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IN THIS ISSUE
44
CIM MAGAZINE NOVEMBER | NOVEMBRE 2014
44
cover story
karst mining within a maze Karst topography can host impressive mineral deposits and it can also make water management incredibly complex By Ian Ewing
55
37 A cut above
Raise climbing brings production gains to Canadian companies by Eavan Moore
55 A lesson in patience
Alderon Iron Ore is battling through market volatility and stiff competition to be the next producer in the iron-rich Labrador Trough By Pierrick Blin and Antoine Dion-Ortega
68
47th ANNUAL
72
61 Where hard meets tough
Wear part suppliers look to improve equipment life with protective coatings, attachable components, stronger steel and additive manufacturing By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco
canadian mineral processors
Reader Survey Results
CONFERENCE
Conference program November/Novembre 2014 | 5
contenu francophone
50
22 8 10
Editor’s letter President’s notes
tools of the trade 12
The best in new technology
22 24
26
To survive the influx of product on the market, metallurgical coal producers must cut costs and explore new markets
By Pierrick Blin and Antoine Dion-Ortega
As the ebola outbreak in West Africa worsens, mining companies are stepping up health and safety protocols By Correy Baldwin
Barrick responds to allegations of sexual assault at Papua New Guinea mine with remedy framework
columns 30
34 40 42
By Christopher Pollon
The iron ore sector gathers in Sept-Îles, Quebec for MEMO and looks ahead to a brighter future
The helicopter protocol: northern claim staking By Richard Butler
Nobody likes surprises: the role of the certified cost professional By John Gravel
Fit for service
upfront
Industry at a glance
By Chris Windeyer
28
32
compiled by Kelsey Rolfe and Chris Balcom
news 14 20
24 By Ian London
Goldcorp and Redpath blaze an underground trail to connect mine and mill at Red Lake by Eavan Moore
Red Lake miners operate as small business cells with more autonomy and accountability Catch up on the latest research with Matthew Pierce, the new head of CEMI’s Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction
travel
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
cim community 67
50 58
by Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco
by Virginia Heffernan
64
article de fond La topographie de Karst abrite d'impressionants gisements. Elle peut également rendre la gestion de l'eau incroyablement complexe Par Ian Ewing
Alderon Iron Ore doit composer avec un marché volatile et une compétition féroce pour devenir le prochain producteur dans la riche fosse du Labrador Par Perrick Blin et Antoine Dion-Ortega
10 70 72
by Chris Balcom
77
Mot du président Résultats de l’enquête auprès des lecteurs Programme de la 47e Conférence annuelle des minéralurgistes du Canada Résumés techniques
CIM news from Canada and beyond
mining lore 82 77 81
Canary in a coal mine: the history behind mining’s famous metaphor Technical abstracts Professional directory
La version française intégrale du CIM Magazine est disponible en ligne : magazine.CIM.org/fr-CA
6 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
Managing water at mine sites is a complex problem
A good water management plan can prevent disruptions to mining operations that arise from too much or too little water, higher operating and capital costs, environmental and regulatory issues, and conflicts with other water users. At Hatch, we work closely with mining clients to understand how their water supply and management needs will evolve over the entire mining life cycle — from planning to closure. Our strength in process design and ability to implement a range of solutions to address complex chemistries, are complemented by proven water management strategies. To learn more about how our integrated team of experts can help bring clarity to achieving cost-effective and sustainable mine water management solutions, visit us at www.hatch.ca.
C O N S U LT I N G • P R O J E C T D E L I V E R Y • T E C H N O L O G I E S • O P E R A T I O N A L P E R F O R M A N C E
Editor-in-chief Ryan Bergen, rbergen@cim.org Executive editor Angela Hamlyn, ahamlyn@cim.org Managing editor Andrea Nichiporuk, anichiporuk@cim.org
editor’s letter
Editorial advisory board Alicia Ferdinand, Garth Kirkham, Vic Pakalnis, Steve Rusk, Nathan Stubina Translations Karen Rolland, Pierrick Blin, CNW Published 9 times a year by: Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum 1250 – 3500 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West Westmount, QC H3Z 3C1 Tel.: 514.939.2710; Fax: 514.939.2714 www.cim.org; Email: magazine@cim.org Advertising sales Dovetail Communications Inc. 30 East Beaver Creek Rd., Ste. 202 Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1J2 Tel.: 905.886.6640; Fax: 905.886.6615; www.dvtail.com Senior Account Executives 905.886.6641 Janet Jeffery, jjeffery@dvtail.com, ext. 329 Neal Young, nyoung@dvtail.com, ext. 325 Account Manager Fiona Persaud, fpersaud@dvtail.com, ext. 326
Finalist
This issue’s cover Stephens Gap cave. Photo by Chuck Sutherland. Layout and design by Clò Communications Inc. www.clocommunications.com Copyright©2014. All rights reserved. ISSN 1718-4177. Publications Mail No. 09786. Postage paid at CPA Saint-Laurent, QC. Dépôt légal: Bibliothèque nationale du Québec. The Institute, as a body, is not responsible for statements made or opinions advanced either in articles or in any discussion appearing in its publications.
Printed in Canada 8 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
Bes t in
Thanks again for the feedback.
Ryan Bergen, Editor-in-chief editor@cim.org @Ryan_CIM_Mag
eth R. Wilson enn Aw 4K
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g hin lis
I
t is practice at CIM Magazine to conduct a reader survey every other year to help our advertising representatives and editorial team learn more about who our readers are as well as their professional needs and ambitions. While framing questions to get information on the profile of our readers is relatively straightforward, drafting those that explore the relationship between the reader and the publication are more problematic: If we focus on the specifics of the magazine and ask, for example, “What section of the magazine do you prefer?”, we forget that only a handful of people know the publication well enough to name their favourite section, and likely most of them work in CIM’s publications department. The broader the survey questions become, the easier it is for respondents to engage with them, but the connection with the actual publication is less direct. With this year’s questionnaire we opted for the latter approach to be sure we captured what preoccupies and animates our readers. Your response: innovation, technology uptake and a focus on operations. We appreciate that many of you took the time to complete the survey, and we will do our best to provide you with the information you require. A summary of the survey results are on page 68. While it may be true that some who participated were drawn in by the possibility of a prize, the comments that many respondents volunteered tell me that far more of you have a genuine appetite for insight and information about the mining and metallurgical industries and a desire to help CIM Magazine provide the best stories for you. I tip my hat to those who took the time to leave commentary on how we might improve the editorial. The suggestions ranged from the precise (“more topics on valves”) to the existential (“the industry is ‘under siege’ and we have no tools, i.e. knowledge of history, by which to defend our livelihoods”). There was, however, a clear and repeated call for more coverage of mineral processing and metallurgy, which we will respond to in our 2015 editorial line up. In the meantime, keep an eye out for our next issue which will feature a series of stories devoted to metallurgy.
