CIM Magazine September 2013 by CIM-ICM Publications

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CONTENTS|CONTENU CIM MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER | SEPTEMBRE | 2013

TOOLS OF THE TRADE 10

The best in new technology Compiled by E. Moore

NEWS 16 22 24 26 28

Industry at a glance Surviving the flood Oil sands companies adapt to avoid heavy impacts on production by D. Kaufman Deficient disclosure Securities commissions take companies to task for non-compliance by A. Reitman MiHR program certifies 500th miner Canadian Mining Certification program secures footing by K. Lagowski One Giant mess Feds told to find permanent solution for Giant mine cleanup by A. Livingstone

22 COLUMNS 30 32 34 36 37

MAC Economic Commentary Miners put energy into renewable power by B. Marshall HR Outlook Managing the cycle through workforce planning by C. Hughes and S. Zahid Environment Changes to Fisheries Act put miners in unfamiliar waters by D. Lightle Finance Rationing capital in challenging times by M. Chiesa Energy Energy checkups can uncover big savings by A. Lemay

UPFRONT Logistics 38 New path for ancient culture Meadowbank and Inuit workers adapt to each other’s needs by I. Ewing

42 Putting people and tools in place Cyanokit creates training obstacles for Canadian gold miners by R. Andrews

44 Arctic ambitions Complex logistics built into Raglan’s development by V. Danielson

48 Talking tin Hart Mailandt has a birds’ eye view of Alberta’s rapid growth by C. Baldwin

4 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

TECHNOLOGY Pumps & piping

FEATURE | ÉDITORIAL 50 56

Performance under pressure The oil sands industry aims to win over public opinion in the hopes of de-risking future projects by P. Blin and A. Dion-Ortega La pression de performance L’industrie des sables bitumineux cherche à convaincre l’opinion publique dans l’espoir d’écarter les risques liés aux futurs projets. par P. Blin et A. Dion-Ortega

Past the airy nothings Finer grinding and tenacious froths are pushing pump manufacturers and process engineers to redesign and reinforce the best practices in efficient froth pumping by E. Moore

CIM COMMUNITY | LA COMMUNAUTÉ DE L’ICM 70

Hide and go geocaching Technology and history intersect for students at CIM’s Harricana Branch event by M. Cardwell Une grande partie de géocachette La technologie et l’histoire se croisent lors de l’événement de la section Harricana de l’ICM en faveur des élèves par M. Cardwell Participation is a priority President Bob Schafer wants membership to help define CIM by K. Lagowski

PROJECT PROFILE | PROJET EN VEDETTE 60 64

Into the wind Rio Tinto is putting the Arctic wind to work at its Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories by H. Mathisen Dans le vent Rio Tinto utilise le vent de l’Arctique dans sa mine de diamant Diavik dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest par H. Mathisen

La participation : une priorité Le président de l’ICM Bob Schafer compte sur l’aide des membres pour définir l’institut par K. Lagowski CIM’s fall line-up Maintenance, safety, metallurgy figure prominently in CIM’s conference schedule by H. Mathisen

TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS | RÉSUMÉS TECHNIQUES 75 76

CIM Journal Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly

IN EVERY ISSUE 6 8 77 78

Editor’s letter President’s notes Mot du président Product file Mining Lore by C. Baldwin

60 September 2013 | 5

editor’s letter

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

Take a side

while back a press package landed on my desk. It included a book that gleefully satirizes those who raise the alarm about climate change and ridicules the promise of renewable energy. If the publisher’s intention was to retread a worn-out argument and alienate all but the most rabid climate change contrarians and status quo champions, the book is a great success. I am not sure why it got sent my way. Perhaps because CIM Magazine covers non-renewable resources, it was presumed we have a stake in this line of thought. A “business as usual” approach, however, won’t get anyone in mining too far. This was the message Anglo-American CEO Mark Cutifani brought to the World Mining Congress in Montreal last month, where he challenged his peers to take the risks long-term planning requires to keep their companies and operations viable. There is no better example of such risk-taking than the bold move that Diavik diamond mine made into wind power generation at its underground mine in the Northwest Territories. A short ice road trucking season a few years ago forced the operators to fly diesel fuel into camp at an enormous expense, and that settled the debate about the risk of climate change for that operation. The company committed $31 million to build a wind farm to ease the demand for diesel. In the story, “Into the Wind” (pg. 60), our news editor and N.W.T. native, Herb Mathisen, reports on his visit to the mine, the hard lessons the operations teams have learned and the steady progress they have made since first tapping into the wind last fall. Despite the successes, the wind farm is designed to provide only 10 per cent of Diavik’s energy needs. For the remainder, the mine will continue to rely on diesel. The reality is that for Diavik and many others worldwide, renewable and non-renewable energy sources can be symbiotic. Neither the climate change deniers nor strident environmentalists appreciate that nuance, the latter having portrayed Canada’s oil sands industry as a climate apocalypse waiting to happen, rather than one piece of our world’s energy puzzle. The oil sands industry has also shown that it is not simply idling while interest groups on both sides of the climate change divide define its public image. Pierrick Blin and Antoine Dion-Ortega detail the evolution of the oil sands’ public persona in “Performance under pressure” (pg. 50), and the active role the industry and its representatives have taken to reframe the public’s understanding of what the oil sands are. I keep that book, with its merry cover image of joyriding polar bears and burning wind turbines, on my windowsill. It is a useful reminder that the book’s publisher and many others take for granted that the mining industry is on the wrong side of history, and that we would all do well to prove them otherwise.

Section editors Peter Braul, pbraul@cim.org Herb Mathisen, hmathisen@cim.org Copy editor/Communications coordinator Zoë Koulouris, zkoulouris@cim.org Web editor Nathan Hall, nhall@cim.org Web support Maria Olaguera, molaguera@cim.org Contributors Richard Andrews, Correy Baldwin, Pierrick Blin, Mark Cardwell, Mauro Chiesa, Vivian Danielson, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Ian Ewing, Brett Gilmour, Virginia Heffernan, John Holcroft, Courtnay Hughes, Dave Kaufman, Krystyna Lagowski, André Lemay, Darcy Lightle, Andrew Livingstone, Brendan Marshall, Eavan Moore, Anna Reitman, Sarah Zahid Editorial advisory board Alicia Ferdinand, Garth Kirkham, Vic Pakalnis, Nathan Stubina Translations SDL, Karen Rolland, Antoine Dion-Ortega Published 9 times a year by the 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 Subscriptions Included in CIM membership ($174.00); Non-members (Canada), $220.00/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$240.00/year. Single copies, $25.00. 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 National Account Executives 905.886.6641 Janet Jeffery, jjeffery@dvtail.com, ext. 329 Neal Young, nyoung@dvtail.com, ext. 325 Account Manager Tristan Cater, tcater@dvtail.com, ext. 326

This issue’s cover Illustration by John Holcroft. For more of his work, visit johnholcroft.com. Layout and design by Clò Communications Inc. www.clocommunications.com Copyright©2013. 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_at_CIM_Mag 6 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

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

president’s notes | mot du président

Canadian mining is about more than just mining With the close of the World Mining Congress, which CIM hosted in Montreal, my mind turns to Canada’s place in the global scheme. We know that Canadian companies utilize state-of-theart operating technologies. We know that our operations personnel set the worldwide standard in productivity, and that we employ best practices in environmental stewardship. Around the world, Canadian mining companies are recognized as preferred business partners by governments and communities alike. Canadian financial institutions are top tier in project finance. In short, we are proud that the Canadian mining industry leads by example. However, being a leader also brings obligations. Not only should we carry out all of the above at superlative levels, but as an industry, we should be striving to lift the quality of the global industry by encouraging, even insisting, that our counterparts carry out their day-to-day efforts with similar expectations of pride in performance. The global reach of Canadian mining is not based solely on a number of corporations; it also represents a broad collection of skilled individuals who are valued expatriate employees and international consultants. It is people who export Canadian best operating practices and business behaviours, while providing advice and training to improve skills and capacity within communities. Robert Schafer CIM President | Président de l’ICM

When we discuss with community leaders the contributions that a new mining operation can bring, too often we only emphasize the measureable, bottom line impacts: increased employment, greater tax base and the like. We would do well to also bring attention to other improvements that can be measured indirectly, or more holistically, such as expanded skills in trades and perhaps raised self-esteem and community pride. These may be the aspects that open doors for Canadian mining in even more parts of the world.

L’exploitation minière au Canada : bien plus qu’une simple exploitation Le Congrès international sur les mines (World Mining Congress), organisé par l’ICM à Montréal, a pris fin, et cela me fait réfléchir à la place du Canada sur la scène internationale. Les sociétés minières canadiennes utilisent, nous le savons, des technologies d’exploitation de pointe. Notre personnel d’exploitation définit les normes internationales en matière de productivité, et nous avons recours aux meilleures pratiques en matière de gérance de l’environnement. Partout dans le monde, les sociétés minières canadiennes sont considérées comme des partenaires commerciaux de prédilection par les gouvernements et les communautés. Les institutions financières canadiennes ont une réputation exceptionnelle en matière de financement de projets. En bref, nous sommes fiers que l’exploitation minière canadienne montre l’exemple. Cependant, être chef de file s’accompagne d’obligations. Nous devons non seulement assurer l’excellence de tous les points susmentionnés, mais en tant qu’industrie, nous devons également nous efforcer de renforcer la qualité de l’industrie internationale en encourageant, voire même en insistant pour que nos homologues mènent leurs efforts quotidiens avec autant de dévouement afin de tirer la même fierté de leur performance. La portée mondiale de l’exploitation minière canadienne ne repose pas seulement sur quelques sociétés ; elle représente également un vaste ensemble de personnes qualifiées, qui sont des employés expatriés et des conseillers internationaux précieux. Ce sont les personnes qui exportent les meilleurs comportements commerciaux et pratiques d’exploitation canadiens, tout en dispensant les conseils et la formation nécessaires à l’amélioration des compétences et des capacités au sein des communautés. Lorsque nous évoquons avec les chefs de file des communautés ce qu’une nouvelle exploitation minière peut offrir, nous insistons trop souvent sur les impacts mesurables et finaux, notamment l’augmentation de l’emploi, une plus grande assiette fiscale et d’autres considérations de ce genre. Il serait bon d’également attirer l’attention sur d’autres améliorations pouvant être mesurées indirectement ou de manière plus holistique, telles que des compétences élargies et peut-être une plus grande estime de soi et un sentiment de fierté communautaire. Ces aspects pourraient ouvrir davantage de portes à l’exploitation minière canadienne dans encore bien d’autres régions du monde. 8 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

the best in new technology

Courtesy of Tyco

Courtesy of Donaldson Company

OF TOOLS THE TRADE

◢ Beat the heat Tyco Fire Protection Products offers simplicity with its new Ansul liquid vehicle system (LVS). In an onboard vehicle fire, the system’s nozzles spray a wet chemical agent that suppresses Class A and Class B flames while cooling fuel and hot metal. According to Mark Neumann, director of preengineered systems, extensive testing produced a consistent and easily-installed design that runs discreet, out-of-the-way delivery lines to every fire hazard and hot spot. “We considered the variety of machinery and types of hazards and developed LVS to suppress fires in a way that would protect people, property and profitability,” he says. While it can be combined with a dry chemical system, LVS also works well on its own. Discharging to cool and coat flammable fuels, LVS “cools to a non-reflash point about seven minutes quicker than if only a dry chemical system were used,” says Neumann. “That’s a big deal.”

◢ Filter early and often Customers of Donaldson Company can now buy easy-toinstall clean diesel fuel kits for their bulk fuel storage systems. Multiple bulk fuel filters are designed to catch major contamination problems before they plug up engine filters. The extra filtering also helps diesel stay clean enough for modern high-pressure common rail fuel injection systems, where hard contaminants of more than a few microns can permanently damage the injector system. The kits remove both these and injector-fouling hydrocarbons for better engine performance. The filter units come in three different packages – standard, high capacity, and clean and dry – and protect stored fuel by removing moisture and particulates from air entering the tank. Scott Grossbauer, global manager of clean fuel and lubricant solutions, says the kits help out customers who previously had to source six or seven separate filter system components.

Joy Global’s Track Shield system prevents or mitigates dipper-track collisions on its electric shovels by automatically modifying the dipper’s trajectory. If an operator pulls the joystick hard enough to knock the track with the dipper, Track Shield kicks in to reduce the impact of that motion. Eric Hsieh, product manager of surface mining technology, says less-experienced operators particularly appreciate the system because it allows them to work fast without damaging crawler shoes through repeated impact – a problem that has only grown with wide tracks like those used in oil sands operations. “It was our goal to prevent the most damaging collisions and to decrease the kinetic energy in the collisions that do make it through,” he explains. Hsieh says each sale of Track Shield can be tuned to the mine’s practices, with personnel adjusting parameters and even allowing gentle collisions, if preferred. 10 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

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the best in new technology

Courtesy of Nexcom

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OF TOOLS THE TRADE

◢ Filling up underground

Nexcom’s new vehicle mount computer for mining equipment, the VMC 3000, is built to handle complex tasks in harsh environments. General manager Steven Wu says that while many operations use low-powered computers for basic tracking, he is seeing a trend toward highperformance computers that provide the intelligence needed to combine functions like collision prevention and tire monitoring. The VMC 3000’s Intel Core i7-2610UE processor comes in a water- and dust-proof enclosure with a 10.4inch touch screen readable in sunlight. Wu says the computer’s input/output connections are very secure, and he notes that its components withstand the shockwaves created by dynamite blasts. The VMC 3000 is available with a tracking system through Nexcom’s partner, Red Dog Logistics. Building on the available computing power, Red Dog Logistics software allows drivers to map routes, print shipping documents, monitor vehicle and material status, and share information with dispatchers.

12 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

◢ As the drone flies Lehmann Aviation’s LP960 drone helps miners calculate their raw material volumes from the air. Equipped with a 16-megapixel Sony camera, the unmanned aerial vehicle captures the images needed for orthomosaic or digital elevation mapping, offering an alternative to on-the-ground measurements. “Before the drone, it took a very long time to do it on foot,” says CEO Benjamin Lehmann. The LP960 also records regular aerial photography and video. The 1.25-kilogram craft is light enough to launch by hand and can withstand 45-kilometre-per-hour wind speeds. It travels at 20 to 80 kilometres per hour and has a line-of-sight range of up to five kilometres. Controlled from a standing console, it can be operated automatically or manually. “People can very easily use our software on the go with a Windows 8 tablet,” says Lehmann. He adds that for an established drone manufacturer, the asking price is cheap: not counting the locally purchased camera, the LP960 starts at $9,550.

Courtesy of Lehmann Aviation

◢ Can-do computer

Underground Force has built its UG30FLT articulating fuel and lube delivery truck on a proven Caterpillar chassis, in response to customer demand for durable underground equipment. “This is the first-ever underground fuel and lube truck built on a Caterpillar chassis,” says Jodi McKenzie, director of marketing at parent company Ground Force Worldwide, which specializes in mine support equipment. “Customers will save money over time by not having to replace less reliable solutions.” With storage capacity of 1,500 gallons of fuel and 400 gallons of lubricant and coolant, the truck is designed for use in all underground operations. The body includes fully baffled product tanks, new and used filter storage, and an enclosed reel compartment with roll-up doors. The chassis is equipped with safety features such as push-out safety glass, a rear window guard, three-point cabin and machine access, and exhaust heat shielding for more hazardous underground conditions.

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the best in new technology

◢ That special glow

Courtesy of Telsmith

By designing its new cone crusher with fewer total parts, customers can expect to spend less time on maintenance with Telsmith’s T300 cone crusher, says marketing manager Chad McClaskey. “The T300 contains less total parts, including no socket, socket liner, head ball and accumulators, which rewards the customer during routine maintenance periods,” he says. “A specific example is the Telsmith T300 eccentric that takes a mere 20 minutes to remove, versus nearly two hours for similar competitive models.” The T300’s design replaces more conventional parts with a patented hydraulic release system and hybrid bearings that float on a film of oil and add extra lift. It also features a large-clearing circuit, designed to help uncrushable materials exit safely and quickly. The output capacity of the 300-horsepower crusher ranges from 125 to 400 tonnes per hour.

Pneumacore Inc. has designed a version of its Simoniz Sealtite tire conditioners, called Sentry, to reveal tire flaws under low-visibility conditions. Sentry fluoresces under UV light, highlighting rim cracks, bead leaks, and punctures before they can lead to catastrophic failures. It works equally well by day or by night, according to Seth Schneider, vice-president of development, who explains that Sentry is installed into the tire when it is mounted. “During operation, the conditioner splashes around, coating the rim and tire,” he says. “If there are any leaks, cracks or punctures, the conditioner seeps out and can then be seen from the outside.” Maintenance personnel shine a UV light on the tire during regular inspections to catch hard-tofind cracks. Courtesy of Pneumacore Inc.

◢ Speeding up the routine

◢ Security on sight visibility in near real time with automatic detection capabilities. The person in charge of security for the site is able to see what’s happening all around – people walking, a vehicle coming by – with a very high resolution and at a very long range.” The Spynel-S can detect a person at six kilometres and a vehicle at 12 kilometres. A couple of cameras can secure miles of fence lines. Couturier says HGH’s traditional military and maritime client base has expanded to include miners building projects in unsafe locales. Courtesy of HGH Infrared Systems

The Spynel-S camera from HGH Infrared Systems gives companies facing security threats a 360-degree view of their surroundings. Unlike typical radar and closed-circuit television set-ups that have limited peripheral vision, the Spynel-S quickly distinguishes animals, people and vehicles without any soda straw effect. “It’s an innovative solution in the way that it combines the advantages of radar with those of a thermal camera,” general manager Vanessa Couturier says. “This unique sensor gives you full panoramic

Compiled by Eavan Moore 14 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

TECHNOLOGY

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news | industry at a glance

Anglo American head Mark Cutifani at the World Mining Congress in Montreal last month.

Cutifani pitches long-term view Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani did not mince words when speaking about the mining industry’s lack of long-term vision at the World Mining Congress in Montreal last month. He explained that while mines can claim an abundance of resources, they have not been able to convert them into reserves, as many mineral deposits are declining in scope and quality. “We have selectively developed our mines with short-term economic performance in mind,” he said. “We have preferentially depleted low-cost resources, leaving the world to bear the brunt of increasing commodity prices driven by

the compounding cost increases of extracting these lower quality resources. “We, as an industry, are woefully under-spending on innovation and business improvement programs, given the state of our extraction challenges,” he said, adding the mining industry spends 80 per cent less on technology research and innovation than the petroleum sector on a revenue-to-revenue basis. “If we, as leaders in the mining industry, continue with our traditional conversations around incremental innovation and change, the mining [companies] of today will simply become subsidiaries of grander and more efficient industrial conglomerates,” he said. “What I am challenging everyone in this room to do is put aside our petty competitive issues and concerns and start thinking about the much bigger picture that we’re all a part of.” As for Anglo American, Cutifani said the company needs to see the potential of new technologies and adapt them more quickly than its competitors. While long-term thinking can be difficult to reconcile with a CEO’s role of immediately making shareholders money, Cutifani told CIM Magazine that it comes down to balancing short-term priorities with long-term investments. “Sometimes we have to make tough calls and not everybody will agree with

us. But if the CEO won’t do it, who will?” he said. “I think it’s a little too easy for people to make the easy calls and not back the long term on the basis that they might not be there for more than five years. I think that’s a short-term view and, in the end, it’s hurt our – Herb Mathisen industry.”

Potash dust up The collapse of one of two major global potash export partnerships has thrown markets into disarray and raised questions over major investments in Canada. In late July, Russian fertilizer company Uralkali stopped exports through its BPC joint venture with Belaruskali, leading to a decline in potash prices and share volatility for producers. Uralkali predicts potash prices will fall by about 25 per cent to below US$300 per tonne. That leaves Canpotex, which exports for PotashCorp, Mosaic and Agrium, and accounts for about one third of the global trade of fertilizer, as the remaining cartel. PotashCorp CEO Bill Doyle played down the impact of Uralkali’s announcement, pointing out that rifts have happened before and saying this latest one is unlikely to have a major impact on North America. “Uralkali is not going to determine what the price is in the U.S.,” Doyle said in a company

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release. “They are not in a position to do that.” He added that he does not “see any change in Canpotex whatsoever.” A number of other miners with projects in the pipeline are surely hoping Doyle is correct. Goldman Sachs estimates that BHP Billiton’s Jansen project in Saskatchewan will have a capex in the vicinity of $12 billion with a resource base of over three billion tonnes. To date, BHP Billiton has spent about $1.2 billion of pre-commitment capital on the project, which could produce eight million tonnes per annum in 2020. In late August, the company announced it would invest an additional $2.6 billion into Jansen for surface infrastructure construction and to complete production and service shafts. K+S’s Legacy project has projected investment of $4.1 billion for a new Saskatchewan mine. In its second-quarter earnings statement, the company said the project had advanced according to plan and that it “will continuously monitor the competitive environment, include findings in our planning and prepare for potential changes” to its operations. – Anna Reitman

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Rio Tinto decides diamonds may be forever after all Rio Tinto has appointed a new managing director for the diamond division it was trying to sell as recently as this summer. Jean-Marc Lieberherr is stepping into the role after serving as the division’s chief commercial officer. He has worked for the diamond division since 2005, having got his start in the marketing department. The company operates three diamond mines: the wholly owned Argyle mine in Australia; the 60-per-cent-owned Diavik mine in Canada; and the 78-per-cent-owned Murowa mine in Zimbabwe. An advanced exploration project in India is also part of its diamond business. The company put the whole division on the market in March 2012, but the sale was complicated by the fact that Rio’s partner at Diavik, Dominion Diamond Corporation, has right of first refusal on Rio’s stake in that mine. Rio Tinto took the division off the market in June, stating that “the medium- to long-term market fundamentals for diamonds remain robust, fuelled by growing demand for luxury goods in Asia and continuing strong demand in North America.” The company opened an underground mine at Argyle in April, after operating the mine as an open pit for 27 years. – Virginia Heffernan

Agnico Eagle to cut spending at Meliadine Toronto-based Agnico Eagle Mines announced in its secondquarter financial report that it would cut roughly $200 million in capital spending in 2014, with the bulk of the cuts coming at its Meliadine gold project in development near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Spending will be reduced from an estimated $125 million at Meliadine to $45 million next year. The company plans to cut $10 million there this year as well. “I think what’s important is that $45 million is essentially for the ramp,” said CEO Sean Boyd in an investors’ call. “We’re continuing to ramp development to open up the ore body, access the deposit, and

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September 2013 | 17

Courtesy of De Beers

news | industry at a glance that leaves us flexibility in the schedule that, if our board gives approval to the project about a year from now, we can still meet the start-up target date of late2018.” The falling price of gold was cited as a factor in the decision. Agnico Eagle is currently working on the mine’s feasibility study, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2014. – H.M.

N.W.T. projects moving ahead Good things come in threes, or at least they did for project developers in the Northwest Territories. In the span of one week in July, three different mine projects got approvals from review boards or governments. On July 19, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB) gave conditional approval of the proposed Gahcho Kué diamond mine, a joint venture between De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds, 280

The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board conditionally approved De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds’ jointly-owned Gahcho Kué diamond project in July.

kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. After evaluating its environmental impact review, the board recommended the federal government allow the project to proceed to permitting and licensing, but only if the owners meet a series

of conditions, including mine and winter road mitigation measures to reduce “significant” impacts posed to local caribou herds. That same day, Fortune Minerals got the thumbs up from the federal and Tlicho

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governments on its proposed Nico gold, cobalt, bismuth and copper mine, 150 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife. This allows the company to move the project into the permitting phase. Fortune hopes to begin construction on Nico in 2014. Then, on July 26, MVEIRB approved Avalon Rare Metals’ environmental assessment for its Nechalacho rare earth element project, subject to water management and wildlife protection and monitoring conditions. The 220-page report stated the company must also complete a socio-economic agreement with the territorial government on jobs and training for local residents. Avalon must now wait for the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development to decide whether to approve the project or not. – H.M.

