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IN THIS ISSUE

CIM MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER | SEPTEMBRE 2014

Clean steam

cover story

Natural gas production is not expected to ramp up, despite an increase in demand, so could nuclear be a near-term solution for oil sands operations? by Christopher Pollon

64 Underground achiever

Dundee Precious Metals took on a 50-yearold mine and, with an open-minded team of suppliers, turned it into a 21st Century operation by Eavan Moore

42 Canada’s biggest cleanup Ottawa is committed to a century of remediation at the Giant mine by Chris Windeyer

Findings from CIM’s strategic outreach initiative identify objectives, activities and priorities to help formulate the Institute’s upcoming five-year action plan by Tom DiNardo infographic by Maria Olaguera

60 Come together

Condition monitoring systems collect and analyze equipment health data to reduce downtime and increase productivity by Eavan Moore

September/Septembre 2014 | 5

contenu francophone

48 8 10

Editor’s letter President’s notes

tools of the trade 12

The best in new technology

news

compiled by Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

14 28

Industry at a glance A landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling will likely change how the mining industry works with First Nations on resource development projects by Brenda Bouw

COSIA is building a new water technology centre to help oil sands operations reduce their water usage by Graham Chandler

Alberta’s “twinning project” promises a smoother, safer route to the oil sands

columns

by Tom DiNardo

Aboriginal relations: Where are we now?

by Dwight Newman

by Bruce Sprague

upfront: environmental monitoring & closure 44 46 48

by Ian M. London

Malgré la hausse de la demande, il n’est pas prévu que la production de gaz naturel augmente. Ainsi, le nucléaire pourrait-il constituer une solution à court terme pour les exploitations de sables bitumineux ?

by Correy Baldwin

Shuswap chief Ronald Ignace discusses the convergence of traditional knowledge and science

10 68

Fort McMurray, Alberta

cim community by Kiran Malik-Khan

CIM news from Canada and beyond

compiled by Tom DiNardo and Kelsey Rolfe

mining lore 86

American entrepreneur John Conrad had it all: a flourishing mine and mill operation on Tagish Lake, a city named after him, and the world’s most extensive tramway by Correy Baldwin

83 84 85

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

56 Vapeur propre

New Afton is the first mine in North America to meet ISO 50001 energy management standards

travel 72

article de fond

by Ian Ewing

by Correy Baldwin

Meeting the mining productivity challenge head on A Canadian industry in the making

Anglo American is sharing its new closure guide with the world

Technical abstracts Innovation showcase & Product files Professional directory

78 83

par Christopher Pollon

Mot du président Profil de projet Dundee Precious Metals a pris les rênes d’une mine de 50 ans et, à l’aide d'une équipe de fournisseurs à l’esprit ouvert, en a fait une exploitation digne du XXIe siècle. par Eavan Moore

La communauté s’est prononcée Constatations tirées de l’initiative de sensibilisation stratégique de l’ICM par Tom DiNardo infographie par Maria Olaguera

La communauté de l’ICM Résumé techniques

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

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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

Pushing for change

arlier this summer, McEwen Mining hosted the first of its “Mining Innovation Lunch and Learn” gettogethers. The event drew professionals who work for suppliers, business and engineering consultancies, professors, professionals from competing mining firms and at least one attendee with no background whatsoever in mining for a series of presentations and wideranging discussion on how the industry might become more productive. Rob McEwen told those assembled that Tesla Motors has proved “somebody can walk in and blow the doors off of everybody else” by eschewing standard practices, and the mining industry, he argued, seems ready for a similar shake-up. McEwen would prefer to open the doors of his namesake company himself, allowing big ideas and their value to flow through, rather than lose them at the hinges. It is in the mining industry’s favour, reasoned Michael MacFarlane, an Anglo Gold Ashanti veteran invited to speak at the event, that there are other industries that have a 30-year head start in introducing more efficient, technologically advanced operating practices. The challenge for mining is to adopt them. Among the successful examples he cited was Dundee Precious Metals’ Chelopech mine in Bulgaria that you will find profiled by Eavan Moore in this issue (p. 64). The questions of innovation and risk also drive the discussion in Christopher Pollon’s feature on the oil sands, “Clean steam” (p. 50). Natural gas has been the fuel of choice to generate steam for bitumen extraction, but there is some doubt about the sustainability of that option. As demand for natural gas grows along with scrutiny over the carbon intensity of oil sands operations, the story examines the potential that emerging nuclear plants have to meet the needs of producers in the country’s oil patch. In the preceding months many of you took the time to help CIM get its strategic bearings through an online survey, round table discussions, webinars as well as the leadership congress at our annual conference in May. The result was an enormous amount of valuable feedback that CIM National has been working through to understand how the Institute can best serve its members and the broader mining community in the future. You will find some of those learnings distilled on p. 74, and many more available through cim.org. Thanks to all of you who contributed to this project.

Section editors Peter Braul, pbraul@cim.org Tom DiNardo, tdinardo@cim.org Copy editor/Communications coordinator Zoë Koulouris, zkoulouris@cim.org Web content editor Maria Olaguera, molaguera@cim.org Editorial intern Kelsey Rolfe, krolfe@cim.org Contributors Correy Baldwin, Brenda Bouw, Graham Chandler, Ian Ewing, Ian M. London, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Kiran Malik-Khan, Herb Mathisen, Eavan Moore, Dwight Newman, Christopher Pollon, Bruce Sprague, Chris Windeyer Editorial advisory board Alicia Ferdinand, Garth Kirkham, Vic Pakalnis, Steve Rusk, Nathan Stubina Translations CNW, 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 ($177.00); 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 Illustration by Chloe Cushman 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. 6

president’s notes | mot du président

Hard lessons

Sean Waller CIM President Président de l’ICM

One of our key responsibilities as a technical institute is to provide leading-edge, sciencebased information relevant to the various sectors of the minerals industry. This information is shared through CIM conferences, society and branch functions, CIM publications and the online CIM library. When our members, regardless of their location, can access that information they can execute their roles to the very best of their abilities. For these reasons we continue to develop our international branch structure and international membership. Following on the establishment of CIM branches in Santiago and Lima, plus five years of coordinated activities in China, we now welcome our newest international branch in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. This branch, along with our Dakar, Senegal branch will act as the cornerstone of CIM's presence in West Africa. Looking ahead, CIM is working diligently on establishing a Hong Kong branch as well. Through our overseas presence, CIM shares information, provides cutting-edge expertise, and supports the development of responsible mining and best practices, wherever mining takes place. It was while drafting this note that I learned of the tailings dam breach at the Mt. Polley copper mine in British Columbia. Thankfully, no injuries occurred. This incident has taken all of us by surprise, as Canada has extremely rigorous standards for tailings dam engineering design, construction and operation. This incident garnered widespread public reaction across the country, and rightly so, but unfortunately inaccurate information was disseminated. This breach will be investigated, and it is important that we await the facts. For us at CIM, it will be our responsibility to learn as much as we can from the event and ensure these lessons are shared with our members, branches and societies, and applied to mining projects around the world.

Des leçons à tirer En tant qu’institut de technologie, l’une de nos principales responsabilités consiste à fournir des renseignements de pointe, axés sur la science, utiles aux divers secteurs de l’industrie des minéraux. Nous partageons ces renseignements par l’intermédiaire de conférences de l’ICM, d’activités de société ou de sections, de publications de l’ICM et de la bibliothèque de l’ICM en ligne. Lorsque nos membres, quel que soit l’endroit où ils se trouvent, ont accès à ces renseignements, ils peuvent assumer leurs fonctions au mieux de leurs capacités. C’est pourquoi nous continuons de développer la structure de nos sections internationales et d’augmenter le nombre de nos membres à l’échelle internationale. À la suite de la mise en place des sections de l’ICM à Santiago et à Lima, et à l’issue de cinq années d’activités coordonnées en Chine, nous ouvrons à présent notre plus récente section internationale à Ouagadougou, au Burkina Faso. Cette section, ainsi que celle de Dakar, au Sénégal, sera la pierre angulaire de la présence de l’ICM en Afrique occidentale. Tournée vers l’avenir, l’ICM travaille également assidûment à la création d’une section à Hong Kong. Grâce à sa présence à l’étranger, l’ICM partage des renseignements, offre une expertise de premier ordre et appuie la mise au point de pratiques exemplaires responsables en matière d’exploitation minière, peu importe où elle a lieu. C’est pendant que je rédigeais ce message que j’ai eu connaissance de la rupture de la digue à stériles de la mine de cuivre du mont Polley, en Colombie-Britannique. Heureusement, personne n’a été blessé. Cet incident nous a tous pris par surprise, le Canada étant doté de normes très rigoureuses en matière de conception technique, de construction et d’exploitation des digues à stériles. À juste titre, cet incident a suscité une importante réaction de la part du public partout au pays, mais malheureusement, des renseignements erronés ont été diffusés. Cette rupture fera l’objet d’une enquête et il est important d’attendre de connaître les faits. En ce qui nous concerne, à l’ICM, il nous incombe d’en apprendre le plus possible au sujet de l’événement et de partager ces leçons avec nos membres et qu’on applique les enseignements tirés aux projets d’exploitation minière dans le monde entier.

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

◢ Safe cable coupling Installing electrical mining cable couplers can be difficult, wasteful and risky. “Typically, it involves using a soldering system,” says Juan Darritchon, Americas market manager for mining at TE Connectivity (TE). “It can be dangerous as you’re working with very high temperatures and the quality of the installation is dependent on the skill of the person doing it, which can vary widely.” He says a safer option is TE’s innovative Raychem mining couplers, with their shearbolt technology, which the company has used successfully for years in the utilities sector. “Our shearbolt technology is designed in such a way that when the bolt reaches the exact torque needed, the head breaks off,” says Darritchon. The couplers, which can later be reused with a new bolt, come in two sizes to cover everything from #6 AWG to 500 MCM cables. The couplers also use a sealing technology that allows for a tight fit, regardless of cable size.

◢ Productivity in tight quarters When Vallée Inc. set out to design its new 4DA50C and 4DA55C lift trucks it focused meticulously on the three factors that would raise productivity in mining applications: visibility, robustness and agility. The new trucks sport a fullview cab that includes an overhead window and a capacity that starts at 22.68 tonnes. Yet these four-wheel drive lift trucks are compact and manoeuvrable. The combination means they can handle heavy loads on many types of terrain including uneven surfaces and tight spaces. The two forklifts and their attachments are also customizable. “When a client comes to us with a challenge, one of our engineers goes out to their site to observe and study it,” says Frédéric Vallée, the company’s president. “Then our team works with the client to develop a solution specific to their needs. We’ve worked with a mining company, for example, to develop a tire handler for the lift so they can change large equipment tires on site without the operator using a camera.”

◢ Environmentally friendly wash To clean the guck, grease and grime that accumulated on equipment, mining operations once relied on chemicals that were harsh on the environment and human health. Environmental awareness has changed that and green cleaners are now used, but they can sometimes seem almost as friendly to grime as they are to nature. Some manufacturers are adding more punch to their green products, however. Phoenix Industries, a home, office and industrial cleaning products manufacturer, recently introduced a new formula for its biodegradable Mean Green Industrial Strength Cleaner & Degreaser with 40 per cent more detergents than the original version. “Our customers use it on underground mining equipment for the removal of grease and oil and they also use it on water spray jets to keep them cleaned out and open,” says Willie Watts, the buyer for Kentucky-based Mine Service Company Inc., which sells mining products to the underground

Courtesy of Phoenix Industries

Courtesy of TE Connectivity

Courtesy of Vallée Inc.

OF TOOLS THE TRADE

mining industry. “It’s just a good, stronger degreaser. It works well.” Compiled by Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

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

nt eatme roth Tr F , is r r e ance F .” – L s r rke wo o s ec ud ject r c Pro n , y n yS alla el C om t M ks d.” – han dar t n a d st ban stry u d the n n he i wt si o t n t is en tha m e p u r toty st pro in h t oo ng er t h yi s u a cr pl arch da l Rese a e t ds n e i k ironm ign 0 rk, Env a es l 3 C a d ic ’s t – Jess re ha stry.” u t e d in h on entire am “T Liais e s e h s t sine or t fa ef l Bu o a c n i n rt orig cie pa , Ab ns b o b i s e at gW wa am Dou “I – ecl .” r g mpanies cin iginal co n r o b a A l a adv with loc ’re ess n e i s u “W in b llion i b $2 one d e v ’ “We ow.” – Sarmad Abba s, Maintenance rs tomorr e d a le e we’ll b d n a , y a aders tod “We’re le

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Fortune Minerals Ltd.

news Barrick to replace CEO with co-presidents

Fortune Minerals prepares site for construction of its NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project in the Northwest Territories.

Green light for Fortune Minerals’ NICO project Fortune Minerals Limited’s NICO project took an important step forward in July, when the company received approval on a land use permit and water licence. The Wek’eezhii Land and Water Board of the Northwest Territories gave the go-ahead on the two permits that will allow Fortune to start construction on the site, located about 100 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife. J. Michael Miltenberger, N.W.T.’s environment minister, gave the final approval in late-July. NICO will be a gold-cobalt-copperbismuth project, consisting of an open pit and underground mine, and a mill.

Erratum In the translation process for our “Names to Know” feature (August 2014), we mistakenly translated Mr. Aubrey Eveleigh into a “madame.” We regret the error. Dans la traduction de notre article de fond intitulé « Les noms à connaître » (août 2014), nous avons par erreur présenté M. Aubrey Eveleigh comme « Mme » Aubrey Eveleigh. Veuillez accepter nos excuses pour cette erreur. 14 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

If Fortune gets the financing it needs, CEO Robin Goad said the company will start construction on the site later this year. It would potentially become operational in the third quarter of 2017. The property has Proven and Probable Reserves of 33 million tonnes, including 102 million pounds of bismuth and 82 million pounds of cobalt. NICO is expected to have a mine life of 20 years, with a planned mill throughput of 4,650 tonnes of ore per day. Fortune expects to receive full funding for construction from strategic partners such as Posco and Procon Mining and Tunnelling, the latter of which has a 19.43 per cent interest in the company. Goad said Fortune will be targeting the battery market by producing a “cobalt-sulphate product” used in the manufacturing of rechargeable lithiumion and nickel metal hydride batteries. “What we’re feeding into is the growth of the batteries in not only portable electronic devices but also electric vehicles,” he said. NICO is projected to create 300 construction jobs and 270 permanent jobs. The bulk concentrate produced in N.W.T. will be shipped to Fortune’s planned Saskatchewan metals processing plant near Saskatoon, which is slated to open around the same time as the mine. – Kelsey Rolfe

After a two-year tenure, Barrick Gold Corp’s CEO, Jamie Sokalsky, will step down on September 15 and a new leadership team of two co-presidents will take his place, the company announced in July. Kelvin Dushnisky, formerly the company’s senior executive vice-president, and Jim Gowans, the COO, will hold the dual roles. “The board had been having discussions about the structure that would have the best outcome for the company,” said Barrick spokesman Andy Lloyd. “As part of that, Jamie agreed to step down. It’s really as a result of restructuring.” The co-presidents will divide the CEO’s job, with Gowans managing day-to-day operations and Dushnisky focusing on government and stakeholder relations. “The two of them [will be] joined at the hip as they manage the company and put a particular focus on those issues,” Lloyd said. Barrick chairman John Thornton said the company does not plan to appoint a new CEO. Analysts have speculated that the new structure would give him more power. “The fact that a CEO has not been named suggests that John Thornton will continue to be very active in the management of the company in a de facto CEO role,” TD Securities analyst Greg Barnes wrote in a note to investors. Lloyd denied the speculation. “John has said many times he has no interest in being CEO. Really it is Kelvin and Jim as co-presidents that are managing the company,” he said. The announcement of Barrick’s management shakeup came just 10 weeks after founder Peter Munk left – K.R. the company.

Encana sells Bighorn to Jupiter Resources Encana Corp., Canada’s largest producer of natural gas, announced in late-June it would sell its Bighorn asset in west-central Alberta to Calgarybased Jupiter Resources for $2 billion.

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news The deal includes almost 1,500 square kilometres of land and Encana’s interests in pipelines, facilities and service arrangements. Bighorn has roughly 1.1 billion cubic feet of net Proven Reserves, 75 per cent of which is natural gas. “It’s certainly a valuable asset, but [the sale] was mainly due to our focus

on transitioning our portfolio to include more oil and natural gas liquids,” said Encana spokesman Doug McIntyre. “Bighorn...was really not being funded much, if at all. [The sale] allowed us to realize the value of that asset.” The deal with Jupiter, a subsidiary of private-equity firm Apollo Global

Management, is expected to close in the third quarter this year. Bighorn’s sale follows Encana CEO Doug Suttles’ decision to focus 75 per cent of the company’s capital investment on six key oil-heavy resource areas throughout the continent, instead of maintaining 30 scattered assets. The remaining 25 per cent is invested in seven other minor assets. The company sold its Jonah Field natural gas asset in Wyoming for $1.8 billion in March to global private – K.R. investment firm TPG Capital.

First European carbon capture project receives EU funding

KSB Mining Expanding our global slurry solutions Your GIW slurry products have a new look and logo as we unite under KSB. All slurry products have been relabeled under the umbrella of GIW® Minerals. What this means to you is well over a century’s worth of experience in pumps and hydrotransport. But the developments don’t stop here. We want to help you maximize your process efficiencies and meet those tough production goals. That’s why we are expanding our manufacturing and service facilities globally to better serve our customers all over the world. Our mining team strives to be an innovative partner that provides you with the best and longest wearing slurry and process solutions. We are your partner, today and in the future. Visit us at the Oil Sands Show, booth #3114. GIW Industries, Inc. (A KSB Company) · www.giwindustries.com

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

A Yorkshire company received 300 million euros from the European Union in July to develop Europe’s first coal-fired power plant with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, which would bury its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions deep underneath the North Sea. The funds came from NER300, the financing instrument established by the European Commission to encourage more low-carbon energy projects. Drax Group, which operates Britain’s largest power station, will use the funds to build the power plant, called White Rose, on land beside its existing coal-fired power plant near Selby in North Yorkshire. White Rose is a joint venture between Drax, Alstom and BOC, operating under the name Capture Power, and is expected to burn enough coal to power 630,000 homes. Ninety per cent of its emissions will be transported by pipeline and stored under the North Sea, a service that will be provided by National Grid, an electric power transmission network in the U.K. National Grid is currently developing the common transportation and storage infrastructure White Rose will use. “The NER300 award represents another significant milestone for us in our development programme,” said Capture Power CEO Leigh Hackett in a

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Deep Thinking

press release, “as well as providing a strong signal for CCS in Europe.” The front-end engineering design study for White Rose is on track to receive a final investment decision at the end of 2015, with construction slated to begin in 2016. CCS plants prevent CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere, and bury them underground. This technology is widely seen as an important new tool for combating climate change. White Rose is one of 19 projects across the EU to receive NER300 funding, which totalled one billion euros this year. – K.R.

Barrick partners with Saudi firm on copper asset

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Barrick Gold Corp. is partnering with Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Ma’aden) on its copper project in Saudi Arabia, the company announced in July. As part of the joint venture, the Saudi company will acquire 50 per cent of Barrick’s Jabal Sayid asset, located around 120 kilometres southeast of Medina, for $210 million. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. Barrick expects that this move will allow Jabal Sayid, delayed because of safety-related permit problems and legacy matters over mining licences that emerged in the third quarter of 2012, to begin production in late-2015. “We’ve got the operating experience in copper, they obviously have the local expertise in the kingdom, so it’s a complementary pairing of the two companies,” said Barrick spokesman Andy Lloyd. Barrick is considering working with partners in different countries on future projects including other mining companies, government partners and sources of capital. “It’s a model we’d like to do more of,” Lloyd said. Barrick has already completed most of the construction at Jabal Sayid. When it becomes operational, the site is expected to have a mine life of 15 years and produce roughly 100-130 million pounds of copper in concentrate per year during the first five years. – K.R.

Water woes at Cigar Lake

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

Cameco has temporarily stopped jet boring at Cigar Lake due to ground freezing issues at the Saskatchewan uranium mine, the company announced in July. “Given that the McClean Lake mill has not yet started processing Cigar Lake ore, we have decided to temporarily stop jet-boring at Cigar Lake to allow the ore body to freeze more thoroughly in these areas,” Cameco stated in a press release. To prevent water from entering production areas and stabilize the rock formation at Cigar Lake, Cameco freezes the ground around the ore body with a brine solution. But freezing at the mine is not advancing as quickly as predicted. This is due to the higher-than-expected moisture and clay content

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news of the soil, said COO Bob Steane in a conference call with media and investors. Steane said there are areas that could be mined today, but the ground in a particular peninsula of the ore body is not frozen enough to safely mine in that area. “It’s a localized situation,” he said.

Before production stopped, Cigar Lake had mined roughly 1,000 tonnes of uranium ore. Cameco expects the ground to be sufficiently frozen within a few months, at which point production will restart. While the interruption causes a shift in production at the mine, Cameco is certain it is still on track for its production target of 18

million pounds of uranium per year – Tom DiNardo by 2018.

Aussies roll back carbon tax Australia abolished the country’s contested carbon tax in July, which charged the top carbon emitters in the country for every tonne of greenhouse gas they produced. In a 39 to 32 vote, the Australian Senate repealed the tax. Recently elected Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott campaigned on the promise of repealing the tax and rejoiced in the wake of the vote. “The coalition [government] promised to abolish the carbon tax and today the government has delivered on that promise,” said Abbott in a press release. The prime minister has criticized the carbon tax for costing the average Australian household AU$550 per year. Abbott has stated he plans to replace the carbon tax with a taxpayerfunded plan that incentivizes companies to reduce emissions and use cleaner energy. “The government remains committed to taking action to tackle climate change but we’ll do it without Labour’s $9 billion carbon tax hit on the economy,” he said. The tax was initially imposed by the Labour party in July 2012, charging the top 348 polluters in Australia AU$23 for every tonne of CO2 they produced. – T.D.

