources naturelles. Le marché s’est depuis stabilisé à 5000 ou 6000 $USD par tonne, avec une production mondiale rattrapant rapidement la demande, qui atteint maintenant les 217 000 tonnes par an. La firme de recherche Roskill estime que le chiffre pourrait grimper à 238 000 dès 2017. Si l’on ajoute l’annonce récente du fabricant automobile Tesla, qui prévoit investir 5 milliards $USD dans une usine d’ici 2020, le potentiel de croissance semble évident. À lui seul, le fabricant californien pourrait produire plus de batteries au lithium que ce qui s’est produit mondialement en 2013. « C’est une bonne nouvelle pour l’industrie, mais cela signifie aussi que des décisions importantes attendent les producteurs si l’on veut que le “génie du lithium” sorte de la bouteille », a commenté Wayne Richardson, président et chef de direction au Groupe Enirgi. « Dans la course pour approvisionner les projets tels celui de Tesla, les producteurs doivent investir massivement dans la définition de leur ressource – ceux qui ne le feront pas perdront au profit des sociétés ayant démontré des technologies tirant les coûts vers le bas, des gisements durables et l’expertise pour acheminer leur produit sur le marché. »

Poussières de volcan La richesse des salares provient des montagnes de la région. « Le lithium est présent dans les roches volcaniques environnantes, ignimbrite et tufs anormalement riches en lithium avec des taux pouvant atteindre 70 ppm », explique Sergio Lopez, géologue consultant et gérant d’IMEX Salta S.R.L. Depuis deux millions d’années, ces roches libèrent, sous l’effet de l’érosion, les minéraux qu’elles contiennent, dont les ions de lithium. Transportés par la pluie, ceux-ci viennent terminer leur course dans ces vallées sans issue. Les minéraux s’accumulent ainsi et, sous l’effet de l’évaporation, se concentrent à des niveaux de l’ordre de 0,1 %. Dans ce mélange se retrouvent aussi le magnésium, le potassium et le chlorure de sodium, qui finissent par former un salar – une énorme éponge poreuse imbibée de saumure. Chaque salar présente des caractéristiques uniques. Les plus matures, dont la saumure présente une bonne concentration de minéraux, ont une couleur brune et une surface de cristaux de sel extrêmement acérés, tandis que les plus jeunes ont une surface lisse, d’un blanc immaculé, et ressemblent à de vastes patinoires. Les producteurs dans le « triangle du lithium » cherchent les formations les plus poreuses, dont la saumure peut être aisément pompée, à la manière d’un réservoir de pétrole. L’homogénéité est également un atout. Enfin, de faibles concentrations de magnésium sont préférables, car elles limitent le coût de séparation des éléments indésirables. 60 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

Le Groupe Enirgi a consolidé les concessions du Rincón, un salar mature de quelque 1000 mètres de profondeur présentant une concentration de lithium de 0,045 %, ce qui est inférieur à d’autres salares de classe mondiale telle l’Atacama (0,14 %), mais demeure plus élevé que beaucoup d’autres dans la région, et à un coût d’extraction moindre, selon Enirgi. En 2011, Sentient a transféré la propriété et la direction de ses actifs dans le lithium à sa filiale canadienne, le Groupe Enirgi – un geste précurseur pour le financement de la première expansion de l’usine. La même année, Enirgi a lancé son usine pilote afin de raffiner son procédé avant de passer à la production à plus grande échelle. Les échantillons sont continuellement testés pour qu’ils répondent aux différentes spécifications des clients nord-américains, asiatiques, européens et argentins. Enirgi prévoit construire son usine commerciale en 2015 et lancer la production en 2017.

Un long nettoyage Vu du ciel, un projet d’exploitation de lithium pourrait être confondu avec une station balnéaire exotique, avec de belles piscines bleues et vertes creusées côte à côte au centre d’un lac cristallin cerné de spectaculaires chaînes de montagnes. Pour extraire la saumure pour l’usine pilote, ADY a creusé à un mètre de profondeur une série de tranchées de 30 par 100 mètres, appelés étangs naturels, où la saumure suinte et se concentre. Par contre, pour pouvoir alimenter la future usine de traitement à grand volume, il faudra creuser cinq à dix puits de 20 à 60 mètres pour pomper suffisamment de saumure. L’eau recueillie est envoyée dans les piscines, où le soleil et le vent se chargeront d’accélérer le processus d’évaporation, augmentant à chaque fois sa concentration en lithium. Une partie des minerais indésirables, moins solubles, précipitent éventuellement et décantent au fond, exactement comme dans un verre d’eau saturé de sel et oublié sur le comptoir. Le premier défi du processus de traitement, c’est le magnésium, que l’on extrait en grande partie avec de la chaux, avec lequel il précipite. Dans le processus original, le calcium et le magnésium restants se lient avec le sulfate de sodium et sont ensuite pressés à travers un filtre, qui les capture. Il en résulte de grands panneaux de gypse contenant de l’hydroxyde de magnésium. « C’est le résidu le plus dangereux du processus! », s’exclame Carlos Galli, le fils de Daniel Galli et le directeur général des opérations pour ADY Resources, en effritant le matériau de ses mains nues. « Et ce n’est pas dangereux. » Cependant, dans l’usine commerciale, le processus de filtrage sera amélioré de sorte qu’on n’aura plus besoin du sulfate de sodium, ce qui réduira les coûts. Enfin, on capture le lithium en chauffant la saumure à 90 degrés Celsius et en y ajoutant du carbonate de sodium. À cette température, le lithium remplace le sodium en se liant

RINCÓN SALAR

au carbonate et précipite. Après séchage, on obtient du carbonate de lithium, semblable au sel de table. « Le carbonate de lithium est en fait une manière sure et efficace de transporter le lithium métallique », affirme Carlos Galli. « L’ensemble du procédé permet de passer d’une concentration de lithium de 0,045 % à la source à 18 % dans le produit final. » Dans ce procédé, le produit secondaire le plus abondant est le chlorure de sodium – du sel de table. Il n’est toutefois pas question d’écouler ce produit sur les marchés. Les communautés locales, d’où provient la majorité des 160 employés de la société, produisent déjà du sel à partir des salares depuis des siècles. Un compétiteur industriel à proximité serait fatal à leur marché artisanal. « Nous ne voulons pas leur nuire, et c’est pourquoi nous ne considérons pas le sel comme une opportunité d’affaires », dit Carlos.

| profil de projet

sera expédiée au Salar del Rincón au début de l’année prochaine pour être testée dans son nouvel environnement. Avec à la fois le processus et l’ingénierie, ADY s’assurera qu’elle peut rivaliser avec les acteurs mondiaux de la région, tels SQM et FMC, qui ont déjà des usines produisant 45 000 et 23 000 tonnes par an respectivement. ICM

Le produit final ADY produit trois types de carbonate de lithium, lequel est exportés dans des sacs de 700 kg, la plupart du temps à des fabricants de verre, de céramique et de batteries. Les carbonates que produit ADY sont tous purs à 99 %, mais la composition du dernier 1 % d’impuretés varie en fonction du client. Les producteurs de batteries sont particulièrement tatillons. « Pour les batteries d’automobiles, le niveau de qualité est beaucoup plus élevé », explique Carlos. « La concentration [préférée] atteint 99,3 %, et même 99,5 %. Le secret est dans la distribution des impuretés. » En plus du magnésium, les impuretés comprennent le calcium, le sodium, le potassium et le bore. Bien que tous les clients de l’industrie préfèrent un minimum d’impuretés, les producteurs de batteries ont des normes plus élevées que ceux du verre ou de la céramique. La « teneur batterie » nécessite donc une étape de raffinage supplémentaire. Cela fait maintenant sept ans qu’ADY améliore son processus d’extraction. En 2012, après des investissements substantiels, ADY a produit ses premiers sacs de carbonate de lithium, augmentant progressivement sa production. L’objectif est de construire, d’ici 2017, une usine d’une capacité de 25 000 tonnes, à un coût minimal de 200 millions $US – et d’ainsi se hisser parmi les trois premiers producteurs mondiaux.

Étape par étape L’usine pilote était primordiale pour optimiser le procédé à l’essai : elle a démontré qu’il était nécessaire d’y apporter certains changements avant de se lancer dans une production à grande échelle. « Elle est comme une petite école », illustre Carlos Galli. « Les étapes intermédiaires que nous traversons en ce moment nous permettent de prendre notre temps, et de bien faire les choses par la suite. » C’est la raison pour laquelle Enirgi a décidé de construire une usine de démonstration pour valider son nouveau procédé et démontrer qu’il est adapté à la production de volumes plus élevés. Construite à Sydney, en Australie, l’usine

Bien que le marché du verre et de la céramique compte encore pour plus du tiers de la demande de lithium, la promesse de croissance de l’industrie de la voiture électrique est la principale motivation pour de nombreux investisseurs.