TransCanada turns east TransCanada announced it will seek approvals for the 1.1million barrel per day Energy East Pipeline project. The C$12 billion project involves converting 3,000 kilometres of natural gas pipeline so it can carry oil. It would stretch to 4,400 kilometres when completed, linking Alberta with refineries in Eastern Canada. TransCanada said there was “strong market support” for 900,000 barrels per day of firm, long-term contracts to transport western crude out east. This supply would replace foreign imports and allow for export across the Atlantic. Whether or not the pipeline receives political support remains to be seen, considering the stiff opposition to other proposals such as Keystone XL, which is awaiting a final report from the U.S. State Department before the end of the year. TransCanada president and CEO Russ Girling said both pipelines are required to transport growing supplies of Canadian and U.S. crude oil to existing North American markets. Pending public and regulatory reviews, Energy East’s planned starting point is a new tank terminal in Hardisty, Alberta. Three other terminals in Saskatchewan, Quebec City, and Saint John, will be built along the route and oil will be delivered to existing refineries in Montreal, Quebec City, and Saint John. The pipeline would terminate at Canaport, New Brunswick, where TransCanada and Irving Oil have formed a joint venture to build and operate a new deep water marine terminal. Regulatory applications for approvals will start in 2014, and the pipeline is anticipated to be in service by late-2017 for deliveries in Quebec, and in 2018 for New Brunswick. – A.R.

Victoria project advances KGHM and Vale have reached an agreement on the Victoria polymetallic exploration project in Sudbury, Ontario. KGHM will build and operate Victoria as the sole owner of the project, and Vale will take a 2.2 per cent net smelter return royalty on all future production. KGHM declined to provide further detail on the confidential agreement. The estimated value of the first five years of the offtake deal, though, is $1.17 billion. September 2013 | 19

news | industry at a glance Polish copper miner KGHM International acquired mineral rights to Quadra FNX’s global operations, including Victoria, for about $3 billion in 2012. Adrian McFadden, vice-president of underground operations for KGHM, said the deposit on the southwestern rim starts at one kilometre below surface and is similar to Glencore Xstrata’s Nickel Rim South deep high-grade deposit. The Victoria project’s Inferred Resource is 14.5 million tonnes at 2.4 per cent copper, 2.5 per cent nickel and 7.4 grams per tonne of total precious metals, which includes platinum, palladium and gold. The company’s focus will now turn to finalizing arrangements with local First Nations and to obtaining the required permits and capital approvals to move the project forward. It is expected that site preparation and construction will begin later this year. McFadden explained that the first phase of the project will include the sinking of

an exploration shaft along with surface construction that will allow for underground drilling. The delineation of the ore body will help determine if the project will be further developed into a fullscale production mine. “The success of Phase 1 would result in the mine being in operation well into the 2030s, with capital expenditure in excess of $1 billion and have the potential for hundreds of jobs in the community,” McFadden added. – A.R.

Asteroids close enough to mine? Researchers in Scotland have identified a dozen asteroids they say could be maneuvered into accessible orbit and then mined. Working with a database of 9,000 “near-earth objects,” a team at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, found 12 space rocks that could be moved to points where the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth are in

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balance, making it possible to mine the asteroids. Published in the August edition of Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, the research includes a search and ranking methodology to find future candidates for mining. “Their methodology is interesting and relevant,” says Chris Lewicki, president of Planetary Resources, the Seattle-based company working to explore and eventually mine asteroids using robotic spacecraft. “But, with the exception of one, the asteroids in their report are very small, just a few metres in diameter, much smaller than objects we would consider from a resource standpoint.” Lewicki says the economic viability of asteroids depends on size, accessibility and composition. Asteroids, he said, should be at least 50 metres in diameter to make sense financially. “Our near-term interest is asteroids that have volatiles on them and most specifically water. Broadly speaking, that

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industry at a glance | news means we are looking for carbonaceous asteroids,” he added. Water, in space, can be used as a propellant to fuel spacecraft and also as protection from solar radiation. – V.H.

Yukon mine to shut down this winter To avoid selling silver at its current weaker price, Alexco Resource Corp. announced in July that it will shut down its Bellekeno silver mine over the winter. The news comes on the heels of second-quarter production of 576,155 silver ounces – an increase of 52 per cent from the previous quarter. According to Vicki Veltkamp, vicepresident of investor relations, the company has not yet set a date to reopen the mine. “We will spend the [time] focusing on changing the parameters of what is now a high fixed cost operation to lower some of those costs,” she said, adding it will also develop a plan to potentially produce silver at other deposits on its large Keno Hill property. “If we can attain those goals, along with some strength in the silver market, we would anticipate going back into production next year.” She added that production costs are more volume-driven than seasonally driven at Bellekeno, meaning it is not significantly more expensive to operate in winter than in summer. Silver had been trading as high as US$35 per ounce last October, but closed at US$19.41 per ounce on July 17, when the decision was announced. – H.M.

Feds pony up for Ring of Fire mine training The Canadian government has committed more than $5.9 million to provide mining sector training for First Nations groups in northern Ontario. An agreement creating the Ring of Fire Aboriginal Training Alliance (RoFATA) was signed by the Matawa First Nations, Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (KKETS), Noront Resources and Confederation College of Applied Arts and Technology.

Noront’s chairman and interim CEO Paul Parisotto said having access to a trained local workforce as it develops and operates the Eagle’s Nest nickel, copper, platinum and palladium deposit is a priority for the company. Aside from Eagle’s Nest, the Ring of Fire is home to massive chromite deposits, but miners continue to tackle infrastructure challenges and work to gain trust in the region’s remote communities. Greg Rickford, minister responsible for the Ring of Fire, said that by working with organizations such as KKETS, which will be assessing training applicant interest and qualifications, the federal government is “ensuring that the members of our local aboriginal communities can take full advantage of the opportunities being generated by the rapidly growing mining industry the Ring of Fire has to offer.” RoFATA partners will travel this fall to Matawa First Nations’ nine communities to promote and discuss training programs that will be delivered in Thun– A.R. der Bay.

reach full production by the end of the year. Once fully ramped up, Mount Milligan is slated to produce an average of 81 million pounds of copper and 194,500 ounces of gold annually, over a 22-year mine life, employing about 350 people during operations. Perron will also oversee Thompson Creek’s other assets in North America, including two operating molybdenum mines (Thompson Creek in Idaho, and Endako in B.C.), a stand-alone metals roasting facility (Langeloth in Pennsylvania), and a number of properties in various stages of development. Perron has a bachelor of science in mining engineering from Montreal’s École Polytechnique and has worked in the mining industry for almost 30 years. – V.H.

Got a lead on a hot story? Email editor@cim.org and give us the scoop.

Perron to lead Thompson Creek Former St. Andrew Goldfields president and CEO Jacques Perron will lead Thompson Creek Metals into a new era as production at the Mount Milligan copper mine in British Columbia begins. Perron will succeed Kevin Loughrey, who is retiring as CEO at the beginning of November. Director Timothy Haddon will become chairman. The open pit copper-gold mine is expected to September 2013 | 21

news

Surviving the flood Oil sands companies adapt to avoid heavy impacts on production

Courtesy of Wilson Hui

by Dave Kaufman

The Bow River floods downtown Calgary on June 21. Estimated damages to the city from flooding have been pegged at $400 million.

Calgary’s second “flood of the century” in the last eight years hit in June and while it had dire consequences for Canada’s oil and gas capital, the effects on oil sands companies were minimal

due to efficient emergency responses and preventive action. At the peak of the crisis, more than 75,000 Calgary residents were evacuated from their homes, and the flooding

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Bow and Elbow Rivers made it impossible for many to go to work in the downtown core. Dozens of communities along many Alberta rivers declared states of emergency, and parts of northern Alberta also experienced flooding due to the snow melt and large amounts of rain. Enbridge, the largest transporter of western Canadian crude oil to the United States, closed its 17-kilometrelong Line 37 pipeline after discovering a leak on June 22, due to heavy rainfall in the Fort McMurray region. The company also shut two more of its pipelines in the area as a precautionary measure. According to Enbridge, the majority of the 750 barrels of light synthetic crude oil released from the Line 37 spill has been recovered. The line returned to full service in late July. Suncor was affected by the pipeline closures. Media manager Sneh Seetal said the shutdown of Enbridge’s regional pipeline system reduced the company’s aggregate June production by around two million barrels. “That’s

news

just lost,” she said. “Obviously we will work hard to con- Anderson, spokesperson for the Canadian Association of tinue to produce what we can safely and reliably, but two Petroleum Producers. “Calgary is an incredible city. Everymillion barrels would not be something that would be easy body stepped up, put on their boots, rolled up their sleeves to make up. and helped out.” CIM “[We tried to] minimize the work on our oil sands operation as a result of those shutdowns by as much as possible,” Seetal said. “We put more product in storage and used our storage to capacity. And also we do have a pipeline from our oil sands operation that helped to take away product.” Enbridge closed its Calgary offices during the flood and implemented its business recovery plan, which, according to the company, ensured that critical functions of their operations continued without interruption. Seetal said one thing Suncor tried to be very cognizant of was that “the city of Calgary was asking people not to overload the public systems in terms of transportation, phones, cable, and Internet. [We] really worked hard to respect their request and asked that employees working critical functions work remotely and others to perhaps volunteer in the community if they were so inclined during that time.” The company set up additional workspaces at its office near Calgary’s Mount The HVF (High Volume Froth Pump) removes air Royal University, outside of the downfrom the impeller eye while running, which allows town core on the southwest end of town continuous operation and improved efficiency. and away from the major flooding. The Yara, a phosphate plant in Finland, had pumps one caveat for Suncor employees was which were not able to provide the required that if they wanted to work, “it had to be flow and were air locking at only 1/3 process safe for them to get there,” said Seetal. design capacity. After installing the HVF pump A number of oil and gas companies, they superceded their design capacity and have including Suncor, also reached into their Froth Pump achieved a flow of 415 m3/hr. Visit us at the Oil pocketbooks to make substantial donaSands Show, booth #3218 to learn more. tions to flood relief efforts. Among them were Statoil Canada and PTTEP Canada www.giwindustries.com Limited, which gave $500,000 each, and 1.706.863.1011 Husky Energy and ConocoPhillips, which each donated $1 million. Cenovus contributed $1 million and also pledged A KSB Company t to match any employee’s donation, up to Pumps Valves Service a maximum of $25,000 per employee. “Many companies made donations to flood relief organizations,” said Geraldine

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September 2013 | 23

news

Deficient disclosure Securities commissions take companies to task for non-compliance by Anna Reitman In June, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) published its compliance review of technical reports filed by the province’s mining issuers. The regulator found an “unacceptable” level of non-compliance and sent a strong message to issuers and Qualified Persons that they need to further improve their disclosures. OSC oversees some 460 mining issuers in Ontario, accounting for about 40 per cent of all the publicly listed companies in the province. Of the 50 technical reports reviewed, 80 per cent had some form of noncompliance and 40 per cent had at least one major concern. The report outlined that non-compliant issuers should anticipate requests for refilings, additional disclosure or other actions if they have not fully met the conditions of the technical report and disclosures under National Instrument 43-101. NI 43-101 came into force in early 2001 in the wake of the $6-billion Bre-X gold mining fraud. Though the regulation was initially viewed as heavy-

24 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

handed, it has since become a global quality standard. Craig Waldie, senior geologist at OSC, said the regulator’s compliance review was intended to provide issuers with some guidance. “We were aware when doing reviews on prospectuses that there were some areas of noncompliance,” he said. The most significant areas had to do with transparency around mining resource estimates, permitting and social or community impact, capital and operating costs and economic analysis. Waldie said more problems were noted when the technical report was completed by sole proprietors, particularly those based outside of Canada. Deborah McCombe, one of CIM’s representatives on CRIRSCO (Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards), said that regulators’ educational efforts are predominantly focused on report authors based in Canada, so international authors may not be aware of changes to NI 43101 that came into effect in 2011. Those changes included the reporting

of calculations for contained metal, the conditions under which historical estimates can be used, and the definition of a Qualified Person, among others. NI 43-101 is a prescriptive report, and foreign jurisdictions that do not have such rigid standards might not be as conscious of the consequences of non-compliance, noted Garth Kirkham, consulting geoscientist and chair of CIM’s Best Practices Committee. “There is a significant liability to errors and omissions, or making false or misleading statements,” he said. “Practitioners overseas might not see it that way because it is different in their country.” CRIRSCO has members of National Reporting Organizations from Australasia, Chile, Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and western Europe, Russia and South Africa. It has developed an international template for the reporting of mineral resources and mineral reserves, and encourages more jurisdictions to adopt a CRIRSCO-style reporting standard. “The goal is to standardize the reporting definitions internationally so

investors can have confidence in the information and make informed investment decisions wherever the mineral property is located,” said McCombe. The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), which oversees 1,150 mining companies, conducted its own review that was published in 2012. Robert Holland, BCSC’s chief mining advisor, said the most common deficiencies related to consents, certificates and disclaimers of responsibility. “It happens enough that we think it is not accidental,” he said. Holland said the issues identified in the OSC review are broadly consistent with BCSC findings, though he pointed out that a higher proportion of juniors are represented in the BCSC report. Typically, companies found in breach of NI 43-101 will get a comment letter or request to refile a corrected technical report. If there are disclosure issues, a news release is required to notify investors. Where there are significant public interest concerns, a cease trade order (CTO) could be issued. CTOs are used sparingly. Of 300 companies reviewed in British Columbia last year, only six were ordered to stop trading; still, it is a figure that is high compared to previous years, said Holland. OSC did not provide a comparable statistic. Lengthy CTOs are not common, said Kirkham, and the securities commission is open to discussion throughout the process. “It is not a one-way street,” he explained. “If you feel you have a case, there is the option of phoning and straightening it out.” But there are cautionary tales. Barkerville Gold Mines, for example, was halted by BCSC for nearly a year after the company claimed one of its projects may hold the geological potential for between 65 and 90 million ounces of gold. Kirkham’s advice to technical report writers is to have reports peer reviewed, take a yearly refresher course on NI 43-101, and to re-read the form before and after filling it out: “Adhering to industry leading practices is a practitioner’s best defence if there is a potential problem.” Feedback from consulting firms, legal professionals and individual Qualified Persons has been positive, said OSC’s Waldie. “They appreciate the guidance.” For investors, he added, it is important they have access to full, complete and transparent information. “I wouldn’t say there are alarmist issues identified from our review, but it is a wake-up call because the issuers are ultimately responsible for the disclosure,” he said. Kirkham said what he has taken from the OSC review is that there is room for improvement, but he added that the level and quality of work in Canada is the best in the world. “The one thing that NI 43-101 has done that we will never know about is all the scandals that it prevented,” he said. CIM

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MiHR program certifies 500th miner Canadian Mining Certification program secures footing by Krystyna Lagowski When the 500th worker was certified by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), through the Canadian Mining Certification program (CMCP) this summer, it was more than a proud moment. It meant that the program was gaining traction within the Canadian mining industry. “We reached our 500th worker certification faster than we expected,” said Barbara Kirby, senior director, workforce development at MiHR. “About a quarter of those who were certified were with a mine that was closing. Now, these miners can take a nationally recognized skills package to potential employers, easing the hiring challenge on both sides.”

The CMCP was launched in 2011, in response to MiHR’s labour market information that indicated a need to hire 145,000 new workers over the next 10 years. The organization created a national certification program with standards set up for underground miners, surface miners, mineral processing operators and diamond drillers. “These occupations were among the highest in demand,” said Kirby. “Also, we chose occupations that have no other forms of national recognition.” Workplace assessors at companies are selected and trained by MiHR to evaluate candidates under the CMCP process. This person then assesses, validates and records a candidate’s skills

while they perform tasks. The assessments are compiled in a report, and once it is completed and submitted to MiHR, the worker is certified. When a skilled worker achieves this certification, the benefit is felt by many throughout the industry. The worker can put his or her expertise to good use anywhere in the country following a mine closure or a transfer to a new site. And employers who want to hire workers who are certified to that national standard are appreciative, since it streamlines their hiring process. There are other benefits for employers. Denis Beaudoin, corporate director of health and safety for Cementation Canada Inc., hoped to leverage the

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26 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

company’s participation in CMCP during big proposals to potential clients. “Indicating that our miners are certified to national occupational standards gives us an upper hand on other contractors,” he said. Beaudoin, who has also served on the MiHR certification standing committee for four years, admitted they did not think the certification program would catch on as quickly as it did. “There are some companies that already have their own training program in place, and MiHR thought they might find it too expensive or redundant to become involved,” Beaudoin said. “But it’s an investment.” He predicted that CMCP will help the industry address the impending skills shortage. “Everyone needs recognition for their work,” Beaudoin said. “How are we going to attract young people coming out of university and college? How are we going to compete with other industries that have these programs [for electricians, engineers and mechanics]? Only by implementing one of our own.” At Imperial Oil’s Kearl Oil Sands project, the certification program is being run alongside the company’s own training program. “There’s incredible value for utilizing this as one of the tools to attract and retain employees,” said Gary Butters, mine training co-ordinator at Kearl Oil Sands. “We now have the ability to accredit our operators with a recognized skill, not just a trade. People who have been mining all their lives, have multiple years of experience, and are finally being recognized – they’re pretty excited about it.” Having recently gone into production, Kearl has recruited employees from all over Canada.

“Some come with experience, some without,” Butters explained. “We’re giving them certification on site to be able to operate our equipment, and at the same time, completing these formal records of assessment for the CMCP program.” Butters said it is important for building a positive culture at Kearl. “We’re going to have to recruit a lot of people in the next few years, and we have to do everything in our power to get the best people that we can,” he added. Mike MacPherson, training superintendent at Rio Tinto’s Diavik diamond mine, said benefits exist for both miners and employers. “Recognizing worker accomplishments with a national standard is meaningful to miners but also helps the employer because it gives us a way to acknowledge the training and competency they already have,” he said. “We have an established training program, but CMCP is an assessment of competencies, so we can cover both requirements at the same time. “We have a social responsibility to smaller northern communities, and this program offers capacity building,” MacPherson noted. “We want to contribute and help with professional development at an individual level, and this program helps us do that.” Ultimately, the program will open up to more occupations and may even apply to Canadian operations around the globe. “I think it has the potential to have a much larger impact,” said Kirby, adding that the total number of certified workers has already reached 560. “And with all this momentum, we’re well on track to complete our 1,000th certification ahead of schedule.” CIM

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September 2013 | 27

news

One Giant mess Feds told to find permanent solution for Giant mine cleanup by Andrew Livingstone

Herb Mathisen

For years, many have questioned the federal government’s ability to remediate the once prosperous, now arsenic-laden Giant mine in Yellowknife, N.W.T. Located on the rocky shore of Great Slave Lake, the mine contains 237,000 tonnes of water-soluble arsenic trioxide and 13.5 million tonnes of contaminated tailings spread over 95 hectares – the equivalent of around 175 football fields. Since Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) took control of the site’s remediation in 1999, after then-owner Royal Oak Mines Inc. went bankrupt, a full cleanup has been discussed and debated ad The Giant mine in Yellowknife, N.W.T., produced roughly 7.6 million ounces of gold from 1948 to 2004. While the city owes nauseum. much of its existence to Giant, this positive legacy is being supplanted by the toxic mess it left behind. But in June, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board decided to approve the environenvironment. This so-called frozen block Given the review board’s 27 recommental assessment for the federal govmethod, according to the government, mendations that come with approval, ernment’s plan to freeze the arsenic “offers the least risk, including low risk to however, AANDC will have to address trioxide in 15 giant underground chamworker health and safety, and low risk of hard truths about Giant mine that were bers and isolate it from the surrounding arsenic release over the long term.” overlooked in the frozen block approach. For one, the board has noted public concern over the project’s indefinite time frame: “Given enough time, the project is eventually likely to cause significant adverse effects.” Approving the project in perpetuity would have increased the likelihood that an ecological disaster could result from uncommon events like massive CALL FOR NOMINATIONS L’APPEL AUX CANDIDATURES flooding or an earthquake, said Alan IS NOW OPEN EST LANCÉ Ehrlich, the board’s manager of environmental assessments and lead on the VOUS AVEZ ÉTÉ PAR AR U UNE NE IMP R E S SED BY T HE W O R K O F V OUS A VEZ É TÉ IIMPRESSIONNÉ MP R E S SI O NNÉ P Giant mine file. The board recomENTREPRISE OU UN NP PROFESSIONNEL R O F E S SI O NNEL D DE E A COMPA N Y OR A PROFE SSION A L E N T R EP R I SE O UU VOTRE DOMAINE I N YO U R F I E L D ? V OT RE D O M A INE ? mended reducing the project’s time frame to 100 years. “The board felt it SOUMETTEZ LEURS S U BMI T T HEIR S O UME T T E Z L EUR S CANDIDATURES EN LIGNE I GNE A AU U NOMIN ATIONS ONLINE AT C A NDIDATURE S E NL would create an acceptable level of risk WWW.CIM.ORG/PRIX W W W.CIM.ORG/AWARDS W W W.CIM.ORG/PRIX and reduce the probability of these kinds of things happening,” Ehrlich DEADLINE: DECEMBER 1, 2013 D DATE AT E L LIMITE IMITE : 1 D DÉCEMBRE ÉC E MBRE 2 2013 013 said. Before settling on the frozen block The winners will be recognized at the 2014 CIM Convention in Vancouver. Les gagnants seront honorés au gala du Congrès de l’ICM 2014 à Vancouver. method, which would cost $1.9 million annually in perpetuity, the government

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28 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

reviewed 56 management alternatives, including a more detailed look at 12 of those options. However, Ehrlich said, the environmental assessment was limited in scope, leaving the board just one option to evaluate, with no plans to look at future technological innovations. This, said Erlich, is a crucial point. In the past 100 years, technology has made the unimaginable a possibility. “One hundred years ago there was no television, no sliced bread, no ball point pens and arsenic was added to food as a preservative,” he said. For this reason, the board suggested the project also be reviewed every 20 years, to determine its effectiveness and whether a new technological innovation is able to deal with the mine’s toxic legacy. Funding was another key issue that influenced the recommendation to implement a 100-year time frame, said Ehrlich. “Many members of the public were concerned that the government’s priority on funding could change over the 100-year period,” he explained. “The public was worried about the longer term and the board felt the time period would be enough to meet the project’s objectives to make the initial implementation still worthwhile.” While the government says it is too early to determine how costs of the $400-million project may be affected by the board’s report, it will be reviewing the recommendations. In an email, an AANDC spokesperson indicated the government has four options: adopt the review board’s recommendations; refer the recommendations back to the review board for further consideration; consult the review board to adopt the recommendations with modifications; or consult the review board and escalate the proposed project to an environmental impact review by a panel. So if a permanent solution is the goal, are there any promising developments? Emerging technologies have not yet passed the litmus test, since the government researched other potentially viable options nearly a decade ago. One Canadian company believes it has a potential answer to the problem. Toronto-based BacTech inquired about the cleanup in 2012. Its bioleaching technology uses naturally occurring bacteria to stabilize toxic metal compounds in order to prevent future harmful leaching of the material into the environment. Without a completed project under its belt, BacTech recently secured funding to complete a number of studies on a potential arsenopyrite (the same compound found in Giant’s tailings ponds) cleanup project at the abandoned Snow Lake mine in Manitoba. The company hopes to develop the Snow Lake project at no taxpayer burden by recovering gold from the stockpile as revenue. These types of innovative technologies are what the board wants the government to look at continually over the course of the 100 years, said Ehrlich. CIM

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BBA IS RECRUITING IN TIMMINS! September 2013 | 29