Labrador Iron halts production on operations Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Limited stopped all mine operations indefinitely, the company announced in July. Keren Yun, vice-president of investor relations, said the decision to put operations on hold stems from three specific issues. The first is the poor quality of ore discovered in 2013 at the company’s James mine, near Schefferville, Quebec. The expected costs of extracting the ore and this year’s plummeting prices contributed to the decision that it was not feasible to continue production. 20 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

“At current prices, continuing at the James mine would have probably resulted in losses this year,” Yun said. For Labrador to resume its operations, she said the company would need to see iron ore prices reach US$100 a tonne. At the end of July, the price was around $US95. Labrador Iron is treating 2014 as a “development year” for its Houston mine in the Labrador Trough, Yun said. The company is talking with commodity traders, financial institutions and others about potential funding. The company is cutting costs by renegotiating contracts with transportation providers and its mining contractors, and looking at alternative port arrangements. It also laid off around half of the 60-person workforce in February at its corporate offices. Labrador’s decision to halt its operations comes at a time when demand for iron ore has slumped dramatically and its benchmark price has dropped 30

Courtesy of Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Ltd.

industry at a glance

Poor ore quality was discovered in 2013 at Labrador Iron’s James mine near Schefferville, Quebec.

per cent since February. “You can get some quarter-to-quarter price improvement,” said Patricia Mohr, a commodity specialist at Scotiabank. “But I would

say that the weaker prices are going to be in the market for several years.” Other Canadian iron ore producers have also cut back or shelved their

September/Septembre 2014 | 21

news Courtesy of Stornoway Diamonds Corp.

projects. Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. reduced the planned production level of its Mary River project in January 2013 to 3.5 million tonnes, down from 18 million. In the first quarter of 2014, Cliffs Natural Resources idled its – K.R. Wabush iron ore Scully mine.

Stornoway begins construction at Renard Stornoway Diamonds Corp. began construction at its Renard diamond project in north-central Quebec in early-July, after arranging an unusual funding deal. Stornoway’s $946-million financing package was announced two days before construction began, and includes a $427-million offering of common share subscription receipts, a $275-million streaming agreement, $155 million in two debt facilities and $48 million in cost overrun credit facilities. Construction was halted until the company had guaranteed full funding to avoid having to stop mid-

Quebec Premier Phillipe Couillard (middle) at the groundbreaking ceremony for Stornoway’s Renard diamond project.

way to raise more cash. It took Stornoway 18 months to secure the funding package. All the pieces of the package were arranged at the same time, a strategy that goes against the typical method of layering financing methods one at a

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time. Stornoway CEO Matt Manson said it was done because of the economic climate. “We had a good asset and people wanted to finance it, but everybody wanted certainty of where the other pieces of the financing were going to come from,” he said. “It wasn’t possible for us to layer it on. We had to provide certainty.” Stornoway offered that certainty by making the funding pieces cross-dependent: if one of the pieces fell through, the rest would not be used. The company had its groundbreaking ceremony on July 10, with Quebec Premier Phillipe Couillard in attendance. Construction will last two years, with first plant commissioning expected for late-2016. Commercial production is slated for the second quarter of 2017. “A huge amount of work has gone on to get us to this point,” said Manson. “So it’s a hugely satisfying moment to be able to [start construction].” Renard has an expected mine life of 11 years, with an average annual production of 1.6 million carats per year. The mine’s Proven and Probable Reserves are 17.9 million carats. Stornoway had already built a road – the Route 167 extension, connecting the communities of Chibougamau and Mistissini to Renard – and an airport prior to starting work on the – K.R. mine.

news Supreme Court says provinces don’t need feds to take up treaty lands The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled in July that provinces have the ability to “take up” aboriginal treaty lands for mining and logging without the permission of the federal government.

In a unanimous 7-0 ruling, SCC affirmed that Ontario could “take up” traditional land of the Grassy Narrows First Nations in the Keewatin area of northwestern Ontario in accordance with Treaty 3. The province, however, must consult and accommodate Grassy Narrows as well as preserve their rights to hunt, fish, and trap on the treaty land.

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While this case focused specifically on forestry, the ruling has implications for “any type of provincially authorized land use activities including mining,” said Jolanta Kowalski, a spokeswoman for the ministry of natural resources. “The decision by the SCC reaffirms Ontario’s position and provides greater clarity for resource development in the province,” Kowalski said. The Grassy Narrows First Nation first brought litigation against Ontario in 2005, alleging that forestry operations on their land infringed upon hunting and fishing rights under Treaty 3. According to the claim, only the federal government had the power to “take up” the lands. The Ontario provincial government would have to seek consent from the feds to continue, they said. The most recent ruling comes after Grassy Narrows First Nation appealed the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in March 2013, which ruled in favour of the provincial government. – T.D.

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

CME/Reuters set new silver fix The 117-year-old London silver fix was replaced in mid-August by an electronic, auction-based fix designed by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group and Thomson Reuters. CME Group provides the price platform and methodology for the new fix and Thomson Reuters oversees the administration and governance. The London Silver Price, as it is now known, is set by a series of electronic auctions every day starting at noon. The first 30-second auction opens with an auction price, expressed in U.S. dollars per 100,000 troy ounces (1 troy ounce = 1.09 ounces) or one lakh of silver. Auction participants – a regular collection of silver miners, consumers and banks – input the volumes they would buy and sell at that price. If the difference between buy and sell orders is more than three lakhs at the end of the round, the auction price will change and another auction will begin.

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Mount Polley tailings pond breach, by the numbers

and Bank of Nova Scotia-ScotiaMocatta, was disbanded on August 14, and the new fix implemented the following day. The process to develop a new silver fix came after Deutsche Bank announced in May that, in three months’ time, it would stop contributing to the gold and silver fix benchmarks. “The silver fixing company felt that having only two contributors was not viable,” said Aelred Connelly, a spokesman for the London Bullion

Market Association (LBMA), which oversees the silver and gold fixes. LBMA announced in mid-July that it would open market consultations to overhaul the century-old gold fix as well, with plans to announce the new administrator in September, and implement the new process by the end of the year. Thomson Reuters told CIM Magazine in August that it planned to submit a joint proposal with CME – K.R. Group for the gold fix.

Screenshot from a video of Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley tailings breach in British Columbia.

Courtesy of Cariboo Regional District

This process continues until the buy and sell volumes are within the threelakh tolerance. “By inviting all of the users to participate ... the daily rate aims to be a fully accurate representation of the price of this essential precious metal,” said Rhona O’Connell, Thomson Reuters’ head of metals research and forecasts. The London Silver Market Fixing Ltd., the previous silver fix association comprised of Deutsche Bank, HSBC,

The dam at B.C.-based Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley tailings pond collapsed in early August, sending millions of cubic metres of slurry and debris into Hazeltine Creek. Inspectors from the ministry of energy and mines were called to investigate the collapse, and the Cariboo Regional District declared a state of emergency. A water ban, prohibiting consumption and recreational use, was also implemented for Quesnel Lake, Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek, and Cariboo Creek, and was later expanded to include the entire Quesnel and Cariboo River systems up to the salmon-rich Fraser River. Residents have called the breach an environmental disaster and took pictures of debris and dead fish floating in the affected waterways. But Imperial Metals CEO Brian Kynoch insisted the tailings water was “very close to drinking quality,” adding that he would drink it himself. – K.R.

3:45 a.m. 10 million cubic metres 4.5 million cubic metres 4,000 300 150 feet 41% 4 km 2.8 $1 million 26 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

Time on August 4 when the tailings pond dam collapsed Approximate amount of water released into Hazeltine Creek Approximate amount of silt that was also released Number of Olympic-sized swimming pools it would take to hold all the water from the spill Number of residents in the Mount Polley region affected by the water ban Width of Hazeltine Creek after the pond breach. Originally, it was 1.2 feet wide Drop in Imperial Metals share prices the day after the tailings spill Length of the Mount Polley tailings pond Factor by which the selenium concentration in the tailings pond exceeded drinking water guidelines The maximum fine Imperial Metals could face if it does not comply with the pollution abatement order issued by the B.C. government

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news

Tsilhqot’in ruling rattles resource industry Mining industry uncertain in the wake of landmark aboriginal title decision in B.C. By Brenda Bouw A landmark court decision involving aboriginal title in British Columbia is expected to change how mining companies work with First Nations on developing resources. On June 26, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed that six Tsilhqot’in bands have title over 1,700 square kilometres of land in central B.C. This is the first time Canada’s highest court has recognized aboriginal title on a particular site. Title, as defined by the ruling written by Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin, is the “right to use and control the land and enjoy its benefits.” That includes the right to benefit economically from the land, while ensuring it is sustained for future generations. The Tsilhqot’in decision also states the Crown can infringe upon aboriginal title only if they comply with Section 35 of the Constitution Act, which is the duty to consult with First Nations and justify their actions “on the basis of a compelling and substantial purpose.” The Crown has a legal duty to “negotiate in good faith to resolve claims to ancestral lands,” according to the ruling. The decision is significant because it recognizes that Aboriginal Peoples own their ancestral lands where they prove title and can therefore determine how to use them. That is, unless they signed the land away in treaties with federal or provincial governments. Most jurisdictions in Canada are covered by a modern or historic treaty. The implications of the Tsilhqot’in ruling are greatest in B.C., where most First Nations’ groups have not signed treaties. That said, there are aboriginal title claims in other provinces. The ruling sets a precedent for other First Nations that may want to establish aboriginal title on their land. A handful has already stated publicly that they too intend to pursue it. The Tsilhqot’in ruling does not say whether aboriginal title includes mineral rights, which has sent many mining companies scrambling for legal advice. 28 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

Potato Mountain Range, located on Tsilhqot’in title land

There is particular uncertainty around how much leverage First Nations’ groups with aboriginal title will have to halt development of resource projects. Thomas Isaac, leader of the aboriginal law group at Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt, said the decision does not provide a guidebook for mining companies, governments or First Nations. Questions remain as to what the limits of aboriginal title are, Isaac said, including the rights of private parties affected, like mining companies, and if provinces can override aboriginal title. He believes the ruling puts the onus on both federal and provincial governments to balance aboriginal and nonaboriginal interests fairly and reasonably. “We need to be monitoring very carefully how governments are going to move forward in implementing what they now know on aboriginal title lands,” Isaac said. The mining industry has been largely quiet since the ruling was announced. A handful of company executives contacted for this article did not want to speak publicly, but some expressed concern about what it could mean for their projects. “Just when we thought we were heading in the right direction with benefit agreements and job training, now

we’re back to fear and uncertainty and unknowing,” said one long-time industry executive, who did not want to be named. “There are some potentially serious consequences here.” The executive worries the uncertainty surrounding the ruling will deter investment and, in turn, project development. Gavin Dirom, president and CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration BC, acknowledged the potential impact on investor confidence but cautioned the industry not to panic. “Since subsurface resources are held by the Crown in the public interest, this ruling should not significantly change anything because the Crown can justify that minerals beneath aboriginal title lands should be responsibly explored and potentially developed for the greater good, both socially and economically,” Dirom said. He believes the ruling should encourage mining companies to continue developing stronger relationships with aboriginal communities. That includes early and ongoing consultation, and striking agreements for revenue sharing or other benefits. “The ruling reaffirms that engagement and consultation is the right thing to do,” said Dirom. Predictions that resource development will freeze as a result of the Tsil-

news

hqot’in ruling are “ridiculous and avoidable,” wrote Judith Sayers (Kekinusuqs), a lawyer from the Hupacasath First Nation in Port Alberni, B.C., in an opinion piece published by the Tyee. “Generally, if you plan to do business in a First Nations’ territory, go see the First Nation at the very early stages, before any planning is done,” she said. And if the aboriginal group is open to development, she added, companies should “acknowledge the title of the First Nation and their ability to consent to a project; this will build relations and enable you to carry out your work in a respectful manner.” Sayers said she believes consent also extends to First Nations that have not

proven title, noting the Crown now has a “procedural duty” to consult and accommodate as a result of the Tsilhqot’in decision. “Aboriginal title is now a reality that the federal and provincial governments must recognize and act appropriately with that title in mind,” she said. Since the ruling, the Tahltan Central Council, which represents the Tahltan people of northwestern B.C., has said it plans to go to court to fight Fortune Minerals Ltd. and the development of its Arctos Anthracite project. They claim the project is located on Tahltan traditional territory. Now that the Tsilhqot’in has established land title, they say they would develop mining projects under the right

circumstances. “It will be with companies that respect our values and […] work with us,” said Joe Alphonse, tribal chair with the Tsilhqot’in national government. “They need to come to our door first. That is the road to certainty.” The Tsilhqot’in National Government released a draft mining policy a month after the ruling, which says it will require exploration and benefit agreements before approving any exploration or mining projects. It will also consider partnership and ownership opportunities with mining and exploration companies and wants the Tsilhqot’in people to have priority when it comes to jobs, training and contracts. CIM

Big jobs. Big pride. Big team spirit. We’re hiring skilled tradespeople, operators and technicians. Go ahead. Apply now! www.suncor.com/trades

September/Septembre 2014 | 29

news

Reducing water consumption in the oil sands COSIA announces new water technology centre

Courtesy of Suncor

By Graham Chandler

Aerial view of Suncor’s Firebag SAGD facility – the future site of COSIA’s Water Technology Development Centre

Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) announced on June 19 the largest project of its two-year history. The $165-million Water Technology Development Centre (WTDC) will streamline testing techniques aimed at reducing water usage in steam-assisted

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

gravity drainage (SAGD) applications in the oil sands. SAGD involves drilling well pairs – one injecting steam and the other collecting the heated bitumen. The process, currently employed in about half of Canada’s production at the oil sands, requires large volumes of

water to be heated, so operators have been continually striving to improve the performance and efficiency of their water recycling technologies and reduce their greenhouse gas footprints. Expected to be operational in 2017, the WTDC initiative is led by Suncor

news

and includes Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Devon, Husky, Nexen and Shell Canada. Research at WTDC will include looking at how to make boilers more efficient, how to optimize the chemicals used during water treatment, how to better treat the water and how to achieve better evaporator waste solidification, said Suncor spokesperson Kelli Stevens. “The ultimate goal is to be able to reduce water usage,” she said. “That is a big one in the oil sands, particularly in situ. Increasing the amount of water we recycle in the process as well as reducing our energy needs.” The objective of WTDC, Stevens added, is to fast-track innovation, developing technologies that can be commercialized sooner than if individual companies were working on their own. Taking a technology from concept to commercial use usually takes close to eight years when working in isolation, according to COSIA. Collaborating will allow operators to share risks and costs. To ensure more accurate results, the WTDC will be attached to Suncor’s Firebag SAGD facility. This will allow operators to conduct tests under actual commercial SAGD field production environments for the first time. COSIA as a whole consists of 13 oil sands producers and counts BP Canada, Syncrude, Teck Resources and Total E&P among its members. The alliance was launched in 2012 to consolidate the efforts of individual companies struggling to solve common problems affecting in situ and mining operations through collaborative research. Since its creation, COSIA claims its member companies have shared 560 distinct technologies and innovations, having spent more than $900 million on research. The areas of tailings, water, land and greenhouse gases are research targets, identified as environmental priority areas (EPAs) by COSIA. “COSIA is well positioned to fund and undertake large, complex,

integrated, multidisciplinary and multi-year projects such as WTDC,” said Chris Powter, executive director of the University of Alberta’s Oil Sands Research and Information Network. The network is an independent organization that compiles and analyzes available information on the land and water impacted by mining projects in the oil sands. COSIA also recently launched its Environmental Technology Assessment Portal. The portal invites companies, organizations and individuals to submit technologies for assessment that fit within the current scope of an EPA. “It is a significant step forward in providing a transparent mechanism for entrepreneurs to engage with the industry and get their innovations evaluated,” Powter said. One frustration with the alliance thus far has been its lack of transparency. “It is my understanding that COSIA is undertaking far more projects than their website would suggest,” said Powter. “They could do a better job of letting people know the full scope of the work they are funding.” He said he believes COSIA will enhance its credibility when it provides the public with access to results from their work. “The tailings EPA has made a start at

this by posting copies of reports they have commissioned. I hope that the other EPAs will continue this trend.” No one at COSIA was available for comment before press time. While the organization does not make an annual report available to the public, earlier this year it began publishing a newsletter that leads to information about various research projects. Suncor’s Stevens figures the transparency issue is being addressed. “Member companies and COSIA are working towards being able to release some really clear-cut aspirations and goals,” she said. “You are working with a lot of different players who think differently and it is just going to take some time.” CIM

September/Septembre 2014 | 31

news

Unclogging a vital artery Ongoing expansion along Alberta’s Highway 63 promises smoother, safer route to the oil sands By Tom DiNardo

Courtesy of Alberta Transportation

Construction has been completed along a 52-km section of Highway 63, mainly around the hamlet of Wandering River.

The Alberta government committed another $423 million to twinning Highway 63 between Grassland and Fort McMurray in its 2014–15 budget, released in March. This year’s funding for the project almost doubles last year’s investment. The “twinning” project, which is expected to be completed by fall 2016, is a plan to convert the extremely busy 240-kilometre stretch of two-lane road between the two cities into a divided four-lane highway. A 52-km section of the route has been finished, mostly around the hamlet of Wandering River, and currently more than 60 per cent of the road’s length is being overhauled simultaneously in a patchwork method. Alberta Transport is aiming to complete another 114 kilometres of roadway by fall 2015. The project was first announced in October 2012. Highway 63 is the main road linking Fort McMurray and the oil sands operations north of the town to southern Alberta. In 2011, just before construction to twin the road started, roughly 4,000 vehicles used the highway daily, with large-truck traffic to and from the 32 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

oil sands making up about 30 per cent of that. Two years later, the number of daily users had increased to roughly 5,000. Imperial Oil uses the highway periodically to move materials including equipment and wants to see the highway construction completed. “The improvement of infrastructure ... is not just beneficial for Imperial but for the industry in general and to the community of Fort McMurray,” said public affairs officer Pius Rolheiser. Leithan Slade, a spokesman for Syncrude, said the company also uses the highway but the frequency depends on the needs of the operations on their 102,000 hectares of land in the oil sands. “General shipments to the region could include goods and services such as fuels, construction materials and equipment.” Beyond the demands of industry, the Government of Alberta was motivated to twin the road to ensure the safety of motorists. “People get caught behind trucks that are going 70 km/hr, drivers get frustrated and they begin to take riskier passing chances,” said Jasmine Franklin, a spokeswoman for Alberta

Transportation. The twinning project will provide motorists with safer passing opportunities. Slade agrees that the highway can be dangerous. “Driver behaviour needs to improve,” he said. Syncrude is a member of the Coalition for a Safer 63 and 881, which helps drivers identify and correct potentially dangerous habits behind the wheel. A string of fatalities has plagued the highway, including a collision in April 2012 that killed seven people. According to the Edmonton Journal’s Highway 63 accident database, 129 people died on the highway between 1999 and April 2012. Of all of the accidents that have occurred on the highway since 1990, 24 per cent were between cars and tractor-trailers, and 28 per cent were between two cars. So far, there have been some delays inside Fort McMurray since construction was initiated, said Franklin, because of the change in traffic patterns. But both Slade and Rolheiser said the ongoing construction has not affected their operations around Fort McMurray. CIM

LEGAL

Aboriginal relations: Where are we now? BY DWIGHT NEWMAN

wo recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions on aboriginal rights will have significant impacts on Canada’s mining industry in the years ahead: Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia and Grassy Narrows First Nation v. Ontario (Natural Resources). There is no doubt the two rulings clarify some aspects of aboriginal relations for mining companies, but questions remain. Both cases highlight the need for industry to monitor legal developments in this area and possibly become more proactive. The Tsilhqot’in decision in late-June saw the Supreme Court of Canada make an unprecedented declaration of aboriginal title. According to the decision, this is ownership of historically occupied lands by aboriginal communities. It includes the full economic benefit of the land, subject to the court’s newly developed restriction that the land cannot be used in a way that destroys its value for future generations.