Section editors Peter Braul, pbraul@cim.org Tom DiNardo, tdinardo@cim.org Copy editor/Communications coordinator Zoë Koulouris, zkoulouris@cim.org Web content editor Maria Olaguera, molaguera@cim.org Editorial intern Chris Balcom, cbalcom@cim.org Contributors Correy Baldwin, Pierrick Blin, Richard Butler, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Ian Ewing, John Gravel, Virginia Heffernan, Ian London, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Christopher Pollon, Valerian Mazataud, Eavan Moore, Kelsey Rolfe, Chris Windeyer
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president’s notes | mot du président
Mining: it’s a tough business
Sean Waller CIM President Président de l’ICM
Mineral deposits are rare occurrences that are extremely difficult to find. Once discovered, a mineral deposit has at best a one in 1,000 chance of being developed commercially. Mine development is an intensive undertaking, and the road to production is long and challenging. More often than not, mineral deposits are located in remote areas that require development of extensive services including road access, site preparation, and power and water supplies. The technology to extract the ore and recover the valuable minerals is complex, and the environmental design and operation must meet stringent requirements. None of this comes cheaply; large projects routinely cost several billion dollars. Add to this the extended period of time from discovery to return of capital and funding for construction can be difficult to obtain. Once in production, mine operators have no control over the prices of their products and long-term revenue forecasts can be rough estimates at best. There are significant environmental and social impacts, which commonly incur public opposition to development. These two aspects alone often command the most-intensive efforts during the development of a mining project. Mining companies are often susceptible to the political winds of the day. In many countries, governments and citizens consider natural resources as property of the state, and as a result tax rates may be higher than other industries and prone to increases on short notice. This has been my experience over the last 30 years and, I do not think I am alone when I say this is what makes mining an extremely challenging yet very interesting and rewarding career. It has certainly kept me fully engaged all this time. Our industry requires highly skilled people in a wide range of disciplines. It is essential that our universities provide the educational programs and our industry supplies the opportunities to make mining an attractive career choice. The future of mining depends on it! In September of this year we were saddened to learn that Rick Hutson had passed away unexpectedly. Rick was a dedicated member of the CIM Council who, along with his other duties, took a very special interest in working with students entering our industry. On behalf of all of us here at CIM I pass on our sincere and heartfelt condolences to Rick’s family.
L’exploitation minière : un secteur difficile Les gîtes minéraux sont des occurrences rares qui sont extrêmement difficiles à trouver. Une fois découverts, il existe au mieux une chance sur mille qu’ils atteignent le stade de la mise en valeur commerciale. La mise en valeur d’une mine est une entreprise intensive, et la route menant à la production est longue et difficile. Le plus souvent, les gisements sont situés dans des zones éloignées qui nécessitent le déploiement de nombreux services tels que des accès routiers, la préparation du site, l’approvisionnement en eau et en électricité. La technologie utilisée pour extraire et traiter les minéraux métallifères est complexe, et l’aménagement de l’environnement ainsi que l’exploitation doivent respecter des exigences rigoureuses. Tout ceci est coûteux; les grands projets coûtent généralement plusieurs milliards de dollars. Ajoutez à cela la longue période qui s’étend entre la découverte et le remboursement du capital ainsi que la difficulté d’obtenir du financement pour la construction. Une fois que la mine est en production, l’exploitant de la mine n’a aucun contrôle sur les prix de ses produits et ses prévisions en ce qui a trait aux revenus à long terme ne peuvent être au mieux que des estimations approximatives. Il faut aussi compter avec les importantes conséquences environnementales et sociales, lesquelles suscitent fréquemment une opposition de la population au développement. À eux seuls, ces deux aspects exigent souvent les efforts les plus intensifs pendant la mise en valeur du projet minier. Les sociétés minières sont souvent sensibles au vent de la politique du moment. Dans de nombreux pays, les gouvernements et les citoyens considèrent que les ressources naturelles sont la propriété de l’État, et par conséquent les taux d’imposition peuvent être plus élevés que pour d’autres industries et sont susceptibles d’être augmentés sur préavis très court. Voilà ce que l’expérience m’a enseigné depuis les 30 dernières années et je ne pense pas être le seul à dire que c’est ce qui fait qu’une carrière dans l’exploitation minière est extrêmement difficile, mais aussi très intéressante et valorisante. Je m’y suis totalement investi pendant toutes ces années. Notre industrie a besoin de gens hautement qualifiés dans un large éventail de disciplines. Il est essentiel que nos universités offrent des programmes d’éducation dans ce secteur et que notre industrie fournisse des occasions de faire du secteur minier un choix de carrière attrayant. L’avenir de l’exploitation minière en dépend! En septembre de cette année, nous avons appris avec tristesse le décès soudain de Rick Hutson. Rick était un membre dévoué du conseil de l’ICM qui, parallèlement à ses autres tâches, prenait un intérêt particulier à travailler avec les étudiants qui intègrent notre industrie. Au nom de chacun des membres de l’ICM, j’adresse mes sincères condoléances à la famille de Rick. 10 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
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Courtesy of Eurogomma
OF TOOLS THE TRADE
◢ Winter work wear
Screening is a crucial method of separating particle sizes during mineral processing. Yet Cristian Annoni, marketing and sales director at Eurogomma, argues that the screening process is often far more inefficient than it should be. For instance, while pegging and blinding of panel apertures is a widely recognized problem, Annoni points out that many companies still face difficulty addressing the issue in a cost-effective, efficient manner. In the interest of creating an easy-toadopt solution, Eurogomma launched GET flexy, a polyurethane elastic panel that can be fastened to existing screen decks of any size. “It offers a very elastic, flexible surface, instead of the standard rigid screen panels, for every kind of screen deck,” he said. As the screen vibrates, the elastic effect allows the screen apertures to release material more easily. The mat is designed to work effectively with both hard and soft material, and is easily customizable to fit different kinds of screening units and dimensions, providing the efficiency of a more elastic panel without requiring a massive overhaul of existing equipment.
Courtesy of Honeywell
◢ A flexible fix
When working in frigid conditions, it can be hard to keep miners warm, dry, highly visible and protected while providing the mobility they need to do their jobs effectively. Yet that is what Honeywell Safety Products accomplished with the launch of its new cold conditions fire-retardant apparel line: the TNV Series (reflective, inherent, vapour-barrier). The parka, pants and optional snap-on hood combine inherent fireretardant fabric, cold-resistant insulation, highly visible reflective trim and a water-repellent coating. The outerwear also features a flexible elastic waistband and ergonomic “action back” design to ensure that workers are mobile, comfortable and productive. Honeywell also made a point of using the most efficient insulation possible in order to cut down on bulk. The apparel will keep workers warm and comfortable in up to -35 C degree weather, but Roger Paquette, senior product manager at Honeywell, said this figure assumes someone is wearing standard clothing underneath such as a cotton shirt and jeans. “Clothing does not generate heat, the body generates heat,” he explained. Therefore, if someone was moving around a lot and wearing thermal underwear, the apparel could keep them warm in temperatures as cold as -40 C.