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

Miners put energy into renewable power BY BRENDAN MARSHALL

enewable technologies and the economics of their publicly disclose their performance against them, has condeployment have improved and will likely continue to tributed positively to this. do so. Renewable power is appealing to miners because Nevertheless, energy costs are rising faster than efficiency it has the potential to reduce energy costs and environmental measures are progressing. From 1999 to 2010, the annual impacts while enhancing energy security and strengthening a bill for energy required for mining processes more than doucompany’s privilege to operate in communities. bled, costing Canadian miners $2.2 billion in 2010. Rising energy costs have increased miners’ focus on energy efficiency. The Canadian Just as miners need to go where the viable deposits are, Industrial Energy End-Use Data and Analysis Centre’s Energy Use renewable generation is contingent on the strength and Related Data report in 2012 and reliability of the renewable asset. noted that energy consumption by Canadian metal miners decreased by nearly 12 per cent from 1990 to 2011. The Mining Association of Canada’s This cost increase can largely be explained by the remote Towards Sustainable Mining initiative, whose energy proto- location of many Canadian mines, the lack of regional energy col requires all members to develop efficiency targets and infrastructure, and the resulting dependence on diesel generation. From 1999 to 2013, the average price of oil increased 10-fold, from roughly US$10 to more than US$100 per barrel. Heightened transportation costs also increase the price per unit of delivered fuel, pushing the cost of generation for some remote mines up to $0.30/kWh. With the price of oil forecasted to continue inching upward, miners are giving the benefits of renewable technologies greater consideration. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for wind, solar photovoltaic, concentrated solar power and some biomass technologies has steadily decreased, enhancing competitiveness relative to conventional technologies, particularly for off-grid generation. An International Renewable Energy Agency report released in January noted that the average LCOE for wind, biomass and solar technologies in North America are $0.08 kWh, $0.08 kWh and $0.16 kWh, respectively. These average prices do not account for additional capital costs associated with remote development. They also vary based on the quality of the renewable resource. Just as miners need to go where the viable deposits are located, renewable generation is contingent on the strength and reliability of the renewable asset. This restriction prevents renewable generation from becoming an industry-wide energy solution, no matter how improved the technology is. But for mines that have access to a viable renewable asset, diversifying energy portfolios with a reliable intermittent power source that simultaneously offsets their reliance on diesel has benefits that may merit the investment. Energy security is enhanced by reducing a company’s exposure to oil price spikes. Renewables can also improve a company’s security of supply. Some mines are dependent on

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columns seasonal transportation like winter ice roads for the delivery of essential supplies. The reliability of this seasonal infrastructure is contingent on a changing climate that can abruptly shorten the supply season, thus closing critical supply links. Offsetting the volume of required fuel enables companies to adapt to logistical variables beyond their control. The Diavik diamond mine wind farm project is a good example. Largely dependent on an ice road for resupply, the warm winter of 2006 exposed the remote mine’s vulnerability to varying climate conditions. The ice road opened late, closed early, and ice thickness did not reach full load capacity, requiring millions of dollars of supplies – namely diesel – to be flown in at a significant expense. The construction of four 2.3-megawatt wind turbines is expected to reduce annual diesel consumption by 10 per cent, saving $6 million every year. What is more, offsetting diesel consumption cuts the mine’s carbon footprint by 6 per cent – equivalent to 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions – and eliminates the need for 100 fuel truck resupply trips each year, reducing supply risk. With increasing pressure on industry from governments, investors and other stakeholders to operate in a sustainable manner, the environmental benefits associated with reduced oil consumption such as lower greenhouse gas emissions

could assist companies seeking to establish or strengthen their privilege to operate in communities near mineral deposits. Depending on the jurisdiction, reduced emissions may also support a company’s compliance obligations to a regional climate scheme. There is something poetic about finite resources being transformed into sustainable energy solutions. There is the natural synergy between mining and renewable generation: extracted products are transformed into technology that, having gone full circle, assist mining operations in reducing environmental footprints and in enhancing efficiency and reliability. While not a one-size-fits-all solution, the economics of renewable energy are improving, and the associated benefits are attractive for remote miners who can tap into them. CIM

Brendan Marshall is director of economic affairs at MAC. He works to advance the mining industry’s interests and understanding of key economic issues such as taxation, transportation, innovation, international trade and investment and energy and climate change.

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HR OUTLOOK

Managing the cycle through workforce planning BY COURTNAY HUGHES AND SARAH ZAHID

s the mining sector struggled through the first half of Even in a contractionary scenario, the mining industry will need 2013, companies encountered reduced access to to hire 116,860 new workers by 2023, with 62,550 of those financing and limp commodity pricing. The economic workers filling vacancies caused by impending retirements. climate has created a challenging business environment where mining organizations are forced Staying the course through these challenges and to take cautionary steps to stay competitive. Some companies have reacted by pressing staying engaged with the workforce can and will be pause on exploration projects, while others are a huge cost-saving measure over the long term. shedding assets, reducing production targets and in some cases downsizing, as they look toward leaner operations. The industry’s propensity to be caught in the ebbs and The volatility of the economy is unfortunately not the only flows of the economy continues to be a great challenge. Perissue the industry is facing. Globally, the mining sector is petually characterized by its cyclical nature, the tenacious forced to confront significant challenges in the attraction, turnaround in 2009 illustrated that once on a road to recovery, recruitment and retention of skilled workers. In a recent Min- the mining industry ramps up quickly. This is characterized by ing Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) survey, min- an escalation of competition for skilled labour, as companies ing employers estimated that roughly 20 per cent of their compete to find the human resources needed to drive their workforce was eligible to retire in the next three to five years. operations forward.

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columns In recent years, mining organizations have become increasingly cognizant of the human resources challenges facing the sector and in response have developed creative workforce strategies to mitigate some of this risk. A new MiHR study of strategic workforce planning highlights a variety of strategies applied by mining employers and other industry stakeholders to engage workers through the highs and lows of the economic cycle. Within the report, organizations shared both the challenges and successes with these strategies and provided valuable insight into the execution of these workforce initiatives. For one, Teck has implemented a knowledge transfer program to increase the retention of corporate knowledge by standardizing specific training initiatives and validating training outcomes. This program allows for a more nimble response to changes in workforce needs by capturing critical knowledge from retiring workers to be efficiently passed on in new worker training. Cameco has implemented a capacity planning strategy to measure and quantify specific labour needs for particular future production targets. Additionally, redeployment strategies have been implemented by a variety of mining organizations to share human resource capacity amongst projects and to retain key talent through the economic cycle. For mining companies with

multiple locations, offering an employee an opportunity at another site broadens that employee’s corporate knowledge, reduces external hiring costs and can be an important career development tool for employees who are moving into more senior leadership roles. Enlisting workforce strategies through the highs and lows experienced in the industry can be daunting, as resources are scarce and operational pressures mount to reduce costs. Spending money and time on staff initiatives seems counter-productive in the short term. However, as many organizations have demonstrated, staying the course through these challenges and staying engaged with the workforce can and will be a huge costsaving measure over the long term. Companies can reduce turnover rates, decrease time and resources spent on recruitment, and increase efficiencies as a result of improved performance and reduction in skills gaps through counter-cyclical workforce planning. CIM

Courtnay Hughes, research analyst with MiHR, leads strategic HR Management research initiatives in workforce planning, education-industry partnerships, and workforce diversity. Sarah Zahid, labour market economist with MiHR, contributes to various research projects, including the improvement and development of MiHR’s labour forecasting models.

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ENVIRONMENT

Changes to Fisheries Act put miners in unfamiliar waters BY DARCY LIGHTLE

o matter how much effort has gone into making the terminology clear or each regulation understandable, when new environmental legislation is announced, a period of uncertainty follows for companies, governments and non-governmental organizations. Such is the case with emerging changes to the federal Fisheries Act, many of which were contained within the federal government’s omnibus Bills C-38 and C-45. The act defines how the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) must protect aquatic species and their habitats for the people who depend on them. Protection of fisheries in Canada is receiving increased attention due to its importance to commercial fishing operations, tourism sectors that market recreational fishing excursions and those who depend on fish as a food source. Uncertainty associated with regulatory decisions can have implications for miners. For instance, members of the Tahltan Nation in north-central B.C., had concerns about

the effects Imperial Metals’ Red Chris open pit project would have on water bodies supporting fish – a big part of the local First Nations’ diet and culture. Part of their concern was a belief that the federal government had scoped the project review incorrectly, splitting the project to allow it to be reviewed with less oversight – through a screening study rather than a comprehensive study. The band held protests in 2006 and 2007, and the case eventually landed in federal court, delaying the development of Red Chris for years. Some changes to the Fisheries Act have already been passed by cabinet, others are pending, and new policy is now being considered and developed to guide the application of the act. Previously, “fish habitat” meant spawning grounds, nursery, rearing, food supply and migration areas on which fish depend directly or indirectly to live and reproduce. The act now defines “fish habitat” more widely and includes “and

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columns

any other areas” in the definition. This change may signal the need to protect a wider range of watercourse and water body types, as there could be uncertainty as to what these “other areas” may encompass. A recent DFO discussion paper, intended to stimulate feedback on policy that will be developed to implement changes to the act, focuses in part on the sustainability and productivity of Canada’s fisheries. “Productivity,” as defined in this paper, involves the sustained yield of all component populations, species and habitats that contribute to and support a commercial, recreational or aboriginal fishery. DFO is seeking to ensure that protection and mitigation measures applied to business activities with fisheries implications like mining must go beyond protecting large-bodied fish that typically make up a fishery, and also consider supporting species and their habitat. This could mean that mining companies will need to do more baseline studies for a longer period of time before an assessment of impacts or risk from their operations can be made. These studies may need to include the assessment of other smaller components of the ecosystem, including minnow species, to determine how much of a role they play in supporting the big fish – or “fisheries.”

Proposed act changes are also moving from a prohibition against causing impacts to fish habitat, to a prohibition against causing harm to fish. This would protect against the death of fish or the permanent alteration to, or destruction of, their habitat. The DFO discussion paper suggests that preventing harm to fish would include ensuring a project does not limit or diminish a fish’s ability to carry on one or more life processes. Since it can take just one spawning season or overwintering period to affect a fish population, “permanent” could be interpreted as “long enough to cause harm.” This means that proposed mining projects would need to do more research on what extent habitat alteration will cause harm to a fish’s life process when assessing potential harm to fish. Mining companies will need to stay informed as legislation changes and supporting policy develops so they can reduce the chances that their operations will run into problems or delays with the revised Fisheries Act. CIM

Darcy Lightle, B.Sc., is a senior biologist in the Saskatoon office of McElhanney. He has 10 years of experience with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. dlightle@mcelhanney.com.

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September 2013 | 35

FINANCE

columns

Rationing capital in challenging times BY MAURO CHIESA

he mining sector faces a novel situation today. Past recessions involved a sick industry and healthy capital markets, but now it is the opposite. To boot, the capital markets are dominated by institutional investors focused on dividends, and they are not amused by pie-in-the-sky projects or by the industry’s total $43 billion of asset impairments in a single year. This makes it all the tougher for many exploring and drilling juniors that – assisted by tax flow-through shares – have been “raised” to depend on risk-oriented capital and eventual buyers. As a result, both producing and non-producing companies must reassess and ration their resources while the capital markets remain risk-averse. They should, however, keep in mind that this capital attrition will choke off much future new supply, and by mid-decade any survivor will prosper for years thereafter. The solution for companies, as in most recessions, lies in the prudent management of assets: the more equity commitment and discipline they show, the better the terms that investors could bring. The company need only put itself in the investors’ shoes. As a starting point, since many boards of directors have strong technical biases, a company should have a board whose skill-sets are suited to the broader range of strategic concerns including direct development and asset sales. Management must also include an internal managerial process as well as software systems to assist decision-making. Complex issues cannot afford silos. Complexity means more than geology; it includes capital costs, political risk, tax issues, working capital, permits, human resources, sustaining capex and infrastructure, many of which are often underestimated. Software to manage these issues can be installed and launched for a fivefigure sum, while a regular meeting of the various internal group heads is both costless and priceless in value. Many projects can generate capital during this crunch through realistic, pragmatic thinking. Companies should

MOVING ON UP Yellowhead Mining welcomes new CEO Frank D. Wheatley was named Yellowhead Mining Inc.’s CEO and director, bringing corporate skills and experience to help the company meet today’s market challenges. Wheatley is a senior mining executive and legal counsel, supporting public mining companies in their exploration, development, financial and operation activities in Canada and abroad. Wheatley is also a board member of Teranga Gold Corp. and Selwyn Resources Ltd.

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establish the all-in cash flow costs of their various mining assets and focus on the free cash flow (FCF) rather than the best internal rates of return (IRR), returns on equity or payback. To the markets, FCF means operational and capital selfsufficiency and the capacity to pay dividends. Early, modest and constant FCF can trump higher-risk and distant-IRR projects. Companies should sell or mothball those assets that do not make the cut – especially if a neighbouring mine has an ongoing concern or a marginal asset for sale. This is the tuckin market. Drilling programs can also benefit. Programs were once aimed at finding “El Dorado,” but as financial markets now look for greater certainty, a focus on enhancing the Proven Reserves and the Measured Resources as a percentage of the total could yield results. Markets also hate permitting issues. Permitting cannot be priced and it has a triple-cost element: process costs, political costs and capex escalation as budgets bloat during this process. Starting the process earlier, and including both authorities and visible milestones, enhances the “P3 Reserves”: Proven, Probable and Permitted. Investors still look for growth but need a better “map” to the assets in advanced development. The need for engineering milestones and third-party validation thereof should attract this market. A better and more flexible data room is required to meet the broader needs from institutional investors who now come in various niches: hedge funds and vertical offtake interests each have their unique information needs. New projects were once wired for economies of scale to assure lower unit costs. This requires a re-think. With scarce capital, a phased approach may be a better way to attract the limited capital required for the initial phase. Infrastructure is also often an underused asset. As several mines are often located in the same region, bundling infrastructure (e.g. road, power, water), using fewer footprints or pooling the infrastructure with other users could be attractive for shedding assets from the balance sheet and for reducing costs. Comminution, of course, plays into this to improve the operational and capital leverage. Other options exist to improve FCF. Downtown offices do not attract business or capital, whereas a location near an airport offers savings and greater productivity with less commuting stress. Also, more targeted mining show promotions are essential; these are a tradition from the pre-Internet days. Improve your website instead. CIM Mauro Chiesa has 33 years of experience in financing and advising extractive and infrastructure projects, including multinational banks in New York, the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. and EDC in Ottawa.

ENERGY

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Energy checkups can uncover big savings BY ANDRÉ I. LEMAY

nergy is a key element in any mining operation. As with any vital system, a checkup or a focused review gives management and operators the information they need to understand how well they are using energy. A checkup will make clear what is working well but will inevitably uncover areas of energy usage that may require attention. The review typically leads to changes that improve energy efficiency and plant performance and ultimately reduce costs. This practice is synonymous with well-managed and sustainable organizations.

wasted at an operation will soon become very apparent. Count the number of outside lights that are on during the day. Note the fully lit indoor areas, along with the heating and air conditioning used while no one is there. Count the number of compressed air and water leaks that you hear and see. Note the equipment that is idling or running, which could be turned off or, at least, turned down. This is all energy waste and a waste of dollars. For an even greater sense of the magnitude of energy waste, it is worthwhile to visit the mining operation at night, during the weekend or at the periods of lowest production. This will reveal the amount of energy that is consumed with little or no producWhile it is the CEO, president tion to show for it. or other senior executive that pays the energy bills, By the end of the tour, you will have it is the plant personnel that spend every dime. formulated a good idea of the magnitude and type of energy you are using and for what processes, services or benefit. This energy-focused tour will pave the way for discovering obvious A checkup begins with two fundamental activities. One is energy waste of all types throughout the operation. Many of to take a plant tour or a walk through your mining operation, these problems can be rectified and, very often, the solutions with a focus on energy. Essentially, this is a close look at how come down to basic common sense. energy is used – or wasted – throughout the operation. For example, at one operation in the winter, rather than A key element for a successful tour is to meet and talk with the operators and other support personnel. They are the having the maintenance bay’s heaters start up when the experts. These employees are full of information and can be large bay doors were opened, they were changed to shut great allies in recommending and implementing changes. It is down. Workers quickly realized that shutting the bay doors worth noting that while it is the CEO, president or other sen- would let the heaters fire up and keep them from getting ior executive that continually pays the energy bills, it is the cold. After a regular due diligence review, this proved to be plant personnel that spend every dime. This is the time to a very beneficial energy project. engage them. The other fundamental activity of the checkup is to gather Preparations for the tour can be as simple as bringing a clip- energy costs and consumption data, along with production board or a tablet to take notes and carrying some support doc- numbers and other performance indicators. This includes sevuments, such a site plan showing all buildings. Or you may eral different data sets, meter readings, compressed air reports wish to have process flow charts that denote each major and daily temperatures. Such a concentrated look at the energy process in the production of your marketable products. data will add context to the observations about energy usage Taking a tour of the mining operation with a focus on made during the tour of the mining operation. These two steps energy is an eye-opening experience: the extent of the energy are scalable, meaning you can look at an entire operation or simply target a specific area, building, process or even just focus on the different types of energy consumed. MOVING ON UP An energy checkup has the potential to uncover many improvement opportunities and to reduce energy waste and Scotting picks up reins at ArcelorMittal costs. In some cases, energy consumption can remain the same, but production or other supported output can increase. Bill Scotting was appointed CEO of ArcelorMittal, the In other words, you can push the limits of your production Luxembourg-based steel and mining giant, replacing Peter without increasing your energy infrastructure. This is the mark Kukielski, who decided to pursue other interests. Scotting, of a leading, world-class sustainable organization. CIM with more than 25 years of experience in the metals and mining industry, joined Mittal Steel in 2002 to lead the company’s André I. Lemay recently retired after 38 years with Vale, where he worked as an energy analyst for Canadian operations. He now provides leadership, guidance activities for improving performance.

and support in developing and implementing energy cost reductions and addressing climate change.

September 2013 | 37

upfront LOGISTICS

New path for ancient culture Meadowbank and Inuit workers adapt to each other’s needs

Courtesy of Agnico Eagle

by Ian Ewing

of the problem. “It was our first experience in this territory. Were we well prepared for that? Probably not,” she admits. “And were all the employees, all the people in the communities, prepared to come work for a mining company? “It was culture shock, both for them and for us,” continues Mayrand. “We had to learn a lot about Inuit culture, and [they had to] learn about the work environment at Meadowbank.” Employees faced big changes in their day-to-day lives and sharp cultural differences from Inuit traditions. For most of the people who came to Agnico Eagle, any previous Absenteeism was a major problem for Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank operation, as workers from local communities were not work experience was in accustomed to a fly-in/fly-out lifestyle. regular eight-to-five, fivedays-a-week jobs, often doing clerical or administrative work, or working on water or perating the Meadowbank gold mine was never going sewer trucks for their communities. “This was the first job for to be easy. The fly-in/fly-out operation is located some most of them working two-twos (two weeks on, two weeks 70 kilometres north of Baker Lake, Nunavut. What is off) and in a remote environment,” she adds. That was not easy now Agnico Eagle Mines’ highest-producing gold for everyone. mine faced unique difficulties from the start. The inhospitable climate, non-existent infrastructure and remote location above the 65th parallel in one of Canada’s most undeveloped regions Cultural priorities were all challenges that needed to be addressed. What was not Jody Ningeocheak is a haul truck driver at Meadowbank. foreseen was a more prosaic problem – how to help local She has been with Agnico Eagle for two and a half years and employees adapt to a new lifestyle. has adapted well. But she has seen people come and go. “My Local Inuit from seven communities in the Kivalliq region of brother worked here once upon a time, for a little bit,” she Nunavut make up over 30 per cent of Meadowbank’s workforce says. But the separation from his family was too much. “He of about 830 permanent employees. They arrive weekly on quit – he just went home. He was here for like four days. He flights from each community to work their two-weeks-on, two- and his girlfriend had just had a baby boy, so it was really hard weeks-off rotations. The remoteness of the mine means, practi- for both of them.” cally speaking, that if employees miss their ride, they will miss a “It’s mostly personal reasons that they miss work – they week of work. And until last year, that was all too common. don’t have a babysitter or something,” Mayrand concurs. Absenteeism averaged out to 22 employees missing each day. “Their priorities are different. For southerners, if your daughEmployee retention was even worse. Agnico Eagle had turnover ter is sick, you will not necessarily miss work for that. But in rates of 42 per cent for new employees at Meadowbank. Inuit culture, if your daughter is sick, you really want to go Krystel Mayrand, human resources superintendent at home and take care of her. The family is so important that if Meadowbank, says the company did not anticipate the scope there is something little at home, their priorities change.”

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upfront LOGISTICS

Courtesy of Agnico Eagle

Community events and traditional activities can also lead to absenteeism. When the hunting and fishing seasons open in the spring, there is a spike in absences at the mine. Community fishing derbies, with large cash prizes, also lure employees away from work. Often, when employees are out on the land, they are unreachable. It can take days before the company finds out where they are.

Solutions found through training Correcting these problems required the company to change its approach right from the ground up. To start, Agnico Eagle tightened its hiring criteria. “To enter a training program,” Mayrand explains, “you have to have a really good file. You can’t have missed work before.” The company spends more time interviewing candidates and checking their references to Agnico Eagle’s career paths help workers understand what it takes to advance within the company. ensure that the applicant’s priorities are in the right place. Once accepted, the trainees will go through a tougher training finish the basic training compared to 96 per cent under the old program. A one-day trial before training begins weeds out some system. Retention of employees who do finish, however, has applicants, while stricter exams ensure that trainees are fully improved from an abysmal 58 per cent to 92 per cent. Community coordinators have also made a difference. The ready for work when they finish. Because the new system helps day before a rotation starts, coordinators call every employee in trainees better understand what to expect, only 76 per cent now

September 2013 | 39

upfront LOGISTICS

their jurisdiction to make sure they will show up to catch their flight. Many employees do not have vehicles, so the coordinators also provide rides to and from the airport, which can be as far as 20 kilometres from town sites. The coordinators are also a personal liaison between employees and management. “It makes it a lot easier to reach our people,” says Mayrand. The final pillar of Agnico’s new approach is a clearly delineated career path for all employees. “The career path tells them exactly what they have to do in terms of experience, number of hours in the equipment, and the assessment they have to go through to progress to the next step,” explains Mayrand. “If a person is absent, then they don’t get the hours as fast. It’s really focused to motivate employees.” The company has also begun to focus heavily on their high-potential employees, as identified by their files and their performance. Since 2012, Agnico Eagle has increased the number of these employees it sponsors for apprenticeships in skilled trades, to a total of eight now.

Measurable success All of these efforts have markedly improved things at Meadowbank. Turnover among Inuit permanent employees has dropped steadily from 25 per cent in 2011 to just 8 per cent year-to-date in 2013. The transparency of the career path has also made it easier for women who begin in unskilled roles to access promotion, says

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Mayrand, adding that attitudes are slowly changing. The company now has 16 female heavy equipment operators, with four more in training. “For a married woman to work with other men away from home was something that wasn’t easy at the beginning,” notes Mayrand, “but now we don’t hear about it anymore.” Ningeocheak had only worked at the post office and the school in her hometown of Coral Harbour before applying to Agnico Eagle. Now she boasts of being on the auxiliary relief as a haul truck driver, and of being on the emergency response team at the mine. She is training to become a bulldozer operator through the career path program and hopes to become a mine supervisor one day. “I don’t know what I’d be doing right now if I’d never applied for that training,” she explains. “There aren’t many jobs in my community.” Lower turnover and absenteeism are also reducing Agnico’s staffing costs, just as the lower current price of gold eats away at profits. “Right now, we are (still) overstaffed,” notes Mayrand. “For ore truck drivers, we have 20 permanent positions because we have 20 trucks. But we actually have 24 employees on the payroll just because of absenteeism. Our objective eventually is to cut these four additional positions.” But cutting extra positions is not the same as cutting employees, Mayrand concludes: “We would take these people, train them on other equipment, and move them along the career path.” CIM

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upfront LOGISTICS

Putting people and tools in place Cyanokit creates training obstacles for Canadian gold miners

Courtesy of Goldcorp

by Richard Andrews

Goldcorp’s Porcupine operation was affected by the introduction of the Cyanokit.