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

Law has been developing in Canada on aboriginal title since the Supreme Court of Canada’s 1973 decision in Calder v. British Columbia, where the court first accepted the concept in principle. However, up to now, Canadian courts have simply continued to state principles and tests on aboriginal title, seemingly to promote negotiations between governments and aboriginal groups in order to settle outstanding land claims. The desire to promote negotiated agreements has also been part of the courts’ thinking in the context of establishing a duty to consult. As the courts developed aboriginal title case law over recent decades, they left a lot of uncertainty as to whether aboriginal communities who had historically been seminomadic could ever successfully litigate an aboriginal title claim in the courts. The Tsilhqot’in decision makes it clear they can, thus establishing a stronger legal position for many aboriginal communities. The Tsilhqot’in decision effectively has bearing on any land areas where title questions have not been resolved. This means anywhere without treaties establishing certainty on land ownership. Most of British Columbia is thus affected, as are smaller areas in other provinces and territories where there are outstanding land claims. The latter include situations like where several Yukon First Nations did not sign on to a modern treaty in the context of Yukon’s umbrella framework process. There may also be a renewed significance to arguments that the Peace and Friendship Compacts in the Maritime provinces did not include land cessions by aboriginal communities there. The decision implies that aboriginal title claims have more prospects in the courts than may have been thought previously. In the process, the decision’s effects on negotiations where lands still have an unclear status may either be clarifying or disruptive. Ironically, Taseko issued a news release shortly after the Tsilhqot’in decision to suggest it had clarified that its New Prosperity mine is the one mining project in British Columbia that the courts have now determined falls outside of aboriginal title areas. Although that project faces other challenges (and has been twice rejected), the decision actually opens new prospects for it through greater certainty that the land involved is not aboriginal-owned. In other cases, greater certainty on aboriginal ownership may allow companies to move forward in their negotiations with aboriginal communities. That will be the basic expectation where there is title or a strong title claim, with the decision-making clear that the consent of aboriginal communities is the normal legal expectation when developing on their lands – just as with land owned by private individuals. There are similar possibilities for the federal

columns government to override a denial from First Nations based on a test set out in the judgment, analogous to the expropriation of private land. However, the new decision does not solve the challenges of overlapping title claims between different aboriginal communities. Moreover, the restriction that aboriginal title land has to be used in a way that benefits future generations also raises a nest of questions about whether that restriction can be invoked by dissenting community members who disagree with a community’s decision to partner in resource development. So there may be ongoing uncertainties created for negotiations as well. Mining companies need to think carefully about how they best work within the new legal environment. A further important aspect of the decision is that it clarifies that provincial law and regulation can apply on aboriginal title lands, subject to a particular justification test that applies. This is consistent with the Grassy Narrows decision released by the Supreme Court of Canada in July that recognizes the primary role of provincial governments on resource matters. This case answered a treaty interpretation question with the court deciding that Ontario can continue to “take up” land under Treaty 3 in northwestern Ontario for devel-

opment purposes without the involvement of the federal government. Government rights to lands ceded under Treaty 3 and the other historic treaties have now passed fully to provincial governments, as has regulatory authority on that land within normal provincial jurisdiction. At the same time, the Grassy Narrows case offers more clarity on the rules for “taking up” land under the historic treaties, with the details of the case providing further guidance to provincial governments and to resource companies operating in treaty areas. These two decisions show how ongoing aboriginal law developments may affect Canadian mining. Companies need to continuously monitor legal developments in this area. At the same time, given the lifespan of many mining projects, forward-thinking companies must also project into the future and engage in strategic thinking about how to stay ahead of forthcoming legal developments. CIM

Dwight Newman is professor of law and Canada Research Chair in indigenous rights in constitutional and international law at the University of Saskatchewan. He has published widely on related topics including his recent books Revisiting the Duty to Consult Aboriginal Peoples (Saskatoon: Purich, 2014) and Natural Resource Jurisdiction in Canada (Toronto: LexisNexis, 2013).

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September/Septembre 2014 | 35

O P E R AT I O N S

Meeting the mining productivity challenge head on BY BRUCE SPRAGUE

roductivity decline in the mining and metals industry, which began over a decade ago, is still an unfortunate reality for companies to this day. This drop-off is the result of companies in the sector choosing to pursue production growth and headline revenue during the commodity price boom. Counteracting this challenge first requires understanding productivity and what is driving this decline. Productivity is often ill-defined as more output for fixed input or the same output for less input. But that does not always tell the complete story. Productivity gain should be measured as a form of optimization (i.e. the highest ratio of output to input), which can in fact mean achieving higher productivity with lower input. Economists typically measure productivity across a range of factors referred to as multifactor productivity (MFP). The most common factors of MFP include labour, capital and materials. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, measuring MFP as output per unit of combined inputs of

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

capital and labour in conjunction with other technological and organizational factors, found that labour productivity in Australia’s mining sector has declined by roughly 50 per cent since 2001. The picture is equally as discouraging closer to home. Labour productivity in the U.S. coal sector fell by an overall average of 27.5 per cent between 2009 and 2012. Capital productivity – the output of goods and services compared to the input of physical capital – has also been on the decline over the past decade, as a result of long lead times between investment and production. Australia’s mining sector has seen a drop of 45 per cent in capital productivity since 2000, compared to 22 per cent across all industries. From 2000 to 2012, during the recent high commodityprice supercycle, many mining and metals companies adapted their processes, performance measures and corporate culture to favour growth. These companies are now coming face to face with the consequences including significant gaps in skills, labour costs that exceed the rate of inflation, ineffective portfolio management, issues with capital allocation and poor project execution, to name a few. Companies have attempted to address these challenges through conventional cost-cutting exercises. But renegotiating with contractors on rates, reducing support staff from back office, delaying or suspending projects, selling off underperforming assets and implementing continuous improvement programs is not enough to turn the problem around. These issues run too deep for standard solutions, which can even be counterproductive by moving the problem along the supply chain. Instead, miners must drastically transform their business models if they want to reverse the decade-long drop in productivity. Real and sustainable productivity requires a holistic and top-down approach that aligns productivity activities to their strategic value and contribution. Undertaking this end-to-end business transformation includes five steps. The first is setting a clear strategy based on a broad set of value drivers. Next, a company must create an operating model that is aligned with the corporate

strategy. Then, it must integrate and align across the value chain through process integration and standardized work procedures. Finally, the mining company should align planning, budgeting and performance measurements. Productivity needs to be planned and executed in a coordinated way across the value chain. In short: To be effective, companies must commit. This is not as easy as it sounds. Good data is needed to understand how to measure good performance and good productivity. Awareness of all the systems, processes, interfaces and interlinks is crucial to making informed decisions when it comes time to consider broad business transformation. Recapturing ground lost over the supercycle, recovering competitive advantage and counteracting rising real wages are key motivations for improving productivity. Companies that commit to a broad business transformation program benefit from enhanced shareholder value, improved margins, better competitive positioning and increased ability to pursue strategic investments. The downward trend in productivity has been too long in the making. It is time for companies to take action and address this problem with the attention it demands. It is not enough to make short-term adjustments. Competing in today’s global mining and metals industry requires that companies be at the top of their game, and that is where broad business transformation comes in. CIM Bruce Sprague is partner in Ernst & Young’s Tax Services Practice and the leader of the firm’s Canadian Mining & Metals. He is based in Vancouver. Ernst & Young, in collaboration with the University of Queensland in Australia, conducted in-depth interviews with senior mining industry executives from around the world. These conversations formed the basis for the recent report, Productivity in mining: A case for broad transformation, which outlines the productivity challenge and how mining and metals companies can get back on track. For more information, visit ey.com/ca/mining.

giving back De Beers charity event raises funds for health and wellness De Beers raised more than $50,000 for the Health & Wellness Foundation of Hay River and Hay River Junior Golf at the Charity Classic Golf Tournament in July. The event, in its seventh year, featured 18 teams represented by De Beers’ business partners and community members. Since 2007, the tournament has raised more than $317,000, with the majority of the total going to support the Foundation. De Beers started the charity classic to help promote collaboration between the business and community partners and improve health care in Hay River.

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September/Septembre 2014 | 37

RARE EARTH ELEMENTS

A Canadian industry in the making BY IAN M. LONDON

he critical rare earth elements (REEs), as deemed by several international experts, are neodymium, dysprosium, europium, terbium and yttrium. Many of today’s clean technologies, hybrid vehicles, energy-efficient motors, lighting systems, advanced communications, and medical diagnosis and treatment technologies call for rare earths in their material specifications. As REEs become increasingly important with the growth of the clean technologies industry, so too does Canada’s potential for becoming a significant player in the global REE supply. Thus, identifying and championing pre-competitive R&D projects and technical solutions that would enable Canadian producers to deliver 20 per cent of the global supply of separated critical REEs by 2018 is the ultimate goal of the Canadian Rare Earth Elements Network (CREEN). CREEN is an industry-led multi-stakeholder network comprised of prospective REE producers, academics, commercial and

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

national labs, engineering experts, entrepreneurs, end-user product manufacturers and governments. In the short term (one to two years), CREEN members are focused on applying Canada’s extensive mineral processing, hydrometallurgy and chemical process engineering knowhow and experience to find unique solutions to the complex chemistries of REE production processing. In the medium to longer term (two to 10 years), CREEN will improve process solutions and develop strategic and fundamental technology for further downstream processing, towards finished products including metals, alloys and phosphors. Until now, the Chinese have dominated the REE sector. In an effort to carve their own niche in the sector, Canadian project developers, with the support of labs and engineering consultants, are hard at work to design, pilot and optimize hydrometallurgical and separation processes that will bring REE projects into production. To date, industry players have invested around $200 million to develop nine advanced REE projects in Canada, which are among the top 28 advanced projects globally as reported by Technology Metals Research. Among the nine projects are those championed by CREEN members Avalon Rare Metals, Quest Rare Minerals, Pele Mountain, and Commerce Resources. These Canadian developers are seeking solutions to optimize their revenues and reduce their capital and operating costs. It has become clear that cooperation is important for development in the Canadian REE sector. Following a series of workshops hosted by Natural Resources Canada in 2012 and 2013, industry players saw the merit of sharing the technical challenges they face in developing REE projects and collaborating with experts. Industry players convened at the inaugural REE Symposium at the 2012 Conference of Metallurgists (COM 12), organized by CIM’s Metallurgy and Materials Society (MetSoc), to build on individual R&D and laboratory pilot plant testing conducted by individual project developers, in addition to work being done by academics across Canada. The event presented 44 peer-edited papers from nine countries. At the second symposium at COM 13 in Montreal, the number of papers grew to 53 from 17 countries including eight from China. This reinforced the premise that technical exchanges and partnerships between Canada and other national and international organizations such as the United States, European Union, Germany, United Kingdom, and South Korea are fast emerging. The REE Symposium program at COM 14 in Vancouver this fall (Sept. 28 – Oct. 1) will continue to build on Canada’s reputation and knowledge. CREEN held its first technical workshop in Ottawa in mid-June to “roll up one’s sleeves.” The event was attended

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columns by technical leaders from among the network’s membership, and organizers invited academic and engineering experts to prioritize issues, solution studies and testing programs including specific sponsorship. Twenty-one projects were identified, which were later shortlisted to a half dozen in the areas of REE separation, reagent production and environmental management. The workshop participants fleshed out the specific issues and possible work that needs to be done, along with preliminary schedules and budgets. As I write this, CREEN’s Technical Sub-Committee is further refining the project definitions as well as securing project sponsors and R&D funding. Global demand for clean and new technologies and REE materials that enable them are growing at very significant rates. CREEN and the initiative of its network members will contribute to technical and economic solutions that can reduce the capital and operating costs of producing necessary REEs and ensure Canada’s speed to market. CIM

giving back AkzoNobel promotes education in Pakistan AkzoNobel has joined forces with KidsRights to support four education projects as part of the International Children’s Peace Prize, which is awarded each year to a child who has worked tirelessly to support children’s rights and improve the lives of children in vulnerable situations. The four projects back initiatives that aim to grow education in Pakistan: Khpal Kor Foundation; Roots for Equity/Sojhla for social change; the Primary Education project; and Children First. Accompanying the prize is a 100,000-euro (C$145,000) award, which is earmarked through AkzoNobel’s Peace Fund.

moving on up Ian London is the chairman of CREEN and was instrumental in its formation in mid-2013. He is also market development and energy advisor with Avalon Rare Metals Inc. Over his 40-year career, he has served as president and CEO of Ontario Hydro International, CEO of Process Products Ltd., and on the boards of several technology and alternative energy companies. Ian chaired the Rare Earth Symposium at COM 12 and COM 13.

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Nathan Stubina named McEwen Mining managing director Nathan Stubina was named managing director of McEwen Mining, taking over the responsibilities of Ian Ball, the former president of the company. Most recently he served as vice-president of technology at McEwen Mining and has held various senior technical roles with Barrick Gold, Falconbridge Limited and Noranda Inc. “I am so pleased to be part of McEwen Mining,” Stubina told CIM Magazine. “It is currently a small but ambitious company with operations and projects in Mexico and Argentina, and with projects in Nevada as well. Rob McEwen and I are strong believers in innovation. We are constantly searching for new technologies that will allow us to improve the performance of our assets.” Stubina is also CIM’s international district vice-president and a past-president of CIM’s Metallurgy and Materials Society (MetSoc). ***

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Colin Webster joins Noront Resources Colin Webster was appointed the vice-president of sustainability at Noront Resources Ltd., after serving as the director of aboriginal, government and community relations for Canada and the United States with Goldcorp Inc. Webster was a founding partner at Blue Heron Solutions for Environmental Management in Timmins, Ontario.

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Canada’s biggest cleanup Ottawa committed to a century of remediation at the Giant mine By Chris Windeyer

The C-Shaft headframe at the Giant mine near Yellowknife is framed by piping used in a freeze optimization study that helped determine how the mine’s arsenic trioxide dust would be stored for the next hundred years.

f ever there was a poster child for mining’s bad old days in Canada’s North, Yellowknife’s Giant mine would be it. Built during the North’s frontier days, when environmental regulations were lax and the concept of seeking social licence from the nearby Dene aboriginal population did not exist, a series of owners hauled more than seven million ounces of gold from open pits and underground stopes between 1948 and 2004. Left behind from the roasting process, just a few kilometres from the territorial capital, were 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide dust. Giant became the responsibility of the federal government in 1999 when its owner, Royal Oak Mines, went into receivership. Mining continued after the feds sold the mine’s assets to Miramar Mining Corporation, but the deal specified that Ottawa would retain responsibility for environmental liabilities. Miramar tapped out in 2005, focusing its energies elsewhere, and Giant was officially abandoned. What remains is one of the worst contaminated sites in the country. Ottawa estimates it will cost nearly $1 billion to overhaul the site. The scope of the work is staggering: five arsenic-laden roaster buildings remain to be dismantled after another five were taken down last year; an entire creek must be realigned and possibly even diverted around the site; 95 hectares of tailings need to be capped; and the arsenic has to be contained for at least 100 years. There are countless other, smaller tasks adding to the workload. The realignment of a seven-kilometre stretch of the Ingraham Trail – the highway that once connected Giant and several legacy mines of the Yellowknife Greenstone Belt with the N.W.T. capital – was completed this year by the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) at a cost of $16 million.

Dismantling vs. demolishing The roaster complex deconstruction continued this summer fronted by California-based remediation firm Parsons Ltd., under a two-year, $27-million contract. Crews spent all of last summer decontaminating 10 buildings and struc42 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

tures spread over a hectare. All told, says Clint Miller, senior project manager for Parsons Canada, a crew of more than 60 workers removed 2,000 tonnes of arsenic that will eventually be stored underground and another 7,000 pounds of other pollutants such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls that were destroyed off site. Removing the contaminants was a painstaking process, Miller says. Each structure had to be enclosed in shrink wrap, then essentially vacuumed out with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters to trap the toxic dust. The materials were then pressure washed and scraped with wire brushes before finally being coated with a water-based sealant. All of those buildings are to be dismantled this year. “One of the words we don’t use is ‘demolition,’” Miller says. “That would imply an uncontrolled destruction of a building. What we will be doing here is a very controlled process. We remove the hazardous materials and then we deconstruct the building piece by piece.” There is also the matter of lingering arsenic pollution in the soil around the Giant site. Until 1951, the mine’s owners made no effort to prevent arsenic released during roasting from getting into the environment. After a local Dene boy died from drinking arsenic-poisoned water that spring, Giant’s owner installed an electrostatic precipitator and began underground storage of arsenic tailings.

A unique catastrophe Heather Jamieson, an arsenic expert at the department of geological sciences and geological engineering at Queen’s University in Kingston, has been studying the arsenic at Giant for 15 years. She says around 85 per cent of Giant’s roaster stack arsenic emissions date from before 1963. At similar sites around the world, arsenic in the soil appears to dissipate over time. That is not the case at Giant, something that has stumped researchers. “It is kind of surprising to a lot of chemists and geochemists that the arsenic trioxide has persisted in the soil,” she says,

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“because at some other places in the world they don’t seem to be able to find it.” Jane Amphlett, operations manager for the project for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC), says monitoring stations both at the mine site and located around Yellowknife are designed to detect elevated levels of arsenic in the air. The community data is available in real-time on the GNWT air quality website, and reports from all stations are released once a week to the public. All this work sets the stage for the centrepiece of the remediation project: what AANDC officials call the “freeze program.” The 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide dust is stored underground in the existing network of underground chambers and stopes. The plan is to use a network of thermosyphons to freeze the rock surrounding these stopes, keeping this arsenic secured inside for at least a century. A thermosyphon functions passively by using pressurized carbon dioxide (CO2). The process works as a continuous cycle; the underground CO2 vaporizes into gas and rises to the surface, allowing the heat from below to be released into the cold winter air through radiator fins. The CO2 then cools and condenses into liquid, dribbling back down toward the stopes to begin the process again. The freeze program is expected to be the single largest construction cost item of the remediation at around $200 million, and is likely to require the longest period to implement – up to 10 years. The logistics of the freeze program are daunting. Some of the cavities are the size of a 12-storey office building, Amphlett says, and many of the stabilizing bulkheads date back to the earliest days of mining at Giant and have to be reinforced with concrete. Much of the dust has been stored underground for years or even decades. Over the years, mine owners stored the arsenic dust in either purpose-built chambers or exhausted mining stopes. Daryl Hockley, a technical advisor with SRK Consulting, says the chambers are relatively symmetrical and will be easy to freeze and fill. SRK is retained as a technical advisor for the remediation. “Where a chamber was built in a relatively rectangular shape and there’s only one entrance, you simply have to block off that entrance,” he says. Any pipes used to fill the chambers with dust have to be removed and placed inside, then “you can pretty much proceed with freezing at that point.” The stopes, which were mined to follow gold veins, are not so simple, Hockley says. “They tend to have a lot more entrances and exits,” he notes. “There will be ore passes, there will be cross-cuts, [and] there will be all sorts of other odd geometries that only mining engineers can tell you what they mean. In some cases we’ll need to do some mining so we can stabilize the entrances properly. Each one is a little mini-project on its own.” The project engineers are confident the freeze program will keep the arsenic in place. The N.W.T.’s long, frigid winters help, of course, and Hockley says the rock encasing

the dust would stay frozen for “many years” before any dust began to thaw, even in the unlikely scenario that the cooling system failed completely. “That’s part of the beauty of the plan. Even if there’s a problem with the thermosyphons [we have] several years to respond and adjust.” Not everyone in Yellowknife is pleased with the approach. Some local activists would prefer to see the arsenic removed completely and disposed of elsewhere because they are still worried arsenic could leach into the local environment. That is one of the reasons the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board ordered AANDC to amend the project’s timeframe: Instead of storing the arsenic in perpetuity, as was the original plan, the project will be re-assessed in 100 years and the government will need to re-evaluate the best way to dispose of the arsenic at that time. Jamieson says those Yellowknifers are right to be concerned, but adds that the Giant site is largely off limits to the public, which reduces the risk of exposure. Meanwhile, the story is constantly front and centre in the N.W.T. press, and a dedicated project team has been established by the federal and territorial governments to oversee the cleanup. “An advantage of a publicly managed site is that there is the opportunity for people to communicate their concerns,” says Jamieson. CIM

September/Septembre 2014 | 43

Courtesy of Anglo American

Mine closure planning gets retooled Anglo American sharing its new closure guide with the world By Ian Ewing

At Anglo American's Sishen iron ore operation, waste rock will now only be moved once over the life of the mine and multiple smaller waste rock deposits have been consolidated into "mega deposits" to reduce the number of slopes that will need to be reshaped and rehabilitated at closure.

s governments, communities and other stakeholders come to expect and demand a positive environmental and social legacy from mine sites, miners have begun planning for closure even before mines have opened. At Anglo American, a new toolbox is helping change the way the company approaches closure planning. The toolbox – a set of documents with detailed steps cataloguing the many considerations that must be made – affects virtually all levels of the organization, helping guide everything from executive planning to daily site operations. Rudolph Botha was a senior civil engineer at Anglo American when, around 2005, he and a colleague, Peter Coombes, realized there was a need for understanding the entirety of the closure concept at the company. “Not just the risks,” Botha says, “but the opportunities associated with corporate mine closure planning. We realized that at the work sites, the guys don’t always see that as an integrated approach.” Engineers, for example, would look at physical closure, while environmental people focused on the biophysical aspects. Nobody looked at the task holistically. Botha, now the company’s lead on mine closure in its technical and sustainability team, and Coombes, the previous head of environment in the technical division, saw an opportunity to improve the process. “We tried to keep it as simple as possible and develop something for the practitioners at a site level that can take the high-level concepts and make them a reality, and change the way we operate,” explains Botha. Equally important was providing guidance for middle management, so they could understand the various linkages between the many components of mine closure. The hope was to integrate mine closure planning into the day-to-day life-of-mine planning, and by doing so, actually eliminate future closure actions. Even Botha is impressed by their success since implementation. “It’s amazing how many times we can actually eliminate a closure liability completely just by changing the way that we operate.” At their Venetia mine, for example, updated clo-

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sure plans will reduce the end-of-life liability by roughly 30 per cent. By integrating the closure requirements in the lifeof-mine plans at this facility, Anglo American was able to alter its waste rock deposition strategy, minimizing largescale future closure liabilities. The influence of the toolbox on planning, water management, and biodiversity strategies also created long-term savings.

Integrated approach Effective as it is, the toolbox is also simple to use. The documents walk the planner through three tools in sequence. In the first tool, strategic planning, basic expectations are identified, baseline knowledge is gathered, and a specific postclosure vision is identified (although that vision may change over time). The second tool, rapid assessment, contains a comprehensive spreadsheet to allow the practitioner to identify knowledge gaps in the existing mine closure plan. It defines the level of detail that the closure plan should contain for each item to be addressed – including waste disposal facilities, open pit areas, protected habitats and ecosystems, topography and visual impacts, employees and their dependents, and affected and interested parties – based on the remaining mine life. Finally, tool three directs the practitioner as to how to close the gaps in the existing closure plan, in terms of approach, technology and resources needed for each item identified by tool two. Throughout the toolbox, detailed criteria are specified for each item, allowing rapid evaluation and specific instructions for improvement. A key approach the toolbox takes is to integrate the four major components of closure – physical, biophysical, social and economic – and to make sure an operator on site looks at all the components simultaneously, rather than just focusing on his or her area of expertise. Progressing to a high level on physical closure without consulting on the social aspect, for example, would lead to a low level of confidence in the overall plan, according to the toolbox.