◢ Nocturnal eyesight
12 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
and are potentially going to cross in front of you.” The camera, which is typically mounted to a vehicle’s front grill, has a 24-degree horizontal field of view and, because it detects heat rather than light, you can see up to four times farther down the road than you can with regular headlight beams. When a person or animal comes into the camera’s field of view, the form is highlighted by a bright yellow warning box on the in-cab display to catch the driver’s attention. Clayton said FLIR is planning to release a buzzer indicator as a separate unit in the next few months. Courtesy of FLIR Systems
In dark and dusty conditions at mine sites, it can be difficult for drivers operating heavy machinery to see people or animals walking in the path of the vehicle, which can result in accidents or fatalities. To help prevent this, FLIR Systems released its PathFindIR II, which uses thermal night vision to detect humans or animals ahead and alerts the driver to their presence on an in-cab display system. “It really does add an extra sense, extra range and awareness,” said Paul Clayton, FLIR’s director of automotive products. “It’s amazing how many people are outside [the illumination range] of the headlights in the dark,
Compiled by Kelsey Rolfe and Chris Balcom
POTENTIAL. WHEREVER YOU LOOK. EDC can help your business achieve its goals. Reduce the risk and seize the opportunities – wherever your markets may be. EDC can help with finance, insurance and bonding services that help you achieve your trade goals. EDC has representatives across Canada and in 16 cities internationally. Find out how we can help. Visit edc.ca/potential for details.
Courtesy of Newmont Mining Corporation
news Aerial view of Newmont’s Benete Bay port in Indonesia
Newmont resumes Indonesian exports After a long standoff with the Indonesian government, Newmont Mining Corporation’s Indonesian subsidiary, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PTNNT), has resumed exports of
unprocessed copper concentrate from its Batu Hijau operation. Exports were halted in January after a government law came into effect banning exports of unprocessed minerals. The ban was part of an ongoing effort to develop the country’s domestic processing industry.
Colorado School of Mines Faculty Openings Department of Mining Colorado School of Mines invites applications for multiple faculty positions in the Department of Mining Engineering. Professor and T.J. Haddon/Alacer Gold Chair The successful candidate will teach at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and develop a strong externally funded research program. The successful applicant will also be appointed to manage the Edgar Experimental Mine. Applicants will be expected to have strong network connections with both the national and international mining industry. An operational background with mining experience is preferred. Assistant/Associate Professor – Underground Construction and Tunneling The successful candidate will teach at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Teaching responsibilities will include both core courses for the department and UC&T degree program courses. Areas of particular interest include hard rock tunneling, advance numerical modeling, rock cutting, disk and bit cutting performances, cutter head design, tunnel construction management, deep tunnels, tunneling under squeezing and swelling conditions, dynamic loading and rock burst conditions, drilling and blasting, tunnel support design. For the complete job announcements and directions on how to apply, visit: http://inside.mines.edu/HR-Academic-Faculty 14 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
In early September, the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indonesian government whereby PTNNT will pay an export tax of 7.5 per cent on its copper concentrate, considerably less than the previous Indonesian demand for a 25 per cent tax. The company further promised to provide a US$25 million assurance bond to demonstrate its support for smelter development, and pay royalties of four per cent for copper, 3.75 per cent for gold and 3.25 per cent for silver, and a nominal dead rent per hectare. Exports of existing copper stockpiles resumed at the end of September, but production at Batu Hijau, the site of the company’s only Indonesian mine and mill, is still ramping up after mining was stopped in June. Newmont has said it supports the government’s efforts to improve the country’s processing capacity. The company has signed agreements to supply two Indonesian companies planning to build copper smelters, and has also signed an MoU with FreeportMcMoRan’s Indonesian subsidiary to develop a smelter, said Newmont spokesman Omar Jabara. Freeport, the other major exporter of Indonesian copper, reached a similar agreement with the government. “We supply [copper] concentrate to Indonesia’s current, and only, smelter right now,” Jabara added. “But they can’t handle all of the copper concentrate, which is why Newmont as well as Freeport need to export until additional capacity is built in the country.” “We want to continue to have a good relationship with the Indonesian government,” Jabara explained, “and we believe that all parties recognize that resuming operations in Batu Hijau is in everyone’s best interest.” – Chris Balcom
Lake Shore Gold recognized for safety program Workplace Safety North (WSN) recently presented its annual President’s Award in the mining sector to Lake
industry at a glance Shore Gold of Timmins, Ontario. The award is bestowed on the highest performers among recipients of WSN’s Workplace Excellence Awards, granted to companies that receive higher than 80 per cent on a self-assessment survey of its safety practices across all operations. One company from each of the sectors overseen by WSN – forestry, mining and paper, printing and converting – wins the President’s Award. The survey addresses a wide range of issues relating to health and safety, including worker training, injury investigation procedures and workplace inspections. Companies check
boxes to confirm compliance with guidelines such as, “system is in place to encourage employees to report incidents (including non-injury or damage).” Points are awarded for each box ticked, out of a possible 150. The survey must be completed with input from both workers and management. A firm’s statistical performance in areas such as injury frequency is also taken into account. “Winning the President’s Award comes with a great deal of pride and satisfaction on the part of everyone at Lake Shore Gold,” said Jamie Mortson, health and safety manager.
Aerial view of Goldcorp’s Éléonore gold mine in the James Bay region of Northern Quebec
The company registered for the workplace excellence awards without any expectation of winning the President’s Award. “We participated in order to determine the progress with our safety program and to identify opportunities for improvement,” Mortson explained. “The President’s Award was not on our radar, but we were hoping for some recognition by qualifying for one of the Workplace Excellence Awards.” Mortson said it was exciting to be recognized, especially considering the stiff competition from more established operations. The company, which began
Erratum
Courtesy of Goldcorp
In the September edition of the Tools of the trade (“Productivity in tight quarters” pg. 12) we misstated the name of Vallée Inc. president Frédéric Beaulieu. We regret the error.
First production at Éléonore Goldcorp recently moved one step closer to commercial production at its new Éléonore gold mine. On Oct. 2, the company announced it had achieved first production at the mine, having poured the first 70-ounce doré bar the previous day. “I am pleased to announce first gold production at Éléonore, on schedule and in line with our capital cost guidance,” said Goldcorp president and CEO Chuck Jeannes in a press release following the gold pour. “The team has done a tremendous job bringing this mine into production safely, in partnership with the Cree Nation of Wemindji, the Grand Council of the Crees of Eeyou Istchee, the Cree National Government, and our suppliers and contractors from Quebec.” Located in the James Bay region of northern Quebec, Éléonore has been under development for the last four years. The company anticipates the site will produce 40,000 to 60,000 ounces of gold in the remaining months of 2014, with commercial production beginning in 2015. By 2018, output is expected to reach 7,000 tonnes per day. – C.B.
November/Novembre 2014 | 15
news Courtesy of NORCAT
mining in 2007, currently operates two mines close to Timmins: Timmins West and Bell Creek. In the first half of 2014, Timmins West produced 76,000 ounces of gold. Bell Creek, in the first quarter of this year, produced 10,700 ounces of gold. Mortson also acknowledged that health and safety standards require constant attention. “Yes, it’s a very prestigious milestone to reach,” he said, “but you know there’s always room for – C.B. improvement.”