2011 Health Canada decision is forcing gold mining operations in Canada to adopt a new cyanide poisoning treatment kit. Miners must do away with traditional cyanide antidote kits (CAKs) as they expire and replace them with the Cyanokit. The new kit, despite being a more effective treatment, presents logistical issues for gold miners, particularly those operating in remote areas, because people need to be trained in how to use it. The replacement was made necessary by Health Canada’s de-listing of the CAK, and its April 2011 approval of the Cyanokit for the treatment of known or suspected cyanide poisoning. Cyanide is commonly used in the gold extraction process, and moderate to high concentrations of cyanide can cause severe injury or death within minutes, as it makes blood cells unable to use oxygen. For this reason, it is important that adequate treatment is provided – and quickly. The addition of Cyanokit’s oxygen treatment component is driving a training blitz across the country, both for miners and health care professionals.

Better safe than sorry Accurate figures on the incidence and level of specific cyanide exposures are difficult to obtain. Megan Waqué, a Workplace Safety North (WSN) spokesperson, says she is 42 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

aware of just one case during the past 10 years of lost-time injury due to cyanide exposure in Ontario. “In reality, the number of cyanide exposures is low,” says Farah Kassam, manager of safety and health at Goldcorp. However, she adds, “You always need to be prepared for the potential of cyanide exposure. Mitigating the risk is very important to us.” The company currently has three gold mines operating in Canada with another two in development. Kassam and other safety experts agree the old kit carried risks when treating cyanide exposure. Because cyanide is very fast-acting, treatment has to be given immediately to anyone suspected of being poisoned, which created a danger using the old method. “The CAK antidote could be harmful to someone who wasn’t exposed to cyanide, but you thought they were,” says Kassam. “CAK treatment also involved the use of amyl nitrite, which is normally a restricted substance and potentially dangerous for patients with heart disease. “On the other hand, the Cyanokit is harmless if administered to someone who does not have cyanide poisoning,” she says. Purchasing the kit no longer requires a special permit from Health Canada, and it can now be bought directly from the manufacturer, Kassam adds.

Teething pains Despite the new treatment method’s advantages, the training of staff to administer it is a logistical hurdle that each mine needs to solve independently. “The Cyanokit requires that patients receive immediate oxygen therapy, to be continued until intravenous therapy is administered,” says Waqué. “That means gold mines and mills need to have people trained in oxygen administration on site during operating hours, an adequate supply of oxygen on hand, and a system to ensure the equipment is properly maintained.” Mines also require an evacuation plan that sees the patient and Cyanokit reach a doctor, registered practical nurse or other qualified

person to intravenously administer the hydroxocobalamin included in the kit as soon as possible. The compound binds to the cyanide in the blood and allows it to be safely excreted in the urine. WSN has been disseminating information about the Cyanokit and fielding questions from industry about transitioning to the new treatment package. “It’s more expensive than the old kit but more versatile in cases of cyanide smoke inhalation,” says Waqué. “At the end of the day, it’s the only cyanide antidote kit now available in Canada and has to be used.” The changeover has been a big task but a necessary one for all gold miners. “Goldcorp has increased the level of training at all its sites throughout Canada,” says Kassam, who adds that getting each site up to protocol varied depending on its location, staff and backup procedures. The company has organized emergency response teams at remote sites, but less remote locations such as Timmins, Ontario, have presented a different challenge. “When we were doing risk assessment for the new kit, we found out that the local emergency medical services who respond to after-hours calls were not trained or permitted to start an intravenous procedure,” she recalls. “We had to train our nurses in IV [administration] and liaise with the city to make sure their first responders were similarly trained. We also had to make sure local hospitals understand our emergency procedures and their kits are the same ones we use. It turns out that the old (CAK) kits in Ontario hospitals expired in April, at the same time as ours.”

Lack of consultation The gold industry is a relatively minor consumer of cyanide antidotes when compared with hospitals, fire departments and other emergency services. Still, some gold miners have grumbled about inadequate consultation from Health Canada during its consideration of the Cyanokit. At Goldcorp, not everyone was convinced at first that the new kit was an improvement. Its adoption meant a culture change for some front line staff. “The presence of a [CAK] safety kit has provided a sense of security for many workers, especially those who’ve been in the mining industry a long time,” points out Kassam. “It’s important to explain why you are taking something familiar away from them and replacing it with something else, as this may cause uncertainty. In this case, there was concern about the Cyanokit because the new antidote was not widely understood and many people thought oxygen therapy wouldn’t work.” To smooth the way, the company conducted an information and training campaign for all levels of its 7,000 staff in Canada and fostered communication on the issue between sites. Each site also had to produce Cyanokit action plans that were inspected to ensure they were effective and met the standards required for the new treatment method. “Once people understood how the new antidote removed cyanide from the body,” says Kassam, “everyone came together.” CIM September 2013 | 43

upfront LOGISTICS

Arctic ambitions Complex logistics built into Raglan’s development

Courtesy of Xstrata Glencore

by Vivian Danielson

Breaking up sea ice extends the shipping season for Xstrata Glencore’s Raglan mine.

he Raglan mine site in Nunavik, on the northern tip of Quebec’s Ungava Peninsula, produces 26,000 tonnes of nickel-in-concentrate per year, and its operators have plans to turn out even more by pushing output to 33,000 tonnes by 2014. No mine development is simple, but the particular challenges posed by the harsh and unpredictable environment will be an added test for Glencore Xstrata’s Raglan mine team. After 15 years of operation, the site is not serviced by public infrastructure, and there are no plans for that to change. “Air and maritime transport are absolutely essential,” says Paul Gorodko, the mine’s manager of business services. “Everything must go by one or the other.” And so logistics preoccupies everyone at the mine, whether they are in operations, maintenance or purchasing, says Kristan Straub, manager of mining operations and technical services. “There’s a tremendous amount of consolidation between teams.” In Nunavik, yearly temperatures average -10 C and winters are long, dark and brutally cold. In the early days, development attempts were thwarted by ice built up around Raglan’s port at Deception Bay, which varies between 10 and 14 metres thick and stretches over roughly

44 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

1.5 kilometres. Polar icebreaking technology, which pushed the traditional three-month marine shipping window to nine months or more, was the literal big break that led to a green light for the mine. Ice-breaking is no less vital today, with a chartered multi-purpose ship, the MV Arctic, bringing in bulk cargo – including diesel and jet fuel, equipment and consumables – to Raglan. Nickel concentrates (with byproduct copper and cobalt) are trucked 90 kilometres from the mill site to the port for stockpiling before being shipped out for smelting and refining in Ontario, and Norway, respectively. There is a maritime transport restriction period from mid-March to mid-June to protect local seal populations. Personnel, luggage, food and other light cargo are transported by two company-owned Boeing 737s, operated by an in-house aviation department. “We used to have just one aircraft, but it caused risk with availability,” Gorodko says. “Weather delays are frequent here, almost every week in winter.” The second plane lets the company recover from delays quickly and provides greater flexibility, as it can be reconfigured to optimize the passenger-to-cargo ratio. Five flights per week are now offered from Rouyn-Noranda (35 per cent of employees are from the Abitibi region), Montreal, and most recently, Quebec City. The 150 employees from northern communities are flown in by charter service. The 737s have added benefits over newer planes, as they are able to land on gravel airstrips. “A paved airstrip would be more difficult and costly to maintain, and gravel offers better traction for braking and for landing with crosswinds,” says Gorodko.

Growth spurt Improved transportation flexibility has been necessary as Raglan has expanded from its original $600-million project,

upfront LOGISTICS

exploiting open pits and the Katinniq underground deposit that are served by a central mill. Four underground mines operate today and important investments have been recently made to construct the new Qakimajurq mine, extend the depth of Mine 2, and modernize infrastructure. All of this was done to add another 7,000 tonnes of nickel-in-concentrate to the current annual production. Raglan’s infrastructure supporting the mines and milling complex has had to grow too. In addition to port facilities, the Donaldson airstrip and the power plant, Raglan is served by 150 kilometres of roads and bridges, a housing complex with a maximum capacity of 800 people, and its own telecommunications systems. Maintenance is critical, Straub says, as some buildings are starting to age. “But first and foremost, the largest single issue we face is the permafrost environment,” he adds. Permafrost at Raglan extends down to depths between 550 and 600 metres. Buildings are founded on steel piles and sit above ground on platforms to preserve permafrost stability. Saline water is used to drill in permafrost to prevent freezing of drilling equipment, which requires heated brine tanks on surface and dedicated water stopes underground. Because some saline residue permeates ore-bearing minerals and ends up in the milling circuit, maintenance programs were adapted to combat corrosion. “We’re continually investing in upgrading and refurbishing the mill,” says Straub.

“We also align ourselves with capital projects and continued operations in order to get their requirements in advance, particularly for long-lead items,” Gorodko says. “There’s always a balance that must be achieved between material availability and controlling costs.” The various teams at Raglan also work closely with the purchasing department located in southern Quebec, which liaises with contractors and suppliers and manages procurement, ground transportation, consolidation and storage of materials, in preparation for air and maritime transport. The process was designed like a spider web, with the logistics cell in the middle, Welch says: “They’re responsible for gathering all the information from the various departments so they can schedule activities and maximize efficiencies.” Cost efficiencies have improved as a result of the cell, Welch says. He adds that Raglan is one of the few large-scale Quebec projects that operate without government subsidies or infrastructure support. “We’re totally independent and assume all the risk. Everything must be well-run, or it fails,” he points out.

Choreographed maintenance Two maintenance outages are scheduled each year, in March and September, typically lasting between five to 10 days. The milling circuit, the largest drawer of power, is brought down during the process for preventive maintenance and to replace worn-out or stressed parts. Advance planning for the outages is essential, Straub adds: “We often have to bring in specialized people and their tools, along with necessary parts and equipment.” In addition to the mines and milling complex, teams must inspect and maintain the 6,500-foot gravel airstrip, the port facilities, and the roads, culverts and bridges. “We also maintain the power plant,” Straub says. “We can take a generator offline as we have redundancy in the plant.” Raglan’s three maintenance teams – mill, utilities and garage – work closely with an inventory management team to determine needs and to establish timelines. In 2012, a logistics planning cell was established, consisting of three logistical planners and an aviation technician. The cell reports to a senior logistics coordinator, under the guidance of Gorodko. Michael J. Welch, vice-president of the Raglan mine, says the logistics cell was established in response to the project’s growing complexity, including the recently expanded flights to southern hubs: “We’re bringing in more materials and more people and felt we needed a more robust planning process.” September 2013 | 45

upfront LOGISTICS

Courtesy of Xstrata Glencore

Logistics planning also involves executed each year between the looking ahead to determine what will four active mines, which is no small be needed for future projects. Teams feat as haulage drifts must be are already preparing for a wind expanded so personnel and equippower pilot project intended to help ment can be brought in to develop reduce reliance on diesel fuel, for each new lens of the deposits. instance. “We have multiple deposits like “Our two biggest cost centers are Sudbury, except theirs are larger power and labour,” Welch says. and ours are smaller and more dis“Labour doesn’t go away, so we have persed,” Straub says. “The closet to be lean and productive. But we are analogy is trying to mine potatoes reviewing [alternative] energy sources, in a potato field.” particularly green energy, and found we have the second best site in North Tight timelines and lateral thinking America for wind power.” No amount of planning can The company’s goal is to reduce completely neutralize the unprepower costs (currently averaging 32 dictable Arctic. cents per kilowatt hour) that are In April 2013, bad weather more than five times higher than caused air transport delays during operations on Quebec’s power grid. the shipping blackout window. “We If the wind pilot project is success- Monitoring weather conditions at the Raglan mine is a critical scheduled a triple-flight day to ful, Welch expects that lower cost part of logistics. catch up, which required real power could be generated from a detailed planning with airports and hybrid system where wind energy and storage are backed our aviation team,” Gorodko says. “This was successfully up by a combination of diesel and, potentially, liquefied completed for the first time on April 30, allowing us to rapnatural gas. idly catch up with the delays.” In addition to mining and milling operations, Raglan is Gorodko says Raglan has a good record of meeting various developing a series of deposits scattered over a strike length challenges over the years through innovation and adaptation, of 33 kilometres, within a geologically favourable land pack- but new challenges pop up almost every month. “I’ve been in age covering about 70 kilometres east to west. Straub says 12 this position for two years and am still getting new challenges to 13 kilometres of underground mine development work is regularly,” he concludes. CIM

Oil Sands

& Heavy Oil

46 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

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upfront LOGISTICS

Talking tin Hart Mailandt says the aviation business is taking off in the oil sands

©Brett Gilmour

by Correy Baldwin

n 2003, North Cariboo Air became one of the first two charter airline companies to operate in the Alberta oil sands. Traffic has really picked up in the last decade, and the oil sands now account for 70 per cent of North Cariboo’s business, with six to eight flights transporting 700 to 800 passengers a day. According to Hart Mailandt, director of business development, North Cariboo Air has been able to double its growth every two years since 2007. It is now one of the largest single carriers in the oil sands. CIM: Given the expense of air travel, why do oil companies choose to air commute their workers? Mailandt: When you do a risk analysis of flying versus ground transportation, the numbers are just so skewed in favour of aviation. It is absolutely, unquestionably the best way to do this work. Of course there are time factors and all those other things involved, but the reality is that the safety in aviation is so much higher than ground transportation; it’s almost a nobrainer. CIM: What developments do you foresee for the air travel business? Mailandt: One of the projects that we’re working on right now is an innovative approach for bringing people into Fort 48 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

McMurray. Carriers based in Calgary pick workers up at the end of their shifts, taking them home to Atlantic Canada, but because they use the same aircraft to return to Alberta, it is an entire day until that plane can make it back with replacement workers. That means virtually an extra day when that group of employees is not on site because Calgary-based carriers traditionally did not have their equipment permanently reside in Eastern Canada. We do. It’s a very different model and it’s much more economical because we don’t lose an entire day of shifts to flying across and flying back. ConocoPhillips, with their Surmont project, was the first one to rethink the way they did their transportation. We perceived, designed and implemented the logistics for their project, including systems, aircraft, reservations and software. Other producers and carriers are re-evaluating their projects based on this solution. We’ve taken their innovation to a whole marketplace. A big change is coming to our industry over the next few years. CIM: It’s a surprisingly simple change. Mailandt: It is, except for us, the carriers. We’re here in Calgary, and somehow have to figure out how to get that airplane to the other end of the country and have it sit there, and for that to still be economic enough to fly specific clients. It’s

upfront LOGISTICS

challenging to make a schedule work and make the econom- CIM: We often hear of worker shortages in the oil sands. Is it ics work. It’s going to be interesting over the next few years to similarly difficult for you to find your technical staff? see how this changes the fly-in/fly-out programs for our exist- Mailandt: It’s becoming increasingly difficult, because not ing customers. enough new pilots are coming into the Another change is going to be industry to support the outgoing pilots. more cross-border traffic from the There are things that we have going for United States. Our biggest challenge us. Because we do fly-in/fly-out of Fort A with that workforce group is the difMcMurray, most of our pilots get to go ference in qualification and certificahome at night. A lot of the commercial tion in tradespeople between Canada aviation pilots, they’re away from home is coming to and the United States. Both of our 10, 12, 14 days a month, and 90 per governments, federal and provincial, cent of the time our guys are at home. our industry are working very hard to come up We bring a high quality of life to the over the next with a standard and some qualificapilots, allowing us to recruit and retain tions that will fit people into the spethe people who work in our business. few years. cific trades, which will allow We also have things in place like penCanadians to expand into workforces sion plans and some flexibility in that are underemployed in certain health care benefits that a lot of our parts of the United States. This will be extremely important competitors don’t. But again, that flows from the size and for projects in Fort McMurray. momentum we’ve created for ourselves.

big change

CIM: Were there risks that you took early on that helped you establish a foothold in the oil sands? Mailandt: In general, the risks from a financial standpoint are not onerous. Airplanes are valuable assets no matter what you do with them. Age and how you maintain them of course are important, but there’s always residual value in an investment in aviation equipment. At the same time, an airplane is a perishable asset. You have to maintain it to keep it to standard, but eventually it expires. To be able to continue your business you have to understand that it’s a perishable item and ensure that you build a reserve so that you can continue to refresh your fleet. CIM: How were you able to capitalize on the growth in Alberta? Mailandt: Most of the work that we do is for multinationals, and their requirements and safety standards are quite high. So we maintain those and actually push the limits of, which separates us from some of our competition. And, as a result, we gain contracts. And then of course we can take that to our financiers and continue to acquire airplanes and facilities. Facilities are key for positioning within the marketplace, as is being able to service the client, even in terms of things like parking and departure facilities. Those are all key components to making a logistics package work for our clients. Finally, it’s about timing. You have to be able to work with your client to fit their schedules in with what “tin” – as we call airplanes in our business – is available.

CIM: I’m interested in your perspective on the logistics scene outside the air business. Have you seen other industries shift and adapt to changing demands? Mailandt: The most urgent thing right now is workforce logistics. If you manufacture a product, you need to get it out, and you need to get material in to produce that product. A key component to the manufacturing process is people – at the right time, with the right qualifications, and in the right quantity. It’s the same thing in every industry. Even trucking companies have started calling themselves logistics companies. All these components are intermixed, and all the things that go into this process are logistics. I think producers are seeing logistics as a specialty performance, and maybe not necessarily one of their core competencies. So what I see in the future is more logistics organizations coming in to help producers, as opposed to them having that expertise in-house. This will be a major shift. CIM: Some of the larger oil companies run their own aircraft. Do you see this as a trend? Is this a viable business option? Mailandt: Certainly companies like Suncor and Shell have proven that the model works for them in this particular environment. There is, of course, value in having an asset that you can utilize to its fullest extent. The challenge for the smaller companies is how to use assets effectively, because it is a costly proposition if you’re the only one using an aircraft. You have to have enough momentum or enough of a requirement to make that business model work. CIM September 2013 | 49

“I think I have a fantastic job,” declares Erika Uchmanowicz, community relations advisor at BP Canada, as she smiles at the camera. While the Sault Ste. Marie native describes her work – building relationships between BP and aboriginal communities – we read on the screen that Canada’s oil sands could create more than 800,000 jobs in the next 25 years. This televised message comes courtesy of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

By Antoine Dion-Ortega and Pierrick Blin Illustrations by John Holcroft

Any Canadian turning on his or her television nowadays is probably familiar with these ads. They are part of CAPP’s broader media campaign, Oil Sands Today, which was launched in May 2010 and has been mobilizing commercials for outdoor, print, radio and web media. For TV ads, the media buy varies from year to year but it is mostly focused on Canadian news, specialty and sports channels. Ads were designed by two Toronto-based advertising agencies: initially by Agency 59 and today by i2, whose existing client base includes the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, Canadian Natural Gas, and the Mining Association of Canada. The oil sands industry has arrived at an unfamiliar place. Producers spent decades advancing the technology and building the business case for the development of the vast bitumen deposits in northern Alberta, but outside of the province, a nearly perfect storm of other factors has come together to challenge industry plans. It is now public opinion that is putting new projects at risk and pushing the oil sands industry to respond. Janet Annesley, vice-president of communications at CAPP, is reluctant to divulge the cost of the whole campaign but admits that “it is in the millions of dollars, all funded by the industry.” She says the ads will keep playing for a while. “We have a long list of oil sands technology, people and business stories we are working from, so we could be developing oil sands sto-

ries for TV for a very long time,” she points out. “Our research shows that the longer the ads are on, the more effective they become, as people see initiatives are not one-off efforts or exceptional examples, but part of everyday business. We have been asked [by our members] to speak out. This is an investment that we are going to have to continue in the longer term.” It is by design that Erika Uchmanowicz speaks first about where she is from. “In our TV ads, you will never see an actor,” notes Annesley. Viewers learn that Ryan Cosgrove, a mining engineer at Suncor, hails from Chilliwack, B.C., and that Jacquelyn Kankam, environmental advisor at E&P Total Canada, comes from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Suppliers to the oil sands companies are also frequently featured, like Gaétan Bolduc, president and CEO at Prévost, a motor coach manufacturing company based in Ste-Claire, Quebec. “There are more than 2,000 companies across Canada supplying the industry and many thousands of others that supply these companies, and so forth,” says Annesley. The main purpose of the campaign is to demonstrate that the oil sands are a benefit to Canadians from coast to coast, and not only production areas. “We do not concentrate our communication efforts in Saskatchewan and Alberta,” indicates Annesley. “We have been focusing on Ontario, Quebec, and B.C., where perceptions are different. We have the responsibility to deliver benefits nationally.” September 2013 | 51

Indeed, convincing Albertans that the industry is good for the economy has never been an issue. A 2011 study from the Mining Association of Canada revealed that since 2007, the oil sands have been generating an average of $1.8 billion in tax revenues for the province each year. “Most Albertans understand that our roads, our schools, our hospitals are funded by the industry through royalties and taxes,” says Annesley. An Environics Research poll last December showed that 85 per cent of Albertans had a positive opinion of the oil sands. Rallying the other provinces has proven trickier though, with support falling to 57 per cent in neighbouring B.C., and as low as 40 per cent in Quebec. Though the industry benefits the rest of Canada economically, this does not always offset its perceived environmental costs, suggests Tony Coulson, vicepresident of public affairs at Environics Research. Accidents like the recent leak at Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.’s Primrose operation can quickly neutralize the argument of economic benefits in the media as well as in the public eye. Canadians, says Coulson, “want to see economic development balanced with environmental protection. But if you force them to choose, they will choose the environment by about two thirds to one third.” With 30 years of experience in the oil, gas and electricity fields, Peter Hunt is a first-hand witness of how the industry has been slow to break away from its Albertan cradle and tout the benefits of the oil sands to a wider audience. Hunt was promoted to national practice leader at Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada in 2011 when the public relations consultancy was trying to strengthen its position in Alberta. According to him, the Albertan ivory tower, as comfortable as it might be, hindered the industry because it cut the province off from critical voices elsewhere. “Most of the oil and gas industry is headquartered in Calgary,” Hunt says. “The people who lead the industry are not used to interfacing with people who do not share their industry experience. Senior people don’t get that first-hand 52 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

exposure to the people who are being critical of the industry.” The failure to invest in what he calls the “political theater” was probably one of the greatest mistakes of the early industry because it let others impose their own narrative of the oil sands. “[Media] projects were put in play by other people who had other agendas, some of them supportive, some others not,” he says.

Outside of Alberta, when many Canadians were hearing about the industry for the first time, environmental groups were able to tell the story of the oil sands on their own terms. “Too many companies do not think enough about what the Internet enables,” says Hunt. “Networks of likeminded persons were used by the industry’s opponents, but the industry has been slow to see that it needed to assemble its networks as well.” With increasingly apocalyptic rhetoric, the industry’s opponents have been relatively successful at suggesting that extracting the oil sands cannot be done while, at the same time, addressing climate change. In 2008, Maude Barlow, chairwoman of the Council of Canadians, compared the oil sands to Mordor, from the Lord of the Rings – it is an association that has been spreading over social media networks ever since. The following year in a speech in Toronto, former U.S. vice-president Al Gore called the oil sands a threat to “our survival as a species,” while more recently, former NASA researcher James Hansen said that Canada exploiting its oil sands reserves would mean “game over for the climate.”

In the public eye, oil sands mines rapidly became the poster children for environmental destruction, much more so than other non-conventional oil extraction methods like offshore drilling and hydraulic fracking, or other heavy greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters like coal-fired power generation. “[Mining] is a much more visual way of demonstrating disruption than showing a photograph of an offshore platform,” says Hunt, who recalls that the first oil sands projects were all mines. “If you carefully select your photo angles, you can truly make [oil sands mining] look shocking and dreadful.” It was only in the last five years that oil sands companies started to realize they might lose the war of public opinion. “It became apparent in 2009 that a negotiated or constructive solution wasn’t the outcome that environmental groups wanted,” says Annesley. “They wanted to have a broad public campaign against the oil sands in an effort to shut them down. The industry was slow to understand what kind of scenario was playing out, and that in this particular drama, it was going to be cast as the villain.” In an effort to counter the impact of hostile campaigns from their opponents, companies told CAPP to look for ways to speak directly to Canadians about their environmental performance, as well as the economic benefits they provided for the country. According to Kara Flynn, vicepresident of government and public affairs at Syncrude, CAPP’s strategy “has resonated extraordinarily well with both our stakeholders and the public.” She might be right. Support for the oil sands has been increasing steadily over the last five years: In 2008, only 45 per cent of Canadians thought the oil sands were good for the economy, but that number jumped to 67 per cent by 2012. “The message is that the folks who work in the oil sands are your neighbours, your colleagues, the people your children play minor baseball with,” says Flynn. “They are just like you and I. They go to work every day as dedicated individual employees.”