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“It forces, at an operational level, all of the systems to be engaged to achieve the level of confidence you need, depending on your remaining life-of-mine,” says Botha. And by specifying the actions needed to close the gaps in a closure plan, the toolbox requires on-site practitioners to speak to each other and allows them to understand the impact that one group will have on another. The waste rock deposition strategies developed at Venetia and Sishen, for example, required changes to day-to-day operations but will allow the company to move the rock once, rather than twice, over the life of the mine. By consolidating various smaller waste rock deposits into bigger “mega-deposits” at Sishen, fewer slopes will need to be reshaped and rehabilitated at closure. Besides saving money, faster rehabilitation will improve environmental conditions and make local communities happier. The company’s post-closure period may also be reduced, since some closure activities have already been completed. Because the toolbox was developed with input from operations, it has seen remarkable acceptance within Anglo American in a short period of time. More than 15 operational sites were using the toolbox even before it formally launched in 2008. “It didn’t take us a lot of time to convince people to use it,” Botha says. In presentations, the developers simply laid out the business case for closure planning. “The guys needed the detailed guidance on making better decisions. The tool sells itself.”

the people who will remain in the area post-closure, because they will be there, and we won’t.”

Set it free Although they spent around US$1 million over a five-year period developing the toolbox – a bargain, considering the improved operational efficiency and reduced end-of-life liability at their numerous mines – Anglo American has recently released the toolbox publicly for any mining company to use. Perhaps surprisingly, it does not seem that many companies have anything like it. “The level of detail and additional guidance we provide in the toolbox itself, I haven’t seen anything similar to that,” Botha says. Botha is eager to point out that the toolbox has value for currently operating mines, not just those in early planning stages. “A lot of operations have a lot of life-of-mine left, so they could start as a brownfield site, implement the toolbox, and then be in line with the requirements two to three years later,” he says. “Hopefully industry will take this on and use it,” he adds. “There is enough flexibility within the toolbox itself not to constrain anybody by using some good practices at their own operational level. Hopefully we can all plan better, design better, and manage operations better, and in doing so, improve the overall legacy for mining as a whole. It has certainly added a lot of value for us.” CIM

Social engagement opportunities Perhaps the area with the greatest potential upside is improved community relationships. “Social closure, in my mind, is one of the biggest challenges we’ve got in the mining industry,” Botha says. “Physical closure we can handle. We’ve got a lot of good engineers out there. Biophysical elements are controllable; there are a lot of good scientists out there. On the social side, I think we’re still learning, and certainly it’s a key component.” The requirements of tool three, which closes the gaps in a closure plan, actually help improve collaboration and engagement at the social level by specifying that practitioners consult with various interested and affected parties. “That means you’re building trust in the communities in which you operate,” explains Botha. “Because of the toolbox, it’s more clear what we’re trying to achieve. It increases the confidence you have in your plan. And the definition of consultation is very specific. “Basically, we want to get to the point where the communities and the people left in the area will take ownership of the closure plan. The concept of the toolbox is that the closure vision should belong to

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September/Septembre 2014 | 45

Courtesy of New Gold

Certifiable gains in efficiency New Afton the first mine in North America to meet the ISO 50001 energy management standard By Correy Baldwin

New Afton has upgraded its flotation blowers, relocated underground compressors and is preparing to install ventilation on demand. All of these projects save energy and lower the mine’s environmental impact.

ew Gold’s New Afton copper-gold mine recently became the first in North America to become certified under the ISO 50001 standard, which provides a new framework for improving energy efficiency. Putting an energy management information system (EMIS) in place helped form the foundation for the implementation of the standard. The mine, located near Kamloops, B.C., went into production in June 2012 and achieved standardization on March 31 of this year with $22,050 help from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). There are many reasons to improve energy efficiency, not the least of which is profitability. “Energy is a big expense for us, so any improvement in efficiency contributes to the bottom line of the company,” says Andrew Cooper, energy specialist at New Afton. “We wanted something that would be long term and self sustaining,” adds Cooper. “It’s one of the reasons we decided to pursue ISO 50001 certification. It sets up systems and processes that will be a part of the culture of the organization.”

NRCan support The Canadian government is equally motivated in investing in programs that help businesses become more energy efficient, and that remove barriers that hold them back from making energy-efficient choices, says Bob Fraser, chief of engineering support services for NRCan. One such program is NRCan’s ecoENERGY Efficiency for Industry, which provides cost-share assistance to businesses implementing an energy management system, such as that required by ISO 50001. The assistance matches funding from the company up to $40,000 and helps cover professional fees, training costs and salaries, amongst other things. New Afton is the first mine to take advantage of the program, and the addition of the mining sector is an important 46 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

development, says Fraser: “Mining is one of Canada’s most important economic sectors and is a major contributor to our country’s prosperity. It is also a high-energy use sector, accounting for over 30 per cent of industrial energy use, and therefore presents considerable opportunity for energy savings. The potential for energy management systems to reduce energy consumption in this sector is too great to be overlooked.” According to Fraser, companies that have implemented ISO 50001 are seeing energy savings of five to seven per cent annually in the initial years of the program. Of note, he says, is where the savings are coming from. “A recent study in the United States indicates that 75 per cent of the savings are the result of operational projects,” he points out. “These are no-cost or low-cost projects affecting how the plant is operated, such as turning off equipment when it is not in use.” New Afton is already seeing the same thing. “We’ve had an initiative where the crews just started shutting down conveyor belts at certain times when there was no load on them,” says Cooper, citing an early example. “That’s just operational and has no capital cost whatsoever, and it’s saving us a huge amount of money.” Still, the mine does have other energy improvement projects underway that require more investment. “We’re installing ventilation on demand, and that project is costing us in excess of half a million dollars,” says Cooper. “Fortunately there are organizations like NRCan, BC Hydro, FortisBC and the Ontario Power Authority, which offer incentives to help make projects like this much more attractive from a capital perspective.” The ventilation project is expected to save New Afton around 7.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy a year. It is the third major energy efficiency project in a year. An

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The systems approach does not work without robust numbers, he explains: “You need good data in order to measure and assess whether something is performing well or not, and to quantify and estimate the savings – and then once you’ve completed a project, to verify those savings.” For all of this, New Afton brought in RtTech, which works with companies to set up an EMIS. According to CEO Pablo Asiron, some of RtTech’s clients have reduced energy costs by 6.6 per cent using RtTech’s industrial EMIS software, RtEMIS. “The key of an EMIS system is to be able to calculate at target,” says Asiron. “In the case of our product we use historical data to build models to calculate how much energy a piece of equipment – a conveyor belt, or a crusher – should be using. And then we compare the actual energy consumption to the target, and that’s how we are able to detect periods of time where the efficiency is below where the model says it should be.” Essentially, he says, an EMIS system allows you to find the low-hanging fruit.

Submetering helps break energy use down underground compressor relocation is saving the company 1.3 GWh a year, and a mill flotation blower upgrade is saving in excess of 1.4 GWh a year. Previously, New Afton employed four compressors for the underground air supply, each operating independently at various places around the mine. The relocation project brought three of these into a centralized compressor building. They also installed a large air receiver and installed energy, pressure, temperature and flow monitoring, and compressor control set points. The new system runs one compressor full time, with two others running as demand requires. New Afton also installed proportional control on the mill’s three flotation blowers, two of which previously ran full-time, blowing off excess air – something Cooper says was both noisy and a waste of energy. The blowers now only supply the air required by the flotation process. But the benefits go beyond energy savings. “All of the projects we’ve done so far have had an operational benefit, environmental benefits and safety benefits,” says Cooper. “So even though we’re improving efficiency, we’re actually improving the process at the same time. It’s a great match: everything you do helps to contribute towards improved performance of the facility.”

Systems more important than one-offs Cooper suggests that, while the projects are important to improve efficiency, there is a need for a system-based approach to energy management. His focus is on implementing a system of continual improvement. ISO programs integrate a system of continual monitoring of energy consumption, along with an increased awareness of energy use, into the mine’s operations. “You pick up things that aren’t working properly, and you make improvements,” says Cooper.

“If you want to improve the energy efficiency in your plant or reduce the energy usage, the first step is to measure and visualize the energy usage across the plant,” says Asiron, including when, where and how energy is being consumed. This is achieved through a network of meters that measure the rates of energy consumption of equipment or grouped equipment areas. “The installation of the submetering is a key component to EMIS,” says Cooper, “as is getting the data from that submetering back to one point, where you can store it. That forms the foundation for everything. Once you have the data, you need a system in place to help you view, utilize and report on that data.” New Afton installed 157 electrical submeters and six gas meters throughout the facility, including around the mill, the mine, the crushing and conveyor systems, and surface facilities. As much as an EMIS is driven by raw data, it is also powered by people, according to Cooper. “At the end of the day it’s not ISO 50001 that manages energy, its people,” he says. Creating a culture of energy awareness, he suggests, may be the most significant aspect of the energy management program. New Afton encourages employees and contractors to make suggestions regarding energy use and future energy improvement projects. “A huge percentage of projects we undertake have come about as suggestions from employees,” says Cooper. He organizes awareness campaigns and reports on energy performance at weekly meetings. “We also have systems and procedures in place to make sure we procure goods and services that are energy efficient. And we look at the life cycle cost of those purchasing decisions. It’s really a multi-layered approach on all levels of organization. “It’s the small things,” he adds. “People are thinking about energy on a day-to-day basis.” CIM September/Septembre 2014 | 47

Two roads converge Shuswap chief Ronald Ignace on where traditional knowledge meets science By Correy Baldwin

he mining industry has established methods and practices for land assessment, management and reclamation. Indigenous communities, however, view these concepts through a different lens, and as they are taking an increasingly active role in industrial development, the task of reconciling these perspectives is a major project in itself. Chief Ronald Ignace understands these issues well. A longstanding chief of the Skeetchestn Band, one of 17 communities that make up the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation in British Columbia, Ignace is an expert in Shuswap law, culture and land use. He teaches at Simon Fraser University, and researches ethnoecology and traditional knowledge, as well as the language, culture and laws of the Shuswap Nation.

Courtesy of Ronald Ignace

CIM: What is ethnoecology, and can you talk about your work in this area? Ignace: My wife, Marianne Ignace, and I conduct a lot of work looking at how we as a people utilize the land sustainably, and how we can apply some of those principals to the lands today. The way the land is being managed today is not sustainable, and it violates the principals of biodiversity. The biodiversity of our ecosystems has been fundamental in sustaining us down through the years because all of that provides us with food, medicine, clothing and lodging. CIM: You are also an expert in traditional knowledge â&#x20AC;&#x201C; can you tell me about that? Ignace: Traditional knowledge and wisdom. Traditional knowledge is knowledge that you gain from your daily experiences and interactions with other people and nature. Wisdom is the summation of that knowledge, which enables you to look beyond today to predict what may or may not occur if you behave one way or another. 48 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

Part of traditional knowledge is our method of enforcing the continuance of biodiversity on the land. A lot of mining is taking place in sensitive areas, in watersheds and sensitive ecosystems. We have to look at how we can moderate impacts and come up with ways to access the resources in a manner that has less impact on the environment. CIM: How would you describe the relationship between Western science and traditional knowledge? Ignace: A lot of Western science questions the validity of traditional knowledge. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve looked at our traditional knowledge and teased out the factual information embedded in our oral histories, which can be crossreferenced with archaeology, linguistics, climatology et cetera. You can validate and cross-reference our knowledge with Western knowledge and the sciences. Traditional ecological knowledge needs to be accepted on equal footing with Western scientific knowledge.

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Unfortunately, in the training that non-native professionals who work in mining, environmental assessment and reclamation get, Western science is hugely privileged, and traditional knowledge is usually a footnote or an afterthought, or ignored altogether. So it’s a matter of training and sensitizing these scientists. CIM: What role can traditional knowledge play in the way industry manages land and resources? What is lacking if traditional knowledge is not taken into account? Ignace: One of the problems with Western science is that it privileges itself as being objective. Whereas we, as indigenous people with traditional knowledge, see ourselves as embedded in the science, in the knowledge. We’re not separated from it. The people who do environmental assessments to begin developing a mine don’t know the land, or the culture or the history of the area. They know the geology, the archaeology, but it’s not interconnected. Western science believes that all things not human are basically inanimate and that people are above and lord over all things non-human. Whereas we Natives believe we are integral to the Earth, and that all things are animate. When we interact with nature, we transform nature, and in turn nature transforms us. We have a dialectical relationship with nature, and there is a reciprocal accountability that we have to be mindful of. In our traditional knowledge, everything is alive, everything has a spirit. There’s no such thing as an inanimate object. It bothers me when I hear people talking about salmon, which are considered our relatives, as pieces of fish. It’s an objectification. Or they talk about wood pulp as fiber rather than trees. That kind of objectification gives you a whole different philosophical approach to dealing with trees. And trees are our relatives as well. They look after us and clothe us and give us their breath, and we exchange our breath with them. That’s one of the fundamental laws and principles in Shuswap country: reciprocity. What someone does for you, you do for them. Industry needs to change its view about the resources on the land. Objectification leads to people becoming desensitized about the impact that they’re making on the land. CIM: Western science also looks at biodiversity and the interconnections of ecosystems. Is this the same principle? Ignace: It’s commendable that they have that type of approach, but there’s still a latent philosophy of privileged position over the land and over indigenous knowledge, which makes it difficult to look at and interact with the land properly. CIM: Can traditional knowledge also learn from Western science? Ignace: We’re always open to learning. We need to adopt a strategy of what I call ‘walking on two legs’: We have to be mindful of Western sciences and technologies, but what has

to override and guide that is our traditional knowledge and practices. There are ways that we can benefit from Western science, but they also can benefit from our knowledge. And if we can figure out a way to combine our knowledge, I think we can do great things. CIM: What would it look like to have industry sit down to exchange ideas with traditional knowledge holders? Ignace: When people want to open up a mine, they ought to come to the indigenous group that’s going to be impacted and sit down with them, and find out their connection to the land, their knowledge of the land, the water, the environment. But they don’t do that. We have to fight our way in, to bring that knowledge forward, and that ought not to be the case. A company ought to ask, ‘Who has traditional knowledge and can inform us about the land that we’re about to develop?’ People need to listen to us. And if they want our confidence, we need to have their ear, and they need to believe in us, and work with us. We have to be engaged. We have to be involved. We have a relationship with the land. The land has stories and history. Our history is embedded in the land. So if you destroy a huge swath of land through open-pit mining, you rip up and destroy that history and our connection with that land. CIM: Does industry need to take into account the diversity of traditional knowledge among different indigenous communities? Ignace: Each nation has their own history, traditions, culture, beliefs, their understanding of the land, and they have to be taken at their word for that. As Shuswap indigenous people here in B.C., we have accumulated and synthesized 10,000 years of experience and knowledge of the land and its resources. CIM: What is the Shuswap Nation’s approach to industry? Ignace: In 1910 our chiefs told the prime minister of Canada, Sir Wilfred Laurier, how we would operate on the land with the new settlers. Although they were uninvited, we would be brothers to them, and we would share our resources with them. What is ours would be theirs, and what’s theirs will be ours. We would help each other to be great and good. That’s the foundation, the principal that I operate on: How we can work with these people, to help each other be great and good. I think that’s very generous and very open. There’s a great opportunity to create lasting and positive relations. There are ways and means. We want to work with Canada. We want to work with industry. We want harmonious relations. But there are rules and regulations and principles for the way that ought to take place. And the way it’s done right now is through imposition. And no one likes to be imposed upon. CIM September/Septembre 2014 | 49

Clean steam

Oil sands operations need steam to extract bitumen, and only two heat sources can feasibly meet the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demands: natural gas and nuclear. Supply of the former, though presently abundant, is not endless, but can the latter be brought into service soon enough to offer a real alternative? By Christopher Pollon Illustrations by Chloe Cushman

September/Septembre 2014 | 51

It all sounded like science fiction: Back in May 2005, as natural gas prices were on the rise, Jerry Hopwood, general manager for advanced reactor applications at Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL), put forth a radical idea: The time had arrived for small modular reactors (SMRs), which could be assembled in remote industrial locations like Lego blocks for a fraction of the cost of Canada’s legacy reactors. Energyhungry projects in Alberta were of special interest. In particular the increased energy needs of in situ bitumen extraction methods such as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) – reliant on steam production that some SMRs are well suited to provide – would increasingly make nuclear attractive. “The economics will favour nuclear,” Hopwood said at the time.

automobile manufacturers have introduced “bifuel” pickup trucks that can burn both gasoline and natural gas, and the use of natural gas for fleets – everything from garbage and transport trucks to buses – is already here. Electricity generators are also increasingly leaning towards natural gas. A 2012 “long-term outlook” from Alberta Electric System Operators (AESO) projected that “the future generation mix in Alberta is expected to shift from a predominately coal-based fleet to a natural gas-based fleet” within the next 20 years. At the same time, Dinara Millington, principal author of the CERI research, says if some combination of B.C. and U.S.based liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants proceed, North American prices for natural gas could rise before the end of the decade. “With LNG and a lot of movement of gas over water [for export], there will be the development of a global natural gas market, with an uptick in prices in North America and a downward trend in prices in Asia.” And the natural gas market is notoriously unstable, with prices commonly 50 per cent more volatile than those of crude oil. Could the industry’s vulnerability to that volatility coupled with new uncertainties around the provincial, national and global carbon pricing schemes eventually make small nuclear attractive again?

Micro nuclear power in development

The idea of deploying small nuclear reactors to generate electricity and heat is nothing new; both the United States and Russia pioneered nuclear technologies to power their submarines after the Second World War. During the Cold War period, nuclear bombs were even discussed as a means to tap the vast Canadian bitumen resource. This short-lived, radical plan would have seen explosive devices lowered into bitumen-rich deposits to superheat the material. Today China, the United States, Japan, and Russia have all led the research on developing small nuclear plants to power

The main driver for nuclear in the oil sands was the higher cost of natural gas, but that was not all Hopwood had to go on. At the time, Canada had signed on to the Kyoto accord, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the oil sands threatened to become a liability that would stag“We think the oil sands will be the primary ger the industry. Flash-forward nearly a decade: fracking has brought driver [of small nuclear commercialization] newly cheap prices and natural gas remains the pribecause of the huge energy demand mary fuel for Alberta oil sands producers. North America is flush with inexpensive supply at present, but the they will need” amount of this fuel required to drive the oil sands – Ralph Hart industry of the future will be colossal. The Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) predicted in July that oil sands natural gas consumption will spike by 2046 – rising remote communities and mines, add capacity to existing from 1,474 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) in 2013 to as nuclear reactors, and power industrial processes. In July, Rushigh as 3,753 MMcf/d. (Emissions will rise in lockstep, poten- sia and China signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop six floating nuclear plants designed to serve tially tripling during this time.) The oil sands are not the only industry angling to devour remote settlements, industrial facilities such as oil platforms, presently cheap natural gas, however. Caterpillar has and even large ships that carry heavy mineral ores. The Russannounced that mining trucks and locomotives will be among ian nuclear reactor monopoly, Rosatom, promises to launch the first of their products that use natural gas. Three major the first of these small nuclear plants in 2018. 52 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

That said, not a single “new generation” modular nuclear reactor has reached the point of commercial availability. Ralph Hart hopes to change this. With experience at AECL as well as the private sector, he is now chief engineer at Cambridge, Ontario’s Northern Nuclear Industries Inc. (N2 I2). His LEADIR-PS (an acronym for LEAD-cooled Integral Reactor-passively safe) family of nuclear reactors – including two models designed to generate 100 and 300 thermal megawatts (MWth) – have been conceived with the oil sands in mind. “We think the oil sands will be the primary driver because of the huge energy demand they will need,” says Hart, who founded the company five years ago. Hart started thinking about his own modular design back in the early 2000s, when he reviewed the existing technology and was convinced that few of the “current generation” nuclear plants could produce the steam pressure needed for SAGD operations. LEADIR-PS, like all other nuclear power plants, generates steam by transferring the heat of fission from the reactor coolant to water. (Most designs employ low-enriched uranium oxide as fuel). Such plants can be used to generate electricity by supplying reactor-produced heat via steam to a turbine that drives a generator, ultimately returning the water to the reactor to produce more steam. LEADIR-PS units can also be built for “process heat” applications (like SAGD), which are more economical because they do not require the same turbine generator and condenser capacity, and which offer over 95 per cent energy utilization compared to about 40 per cent in electricity production, according to Hart. The LEADIR-PS draws heavily on established German high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) technology, and is fuelled by thousands of billiard ball-sized spheres with tiny particles that consist of “kernels” of uranium oxide at the core, surrounded with multiple coatings that serve as radiation containment. LEADIR-PS uses molten lead coolant instead of the helium coolant used in HTGRs, thereby avoiding a pressure vessel and high-pressure reactor coolant piping. The system, which when assembled would occupy an area about the same size as a hockey rink, can be delivered by rail or water. The LEADIR-PS reactor is installed underground to protect it from external events such as vandalism or fire, and assure passive decay heat removal. N2 I2 estimates that a LEADIR-PS plant could go online in less than a decade – provided it had a customer willing and able to pay for it. N2 I2 estimates the cost of a single LEADIR-PS100 unit to be about $430 million, not including some $45 million for licensing (including public hearings), training, qualifying

plant operators, and interest costs during construction. But once built, he says the fuel cost for LEADIR-PS is $0.00596/kWh while the average fuel cost for gas fired plants in the United States in 2013 was $0.056/kWh.

“Oil sands producers that reduce their carbon footprint will have an economic advantage in the future” – Matt Horne

“Nuclear plants, including LEADIR-PS, are capital intensive but have very low and stable fuelling costs,” says Hart. “Natural gas plants are the reverse, offering low capital cost and high unstable fuel cost.” By way of comparison, while it might take up to 60 months (from first concrete to power production) to build modern CANDU nuclear plants, N2 I2 believes a LEADIR-PS100 can be delivered as a largely completed plant – and ready for operation in under 28 months. These time estimates do not account for the regulatory/ licensing hurdles for new, unproven SMRs in Canada. A spokesman from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission – the independent nuclear regulator – says it currently takes about nine years to get through the regulatory steps, from initial application for a siting licence to granting of an operating licence, and confirmed that as of this writing no SMR designs have been submitted for pre-licensing design review. He added that existing regulations can be “applied as is” to SMR facilities proposed for deployment in Canada.