Un petit marché qui grandit vite Comprenant le nord du Chili et de l’Argentine ainsi que le sud de la Bolivie, le « triangle du lithium » désigne un ensemble de hauts plateaux andins arides où se retrouvent un nombre impressionnant de salares à forte concentration de lithium. Un rapport du Geological Survey américain de 2014 estime que plus de 45 % des ressources mondiales de lithium y sont situées. Le Chili à lui seul représente près de 33 % de la production mondiale. Le marché mondial du lithium a explosé en 2004. Pourtant, il demeure un marché négligeable, atteignant à peine le milliard $USD. Les exportations de lithium du Chili valent un peu plus de 200 millions $USD, ce qui n’équivaut même pas à 0,5 % de ses exportations de cuivre. Sans compter que le lithium commence à être exploité à partir des roches pegmatites granitiques. Au Québec seulement, deux mines de lithium sont déjà lancées, soit Québec Lithium et Nemaska Lithium. « Il est encore économique de produire à partir des salares, » affirme Sergio Lopez, géologue consultant et gérant d’IMEX Salta S.R.L. « Par contre, les coûts de production du lithium de roche baissent et pourraient éventuellement les concurrencer. »

June/July 2014 | 61

Karratha

Courtesy of The Ranges Karratha

By Tom DiNardo

arratha, or “good country” in the local indigenous tongue, is the fastest growing city in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The town was established in 1969 after Hamersley Iron – now a subsidiary of Rio Tinto – purchased the land, in partnership with the state government, to provide more housing for the iron ore ports in nearby Dampier. Since then, the town has flourished thanks to Hamersley Iron and Woodside’s North West Shelf project. The current population is around 20,000 in town, with a fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) population that fluctuates between 3,000 and 5,000. If you’re in Karratha on business, take some time to explore North West Australia and enjoy the local culture. The rugged outback beckons with beautiful national parks, snorkelling and fishing, and thousand-year-old aboriginal artefacts. If you prefer to stay downtown, Karratha boasts the largest shopping centre in the region. Either way, make sure to pack for warm weather. Even in the winter, the temperature rarely drops into the single digits.

WHERE TO

STAY

Located downtown, ibis Styles Karratha is ideal for professionals in town on business. The hotel has a bar, restaurant, outdoor swimming pool and barbecue area, with rooms starting at $210. The luxurious Karratha International Hotel is located minutes from the commercial district with rates beginning at $220. The hotel includes three restaurants, meeting rooms available for guests and an outdoor pool surrounded by tropical gardens. For an interesting alternative, The Ranges Karratha is a four-star resort only 1.5 kilometres from the central business district, with 41 one-bedroom, ranchinspired apartments starting TIP at around $260. Each Temperatures in apartment is equipped winter days may hover with a king-size bed, around 26 C but drop to a kitchen, living area, bathroom and pricooler 10 C at night, so dress vate balcony. The appropriately when neighbouring gardens heading out for and large pool are the evening. serene spots to unwind after a long day.

WHO

TO CONTACT

62 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

DINE

Australia’s North West region is known for its succulent seafood. Rock lobsters, prawns, marron (large crayfish), trout and barramundi are all caught off the coast. If you are the more adventurous type, you could try the crocodile, kangaroo or emu served at many restaurants in the area. Etcetera Restaurant is one of three dining options in the Karratha International Hotel. Open six nights a week, its main dishes range in price from $20 to $40 and are complemented by an extensive wine list and dessert menu. The restaurant, accustomed to serving business travellers, can cater to groups as large as 60 people; bookings are recommended.

Blanche Bar features a tapas menu with small dishes priced at around $8 and offers a warm, friendly environment. For those who prefer something more substantial than tapas, larger dishes are also available. Try the Mediterranean paella with chicken and seafood that serves two for $60. The surf & turf with lamb cutlets and local barramundi sells for $47. The restaurant scene in Karratha is improving, but niche options

Be advised that some restaurants and cafés prohibit high-visibility clothing, so check with the establishment beforehand.

can still be lacking. So if you’re in neighbouring Point Samson, a 56-kilometre (km) drive from Karratha, take a client to Tata’s Restaurant. There you will find local seafood dishes like the Samson Reef with salmon, oysters, prawns and baby squid for $65 or interesting twists on classics like the Vietnamese chicken salad for $20. Courtesy of Kurman Communications

TRAVEL

CONSULATE OF CANADA, PERTH Tel.: 61 (8) 9322-7930 (Office hours: by appointment only) US CONSULATE GENERAL, PERTH Tel.: 61 (8) 6144-5100 (8:30 a.m.– 4:30 p.m.). Email: usrsaustralia@state.gov NICKOL BAY HOSPITAL Millstream Road, Karratha WA 6714, 61 (8) 9143-2333, Emergency Contact Fire/Police/Ambulance 000

An hour and a half drive south from Karratha will bring you to MillstreamChichester National Park – a tropical oasis in the middle of the desert with gorges and natural pools. Keep driving

south and you’ll reach the Karijini National Park. Here, 100-metre chasms and waterfalls invite explorers. If you’re in Karratha between March and October, head to Hearsons Cove to see the Stair-

GET THERE

Luckily, Karratha has a local commercial airport that is roughly 15 km from downtown. Flying from North America can take anywhere between 30 to 50 hours and can cost as little as $2,500 round trip, although you’ll have to deal with two or three layovers each way. If you have time to spare, consider making Perth your flight destination and take a few days to drive the 16 hours along the coral coast of West Australia to Karratha.

case to the Moon. This natural phenomenon is caused by the rising of the full moon reflected off the mudflats at low tide on certain nights during the Australian winter, creating the optical

1. Staircase to the Moon, Roebuck Bay, Broome 2. Karijini National Park 3. Dampier Archipelago.

illusion of stairs leading to the low-hanging moon.

When driving between towns in the Pilbara region, make sure you are well equipped as the drives can be long with few rest areas. Bring a first-aid kit, extra food, gas and plenty of water.

GETTING

Glen Dillon

TIP Wendy Longo

HOW TO

are part of the Dampier Archipelago Marine Park. Keep an eye out for dugong and bottlenose dolphins; these mammals are usually spotted around the archipelago, which is also a gathering place for humpback whales between July and September. Turtles use the beaches to nest from September to April, and 26 different species of seabirds can be spotted throughout the islands. Gorgeous reefs around the islands make for great snorkelling and diving spots.

Courtesy of Tourism Western Australia

If you are a nature nut, you’re in luck: hiking, fishing and snorkelling are all within driving distance of Karratha. For those interested in local history, walk on the Jaburara Heritage Trail for a selfguided tour of the area. The walk covers Karratha’s past and you will meander by aboriginal rock engravings and artefacts at various sites along the way. It also offers lookouts of Karratha and the surrounding region. The hike does include some steep hill climbs and will take roughly three hours to complete, so an elevated fitness level is recommended. The Dampier Archipelago, off the coast of Dampier, a 20minute drive from Karratha, comprises 42 picturesque islands, 25 of which

Courtesy of Tourism Western Australia

EXPLORE

Steve Keogh

WHERE TO

AROUND

The Pilbara region can be difficult to navigate without access to a car. There is a community bus service that runs between towns but it is only available four days a week; taxi services are known to be unreliable. Your best bet is to rent a car during your stay. Karratha Airport has cars available for hire from familiar rental agencies such as Hertz, Avis and Alamo.

June/July 2014 | 63

An Introduction to Cutoff Grade: Theory and Practice in Open Pit and Underground Mines (with a new section on blending optimization strategy) Cutoff grades are essential in determining the economic feasibility and mine life of a project. Learn how to solve most cutoff grade estimation problems by developing techniques and graphical analytical methods, about the relationship between cutoff grades and the design of pushbacks in open pit mines, and the optimization of block sizes in caving methods. INSTRUCTOR Jean-Michel Rendu, USA • DATE September 3-5, 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Geostatistical Mineral Resource Estimation and Meeting the New Regulatory Environment: Step by Step from Sampling to Grade Control Learn about the latest regulations on public reporting of resources/reserves through state-of-the-art statistical and geostatistical techniques; how to apply geostatistics to predict dilution and adapt reserve estimates to that predicted dilution; how geostatistics can help you categorize your resources in an objective manner; and how to understand principles of NI 43-101 and the SME Guide. INSTRUCTORS Marcelo Godoy, Newmont Mining, Denver; and Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada • DATE September 8-12, 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessments: An Integrated Approach to Planning for Exploration Risk Reduction Learn about exploration risk analysis for strategic planning. Understand how to demonstrate how operational mineral deposit models can reduce uncertainties; make estimates of the number of undiscovered deposits; and integrate the information and examine the economic possibilities. INSTRUCTORS Don Singer, USA; and David Menzie, U.S. Geological Survey, USA • DATE September 29-October 1, 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Strategic Risk Management in Mine Design: From Life-of-Mine to Mining Complexes Learn how you can have a significant, positive impact on your company’s bottom line by utilizing strategic mine planning methodologies and software; improve your understanding of strategic mine planning and life-of-mine optimization concepts, as well as your understanding of the relationship of uncertainty and risk, and how to exploit uncertainty in order to maximize profitability. Note: The strategic mine planning software used is Whittle. An optional half-day skills refresher workshop on Whittle may be available. INSTRUCTORS Tarrant Elkington, Snowden, Australia; and Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada • DATE October 15-17, 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

CIM community The opening plenary was moderated by CBC journalist Mark Kelley and featured Ted Thomas, special advisor with the Devonshire Initiative, Alice Wong, Cameco chief corporate officer, Eira Thomas, CEO and president of Kaminak Gold and Oumar Toyugeni, Iamgold’s regional vice-president of West Africa. La plénière d’ouverture était animée par le journaliste de CBC Mark Kelley et comptait parmi ses invités Ted Thomas, conseiller spécial pour l’Initiative Devonshire; Alice Wong, chef de la direction corporative à Cameco; Eira Thomas, présidente et chef de direction à Kaminak Gold, et Oumar Toyugeni, vice-président régional pour l’Afrique de l’ouest à Iamgold.