Quebec government invests in phosphate project Arianne Phosphate’s Lac à Paul project in Quebec recently received a boost of confidence from the provincial government. In September, Investissement Québec invested $2 million in the project, located in the province’s Saguenay region. The investment represents 25 per cent of the $8 million raised thus far in the first round of financing. While the government’s investment is just a fraction of the $1.2 billion currently required to bring the project into production, Arianne chairman Pierre Fitzgibbon emphasized the strategic significance of the investment. “I think [the government investment] will lend legitimacy to the project in terms of social acceptability,” he said. “Having the government endorsement sends a message that [the project] is open for business.” The company released the feasibility study for the phosphate rock project last October, which outlined an open-pit mine, processing operation and transport system that would yield three million tonnes of phosphate concentrate per year over nearly 26 years. Fitzgibbon said the company is aiming to have all the necessary permits from the government and begin construction before the end of next year. In the meantime, it has begun consultations with the local Innu com– C.B. munities. 16 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
NORCAT’s underground mine training facility in Onaping, Ontario
FedNor supports supply and service startups The federal government recently stepped up to fund development of the mining service and supply sector of northern Ontario. Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford pledged $1.25 million to the Northern Ontario Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT) and $681,644 to the City of Greater Sudbury in August. The funding will be distributed through the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor) agency, which is also headed by Rickford. NORCAT plans to put the money towards three projects. The first is the creation of the Fortin Discovery Lab, a manufacturing facility where local mining service and supply companies can access the latest technology, such as 3D printers, to help develop their products. NORCAT Commons, another new project, will serve as an incubator centre for tech start-ups, where entrepreneurs can collaborate and seek mentorship. Finally, NORCAT will also improve its underground mine training facility in Onaping with new technology and services. As for the City of Greater Sudbury, the funds will help expand its Mining Supply and Service Export Assistance program, which aims to connect local companies with partners overseas and facilitate their expansion into international markets. “This isn’t just an investment in studies and projects, it’s an investment in expansions and upgrades to increase capacity in key areas for the tech and innovation side of mining,” Rickford said, adding that he was ultimately interested in job creation. He expects the funding will create about 50 jobs for northern Ontario. “When there’s a dip or a decrease in extractive activity, it’s technology and innovation, and supply and service that keep jobs and investment going in mining,” Rickford explained. “It’s a way of sustaining jobs in the sector when activity does slow.” According to Rickford, the Sudbury project is expected to begin shortly while the NORCAT expansions and renovations are well underway. – C.B.
industry at a glance
After seven short years, Hudbay Minerals commissioned two mines in northern Manitoba. The Reed and Lalor mines officially opened in September with a ceremony attended by representatives from the Manitoban government. Mineral Resource Minister Dave Chomiak cited the short preproduction phases as a testament to Manitoba’s effective regulatory regime and attractiveness as a site for mining investment. Of the two new mines, Lalor has the larger deposit, the potential of which was first reported by Hudbay in the summer of 2007. The mine is located 15 kilometres from the company’s Snow Lake concentrator and has Probable gold, silver, zinc and copper Reserves of 11.3 million tonnes, Proven Reserves of 1.3 million tonnes and a projected mine life of over 15 years. The Reed copper mine, 45 kilometres west of Snow Lake, holds Probable Reserves of 2.1 million tonnes and a mine life of five years. VMS Resources announced the discovery of the deposit in 2007 and now holds a 30 per cent stake in the project. Copper ore from the Reed mine will be transported to Hudbay’s existing concentrator in Flin Flon, where zinc and copper from the company’s 777 mine are already processed. The ore from Reed will bring the Flin Flon concentrator up to its capacity of 2.18 million tonnes per year. “As we had a little bit of room in our Flin Flon operation with which to treat the ore, the Reed deposit becomes quite attractive, and we’re able to quickly turn a small deposit into some relatively quick economic gains,” said Hudbay vice-president, – C.B. Manitoba Rob Winton.
Construction begins at Greenland ruby mine Greenland’s nascent mining industry got a boost in September when Vancouver-based True North Gems announced it was beginning construction on its
Aappaluttoq ruby mine near the southwestern coastal town of Qeqertarsuatsiaat. Earlier in September, True North Gems announced an $11-million investment deal with LNS Greenland, a Norwegian mine construction firm.
That investment is on top of an earlier agreement which saw LNS acquire a 20 per cent stake in Aappaluttuq in exchange for $23 million worth of planning, engineering and infrastructure investment. All told, LNS owns 27 per cent of the project.
Courtesy of the CEMI
Manitoba boasts two new mines
The Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation’s (CEMI) canopy system consists of two steel canopies (one shown above) that expand laterally and vertically to fill the dimensions of a drift and allow rapid and safe underground development.
Ontario funds canopy project Recent funding from the Ontario provincial government is going to help improve safety and efficiency in underground development. Premier Kathleen Wynne committed $783,916 to the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) in September through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation to fund the completion of the first phase of its mobile canopy project. The canopy system, once completed, will allow simultaneous drilling, blasting and ground support during underground development. The system involves two steel canopies – a larger one covering the jumbo drilling and loading the face, and a smaller one over the ground support team – that expand laterally and vertically to fill the dimensions of the drift under development. The canopy will push against the roof of the drift to protect workers within from falling rock. Once drilling, loading and bolting are complete, the canopy closest to the face will retract and be placed within the bolting canopy to prevent any damage from the blast. Then the face is mucked, and the jumbo and ground support team return for another cycle. “We are trying to get more activities out of the critical path,” said Douglas Morrison, president and CEO of CEMI. Morrison predicts the canopy system will double the advance rate of underground development. CEMI completed the design and construction of the first canopy in September and it plans to begin Phase 2 of the project in January in which it will create a second canopy, take it into a drift heading and trial the technology in an operational setting. The third and final phase, expected to begin next September, will be to build two canopies and to test the entire system. – Tom DiNardo
November/Novembre 2014 | 17
news It is not enough to fully finance the $41-million construction cost, but as Bent Olsvig Jensen, managing director of True North Gems Greenland, told the Arctic Journal, “At least it’s enough to get started.” Aappaluttuq has the potential to become the first operating mine during Greenland’s latest push to develop a resource economy. North American Nickel is drilling near Aappaluttuq and the Greenland government last year lifted a moratorium on uranium mining. The True North Gems project has Probable Reserves of more than 161,000 tonnes of ore with a grade of 350 grams per tonne and a nine-year projected mine life. The company plans to begin production in 2015. – Chris Windeyer
Student wins global recognition for oil sands tailings treatment method Eighteen-year-old Hayley Todesco’s innovative research on tailings treatment has been getting a lot of attention in the past few months. The first-year University of Alberta student won the 2014 Stockholm Junior Water Prize in early September and the Google Science Fair prize for her age group just a few weeks later. Todesco’s award-winning project involved testing the effectiveness of sand filters as bioreactors for tailings pond waste. The Calgary native has said that her research was motivated by environmental concerns in the oil sands of her home province. Her findings demonstrate how slow sand filtration (SSF) technology can be used to biodegrade naphthenic acids (NAs), a toxic component of oil sands tailings water. The SSF acts as a filter as contaminated water passes through it, leaving a biofilm on top of the sand bed. Invented in 1804, SSFs have long been used for municipal water treatment. Over the course of her two years of research, Todesco compared the sand filters with planktonic batch culture (PBC) bioreactors. In her experiment, 18 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
SSF bioreactors reduced NA by 92.33 per cent in one week (from 100 milligrams per litre (mg/L) to 7.67 mg/L). In contrast, PBC bioreactors only reduced NA by 37.55 per cent in the same period. While Todesco produced her findings on a fairly small scale, she maintains that the potential application of her discovery is highly significant: “Based on my results, 400 Olympic swimming pool-sized SSF bioreactors could potentially bioremediate the NAs in all oil sands tailings free water (as of 2025) in less than 20 years (14 times faster than PBC bioreactors),” she wrote in a summary of her research posted on the Google Science Fair website. – C.B.