What it might look like

How such modular nuclear reactor facilities could be deployed in the oil sands has been the subject of several recent studies including one by Calgary-based Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC) (whose membership includes 30 oil producers), which collaborated with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory in late-2011. The report was aptly called “Integration of high temperature gas-cooled reactor technology with oil sands processes.” A conceptual design was developed for a “central energy facility” including five HTGR reactors capable of supplying September/Septembre 2014 | 53

multiple oil sands producers with electricity and heat needed for upgrading bitumen to premium synthetic crude across about 40,000 hectares (producing about 150,000 barrels per day of bitumen using SAGD). Such a facility (the $8.25 billion capital cost includes steam turbines, 51 kilometres (km) of 24-inch piping with insulated tubing and 51 km of insulated condensate piping) could recover about half the bitumen reserves across such an area, reduce natural gas consumption by over 200 million standard cubic feet per day (about 4.5 trillion cubic feet over a 60-year plant life) and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 285 million tonnes over six decades. (The authors noted that such a facility would free up natural gas for highervalue uses – more “productive and irreplaceable” applications like producing chemicals.) “This approach to energy supply ... insulates the oil sands producers over the long term from the potential imposition of carbon costs or issues with natural gas supply and provides a reliable source of energy for at least 60 years at a price that would be affected only by normal inflationary effects on the costs of operating materials and labour,” concluded the report, which was co-authored by PTAC president Soheil Asgarpour. The HTGR heat price was found to be considerably higher than comparable current natural gas costs in the oil sands. Asgarpour says nuclear heat prices are only relatively high because they are not adjusted for the potential cost of CO2 emissions that would result from burning natural gas. He says if CO2 sequestration cost $120/ton, nuclear would be competitive with natural gas at $6/thousand cubic feet, adding: “My view is the natural gas price 20 years down the road will be more than that.” To put this $120 figure in recent context, Sweden’s carbon tax is $150/tonne (industry pays less than this), while a European Union permit to discharge one tonne of CO2 has fluctuated wildly from a high of 32 euros (about $47 CDN) to just under three (about $4 CDN.)

Uncertainty about carbon cost a boon for nuclear?

The July 2014 CERI report predicts that oil sands GHG emissions from burning mostly natural gas will triple from 55 Mt/year in 2012 to as much as 165 Mt/year in 2048. The unknown costs associated with these increased future emis54 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

sions will make nuclear increasingly attractive, but at present, the cost of carbon in the oil sands is very low. Under Alberta’s 2007 Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (SGER), facilities producing more than 100,000 tonnes of annual GHGs must reduce emission intensity by 12 per cent from a historic baseline average. Companies not hitting their targets must either buy Alberta-based offset credits or contribute $15/tonne of emissions to a fund that invests in research and carbon reduction technologies (like carbon capture and storage). According to Suncor, Alberta companies have paid nearly $400 million into the fund since the SGER began. The Alberta government is currently contemplating raising both the carbon price and the GHG intensity by which producers have to reduce their emissions. It is not yet known what figures the government will choose, but it has been suggested the tax and intensity reduction figures could nearly triple. B.C. has also introduced its own broad-based carbon tax – currently $30/tonne – imposed on civil society and most industry. Ongoing uncertainty stems from Canada’s signing of the 2009 Copenhagen Accord of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

“Until [the nuclear] technology solution is readily available, we continue to use the most efficient and cleanest alternatives” – Greg Stringham

Change, which could evolve into a binding agreement with penalties and an enforcement mechanism by the end of 2015. In the future, the growing emissions from the oil sands have the potential to spook trading partners and investors. While Australia has stepped back from a carbon tax this year, many of Canada’s allies and potential trading partners either already have carbon pricing in place, such as the European Union, or are considering various carbon pricing strategies, which contain the potential to one day penalize GHG-intensive energy sources. “Oil sands producers that reduce their carbon footprint will have an economic advantage in the future,” says Matt Horne, an engineer and climate policy expert at the not-forprofit, clean-energy focused Pembina Institute. “If a company invests in technology to use less natural gas per barrel

of oil, they’ll have better market access and better returns than a company that goes with a business as usual approach.”

We’re still a long way off

According to Suncor spokesperson Erin Rees, “At this point nuclear isn’t feasible.” This is not to say no one has made serious attempts to establish nuclear as a power source in the oil sands. In 2008, Bruce Power (a private operator of eight CANDU nuclear reactors on the shores of Lake Huron) proposed a $10-billion plan to build nuclear reactors using CANDU reactor technology in the Peace River area of northern Alberta. In late2011, after about four years of work that saw cooperation by Alberta (and vocal public concerns about safety), Bruce Power pulled the plug on the project. This past spring, Babcock & Wilcox Company, one of the pioneers behind the development of small nuclear in U.S. submarines, announced plans to scale back the development of its mPower modular nuclear reactor – up to this point considered one of the world’s leading candidates to see commercialization. The company cited an inability to secure “significant additional investors or customer engineering, procurement and construction contracts” – this despite the U.S. Department of Energy’s willingness to invest a reported $450 million in a “cost-shared industry partnership program” to help push mPower and other SMRs towards commercialization. The likes of Richard Branson and Bill Gates are also willing to help, and are partnering with some firms, but PTAC’s Asgarpour says the future of nuclear in the oil sands remains challenging due to the current low gas price and long licensing process. “Nuclear has the advantage that you know what you are dealing with. You are not dealing with these huge fluctuations [in price]. However, it will take a long time to get the licensing in place; the capital cost is very high. But there are also challenges to continuing on the same path we are on, because of greenhouse gas emissions.” For the time being, hydraulic fracturing has changed the economics of natural gas and prevented oil sands companies from aggressively pursuing

nuclear technologies that have not yet hit the market. “With shale gas technology active in North America, natural gas supply is abundant and expected to be so for many years,” says Greg Stringham, vice-president of oil sands at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), who adds that the industry has been approached with the “option of using nuclear power” and is keeping an open mind. “Until that technology solution is readily available,” he says, “we continue to use the most efficient and cleanest alternatives.” CIM

September/Septembre 2014 | 55

Vapeur propre Par Christopher Pollon Illustrations par Chloe Cushman

Cela ressemblait à de la science-fiction. En mai 2005, alors que les prix du gaz naturel étaient en hausse, Jerry Hopwood, alors directeur général des applications pour réacteurs avancés à Énergie atomique du Canada Limitée (EACL), émettait une idée radicale : l’heure des petits réacteurs modulaires (PRM) était venue. Ces mini-centrales nucléaires pouvaient être assemblées aussi facilement que des Lego dans des sites industriels isolés et ce, à une fraction du coût des anciens réacteurs canadiens. Cette technologie présentait un intérêt particulier pour les projets énergivores menés en Alberta. En effet, les besoins énergétiques croissants des méthodes d’extraction du bitume sur place telles que le drainage par gravité au moyen de vapeur (DGMV), qui dépendent de la production de vapeur que certains PRM sont tout à fait en mesure de gérer, rendraient le nucléaire de plus en plus attrayant. « Les aspects économiques feront pencher la balance en faveur du nucléaire », affirmait M. Hopwood. La hausse du coût du gaz naturel était la principale raison de l’intérêt de l’industrie des sables bitumineux pour le nucléaire, mais M. Hopwood avait un autre argument. À l’époque, le Canada faisait partie des pays signataires du pro56 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

tocole de Kyoto, et les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) des sables bitumineux menaçaient de devenir un boulet pour l’industrie. Retour sur le présent, près de dix ans plus tard : la technique de fracturation hydraulique a provoqué une brusque baisse des prix du gaz naturel, aussi ce dernier reste le principal combustible qu’utilisent les producteurs de sables bitumineux albertains. L’Amérique du Nord regorge de cette ressource peu coûteuse, mais l’industrie des sables bitumineux aura besoin à l’avenir d’une quantité colossale de ce combustible pour survivre. Le Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) a prédit en juillet que la consommation de gaz naturel pour l’extraction des sables bitumineux augmenterait d’ici 2046, passant de 1 474 millions de pieds cubes par jour (Mpi3/j) en 2013 à près de 3 753 Mpi3/j (les émissions, qui augmenteront en parallèle, pourraient donc elles aussi tripler au cours de cette période). L’industrie des sables bitumineux n’est cependant pas la seule à vouloir dévorer du gaz naturel à petit prix. La société Caterpillar a annoncé que les tombereaux de chantier et les locomotives de mine seraient parmi ses premiers produits à

fonctionner au gaz naturel. Trois des principaux constructeurs automobiles ont lancé des camionnettes « bicarburant » qui fonctionnent aussi bien à l’essence qu’au gaz naturel, et l’utilisation du gaz naturel est déjà un fait établi dans divers parcs, des camions à ordures aux semi-remorques et aux autobus. Les générateurs électriques se tournent eux aussi de plus en plus vers le gaz naturel. La publication « Perspectives à long terme » de 2012 de l’association Alberta Electric System Operators (AESO) prévoyait que d’ici 20 ans, « la composition future des sources de production d’électricité en Alberta devrait passer d’un parc à prédominance de charbon à un parc au gaz naturel ». Parallèlement, Dinara Millington, l’auteure principale de la recherche du CERI, affirme que si une combinaison quelconque d’usines d’exportation de gaz naturel liquéfié (GNL) se met en place en Colombie-Britannique et aux États-Unis, les prix du gaz naturel en Amérique du Nord pourraient grimper d’ici la fin de la décennie. « Le GNL et la forte croissance du transport maritime de gaz [destiné à l’exportation] favoriseront le développement d’un marché mondial du gaz naturel, marqué par une légère remontée des prix en Amérique du Nord et par une tendance à la baisse des prix en Asie. » De plus, l’instabilité du marché du gaz naturel est un fait notoire : ses prix sont généralement 50 % plus instables que ceux du pétrole brut. La vulnérabilité de l’industrie à cette instabilité, combinée aux nouvelles incertitudes qui entourent la structure de prix du carbone aux échelles provinciale, nationale et mondiale, pourrait-elle finir par rendre aux petits réacteurs nucléaires leur attrait ?

Des micro-réacteurs nucléaires en développement

L’idée de déployer de petits réacteurs nucléaires pour produire de l’électricité et de la chaleur n’a rien de nouveau ; après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, tant les États-Unis que l’Union soviétique avaient développé les technologies nucléaires pour alimenter leurs sous-marins. Pendant la période de la guerre froide, il avait même été question de recourir aux bombes nucléaires pour exploiter les vastes ressources bitumineuses du Canada. Ce plan radical envisagé brièvement aurait consisté à enfoncer dans les importants gisements de bitume des dispositifs explosifs pour surchauffer le matériau. Aujourd’hui, la Chine, les États-Unis, le Japon et la Russie ont tous mené des recherches sur le développement de petites centrales nucléaires pour fournir de l’énergie aux collectivités et aux mines isolées, accroître la capacité des réacteurs nucléaires existants et alimenter les procédés industriels. En juillet, la Russie et la Chine ont signé un protocole d’entente en vue de développer ensemble six centrales nucléaires flottantes conçues pour desservir des lieux isolés, des installations industrielles comme les plateformes pétrolières et même les grands navires qui transportent des minerais lourds. Rosatom, le monopole russe dans le domaine des réacteurs nucléaires, promet de lancer la première de ces petites centrales nucléaires en 2018.

Ceci dit, aucun réacteur nucléaire modulaire « de nouvelle génération » n’a encore atteint le stade de la commercialisation. Ralph Hart espère faire changer les choses. Fort de son expérience chez EACL ainsi que dans le secteur privé, il est aujourd’hui directeur technique de Northern Nuclear Industries Inc. (N2 I2) à Cambridge, en Ontario. Sa série de réacteurs nucléaires LEADIR-PS (de l’anglais LEAD-cooled Integral Reactor-Passively Safe, ou réacteur intégral refroidi au plomb à sûreté passive), qui comprend deux modèles d’une capacité respective de 100 et 300 mégawatts thermiques (MWth), a été conçue à l’intention du secteur des sables bitumineux. « Selon nous, l’industrie des sables bitumineux sera le principal moteur de cette technologie, étant donné la quantité considérable d’énergie dont elle aura besoin », explique M. Hart, qui a fondé la société il y a cinq ans. Ralph Hart a commencé à envisager son propre concept modulaire au début des années 2000, lorsque son examen des technologies existantes l’a convaincu du fait que la plupart des centrales nucléaires de « génération actuelle » n’étaient pas en mesure de produire la forte pression de vapeur nécessaire aux activités de DGMV. Comme toutes les autres centrales nucléaires, le réacteur LEADIR-PS génère de la vapeur en transférant la chaleur de fission du refroidisseur du réacteur à l’eau (la plupart des concepts emploient de l’oxyde d’uranium légèrement enrichi comme combustible). Les unités LEADIR-PS peuvent générer de l’électricité en faisant passer la chaleur produite par le réacteur à l’aide de la vapeur dans une turbine, qui actionne un générateur ; l’eau retourne ensuite vers le réacteur pour produire davantage de vapeur. Elles peuvent également servir aux applications de la « chaleur industrielle » (comme dans le DGMV) ; d’après M. Hart, elles sont d’une part plus économiques car elles ne requièrent pas la même capacité de la turbogénératrice et du condensateur, et d’autre part, elles offrent plus de 95 % d’utilisation de l’énergie (par rapport à 40 % environ pour la production d’électricité). Le LEADIR-PS s’inspire fortement de la technologie allemande existante en matière de « réacteur à haute température refroidi par gaz » (RHTRG); il est alimenté par des milliers de sphères de la taille d’une boule de billard, faites de minuscules particules qui consistent en des « noyaux » d’oxyde d’uranium recouverts de plusieurs couches qui confinent le rayonnement. Le LEADIR-PS utilise du plomb fondu comme fluide caloporteur et non de l’hélium comme c’est le cas pour les RHTRG, évitant ainsi de devoir installer une tuyauterie haute pression pour la cuve sous pression et le fluide caloporteur du réacteur. Une fois assemblé, ce système atteint une taille équivalant à celle d’une piste de hockey. Il peut être livré par voie ferroviaire ou fluviale. Le réacteur LEADIR-PS est installé sous terre de manière à le protéger des événements extérieurs tels que le vandalisme ou des incendies, et assure le refroidissement passif du réacteur à l’arrêt. N2 I2 estime qu’une centrale LEADIR-PS pourrait être opérationnelle dans moins de dix ans, à condition que la société trouve un client prêt à investir dans son développement. N2 I2 estime le coût de chaque unité LEADIR-PS100 à environ 430 millions $, sans compter les frais d’obtention de permis qui devraient s’élever à quelque 45 millions $ (audiSeptember/Septembre 2014 | 57

ences publiques comprises), la formation, l’embauche d’exploitants qualifiés et les intérêts à défrayer au cours de la construction. Mais une fois l’unité construite, affirme-t-il, le coût du combustible sera de 0,00596 $/kWh, ce qui est comparable au coût moyen du combustible nécessaire pour les centrales au gaz aux États-Unis, qui était de 0,056 $/kWh en 2013. « Les centrales nucléaires, y compris les LEADIR-PS, demandent de forts investissements, mais les coûts des combustibles qu’elles requièrent sont très bas et très stables », ajoute M. Hart. « À l’inverse, les centrales au gaz naturel offrent un faible coût en capital, mais le coût du combustible est élevé et instable. » À titre de comparaison, alors qu’il faut envisager jusqu’à 60 mois (de la première coulée de béton à la production d’énergie) pour construire une centrale nucléaire CANDU moderne, d’après N2 I2, la LEADIR-PS100 peut être livrée sous forme de centrale en grande partie achevée et opérationnelle en moins de 28 mois. Ces estimations ne tiennent pas compte des obstacles réglementaires à franchir et des permis à obtenir pour les nouveaux PRM, qui n’ont pas encore fait leurs preuves au Canada. Selon un porte-parole de la Commission canadienne de sûreté nucléaire, l’organisme indépendant de réglementation nucléaire au Canada, il faut actuellement compter environ neuf ans pour franchir les étapes du processus réglementaire, de la demande initiale concernant le permis de choix de l’emplacement à l’obtention d’un permis d’exploitation. Ce porte-parole a confirmé qu’au moment où cet article a été rédigé, aucune conception de PRM n’avait encore été soumise en vue d’un examen préliminaire ; il ajoute cependant que la réglementation existante pourrait être « appliquée telle quelle » aux PRM qui feraient l’objet d’une proposition de déploiement au Canada.

Perspectives d’avenir

Les façons possibles de déployer des réacteurs nucléaires modulaires de ce genre dans le secteur des sables bitumineux ont fait l’objet de plusieurs études récentes, et notamment du rapport judicieusement intitulé Integration of High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor Technology with Oil Sands Processes [L’intégration de la technologie des réacteurs à haute température refroidis par gaz dans les procédés des sables bitumineux], rédigé fin 2011 par Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC), un organisme établi à Calgary qui compte 30 producteurs pétroliers parmi ses membres, en collaboration avec l’Idaho National Laboratory du département de l’Énergie des États-Unis. Une étude conceptuelle a été élaborée sur une « centrale énergétique » comprenant cinq RHTRG capables de fournir à plusieurs producteurs de sables bitumineux l’électricité et la chaleur nécessaires pour convertir le bitume en pétrole brut 58 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

synthétique de qualité supérieure sur une superficie d’environ 40 000 hectares (en vue de produire, par DGMV, quelque 150 000 barils de bitume par jour). Une telle centrale (dont le coût en capital de 8,25 milliards $ comprend les turbines à vapeur, 51 kilomètres de conduites de 24 pouces à tube isolant et 51 kilomètres de conduites isolées pour l’eau de condensation) permettrait de récupérer près de la moitié des réserves en bitume sur cette superficie, tout en réduisant la consommation de gaz naturel de plus de 200 Mpi3/j standard (soit environ 4 500 milliards de pieds cubes sur la durée de vie de 60 ans de la centrale) et les émissions de dioxyde de carbone (CO2) de 285 millions de tonnes sur six décennies (les auteurs font remarquer qu’une telle centrale libérerait du gaz naturel pour des utilisations ayant une valeur supérieure, à savoir des applications plus « productives et irremplaçables » telles que la production de produits chimiques). « À long terme, en adoptant cette approche de l’approvisionnement en énergie […], les producteurs de sables bitumineux se prémunissent contre l’imposition éventuelle d’une tarification du carbone et les problèmes d’approvisionnement en gaz naturel, en plus de disposer d’une source d’énergie fiable pour au moins 60 ans, à un prix qui ne sera affecté que par les effets de l’inflation normale des coûts des matériaux d’exploitation et de la main-d’œuvre », conclut le rapport, dont l’un des auteurs est le président de PTAC, Soheil Asgarpour. Les auteurs du rapport ont constaté que le prix de la chaleur produite par un RHTRG est considérablement plus élevé que les coûts actuels comparables du gaz naturel dans l’industrie des sables bitumineux. Selon M. Asgarpour, les prix de l’énergie thermique nucléaire sont relativement élevés car ils ne sont pas ajustés pour tenir compte du coût potentiel des émissions de CO2 qui résulterait de la combustion du gaz naturel. Il explique que si le coût de la séquestration du CO2 coûte 120 $/tonne, le nucléaire présenterait un intérêt concurrentiel face au gaz naturel, qui coûte 6 $/millier de pieds cubes (kpi3), ajoutant que « d’ici 20 ans à mon avis, le prix du gaz naturel aura dépassé ce seuil. » Pour situer cette tarification de 120 $ dans le contexte actuel, la taxe suédoise sur le carbone est de 150 $/tonne (l’industrie paie moins cher), alors que le coût d’un permis de l’Union européenne (UE) pour le rejet d’une tonne de CO2 a connu de fortes fluctuations entre un pic à 32 € (environ 47 $ CA) et un minimum à un peu moins de 3 € (environ 4 $ CA).

L’incertitude quant au coût du carbone : une bénédiction pour le nucléaire ?