RECORD-BREAKING ATTENDANCE CIM Convention 2014 proves that Mining is 4 Everyone

UN TAUX DE PARTICIPATION RECORD QUI DIT TOUT Le congrès 2014 de l’ICM prouve que l’exploitation minière est pour tous By CIM Magazine staff | Par le personnel du CIM Magazine

IM Convention 2014 organizers and volunteers could not have asked for a better week: the sun was shining, attendance records were broken and, with the diversity of presentations and delegates from 49 countries, the event truly illustrated that Mining is 4 Everyone. Patty Moore, convention general chair, said she was really pleased with the early numbers. “We’re more than 7,000 [attendees] and we had 1,268 delegates, which I believe breaks a record,” she said on site. This was confirmed after the event, which took place from May 11 to 14. All photos: Jon Benjamin Photography

es organisateurs et les bénévoles du congrès 2014 de l’ICM n’auraient pas pu demander mieux comme semaine : le soleil brillait, la fréquentation a atteint un niveau record et, grâce à la diversité des présentations et des délégués de 49 pays, l’événement a vraiment montré que l’exploitation minière est pour tout le monde. Patty Moore, présidente générale du congrès, s’est dite vraiment satisfaite des premiers chiffres. « Nous sommes plus de 7 000 [participants] et nous avons accueilli 1 268 délégués, ce qui établit un record, je crois », a-t-elle dit sur place. Cette affirmation a été confirmée après la clôture de l’événement, qui s’est tenu du 11 au 14 mai. June/July 2014 | 65

CIM community A learning moment

Une leçon

As out-of-town delegates and attendees arrived in Vancouver for CIM’s annual flagship event, the Vancouver Convention Centre was already bustling with activity. M4S (Mining for Society) CIM’s popular educational show, opened to the public

Au moment où les délégués et participants de l’extérieur arrivaient à Vancouver à l’occasion de l’événement-phare annuel de l’ICM, le Vancouver Convention Centre fourmillait déjà d’activité. La populaire exposition éducative M4S (Mining for Society) de l’ICM a ouvert ses

66 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

CIM community on Sunday, with participants engaged in interactive activities that detailed the entire mining cycle. Roughly 70 exhibits spread throughout seven pavilions focused on best practices in the mining industry, with an emphasis on how mining relates to everyday life. The interactive event, which welcomed more than 2,900 participants, was also open to local schools, with students, aged eight through 18, taking part in the fun and the learning experience. Natalie Roberts brought her grade 7 class from HD Stafford Middle School in Langley, B.C. This was the first year she decided to organize a fieldtrip to M4S and her students loved the interactive activities. “It’s a great opportunity for hands-on learning,” said Roberts. “It’s really neat!” exclaimed Lauryn, one of Roberts’s students, whose favourite part of the event was using an optical communications system simulator at the Penguin ASI booth. While young people learned the ins and outs of the industry, mining professionals got to delve deeper into a wide variety of subjects at nine workshops held on Sunday. Topics ranged from explaining new rules under NI 43-101 to dust control to advice on gaining and retaining social licence, allowing participants to improve their knowledge in these areas and learn from subject matter experts.

Planning for the future All the while, CIM’s brain trust was busy fleshing out the details of its strategic outreach initiative at its inaugural Leadership Congress. This event brought the organization’s executive and national staff together with branch and society leaders. On the table: the future of CIM activities and how they can meet the needs of the institute’s members. The roughly 50 congress participants discussed the six goals that came from membership surveys and round table talks with districts and societies over the last year. CIM leaders debated the institute’s priorities and what sorts of activities the organization should pursue to achieve its goals. Outgoing president Bob Schafer said he hoped the new strategic plan would be adopted at the next CIM Council meeting in August. But the implementation of this plan will fall to CIM’s newly minted president, Sean Waller, president of Candente Copper Corp., who was inducted at the Annual General Meeting. CIM’s financials were also presented at the meeting, with outgoing affable finance chair Michael Cinnamond painting a healthy picture of CIM’s purse, indicating that although CIM

(top left, clockwise): 1) M4S (Mining for Society) brought in nearly 3,000 students 2) Panning for gold with Yukon Dan. Students and teachers explored the impact that mining has on society at the M4S show. 3 and 5) More than 500 exhibitors showed off their goods on the sold-out Expo! Floor. 4) Student Poster Program 6) Attendees danced the night away at the Joy Global Gala. 1) Presque 3 000 étudiants et enseignants se sont rendus au Vancouver Convention Centre pour en apprendre davantage sur l’industrie minière et sur le rôle important des minéraux dans la société. 2) Yukon Dan, spécialiste en lavage d’or à la batée. 3 et 5) Les plus de 500 fournisseurs, sociétés et consultants de l’industrie minière représent ont présenté leurs produits sur le salon commercial de l’EXPO! 4) Affiches des étudiants 6) Les participants ont dansé toute la nuit au Gala Joy Global.

portes au public le dimanche; les participants se sont intéressés à des activités interactives expliquant en détail le cycle minier. Quelque 70 expositions réparties dans sept pavillons ont mis l’accent sur les pratiques exemplaires dans l’industrie minière, plus particulièrement sur l’application de cette dernière au quotidien. L’événement interactif, qui a attiré plus de 2 900 participants, était aussi accessible aux écoles locales. Des élèves de 8 à 18 ans ont pris part au plaisir et à l’expérience d’apprentissage. Natalie Roberts avait amené sa classe de septième année de l’école intermédiaire HD Stafford de Langley, en Colombie-Britannique. Il s’agissait de la première visite de M4S qu’elle organisait, et ses élèves ont adoré les activités interactives. « C’est une excellente occasion d’apprentissage pratique », a résumé Mme Roberts. « C’est vraiment intéressant! », s’est exclamée Lauryn, une des élèves de Mme Roberts, pour qui le clou de la sortie a été le simulateur de système de communication par fibre optique au kiosque de Penguin ASI. Pendant que les jeunes apprenaient les tenants et les aboutissants de l’industrie, les professionnels du secteur ont pu approfondir un vaste éventail de sujets au cours de neuf ateliers tenus le dimanche. Les sujets allaient des nouvelles règles en vertu de l’instrument NI 43101 au contrôle des poussières, en passant par des techniques de communication destinées à obtenir et à conserver l’aval des collectivités locales; et ont permis aux participants d’améliorer leurs connaissances dans ces domaines et d’apprendre d’experts techniques.

Planifier l’avenir Pendant ce temps, l’état-major de l’ICM s’affairait à étoffer son initiative d’intervention stratégique à son premier congrès des dirigeants. Cet événement a rassemblé la direction de l’organisation et le personnel national ainsi que les dirigeants des sections et des sociétés. Au programme : que réserve l’avenir aux activités de l’ICM et comment l’Institut peut-il répondre aux besoins de ses membres. Les quelque 50 participants au congrès ont parlé des six objectifs dégagés des sondages auprès des membres et lors des tables rondes avec les districts et les sociétés au cours de la dernière année. Les dirigeants de l’ICM ont discuté les priorités de l’Institut et le type d’activités que l’organisation devrait envisager pour atteindre ses objectifs. Le président sortant, Bob Schafer, a dit espérer que le nouveau plan stratégique serait adopté à la prochaine assemblée du conseil d’administration de l’ICM, en août. Mais la mise en œuvre de ce plan reviendra au nouveau président de l’ICM et président de Candente Copper Corp., Sean Waller, qui a été intronisé lors de l’assemblée générale annuelle. Les états financiers de l’ICM ont également été présentés à la réunion, où l’affable directeur des finances sortant, Michael Cinnamond, a tracé un portrait de la santé de la bourse de l’ICM. Il a indiqué que, malgré une perte projetée de 200 000 $ en 2013, l’ICM a en fait réalisé un surplus de 47 000 $.

Ouverture Sur cette bonne nouvelle, les délégués sont allés prendre un verre et revoir de vieux amis, ou s’en faire de nouveaux, à la réception organisée conjointement par les sociétés d’exploitation minière souterraine et à ciel ouvert. L’attention s’est ensuite portée sur la réception June/July 2014 | 67

CIM community had budgeted for a loss of $200,000 in 2013, it had actually turned a $47,000 surplus.