Ontario releases health and safety progress report Ontario’s year-long examination of health and safety issues in underground mining is not yet complete, but the province’s Ministry of Labour has already begun recommending changes to improve worker safety. In September, George Gritziotis, Ontario’s chief prevention officer and chair of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review, presented a progress report on the work it has done since it began in January. According to the report, the Ministry of Labour has undertaken three key initiatives so far. The first has been to develop a best practice guide on highvisibility apparel for underground mining operations, which was released this summer. This includes issuing highvisibility clothing to workers operating close to vehicles without a physical separation and those who perform tasks that could divert attention away from an approaching vehicle. The review board plans to explore the potential of improving standards for high-visibility clothing in the coming months. In May the ministry released the 2014 Joint Health and Safety Committee Certification Training Program and Provider Standards. Under these standards, training will be required on a minimum of six hazards specific to an individual’s workplace from a trained professional.
The ministry has also initiated a pair of research projects to increase health and safety knowledge in the mining sector. First was the creation of the Ontario Mining Exposure Database that is being developed by the Occupational Cancer Research Centre to centralize and track miners’ exposure to carcinogens. This data will be used to develop prevention strategies, predict the future burden of disease among mining employees and determine safe levels of exposure to certain hazards. The second project, being conducted at Laurentian University, is studying how protective equipment can reduce foot-transmitted vibration for operators of underground equipment. A complete reporting of the review board’s findings is expected to be pub– T.D. lished early next year.
Letter to the editor I was disappointed that you marred an otherwise interesting article on traditional knowledge (“Two roads converge”) with the common confusion between “principles” and “principals”. The principal of your story was Shuswap chief Ronald Ignace. His principles are a deep belief in the traditional knowledge and wisdom of First Nations and in the necessity of sustainability. Your reporter, Correy Baldwin, made that mistake at least three times in this article. And I guess that the meaning of the root in the word “editor” has been forgotten, since this mistake was not picked up during editing. No wonder engineers have a reputation as poor writers! Sincerely, Maurice Solar, PhD, PEng Mr. Solar, While I should note that none of the editors at the magazine are engineers, we were as upset as you to discover that principles were abandoned. Ryan Bergen Editor-in-chief
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Coal producers focus on cost cutting and new markets Rising demand from China and India likely to increase prices by 2020s By Christopher Pollon Joe Aldina of Wood Mackenzie expects met coal prices to struggle until 2018, when they will rise above $150 per tonne. Courtesy of the Coal Association of Canada
Forget the doldrums of 2014. If Wood Mackenzie’s Joe Aldina is right, the currently brutal metallurgical (met) coal market will seem like ancient history by 2025, when he predicts the Australian benchmark hard coking coal price will exceed US$220 per tonne. By that time, Canadian producers will be expanding production to feed growing demand stoked in places like India, the emerging Asian powerhouse. “Canada is actually the best positioned player in the market,” said Aldina, a New York-based coal cost analyst who travelled to Vancouver in September to present this forecast to the Coal Association of Canada’s 2014 Conference. Held over three days, the mood at the event was downbeat as met and thermal coal miners, producers and
buyers commiserated about the market downturn. Aldina’s forecast for met coal was one of the meeting highlights, shining a positive light on the future.
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Department of Materials Engineering Extractive Metallurgy Chair – Assistant Professor Position The Department of Materials Engineering at the University of British Columbia seeks an outstanding individual for a grant tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level in the field of Extractive Metallurgy with an emphasis on high temperature processing. The starting date of the position will be May 1, 2015, or as soon as possible thereafter. The Extractive Metallurgy Chair has been funded by 4 Canadian and international companies and is strongly supported by the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC. The successful candidate for this competition will be expected to complement UBC’s existing strength in extractive metallurgy and will develop an internationally recognized, externally funded research program in the field of high temperature processing. The candidate will be expected to teach undergraduate and graduate level courses and to supervise graduate students at the Masters and Ph.D. level. In addition, as part of the Chair program, the candidate will be expected to teach short courses at sponsor sites, develop industrial research proposals and programs and generally support the activities of the Chair. The candidate will hold a Ph.D. degree or equivalent in Metallurgical or Materials Engineering or a closely related field and will be expected to register as a Professional Engineer in British Columbia. Further information on the department is available at www.MTRL.ubc.ca, and information on the employment environment in the Faculty of Applied Science is available at www.apsc.ubc.ca/careers. Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a statement (1-2 pages) of technical and teaching interests and accomplishments, and names and addresses (e-mail included) of four referees. Applications must be submitted online at http://www.hr.ubc.ca/careers-postings/faculty.php. The initial closing date for applications is February 28, 2015 but applications will be accepted until a suitable candidate is found. All Canadian, permanent residents and international candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. UBC hires on the basis of merit and is committed to employment equity. All qualified persons are encouraged to apply. UBC is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from visible minority group members, women, Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority
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Met coal was at about $120 in September and will continue to struggle right through to 2018, when Wood Mackenzie expects prices to begin to pick up, rising above the $150 mark; it also predicts it will take well into the 2020s before prices enter the $200 range. Aldina said he believes a combination of rising demand (underpinned by hot metal growth in China) through the end of this decade, followed by a pick-up in steel demand in India, plus additional mine idlings, will spur this longer-term increase. Aldina and other market watchers like session moderator (and McCloskey Group namesake) Gerard McCloskey made clear that current met coal prices are not the result of flagging demand. Global markets for met and thermal coal have been flooded by countries like Australia and Indonesia respectively, and it will take years for this oversupply situation to change. “In the short term, to see higher prices, we need to see even more idlings or shutdowns,” said Aldina. He estimates that it will not be until 2018 when numerous active mines, particularly in Australia, will deplete their reserve bases and need to be replaced with highercost projects. Alpha Natural Resources president Paul Vining was credited with the most poetic explanation for the oversupply predicament: “We’ve seen the enemy, and it is us, the suppliers.” At current prices it is not economical for many to dig met coal out of the ground. Australian and Canadian producers have the most assets currently “above water” on the margin curve thanks to their high-quality met coal deposits, most of which can be mined from the surface, while the United States is faring especially poorly. Réal Foley, vice-president of marketing at Teck, estimated in his presentation that about one-third of the hard coking coal industry is currently uneconomical due to “unsustainable prices.”