Le rapport publié par le CERI en juillet 2014 prédit que les émissions de GES provenant principalement de la com-

bustion du gaz naturel et qui sont associées à l’extraction des sables bitumineux vont tripler d’ici le milieu du siècle, passant de 55 Mt/an en 2012 à près de 165 Mt/an en 2048. Les coûts inconnus associés à cette future hausse des émissions rendront l’option nucléaire de plus en plus intéressante, mais pour le moment, le coût en carbone des sables bitumineux demeure très modeste. En vertu du règlement albertain de 2007 sur les émetteurs de gaz désignés (SGER - Specified Gas Emitters Regulation), les installations qui produisent plus de 100 000 tonnes de GES par an doivent réduire l’intensité de leurs émissions de 12 % par rapport à une moyenne historique de référence, celle de l’an 2000. Pour les installations qui étaient opérationnelles avant le 1er janvier 2000, l’intensité de référence des émissions est établie à partir des données d’émissions et de production de 2003 à 2005; quant aux nouvelles installations, elles doivent fonder l’intensité de référence de leurs émissions sur la période allant de leur troisième à leur cinquième année complète d’exploitation commerciale. Les sociétés qui n’atteignent pas leurs objectifs doivent acheter des crédits d’émissions albertains ou verser 15 $ par tonne d’émissions à un fonds d’investissement pour la recherche et les technologies de réduction du carbone (les méthodes de captage et de stockage du dioxyde de carbone, par exemple). D’après Suncor, les sociétés albertaines ont déjà versé près de 400 millions $ dans le fonds depuis l’entrée en vigueur du SGER. Le gouvernement de l’Alberta envisage actuellement d’augmenter le prix du carbone et l’intensité des GES à compter desquelles les producteurs devront réduire leurs émissions. On ne connaît encore pas à ce jour le montant exact des augmentations qu’envisagera le gouvernement, mais il a été question d’une augmentation du triple des taxes et de la réduction de l’intensité des émissions de GES. La Colombie-Britannique a également instauré sa propre taxe générale sur le carbone (actuellement de 30 $/tonne), qu’elle impose à la société civile et à la majeure partie du secteur industriel. L’avenir est toutefois plus incertain depuis que le Canada a signé l’Accord de Copenhague de la Convention-cadre des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques (CCNUCC) de 2009, qui pourrait éventuellement avoir force de loi et être assorti de pénalités et d’un mécanisme d’application d’ici la fin de l’année 2015. À l’avenir, l’augmentation des émissions de GES associées aux sables bitumineux risque d’effaroucher les partenaires commerciaux et les investisseurs. Si l’Australie a fait marche arrière cette année par rapport à son projet de taxe sur le carbone, bon nombre d’alliés et d’éventuels partenaires commerciaux du Canada ont déjà mis en place une tarification du carbone (comme c’est le cas en Union européenne) ou envisagent diverses stratégies tarifaires qui ont le potentiel de pénaliser un jour les sources d’énergie dégageant de grandes quantités de GES. « Les producteurs de sables bitumineux qui réduisent leur empreinte carbone auront un avantage économique à l’avenir », déclare Matt Horne, ingénieur et spécialiste de la politique climatique à l’Institut Pembina, un organisme à but non lucratif axé sur les sources d’énergie propres. « Si une société investit dans une technologie afin de consommer moins de gaz naturel par baril de pétrole, elle bénéficiera d’un meilleur accès au marché et affichera de meilleurs rendements qu’une société qui ne change rien à ses méthodes. »

Encore beaucoup de chemin à faire Erin Rees, porte-parole de Suncor, est d’avis que « pour le moment, le nucléaire n’est pas une solution viable ». Ceci ne signifie pas pour autant que personne n’a déployé de sérieux efforts en vue d’imposer le nucléaire comme source d’énergie potentielle pour les sables bitumineux. En 2008, Bruce Power (exploitant privé de huit réacteurs nucléaires CANDU sur les rives du lac Huron) a proposé un plan de 10 milliards $ pour la construction de réacteurs nucléaires utilisant la technologie des réacteurs CANDU dans la région de Rivière-la-Paix, dans le nord de l’Alberta. Vers la fin de l’année 2011, après environ quatre ans de travaux marqués par la coopération de l’Alberta (et par de vives inquiétudes du public à propos de la sécurité), Bruce Power a abandonné ce projet. Le printemps dernier, la société Babcock and Wilcox, l’un des pionniers du développement de petits réacteurs nucléaires pour les sous-marins américains, a annoncé son intention de réduire les activités de développement de son réacteur nucléaire modulaire de type mPower, considéré jusqu’ici comme l’un des principaux candidats mondiaux à une éventuelle commercialisation. La société a mentionné son incapacité à garantir « d’importantes sources d’investissement supplémentaires ou des contrats d’ingénierie, d’approvisionnement et de construction auprès de clients », malgré la volonté affirmée par le département de l’Énergie des ÉtatsUnis d’investir une somme évaluée à 450 millions $ dans un « programme à coûts partagés de partenariat avec l’industrie » pour aider à rapprocher du stade de la commercialisation la technologie mPower et d’autres PRM. Des personnalités telles que Richard Branson et Bill Gates sont également disposées à donner un coup de pouce et s’associent à certaines entreprises, mais selon le président de PTAC, M. Asgarpour, l’avenir du nucléaire dans les sables bitumineux reste critique en raison des prix relativement bas du gaz et du long processus d’obtention de permis. « Avec le nucléaire, l’avantage est que nous savons à quoi nous avons affaire. Nous n’avons pas à composer avec d’énormes fluctuations [de prix]. Mais il faudra beaucoup de temps pour instituer les permis, et le coût en capital est très élevé. Cependant, il est aussi risqué de poursuivre sur la voie actuelle en raison des émissions de gaz à effet de serre. » Pour l’heure, la fracturation hydraulique a révolutionné l’économie du gaz naturel et empêché les sociétés d’extraction des sables bitumineux de s’engager résolument sur la voie des technologies nucléaires qui n’ont pas encore atteint le marché. « Le niveau d’activité de la technologie du gaz de schiste en Amérique du Nord est tel que les ressources de gaz naturel sont abondantes, et elles devraient le rester pendant des années », estime Greg Stringham, vice-président de la section Sables bitumineux pour l’Association canadienne des producteurs pétroliers (ACPP), ajoutant que l’industrie a été interrogée quant à « l’option d’utiliser l’énergie nucléaire » et qu’elle garde l’esprit ouvert. « D’ici à ce que cette solution technologique devienne accessible », déclare-t-il, « nous continuons d’utiliser les options les plus efficaces et les plus propres » ICM September/Septembre 2014 | 59

Come together technology

EQUIPMENT MONITORING

By Eavan Moore

Condition monitoring systems today allow mine operators to synthesize and analyze huge amounts of real-time data on equipment health in a customized format. The challenge for companies, however, is managing all that information. Courtesy of Honeywell

Dashboard image of Honeywell’s Mobile Equipment Monitoring Software

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

Decreasing downtime

sked what he considers the most helpful advance in technology in the last several years, Justin Harkness, surface maintenance planner at Newmont’s Carlin Trend in Nevada, answers: “Most definitely real-time condition monitoring.” Although most major equipment manufacturers now offer machine health monitoring – from sensors to software – a number of third parties have entered the game. Some sell very specific systems – BMT WBM, for example, focuses its health monitoring on stress and vibration shovels and draglines. But others seek both to bring all the data from different vendors under one umbrella, and to streamline it for busy personnel. In doing so, they are exploring – and sometimes running up against – the outer limits of advanced data handling.

Newmont uses the onboard diagnostics system and fleet management software provided by Caterpillar to receive machine health alerts, view historical data, and make maintenance decisions based on real-time information across its operations. Numerous sensors integrated into mobile equipment report temperature, pressure and other data through CAT’s Vital Information Management System (VIMS), which sends that information wirelessly to its MineStar equipment management platform. The biggest benefit, from Harkness’ point of view, is being able to catch emerging problems early enough to schedule maintenance downtime when people and parts are available. In an unplanned shutdown, not only does it take time for maintenance personnel to come by but the machine also cools down while it waits and has to be brought back to normal temperatures and loads to recreate its symptoms. With MineStar, some parameters can be viewed remotely while the machine is still in production. For example, he says, “exhaust temperature differentials from left bank to right bank can indicate a few different things, and trending specific parameters to other machines in the same fleet can highlight subtle differences. It becomes even more interesting from time to time to compare these same operating parameters to same-model machines at different sites with different haul profiles.”

Courtesy of Wenco International Mining Systems

With a detailed picture of machine condition, Harkness notes, maintenance can also be tailored to the part. An engine, for example, might have an expected life of 17,000 hours but its current condition could warrant extending its life. A 13,000-hour engine, running in a questionable condition with a less-than-acceptable history, might be a candidate for replacement before the end of its expected life.

A diversity of suppliers

The global mining heavyweights of the world have generally adopted real-time health monitoring; the list includes Teck, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale. Monitoring is not exclusively the domain of big companies – see Dundee Precious Metals’ Chelopech mine (p. 64), profiled in this issue. But according to Bart Winters, product director for Honeywell’s asset management solutions, the technology is still in its early adopter phases. “The thought leaders are the ones that are doing it the most, they are the ones that can see the value,” he says. “We see deployments at larger customers across multiple sites, but smaller sites are also starting to see the value and rolling out programs.” Those who do adopt it have a fair amount of choice in how they ultimately view and use their data. The information collected by original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) systems can move almost as easily through third-party systems as through the company’s proprietary platform, given a little cooperation between suppliers. “We have interfaces to all the major onboard health systems,” says Glen Trainor, vicepresident of sales and marketing at Wenco International Mining Systems, whose products include ReadyLine asset health management software. “We have partnerships with third party devices as well. Wenco’s philosophy is that we are willing and

Wenco’s ReadyLine condition able to interface to anything monitoring software collects that’s on board.” information from OEM monitoring systems, such as Wenco’s system shares broad CAT’s VIMS (above), and similarities in data use with provides a real-time feed of specific user-selected Honeywell Process Solutions’ parameters. Mobile Equipment Management (MEM) and Modular Mining’s MineCare. First, rules set by the company compare values to normal ranges or to one another and issue alerts as needed to an employee acting as fleet monitor. For instance, the temperatures on the left and right wheel motors might be too high, or they may differ from each other in a way that suggests a problem. If there is an issue, an alarm will pop up on the screen. Second, the fleet monitor can view trends for that parameter and request a real-time feed. And third, the system stores historical data in case the mine needs to investigate an event after the fact. Winters says, from his experience, mines tend to want to minimize the amount of information distracting the machine operator in the cab and centralize workflow. He recalls a specific incident on site while having a conversation with a fleet monitor: “We were looking at the system and all of a sudden an alarm comes in that the driver is driving with the parking brake on. The fleet monitor says, ‘Give me a second, I have to call this guy on the radio.’ He gets on the radio, and he hears the alarm beeping in the truck, in the cab. He says, ‘Hey, Joe. You’re driving with the parking brake on.’ Joe says, ‘Thanks.’” Asked whether the full potential of these systems is realized by their users, Winters replies in the negative: “These systems have to continuously be able to justify themselves. They always have to demonstrate where they are adding value.” To that end, he thinks it is important that MEM includes a record

September/Septembre 2014 | 61

Courtesy of Dingo

Dingo’s Trakka software collects condition monitoring data and translates it into corrective maintenance actions.

of equipment failures avoided, what he calls “documentation of saves.” When someone detects a condition using MEM, they can record a save post-investigation that is reviewed and approved by management, then used to make regular reports on just how much value the system has added. Newmont does not currently measure cost savings specific to real-time monitoring in its maintenance department, according to Harkness. “It can be seen as a contributor to measured KPIs such as mean time between failure and availabilities, as well as planned versus unplanned maintenance percentages,” says Harkness. “When a machine problem is identified in a subtle or potential state of becoming a larger issue, and parts orders are accurately identified and complete with manpower set aside to perform the repair before it becomes an unexpected down, cost savings in maintenance are a direct result and that can be seen and measured.”

Merging the offline and online

Colin Donnelly, director of product management at Dingo, thinks that the existing real-time monitoring systems are missing something. “They haven’t created sensors to indicate how many wear particles or contaminants are circulating within your engine,” he points out. “People are neglecting the machines – and the parts of the machines – that can’t talk.” Most mines collect oil samples and inspect magnetic plugs and filters to check their machinery, but they often neglect to make effective use of that information, in his view. Large amounts of data are collected only to languish in file cabinets or emails. To help companies extract the value from this data and improve decision-making, Dingo created a third-party condition monitoring software product, Trakka, that takes that information – whether it comes from the mine or third-party vendors – and translates it into corrective maintenance actions that feed into an email-like inbox checked every day. “We’re just repackaging the data into a platform that shows people if you pay attention, there’s a large amount of money at the other end,” says Donnelly. Dingo’s services include staff support who analyze the data and recommend actions. 62 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

He says he believes Dingo’s Trakka system stands out because it includes a process for following up on maintenance activity to make sure it was successful. “If the task didn’t physically improve the condition, then it was either the wrong task or it was done incorrectly, and we need to do something else,” he explains. “We actually keep those things open a lot longer, because we want confirmation that the task resolved the issue and the equipment returned to a normal operating state. That’s where I think it complements some of the enterprise resource planning systems that pretty much every customer has in place to manage their maintenance work.” Donnelly says it was that functionality that led a Canadian customer to combine its use of Trakka and MEM. The Honeywell software displays real-time equipment health data, but some of the same information can be viewed in a Trakka window using the MEM-assigned tags for each value.

Understanding big data

Vendors agree they need to work on taking more of the load off mine operators. There is widespread agreement that the growth of “big data” – so much information it demands more sophisticated analytical tools – is driving software development in this field. Trainor says that predictive modelling, or the use of information from multiple sources to develop patterns that predict maintenance needs, will develop further in future. Wenco is trialling more predictive systems in two mines in Australia this year and next. At Honeywell, Winters says he envisions defining similar types of operation and comparing them across a fleet; for example, taking the exhaust gas temperature when a truck is hauling uphill underload. Even further in the future, Winters would like to see more advanced diagnostics and, ultimately, machine learning, in which observations made during investigations could be automatically incorporated into the diagnostic process the next time a similar issue crops up. Third-party developers – and, according to them, users – would have an easier time of it if data came out in less proprietary formats. Wenco started stripping its systems of all proprietary aspects 15 years ago, and today its customers use its public API to plug monitoring data into enterprise-level software if they so wish. “It’s problematic today,” says Winters. “The operating companies are pushing the OEMs to standardize on the data that’s coming off so that they can deploy additional tools to make use of that data.” That effort is being led by the Global Mining Standards and Guidelines Group’s Onboard Technology and Connectivity Working Group. In the meantime, third-party providers can cite numerous happy customers who, with typical mining ingenuity, are willing to reconcile the seemingly disparate for the sake of greater productivity. CIM

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 Corp., Denver; Jean-Michel Rendu, JMR Consultants, USA; Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada; and Guy Desharnais, SGS Canada Inc., 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

UNDERGROUND ACHIEVER

Dundee Precious Metals bought the Chelopech gold-copper mine in Bulgaria in 2003 to make a low-cost move into mining operations. When Rick Howes joined the company in 2009 as the mine’s general manager, he says he viewed it as an opportunity to invest in the kinds of innovation he had long envisioned at a mine site. Today, both ambitions have been realized. Annual throughput from Chelopech has nearly quadrupled, unit costs have sunk, and a real-time production management system has provided a pathbreaking model for underground mines. BY | EAVAN MOORE

helopech is in the Panagyurishte mining district of of the mine for bringing the ore to surface instead of trucking central-western Bulgaria, containing a number of mas- and shaft hoisting, cutting mining costs by around 20 per sive sulphide and porphyry copper deposits. Under cent and doubling production to two million tonnes of ore state operation from 1954 to 1992, it struggled to remain per year. viable in the 1990s as Bulgaria underwent democratization At the same time, staff at DPM understood that they would and privatization. DPM acquired Chelopech after its previous require a new way to manage their resources if they wanted to owner went bankrupt. The mine has good bones; its current double throughput without adding new equipment. So in Proven and Probable Reserves measure 2.512 million ounces 2009, Chelopech commenced a plan called “Taking the Lid of gold at 3.26 grams per tonne, 5.674 million ounces of silver Off.” at 7.37 ounces per tonne, and 524 million pounds of 0.99 per cent copper. But its new owners saw a need and an opportu- Taking the lid off nity to modernize the operation. Howes borrowed a manufacturing concept called “Short “Most of my experience is in the large mining operations Interval Control,” which uses real-time production informain Canada,” explains Howes, who is now the president and tion to update a central monitoring and control room. At CheCEO of Dundee Precious Metals (DPM). “I spent almost 30 lopech, a master schedule plans activities at least three months years with Inco (now Vale) and Falconbridge (now Glen- in advance, with a detailed breakdown into weekly produccore). We tried many of these ideas, but tion, support and services tasks. Managethey weren’t successful for various reament sets production and performance “Trying to get sons. One was the technology at the targets that are checked against actual various parties to share time wasn’t nearly as advanced and outcomes at short-term intervals cost-effective as it is today. And two was throughout the working shift. their proprietary a stubborn unwillingness to take a risk room supervisor uses Dasinformation was probably saultA control on innovation.” With the right combiSystemes Geovia InSite shift manthe biggest challenge.” nation of technology and concept, agement software to view a shift-by-shift Howes says he believed he could run an schedule for the next seven days. At the – R. Howes efficient mine using a new suite of tools. end of one shift, the control room superIn the early years, DPM focused on visor and the shift supervisor make any updating its mining method and infrastructure. Chelopech’s necessary adjustments for the next shift and then assign tasks. previous owners had used sublevel caving on the relatively The weekly goal is to complete as much of the scheduled work small ore bodies, which diluted the ore and caused cave areas as possible. If all planned tasks are completed then planned to form on surface. DPM switched to more selective and pro- production output is all sustainably achieved. ductive blast hole stoping with filling of the mine voids after Equipment operators receive the tasks via a wireless netmining. Along with building an access ramp and backfilling work on tablet computers using software provided by Sandwith paste fill, the changes doubled production from half a vik, the main mine production equipment supplier at million to a million tonnes of ore per year. Next, DPM Chelopech. The information for each task includes the locainstalled a conveyor system and put a crusher at the bottom tion, output and expected time required. The operator updates the control room via the tablet throughout the shift. Sandvik machines have health and production sensors that From mine to mill: the Chelopech mine team apply real-time information to schedule alert both operator and maintenance if warning signs develop. and monitor production. If a task is drifting behind schedule, the control room supervisor can inquire and take immediate course-correcting action. Photo bottom right courtesy of Woodgrove Technologies, all others Dundee Precious Metals

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Courtesy of Dundee Precious Metals

project profile | C H E L O P E C H

Gancho Ganchev, a safety specialist at the mine, leads community members through the mine during one of its “Open Doors” event.

Personnel and equipment are tracked using AeroScout radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags inside their cap lamps or vehicle cab. A software location engine finds their physical location using the signal strength relative to the closest wireless access points. The location is displayed in two different software applications: a specialized AeroScout application called MobileView and the level plan view of InSite. A wireless communications network covering nearly the entire mine forms the backbone of the system. That makes Chelopech unusual. Although many underground mines use radio communications, only a few are using wireless computer networks. The advantage is that wireless networks used for the Internet and computer networks in the office or at home are a common component of everyday life and relatively inexpensive. They support voice, video and data with off-the-shelf software and hardware. “All we did was ruggedize the components for underground use and modify some of the technology to better suit the mining needs,” explains Howes. “The cost to put in the new technology was pretty much less than what it would cost us to expand our existing leaky feeder system,” he says. DPM bought off-the-shelf Cisco components and made in-house customizations, including longrange wireless antennas and ruggedized voice-over-Internet phones. It took about 150 to 200 wireless access points to get full coverage.

Change management The system may sound seamless but it required three years of hard work by DPM and seven different partners, including 66 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

hardware, software, systems integration, and project management providers. Most critically, DPM partnered with its software vendors and Sandvik’s Trans4Mine consulting arm to design both the new workflow and the processes that would help employees understand it. Where employee buy-in to the innovations was concerned, the project leaders did not have to work too hard to sell the ideas. He says Bulgarian workers are open to change. “When we told them that this is about more efficient use of resources – helping you to be successful at achieving your task, eliminating some of the barriers to your success so that you can do well – this approach was easy to implement,” says Howes. The vendors needed to trust one another and to define their roles cooperatively; that proved tough work at first. “Trying to get various parties to share their proprietary information was probably the biggest challenge,” says Howes. “But once there was a willingness to do that, then we were able to integrate the pieces.” In financial terms, suppliers to Chelopech contributed substantially to the project. DPM spent a fairly modest $3 million on its new production management system, counting both in-house expenses and vendor fees, but individual suppliers invested their own funds into research and development as well. For example, Sandvik needed to develop its tablet system from scratch, according to Mike Andrews, business line manager for Sandvik’s automation and Trans4Mine business units. “Rick and his team provided a lot of the user requirements for us,” he says, “but most of the software still needed to be developed, as well as the hardware to go with it.”

CHELOPECH

| project profile Courtesy of Woodgrove Technologies

Sandvik welcomed the opportunity to take on the project. Having begun to develop advanced monitoring solutions, it needed specific directions from a mining company. Partnering with Chelopech allowed Sandvik to design its solution around the needs of the mine. Not every customer wishes to give that kind of direction. Yet, says Andrews, “From the ones that do have the visionary approach like the Chelopechs, we can learn so much. And it stands us in good stead going forward with other customers. We know we’ve designed something that is functionally correct and required by the markets.” Sandvik has since submitted three to four tenders for similar systems at other mines in Africa, Europe, Australia, and the Americas.

Better flotation Trying out new ideas did not stop when the implementation phase of Taking the Lid Off ended in 2012. Over the last two years, Chelopech has replaced its aging flotation tanks with staged flotation reactors (SFRs), a new design that halves overall power consumption, uses half the floor space, and produces better selectivity and higher recoveries for less than the cost of putting in a conventional tank. Chelopech was the second mine to install an SFR; the first was Anaconda’s Pine Cove gold mine in 2010. Manufacturer Woodgrove Technologies, Inc. premised its design on three separate processes involved in flotation: particle collection, de-aeration of the tailings slurry and froth recovery. Christopher Bennett, business development director at Woodgrove, explains that each of these processes requires a different environment. Collection demands strong shear forces and high turbulence levels; de-aeration requires a quiescent environment; and froth recovery requires a quiescent environment near the top of the cell so there are no shear forces to break the froth bubbles. “It seems counterproductive to attempt to execute all three processes in the same tank,” says Bennett. “So we have designed the cell to have three separate chambers and two tanks.” One turbulent tank promotes collection; the other tank, divided into two chambers, is quiescent so that deaeration and froth recovery can take place unimpeded. Each chamber, or reactor, has a geometry and volume tailored to its specific duty. Most importantly, the surface area within the froth recovery chamber matches the amount of froth generated. Bennett says that using three sized-for-duty chambers has a few different benefits. It optimizes energy utilization, since energy is used only for collection and not for sand suspension. It also improves recoveries, largely because froth recovery is more effective. Finally, the method by which air is added – cycling through the impeller zone several times – reduces the total air use to about one-sixth of a typical tank cell and improves selectivity in the presence of floatable gangue minerals, like the pyrite at Chelopech. Any air beyond the quantity needed to float valuable species will only entrain water to the froth, bringing hydrophilic gangue with it.