Opening up On that positive note, delegates set off to enjoy a drink and to see old – and meet new – friends at the Surface and Underground Mining Societies’ reception, which was being hosted jointly by the two societies. The attention then turned to the SMS Equipment and Komatsu opening reception that started off the convention with a bang – literally. After SMS Equipment president and CEO Bruce Knight and other CIM dignitaries welcomed guests, Schafer was called to the dais. Channelling his inner Wile E. Coyote, he pushed down a trigger that ignited an impressive pyrotechnic display of Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” which culminated in a gigantic boom heard throughout the convention centre. With adrenaline flowing, the Expo! floor was opened. More than 500 mining company suppliers, equipment manufacturers, technology and service providers, and consultants showed off their wares. Patricia Ceron, marketing manager from Dassault Systèmes Geovia, said she was busy on the floor: “Generally, we

d’ouverture de SMS Equipment et Komatsu, qui a inauguré le congrès avec grand éclat. Littéralement. Après que le président et chef de la direction de SMS Equipment, Bruce Knight, et d’autres dignitaires de l’ICM eurent souhaité la bienvenue aux invités, M. Schafer a été appelé à monter sur le podium. S’inspirant de Wile E. Coyote, il a appuyé sur un détonateur qui a déclenché un spectacle pyrotechnique impressionnant sur l’air de « We Will Rock You », de Queen, qui s’est conclu par un énorme boum qu’on a pu entendre dans tout le palais des congrès. C’est sur cette poussée d’adrénaline que le salon Expo! a ouvert ses portes. Plus de 500 fabricants d’équipement, fournisseurs de technologies et de services et consultants ont mis leurs produits en montre. Patricia Ceron, directrice du marketing de Dassault Systèmes Geovia, a dit être très occupée à l’exposition : « Généralement, nous parlons à des ingénieurs principaux, à des gestionnaires et à des directeurs financiers. Tout s’est très bien passé. »

Mines pour tous : l’assemblée plénière Le lundi matin, plus de 600 professionnels du secteur minier ont assisté à l’assemblée plénière « Mining 4 Everyone », sur le thème de l’exploitation minière pour tous, où le modérateur, le journaliste de la

CIM AWARD WINNERS | LES GAGNANTS DES PRIX D’EXCELLENCE DE L’ICM

CIM awards gala | Gala de remise des prix de l’ICM

A.O. Dufresne Exploration Achievement Award David Palmer, Toronto, ON Barlow Medal for Best Geological Paper Jim Oliver, Kamloops, BC John Ayer, Sudbury, ON Benoît Dubé, Quebec, QC Roger Aubertin, Gatineau, QC Mike Burson (posthumous) Gerald Panneton, Toronto, ON Richard Friedman, Vancouver, BC Mike A. Hamilton, Toronto, ON CIM Distinguished Service Medal Donald R. Lindsay, Vancouver, BC 68 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

Western District Distinguished Service Award Patty Moore, Vancouver, BC CIM Distinguished Lecturers Ken Thomas, Oakville, ON Janice Zinck, Ottawa, ON Joseph Ringwald, New Westminster, BC Ben Chalmers, Ottawa, ON Ross Gallinger, Toronto, ON CIM Fellowship Donald Gallienne, Sept-Îles , QC Donald P. Leroux, Québec, QC Hani Mitri, Montreal, QC Kenneth S. Coley, Hamilton, ON Michael J. Collins, Fort Saskatchewan, AB John Goode, Toronto, ON Douglas James Kramble, Saskatoon, SK Tony Lipiec, Vancouver, BC Ian Orford, Vancouver, BC Malcolm E. Robb, Yellowknife, NT Terence F. Bowles, Verdun, QC Vale Medal for Meritorious Contributions to Mining Ross Beaty, Vancouver, BC MacParland Memorial Award for Excellence in Maintenance, Engineering and Reliability André Lemay, Sudbury, ON Mel W. Bartley Outstanding Branch Award CIM GTA West Branch, Oakville, ON CIM Community Service Award Allan D. Akerman, Sudbury, ON CIM Presidents’ Role Model Medal Catharine Shaw, Toronto, ON

CIM community are talking to senior engineers, managers and CFOs. It has been great.”

Mining 4 Everyone: the plenary On Monday morning, more than 600 mining professionals attended the “Mining 4 Everyone” themed plenary session, where moderator and CBC journalist Mark Kelley was frank to attendees when addressing diversity in mining and its reputation in general: “I would humbly say that you have an image problem.” But, as panelists illustrated, the reputation in part comes from incomplete and uncoordinated communication with the public. As Rio Tinto Canada regional vice-president and newly announced CIM incoming president-elect, Virginia Flood noted: “We give ourselves an image that mining is only about extraction and engineering. Many don’t connect improving living standards to mining.” Mining is indeed the largest employer of aboriginal Canadians and it generates business opportunities for residents in remote communities, where employment is often lacking. Oumar Toyugeni, Iamgold’s regional vice-president of West

Robert Elver Mineral Economics Award John R. Ing, Toronto, ON J.C. Sproule Northern Exploration Award Kaminak Gold Discovery Team, Vancouver, BC John T. Ryan Safety Trophy - Metal mines Williams Operating Corporation - Williams Mine, Marathon, ON John T. Ryan Safety Trophy - Metal mines Cameco Corporation - McArthur River Mine, Saskatoon, SK John T. Ryan Safety Trophy - Select Mines PotashCorp - New Brunswick Division, Sussex, NB John T. Ryan Safety Trophy - Select Mines Graymont Inc. - Usine de Bedford, Bedford, QC John T. Ryan Safety Trophy - Select Mines Graymont Western Canada Inc. - Faulkner Operation, Faulkner, MB John T. Ryan Safety Trophy - Coal Mines Teck Coal Ltd. - Greenhills Operations, Elkford, BC Syncrude Award for Excellence in Sustainable Development Michael P., Sudbury, Oakville, ON Bedford Award, Mark Sitter, Toronto, ON Peter Xavier, Skead, ON David Bernier, Timmins, ON Steven Bowles, Montreal, QC

CBC Mark Kelley, s’est adressé franchement aux participants sur les points de la diversité de l’industrie minière et de sa réputation en général : « Je dirais en toute humilité que vous avez un problème d’image. » Mais, comme les panélistes l’ont illustré, cette réputation est en partie le fait d’une communication fragmentaire et non coordonnée avec le public. En tant que vice-présidente régionale de Rio Tinto Canada et future présidente de l’ICM, Virginia Flood a fait cette remarque : « Nous projetons cette image où l’industrie minière se limite à l’extraction et au génie. Bon nombre ne voient pas le lien entre l’amélioration du niveau de vie et l’exploitation minière. » Les mines sont le plus grand employeur d’autochtones au Canada et génèrent des occasions d’affaires pour les habitants des régions éloignées, où les emplois sont souvent rares. Au dire d’Oumar Toyugeni, vice-président régional d’Iamgold pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest, sa compagnie tente d’engager localement le plus possible, ce qui réduit le recours aux employés expatriés et, du même coup, la perception qu’un projet donné ne profite qu’à des étrangers. Cameco adopte cette pratique à ses mines d’uranium de l’Australie et du nord de la Saskatchewan; c’est le plus grand employeur d’autochtones du secteur privé au pays. Mais Alice Wong, cadre principale

Mining Engineering Outstanding Achievement Award BHP – Jansen Shaft Development Team, Saskatoon, SK TSM Community Engagement Award IAMGOLD Corporation, Dakar-Fann, Senegal TSM Environmental Excellence Award Syncrude Canada Ltd., Fort McMurray, AB Hatch-CIM Mining and Minerals Project Development Safety Award Teck Highland Valley Copper Mill Optimization Project, Logan Lake, BC HR Diversity Award Teck Resources Ltd CIM Leading in Mining Barbara Kirby, Ottawa, ON Christy McDonough, Saskatoon, SK Jean Vavrek, Montreal, QC Scott Martin, Vancouver, BC Marie-Hélène Thomas, Cochrane, ON Natalie Warman, Toronto, ON Thomas Davidson, Fernie, BC

WANT TO PUT A FACE TO THE NAME? VISIT WWW.CIM.ORG TO READ PROFILES OF THE 2014 CIM AWARD WINNERS | VISITEZ LE WWW.CIM.ORG POUR CONSULTER LES HISTOIRES DES GAGNANTS DES PRIX D’EXCELLENCE DE L’ICM 2014. June/July 2014 | 69

CIM community Africa, said his company tries to maximize local hires, which reduces ex-pat employment and, along with it, the perception that a project is only benefitting foreigners. Cameco follows this practice at its Australian and northern Saskatchewan uranium operations, as the largest private aboriginal employer in the country. But Alice Wong, Cameco’s chief corporate officer, said there is definitely more work to be done: “We need to move them on into technical jobs and management jobs.” Ted Thomas, special advisor with the Devonshire Initiative, spoke about how small and early misunderstandings between companies and communities can blow up to become disputes or conflicts. He referenced a Harvard paper that pegged the costs of daily dispute delays at $10,000 for a lucrative exploration project and $3 million for a mid-sized producing operation. Kaminak Gold has recognized this, considering early engagement with communities a no-brainer. With its Coffee Gold project in Yukon, Eira Thomas, CEO and president, said the company signed an exploration cooperation agreement with the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation which included commitments to communicate potential project impacts, investigate local business opportunities at the exploration stage, and allow the community members to have a say in the design of the environmental assessment baseline studies. Dirk Claessens, IBM’s vice-president of industrial sector growth, gave attendees some tangible ways that miners could gauge public sentiment and promote the industry during his opening remarks. “Technology allows you not only to read the information around you, but understand what [local residents are] saying, so you can do something with it,” he said.