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How are met coal producers adapting to such conditions? Over the last few years, they have embarked on a highly successful cost-cutting spree – costs for global seaborne market met coal were down 12 per cent in 2013 and nearly 10 per cent this year, according to Aldina. The cost cutting has been so thorough and efficient that oversupply has been further exacerbated by cut-savvy producers who have avoided suspending mining operations. The complexities of cutting production to correct oversupply was apparent when Kobe Steel’s Hiroshi Tanaka, general manager for purchasing, expressed the concern that suspending met coal mine expansions and new greenfields threatens to disrupt the stability of supply, upon which large-buying met coal countries like Japan rely. Once the prices for met coal come back, the risk is real that there will not be enough supply to feed steelmakers. Teck is an example of a company that has not been timid about cutting costs or putting the brakes on met coal mine expansions. In his presentation, Foley outlined the company’s strategy that today sees its met coal production well under capacity. And with nearly seven billion tonnes of coal in longterm reserves and resources (more than 90 per cent of this is hard coking coal), the company anticipates it will be selling met coal to the vast majority of global steelmakers for the next 100 years. (At the current prices, they are in no hurry to dig all of that coal out of the ground). A shifting of the tides was apparent when Foley announced the start of a strategic pivot away from China, something unthinkable even a few years ago when China’s economy seemed like it would forever surge. Foley noted that China had already dropped to about 25 per cent of Teck’s total met coal sales in 2013 from 30
per cent the year before. Even this year, Teck has seen market areas outside of China – including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and India – grow at a
higher rate than China, something Foley expects will continue. “The key growth area we see in the future out from 2018 is India.” CIM
November/Novembre 2014 | 21
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Productivity the name of the game at MEMO Canadian iron ore producers see potential for a bright future amidst dark present
With the iron ore fines price flirting with the $80-a-tonne mark, the need to increase productivity and reduce costs is a major issue in the sector. At the opening plenary session of this year’s Maintenance, Engineering and Reliability/Mine Operators (MEMO) conference in early September, each of the five invited speakers discussed the urgency to innovate and adapt to the new global context. “We need to prepare for a new downward cycle and potentially a new reality,” said Pierre Lapointe, general manager of operational excellence mines at ArcelorMittal. “We can either wait for prices to go up again or adapt now.” MEMO 2014 was held in Sept-Îles, Quebec, a major port city for projects farther to the north in the iron-rich Labrador Trough, by CIM’s Quebec North-East Branch in conjunction with the Institute’s Surface Mining, Underground Mining, and Maintenance and Engineering Societies. The annual event welcomed 360 attendees from the service and supply sector as well as maintenance engineers and mine operators. The city of Sept-Îles is currently receiving conflicting signals from the industry, as recent bad news is being offset by positive prospects for the future. Last winter, Cliffs idled operations both at its Wabush mine and its pellet plant in Pointe-Noire, sending a shockwave across the whole region. At the same time though, ArcelorMittal and Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) have stayed the course with their respective expansion targets, while Alderon, Tata Steel and New Millennium Iron are moving forward to develop their own projects. Finally, the port of Sept-Îles is about to complete a brand new multi-user dock that will more than double its current shipping capacity of 45 million tonnes per year (Mt/a). The dock should be fully commissioned by the end of 2014 and will start shipping iron ore in early 2015. Global competition has clearly intensified this year, as many ambitious projects 22 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
Valerian Mazataud
By Antoine Dion-Ortega and Pierrick Blin
Jo-Anne Boucher (above), general manager, Sudbury, Bestech, acted as moderator at MEMO’s plenary session in September.
set up during the 2010–11 iron ore rush are now entering production. “There have been massive expansions in Australia and Brazil, which are all coming into production now, not at the best of times,” said Terry Bowles, president and CEO of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation and past-president of CIM. “There are surpluses in iron ore, somewhere between 72 Mt this year to maybe 200 Mt in 2015.” In the Labrador Trough alone, about 25 Mt will be added to the current 42 when Alderon Iron Ore’s Kami project enters production, at the end of 2016 at the very earliest. In a context where abundant surpluses are dragging prices down, productivity is key. Yet it is lagging behind in the Labrador Trough, according to Bowles, who was president and CEO of IOC until 2010. “Production costs are still high,” he said. “In this region, [iron] grades go from 39 to 28 per cent at the lower end, versus 63 per cent in Brazil. We start with a tougher draw on our hands.” Canadian iron ore is at the top end of the production cost curve, he said, while competitors in Australia and Brazil are at the bottom. “If we include
cash costs, sustaining costs and transportation costs, we are in a range of $90 to $120 per tonne. So when prices are below $100, it is tough to make money.” Louis Cyrenne, vice-president for Sept-Îles operations at IOC, is confident his company will successfully overcome these global challenges. In 2010, IOC launched its concentrate expansion program (CEP), a three-phase investment program aimed at bringing production from 17 to 22 Mt/a. Four years later, nearly $1 billion has already been invested for CEP1 and CEP2 – the first and second phases of the program; the third phase is on the way as the company’s Wabush 3 project is scheduled to enter production in January 2017. As for ArcelorMittal, it hopes to meet its 2014 objective of 24 Mt/a, after two years of massive investments totalling $1.6 billion. New paths should be explored in the quest to reduce costs further, according to Bowles. He mentioned Rio Tinto’s Pilbara mines in Western Australia as an example of what automation can accomplish. Last June Rio Tinto announced that its Mine of the Future programme reached a major milestone when its fleet of autonomous haul trucks moved its 200th million tonne of material. A natural gas supply, either from a pipeline or from liquefied natural gas imports, would help replace expensive fuel costs. Capital efficiency also needs to be tackled. “We have seen record impairments in the last couple years,” he said. “Meanwhile in Australia, they are delivering mining expansions for $120 to $130 per tonne of capacity. You can’t be purchasing facilities for $800 a tonne; you won’t survive.” Finally, Bowles prompted companies to innovate by improving maintenance and reliability practices. “Equipment productivity in Canada has gone down by 12 per cent since 2000,” he said. “You have to improve the efficiency of your equipment, because productivity is the name of the game.” CIM
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Miners take measures against ebola Companies in West Africa are ramping up health and safety protocols to deal with ongoing outbreak
As the scale of the ebola outbreak centred in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia continues to grow, mining companies working in West Africa are moving to limit the health and safety risks to their operations, as well as the effects of the outbreak on local populations and economies. “These countries cannot face the situation on their own. It has reached proportions that are way beyond their means,” said Oumar Toguyeni, Iamgold regional vice-president for West Africa. “We’re committed to this region. We are doing as much as we can, but the international community needs to come to the help of these countries.” Iamgold was one of 11 companies operating in the region whose CEOs signed an open letter in September calling on the global community to “step up the fight against ebola.” ArcelorMittal, whose CEO also signed the letter, was forced to halt a mine expansion project in August at its Yekepa iron ore mine in Liberia, the nation hardest hit by the outbreak, though existing operations at the site have not been effected, according to a company spokesperson. The company regularly tests all employees and visitors to their Liberia sites for fever, and has stocked both its own medical centres and others in Liberia with personal protective equipment. It has also provided training to health care workers and employees. “We have implemented an extensive communications campaign aimed at ensuring employees know what actions to take to minimize the risk of contamination,” said the spokesperson. “Ebola awareness sessions were conducted by a leading infection prevention and control expert, and an infectious disease nurse has been brought in who serves as ArcelorMittal Liberia’s in-house expert.” Toguyeni, who is the chair of the CIM Dakar branch, explained that 24 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
Courtesy of ArcelorMittal
By Correy Baldwin
ArcelorMittal’s Yekepa mine in Liberia has managed to continue ongoing operations in the midst of the ebola outbreak in West Africa.