The mine operators opted for staged flotation reactors (SFRs) to replace the aging flotation tanks. The technology breaks up the flotation process into three distinct stages: particle collection, de-aeration of slurry tailings and froth recovery. They recently added another SFR circuit for pyrite recovery.

Fine-tuning the product The mine’s primary product is a copper concentrate shipped to DPM’s smelter in Tsumeb, Namibia. In the first half of 2014, Chelopech produced 56,106 ounces of gold, 20 million pounds of copper and 101,700 ounces of silver in concentrate. DPM also contemplated building a pyrite recovery circuit and a pressure oxidation facility so that it could produce a pyrite concentrate and then extract gold from it on site. The $14-million pyrite recovery circuit went up as planned with the flotation circuit consisting entirely of staged flotation reactors; it began producing concentrate within the existing surface mill facility in early 2014. But current market conditions do not justify the pressure oxidation facility, so for now Chelopech is selling its pyrite concentrate to customers in Europe and China. DPM recently extended the life-of-mine at Chelopech to 2025; that offers plenty of time to introduce a new technology or two. But even if management stays conservative from here on out, they will have demonstrated – having boosted throughput from 550,000 tonnes of ore to two million tonnes and shrunk costs from $66 to $40 per tonne – that a small company with a good idea and a good team can break new ground. CIM September/Septembre 2014 | 67

Offert par Sandvik

La modernisation de la mine Chelopech a découlé d’une étroite collaboration entre l’exploitant et de grands fournisseurs de l’équipement et de la technologie à la mine, ce qui a permis d’augmenter la capacité de traitement et de réduire les coûts d’exploitation.

UN MAÎTRE SOUS TERRE PAR | EAVAN MOORE

n 2003, Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) a acheté la mine de cuivre-or de Chelopech, en Bulgarie, pour se lancer dans l’exploitation minière à bas coût. Lorsque Rick Howes a intégré l’entreprise en 2009 au poste de directeur général de la mine, il a déclaré qu’il voyait cela comme une possibilité d’investir dans le type d’innovation qu’il envisage depuis longtemps sur les lieux d’une mine. Aujourd’hui, les deux objectifs semblent avoir été atteints. La production annuelle de la mine de Chelopech a pratiquement quadruplé, les coûts unitaires ont chuté et un système de gestion de la production en temps réel a permis de mettre en place un nouveau modèle pour les mines souterraines. Chelopech se trouve dans le district minier de Panagyurishte, au centre-ouest de la Bulgarie. Cette région contient d’importants dépôts sulfurés et gisements porphyriques de cuivre. Exploitée par l’état de 1954 à 1992, la mine a lutté pour demeurer viable dans les années 1990, alors que la Bulgarie se démocratisait et se privatisait. DPM a acquis la mine de Chelopech après la faillite du propriétaire précédent. Il s’agit d’une mine fiable. Ses réserves prouvées et probables actuelles s’élèvent à 2,512 millions d’onces d’or à 3,26 grammes par tonne, à 5,674 millions d’onces d’argent à 7,37 onces par tonne, et à 524 millions de livres de cuivre à 0,99 %. Cependant, les nouveaux propriétaires ont vu un besoin et une possibilité de moderniser l’exploitation.

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« J’ai forgé la majeure partie de mon expérience dans les grandes exploitations minières au Canada », explique M. Howes, l’actuel président et chef de la direction de DPM. « J’ai travaillé pendant près de 30 ans chez Inco (à présent, Vale) et chez Falconbridge (à présent, Glencore). Nous avons mis à l’essai bon nombre de ces idées, mais elles n’ont pas abouti, pour diverses raisons. L’une d’entre elles est que la technologie de l’époque n’était pas aussi perfectionnée et rentable qu’aujourd’hui. Le refus catégorique de prendre un risque en matière d’innovation en est une autre. » M. Howes ajoute qu’avec la combinaison appropriée de technologie et de concept, il pensait pouvoir diriger une mine de façon efficiente au moyen d’un nouvel ensemble d’outils. Au cours des premières années, DPM s’est concentrée sur la mise à jour de sa méthode d’exploitation minière et de son infrastructure. Les précédents propriétaires de la mine de Chelopech avaient eu recours au foudroyage par sous-étages sur des corps de minerai de taille relativement petite, entraînant la dilution du minerai et la formation de zones d’affaissement à la surface. DPM est passée à l’abattage par sous-niveaux plus sélectif et productif et au remplissage des vides de la mine après l’exploitation. Outre la construction d’une rampe d’accès et le remblayage à l’aide d’un système de remblayage par pâte, le changement a permis de doubler la production, la faisant passer d’un demi-million à un million de tonnes de minerai

CHELOPECH

par an. DPM a ensuite installé un transporteur et a placé un concasseur au fond de la mine afin de transporter le minerai à la surface plutôt que de le transporter par camion et de l’extraire par puits, ce qui a permis de réduire les coûts d’exploitation d’environ 20 % et de doubler la production, à deux millions de tonnes de minerai par an. Dans le même temps, les employés de DPM ont compris qu’une nouvelle méthode de gestion de leurs ressources serait nécessaire s’ils voulaient doubler la production sans ajouter de matériel. Ainsi, en 2009, on a commencé la mise en œuvre d’un plan appelé « Taking the Lid Off » (lever de rideau) à la mine de Chelopech.

Lever de rideau M. Howes a emprunté un concept du secteur de la fabrication appelé le « suivi à intervalle court », qui utilise des renseignements de production en temps réel pour mettre à jour une salle de surveillance et de commande centrale. À Chelopech, un programme directeur prévoit les activités au moins trois mois à l’avance, avec la répartition hebdomadaire détaillée de la production, du soutien et des tâches d’entretien. La direction établit des objectifs de production et de rendement qui sont comparés aux résultats réels à intervalles courts tout au long du quart de travail. Un superviseur de la salle de commande utilise le logiciel de gestion des quarts de travail Geovia InSite de Dassault Systèmes pour visualiser un programme quart par quart pour les sept jours qui suivent. À la fin d’un quart, le superviseur de la salle de commande et le superviseur des quarts font tous les réglages nécessaires pour le quart suivant et attribuent les tâches. L’objectif hebdomadaire consiste à accomplir autant de travail prévu que possible. Si toutes les tâches prévues sont réalisées, les résultats de production prévus sont tous atteints de manière durable. Les conducteurs d’équipement reçoivent les tâches par l’intermédiaire d’un réseau sans fil sur des tablettes, à l’aide d’un logiciel fourni par Sandvik, le principal fournisseur d’équipement minier de Chelopech. Les renseignements concernant chaque tâche comprennent le lieu, le résultat et le temps nécessaire prévu. Le conducteur tient la salle de commande informée par l’intermédiaire de la tablette tout au long du quart de travail. Les appareils Sandvik sont équipés de capteurs de santé et de production qui alertent le conducteur et la maintenance en cas de mise en garde. Si une tâche ne se déroule pas comme prévu, le superviseur de la salle de commande peut se renseigner et prendre des mesures correctives immédiatement. On assure le suivi des membres du personnel et de l’équipement au moyen d’étiquettes d’identification par radiofréquence (RFID) AeroScout situées dans les lampes de mineur ou les cabines de conduite des véhicules. Un moteur de localisation de logiciel détecte leur emplacement physique en se servant de la force du signal par rapport aux points d’accès sans fil les plus proches. L’emplacement s’affiche dans deux applications logicielles distinctes : une application spécialisée

| profil de projet

AeroScout appelée MobileView et la vue en plan en niveaux d’InSite. Un réseau de communication sans fil couvrant la quasitotalité de la mine constitue l’épine dorsale du système. C’est ce qui fait que les choses sont différentes à Chelopech. Bien que de nombreuses mines souterraines utilisent les communications radio, seules quelques-unes utilisent des réseaux informatiques sans fil. Les réseaux sans fil utilisés pour les réseaux Internet et informatiques au bureau ou à la maison offrent l’avantage de faire partie de la vie quotidienne et d’être relativement peu coûteux. Ils prennent en charge la voix, la vidéo et les données par l’intermédiaire de logiciels et de matériel livrables immédiatement. « Nous avons simplement renforcé les composants pour une utilisation souterraine et modifié une partie de la technologie pour qu’elle soit mieux adaptée aux besoins de l’exploitation minière », indique M. Howes. « Dans l’ensemble, le coût de la nouvelle technologie était moins élevé que ce que nous aurait coûté le développement de notre système source existant, partiellement fonctionnel », ajoute-t-il. DPM a acheté des composants Cisco livrables immédiatement et a effectué des personnalisations à l’interne, notamment l’installation d’antennes sans fil longue portée et le renforcement des téléphones à voix sur le protocole Internet. Il a fallu entre 150 et 200 points d’accès sans fil pour obtenir une couverture complète.

Gestion du changement Le système peut sembler sans faille, mais il a fallu trois années de travail acharné de la part de DPM et sept partenaires différents, y compris des fournisseurs de matériel, de logiciels, d’intégration des systèmes et de gestion de projets, pour obtenir ce résultat. Il était essentiel que DPM collabore avec ses vendeurs de logiciels et les fonctions de consultation Trans4Mine de Sandvik pour concevoir le nouveau flux des travaux et les processus qui allaient permettre aux employés de le comprendre. En ce qui concerne l’acceptation des innovations par les employés, les chefs de projet n’ont pas eu à travailler trop dur pour vendre les idées. Selon M. Howes, les Bulgares sont ouverts au changement. « Lorsque nous leur avons expliqué qu’il s’agissait d’utiliser plus efficacement les ressources, en leur permettant d’effectuer leur tâche plus facilement et en supprimant certains des obstacles qui les empêchaient de réussir afin qu’ils soient plus performants, cette approche a été facile à mettre en œuvre », raconte-t-il. Il fallait que les vendeurs se fassent confiance et coopèrent pour définir leurs rôles. Cela n’a pas été facile au départ. « Le fait d’essayer de faire partager leurs renseignements exclusifs à plusieurs parties a probablement constitué le plus gros défi », explique M. Howes. « Mais une fois qu’il y a eu la volonté, nous avons été en mesure d’intégrer les éléments. » Sur le plan financier, les fournisseurs de la mine de Chelopech ont joué un rôle important dans le cadre du projet. DPM September/Septembre 2014 | 69

profil de projet | C H E L O P E C H a dépensé la somme plutôt modeste de trois millions de dollars pour son nouveau système de gestion de la production, ce qui comprend les dépenses internes et les frais des vendeurs, mais chaque fournisseur a également investi ses propres fonds dans la recherche et le développement. Par exemple, Sandvik a dû développer son système de tablette à partir de zéro, selon Mike Andrews, gestionnaire de secteur d’activité pour les unités fonctionnelles d’automatisation et de Trans4Mine de Sandvik. « Rick et son équipe ont répondu à un grand nombre de besoins des utilisateurs, explique-t-il, mais il fallait développer la majeure partie du logiciel, ainsi que le matériel pour l’accompagner. » Sandvik a profité de l’occasion pour s’attaquer au projet. Ayant commencé à mettre au point des solutions de surveillance perfectionnées, la société avait besoin d’orientations précises de la part d’une entreprise d’exploitation minière. En s’associant avec la mine de Chelopech, Sandvik a pu concevoir sa solution en fonction des besoins de la mine. Tous les clients ne sont pas prêts à donner ce type d’orientation. « Pourtant, nous avons tant à apprendre de ceux qui ont une approche visionnaire comme celle de la mine de Chelopech, déclare M. Andrews. Et cela nous est bien utile lorsqu’il s’agit d’aller de l’avant avec d’autres clients. Nous savons que nous avons conçu quelque chose qui fonctionne et dont les marchés ont besoin. » Depuis, Sandvik a présenté trois à quatre soumissions pour des systèmes similaires à d’autres mines en Afrique, en Europe, en Australie et en Amérique.

Une meilleure flottaison

Du traitement à la transformation : l’équipe de la mine Chelopech se sert des informations en temps réel pour programmer et surveiller la production. Offert par Dundee Precious Metals

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La fin de la phase mise en œuvre du lever de rideau en 2012 n’a pas mis un terme aux nouvelles idées. Au cours des deux dernières années, les cuves de flottaison vieillissantes de la mine de Chelopech ont été remplacées par des réacteurs de flottaison étagés. Il s’agit d’une conception nouvelle qui permet de réduire de moitié la consommation d’énergie totale, qui utilise deux fois moins d’espace au sol et qui offre une meilleure sélectivité et des rendements supérieurs pour un coût moins élevé que celui de l’installation d’une cuve conventionnelle. La mine de Chelopech a été la deuxième à installer un réacteur de flottaison étagé. La première était la mine d’or Pine Cove d’Anaconda, en 2010. Le fabricant, Woodgrove Technologies, Inc. a fondé sa conception sur trois processus distincts utilisés dans le domaine de la flottaison : la collecte des particules, la désaération de la pulpe des résidus et la récupération de l’écume. Christopher Bennett, responsable du développement chez Woodgrove, explique que chacun de ces processus a besoin d’un environnement différent. La collecte exige d’importantes forces de cisaillement et des degrés élevés de turbulence, la désaération a besoin d’un environnement quiescent et la récupération de l’écume requiert un environnement quiescent à proximité du dessus de la cellule de manière à ce qu’aucune force de cisaillement ne puisse crever les bulles d’écume.

« Il semble contreproductif d’essayer de réaliser les trois processus dans la même cuve », explique M. Bennett. « Nous avons donc conçu la cellule de manière à ce qu’elle soit équipée de trois cuves séparées et de deux réservoirs. » Un réservoir à turbulence facilite la collecte. L’autre réservoir, composé de deux cuves, est quiescent de manière à ce que la désaération et la récupération de l’écume puissent avoir lieu librement. La géométrie et le volume de chaque cuve, ou réacteur, sont adaptés à sa fonction précise. Plus important encore, la surface à l’intérieur de la cuve de récupération de l’écume correspond à la quantité d’écume produite. Selon M. Bennett, l’utilisation de trois cuves dont la taille correspond aux fonctions comporte plusieurs avantages différents. Cela permet d’optimiser l’utilisation de l’énergie, qui a lieu uniquement pour la collecte et pas pour la suspension du sable. Cela améliore également le rendement, en grande partie parce que la récupération de l’écume est plus efficace. Enfin, la méthode d’ajout d’air (qui fluctue plusieurs fois dans la zone de l’agitateur) réduit la quantité totale d’air utilisé à environ un sixième de l’utilisation d’une cellule de cuve traditionnelle, et améliore la sélectivité en présence de minéraux de gangue flottables, comme la pyrite à la mine de Chelopech. Tout air en trop par rapport à la quantité nécessaire pour permettre la flottaison d’espèces utiles entraînera uniquement de l’eau dans l’écume, emportant la gangue hydrophile avec lui.

Mise au point du produit Le produit brut de la mine est un concentré de cuivre expédié à la fonderie de DPM à Tsumeb, en Namibie. Au cours du premier semestre 2014, la mine de Chelopech a produit 56 106 onces d’or, 20 millions de livres de cuivre et 101 700 onces d’argent sous forme de concentré. DPM a également réfléchi à la possibilité de construire un circuit de récupération de la pyrite et une installation d’oxydation sous pression de manière à pouvoir produire un concentré de pyrite, puis en extraire l’or sur place. Le circuit de récupération de la pyrite d’une valeur de 14 millions de dollars a été construit comme prévu. Le circuit de flottaison est composé intégralement de réacteurs de flottaison étagés; la production de concentré a commencé début 2014 dans l’installation de fragmentation de surface existante. Mais les conditions actuelles du marché ne justifient pas la construction de l’installation d’oxydation sous pression. Pour l’instant, la mine de Chelopech vend donc son concentré de pyrite à des clients en Europe et en Chine. Récemment, DPM a prolongé la vie de la mine de Chelopech jusqu’en 2025; cela offre beaucoup de temps pour mettre en place une ou deux nouvelles technologies. Mais même si la direction demeurait conservatrice à partir de maintenant, elle aura prouvé, en augmentant la production de 550 000 tonnes de minerai à 2 millions de tonnes et en diminuant les coûts de 66 à 40 dollars par tonne, qu’une petite entreprise qui a une bonne idée et une bonne équipe peut faire preuve d’innovation. ICM September/Septembre 2014 | 71

Fort McMurray By Kiran Malik-Khan

Courtesy of Layla Underwood

TRAVEL

estled in the boreal forest of Alberta, the oil sands city of Fort McMurray is about 435 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. First settled as a fur trading post in 1790, it was renamed in 1870 by the Hudson’s Bay Company after William McMurray, who oversaw the area. The surrounding Wood Buffalo region is home to a multicultural population of nearly 120,000. For the business traveller there is plenty to do outside of work hours, and the brand new $258-million Fort McMurray International Airport is your gateway to it all. Summer in Fort McMurray means a season of festivals, community events, fishing, and outdoor sports. Winter brings the chance to take in the breathtaking northern lights. But make sure you pack for -40 C temperatures.

Courtesy of Sawridge Group

WHERE TO

DINE

Courtesy of The Keg

Complementing the region’s ethnic diversity, Fort McMurray’s downtown core is home to multicultural cuisine. There’s a Lebanese restaurant called Mazaj, and Nim’s Tandoor House, a Halal Indian restaurant. Japanese, Mexican and Chinese options are also available.

STAY

Located minutes from the airport, Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre is a fullservice hotel that offers a complimentary shuttle service for guests. A full buffet breakfast is served daily, and the hotel has a fitness centre, pool and lounge. Rooms are from $165 to $250. Corporate rates are available. If you prefer something quainter, Chez Dube, a bed and breakfast, is located downtown and is accustomed to hosting business travellers. The chef ensures a hearty breakfast greets guests 72 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

daily, along with homemade baked goods. The 14-room establishment offers guests complimentary YMCA passes and bicycles for trips around town. There’s a refrigerator in every room and meeting room spaces on site. Rates are $225 Sunday

Courtesy of Layla Underwood

WHERE TO

to Thursday and $205 on weekends. The Clearwater Residence Hotel in Timberlea – known as uptown – is 20 minutes from the city centre and has everything the business traveller needs. The condostyle hotel features one- and two-room suites with fully equipped kitchens, a washer/dryer, complimentary breakfast and wireless network. You can walk to restaurants, and grocery and convenience stores. Rates vary from $309 to $349 according to room size. Corporate rates are available.

If you’re more of a meat and potatoes person, The Keg Steakhouse and Bar is a perennial favourite. Steaks range from $30 to $41 depending on the cut. Seafood options are also available and are priced from $29 to $49. Located in the Radisson Hotel, Prime Social Kitchen is another top choice. The luxurious establishment offers a gluten-free menu and enough options to satisfy every palette, whether you want a steak, ranging from $31 to $39, or beef curry, which is priced at $19. Popular dishes like the signature appetizer – jalapeno cheddar bombs – start at $14.

TIP Leave early for meetings. Winter’s inclement weather and construction during the summer make traffic delays common.

EXPLORE

Start your exploration of the city with the Suncor Community Leisure Centre on MacDonald Island, just outside of downtown. At 450,000 square feet, the facility boasts a wide range of activities including rock climbing, squash, racquetball and swimming, and there is an indoor track. Also on

MacDonald Island, you can practise your swing at the impressive Miskanaw Golf Club, and an art gallery features local and international exhibits year-round. If you fancy a game of pick-up, there are plenty of opportunities – from badminton to basketball. Day

TIP The city is hosting the Western Canada Summer Games next year from

August 7 to 16. With more than 14,000 visitors expected and numerous venues secured for sports, look for detour information pertinent to your plans.

passes are ideal for short-term visitors while 10-visit punch passes are suitable for extended stays. Business travellers can also book meeting spaces and hospitality services. Next year, visitors to MacDonald Island will have the opportunity to enjoy the new Shell Place, a $127-million project that will include a dedicated badminton centre, a stadium, meeting/conference rooms and several other services. In June 2015, SMS Equipment Stadium, which is part of Shell

Courtesy of Fort McMurray International Airport

Place, will host the Northern Kick-Off: a four-day community celebration centred on an official Canadian Football League preseason game between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The exhibits at the Oil Sands Discovery Centre, near the airport, delve into the history, science and technology of the oil sands, with selfguided sections as well as demonstrations of the process patented in 1928 by Karl Clark for separating bitumen from

GET THERE

The new Fort McMurray International Airport opened in June 2014. Direct flights are available from Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Kelowna, to name a few. There are quite a few cab companies in town but if you need something more formal, McMurray Airport Limo will take you wherever you need in style.

Courtesy of Fort McMurray Tourism

HOW TO

Courtesy of Government of Alberta

Courtesy of Layla Underwood

WHERE TO

sand. The popular gift shop has several regional souvenirs. Heritage Park is affectionately dubbed Fort McMurray’s “little village locked in time.” It is operated by the Fort McMurray Historical Society. Centrally located next to Keyano College, the park captures the fur trading beginnings of the region, along with the city’s rich aboriginal heritage. The historic buildings date from about 1911 to the late-1940s. The 594-seat Keyano Theatre & Arts Centre at Keyano College is a go-to place for plays, concerts, a selection of art house movies from the Toronto International Film Festival, and community events. The smaller Recital Theatre is adjacent and can be used for more intimate presentations. September/septembre 2014 | 73

CIM community Ginny Flood named incoming president-elect of CIM Ginny Flood, nouvelle présidente élue entrante de l’ICM CIM announced at its annual convention in May that Ginny Flood, vice-president of Rio Tinto Canada, is the incoming president-elect. Before she joined Rio Tinto in 2012, Flood held senior management positions in the Government of Canada, working in resource development. She is on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and a member of its executive committee. She is also an active member of the Mining Association of Canada and represented Rio Tinto on the Turquoise Hill Resources Board of Directors from May 2013–14.