Internationally known The plenary session was available live online for the second year and around 100 people streamed the event. Convention delegates came from all over the world too. Roughly 75 representatives, made up mainly of local businesspeople from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire, looked to identify Canadian suppliers to integrate into their supply chain at the event. International delegations from Latin America and Mongolia also attended. Rafiou Oyeossi, director general of Sparex, a central purchasing department for the materials industry in Côte d’Ivoire, came to the convention in the hopes of finding potential equipment suppliers for his clients in West Africa. “I think here we’re going to find our procurement solution,” he said.

Getting technical Answers to many unique operational or philosophical questions were to be found at one of the more than 40 technical program sessions offered. This year’s lineup was broken down into six different streams: global dimensions of mining; innovations; harnessing our diverse world; construction to production; managing operations from mine to mill; and rock engineering. 70 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

de Cameco, affirme qu’il y a encore du pain sur la planche : « Nous devons leur faire occuper des postes techniques et de direction. » Ted Thomas, conseiller spécial de Devonshire Initiative, a expliqué comment de petits malentendus entre les sociétés et les collectivités au début du processus peuvent vite prendre des proportions conflictuelles, voire contentieuses. Il a fait référence à un article d’Harvard qui évaluait le coût quotidien des retards causés par un litige à 10 000 $ pour un projet d’exploration lucratif et à 3 millions de dollars pour une moyenne entreprise. Kaminak Gold l’a compris et considère que l’implication des collectivités à l’aube d’un projet va de soi. Avec le projet Coffee Gold au Yukon, Eira Thomas, chef de la direction et présidente, dit que son entreprise a signé avec la Première Nation des Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in une entente de coopération à l’exploration qui inclut la promesse de communiquer les retombées potentielles du projet; d’étudier les occasions d’affaires locales à l’étape de l’exploration; et de permettre aux membres de la communauté d’avoir leur mot à dire dans la conception des études environnementales préliminaires. Dans ses propos d’introduction, Dirk Claessens, vice-président de la croissance du secteur industriel d’IBM, a donné aux participants des outils concrets pour évaluer l’opinion publique et faire la promotion de l’industrie. « La technologie nous permet non seulement de lire l’information qui nous entoure, mais aussi de comprendre ce que [les habitants] disent, de façon à pouvoir utiliser cette information », dit-il.

Renommée internationale Pour la deuxième année, l’assemblée plénière était diffusée en ligne en direct, et une centaine de personnes ont pu assister à l’événement en transit. Les délégués au congrès étaient venus de partout dans le monde. Environ 75 représentants présents à l’événement, principalement des gens d’affaires de la Guinée, du Burkina Faso, du Sénégal et de la Côte d’Ivoire, cherchaient des fournisseurs canadiens à intégrer à leur chaîne d’approvisionnement. Des délégations de l’Amérique latine et de la Mongolie étaient aussi de la partie. Rafiou Oyeossi, directeur général de Sparex, un service d’approvisionnement centralisé pour l’industrie des matériaux de la Côte d’Ivoire, est venu au congrès avec l’espoir de trouver des fournisseurs d’équipement pour ses clients d’Afrique de l’Ouest. « Je pense que nous trouverons ici la solution à nos besoins d’approvisionnement », a-t-il dit.

Sur le plan technique On a aussi pu trouver réponse à de nombreuses questions opérationnelles et philosophiques uniques à l’une des plus de 40 séances techniques offertes. Cette année, le programme était divisé en six volets : les dimensions mondiales de l’exploitation minière; l’innovation; l’exploitation de notre monde diversifié; le processus de la construction à la production; la gestion de l’exploitation de la mine au broyeur; et la mécanique des roches. Le programme technique comprenait également un symposium sur l’éthique dans l’exploitation minière. Candace Ramcharan, de Rio Tinto Fer et Titane, était au nombre de plusieurs conférenciers qui se sont attardés sur le sujet des partenariats équitables avec les collectivités. Les relations individuelles définissent souvent les partenariats entre les sociétés minières et les collectivités locales, et la rotation inévitable du personnel des mines signifie que ces relations pré-

CIM community

(from top left, clockwise): 1) The Expo! floor 2) Taking in the technical sessions 3) Mining Association of British Columbia President and CEO Karina Briño delivers the keynote address at the closing luncheon. 4) Goldcorp’s Christine Marks delivers the keynote speech at the Women in Mining reception. 5) Networking between sessions 6) The CIM closing luncheon was held in conjunction with the Vancouver Board of Trade. 1) Le salon Expo! 2) Une session du programme technique 3) Karina Briño, présidente et chef de direction à l’Association minière de Colombie britannique, prononce son discours liminaire lors du déjeuner de clôture. 4) Christine Marks, de Goldcorp, prononce son discours liminaire à la réception de Women in Mining 5) Réseautage entre les séances 6) Le déjeuner de clôture de l’ICM s’est tenu en compagnie de la Chambre de commerce de Vancouver. June/July 2014 | 71

CIM community The technical program also included an ethics in mining symposium. Rio Tinto Fer et Titane’s Candace Ramcharan was one of several speakers who focused on the topic of equitable partnerships with local communities. Individual relationships often define partnerships between mining operations and local communities, and the inevitable staff turnover at mine site means that those valuable relationships are easily undone. To guarantee continuity, Ramcharan said, good governance has to be in place to ensure connections are not lost. Operations must have people who will be champions of the partnerships, and she stressed those “champions must be deeply convinced of the value of the partnerships.”

Women in mining On Tuesday, more than 400 attendees gathered for the Women in Mining Reception to discuss barriers holding women back from careers in the industry and how to break down those walls. Christine Marks, Goldcorp’s director of corporate communications, spoke about the company’s “Creating Choices” program in her keynote speech. Four years ago, Goldcorp developed the program to train, develop and mentor women in the company. In the three years since its launch, Creating Choices has graduated more than 1,000 women to much success.

Student time The convention also helped students connect with potential mentors and even try to land jobs, as part of its student program and job fair. At the Student-Industry Luncheon, young professionals got a chance to chat with mining professionals and company recruiters, while also listening to helpful tips on how to stand out from other recruits.

Talking money The convention’s technical program closed off on Wednesday with the Management and Finance Day that featured talks,

cieuses se défont facilement. Pour assurer la continuité, selon Mme Ramcharan, on doit mettre en place une bonne gouvernance afin de veiller à ce que ces liens ne soient pas coupés. Les entreprises doivent pouvoir compter sur des employés qui se feront les champions de ces partenariats; et, a-t-elle souligné, « ces champions doivent être fermement convaincus de la valeur des partenariats ».

Les femmes dans les mines Le mardi, plus de 400 personnes étaient rassemblées à la réception de Women in Mining pour parler des obstacles qui freinent l’avancement des femmes dans l’industrie et des façons de les abattre. Christine Marks, directrice des communications d’entreprise de Goldcorp, a parlé du programme « Creating Choices » dans son discours d’ouverture. Il y a quatre ans, Goldcorp a créé le programme afin de former, de perfectionner et de conseiller les femmes dans l’entreprise. Au cours des trois années qui ont suivi le lancement de Creating Choices, plus de 1 000 femmes ont complété le programme avec grand succès.

Le tour des étudiants Le congrès a également aidé les étudiants à établir des liens avec des mentors potentiels et même à essayer de trouver un emploi, puisqu’une partie du programme à leur intention est une foire de l’emploi. Au dîner-causerie des étudiants et de l’industrie, les jeunes professionnels ont eu la chance de s’entretenir avec des professionnels de l’industrie minière et des recruteurs, tout en obtenant des conseils utiles pour se démarquer des autres candidats.

Questions d’argent Le programme technique du congrès s’est conclu le mercredi par la Journée gestion minière et finance, qui comprenait des discussions, des présentations et une table ronde sur des sujets tels que la diligence raisonnable adéquate, la gestion du risque, l’analyse du marché et des produits de base, et les tendances en matière d’investissements. Gordon Bogden, chef de la direction d’Avanti Mining, a commencé sa présentation avec de mauvaises nouvelles sur les tendances en matière de financement minier et les problèmes d’accès au capital. « Dans le climat économique actuel, il est très difficile pour les sociétés minières d’obtenir des fonds, puisque les sources habituelles de financement par emprunt et par actions s’épuisent peu à peu », a-t-il dit, avant de rappeler avoir fait cette même déclaration au congrès de l’ACPE il y a 15 ans.