Flynn’s vice-presidential role at Syncrude did not even exist before she took it on in January 2011. The decision to create the position reflects the intensifying public attention that the oil sands industry has been receiving lately, she says. “There is heightening dialogue across the spectrum of perspectives and opinions on our industry – heightening awareness.” Even though only 20 per cent of oil sands reserves are close enough to the surface to be mined, Flynn is well aware of the impact that visuals can have in the public eye: “The oil sands industry, particularly its mining aspect, is highly visible. It is one of the few resource developments in the world where you can literally drive right up to the door and witness it first-hand.” According to her, “transparency” and “accessibility” are the main reasons why the oil sands fell under such scrutiny.

tive, treating environmental groups as “radical” adversaries rather than partners in a constructive dialogue. The day before federal regulatory hearings began on Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline in January 2012, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver wrote that environmental groups had a hidden “radical ideological agenda” and were “driven by an ideological imperative.” The Senate finance committee announced at the same time that it would review charitable funding for some groups, while Public Safety Canada listed environmentalists as “issue-based domestic extremists” that could pose a threat to Canadians.

A line in the sand The disparity between provinces is not the only hurdle to overcome on the way to being viewed as a truly “national industry.” The oil sands also face the risk of being too tightly associated with party politics, with support varying among the federal parties, thus polarizing public opinion even further. “The Conservative voters, not surprisingly, are the most supportive of the oil sands,” says Environics’ Coulson. “So 88 per cent of Conservative supporters say they are good for Canada. Among Liberals, it is 68 per cent, undecided voters 60 per cent, NDP supporters 48 per cent, Green Party 40 per cent, Bloc Quebecois 20 per cent. There is a range of either support or opposition based on political affiliation.” The Conservative government has given the industry its clear approval since its election win in 2006, abandoning the Kyoto accord in 2007, welcoming Chinese investment in the sector and touring the world to promote the industry. These actions have divided, rather than unify, Canadian politics, according to many environmentalists. Lately, the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) has grown more comba-

The acts of this government made the oil sands the key political issue of our time. – John Bennett

John Bennett, executive director at the Sierra Club, has been advocating for strong environmental policies for 15 years. He has witnessed first-hand the change in tone in Ottawa, since the CPC came into power. “The acts of this government made the oil sands the key political issue of our time,” he says. Not too long ago, he remembers, “We used to have all sorts of consultations between the government and the industry

on climate change. My work was to make sure that environmental groups were well represented at these meetings. And the guys from the industry were there, it was a multi-stakeholder thing. There were lots of discussions, lots of ideas. “The Liberals were trying to find ways to reduce emissions and not shut down tar sands,” says Bennett, who also claims the CPC, not environmental groups, instigated the current PR war. “People like me are now treated like political enemies. So instead, we got back to a more traditional type of campaign, which is to attack the market. That wouldn’t have happened if they did not abandon the fight on climate change. If they had continued [with what the Liberals had done], campaigns on tar sands would not be what they are today.” Bennett is joined by other environmentalists in his view. With suspicion growing over the years, Greenpeace coordinator Keith Stewart has begun looking into the number of meetings between oil companies and government officials. “We are calling for a separation of oil and state in this country because it is very hard to see where government ends and where industry begins when it comes to oil policy,” he says. “We are seeing a weakening of Canadian democracy in favour of rapid industrial development.” Syncrude’s Flynn will have to deal with the fallout from claims like this, regardless of their veracity. She says Syncrude has a long history of working cooperatively with governments, political stripes notwithstanding. “Government has an obligation to consult effectively with all stakeholders, which includes Syncrude,” she adds. Hunt shares a similar opinion: “I think the government recognizes that the development of oil sands is important for the future of the country. I see common interests rather than close partnership.” Annesley too is adamant that the government has been doing nothing more than its job in defending the industry. “Oil sands are the largest single export September 2013 | 53

commodity in Canada,” she says. “It is our federal government’s role to advocate for the economic interests of Canadians abroad, regardless of what party is in power. How they go about it is completely up to them.”

Breaking out to global markets With no direct access to the coasts, Alberta needs the other provinces to buy into the oil sands’ identity as a “national industry” and carry its oil through. As output from the oil sands is expected to increase from 1.7 to 6.7 million barrels a day by 2030, the industry needs to secure access to global oil markets in order to get the kind of prices that oil from other parts of the world can command. “Even though it has decreased significantly, the gap between West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent is still there,” says Jean-Thomas Bernard, visiting economics professor at the University of Ottawa and a specialist in energy. “This tells us that there is not enough capacity to get Canadian crudes out, and the problem will be persistent as long as oil sands production increases.” There is no magic formula to tackling bottleneck issues: The industry will need either more pipelines or more trains. “The best way to deliver crude oil is the pipeline, which is safer than train when looked after carefully,” adds Bernard. “The rail system was not designed to transport crude oil 150 years ago.” Differences in capacity also make the case for pipelines. “To have a train fleet with the same capacity as Keystone XL [830,000 barrels a day] is unrealistic,” says Pierre-Olivier Pineau, professor at HEC Montreal and a specialist in energy policy. About 40 per cent of oil sands production leaving Alberta is heavy crude. This needs to reach the Gulf of Mexico, where most refineries were designed to process it. “Near 50 per cent of U.S. refinery capacity is located on the Gulf Coast, and most refineries have been transformed to process heavy crudes,” adds Bernard. Selling the Keystone XL project to Americans has proven difficult, however. Hunt says it has become a “political 54 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

icon,” though in truth it is a relatively simple industrial project. “I don’t think there have been many elections in the U.S. over the last 50 years where a pipeline was discussed as part of a political platform for a party,” says Reynold Tetzlaff, national energy leader at PwC Canada. “There is some symbolism there.”

The companies will find a way to get their barrels to the market one way or another. – Reynold Tetzlaff

Symbolically or not, the oil sands are now inextricably tied up with the fight against climate change in U.S. energy policy, according to Michael Levi, a director at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations and author of a new book, The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America’s Future. “The U.S. position on climate has already affected the project,” he says. Though President Barack Obama has stated that he would not approve a project that would result in a significant increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, his position’s implications for the Keystone project are hard to judge, says Bernard. “From well to wheel, oil sands production releases around 15 per cent more GHG than

other oil sources,” he says, arguing that if Obama is looking to reduce global GHG emissions, he will not approve Keystone XL. But, he adds, another interpretation is that Obama does not want to weigh down the U.S. carbon footprint, preferring to shift emissions to Canada or other countries. If this second interpretation is chosen, it could be positive for Keystone, according to Bernard. Refineries from the Gulf are, however, not the only ones designed for heavy crudes. Many others around the world would be pleased to get their share of the crude from Alberta’s oil sands. “The growing Asian markets could rapidly absorb the oil sands production,” says Levi. But the industry needs pipelines that cross through other provinces to reach the coast. With support varying among provinces as well as political parties, the future looks quite uncertain on that front too. “The Northern Gateway doesn’t seem to be accepted at all, [Kinder Morgan’s] Trans Mountain also faces many objections,” says Pineau. “Will the projects to the East Coast be realised? There are lots of question marks here, and in the short term, few positive answers.” Despite uncertainty in public support, TransCanada Corp announced on August 1 that it was moving forward with its Energy East pipeline project between Alberta and New Brunswick. The industry is confident that the end result will be positive in terms of transport. Even if some pipeline projects are delayed or compromised, it can always rely on trains. “The companies will find a way to get their barrels to the market one way or another,” says Tetzlaff. “Even today, if you look at the differential [between] Brent and WTI, it has narrowed substantially from where it was a year ago.” It is a clear sign that some of the bottlenecks have loosened already. The question is whether the advertising campaign from the oil sands industry will tip the balance in favour of building new pipeline infrastructure. But one thing is for sure: Canadians have been invited to a national conversation – and it is far from over. CIM

Une industrie

sous pression Par Antoine Dion-Ortega et Pierrick Blin Illustrations par John Holcroft

« Je pense que je fais un travail fantastique », déclare Erika Uchmanowicz, conseillère en relations communautaires chez BP Canada, en souriant à la caméra. Tandis que cette native de Sault-Sainte-Marie décrit son travail, à savoir tisser des liens entre BP et les communautés autochtones, nous lisons sur l’écran que les sables bitumineux du Canada pourraient générer plus de 800 000 emplois au cours des 25 années à venir. Le message est signé par l’Association canadienne des producteurs pétroliers (ACPP). Tout Canadien allumant son téléviseur par les temps qui courent connaît sans doute déjà ces publicités. Elles font partie de la vaste campagne médiatique de l’ACPP, Sables bitumineux maintenant, lancée en mai 2010 et dont la diffusion se fait tant par l’affichage que les journaux et magazines, la radio et Internet. Pour les publicités télévisées, les temps d’antenne varient d’année en année et se concentrent sur les chaînes d’actualités, thématiques ou de sport. La campagne a été conçue par deux agences publicitaires torontoises : dans un premier temps Agency 59, puis i2 – dont la clientèle comprend l’Association canadienne de pipelines d’énergie, Gaz naturel canadien et l’Association minière du Canada (AMC). 56 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

L’industrie des sables bitumineux fait aujourd’hui face à une situation qui lui est peu familière. Les producteurs ont passé des décennies à faire progresser les technologies et à améliorer la rentabilité des vastes gisements de bitume dans le Nord de l’Alberta, mais passées les frontières de la province, une série de facteurs en est venue à ébranler les plans de l’industrie. Car c’est maintenant l’opinion publique qui constitue le plus grand obstacle aux nouveaux projets, forçant l’industrie à réagir sur un tout autre front. Janet Annesley, vice-présidente des communications à l’ACPP, est réticente à divulguer le coût de la campagne, mais elle admet qu’il « est de l’ordre de plusieurs millions de dollars, le tout entièrement financé par l’industrie. » Elle ajoute que la campagne va se poursuivre pour un certain temps. « Nous disposons d’une longue liste de récits sur les technologies, les personnes et les entreprises spécialisées dans les sables bitumineux, et nous avons de quoi produire de nombreuses séries télévisées sur ce thème pour encore un bon moment », fait-elle remarquer. « Nos études montrent que plus ces publicités sont diffusées longtemps, plus elles deviennent efficaces. Le public comprend qu’il ne s’agit pas d’efforts ponctuels ou de cas

exceptionnels, mais que cela fait partie de nos activités quotidiennes. [Nos membres] nous ont demandé d’en parler. C’est un investissement que nous allons soutenir sur le long terme. » C’est intentionnellement qu’Erika Uchmanowicz nous fait part de son lieu de naissance. « Dans nos publicités télévisées, vous ne verrez jamais d’acteurs », fait remarquer Mme Annesley. Les téléspectateurs apprennent ainsi que Ryan Cosgrove, ingénieur minier à Suncor, est natif de Chilliwack en ColombieBritannique, tandis que Jacquelyn Kankam, conseillère en environnement à E&P Total Canada, vient de Winnipeg, au Manitoba. Les fournisseurs des entreprises qui exploitent les sables bitumineux sont aussi fréquemment mis en vedette, à l’instar de Gaétan Bolduc, président et chef de direction chez Prévost, un fabricant d’autocars basé à Sainte-Claire, au Québec. « Plus de 2000 entreprises au Canada approvisionnent l’industrie et des milliers d’autres approvisionnent ces entreprises, et ainsi de suite », explique Mme Annesley. L’objectif principal de la campagne est de démontrer que les sables bitumineux représentent de grands avantages pour les Canadiens d’Est en Ouest, et pas seulement pour les régions productrices. « Nous ne concentrons pas nos

efforts de communication en Saskatchewan ou en Alberta », indique Mme Annesley. « Nous avons mis l’accent sur l’Ontario, le Québec et la Colombie-Britannique, où les perceptions sont différentes. Il est de notre responsabilité d’offrir ces avantages à l’échelle nationale. » Bien entendu, convaincre les Albertains des bienfaits de l’industrie n’a jamais été un problème. Une étude de 2011 de l’AMC révélait que, depuis 2007, les sables bitumineux ont généré en moyenne 1,8 milliard de dollars par an en recettes fiscales pour la province. « La plupart des Albertains comprennent bien que nos routes, nos écoles et nos hôpitaux sont financés par l’industrie grâce aux redevances et aux taxes », dit Mme Annesley. Un sondage d’Environics Research réalisé en décembre montrait d’ailleurs que 85 % des Albertains ont une opinion positive des sables bitumineux. Rallier les autres provinces s’est cependant avéré plus ardu, le soutien à l’industrie tombant à 57 % en ColombieBritannique, pourtant voisine de l’Alberta, et à seulement 40 % au Québec. Bien que l’industrie profite économiquement au reste du Canada, cela ne suffit pas toujours à compenser ses coûts environnementaux perçus, indique Tony Coulson, vice-président des relations publiques chez Environics. Des accidents tels la récente fuite sur le site Primrose de la Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. peuvent rapidement neutraliser l’argument des retombées économiques chez les médias et le public. « Les Canadiens souhaitent voir un développement économique qui aille de pair avec la protection de l’environnement », dit-il. « Mais s’ils sont contraints de choisir, près des deux tiers choisiront l’environnement. » Avec 30 ans d’expérience dans les domaines du pétrole, du gaz et de l’électricité, Peter Hunt est un témoin direct du temps qu’il a fallu à l’industrie pour sortir de son berceau albertain pour vanter les avantages des sables bitumineux au public canadien. M. Hunt a été promu au poste de chef national de l’exercice de la profession à l’énergie chez Stratégies Hill+Knowlton Canada en 2011, au moment où la société de conseil en relations publiques cherchait

à renforcer sa position en Alberta. Selon lui, la tour d’ivoire albertaine, aussi confortable soit-elle, a fini par nuire à l’industrie, car elle a coupé la province des voix critiques venues d’ailleurs. « La plupart des industries pétrolières et gazières ont leur siège social à Calgary », dit-il. « Les chefs de file de l’industrie n’ont pas l’habitude d’être en contact avec les personnes qui ne partagent pas leur expérience industrielle. Ils ne sont pas directement exposés aux personnes qui critiquent l’industrie. » L’une des plus grandes erreurs de l’industrie à ses débuts a été de ne pas avoir pris position dans ce qu’il appelle le « théâtre politique », puisqu’elle a permis à d’autres acteurs d’imposer leur propre récit des sables bitumineux. « Des campagnes [médiatiques] ont été lancées par d’autres personnes qui avaient d’autres objectifs, certains favorables, d’autres pas », dit-il. Ainsi, lorsque les Canadiens ne vivant pas en Alberta ont entendu parler de l’industrie pour la première fois, les groupes environnementaux ont pu exposer l’exploitation des sables bitumineux dans leurs propres termes. « Trop d’entreprises ne pensent pas assez aux possibilités qu’offre l’Internet », soutient M. Hunt. « Les réseaux sociaux colportant les mêmes idées ont été utilisés par les adversaires de l’industrie, laquelle a tardé à voir qu’elle devait elle aussi déployer ses propres réseaux. » Dans des termes de plus en plus apocalyptiques, ces adversaires ont réussi à faire douter les Canadiens que l’extraction des sables bitumineux puisse aller de pair avec la lutte contre le changement climatique. En 2008, Maude Barlow, présidente du Conseil des Canadiens, comparait ainsi les sables bitumineux au Mordor du Seigneur des Anneaux – une association d’images qui s’est depuis répandue comme une traînée de poudre sur les réseaux sociaux. L’année suivante, lors d’un discours à Toronto, l’ancien viceprésident américain Al Gore qualifiait les sables bitumineux de menace à « la survie de notre espèce », tandis que, plus récemment, l’ancien chercheur de la NASA James Hansen déclarait que l’exploitation par le Canada de ses réserves de sables bitumineux entraînerait « la déchéance climatique. »

Aux yeux du public, les mines de sables bitumineux sont rapidement devenues le symbole de la destruction de l’environnement, dépassant en gravité tant les autres méthodes d’extraction non conventionnelles, telles que le forage en mer et la fracturation hydraulique, que les autres grands émetteurs de gaz à effet de serre (GES) comme les centrales au charbon. « Il est visuellement plus facile d’illustrer une perturbation environnementale avec une mine à ciel ouvert qu’avec la photo d’une plateforme en haute mer », mentionne M. Hunt, qui rappelle que les premiers projets de sables bitumineux étaient tous des mines à ciel ouvert. « Selon l’angle de vos photos, vous pouvez vraiment donner un aspect choquant et sinistre à [l’exploitation des sables bitumineux]. » C’est seulement au cours des cinq dernières années que les producteurs de sables bitumineux ont commencé à réaliser qu’ils risquaient de perdre la guerre de l’opinion publique. « Il est devenu évident en 2009 qu’une solution constructive et négociée n’était pas ce que voulaient les groupes environnementaux », explique Mme Annesley. « Ces derniers voulaient mener une vaste campagne publique contre les sables bitumineux dans le but d’arrêter leur exploitation. L’industrie a mis du temps à comprendre le scénario qui se profilait alors et surtout que, dans ce drame, elle allait jouer le rôle du méchant. » Dans un effort de contrer l’impact de ces campagnes hostiles, les sociétés ont mandaté l’ACPP pour qu’elle s’adresse directement aux Canadiens et vante leur performance environnementale ainsi que les avantages économiques qu’ils procuraient au pays. Selon Kara Flynn, vice-président des relations publiques et gouvernementales chez Syncrude, la stratégie de l’ACPP « a extraordinairement bien fonctionné, autant auprès de nos intervenants que du public. » Elle pourrait bien avoir raison. Le soutien à l’exploitation des sables bitumineux a augmenté de manière régulière au cours des cinq dernières années : en 2008, seulement 45 % des Canadiens pensaient que les sables bitumineux étaient bons pour l’économie, mais ce chiffre a atteint les 67 % en 2012. « Le message est que les personnes qui travaillent dans les sables bitumineux sont September 2013 | 57

vos voisins, vos collègues, les gens avec qui vos enfants vont jouer au baseball mineur », dit Mme Flynn. « Ils sont comme vous et moi. Ils vont au travail tous les jours comme n’importe quel employé dévoué. » Le poste que Mme Flynn occupe n’existait même pas chez Syncrude avant sa promotion en janvier 2011. La décision de le créer de toute pièce reflète bien l’attention croissante que reçoit l’industrie depuis quelques années, selon elle. « Il y a une intensification du dialogue dans l’ensemble des points de vue et des opinions concernant notre industrie, une sensibilisation accrue du public. » Même si seulement 20 % des réserves de sables bitumineux sont situées suffisamment près de la surface pour être exploitées par des mines à ciel ouvert, Mme Flynn est bien consciente de l’impact que peut avoir l’aspect visuel sur le public. « L’industrie des sables bitumineux, en particulier son aspect minier, est très visible. Il s’agit de l’une des rares exploitations de ressources dans le monde où vous pouvez littéralement conduire jusqu’à l’entrée du site et assister directement aux opérations. » Selon elle, la « transparence » et « l’accessibilité » ont été les principales raisons pour lesquelles les sables bitumineux se sont retrouvés sous la loupe des différents acteurs du milieu.

Des limites à dépasser La disparité entre les provinces n’est pas le seul obstacle à surmonter pour devenir une véritable « industrie nationale ». Les sociétés sont également confrontées au risque d’être trop étroitement associées à la politique partisane – les appuis variant selon les partis fédéraux – et de polariser encore plus l’opinion publique. « Les électeurs conservateurs, sans surprise, sont les plus favorables aux sables bitumineux », explique M. Coulson. « Ainsi, 88 % des partisans conservateurs disent qu’ils sont bons pour le Canada. Les Libéraux les soutiennent à 68 %, les électeurs indécis à 60 %, les partisans du NPD à 48 %, les Verts à 40 % et le Bloc Québécois à 20 %. Ainsi, toute une 58 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

gamme de soutien ou d’opposition est fondée sur l’affiliation politique. » Depuis sa victoire électorale en 2006, le gouvernement conservateur a clairement donné sa bénédiction à l’industrie, abandonnant l’accord de Kyoto en 2007, accueillant favorablement les investissements chinois dans le secteur et faisant le tour du monde pour promouvoir ses vertus. Cette stratégie a divisé, et non unifié la politique canadienne, selon de nombreux écologistes. Dernièrement, le Parti conservateur du Canada (PCC) s’est montré particulièrement combatif, traitant les groupes environnementaux comme des adversaires « radicaux » plutôt que comme des partenaires souhaitant établir un dialogue constructif. La veille des audiences réglementaires fédérales sur le pipeline Northern Gateway, en janvier 2012, le ministre des ressources naturelles Joe Oliver écrivait ainsi que les groupes environnementaux avaient un « programme idéologique radical caché » et étaient « animés d’un impératif idéologique ». Le comité des finances du Sénat annonçait au même moment qu’il examinerait les fonds caritatifs pour certains groupes, tandis que Sécurité publique Canada décrivait les écologistes comme des « extrémistes domestiques » constituant une menace pour les Canadiens. John Bennett, directeur général du Sierra Club, plaide depuis 15 ans pour des politiques environnementales plus solides. Il a pu constater par lui-même le changement de ton à Ottawa depuis que le PCC a pris le pouvoir. « Les agissements de ce gouvernement ont fait des

sables bitumineux le problème politique majeur de notre temps », ditil. « Il n’y a pas si longtemps, nous avions l’habitude d’assister à toutes sortes de consultations entre le gouvernement et l’industrie sur le changement climatique. Mon travail était de m’assurer que les groupes environnementaux étaient bien représentés à ces réunions. Les membres de l’industrie étaient là, c’était une démarche multipartite. Il y avait beaucoup de discussions, beaucoup d’idées. » « Les Libéraux essayaient de trouver des façons de réduire les émissions de GES sans pour autant mettre fin à l’exploitation des sables bitumineux », explique Bennett. Selon lui, c’est le PCC – et non les groupes environnementaux – qui est à l’origine de la guerre des relations publiques actuelle. « Les gens comme moi sont désormais traités comme des ennemis politiques. Par conséquent, nous sommes revenus à un type de campagne plus traditionnel, qui consiste à attaquer le marché. Cela ne serait pas arrivé s’ils n’avaient pas abandonné la lutte contre le changement climatique. S’ils avaient continué [ce que les Libéraux avaient entrepris], les campagnes sur les sables bitumineux ne seraient pas ce qu’elles sont devenues aujourd’hui. » Le point de vue de M. Bennett est partagé par d’autres écologistes. Animé d’une méfiance grandissante, le coordonnateur de la campagne ClimatÉnergie de Greenpeace Keith Stewart se penchait récemment sur le nombre de réunions entre les sociétés pétrolières et les responsables gouvernementaux. « Nous demandons une séparation claire du pétrole et de l’État dans ce pays, car il devient difficile de savoir où s’arrête le rôle du gouvernement et où commence celui de l’industrie en matière de politique pétrolière », dit-il. « Nous assistons à un affaiblissement de la démocratie canadienne en faveur d’un développement industriel rapide. » Mme Flynn devra composer avec les conséquences liées aux affirmations de ce genre, indépendamment de leur véracité. Selon elle, Syncrude a une longue tradition de collaboration avec les gouvernements, nonobstant les allégeances

politiques. « Le gouvernement est tenu de consulter toutes les parties prenantes, Syncrude y compris », fait-elle remarquer. M. Hunt partage cette opinion. « Selon moi, le gouvernement reconnaît que le développement des sables bitumineux est important pour l’avenir du pays », dit-il. « J’y vois des intérêts communs plutôt qu’un partenariat. » Mme Annesley est, elle aussi, catégorique : le gouvernement ne fait rien de moins que son travail lorsqu’il prend la défense de l’industrie. « Les sables bitumineux constituent le marché d’exportation le plus important au Canada », rappelle-t-elle. « C’est le rôle du gouvernement fédéral de défendre les intérêts économiques des Canadiens à l’étranger, quel que soit le parti au pouvoir. C’est à lui de décider de la façon dont il doit s’y prendre. »