industry has been working together on information sharing and advocacy efforts, including financial donations to NGOs combating the disease, and helping supply and distribute medical and sanitation equipment and educational resources. But they have also had to take precautionary measures. Companies like Iamgold and First Quantum are monitoring the situation closely, assessing the potential risks to their operations daily and keeping staff well informed. They have stepped up screenings and built extra health monitoring and medical checks into the daily routine at their work sites. Iamgold’s Essakane project is in eastern Burkina Faso, which in midOctober was outside the affected area. According to Toguyeni, his company has developed its own eight-level graded action plan, depending on the severity of the outbreak and its impacts around their operations. Complicated plane travel in and out of West Africa for fly-in/fly-out workers from North America as well as
within the region is taking its toll; some flights are suspended and others rerouted. “Flights are much more expensive and the travel time is much longer,” said Grace Barrasso, communications manager at First Quantum, which has a mine in Mauritania. “It’s very tiring and demoralizing, and it’s having quite an impact on our operations from a personnel management perspective.” Families of international workers are expressing concern, and potential employees are hesitant to work in the region. Open borders are making the outbreak unpredictable and difficult to contain, said François Auclair, CEO of Algold Resources, who, though not a signatory to the open letter, agrees with the principle behind it. “If ebola was reported in Mauritania or Burkina Faso, we would have to take steps to ensure that our workers are safe.” This, he explained, would be extremely complicated, given the limited medical facilities in the region. Algold hires local labourers, but often there are no
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local doctors available to help screen for signs of ebola. Ebola was unknown in West Africa until this outbreak, meaning local health professionals must be trained, and the population must be taught basic information such as how the virus is transmitted. “I believe it’s our responsibility in the industry to educate the people,” said Auclair. “If a mining company can educate its staff, the information will get out. Until a vaccine is created, it’s only by education that we’ll be able to fight that disease.” But there is only so much industry can do, said Barrasso: “The international community needs to mobilize resources and get health care professionals and equipment on the ground as soon as possible.” The United States has committed to deploying 3,000 troops in Liberia, including army engineers and medical personnel, to provide aide across the affected region. They will help set up 18 medical centres and financial, medical and logistical supports that have been provided by a number of other countries including Canada. But even as resources flow into the region, Barrasso suggests that much of it has come too late. “The disease is spreading, and now they’re playing a catch-up game,” she said. “This is not just a West African issue. This disease really has the potential to go global. It’s an international issue and it needs to be stamped out.” “I’m very concerned that we’ve had very little success in trying to contain this disease,” said Dr. Robert Quigley, regional medical director of the Americas Region for International SOS, a medical services and travel security firm. “But I also have concerns about all of these resources being dumped into this region in West Africa.” With multiple NGOs on the ground, he said, efforts are sporadic, and without a single body overseeing and coordinating the allocation of funds, resources will go to waste. “There needs to be transparent co-operation among a variety of organizations, and it’s important that companies working in the region work together [to co-ordinate their response],” said Quigley. “Governments will pay attention when they see this kind of co-operation.” CIM
Ebola outbreak timeline March 22
Ebola identified in Guinea, where it had already killed 29 people.
March 28
The first ebola cases reported in Liberia.
May 26
The first ebola deaths reported in Sierra Leone.
Aug. 8
WHO declares ebola outbreak an international public health emergency.
Aug. 12
Death toll reaches 1,000.
Sept. 16
United States promises to send 3,000 military engineers and medical personnel to West Africa to build clinics and train health care workers.
Sept. 26
Death toll surpasses 3,000.
Sept. 30
CDC confirms first case of ebola reported in the U.S. from a traveller coming from Liberia. Two nurses are later infected.
Oct. 14
WHO warns the ebola epidemic could hit 10,000 new cases every week if drastic measures are not taken within the next two months. Latest figures (as of Oct. 17)
8,997
4,493
Total cases
Total deaths
There are no licensed vaccines for ebola but two are currently being tested.
The incubation period for ebola is two to 21 days. Humans are not infectious until they develop symptoms.
November/Novembre 2014 | 25
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Responding to human rights violations Barrick implements remedy framework in the wake of allegations of sexual assault at Papua New Guinea mine By Chris Windeyer
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Bindon acknowledged that prior to Human Rights Watch’s reporting on Porgera, Barrick’s response was inadequate. “The company’s response clearly had weaknesses,” he said. “We’ve learned to look a lot more closely at the cultural and institutional issues that might be barriers to these kinds of things being reported.” Under intense scrutiny from Human Rights Watch, MiningWatch Canada and other NGOs, Barrick implemented what it called a remedy framework: a package for local victims of sexual assault containing health care and counselling services, legal advice and financial compensation. It also improved electronic site surveillance, began tracking the movements of security vehicles and hired several females to security staff. Furthermore, it established the Porgera Women’s Welfare Office, which receives complaints and helps women access remedy programs. The office also paid for awareness training on violence against women for members of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, the national police force that handles rape complaints. Ben Chalmers, vice-president of sustainable development at the Mining Association of Canada and co-chair of CfE, attended the workshop and believes Barrick’s response is a step in the right direction. “Barrick was able to develop an effective and independently operated mechanism suited to the local circumstances; they have shown that it can be done,” he said. “The Porgera Framework represents one of the first, if not the first, attempt to institute a standalone remedy Richard Farbelini
News broke in 2011 of a raft of sexual assaults against women by staff of a local security company hired to protect Barrick Gold’s Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea. The incidents had been occurring as far back as 2005. Security guards patrolling the fringes of the mine site would detain local women they found mining illegally and systematically abuse them. The guards offered women a heinous bargain: the choice between sex or prosecution for theft and trespassing. Human Rights Watch chronicled beatings and gang rapes. The NGO cited some women as saying their attackers warned them they would be imprisoned or fined for illegal mining if they tried to complain about what had happened. Now, three years later, Barrick has completed the implementation of its response Barrick Gold’s Porgera open pit mine in Papua New Guinea program. That was the focus of a September workshop in Ottawa, All told, at least 137 women organized by CIM’s Centre for Excelreported abuse at the hands of six lence (CfE) in Corporate Social Responsecurity personnel at Porgera. Another sibility and attended by Barrick along six security staff members were aware with several NGOs including Human of the abuses but failed to report them. Rights Watch, MiningWatch Canada, All 12 were fired and charged with criminal offences. However, none of KAIROS and Publish What You Pay the charges stuck, with the perpetraCanada. While the workshop went tors either acquitted, charges dropped, ahead under the off-the-record or, in one case the victim reached an Chatham House Rule, Patrick Bindon, out-of-court settlement with her Barrick’s manager of corporate affairs for attacker. “I think we saw some of the Australia-Pacific, said the workshop disinherent weaknesses in the Papua New cussed Barrick’s experience establishing Guinea justice system,” said Bindon. a remedy program based on the United “There was quite a legitimate belief by Nations’ “Guiding Principles on Busiwomen that if they reported these ness and Human Rights,” released in matters to police or took civil action 2011. The document enshrines a corpothrough the courts those formal mechration’s responsibility to respect human anisms would largely be ineffective in rights and provide a remedy when those delivering justice.” rights are infringed upon.