L’hybride, pas seulement pour les véhicules Quand on lui a demandé ce que les participants de toutes les catégories pourraient retenir, Lise Bujold, directrice des congrès et des salons de l’ICM, a répondu ceci : « La technologie nous a permis d’enrichir l’expérience pour tout le monde, pour les participants sur place comme à distance. Pendant le congrès, la conversation sur les médias sociaux, le partage de photos, l’utilisation de l’application mobile par 1 500 personnes et la diffusion en direct des séances ont concouru à produire un événement hybride puissant avec une lunette vers l’extérieur et vers l’intérieur. Du coup, le besoin de papier et de documents imprimés s’en trouve réduit. » The popular Management and Finance day. / La journée Finance et gestion minière. 72 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

CIM community presentations and a panel discussion on topics ranging from proper due diligence, risk management, market and commodity analysis to equity trends. Gordon Bogden, Avanti Mining CEO, opened his presentation on trends in mine financing and access to capital issues on a dire note. “Financing for mining companies in the current economic climate is a difficult task, as conventional sources of debt and equity financing have been drying up steadily,” he said, before qualifying that his statement had previously been made at PDAC 15 years ago.

Hybrid is not just a kind of vehicle When asked what participants of all categories may take away, Lise Bujold, CIM director of conventions and trade shows, said: “Technology has allowed us to expand on the experience for everyone, both the on-site and remote participants. The conversation on social media during the convention, the sharing of pictures, the use of the mobile application by 1,500 people and the live broadcasting of sessions – it all makes for a powerful hybrid event with views from the inside out and vice versa. It also reduces the need for paper and printed materials.”

Les mines, la fondation de la vie des Canadiens Des représentants de l’industrie minière et d’industries connexes se sont rassemblés à l’occasion du dîner-causerie de clôture du congrès de l’ICM organisé avec le Vancouver Board of Trade. Karina Briño, présidente et chef de la direction de la Mining Association of British Columbia et conférencière de marque, a parlé de l’importance de l’exploitation minière dans la vie de tous les jours, de la technologie à l’infrastructure. En tant que représentante d’un employeur important de la province, elle a également abordé les avantages de l’industrie minière pour l’économie de la Colombie-Britannique. « Nous voulons transmettre un message ferme et positif », a dit Mme Briño. « Travaillons ensemble pour assurer la croissance de l’industrie minière. »

Mining a foundation of Canadian life Representatives from mining and related industries came together for the CIM Closing Luncheon, held in conjunction with the Vancouver Board of Trade. Karina Briño, President and CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia and keynote speaker, discussed the importance of mining in daily life, from technology to infrastructure. She also spoke to the benefits of the mining industry on the local BC economy as a major employer in the province. “We want to send a strong and positive message,” said Briño. “Let’s work together to make sure the mining industry grows.”

CIM Awards Gala, sponsored by Caterpillar and its Canadian dealers / Le gala de remise des prix de l’ICM, commandité par Caterpillar et ses leaders Canadiens

No shortage of fun

Du plaisir à la tonne

Of course, the convention was not all about professional development, business wheelings and dealings, and networking. The week’s many social events, mixers and receptions provided hardworking professionals the opportunity to have a bit of fun. The black-tie CIM Awards Gala offered the industry a chance to recognize some of the outstanding achievements from its many champions. And, with over-the-top entertainment, the crowd stayed until the very end. The following night, attendees and delegates broke out their dancing shoes at the Joy Global Gala, which featured an impressive fireworks display over Coal Harbour. “Overall, the impression from everybody has been great,” said Patty Moore, as the convention wrapped-up its last day. And next year’s event is poised to bring much of the same. The expo floor is already 90 per cent sold and the theme, “New Dimensions,” promises to engender huge discussion. CIM Convention 2015 will be held in Montreal, Quebec at the Palais de Congrès from May 9 to 13. CIM

Bien entendu, le congrès n’était pas qu’affaire de perfectionnement professionnel, de négociations et de transactions commerciales, et de réseautage. Les nombreux événements sociaux, cinq à sept et réceptions de la semaine ont permis aux grands travailleurs de s’amuser un peu. Le gala de remise des prix de l’ICM a donné à l’industrie la chance d’honorer certaines des réalisations exceptionnelles de ses nombreux ambassadeurs. Et, grâce à un divertissement spectaculaire, la foule est restée jusqu’à la toute fin. Le soir suivant, les participants et les délégués ont sorti leurs chaussures de danse pour le gala Joy Global, qui a présenté un feu d’artifice impressionnant sur Coal Harbour. « Dans l’ensemble, la réaction de tout le monde a été excellente », a dit Patty Moore, au dernier jour du congrès. Et l’événement de l’an prochain s’annonce tout aussi réussi. Près de 90 % de l’espace du salon commercial est déjà vendu, et le thème, « Nouvelles dimensions », promet de donner lieu à des discussions animées. Le congrès 2015 de l’ICM aura lieu au Palais des congrès de Montréal, au Québec, du 9 au 13 mai. ICM

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74 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

CALLING FOR NEW PERSPECTIVES UNDER THE FOLLOWING THEMES > ENVIRONMENTAL PARADIGMS > INNOVATION – PRESENT AND FUTURE > UNDERGROUND MINING INSIGHTS > DIVERSITY – FROM GENDER TO GEOGRAPHY > OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE – A SAFE OPERATION IS A RELIABLE ONE

New Dimensions CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

> MAINTENANCE ENGINEERING – IMPACTING EVERY LEVEL > RARE EARTHS MINERALS – FROM PROSPECTING TO PROCESSING > EXPLOSIVES & BLASTING – BREAKING GROUNDS > GEOLOGY & GEOSTATISTICS > IRON ORE SYMPOSIUM (IOS) > ETHICS IN MINING SYMPOSIUM > PLANETARY AND TERRESTRIAL MINING SCIENCES SYMPOSIUM (PTMSS)

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT BY OCTOBER 31, 2014 > CONVENTION.CIM.ORG The Iron Ore, Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences and Ethics in Mining Symposiums will be included with registration for CIM Convention delegates. A selection of papers presented at CIM Convention 2015 will be available online through the cim.org Technical Paper Library.

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NOUVELLES PERSPECTIVES RECHERCHÉES SOUS LES THÈMES SUIVANTS > TENDANCES ENVIRONNEMENTALES > INNOVATION - PRÉSENT ET AVENIR > PERSPECTIVES D’EXPLOITATION MINIÈRE SOUTERRAINE > DIVERSITÉ GENRE, GÉOGRAPHIE ET PLUS

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> EXCELLENCE OPÉRATIONNELLE – SÉCURITÉ ET FIABILITÉ > INGÉNIERIE ET ENTRETIEN – IMPACTS MULTI NIVEAUX > MINÉRAUX DE TERRES RARES – DE LA PROSPECTION À LA FABRICATION > EXPLOSIFS ET MÉTHODES – PERCÉES TERRESTRES > GÉOLOGIE ET GÉOSTATISTIQUES > SYMPOSIUM SUR LE MINERAI DE FER > SYMPOSIUM MINES ET ÉTHIQUE > SCIENCE MINIÈRE PLANÉTAIRE

ET TERRESTRE (PTMSS)

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31 OCTOBRE 2014 > CONVENTION.CIM.ORG Les Symposiums sur le minerai de fer, Mines et Éthique ainsi que Science Minière Planétaire et Terrestre (PTMSS) seront inclus dans les frais d’inscription des délégués au congrès de l’ICM. Les papiers et présentations du congrès 2015 de l’ICM seront publiés en ligne dans la libraire technique de l’ICM au www.cim.org.

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TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS

CIM

journal

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2. To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org

Using a pit optimization tool to calculate oil sands mining inventory L. Chunpongtong, Independent Consultant, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

ABSTRACT Oil sands production occurs on a massive scale, making orebody estimation a challenge. In rainy conditions, operators can have difficulty accessing ore at the mapped location. Without enough inventory as a buffer, the highcost stockpile is depleted quickly, necessitating the removal of significant amounts of overburden and interburden to meet plant feed requirements. The inventory curve—a plot of ore inventory on a period-by-period basis—plays an important role in selecting an appropriate scheduling scenario. This paper presents a programmable method for creating an inventory curve according to parameters in the inventory definition by using a pit optimization tool.

RÉSUMÉ La production des sables bitumineux s’effectue à grande échelle, ce qui complique les estimations du gisement. Sous des conditions pluvieuses, les opérateurs peuvent avoir de la difficulté à estimer le minerai à l’endroit cartographié. Dans l’absence d’une quantité suffisante d’inventaire pour servir de tampon, la réserve, établie à coût élevé, est rapidement épuisée, ce qui nécessite l’enlèvement de quantités importantes de morts-terrains en surface et intermédiaires pour rencontrer les demandes d’alimentation des usines. La courbe d’inventaire – une représentation graphique de l’inventaire de minerai selon les périodes – joue un rôle important dans le choix d’un scénario d’ordonnancement approprié. Cet article présente, au moyen d’un outil d’optimisation de la fosse, une méthode programmable pour créer une courbe d’inventaire selon les paramètres de définition d’inventaire.