Sur la voie des marchés mondiaux L’Alberta n’ayant aucun accès direct aux côtes, il est important que les autres provinces adhèrent à l’identité des sables bitumineux en tant qu’« industrie nationale » afin qu’elle puisse faire transiter son pétrole par leur territoire. L’industrie, qui prévoit d’augmenter sa production de 1,7 à 6,7 millions de barils par jour d’ici 2030, devra sécuriser l’accès aux marchés mondiaux si elle souhaite un jour obtenir des prix similaires à ceux contrôlés par le cours du pétrole provenant d’autres parties du monde. « Bien qu’il ait diminué de manière significative, l’écart entre le West Texas Intermediate (WTI) et le Brent subsiste toujours », rappelle Jean-Thomas Bernard, professeur d’économie invité à l’université d’Ottawa et spécialiste en énergie. « Cela montre bien que le Canada ne dispose pas de suffisamment de capacité pour sortir son pétrole brut, et ce problème persistera tant que la production provenant des sables bitumineux continuera d’augmenter. » Il n’y a pas de formule magique pour faire disparaître l’actuel goulot d’étranglement en matière de transport du pétrole : l’industrie aura besoin de plus de pipelines ou de plus de trains. « Le premier choix pour expédier du pétrole, c’est le pipeline », ajoute M. Bernard. « Et un pipeline bien entretenu est bien plus sûr que les trains. Le système ferroviaire

canadien n’a pas été conçu pour le transport de pétrole brut, il y a 150 ans. » Les différences de capacité font également pencher la balance en faveur des pipelines. « Il est totalement irréaliste d’envisager une flotte ferroviaire équivalente à la capacité de Keystone XL [830 000 barils par jour] », explique PierreOlivier Pineau, professeur à HEC Montréal et spécialiste en politique énergétique. Environ 40 % de la production des sables bitumineux qui sort de l’Alberta est du pétrole lourd. Ce dernier doit atteindre le golfe du Mexique, où la plupart des raffineries ont été conçues pour le traiter. « Près de 50 % de la capacité des raffineries américaines est située sur la côte du golfe du Mexique, et la plupart de ces raffineries ont été transformées pour traiter du pétrole brut lourd », ajoute M. Bernard. Cependant, vendre le projet Keystone XL aux Américains s’est avéré ardu. Selon M. Hunt, c’est devenu une véritable « icône politique », bien qu’il s’agisse d’un projet industriel relativement simple. « Je ne pense pas qu’il y ait eu, ces 50 dernières années, beaucoup d’élections aux États-Unis où un pipeline ait fait partie du programme politique des partis », explique Reynold Tetzlaff, leader national du groupe Énergie chez PwC Canada. « J’y vois un certain symbolisme. » Symboliquement ou non, les sables bitumineux sont maintenant inextricablement liés à la lutte contre le changement climatique dans la politique énergétique américaine, selon Michael Levi, directeur à l’énergie au Council on Foreign Relations (le Conseil consultatif sur les affaires étrangères) basé à New York et auteur d’un nouvel ouvrage intitulé The Power Surge : Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America’s Future. « La position américaine sur le climat a déjà affecté le projet », dit-il. Bien que le président Barack Obama ait déclaré qu’il n’approuverait pas un projet se traduisant par une augmentation considérable des GES, les implications de sa position sur le projet Keystone sont difficiles à discerner, explique M. Bernard. « Du puits à la pompe, les sables bitumineux émettent environ 15 % plus de GES que les autres sources de pétrole », dit-il, ajoutant que si le président Obama cherche à réduire les émissions mondiales de GES, il n’ap-

prouvera pas Keystone XL. Mais, nuance-t-il, une autre interprétation valable est que M. Obama se soucie seulement du bilan carbone des États-Unis et prévoit de transférer les émissions au Canada ou à d’autres pays. Si cette seconde interprétation se confirme, le dénouement, selon M. Bernard, s’avérerait positif pour Keystone XL. Les raffineries du Golfe ne sont toutefois pas les seules à avoir été conçues pour traiter du pétrole lourd. Il en est d’autres à travers le monde qui seraient heureuses d’obtenir leur part de pétrole brut issu des sables bitumineux albertains. « Les marchés asiatiques en pleine croissance pourraient rapidement absorber la production des sables bitumineux », déclare M. Levi. Mais l’industrie a besoin de pipelines traversant les autres provinces pour atteindre les côtes. Le soutien variant beaucoup en fonction des provinces et des partis politiques, l’avenir s’annonce bien incertain. « Le Northern Gateway ne semble pas du tout accepté, et le Trans Mountain [de Kinder Morgan] fait aussi face à de nombreuses objections », dit M. Pineau. « Les projets vers la côte Est vont-ils se réaliser ? Il y a beaucoup de points d’interrogation et, à court terme, peu de réponses positives. » Malgré l’incertitude du public, TransCanada Corp a annoncé le 1er août qu’elle allait de l’avant avec son projet de pipeline Énergie Est entre l’Alberta et le Nouveau-Brunswick. L’industrie est convaincue que les problèmes de transport finiront par se régler. Même si certains projets de pipelines sont retardés, voire compromis, elle pourra toujours compter sur les trains. « Les sociétés vont trouver un moyen d’acheminer leurs barils sur le marché d’une manière ou d’une autre », déclare M. Tetzlaff. « Même maintenant, si vous regardez l’écart [entre] Brent et le WTI, il a considérablement diminué par rapport à ce qu’il était il y a un an. » C’est un signe clair que le goulot d’étranglement s’est déjà en partie relâché. La question est de savoir si la campagne de relations publiques que mène l’industrie fera pencher la balance en faveur de la construction de nouvelles infrastructures de pipeline. Une chose est sûre : les Canadiens sont bel et bien conviés à un débat national, et il est loin d’être terminé. ICM September 2013 | 59

Herb Mathisen

INTO THE WIND BY HERB MATHISEN

Four 2.3-megawatt wind turbines now feed power to the Diavik mine northeast of Yellowknife.

60 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

The end of September marks one year of operation for the wind farm at the Diavik diamond mine. The learning curve has been steep for the operations team, but as the wind keeps the turbine blades turning, the rewards of the innovative project are adding up.

n 2006, a warmer than average winter meant the ice road to Rio Tinto’s Diavik operation opened late, closed early, and never reached its full load capacity, leaving millions of litres of fuel essential to powering the operation stranded in Yellowknife, N.W.T. The company had no choice but to fly it in at a steep cost. With Diavik relying on the eight- to 10-week ice road window to truck in all of its fuel for the year, the episode opened management’s eyes to the looming threat of climate risk, and the even larger impact it could have on operations as the mine transitioned from open pit to more energy-intensive underground mining. As a result, reducing its diesel requirements – and the risk of uncontrollable supply seasons – became a priority. This job fell to Liezl Van Wyk, Diavik’s principal energy advisor and current business improvement manager. As she describes the project from her office at the mine, Van Wyk’s eyes immediately betray an intensity and passion, without which the four, 64-metre tall, 2.3-megawatt (MW) turbines may never have begun turning out power on the Arctic tundra on time and under budget. Initially, Diavik considered many options to supplement its power usage, including building hundreds of kilometres of transmission lines to a hydroelectric dam, solar, geothermal and even modular nuclear power. “We really put everything out there and ran with all of them until they started cancelling out,” says Van Wyk. “Wind was the one that had the biggest economic return.” Diavik collected three years of wind monitoring data that showed it had a viable wind resource. Van Wyk drew up a $33-million budget, with the aim to generate roughly 10 per cent of Diavik’s annual power usage – 17 gigawatt hours (GWh) of its required 180 GWh – through wind power. In 2011, the project was approved by Rio Tinto brass and the real work began.

PROJECT SPECS

EQUIPMENT 60 winter road truck loads, including 12 35-metre turbine blades Four 2.3-megawatt turbines MAXIMUM OUTPUT: 9.4 MW Operational between wind speeds of 3 m/s and 34 m/s TOWER HEIGHT: 64 metres FOUNDATIONS: 1,200 cubic metres of concrete, 80 kilometres of rebar FIRST FOUNDATION POUR: June 12, 2012

Van Wyk and two wind resource consultants from Genivar walked the mine site and found the current wind farm location, where buildings and structures did not restrict the wind. To select a turbine type, Van Wyk interviewed manufacturers and introduced them to the project, the risks and the North’s frigid operating conditions. Ultimately, Van Wyk chose the Germany-based Enercon’s E70 direct-drive design which has no gearbox. By avoiding a gearbox, she explains, “you take out the single biggest component that tends to fail.” The design also has the benefits of being a lower-RPM machine – meaning much less friction – and quieter than gearbox turbines.

Long road home Parts were shipped from Germany to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and then trucked up to Yellowknife. The final leg of the journey proved most difficult. A 373-kilometre winter road snakes up to Diavik from Yellowknife, over dozens of ice roads and land portages. Van Wyk says the ice road portions were easy, since they are straight and flat. The challenges were the portages. “The portage has a very quick inclination and you need to go around trees and rocks, so you have very short turning radiuses. You’ve got a 35-metre long blade and it’s fiberglass, epoxy-resin impregnated material, which is very fragile and there were no spares available,” she explains. Operating in a remote area, under strict project timelines, meant any damaged materials would delay construction and affect the economics of the project. Enercon working with Equipment Express modified the trailers to provide additional clearance, and to support the long turbine components, and EBA Engineering redesigned the road with a 35-metre turning radius in mind. Road builder Nuna Logistics constructed ice ramps onto portages to decrease many portage inclines. “From 64 challenging portages, we ended up with four that were really tricky,” says Van Wyk. The turbine parts arrived in roughly 60 truckloads during the 2012 winter road season. The 6.5-tonne turbine blades are the longest loads ever trucked up the winter road. Road construction and foundation prep work started in the fall of 2011. The first of the four tower foundations, each roughly 20 metres in diameter, three metres thick and requiring 20-hour continuous concrete pours, was poured June 12,

| project proﬁle

FIRST WIND-GENERATED ELECTRICITY: Sept. 28, 2012 TARGET WIND FARM OUTPUT: 17 GWh per year TOTAL ELECTRICITY REQUIREMENT FOR THE MINE: 180 GWh per year DIESEL CONSUMED FOR EACH MEGAWATT HOUR OF ELECTRICITY: 240 litres ESTIMATED PAYBACK TIME: 8 years REMAINING MINE LIFE: 10 years CAPEX: $31 million

2012. Each tower pad contains 300 cubic metres of concrete and 20 kilometres of rebar. Tower construction began in July. “The tower came in three sections and there were a total of six lifts for each tower,” says Gord Stephenson, project engineer with the mine’s capital projects department, adding each turbine went up in about one week. The turbines were linked up to Diavik’s power grid and, following commissioning, the wind farm provided power to the mine on September 28.

Hybrid power Integrating the turbines with the power grid has added a new element to powerhouse control room operators’ jobs. Since wind is not constant, the energy created can fluctuate. But Diavik uses all of the wind power generated. Each facility, including underground, processing plant, batch plant and accommodations, has a unique energy use profile, but when they are combined, they become relatively stable. From summer to winter, the overall load can be anywhere from 19 MW to 26 MW. In comparison, Yellowknife – a city of 19,000 – uses an average of roughly 25 MW, according to Nikolaus Auerboeck, mine technical services manager. Diavik constructed a second powerhouse to build capacity for its underground operations and now has 11 Caterpillar

Courtesy of Enercon

Courtesy of Diavik

DIAVIK

The power output of the turbines can swing dramatically, especially when the wind speed is below 10 m/s. For instance, the power output increases 10-fold – from 127 KW to 1.223 MW – with a wind speed increase from 5 m/s to 10 m/s. However, once the wind speed reaches 16 m/s, full power output is reached – even if the wind increases. September 2013 | 61

Courtesy of Diavik

project proﬁle | D I A V I K

Last year’s especially frigid winter led the operations team to make some changes to improve performance in extreme cold.

The winter road and transport trucks were adapted to enable the shipment of the 12 35-metre turbine blades.

diesel generators in total – nine 4.4-megawatt generators and two 3.3-megawatt generators. “But we never run everything at once,” says Auerboeck. Diavik also has four 1.2-megawatt backups at its disposal from its construction phase. If the power draw is 25 MW, control room operators manually build a power supply profile using a combination of the diesel generators that, along with the wind power generated, add up to that number. “It’s like building Lego,” says Van Wyk. Any capacity from the generators above the mine’s power draw is called the spinning reserve, which is what the control room operators can tap into if the wind drops off. “You’ve got capacity online, but you’re not using it,” says Van Wyk. Each generator has its own efficiency curve. “You want to run it between 70 and 100 per cent,” Van Wyk explains. “We tend to run them at 85 per cent to 90 per cent. It doesn’t cost us unless we operate on the lower part of the efficiency curve, but again, it’s choosing which generator [to turn off] so we can run the right combination.” She says they shut down generators depending on wind farm production. “Let’s say (the wind farm is producing) 3.2 MW – which is a good day – it means I have offset one generator here. I can switch it off.” Bill Felgate, a powerhouse control room operator for nine years at Diavik, enjoys the new challenge. “You’ve kind of got to learn to balance the bigger load shifts, the changes in wind and the diesel generation,” he says. Control room operators monitor the mine’s power draw, each generator’s energy output and each wind turbine’s output in real time on a large screen. “I couldn’t say how often we’re looking at it, but how often are you looking at the rear-view mirror in your car? You’re always looking at it, but you don’t realize it.” Diavik uses a wind-forecasting model that predicts wind speeds three hours in advance. Performance is improving as operators gain more experience with the hybrid system and begin to feel comfortable adjusting the power loads on the fly. “They are starting to take more risk,” says Van Wyk. Operators also anticipate surges in energy pulls at the mine, like when underground water pumps start up, and they fire up 62 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

generators accordingly. The diesel generators take roughly three minutes to start, and once running, can operate at 105 to 110 per cent efficiency for a short time to make up for power surges. “If something happens, if there’s a quick spike, your system won’t go down,” says Felgate. “Most of the time, we try to keep the spinning reserve around two megawatts or so.”

Volatile winds Just like diesel generators, the turbines have their own efficiency curves. A wind of five metres per second (m/s) generates roughly 125 kilowatts, but a wind of 10 m/s generates 1.23 MW. Auerboeck says the curve starts to flatten out at around 12 m/s. Once the wind reaches 15 m/s and more, power is stable at 2.3 MW and there is very little change, even if the wind jumps to 25 m/s. Collectively, the four turbines were designed to produce a maximum of 9.2 MW, but can actually generate 9.4 MW under ideal conditions. Van Wyk can pull up the wind power output numbers on her desktop computer and shows the range of wind power generation from the previous week. “From nine megawatts, really quickly it dropped down to three megawatts,” she points out. “It lost six megawatts [in five minutes.] If you’re not awake as a control room operator, you can quickly be short six megawatts. You’ve got to watch it.” This is why the wind farm was conceived to provide only a fraction of the mines’ power needs. “If you went with 80 or 90 per cent wind, it would be very hard to control,” says Auerboeck.

Winter blues The wind farm had a difficult first winter – the region’s coldest in 30 years. “We lost two months in December and January because of very cold weather, and they were still learning the system,” says Van Wyk. The team learned the circuit breakers inside the turbines were too small, and the lubrication used could not withstand such low temperatures. There were problems with the turbine blade heaters. Diavik also learned how many spares to have on site and how to respond

| project proﬁle Courtesy of Diavik

Courtesy of Diavik

DIAVIK

Diavik’s principal energy advisor Liezl Van Wyk.

when the whole turbine went down. “When it is down, it doesn’t have the ability to generate heat and then everything goes south, especially electronics,” says Van Wyk. “These were all very important [findings.]” The team installed heaters inside the towers to keep the electronic components warm. And Felgate adds many of the small bugs and trips Diavik has encountered are normal for the first year and a half of such a system. “[The turbines] are operational to -40 degrees C by design,” says Van Wyk. “To truly prove it, I think we’ll have to wait until the upcoming season.”

reclamation work. “The biggest winner of this could be the government of the Northwest Territories because we’re taking the risk to prove this can work,” says David Wells, Diavik’s environment superintendent. “If it does work – and it’s working so far – there’s no reason that we can’t be putting this into small communities.” CIM

Wind does work Despite these problems, Diavik might still meet its 17gigawatt-hour target in the first year. On July 22, the four turbines had generated nearly 11.8 GWh since October 2012, even with the winter downtime. “So it’s two months of kilowatt hours lost,” says Van Wyk. “I am now curious to see if it’s catching up. So far, it looks like it, unless something else happens.” The project came in at $31 million, roughly $2 million under budget and, according to communications advisor Doug Ashbury, the wind farm has offset about 2.5 million litres of diesel so far. While Diavik targeted the wind project to provide around 10 per cent of its energy requirements, at one point in July, the installation was generating 52 per cent of the mine’s power. “It also helps us from a risk point of view,” says Auerboeck, adding the project will run until the end of the mine life – currently 2023. The project will eliminate about 100 fuel truckloads annually and has a payback period of around eight years. “When fuel prices get higher, of course, then that reduces the payback time of the project,” adds Auerboeck. The project is also proving that wind power is viable in the cold, remote North, where diesel is a major expense for residents, communities and governments. Diavik recently donated its wind monitoring tower to a local First Nation to gather data on the wind resource near the Giant mine site in Yellowknife, with the hopes that it could power the mine’s

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September 2013 | 63

Avec l‘aimable autorisation de Diavik

projet en vedette | D I A V I K L’année dernière, l’hiver particulièrement glacial a obligé l’équipe des opérations à procéder à certains changements afin d’améliorer les performances dans des conditions de froid extrême.

DANS LE VENT PAR HERB MATHISEN

Le parc éolien de la mine de diamant Diavik célébrera le premier anniversaire de sa mise en opération à la fin septembre. L’équipe des opérations en tire de dures leçons, mais les récompenses de ce projet novateur se font nombreuses à mesure que tournent les aubes sous la poussée du vent.

lus chaud qu’à l’accoutumée, l’hiver de 2006 a retardé l’ouverture de la route de glace qui conduit à la mine Diavik de Rio Tinto ; fermée aussi plus tôt, la route n’a donc pas connu son achalandage maximal, avec pour résultat que des millions de litres de carburant nécessaires à l’exploitation de la mine sont restés bloqués à Yellowknife, T.N.O. La société a dû transporter le carburant par avion à prix fort. Diavik comptant sur les huit à dix semaines d’ouverture de la route de glace pour transporter son carburant annuel par camion, la société a dû reconnaître la menace des risques climatiques et les répercussions possibles de ces risques sur l’exploitation de la mine alors que celle-ci migre de l’exploitation à ciel ouvert à l’exploitation souterraine, plus énergivore. La réduction des besoins en diesel et le risque d’approvisionnement au gré du climat sont vite devenus les priorités de Liezl Van Wyk, conseillère principale en énergie de Diavik et directrice de l’amélioration des activités. Dans son bureau situé

64 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

sur le site, Mme Van Wyk décrit le projet avec l’intensité et la passion sans lesquelles les turbines de 64 mètres et de 2,3 mégawatts (MW) n’auraient peut-être jamais pu commencer à produire, à temps et en deçà des limites du budget, leur puissance dans la toundra arctique. Plusieurs possibilités avaient été envisagées au départ pour les besoins de Diavik, notamment la construction de centaines de kilomètres de lignes de transmission jusqu’à un barrage hydroélectrique, ainsi que l’énergie solaire ou géothermique renouvelable et même un module nucléaire. « Nous avons examiné toutes les solutions possibles et les avons mises à l’essai jusqu’à ce qu’elles s’annulent d’elles-mêmes », raconte Mme Van Wyk. « Le vent est la seule option qui promettait le meilleur retour économique. » Recueillies sur trois ans, les données de surveillance du vent de Diavik ont démontré qu’il s’agissait là d’une ressource viable. Mme Van Wyk a alors établi un budget de 33 millions de dollars

DIAVIK

en vue de produire environ 10 % de la puissance annuelle de Diavik – 17 des 180 gigawattheures nécessaires – au moyen de l’énergie éolienne. En 2011, la haute direction de Rio Tinto donnait son aval au lancement effectif du projet.

| projet en vedette

Les pièces furent expédiées d’Allemagne à Thunder Bay en Ontario, puis transportées par camion jusqu’à Yellowknife. La dernière étape du voyage fut la plus difficile : un trajet de 373 kilomètres le long des dizaines de routes de glace séparant Yellowknife de Diavik, entrecoupé de portages sur terrain accidenté. Liezl Van Wyk dit que le transport sur les routes de glace était facile, celles-ci étant plates et droites. Le véritable défi était les portages. « Le portage s’effectue sur un terrain pentu où il vous faut contourner arbres et rochers, si bien que le rayon de manœuvre est fort restreint », explique-t-elle. « Vous transportez une aube longue de 35 mètres faite de fibre de verre imprégnée de résine époxyde, un matériau très fragile pour lequel vous n’avez aucune pièce de rechange. » La société EBA Engineering a revu le design de la route avec à l’esprit un rayon de braquage de 35 mètres. Le constructeur de routes Nuna Logistics a érigé pour sa part des rampes de glace sur les portages afin d’en réduire l’inclinaison. « Quatre des 64 portages les plus difficiles posaient un défi de taille », ajoute Mme Van Wyk. Une soixantaine de camions ont livré les pièces de turbine au cours de la période des routes de glace de l’hiver 2012. La construction de la route et la préparation des fondations débutèrent à l’automne 2011. La première des quatre fondations des tours fut coulée le 12 juin 2012, chacune faisant environ 20 mètres de diamètre et trois mètres d’épaisseur, et nécessitant 20 heures de coulage de béton. Chacune des fondations se compose de 300 mètres cubes de béton et de 20 kilomètres de barres d’armature. La construction de la tour débuta en juillet. Les turbines furent reliées au réseau électrique de Diavik et mises en service, et le parc éolien put alimenter la mine le 28 septembre.

pre profil d’utilisation de l’énergie, mais lorsqu’ils sont combinés, ces profils deviennent relativement stables. De l’été à l’hiver, la charge d’ensemble peut varier de 19 à 26 mégawatts. Yellowknife, une ville de 19 000 habitants, utilise par comparaison environ 25 MW, de l’avis de Nikolaus Auerboeck, directeur des services techniques de la mine. Afin d’accroître la capacité des opérations souterraines, on a érigé une seconde centrale sur le site de Diavik, qui compte maintenant un groupe électrogène diesel composé de neuf génératrices de 4,4 mégawatts et deux génératrices de 3,3 mégawatts, de marque Caterpillar. « Mais nous ne les faisons jamais fonctionner en même temps », de dire M. Auerboeck. Diavik possède également quatre génératrices de secours de 1,2 mégawatt, acquises au moment de sa construction. Si le prélèvement d’énergie atteint 25 MW, les opérateurs de la salle de commande établissent manuellement un profil d’alimentation en combinant certaines des génératrices diesel qui, alliées à l’énergie éolienne produite, génèrent l’énergie voulue. « C’est comme empiler des blocs Lego », dit Liezl Van Wyk. La capacité des génératrices qui excède le prélèvement d’énergie de la mine constitue une réserve tournante dont se servent les opérateurs de la salle de commande lorsque le vent faiblit. « Vous avez une capacité en ligne, mais vous ne vous en servez pas », déclare Mme Van Wyk. Chaque génératrice comporte une courbe de rendement qui lui est propre. « Il s’agit habituellement d’utiliser de 70 à 100 pour cent de sa capacité », explique Mme Van Wyk. « Nous avons plutôt tendance à utiliser de 85 à 90 % de cette capacité. Cela ne nous occasionne aucune dépense, tant que nous nous tenons loin du début de la courbe de rendement, mais encore là, il s’agit de décider quelle génératrice mettre hors tension afin d’obtenir la bonne combinaison. » Elle dit que le moteur des génératrices est coupé en fonction de la production du parc éolien. « Supposons que le parc éolien produise 3,2 MW, ce qui équivaut à une bonne journée et élimine le besoin d’une génératrice, que je peux dès lors fermer. » On utilise un modèle de prévision à la mine afin de prédire la vitesse du vent trois heures à l’avance. Le rendement s’améliore à mesure que les opérateurs se familiarisent avec le système hybride et gagnent suffisamment en confiance pour régler la charge à la volée. « Ils commencent à prendre plus de risques », affirme Mme Van Wyk. Les opérateurs peuvent anticiper les sautes de puissance et les demandes en énergie de la mine, comme c’est le cas par exemple au démarrage des pompes à eau, et ils lancent alors les génératrices en conséquence. Ces dernières mettent environ trois minutes à démarrer; une fois en marche, elles peuvent fonctionner à 105 ou 110 % de leur efficacité pour un court laps de temps en vue de compenser une saute de puissance. « Même s’il se produit quelque chose, une pointe rapide, par exemple, le système ne tombe pas en panne, affirme M. Felgate. Nous tentons la plupart du temps de maintenir la réserve tournante autour de deux mégawatts. »

Puissance hybride

Vents volatiles

Chaque installation, incluant le souterrain, l’usine de traitement, la centrale de dosage et le logement, comporte son pro-

À l’instar du groupe électrogène diesel, les turbines possèdent leurs propres courbes de rendement. Un vent qui souf-

Un plan infaillible Liezl Van Wyk et deux consultants en ressources éoliennes de Genivar ont parcouru la mine jusqu’à ce qu’ils trouvent le site idéal pour le parc éolien, un endroit où les bâtiments et autres structures n’entraveraient pas le passage du vent. Afin de déterminer le type de turbine requis, Mme Van Wyk a ensuite interviewé les fabricants en les mettant au fait du projet, ainsi que des risques et des conditions d’exploitation glaciales du Nord. Elle a arrêté son choix à la turbine E-70 à entraînement direct de la société allemande Enercon, qui a l’avantage de fonctionner à plus bas régime, ce qui signifie un frottement et une usure plus faibles, et plus silencieusement que la turbine à multiplicateur de vitesse.