Lors de son congrès annuel en mai, l’ICM a annoncé que Ginny Flood, vice-présidente pour le Canada à Rio Tinto, était la présidente élue entrante. Avant de se joindre à Rio Tinto en 2012, Mme Flood a occupé divers postes de haute direction au gouvernement du Canada, dans le domaine de la mise en valeur des ressources. Elle siège au conseil d’administration de la Chambre du commerce du Canada et est membre du comité exécutif. Elle est également une membre active de l’Association minière du Canada et elle a représenté Rio Tinto au conseil d’administration de Turquoise Hill Resources de mai 2013 à mai 2014. Ginny Flood, CIM incoming president-elect /

Ginny Flood, présidente élue entrante de l’ICM CIM: What compelled you to become ICM : Pourquoi étiez-vous intéressée par la involved with CIM in the presidential présidence de l’ICM? capacity? GF : Ma collaboration avec l’ICM a commencé GF: My involvement with CIM started when I was at Natu- alors que j’étais en poste à Ressources naturelles Canada, dans le cadre ral Resources Canada where we were working with CIM on de la mise en œuvre, avec le concours de l’ICM, de la stratégie de RSE du implementing Canada’s CSR strategy and through CIM’s Canada, et suivant la participation de l’ICM à l’« Initiative Mines vertes » involvement in the “Green Mining Initiative,” being led by pilotée par CanMet Lab. J’ai toujours été impressionnée par l’aptitude de CanMet Lab. I was always impressed with the organiza- l’organisation à piloter et à rechercher des initiatives susceptibles de protion’s ability to lead and seek opportunities that would ben- fiter à ses membres. Récemment, j’ai pris part à des discussions portant efit its members. Recently, I’ve been involved in discussions sur le cadre stratégique de l’ICM, et je vois une formidable occasion de related to the CIM Strategic Framework and see a great continuer de faire croître la réputation, déjà fort impressionnante, de opportunity to continue to grow the Institute’s already l’Institut et de concrétiser sa vision, qui consiste à devenir une organisaimpressive reputation and to achieve its vision of becoming tion de perfectionnement professionnel, de réseautage et de partage de a world-class professional development, networking and connaissances de calibre mondial. knowledge sharing organization. ICM : Quels types d’initiatives espérez-vous prendre en charge en CIM: What sorts of initiatives do you hope to take on as CIM tant que présidente de l’ICM? president? GF : Il est trop tôt pour définir des initiatives, mais je tiens vraiment, entre GF: It is too early to identify initiatives, but areas where I autres, à améliorer la collaboration pour assurer que l’ICM poursuive sa have a passion include enhancing collaboration to ensure croissance en tant que source de connaissances et de compétences CIM continues to grow as a reliable source of knowledge fiable. Je souhaite également accorder une plus grande place aux quesand expertise. I’m also very keen to raise the profile of tions associées à la diversité et à l’inclusion au sein du secteur minier et issues related to diversity and inclusion within the mining à examiner comment elles peuvent améliorer les pratiques exemplaires sector and how this contributes to best practices for sus- en matière de développement durable dans l’ensemble de l’industrie. tainable development across the industry. ICM : Quelles sont vos passions en dehors de l’industrie CIM: What are your passions outside of the mining minière? industry? GF : Je suis une personne très active et les fins de semaine, avec GF: I’m a very active person and enjoy outdoor activities mon mari, j’aime faire des activités à l’extérieur, comme le jardilike gardening, hiking, fishing and kayaking on the week- nage, la randonnée, la pêche et le kayak. Aussi, depuis plus de 23 ends with my husband. In addition, I’ve been an avid run- ans, je me passionne pour la course à pied et, bien que mon entraîner for over 23 years and while my training has been nement ait été limité ces derniers temps en raison de mes engagelimited due to work commitments and a few injuries ments professionnels et de quelques blessures, j’ai l’intention de lately, my intent will be to run for many years to come. continuer à courir pendant de nombreuses autres années. Quand When time permits, mostly during holidays, I enjoy a j’ai le temps, surtout pendant les vacances, j’aime bien lire un bon roman. ICM good novel. CIM 78 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

Courtesy of the Metallurgy and Materials Society of CIM

Nick Hazen, president and CEO of Hazen Research, Inc. presents a plenary speech.

Hydro2014 attracts strong international attendance The Hydrometallurgy 2014 Conference was held at the Victoria Conference Centre in June in Victoria, B.C. The conference welcomed roughly 400 delegates from 34 countries. The crowd included everyone from students to vice-presidents of mining companies. “I’d say typically there’s a 60-40 mix of industrial professionals to academics,” said Edouard Asselin, associate professor in the department of materials engineering at the University of British Columbia and co-chair of the event. Over the course of three days, 155 papers were presented in 42 sessions on various aspects of hydrometallurgy including extraction, recovery, separation and environmental considerations. Hydrometallurgy 2014 boasted plenary presentations by George Demopoulos of McGill University, John Monhemius of Imperial College, Nick Hazen from Hazen Research, Mike Nicol of Murdoch University and Kaixi Jian from the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Other activities included an awards ceremony, luncheon, banquet keynote and a tour of Teck operations at Trail, B.C. “I think it was very successful,” said Asselin. “The papers presented were high quality and we attracted people from all over the world.” This was the seventh international conference on hydrometallurgy. The event was hosted by the hydrometallurgy section of the Metallurgy and Materials Society (MetSoc) of CIM, the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) and the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS). Sponsors for the event included Barrick Gold, Hatch, Outotec, FLSmidth, Teck Metals, Air Products Canada, Hazen Research, GEA Westfalia Separator, Purolite, Cytec and Global Mineral Research. This is the third time the hydrometallurgy section of MetSoc has hosted the conference since becoming a co-host in 2003, along with SME and TMS. CIM September/Septembre 2014 | 79

CIM community

Courtesy of Mireille Goulet

CIM opens second African branch L’ICM ouvre une deuxième succursale en Afrique

CIM announced the opening of a new international branch in Ouagadougou at the Institute’s first symposium in Burkina Faso in June. / L’ICM a annoncé l'ouverture d'une nouvelle succursale internationale à Ouagadougou lors du premier symposium de l'Institut au Burkina Faso au mois de juin.

CIM opened a new branch in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the Institute announced on June 19. Ouagadougou is CIM’s second branch in Africa, after the creation of the Dakar, Senegal branch in October 2012. “If you look at Burkina Faso, they already have a strong base,” said CIM executive director Jean Vavrek. “So it just made a lot of sense, after being successful in Dakar, to expand into Burkina Faso as a second location.” The new branch is the product of CIM’s work with the Canadian Embassy at Ouagadougou, the Chambre des Mines du Burkina Faso, the Alliance des Fournisseurs burkinabè en biens et Services Miniers (ABSM), the Association des femmes minières du Burkina Faso (AFMIB), the Forum de la RSE, as well as with Iamgold, Orezone, Teng Tuuma Geoservices, Ampella Mining and Nantou Mining. Each of the collaborators has a representative on the branch’s executive board. Tidiane Barry, the branch’s president and director of corporate affairs at Iamgold, said the branch will engage in knowledge-sharing among companies working in the country. They also plan to take part in already-established industry events in the area like Journées de Promotion Minière (PROMIN), which promotes mining investment in Burkina Faso. “We thought it was important to have that possibility of sharing experiences and ... good practices concerning different fields of the mining industry,” Barry said. 80 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

L’ICM a annoncé le 19 juin qu’il a ouvert une nouvelle succursale à Ouagadougou, au Burkina Faso. La succursale de Ouagadougou est la deuxième que l’ICM inaugure en Afrique, après celle de Dakar, au Sénégal, en octobre 2012. « L’Institut a déjà une présence solide au Burkina Faso », a souligné Jean Vavrek, directeur exécutif de l’ICM. « C’était dans la logique des choses, après l’inauguration fructueuse à Dakar, de vouloir étendre nos activités au Burkina Faso, en ouvrant une deuxième succursale. » La nouvelle succursale est le fruit de la collaboration de l’ICM avec l’ambassade canadienne, la Chambre des Mines du Burkina Faso, l’Alliance des Fournisseurs burkinabè en biens et Services Miniers (ABSM), l’Association des femmes minières du Burkina Faso (AFMIB), le Forum de la RSE, de même qu’avec Iamgold , Orezone, Teng Tuuma Geoservices, Ampella Mining et Nantou Mining. Chacun des collaborateurs a un représentant au conseil exécutif de la succursale. Tidiane Barry, président de la succursale et directeur des affaires corporatives à Iamgold, a affirmé que la succursale partagera des connaissances avec les entreprises exerçant des activités dans le pays. La succursale compte également prendre part à des événements sectoriels déjà établis dans le domaine comme les Journées de Promotion Minière (PROMIN), qui promeut les investissements dans le secteur minier au Burkina Faso. « Nous pensions qu’il était important d’avoir la possibilité de partager des expériences et... des pratiques exemplaires dans différents domaines du secteur minier », a indiqué M. Barry. M. Vavrek a affirmé que la succursale de Ouagadougou allait éventuellement organiser des symposiums, des ateliers et des conférences,

CIM community

Courtesy of Mireille Goulet

Vavrek said the Ouaet qu’elle allait aider des entreprises de la région à établir une gadougou branch will evenassociation de fournisseurs et tually hold symposiums, d’exploitants. workshops and conferences, Les pourparlers étaient en and will help companies in cours depuis 2011 concernant the area develop an associal’ouverture de la deuxième suction of suppliers and operacursale africaine. Selon M. Vavrek, tors. la succursale de Ouagadougou Talks have been underouvre la voie à l’inauguration way since 2011 to open the d’autres succursales dans la second African branch. région. « D’ici les douze proVavrek said Ouagadougou is chains mois, nous prévoyons a prelude for the creation of exploiter quatre ou cinq succurother branches in the area. Tidiane Barry, president of CIM’s international branch in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso / Tidiane Barry, président de la nouvelle succursale internationale de l’ICM à sales en Afrique de l’Ouest » a-t“We expect to have four or Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso il affirmé. « Le Mali est déjà five branches in West Africa envisagé, tout comme la within the next 12 months,” Côte d’Ivoire, entre autres. » he said. “Mali’s already identified, Côte d’Ivoire, and there are M. Vavrek a également mentionné la Chine et l’Europe de others.” l’Est comme des emplacements possibles de succursales Vavrek also named China and eastern Europe as places for futures. ICM potential branches in the future. CIM

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September/Septembre 2014 | 81

CIM community A night for STARS Courtesy of CIM Edmonton Branch

The CIM Edmonton Branch raised $5,000 for the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS) at a steak and lobster fundraiser dinner in May. The fundraiser was held at the University of Alberta Faculty Club and hosted both silent and live auctions. Up for grabs was a two-night stay at Predator Ridge Golf Resort, donated by former CIM president Jim Popowich, and a set of four three-day VIP passes to the Castrol Raceway racetrack. Chuck Edwards, director of Metallurgy at AMEC and past-president of CIM, gave the keynote speech and volunteered a ride in his Ford GT; the winning bid for the ride totalled $400. The dinner was attended by 75 guests and local CIM members. STARS is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to rescuing people in life-threatening situations in remote areas of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. It receives funding from local provin- CIM Edmonton Branch’s steak and lobster fundraiser dinner included a silent auction. cial governments and corporations, as well as donations from the community. Laura Joseph, the branch’s treasurer. “We like to support local The Edmonton branch has supported STARS in the past, charities and be good corporate citizens in the community,” specifically at the 2004 and 2008 CIM Conventions, said she said. CIM

The strength of CIM is our membership and our relevance to their professional objectives.

CIM IS: OUMAR TOGUYENI Regional Vice President, West Africa, IAMGOLD Chair of the CIM Dakar Branch in Senegal CIM Award Winner Plenary Panellist for CIM Convention 2014 Diversity Stream Chair for CIM Convention 2015 Panellist for Franco-Mine 2013 and 2014 Panellist for 1st Symposium in Ougadougou

CIM DELIVERS VALUE TO ITS 15,000 MEMBERS

GET INVOLVED. IT’S REWARDING. Impliquez-vous. C’est valorisant. IT’S ALL MINE | CIM.ORG 82 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS

CIM

journal

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 5, No. 3. To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org

Identification of gaso-geodynamic zones in the structure of copper ore deposits using geophysical methods Z. Pilecki, Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland; M. Laskowski, A. Hryciuk, J. Wróbel, and E. Koziarz, KGHM Polska Mied SA O/ZG Rudna, Polkowice, Poland; E. Pilecka, Cracow University of Technology, Krakow, Poland; R. Czarny and K. Krawiec, Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland

ABSTRACT This paper concerns the identification of weak zones in the structure of a rock mass endangered by outbursts of gases and rocks at approximately 1,200 m depth in the Rudna copper ore mine, Poland. Geophysical recognition with the aid of seismic tomography and borehole ground-penetrating radar was applied, along with geological engineering tests. Results showed a very strong correlation between the location of the zone containing gases and water, the anomalous S-wave velocity, the field of the dynamic Poisson’s ratio and, to a lesser extent, other seismic parameters under the geological and mining conditions considered.

RÉSUMÉ Le présent article traite de l’identification de zones de faiblesse dans la structure d’une masse rocheuse mise en danger par des dégagements instantanés de gaz et des coups de terrain à une profondeur d’environ 1200 m dans la mine de cuivre Rudna, en Pologne. Une reconnaissance géophysique avec l’aide de tomographie sismique et de levés géoradar lors des forages a été mise en oeuvre, en plus d’essais d’ingénierie géologique. Les résultats montrent une très bonne corrélation entre l’emplacement de la zone contenant des gaz et de l’eau, la vitesse anormale de l’onde S, le champ du coefficient dynamique de Poisson et, à une échelle moindre, d’autres paramètres sismiques selon les conditions géologiques et minières considérées.

Prototype autonomous mine robot for underground mine mapping D. Ghosh, Advanced Technology Development Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India; D. Chakravarty and B. Samanta, Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

ABSTRACT Autonomous robots are useful for 3D underground mine mapping to avoid human exposure to hazardous spaces. To prepare a precise mine map, a self-navigating robot must navigate an arduous path, avoiding obstacles and sensing the environment. A prototype laboratory-scale robot was built and evaluated through a mock-up in a test mine gallery. It was outfitted with a 2D laser scanner, a stereo camera for obstacle avoidance, and a high-precision, laser-based imaging and digitizing system for collecting 3D point cloud data. Various algorithms were used for scan matching to facilitate simultaneous localization of the robot for mapping.

RÉSUMÉ Les robots autonomes sont utiles pour la cartographie tridimensionnelle des mines souterraines car ils permettent d’éviter que des humains soient exposés à des espaces dangereux. Pour préparer une carte précise d’une mine, un robot à navigation autonome doit naviguer un chemin ardu tout en évitant les obstacles et en analysant l’environnement. Un prototype de robot à l’échelle laboratoire a été construit et évalué sur une maquette dans une galerie minière d’essai. Le robot était équipé d’un scanner laser bidimensionnel, d’une caméra stéréo pour éviter les obstacles et d’un système à haute précision d’imagerie laser et de numérisation pour cueillir des données de nuages de points à trois dimensions. Divers algorithmes ont été utilisés pour apparier les balayages afin de faciliter la localisation simultanée du robot pour la cartographie.

Overestimation of oil sands mining reserve caused by an archaic algorithm L. Chunpongtong, Independent Consultant, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

ABSTRACT The Athabasca oil sands mineable resource is located in northeastern Alberta, Canada. In oil sands mining, the ore zone is regulated to have a minimum mining thickness of 3 m and a cutoff grade of 7 wt.%. The current algorithm that is widely used to flag ore zones and waste zones tends to overestimate oil reserves and causes low-grade ore to be processed. This paper presents the development of a more complex algorithm that is more representative of the actual oil found during operations and that can prevent lowgrade ore from being sent for processing.

RÉSUMÉ La ressource exploitable des sables bitumineux de l’Athabasca est située dans le nord-est de l’Alberta, Canada. Dans l’exploitation de sables bitumineux, la zone de minerai doit avoir une épaisseur minimale de 3 m et une teneur de coupure de 7 % (poids). L’algorithme actuellement utilisé pour signaler les zones de minerai et les zones de stériles tend à surestimer les réserves de pétrole et ainsi faire en sorte que du minerai à basse teneur est traité. Le présent article développe un algorithme plus complexe qui représente mieux le pétrole véritablement trouvé durant les opérations; cet algorithme peut empêcher l’envoi de minerai à basse teneur au traitement. September/Septembre 2014 | 83

innovation showcase | product files WD-40 MULTI USE PRODUCT NON-AEROSOL TRIGGER PRO Created especially for Industrial users, WD-40 Trigger Pro has the same great WD-40 formula, now in a Non-Aerosol can. Multi-purpose lubricant, remover, protector, moisture displacer and more. WD-40 non-aerosol formulas also dissolve adhesives, allowing easy removal of labels, tape, stickers, and excess bonding material. New WD-40 Trigger Pro provides:

MORE CONTROL – Just the right amount, exactly where you need it – Two settings: spray or stream LESS MESS

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EASY DISPOSAL – Not bound by aerosol disposal regulations – No need to pay special disposal fees to haul away – Recyclable plastic and steel packaging

RDH MINING EQUIPMENT The Muckmaster 300EB Evolution from RDH Mining Equipment is a 1.5 to 2.3 cubic meter bucket capacity LHD powered by a LithiumIron-Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery pack, delivering four hours of service. Development was driven by Kirkland Lake Gold in order to access new ore zones without having to spend millions of dollars on new ventilation raises. Operators prefer the Muckmaster 300EB because it provides constant speed and power, operates cooler, and is very quiet. The battery has a high energy density, no memory effect, long cycle life and a long application life. The unit is excellent for underground applications with no diesel particulate emissions, no fuel costs, and less associated maintenance. The 300EB features a liquid cooled AC traction drive system. Safety features include a seat switch shut down system that prevents inadvertent movement if the operator is not seated, a high voltage interlock that shuts down the entire system should any batteries or modules become disconnected and an emergency switch for the operator for a complete system shutdown, amongst others. www.rdhminingequipment.com

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

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IN THE NEXT ISSUE PROCESSING Today, a miner’s margin for error is slim and getting slimmer. We explore how some companies are trimming risk by putting extra focus on understanding their ore bodies and the processes required to extract the value. COPPER the essential conductor

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September/Septembre 2014 | 85

After the gold rush: “Colonel Conrad” and Yukon’s silver By Correy Baldwin

Anthony DeLorenzo/Flickr

he history of Yukon is dominated by the Klondike, a time state. By the time word reached him of a silver-gold-lead find when anyone could make it big but few did. Within near Carcross, he had amassed enough wealth not only to several years, however, gold was discovered in Nome. invest in the site but to finance an entire mine. This prompted a new stampede to Alaska, leaving Yukon to slip Conrad arrived in 1903 and began pouring money into the into economic depression. There was still wealth hidden in the site. He consolidated his claims in January 1905 under two hills, however. All that was needed was another big find – or self-financed mining companies. The next order of business perhaps just a wealthy was to figure out how to American entrepreneur – get the ore, which was to revitalize the optimistic high up the mountainside, spirit of the gold rush. down to the lakeshore. John Conrad arrived in Conrad travelled to Yukon with big plans, big Seattle and purchased an ideas and deep pockets. aerial tramway system for Over the next few years, nearly $80,000. It was an he arguably kept the incredible expense for the Yukon economy afloat sinday, but Conrad was glehandedly, investing known for his extravanearly $1 million (roughly gance. His tramway would $23.5 million today) into a rise more than a kilometre series of silver mines at above Tagish Lake and Tagish Lake near Carcross, extend for 7.5 kilometres just north of the B.C. boralong the slopes of Monder. Like any good entretana Mountain to transport preneur, Conrad named a John Conrad built the Venus mill (above) in 1908 on Tagish Lake as part of his operations. ore from the mine to the town site after himself, Ore from his Venus mine was carried along Conrad’s state-of-the-art tramway to this mill terminal by the lake. At the where it was processed and then shipped to the railway at Carcross. and for a time Conrad City time it was the most extenheld potential to replace sive tramway in the world. Dawson City as the territory’s capital – or at least that is what As the tramway iron began arriving by the ton, Conrad’s Conrad was known to boast. men started to work the three main veins – Venus, Montana Conrad was born in 1855 to an aristocratic family on their and Big Thing – while others constructed the mine camp. Virginia plantation. He was one of 17 children. After the Civil By the next season, Conrad was employing more than 500 War ruined the family’s wealth, 15-year-old Conrad left for men and Conrad City was growing into a bustling town site Montana to join his two eldest brothers, who had set up a trad- complete with six hotels, shops and twice-weekly steamboat ing post. The Conrad brothers did well in the Wild West and service to Carcross. By 1909 there were 3,000 residents. The built up a new fortune through cattle ranching, real estate, mines were busy and the tramway was working like a charm. shipping, banking and mining. An adoring local paper dubbed him “Colonel Conrad.” Soon the younger Conrad struck out on his own, setting up But Yukon’s history is one of boom and bust. Much of a series of trading posts on the wagon trail between Fort Ben- Montana Mountain’s ore was of lower grade than expected ton, Montana, and Calgary and investing in coal mines and and the deposits were less extensive. Then there were the cattle ranching. Before long he was one of the biggest cattle- transportation costs. Conrad took the White Pass railway to men in Montana. Conrad had a knack for success and was court for charging five times the rate of any other railway on good at showing it off. The bigger the business venture, the the continent. The legal battle took years and Conrad lost in better it was. He hobnobbed with army generals, Hudson’s Bay the end. Company officials and railway magnates. With the mines in financial trouble and the price of silver Then an economic recession came in 1893, which hit Con- in decline, Conrad called it quits and, in 1912, left Yukon for rad hard. But he could not be bothered with defeat. He packed good. Much of Conrad City’s infrastructure was shipped to up and headed north to Alaska. Gold fever had taken the con- Carcross, which was still rebuilding after a major fire in 1909. tinent by storm, and Conrad planned to arrive in a similar Today the iron gridwork of Conrad’s aerial tramway still lines fashion. He did well, capitalizing on gold strikes all across the the mountain above his namesake ghost town. CIM 86 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 6

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