Methodology for design risk assessment in burst-prone mines: A case study D. J. Cheung, Nyrstar Myra Falls, Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada; V. N. Kazakidis, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT Seismicity and rockburst problems in hard-rock mines negatively impact safety and profitability. The authors propose a design risk methodology as a relative risk assessment for underground excavations vulnerable to rockburst damage. It considers rock mass conditions relating to mining-induced stress, geological structure, rock mass properties, and mining influence. Application of the methodology to rockburst cases involving seismically active fault zones at the Craig mine in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, demonstrates that design changes can reduce exposure and economic risks. Mines with high geotechnical risk can use the design risk methodology to evaluate design alternatives as a risk management strategy.

RÉSUMÉ Les problèmes de sismicité et de coups de toit dans les mines de roches dures ont un impact négatif sur la sécurité et la rentabilité. Les auteurs proposent une méthode de calcul du risque en tant qu’évaluation relative du risque pour les excavations souterraines vulnérables aux coups de toit. Elle tient compte des conditions de la masse rocheuse en ce qui a trait aux contraintes causées par l’exploitation, la structure géologique, les propriétés de la masse rocheuse et l’influence de l’exploitation. L’application de la méthode aux cas de coups de toit impliquant des zones de failles sismiquement actives à la mine Craig à Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, démontre que les changements dans la conception peuvent réduire l’exposition et les risques économiques. Les mines à risque géotechnique élevé peuvent utiliser la méthode de calcul du risque afin d’évaluer les diverses options de conception en tant que stratégie de gestion du risque.

June/July 2014 | 77

TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS

CIM

journal

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2. To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org

Factors affecting the permeability of low-permeability sandstone uranium deposits: A case study W. S. Liao, L. M. Wang, G. P. Jiang, and Y. Jiang, Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy, Beijing, China

ABSTRACT The authors measured porosities and permeabilities for cores from a low-permeability sandstone uranium deposit in Inner Mongolia. Features studied included fine pore structure, mineral composition, cation exchange capacity, granule appearance, and cementing features. In general, grading of the grains was relatively poor, which decreased the radii of the pore channels. The pore throat distribution was significantly heterogeneous. Pore channels ranged from small to large, but the lack of large pore channels led to low permeability. Cementation by calcite and clays, including montmorillonite, chlorite, and kaolinite, resulted in pore channel narrowing, further decreasing the permeability of the formation.

RÉSUMÉ Les auteurs ont effectués des mesures sur les porosités et les perméabilités de carottes provenant d’un gisement de grès uranifère à faible perméabilité en Mongolie intérieure. Ils ont étudié les caractéristiques telles que la structure des pores fines, la composition minéralogique, la capacité d’échange cationique, l’aspect granulométrique et les caractéristiques de cimentation. De manière générale, le classement granulométrique était relativement mauvais, ce qui diminue le rayon des chenaux des pores. La distribution des réseaux de rétrécissements était significativement hétérogène. Les chenaux des pores varient d’étroits à larges mais le manque de larges réseaux engendre une faible perméabilité. La cimentation par la calcite et les argiles, incluant la montmorillonite, la chlorite, et la kaolinite, rétrécit les chenaux entre les pores, diminuant encore plus la perméabilité de la formation.

Hydraulics of hexavalent chromium reduction in constructed wetland mesocosms A. Rodriguez-Prado, Independent Consultant, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; W. C. Lennox, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; R. L. Legge, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT It is possible to adequately describe chemical reduction of hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), in industrial and mining wastewater in constructed wetlands by applying different kinetic models (e.g., half-order, second-order). Accounting for hydraulic transport of contaminants in reduction equations can also improve such description. The authors developed an explicit advection-dispersion bulk flow equation and applied it to model Cr(VI) reduction in laboratory wetland mesocosms. The results indicated that the model adequately described wetland exit Cr(VI) concentrations and Cr(VI) reduction, representing an improvement over the commonly used graphic method and potentially improving the wetland design.

78 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

RÉSUMÉ Il est possible de décrire adéquatement la réduction chimique du chrome hexavalent, Cr(VI), dans les eaux usées industrielles et minières de marais artificiels en appliquant différents modèles cinétiques (p. ex. de demi-ordre, de second ordre). Il est aussi possible d’améliorer cette description en tenant compte du transport hydraulique des contaminants dans les équations de réduction. Ils ont développé une équation explicite advection-dispersion d’écoulement en vrac et nous l’avons appliqué à un modèle de réduction du Cr(VI) dans des mésocosmes de marais en laboratoire. Les résultats indiquent que le modèle décrit les concentrations de Cr(VI) de sortie du marais et la réduction du Cr(VI) de manière adéquate, ce qui représente une amélioration par rapport à la méthode graphique couramment utilisée et une possibilité d’améliorer la conception du marais.

TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS

canadian metallurgical quarterly Excerpts taken from abstracts in CMQ, Vol. 53, No. 3. To subscribe – www.cmq-online.ca

Preparation of Ti Si Al alloy by aluminothermic reduction of TiO2 bearing blast furnace slag

Q. Y. Huang, School of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, China; X. W. Lv, R. Huang, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China; J. J. Song, Center of Material for Chongqing Metrology Institute of Quality Inspection, Chongqing, China

ABSTRACT The aluminothermic reduction of Ti containing BF slag was carried out to prepare Ti Si Al alloy in this study in order to improve the recovery rate of the Ti from the vanadium titanium magnetite ore and solve the deposit problem of huge amount of BF slag bearing 20–25%TiO2. It was found that the mass of alloy increased with increasing Al addition. The mass of the slag obtained was more than that calculated by FACTSage by 2–4%, meaning some unreduced oxide still remained in the slag, and/or that equilibrium was not obtained. The Perovskite and Pyroxene minerals disappeared, and the CaAl2O4 and MgAl2O3 were the dominant phases with increasing the Al2O3 in the slag. The Ti5Si3, AlTi3 and TiSi2 were the main phase in the solidified alloy. The LFe, LSi, and LTi, which represents the distribution ratio of the elements like Fe, Si and Ti between the metal and the slag, decreased with increasing temperature, and increased with increasing the Al addition. The measured LFe departed greatly from the equilibrium, while the measured LSi almost reached the equilibrium. The LTi reached the equilibrium when the Al addition was less than 18%, LTi departed from the equilibrium condition when the Al addition was more than 18%. The recovery of both Ti and Si increased with increasing the Al addition. For Ti, it reached 80% when the Al addition was above 20%. For Si, the recovery is always lower than that of Ti, it reached 70% when the Al addition was above 24%.

RÉSUMÉ Dans cette étude, on a effectué la réduction aluminothermique de laitier de haut-fourneau, contenant du Ti, pour préparer l’alliage de Ti-Si-Al afin d’améliorer le taux de récupération du Ti de minerai de vanadium-titanium-magnétite et de résoudre le problème de dépôt d’une quantité énorme de laitier de haut-fourneau porteur de 20–25% de TiO2. La masse de l’alliage augmentait avec l’augmentation de l’addition d’Al. La masse du laitier obtenu était plus importante que la masse calculée par FACTSage par 2 4%, indiquant qu’une certaine quantité de l’oxyde non-réduit subsistait dans le laitier et/ou que l’on n’avait pas atteint l’équilibre. Les minéraux de Pérovskite et de Pyroxène ont disparu et le CaAl2O4 et le MgAl2O3 constituaient les phases dominantes avec une augmentation de l’Al2O3 dans le laitier. Le Ti5Si3, l’AlTi3 et le TiSi2 constituaient la phase principale de l’alliage solidifié. Le LFe, le LSi et le LTi, qui représentent le rapport de distribution des éléments comme le Fe, le Si et le Ti entre le métal et le laitier, diminuaient avec une augmentation de la température et augmentaient avec une augmentation de l’addition d’Al. Le LFe mesuré s’éloignait grandement de l’équilibre, alors que le LSi mesuré atteignait presque l’équilibre. Le LTi atteignait l’équilibre lorsque l’addition d’Al était de moins de 18%, le LTi s’éloignait de la condition d’équilibre lorsque l’addition d’Al était de plus de 18%. La récupération tant du Ti que du Si augmentait avec l’augmentation d’addition d’Al. Quant au Ti, il atteignait 80% lorsque l’addition d’Al était au-dessus de 20%. En ce qui concerne le Si, la récupération était toujours plus faible que celle du Ti; elle atteignait 70% lorsque l’addition d’Al était au-dessus de 24%.