Une longue route

September 2013 | 65

Avec l‘aimable autorisation de Diavik

projet en vedette | D I A V I K

Quatre éoliennes d’une puissance de 2,3 mégawatts alimentent maintenant la mine Diavik au nord-est de Yellowknife.

fle à cinq mètres la seconde (m/s) produit environ 200 kilowatts, mais un vent de 10 m/s génère pour sa part 1,6 mégawatt. Nikolaus Auerboeck précise que la courbe commence à s’aplanir autour de 12 m/s. Lorsque le vent atteint 15 m/s ou plus, la puissance se stabilise à 2,3 MW et il y a alors très peu de changement, même si le vent accélère à 25 m/s. Ensemble, les quatre turbines ont été conçues pour produire 9,2 MW, et peuvent en fait générer jusqu’à 9,4 MW dans des conditions idéales. Liezl Van Wyk récupère les chiffres de la puissance de sortie de l’énergie éolienne, qu’elle affiche sur l’écran de son ordinateur pour montrer l’éventail de production d’énergie éolienne de la semaine précédente. « Elle est descendue très rapidement de neuf à trois mégawatts », indique-t-elle. « Elle a donc chuté de six mégawatts [en cinq minutes]. Si personne dans la salle de commande n’est sur le qui-vive, vous perdez six mégawatts en un rien de temps. Il vous faut être aux aguets. » Voilà pourquoi on a conçu le parc éolien pour ne fournir qu’une infime partie des besoins en énergie de la mine. « Si vous deviez en tirer 80 ou 90 % de l’énergie voulue, vous auriez beaucoup de mal à la maîtriser », affirme M. Auerboeck.

Morosité hivernale Le premier hiver du parc éolien, le plus froid de la région en trente ans, fut particulièrement difficile. « Nous avons perdu les mois de décembre et de janvier à cause du froid intense alors que les opérateurs continuaient de se familiariser avec le système », explique Mme Van Wyk. L’équipe s’est d’abord rendu 66 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

compte que les disjoncteurs des turbines étaient trop petits et que l’huile de lubrification prévue ne suffisait pas à la tâche en raison du froid. Il y a eu des problèmes avec les chauffe-aubes. On a également compris combien de pièces de rechange il fallait stocker sur le site et comment réagir quand une turbine tombait en panne. « Une fois en panne, il lui est impossible de produire de la chaleur et tout se met alors à aller mal, surtout du côté des pièces électroniques », affirme Mme Van Wyk. « Toutes ces découvertes nous ont été particulièrement utiles. » L’équipe a installé des réchauffeurs à l’intérieur de la tour afin de garder les composants électroniques au chaud. M. Felgate ajoute que bon nombre des petits problèmes et des pannes de Diavik sont chose normale au cours des dix-huit premiers mois d’existence d’un système du genre. « [Les turbines] ont été conçues pour fonctionner jusqu’à 40 degrés », déclare pour sa part Mme Van Wyk. « Pour en avoir vraiment la preuve, je pense qu’il nous faudra attendre à l’hiver prochain. »

Le vent fonctionne bel et bien Malgré ces difficultés, Diavik pourrait atteindre sa cible de 17 gigawattheures au cours de la première année. Le 22 juillet, les quatre turbines avaient produit près de 11,8 GWh depuis octobre 2012, en dépit du temps d’arrêt de la saison hivernale. « Nous avons donc perdu deux mois de kilowattheures », de dire Mme Van Wyk. « Je suis curieuse de voir si nous allons pouvoir reprendre le temps perdu. Jusqu’à présent, cela m’en a tout l’air, à moins d’un autre pépin. » Le projet a coûté 31 millions de dollars en tout, deux de moins que prévu et, selon le conseiller en communication Doug Ashbury, le parc éolien a permis d’épargner 2,5 millions de litres de diesel à ce jour. Le parc éolien de Diavik a été conçu pour fournir 10 % de l’énergie nécessaire à la mine, mais à un certain point au cours du mois de juillet, l’installation produisait 52 % de cette énergie. « Cela nous aide également sur le plan de la gestion du risque », affirme Nikolaus Auerboeck, qui ajoute que le projet se poursuivra jusqu’à la fin de la vie utile de la mine prévue en 2023. Le projet éliminera environ 100 camions de diesel par année et sa période de récupération est d’environ huit ans. « Bien sûr, lorsque les prix du carburant montent, cela réduit la période de récupération du projet », ajoute M. Auerboeck. ICM

Certification in Ore Reserve Risk and Strategic Mine Planning Optimization Spread over a period of four months, this four-week course is designed for busy mining professionals who wish to update their skills and knowledge base in modern modelling techniques for ore bodies and new risk-based optimization methodologies for strategic mine planning. Gain practical experience by applying the following hands-on concepts and technical methods: methods for modelling ore bodies; stochastic simulations, case studies and models of geological uncertainty; and demand-driven production scheduling and geological risk. INSTRUCTOR Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada • DATES Week 1: May 5-9, Week 2: June 2-6, Week 3: July 7-11, Week 4: August 25-28, 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada • INFO http://www.mcgill.ca/continuingstudies/programs-and-courses/engineering-0/certification-ore-reserverisk-and-mine-planning-optimization

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 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, Golder Associates, Chile; and Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada • DATE September 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. INSTRUCTOR Don Singer, USA • DATE September 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Strategic Risk Management in Mine Design: From Life-of-Mine to Global Optimization 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 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

TECHNOLOGY >> Pumps and piping

Past the airy nothings By Eavan Moore

Courtesy of Metso

Finer grinding and tenacious froths are pushing pump manufacturers to redesign and reinforce the best practices in efficient froth pumping.

Dealing with froth is increasingly important as mines see more tenacious froths. In vertical froth pumps, air rises along the shaft through the open vortex and exits at the top.

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Froth flotation does a fine job of separating minerals from gangue, but problems surface when moving the products of that process. The tiny air bubbles in mineral froth stop up centrifugal pumps easily, coalescing at the pump’s inlet in a condition called airlock. The initial onset of airlock reduces the suction the pump can produce; as excess air builds, it blocks the pump inlet completely, causing the pump to falter until enough pressure builds up to burp out the air bubble. By that time, the pump sump may have overflowed. In addition, losses from the effect of froth on the pump force it to operate at a higher speed to produce the same pressure. As a result, froth pumps are often limited in the amount of pressure they can produce before the onset of cavitation, which can wear out pump parts. Dealing with froth is increasingly important as mines see more tenacious froths, substances that hold tightly to their air content despite efforts to disperse it en route. “Froths from fine-grained concentrates [below 20 microns] are far harder to handle,” says Peter Woodall, principal engineer at Xstrata Technology. “Such froths are becoming more common as ores become finer-grained and need more regrinding.” In 2011, GIW Industries announced changes to its horizontal centrifugal pump design in an attempt to mitigate this problem. Centrifugal pumps use a spinning vaned impeller – a fan with blades – to create lowpressure zones. As long as that pressure is sufficiently lower than the atmospheric pressure pushing on the slurry as it enters, slurry will be drawn through the vanes and toward its next stop in the process. An ideal pump design would suck the slurry, but not the air that makes the froth. GIW drew on concepts pioneered by its parent company KSB in biological processing and the handling of viscous liquids to develop a design that delays the onset of airlock, produces more pressure, and vents air through strategically placed holes in the impeller, explains Robert Visintainer, the company’s vice-president of engineering and R&D. The main pumping vanes are of a design that disturbs the airlock while it produces more pressure at the same pump speed, allowing heads of 50 metres before the onset of cavitation. In addition to the first circle of vanes, which draws the slurry into the eye of the impeller, a set of vanes at the back of the impeller creates a second zone of lower pressure that selectively draws air away from the slurry to be vented out. The air passes through a de-aeration chamber before leaving the pump. GIW found that while the air venting system alone did not delay the onset of airlock, it held pressure losses constant at a level sufficient to keep the pump working. Weir Minerals developed a similar design. The venting system Weir has dubbed CARS – continuous air removal system – is also based on a secondary set of vanes and has holes at the back of the impeller shroud to let air escape. Weir’s design uses slightly different vanes and puts the vent exit as close to the shaft centerline as possible, instead of sending it out at a tangent (as GIW’s pump does), because it was found to be the best way of keeping slurry out of the air stream. Michael Bootle, senior design engineer at Weir, suggests the ability to vent air effectively may allow for the use of higher specific speed froth pump designs to generate higher head. These designs, which feature oversized inlets and open impellers of smaller outside diameter for shorter vane passageways of greater width, minimize the likelihood of “blocking” the impeller eye or vane

Courtesy of GIW

ing the desired volume flow rate by passageway with an air bubble. In non-vented form, they have shown the froth factor to get a design flow the ability to handle higher air volrate. Don says FLSmidth’s slurry umes more efficiently than similarly pumps, if accurately oversized and fitsized standard slurry pumps and ted with a flared inlet to minimize are sized based on a modified “froth pressure losses from friction, can outvolume factor” (a function of perperform specialized froth pumps. He cent air volume rather than a “tradiadds that FLSmidth has a special tional” froth factor). They have, advantage: a patented adjustable wear however, been limited in their abilring that prevents slurry from recircuity to generate higher head, as the lating back to the suction side of the corresponding higher speed of pump and interfering with its perthese smaller diameter impellers formance. promotes separation of air and Smaller-scale operations have slurry and the formation of an air other options than centrifugal pumps. bubble in the impeller eye and posBill Hancock, owner of Zeroday LLC, sible airlock. Intermediate, partial notes that peristaltic hose pumps solutions to this problem with nonmove both air and slurry by rhythmiGIW reworked the design of its horizontal centrifugal vented designs has been the develcally squeezing them through a tube, pump, which now includes a set of vanes at the back of the impeller to help draw air away from the slurry. opment of larger diameter, lower avoiding airlock completely. These specific speed froth impellers with pumps can handle tough froths, while elongated main pumping vanes extending into the eye and using less power and lowering maintenance costs. Higher secondary splitter vanes to lower pump speed, minimize air upfront capital costs and volume constraints are their chief and slurry separation, and enhance suction performance. With limitations. The largest of the models sold by Zeroday operates the introduction of venting systems, separation of air and at a continuous rate of up to 462.3 gallons per minute (gpm). slurry associated with higher speed may become an advantage, By contrast, Weir Minerals’ horizontal froth pump goes up to says Bootle. “If the venting is highly effective in removing air, 14,000 gpm. it could be more desirable to separate as much air from slurry Hancock says that improved peristaltic hose pumps, which as possible,” he explains, “so that pump performance is use rollers as the component that compresses the tube, only improved and less air is pumped to subsequent pumps or recently made inroads into North America. Gliding on greased bearings, the rollers are an alternative to shoe compressors, down the pipeline.” which generate friction, require higher torque, and put more stress on the hose. Alternative approaches These horizontal froth pumps provide high-volume flow but they have competition from longstanding vertical models. Jan The root causes Andersson, technical director of slurry handling solutions at The pump itself is only one comparatively easy part of the Metso, says vertical froth pumps outperform horizontal ones in froth handling challenge, points out Joe Pease, Xstrata Techmany applications by centrifuging the aerated slurry in a coni- nology’s CEO. The entire plant needs to be designed to handle cal tank while increasing the vortex with special impeller shap- both expected and unexpected froth problems. That was the ing that separates air from solids and liquids. “Airlock happens approach taken at GlencoreXstrata’s McArthur River zinc mine on horizontal and vertical pumps with the inlet facing down- in Australia, where 50 per cent of the concentrate recovered is wards,” says Andersson. “On vertical pumps with the inlet fac- finer than 2.5 microns and the froth is extremely tenacious. As ing upwards, it will not happen.” Instead, air rises along the throughput increases, McArthur River is in a continual process vertical shaft through the open vortex and exits at the top. of tweaking its methods for de-aerating froth – from sumps to FLSmidth has a different take on pump development. The pipes to pumps. “You need to get the ‘boring’ stuff right too,” company does not put resources towards developing new froth says Pease. “The good news is that you can design to handle pump designs; instead, says Kenny Don, applications engineer difficult froths, and it doesn’t cost that much. But it is imporat FLSmidth, traditional approaches to handling froth are all tant to design it in up front. Give yourself room to make that are needed. “You can try to remove the air, but if you size changes.” the pump based on the froth factor flow (effectively oversizing Pump manufacturers, too, are looking at how they can dethe pump) and optimize the effective level of your sump, aerate slurry before it reaches the pump. Andersson says that there’s no need,” he points out. FLSmidth Krebs’ millMAX is Metso’s current focus. At GIW, a third round of froth pump pump range handles the majority of mineral froths without testing this year will focus on conditions inside the sump and resorting to expensive pump designs. how they affect what reaches the pump. Oversizing is done by taking empirical observations of the “Hopefully, this will contribute to better methods for manfoam volume and tenacity of a given slurry stream, converting aging the froth upstream,” says Visintainer. “There is plenty them into a “froth factor” between one and six, and multiply- more to be learned here.” CIM September 2013 | 69

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Hide and go geocaching Courtesy of / Avec l’aimable autorisation de Sylvain Renault

Technology and history intersect for students at CIM’s Harricana Branch event

Une grande partie de géocachette La technologie et l’histoire se croisent lors de l’événement de la section Harricana de l’ICM en faveur des élèves

Students participate in the CIM Harricana Branch’s geocaching event. / Les élèves participant à l’événement de géocachette de la section Harricana de l’ICM.

by / par Mark Cardwell As its name suggests, Val-d’Or has always been inextricably linked to mining. So it is fitting that an annual CIM geocaching event held there, which aims to raise awareness of career opportunities in the industry among local high school students, is proving to be worth its weight in gold. Held the first week of May, the geocaching competition – part global positioning system (GPS)-led scavenger hunt, part quiz game – has been a part of Quebec’s Mining Week for the last five years. This year, a record 290 Secondary IV students – the equivalent of Grade 10 in most other provinces – from three area high schools participated in the event, which is held on the site of the pastproducing gold mine that gave Val-d’Or its name. “The kids love it,” said Marcel Jolicoeur, director of business development with the Genivar office in Val-d’Or and chairman of CIM’s Harricana Branch. “It gives them a chance to learn about the mining industry and plants a seed in their minds as they plan for post-secondary education.” After arriving in the morning by bus, teams of six to eight students fan out and search for 50 hidden caches using GPS technology. In addition to hosting the GPS coordinates for the next cache, each cache contains a short text on a subject related to mining – including anything from drilling, explosives and ventilation to prospecting, energy and geology – and a question based on information in the text. “We set it up in a way that each team can find a halfdozen different caches in about 90 minutes,” said Annabelle Rioux, human resources consultant with 70 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

Comme son nom l’indique, la ville de Val-d’Or a toujours été intimement liée à l’exploitation minière. Organisé à Val-D’or dans le but de sensibiliser les élèves locaux de niveau secondaire aux opportunités professionnelles dans ce secteur, on peut affirmer que l’événement annuel de géocachette de l’ICM vaut son pesant d’or. La compétition de géocachette, qui consiste en une chasse au trésor GPS et en un jeu-questionnaire, a lieu la première semaine de mai et s’inscrit dans le cadre de la Semaine minière du Québec depuis cinq ans. Cette année, un nombre record de 290 élèves du secondaire IV (l’équivalent de la 10e année dans la plupart des autres provinces) de trois écoles secondaires de la région ont participé à l’événement, organisé sur le site de l’ancienne mine d’or qui a prêté son nom à la ville. « Cet événement plaît beaucoup aux jeunes », a déclaré Marcel Jolicœur, directeur du développement des entreprises au bureau de Genivar à Val-d’Or et président de la section Harricana de l’ICM. « Il leur permet d’en apprendre davantage sur l’industrie minière et leur donne des idées pour la planification de leurs études postsecondaires. » Après leur arrivée le matin en autobus, des équipes composées de six à huit élèves se dispersent pour partir à la recherche de 50 caches à l’aide de la technologie GPS. En plus de contenir les coordonnées GPS de la cache suivante, chaque cache contient un court texte sur un thème lié à l’exploitation minière (par exemple le forage, les explosifs, la ventilation, la prospection, l’énergie et la géologie) ainsi qu’une question basée sur les renseignements contenus dans le texte. « Nous organisons la partie de façon à ce que chaque équipe puisse trouver environ 6 caches différentes en 90 minutes », a expliqué Annabelle Rioux, conseillère en ressources humaines chez Agnico Eagle Mines. Avec M. Jolicœur et Johanne Voyer de la société Deloitte & Touche, elle siège en tant que représentante de l’industrie aux côtés des professeurs et des fournisseurs au sein du comité d’organisation de l’événement.

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Agnico Eagle Mines, who along with Jolicoeur and Deloitte’s Johanne Voyer, sits as an industry representative with teachers and suppliers on the event’s organizing committee. After the search, the event moves indoors to a large conference room where students spend another 90 minutes trying to find answers to more questions at booths set up and staffed by representatives from 10 industry-related companies in the area. Quiz scores are then tabulated, and the winning teams are awarded with prizes. Students are also given a mine rescue and firefighting demonstration, before boarding their buses for the return trip to school. According to Jolicoeur, the half-day event takes eight months of planning and costs about $5,000 to stage – excluding the use of 42 GPS units worth $15,000 that were bought with funds raised by the organizing committee. But he says the time and money invested are small compared to the dividends for students, the mining industry, and the mining-intensive Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Rouyn-Noranda regions. “More than 80 per cent of our economy depends on mining,” he said. “But few kids here get a chance to see and understand what mining is really all about and the great jobs it offers. Many have negative images of [the industry] and leave to find jobs in other fields.” Geocaching, he added, is a fun and educational activity that provides students entering their final year of high school with an opportunity to “learn the truth about mining and maybe make them think about becoming a geologist or a mining engineer or a heavy equipment operator. And we’ve heard that several kids have done exactly that.” Born from a brainstorming session of the Harricana branch’s Mining Week committee, geocaching was developed as CIM’s contribution to the myriad public events that have been put on by the mining community in the region for more than 20 years. First held at Carrefour High School in Val-d’Or, in 2009, the event, restricted to the gym, attracted roughly 100 Secondary IV students and featured only a handful of booths. The next year, the caches were spread throughout the school. The move to the old gold mine site (now a local tourist attraction called La Cité de l’Or) in 2011 has helped the event grow in size and popularity among students and teachers. This year’s edition included students from two regional high schools: Le Tremplin in Malartic and La Concorde in Senneterre. “It is extremely successful and people want more of it,” said Jolicoeur. According to CIM’s executive director Jean Vavrek, five or six other CIM branches across Quebec are now looking seriously at organizing geocaching events in their regions: “And it’s not just Quebec. I can see this going across Canada, even becoming a nationwide contest,” said Vavrek. “In fact, this is something we can take worldwide to show people how complex and interesting it is to find and extract minerals from the ground.” CIM

Après la recherche des caches, les participants à l’événement se rendent dans une grande salle de conférence pour passer 90 minutes supplémentaires à chercher la réponse à d’autres questions dans des stands installés et tenus par des membres du personnel de dix entreprises régionales spécialisées dans ce secteur. Les résultats du questionnaire sont alors classés et les équipes gagnantes se voient remettre un prix. Les élèves assistent ensuite à une démonstration de sauvetage minier et de lutte contre l’incendie dans une mine, avant de repartir en autobus vers leur école. Selon M. Jolicœur, cet événement d’une demi-journée requiert huit mois de planification et 5 000 $ de frais d’organisation, sans compter l’utilisation de 42 dispositifs GPS d’une valeur de 15 000 $ achetés grâce à des fonds recueillis par le comité d’organisation. Mais M. Jolicœur explique que ces investissements sont minimes en comparaison des retombées pour les élèves, l’industrie minière et les régions de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue et de Rouyn-Noranda, lieux d’activités minières intensives. « Plus de 80 % de notre économie dépend de l’exploitation minière », a-t-il déclaré. « Mais peu de jeunes d’ici ont la chance de voir et de comprendre les enjeux des activités minières et les opportunités professionnelles que ce secteur offre. Bon nombre d’entre eux ont une image négative de l’industrie et quittent la région pour trouver un emploi dans d’autres secteurs. » Selon lui, la géocachette est une activité pédagogique et ludique qui donne la possibilité aux élèves entamant leur dernière année de secondaire « de découvrir la face cachée de l’industrie minière et peut-être d’envisager une carrière de géologue, d’ingénieur minier ou de conducteur d’équipement lourd. Et d’après ce que nous avons entendu dire, plusieurs jeunes ont suivi cette voie. » L’idée de la géocachette a émergé lors d’une séance de remueméninges du comité de la Semaine minière de la section Harricana. L’ICM l’a concrétisé en tant que contribution à la myriade d’événements publics organisés par la communauté minière dans la région depuis plus de 20 ans. Organisé pour la première fois à l’école polyvalente Le Carrefour de Val-d’Or en 2009, l’événement, limité au gymnase, avait attiré près de 100 élèves en secondaire IV et seuls quelques stands avaient été installés. L’année suivante, les caches avaient été réparties dans toute l’école. En 2011, l’événement a été organisé à l’ancienne mine d’or (désormais une attraction touristique locale nommée La Cité de l’Or), ce qui a contribué à l’expansion et à la popularité grandissante de l’événement auprès des élèves et des enseignants. Des élèves de deux écoles secondaires régionales (Le Tremplin de Malartic et La Concorde de Senneterre) ont participé à la dernière édition. « L’événement a connu un grand succès et les gens en redemandent », a déclaré M. Jolicœur. Selon le directeur exécutif de l’ICM, Jean Vavrek, cinq ou six autres sections québécoises de l’ICM envisagent aujourd’hui sérieusement d’organiser des événements de géocachette dans leur région. « Et pas seulement au Québec. Ce genre d’événements pourrait être organisé partout au Canada et même devenir une compétition nationale. En fait, nous pourrions le promouvoir dans le monde entier afin d’expliquer aux gens à quel point le processus de recherche et d’extraction de minerais dans les sols est complexe et intéressant. » ICM September 2013 | 71

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Participation is a priority President Bob Schafer wants membership to help define CIM

La participation : une priorité Bob Schafer compte sur l’aide des membres pour définir l’ICM by / par Krystyna Lagowski Lorsque Bob Schafer a rejoint le Conseil de l’ICM il y a trois ans, il réfléchissait déjà à la façon de mettre au point un plan stratégique pour l’organisation. Il a reconnu que cette tâche serait plus longue que son mandat final d’une année en tant que président, lequel a débuté en mai l’année dernière. Il savait aussi que la contribution des membres de l’ICM était indispensable à la croissance de l’institut. « L’ICM existe grâce à ses membres », commente M. Schafer. « Notre objectif est de nous assurer que nous sommes en phase avec ce que veulent nos membres et ce dont ils ont besoin pour réussir leurs carrières, et de renforcer les capacités de notre secteur. » Pour M. Schafer, il est primordial que les membres de l’ICM contribuent à la définition des priorités de l’organisation. C’était d’ailleurs la raison même du sondage mené auprès des membres en début d’été, lequel sera évalué d’ici la fin de l’année et dont les résultats seront révélés avant le prochain Congrès de l’ICM qui se tiendra en mai 2014. « Nous adoptons une approche historique pour créer notre plan », explique M. Schafer. « La plupart des organisations ‘séquestrent’ leur comité exécutif pendant quelques jours avec un facilitateur et créent un énoncé de la mission. Mais nous voulons faire les choses correctement. Nous souhaitons que nos membres soient impliqués dans le résultat final de notre plan stratégique. »

What does it mean to belong?

L’appartenance : quelles implications ?

Over the past five years, CIM’s membership has increased by 5,000 to 14,500 members. “Our industry’s been on a major upswing globally,” notes Schafer. “So it’s imperative that we look forward in a particularly meaningful way.” He believes CIM plays a leadership role in the promotion of operational best practices and also in the area of standards, such as the definition of mineral resource and reserves within the Canadian mining industry. “We want to make sure we maintain that leadership and give our membership something to be proud of,” Schafer says.

Au cours des cinq dernières années, l’adhésion à l’ICM a atteint la barre des 14 500 membres, soit une augmentation de 5 000 membres. « Notre secteur a connu une croissance impressionnante dans le monde entier », fait remarquer M. Schafer. « Aussi nous faut-il impérativement envisager l’avenir de manière concrète. » Selon lui, l’ICM joue un rôle de premier plan dans la promotion des bonnes pratiques opérationnelles et également dans le domaine des normes, notamment au niveau de la définition des ressources et des réserves minérales au sein de l’industrie minière canadienne. « Nous souhaitons assurer le maintien de ce leadership et donner à nos membres

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When Bob Schafer joined CIM Council three years ago, he was already thinking about how he would help update the strategic plan for the organization. He recognized that the task would take longer than his eventual one-year term as president, which began last May. And he knew he wanted to call on the voice of the CIM membership to drive its growth. “CIM is the membership,” Schafer says. “Our objective is to make sure we’re in sync with what our members want, what they need to be successful in their careers, and to advance the capacities of our industry.” For Schafer, it is crucial that CIM members help define the organization’s priorities. It is the reasoning behind the member survey that will be carried out in the coming months and will be evaluated later this year. The results will be reported prior to the next CIM Convention in May 2014. “We’re taking a landmark approach to create our plan,” Schafer explains. “Most organizations will sequester their executive committee for a couple of days with a facilitator and create a mission statement. But we want to do it right. We want to have our members involved with what the strategic plan ought to be.”

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CIM community

“Maintaining our capabilities and expertise, education and knowledge transfer – especially in technology – is a priority.” But fellowship, the opportunity to connect with colleagues, network and trade ideas, is another compelling benefit of CIM membership. “That feeling of belonging to an organization that represents your interests, working and reacting together to internal or external forces, that’s very powerful,” says Schafer.

matière à être fiers », ajoute M. Schafer. « Notre priorité est de maintenir nos capacités et notre expertise, la formation et le transfert des connaissances, et particulièrement en matière de technologie. » L’appartenance à ce groupe, la possibilité de se connecter avec des collègues, de se mettre en réseau et d’échanger des idées est un autre avantage de l’adhésion à l’ICM. « Ce sentiment de faire partie d’une organisation qui représente nos intérêts, de travailler et de réagir ensemble face à des forces internes ou externes, est très fort », déclare M. Schafer.

Road show

Tournée de présentation

Concurrent with the survey, Schafer, CIM executive director Jean Vavrek, and other council members, will also be visiting and consulting with CIM societies and branches in each of the districts to gather input from members. In most cases, the meetings are planned to coincide with existing activities and events. “We’re targeting any opportunities where there is a real opportunity to interact with members,” says Schafer. He hopes to inspire more members to take leadership roles in CIM. “Right now, participation is mostly from middle management, but we’d like to get members involved right out of university,” says Schafer. “As these young members maintain their activity throughout their careers, they’ll see the value of the organization and move on to senior positions within CIM – and then encourage the next generation to get involved.”

En même temps que le sondage, M. Schafer, aux côtés du directeur exécutif de l’ICM Jean Vavrek et d’autres membres du comité exécutif, rendront visite aux sociétés et sections de l’ICM dans chacun de ses districts et les consulteront afin de recueillir des informations auprès des membres. Dans la plupart des cas, les rencontres seront organisées de manière à coïncider avec d’autres activités et événements. « Nous ciblons toute opportunité rassemblant plus d’une dizaine de membres », explique M. Schafer. Il espère inciter davantage de membres à adopter des rôles de premier plan à l’ICM. « À l’heure actuelle, la participation se cantonne principalement aux cadres intermédiaires, mais nous souhaitons impliquer davantage de membres dès leur sortie de l’université », fait remarquer M. Schafer. « En maintenant leur activité tout au long de leur carrière, ces jeunes membres comprendront la valeur de l’organisation et progresseront vers des postes à responsabilité au sein de l’ICM, ce qui encouragera la prochaine génération à prendre part à son tour. »

New faces

Nouveaux visages

Coincidentally, this year’s executive council is marked by seven new faces representing CIM’s member societies, as well as two new district vice-presidents. Jim Popowich, CIM’s pastpresident and director at large, is pleased to see the potential for fresh ideas to help move the organization forward. He notes that although the council members may be new to their positions, they are more than familiar with CIM. “The societies are going to select people who know what’s going on,” he says. Additionally, both council and vice-presidents now serve for two years, instead of one. “You get better continuity,” Popowich explains. Jo-Anne Boucher, the chair of CIM’s Maintenance, Engineering and Reliability Society, and the general manager at Bestech, is one of the new faces. “This is a fantastic networking opportunity for me and my company,” she says. “I’m highly motivated by volunteerism and by giving back to society and this industry.” Already, Boucher has volunteered to be on the diversity committee. “I believe that council should lead by example,” she stresses. “As a female in a male-dominated industry, diversity strikes a chord with me. I can bring a different perspective to the team.” Diversity will be in the spotlight at the 2014 CIM convention in Vancouver, where the theme will be “Mining 4 Everyone.” “Mining is multi-dimensional; it takes communities working together to make it successful,” explains Schafer. “We want to get as many people involved as we can.” CIM

Par coïncidence, le Conseil exécutif a accueilli cette année sept nouvelles personnes représentant les sociétés membres de l’ICM, ainsi que deux nouveaux vice-présidents de districts. Jim Popowich, ancien président de l’ICM et membre du Conseil, est heureux de constater que les idées neuves sont susceptibles d’aider l’organisation à évoluer. Comme il le fait remarquer, malgré que les membres du conseil soient nouveaux à leur poste, ils sont plus que familiers avec l’ICM. « Les sociétés vont sélectionner des personnes qui sont bien au fait de la situation », explique-t-il. Par ailleurs, le conseil et les vice-présidents ont désormais un mandat de deux ans et non plus d’une seule année. « Cela permet une plus grande continuité », explique M. Popowich. Jo-Anne Boucher, présidente de la Société de l’ingénierie, de l’entretien et de la fiabilité (IEF) de l’ICM et directrice générale de Bestech, fait partie des nouveaux venus. « Il s’agit pour moi comme pour ma société d’une formidable opportunité de mise en réseau », explique-t-elle. « Je suis très motivée par le bénévolat et souhaite aider la société et ce secteur. » Mme Boucher s’est déjà portée volontaire pour participer au comité sur la diversité. « Le conseil doit montrer l’exemple », insiste-t-elle. « En tant que femme dans un secteur à dominante masculine, la diversité m’est chère. Je pense pouvoir apporter un point de vue différent à l’équipe. » La diversité sera au cœur des discussions du Congrès de l’ICM 2014, qui se tiendra à Vancouver sur le thème « Mining 4 Everyone » (L’exploitation minière pour tous). « L’exploitation minière est multidimensionnelle ; son succès dépend de la collaboration des communautés », explique M. Schafer. « Nous souhaitons impliquer autant de personnes que possible. » ICM September 2013 | 73

CIM community

CIM’s fall lineup Maintenance, safety and metallurgy round out the 2013 conference schedule by Herb Mathisen

This fall, CIM and its societies are hosting a variety of conferences across the country, examining some of the most pressing and relevant issues for mining professionals committed to keeping operations competitive and safe.

and metals play in society and help young people understand what mining is all about. Organizers expect 1,400 students will participate in the interactive, educational and fun M4S activities.

Safety in Mining – October 22 to 24 MEMO 2013 – September 29 to October 1 The Maintenance Engineering/Mine Operators’ Conference, hosted by CIM’s South Central B.C. branch, will be held in sunny Kamloops, from September 29 to October 1. This year’s theme is “Mining 4 Generations,” and the plenary will bring together mining executives and CEOs, senior executives from the supplier sector and a former chief of the Simpcw First Nation to speak about lessons learned from the past and how to move forward responsibly. Kamloops is near a number of operating mines, such as New Gold’s New Afton mine and Teck’s Highland Valley Copper mine. In fact, tours of those mines will be open to attendees. “It’s also an easy drive from Vancouver, which is home to well-known major and mid-tier miners like Teck, Goldcorp, Taseko, Imperial Metals and Silver Standard, and where Canada has its greatest concentration of junior miners,” said Patty Moore, conference chair, adding that she also expects a strong turnout from the consulting, engineering and supplier side of the industry. MEMO typically draws between 600 and 1,000 mining professionals. The event features an extensive technical program, an exhibition floor that has sold out both indoor and outdoor spaces and, for the first time, four workshops that range from open pit slope management to production energy optimization. CIM’s Mining 4 Society (M4S) show will also highlight the importance that mining, minerals 74 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

The third annual Safety in Mining symposium, jointly hosted by CIM and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME), will be held in Toronto, from October 22 to 24. The symposium, which attracts safety and operations professionals and senior executives, provides an opportunity for attendees to strengthen the links between safety and reliability, said Bill Wright, conference co-chair. “This still is the only show that I know of anywhere that tries to draw that connection between safety and reliability,” he said, adding the two disciplines are often housed in different silos at operations. This year’s theme is “A Reliable Mine is a Safe Mine,” and the event will, for the first time, host a joint plenary session and program on the first day to bring safety and reliability professionals together in one room. “That’s pretty different from past events,” said Wright. “We used to run two tracks, two programs, two rooms.” The technical program will feature operators presenting case studies on subjects ranging from industry standards and safety and reliability research, to training and technology sessions. Wright said organizers are hoping to crack 200 attendees this year. “It’s a new show and it’s growing every year,” he said.

COM 2013 – October 27 to 31 Organized by CIM’s Metallurgy and Materials Society (MetSoc), this year’s Conference of Metallurgists (COM) is scheduled for October 27 to 31 in Mon-

treal. For the first time, it will be cohosted by Materials Science & Technology (MS&T). “There are so many conferences per year and it’s very difficult to make sure that there are no overlapping themes and venues,” said Priti Wanjara, conference chair. With MS&T and COM typically occurring close to each other on the calendar, they decided to merge events in 2013. “We felt that the programming would be mutually beneficial with COM’s strengths in extractive metallurgy, pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy and MS&T’s in Materials. Also it would give us a taste of being part of a larger conference,” she added. It appears the collaboration is proving wise: COM has received more than 400 technical abstracts and MS&T is sitting around 2,400 abstracts as of midAugust, said Wanjara, adding these are very high numbers for both conferences. The technical program offers both new themes and old favourites. Wanjara is especially excited that COM 2013 will hold the first hydroelectric turbine manufacturing symposium. It will also feature a magnesium technologies program and the Ralph Lloyd Harris Memorial symposium on extractive metallurgy. COM 2013 will host 10 symposia in total, including technology cross-pollination, neutron scattering, light metals, aerospace, hydrometallurgy, and water and energy in mineral processing programs. COM 2013 will once again feature a rare earth symposium after last year’s success. Further, the event includes a trade show and this year’s plenary will look at advanced materials and manufacturing in extreme environments and feature presentations on hypersonic flight technologies, materials in turbine engines and matter-radiation interactions in extremes. CIM

TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS

CIM

journal

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3. To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer visit us at www.cim.org

Gold passivation: reconciling cyanidation circuit performances using laboratory testing A. Azizi, C. Olsen, and C. Gagnon, COREM, Quebec, Quebec, Canada; A. Bouajila, G Mining Services, Brossard, Quebec, Canada; M. Ourriban, Gestion Iamgold – Quebec, Longueuil, Quebec, Canada ; P. Blatter, Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. – LaRonde Division, Cadillac, Quebec, Canada; and F. Larachi, Université Laval, Quebec, Quebec, Canada

ABSTRACT This paper highlights efforts undertaken to determine (1) how gold cyanidation is limited by passivation; (2) what reactions and mechanisms are involved during sulphide-rich ore cyanidation; and (3) how peroxidation efficiency of an industrial sulphide ore is controlled by galvanic associations between its sulphide constituents.

RÉSUMÉ Cet article vise à souligner les efforts entrepris pour déterminer (1) comment la cyanuration de l’or est limité par la passivation, (2) quelles réactions et quels mécanismes sont impliqués durant la cyanuration de minerais riches en sulfures et (3) comment l’efficacité de la peroxydation d’un minerai industriel sulfuré est contrôlé par les associations galvaniques entre les constituants sulfurés.

Potential of sensor-based sorting for the gold mining industry C. Robben, TOMRA Sorting GmbH, Wedel/Hamburg, Germany; H. Wotruba and M. Robben, RWTH Aachen University, Department of Mineral Processing (AMR), Aachen, Germany; L. von Ketelhodt, TOMRA Sorting (Pty) Ltd., Ferndale, Republic of South Africa; and M. Kowalzcyk, TOMRA Sorting Inc., Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

ABSTRACT This paper introduces the principles of sensorbased sorting and installations that demonstrate the technical and financial viability of the method. The scenarios discussed highlight the potential and advantages of this dry processing technology that requires little infrastructure. Case studies are presented for different ore types using optical and X-ray transmission-based sorting. Current research is discussed in terms of the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence sorting for gold applications.

RÉSUMÉ Cet article présente les principes d’un tri basé sur des capteurs et des installations qui démontrent la viabilité technique et financière de la méthode. Les scénarios abordés soulignent le potentiel et les avantages de cette technologie de traitement à sec demandant peu d’infrastructure. Des études de cas sont présentées pour différents types de minerais séparés par tri optique et transmission de rayons-X. La recherche en cours est discutée en termes du potentiel du tri par spectroscopie dans le proche infrarouge et par fluorescence X pour des applications dans l’industrie d’extraction de l’or.

Fundamental investigations of SART for cyanide and copper recovery A. Simons, Parker CRC for Integrated Hydrometallurgy Solutions, CSIRO Minerals Down Under National Research Flagship, Waterford, Australia/W.A. School of Mines, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia; and P. Breuer, Parker CRC for Integrated Hydrometallurgy Solutions, CSIRO Minerals Down Under National Research Flagship, Waterford, Australia

ABSTRACT The SART process is an effective way to separate copper and cyanide in the waste stream of gold processing plants using cyanidation. Factorial experimentation has been conducted to create models of copper recovery, cyanide recovery, acid addition, and oxidation/reduction potential during SART. Economic analysis of the resultant models showed that SART is best operated with a sulphide-tocopper molar ratio of approximately 0.56, pH of 4, and a minimized cyanide-to-copper molar ratio. The experiments also showed that residence time can have drastic impacts on SART performance.

RÉSUMÉ Le processus SART constitue une manière efficace de séparer le cuivre et le cyanure dans l’effluent de rejet des usines utilisant la cyanuration. Un plan d’expérience factoriel a été entrepris afin de créer des modèles de récupération du cuivre, de récupération du cyanure, d’ajout d’acide et du potentiel d’oxydo-réduction durant le processus SART. Une analyse économique des modèles produits montre que le processus SART fonctionne à son meilleur avec un rapport molaire sulfure/cuivre d’environ 0,56, à un pH de 4 et avec un rapport molaire cyanure/cuivre minimisé. Les expériences ont aussi démontré que le temps de résidence peut avoir des effets significatifs sur le rendement du processus SART.

September 2013 | 75

TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS

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

Extractive metallurgy of rare earths F. Habashi, Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

ABSTRACT A short account is given on the extraction of rare earths from monazite sand, bastnasite ore, and phosphate rock of igneous origin. This includes mineral beneficiation, leaching methods, fractional crystallization [of historical interest], ion exchange, solvent extraction, precipitation from solution, and reduction to metals.

RÉSUMÉ On donne un bref compte-rendu de l’extraction des terres rares à partir de sable monazité, de minerai de bastnaésite et de roche phosphatée d’origine ignée. Ceci inclut l’enrichissement du minéral, les méthodes de lixiviation, la cristallisation fractionnelle (d’intérêt historique), l’échange d’ion, l’extraction par solvant, la précipitation à partir de solution et la réduction en métaux.

Thorium and rare earth recovery in Canada: the first 30 years J. R. Goode, J.R. Goode and Associates, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT Pioneering methods to recover thorium and rare earths as by-products of uranium recovery were developed and applied in Elliot Lake, Ontario, during the 1960s. The district became a major supplier of these key elements from about 1960 until 1990 and at one stage supplied much of the world’s thorium and perhaps one third of its yttrium. This paper reviews these early thorium rare earth operations.

RÉSUMÉ On a développé et appliqué des méthodes innovatrices pour la récupération du thorium et des terres rares comme sousproduits de la récupération de l’uranium, à Elliot Lake, en Ontario, dans les années 60. Le district devint un fournisseur majeur de ces éléments clés à partir d’environ 1960 jusqu’en 1990 et, à une certaine période, fournissait la plupart du thorium mondial et peut-être un tiers de son yttrium. Cet article examine ces premières opérations de thorium et de terre rare.

Mineral decomposition and leaching processes for treating rare earth ore concentrates J. Zhang, Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and C. Edwards, AMEC Americas Limited, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

ABSTRACT The processes for rare earth (RE) extraction include the decomposition of RE minerals, and the concurrent or subsequent leaching of the rare earth elements (REEs) from the decomposed minerals. This paper reviews RE extraction from the major RE minerals, including bastnaesite, monazite, xenotime, ion absorption clay, allanite, cerite, and eudialyte. An update on the development of RE extraction processes is also provided.

RÉSUMÉ Les procédés d’extraction de terre rare (TR) incluent la décomposition des minéraux de TR et la lixiviation concurrente ou subséquente des éléments de terre rare (ETRs) à partir des minéraux décomposés. Cet article examine l’extraction de TR à partir des minéraux majeurs de TR, incluant la bastnaésite, la monazite, le xénotime, l’argile à absorption d’ion, l’allanite, la cérite et l’eudialyte. On fait également une mise à jour du développement des procédés d’extraction de TR.

Survey of recycled rare earths metallurgical processing C. D. Anderson, C. G. Anderson, and P. R. Taylor, Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy, George S. Ansell Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A

ABSTRACT Rare earths have become critical for our energy and materials-driven society. While primary production must ramp up to fill growing demands, the recycling of these strategic elements must also be initiated. This paper will outline the potentials of and metallurgical technologies employed for rare earths recycle from various secondary sources. 76 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

RÉSUMÉ Les éléments de terres rares jouent maintenant un rôle critique dans notre société axée sur l’énergie et les matériaux. Alors qu’on doit accroître la production primaire pour satisfaire la demande grandissante, on doit également initier le recyclage de ces éléments stratégiques. Cet article souligne les types de technologie métallurgique utilisés ainsi que leur potentiel pour le recyclage des éléments de terres rares à partir de diverses sources secondaires.

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September 2013 | 77

Parrot Polly, captain Alexander and the curse of the Engineer mine by Correy Baldwin

78 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 8, No. 6

Courtesy of Yukon Archives, Reginald Brook Sr. fonds, 80/49, #18.

hen Polly the fellow investors in the parrot died in form of a curse. Brown 1972, he was wished death and disasgiven a funeral procession ter on everyone involved and a place in the Pioneer with the Engineer mine. Carcross Cemetery beside But Alexander was such famous Klondikers as not fazed, and by 1912 Skookum Jim and Dawson he had sole ownership of Charlie. Engineer. The mine, Rumoured to be over however, had its prob100 years old at the time of lems: the gold veins, his death, Polly had spent while fairly rich, were the previous five decades small and often ended at the Caribou Hotel in abruptly. Work had Carcross, Yukon, learning slowed, but when he to swear and drink Captain James Alexander, seated in the chair, owned the Engineer mine in B.C. In October took over, Alexander syswhiskey just like the hotel 1918, Alexander boarded the Princess Sophia steamship destined for Vancouver to sell his tematically explored the tavern’s regulars. The par- mine. But he never returned. property and found more rot arrived in 1918 when areas of interest. Investors captain James Alexander, owner of the Engineer gold mine, came knocking and soon funded a larger operation, including put Polly in the care of the hotel’s proprietors. With his parrot’s a major underground development. security assured, he embarked on a trip to Vancouver, where Things took a downturn as the First World War drained the he planned to sell his mine. But Alexander never returned. mine of workers, and Alexander began looking to sell. In Alexander came to Canada from England in 1899 as a civil- 1918, he found a potential buyer with an offer of a full million ian, seeking adventure in the colonies. He spent a year explor- dollars. That October, Alexander and his wife travelled by train ing the bays and inlets of Canada’s West Coast and became to Skagway, where they boarded the final steamship of the seainterested in exploring for minerals. But before he could try his son – the Princess Sophia – to meet the potential buyers in hand at much prospecting, he returned to England, answering Vancouver. Before leaving, Alexander dropped Polly off at the the call of the Second Boer War. He achieved the rank of cap- Caribou Hotel. tain fighting with a cavalry regiment. It was here that some say Brown exacted his revenge. As the When the war ended, Alexander returned to B.C., to pick steamship sailed south through the Lynn Canal, a snowstorm up his frontier interests. This time, he had two companions: side-swiped it and ran it up onto a rocky reef. The ship was his wife and his pet parrot. The threesome moved to Atlin, stuck for a day and a half. Rescue boats arrived, but the rough B.C., where Alexander worked on a survey team. He later seas made a rescue impossible. Low tide left the ship completely joined a group of investors that took over the Engineer mine above water, and those in charge debated what to do. But the on nearby Tagish Lake. storm continued to rage, eventually dragging the battered ship The deposit was first discovered by railway engineer off the reef. The Princess Sophia broke apart and sank, killing Charles Anderson who had explored the shore of Tagish Lake everyone on board – around 350 people – including Alexander by boat in 1899, following up on reports of gold-bearing and his wife. Brown’s curse went down in local lore: At least 17 quartz along the shoreline. He found it beneath Engineer people involved with the mine met untimely deaths. Mountain that ran right down into the lake. Legal squabbles over the ownership of the Engineer mine Work began soon after, but funds ran low, and the opera- held up operations for nearly five years. After Alexander’s tion shut down for two seasons. In 1906, some of the claims death, several people claimed interest in the property – includlapsed, and were bought up by Edwin Brown from Atlin, who ing Alexander’s true wife, who, unbeknownst to everyone, was in turn sold them to Alexander and his business associates. still living in England with their 16-year-old daughter. Little is known about how the sale went down, but apparNo one claimed ownership of Polly, though he would of ently Brown felt cheated, and he threatened Alexander and his course outlive them all. CIM

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