Creep performance of wrought AX30 and EZ33 magnesium alloys A. Siebert-Timmer, M. Fletcher, L. Bichler, UBC – Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada; D. Sediako, NRC-CNBC, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT Wrought magnesium alloy bars, sections and tubes have been extensively used in the aerospace, electronics and automotive industries, where component weight is of concern. The operating temperature of these components is typically limited to <100°C, since Mg alloys undergo appreciable creep above this temperature due to grain boundary sliding and plastic deformation leading to intergranular failure. The objective of this study was to investigate the compressive creep performance and microstructure stability of two wrought magnesium alloys (AX30 and EZ33) upon exposure to 175°C and 50 MPa test conditions. The creep behaviour of each alloy was studied using neutron diffraction, as well as classical extensometer techniques. The results suggested that the EZ33 alloy exhibited uniform elastic

RÉSUMÉ On a fait un usage considérable de barres, de sections et de tubes corroyés d’alliage de magnésium dans les industries de l’aérospatiale, de l’électronique et de l’automobile, où le poids des pièces est à considérer. La température de fonctionnement de ces pièces est limitée typiquement à moins de 100°C, puisque les alliages de magnésium subissent un fluage appréciable au-dessus de cette température à cause du glissement du joint de grain et de la déformation plastique menant à la rupture intergranulaire. L’objectif de cette étude consistait à examiner le comportement de fluage en compression et la stabilité de la microstructure de deux alliages corroyés de magnésium (AX30 et EZ33) sous les conditions d’essai d’une exposition à 175°C et 50 MPa. On a étudié le comportement de fluage de chaque alliage en utilisant la diffraction des neutrons ainsi que les techniques classiques de l’extensomètre. Les résultats suggèrent une réponse élastique uniforme avec une déforJune/July 2014 | 79

TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS

canadian metallurgical quarterly Excerpts taken from abstracts in CMQ, Vol. 53, No. 3. To subscribe – www.cmq-online.ca

response with a total plastic deformation of 0·3% after 24 h. In contrast, AX30 exhibited ~9% strain hardening on the plane, and a total plastic deformation of 1·5% after 24 h. Microstructure analysis revealed that grain size remained constant during creep testing for both alloys. However, the dissolution of Al2Ca intermetallics in the AX30 alloy resulted in the formation of β-Mg17Al12 phase, which contributed to accelerated creep deformation.

mation plastique totale de 0·3% après 24 heures pour l’alliage EZ33. Par contraste, AX30 exhibait ~9% de durcissement par écrouissage dans le plan () et une déformation plastique totale de 1·5% après 24 heures. L’analyse de la microstructure révélait que la taille de grain demeurait constante lors de l’essai de fluage des deux alliages. Cependant, la dissolution des intermétalliques Al2Ca dans l’alliage AX30 avait pour résultat la formation de la phase βMg17Al12- , ce qui contribuait à accélérer la déformation par fluage.

On the oxidation resistance of a powder metallurgy nickel-based superalloy D. C. Murray, Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; N. L. Richards, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; W. F. Caley, Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

ABSTRACT To evaluate the influence of reactive minor elements on oxidation resistance of a nickel-based superalloy, 0 5w/o Si, and/or 0 1w/o Y were added in various combinations to a quaternary powder metallurgy alloy that consisted of a ternary master alloy, Ni 12Cr 9Fe+6w/o Al (w/o). The processing included production of transverse rupture strength (TRS) bars by uniaxial pressing followed by sintering to 1300°C and Gleeble thermo-mechanical deformation to reduce porosity. Sectioned TRS bars were then oxidised (static) at 900°C in air for times up to 1000 h and the influence of the Si/Y additions on oxidation resistance was determined via a combination of weight gain data and microstructural examination. It was found that the addition of 0 5w/o Si to the quaternary Ni Cr Fe Al powder metallurgy system provided a measureable improvement in oxidation resistance both in terms of thickness of oxide layer and in overall weight gain. Conversely, 0.1w/o Y provided little benefit when added with the Si and was shown to be detrimental in the absence of Si. Interestingly, little difference was noted in final microstructures. Specifically, variation in %γ′ between samples was minimal (58.3 61.7 v/o) and a distinct precipitate free zone was always present between the oxide and the γ + γ ′ matrix.

80 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4

RÉSUMÉ Afin d’évaluer l’influence des oligoéléments réactifs sur la résistance à l’oxydation d’un superalliage à base de nickel, on a ajouté 0 5% en poids de Si et/ou 0 1% en poids d’Y en combinaisons variées à un alliage quaternaire de la métallurgie des poudres qui consistait en un alliage ternaire maître, Ni 12Cr 9Fe+6% en poids d’Al. Le traitement incluait la production de barres de résistance à la rupture transversale par pressage uniaxe, suivi par le frittage à 1300°C et par la déformation thermomécanique de Gleeble pour réduire la porosité. Les barres sectionnées de TRS étaient ensuite oxydées (en statique) à 900°C à l’air jusqu’à 1000 h et l’influence des additions de Si/Y sur la résistance à l’oxydation était déterminée par l’intermédiaire d’une combinaison de données de gain de poids et d’examen de la microstructure. On a trouvé que l’addition de 0 5% en poids de Si au système quaternaire Ni Cr Fe Al améliorait de façon mesurable la résistance à l’oxydation, tant en termes de l’épaisseur de la couche d’oxyde que de son gain global en poids. Réciproquement, 0.1% en poids d’Y avait peu de bénéfices lorsque ajouté avec le Si et l’on a montré qu’il était nuisible en absence de Si. De façon intéressante, on notait peu de différence dans les microstructures finales. Spécifiquement, la variation entre les échantillons du% de était minime (58.3 à 61.7% en volume) et une zone distincte sans précipités était toujours présente entre l’oxyde et la matrice de γ + γ ′.

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One-Armed Tomo and the golden bullets by Correy Baldwin

Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives 1993.5.10.1

old has always fied paddle and breakhad a powerful ing trail for the lure, and history colonists. By then, the has shown that people fur trade was giving will go to great lengths to way to the hunt for pursue the faintest hints gold. The California of its existence – even gold rush came and rumours of a hunter using went, as did the Fraser gold for bullets. This was River rush. Thouall it took for special sands of men had constable Samuel Harris, congregated on the who led an expedition up west coast, ready to the Cowichan River, asjump on the slightest yet-unexplored by hint. settlers, on Vancouver The July 1860 trip Island during the summer up the Cowichan of 1860. Guiding the Special constable Samuel Harris, who built the John Bull Inn in Cowichan Bay (seen above) in River was Harris 1859, led a gold finding expedition in 1860 based on rumours of an aboriginal hunter using group in this unfamiliar golden bullets in his rifle. The story was passed along to Harris by animated local guide and and Antoine’s second territory was one-armed raconteur Tomo Antoine. attempt: the two had Tomo Antoine, one of the tried it in February but Hudson’s Bay Company’s (HBC) top guides and the man who were thwarted by the season’s early flooding. On both trips the first caught word of the golden bullets. team panned for gold, finding enough flecks to tempt them Apparently a Ditidaht man had found an outcropping of further. After 11 days they reached Cowichan Lake, and soon gold-bearing quartz while out hunting in the mountains located the Ditidaht village where they expected to find the beyond Cowichan Lake. Being short on ammunition, he took hunter. chunks of the gold and formed them into musket balls. Tall The plan was to find the man whose gun fired golden bultale or not, it was too good a story to pass up. Antoine told it lets and have him lead them to his hidden gold mine. The Ditito Harris, who passed it on to James Douglas, governor of Van- daht, however, had more urgent things on their mind, as their couver Island, who ordered an immediate expedition to con- community was suffering from a deadly outbreak of smallpox. tact the Ditidaht and find the gold. The chief offered a deal: the tribe would help the men and let Tomo Antoine, of Iroquois and Chinook heritage, had been them prospect on Ditidaht territory, but only if they first born into the HBC fur trade. His father was a company fur returned with smallpox medicine. trader, though he died when Antoine was but an infant. As a The team agreed. They hurried back down the river and young man, Antoine caught the attention of Douglas, who had gathered supplies, returning by mid-August. The medical supestablished HBC’s Fort Victoria in 1841, and soon the future plies were enough to stop the spread of smallpox. The gold, “father of British Columbia” was hiring Antoine to guide the though, proved more elusive: the man who knew of its wherefirst HBC expeditions into the interior of Vancouver Island. abouts had died in the outbreak. Antoine had plenty of bravado and his wild ways could get The only thing left for the team was to explore the shores the better of him. In 1856, he took an interest in a woman of Cowichan Lake for signs of gold. As with Cowichan River, from a local tribe near present-day Duncan and her offended Harris found enough colour to file a positive report, but little husband-to-be shot Antoine, the bullet ripping through his more. It might have been enough to prompt a flurry of arm and entering his chest. A local medicine man saved prospecting, but by then another gold rush had hit, turning Antoine’s life, but doctors in Victoria could not save his arm: the attention of the gold-crazed to the Cariboo, and then came Tomo Antoine became One-Armed Tomo. Meanwhile, the the Klondike. Eventually, the bullets were forgotten. shooter was apprehended by British authorities, convicted and Antoine got his vindication in 1864, when he guided an hanged. Antoine became a sworn enemy of the peoples in the expedition along the Sooke River that sparked a gold rush at region and could never return. Leechtown. He eventually retired to the backwoods, a wellBut not all was lost. The amputation hardly slowed Antoine paid man. down, and soon he was back at work, canoeing with a modiBut he never did find those golden bullets. CIM 82 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 4