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framework for historical human rights violations since the adoption of the UN guiding principles.” There is still progress to be made though. Barrick has acknowledged more sexual assault allegations and the destruction of homes on mine property by security personnel, and urged victims to go to the police. MiningWatch Canada in particular has been critical of Barrick’s response to the spate of sexual violence at Porgera. Chief among the complaints about Barrick’s program for victims was the inclusion of a provision that women agreeing to remedy packages renounce their right to sue Barrick or any related companies. Catherine Coumans, a researcher with MiningWatch Canada,
said the legal expertise made available to the women was not independent from the company. And, she said, if female victims were truly satisfied with the outcome of the remedy program, Barrick would not need to require them to sign a waiver. “The UN guiding principles say nothing about the right of companies to seek legal waivers,” Coumans said. “The company has a responsibility to provide remedy. Full stop.” But Bindon defends that clause, saying it does not close off the victims’ ability to sue their attackers, nor does it run counter to the UN guiding principles. “In our view it is an entirely reasonable request that if a claimant at the end of the process was satisfied
with the redress being provided, it’s fair for them to say they wouldn’t bring further civil action for the same harm they were already receiving redress for,” he said. Bindon said the experience has taught Barrick how to better respond to human rights issues at its international operations. The company now screens security personnel for criminal histories and trains all workers in human rights issues, including violence against women. ”We’ve learned a lot about how to respond to these kinds of allegations,” he said. “I think we’ve learned to look a lot more closely at some of the cultural and institutional issues that might be barriers to these things being reported.” CIM
November/Novembre 2014 | 27
LEGAL
The helicopter protocol: northern claim staking BY RICHARD BUTLER
rown lands located near Koper Lake in Ontario’s Ring of Fire opened for staking on June 17, 2011. Noront Resources hired two men to stake the Crown land on foot. In contrast, KWG Resources employed one recording licensee, two helicopters and more than a dozen mining claim blazers. The “24-Hour Rule” applied, meaning staking (on land open less than 24 hours) had to start at the northeast claim post, the recording licensee had to take down the start and stop times, and he or she had to inscribe and erect all posts. At 9 a.m., KWG’s recording licensee, Ken Pye, inscribed the start time on the first claim post, erected the post in the ground, and proceeded to a waiting helicopter. Pye strapped himself to the side of the helicopter, which lifted off and headed clockwise along the mining claim boundary. The helicopter hovered at predetermined locations while Pye dropped claim posts from a height of 10 to 30 metres, depending on surrounding tree tops, with the sharpened posts impaling the muskeg and sticking upright. On the ground, KWG’s team began “blazing” the claim boundaries (marking trees and attaching flagging tape) after the 9 a.m. start time. Each blazer started from a different point on the claim boundary and blazed a section of the claim. The entire KWG team travelled in a clockwise direction on foot. Pye completed the claim where he started, the first post, inscribing the finish time. Two helicopters picked up the KWG team and repositioned it around the next mining claim. KWG completed three 16unit mining claims using the “Helicopter Protocol” before the grounded Noront team was able to complete its first two-unit claim. Noront launched a dispute of KWG’s mining claims, heard before Dale Messenger, the Ontario mining recorder, in Sudbury on April 24 and 25, 2014. Noront argued that the mining claims should be disqualified on the basis that the “Helicopter Protocol” did not comply with the Mining Act.
C
The setting: Koper Lake, Ring of Fire, northern Ontario The Ring of Fire is a region of significant chromite, copper and nickel deposits worth an estimated $60 billion or more in central and northern Ontario, around 400 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. Koper Lake rests within the most active region of the Ring of Fire, meaning that the mining claims at issue are important both for their mineral content and strategic placement of infrastructure (future road or rail links). 28 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
KWG was one of the earliest participants in Ring of Fire exploration, currently delineating the Black Horse and Big Daddy chromite deposits. Noront is one of the larger mining companies active in the Ring of Fire, pursuing the Eagle’s Nest and Black Bird chromite projects. The Koper Lake claims at issue lie between the Eagle’s Nest and Blackbird chromite deposits to the west, and the Big Daddy deposit to the northeast. The Koper Lake claims sit near the terminus of the proposed road and rail lines into the Ring of Fire, and provide immediate float plane access.
The hearing: Noront alleges defects in staking When Noront brought forth its dispute, the company argued that KWG’s staking was illegal because Pye was not present “on the ground” during staking, and because KWG blazed the claim boundary in many places at the same time. Messenger dismissed both arguments in his decision, Noront Resources Ltd. vs. KWG Resources Inc., released on June 24, 2014. He held that having feet “on the ground” was a literal requirement of the previous version of the Mining Act’s staking regulation. The current version, updated in August 2006, requires that the recording licensee be “in the area” at the time of staking. The mining recorder ruled that the requirement of being “in the area” is met even when hovering above the muskeg in a helicopter. The posts were properly erected when they landed upright in the muskeg. Messenger also found that it was not fatal to KWG’s claim staking to have a team simultaneously blaze the claim boundary. All team members proceeded in a clockwise direction, starting only after Pye erected the first post.
Conclusion: the challenges of claim staking in the North It is clear that those engaged in competitive staking are now using every available means by which to save precious seconds. In remote and inaccessible environments, helicopter staking has become more and more common. The decision will help advance mineral development in remote regions, including the Ring of Fire and the Far North. CIM
Richard Butler and Nicole Petersen of Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP acted for the respondent and successful party KWG. The matter is currently under appeal to the Office of the Mining and Lands Commissioner. Richard Butler is an associate at Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP where he practises mining and environmental litigation and dispute resolution. He advises clients from the natural resources, mining and exploration, waste management and electricity sectors. rbutler@willmsshier.com
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Nobody likes surprises: the role of the certified cost professional BY JOHN GRAVEL
he legislation that led to National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) was intended to protect investors from unsubstantiated mineral project disclosures like those experienced in the Bre-X scandal. (Bre-X Minerals collapsed in 1997 after its claim of an Indonesian gold find was discovered to be fraudulent.) What was not contemplated in the formation of NI 43-101 – and its rules and guidelines for reporting and displaying scientific and technical information by Canadian-exchange-listed companies – was a standard for reporting and displaying the relative project cost and schedule information used in delivering a successful project. While it is unfair to hold companies accountable to deliver their capital projects exactly to the estimated costs, there has been a gap between the estimated and actual costs of mining projects in recent years.
to shortcomings in concept development and strategic management of standard project fundamentals such as scheduling, progress monitoring and forecasting. Mining projects can take between seven and 10 years to go from the first identifiable resource (i.e. something a preliminary study can be built on) to commissioning. Over that time period, one would hope that the scope and subsequently the cost accuracy improve at the same rate, but that is not the case. One of the difficulties is that – on the way from that early concept to feasibility funding – there are multiple NI 43-101-compliant conceptual and preliminary studies that omit the engineering and research needed to more clearly define the scope and cost because QPs have no guidelines in this regard. There is already a wealth of data available on public record through the System for Electronic Document Analysis and “Looking at the current NI 43-101 guidelines and the Retrieval (SEDAR), SEC Edgar lack of rigour on cost and requirements for fundamental database and company press project management, we should not be surprised that releases to use as a reference to vet plans at the conceptual to preliminvestors are looking for better returns elsewhere.” inary stages. This data offers insight into what led to past project cost overruns or surprises, and the Canadian mining We have to consider NI 43-101 to be the first step in the industry must turn those lessons into practical guidelines to evolution of more comprehensive project management in the mining industry and not solely a guarantee that the resource be incorporated in NI 43-101. The lack of clarification in NI 43-101 on QPs’ cost expertidentified in the ground may actually be there. ise raises questions for industry professionals: Why are certiOne source of this problem lies in Part 1, Section 1 of NI 43-101 entitled “Definitions.” Here it states that a Qualified fied cost engineers not required to sign off on NI 43-101s? If Person (QP) must prepare the capital and operating cost por- NI 43-101 is revised to require certified cost engineer signtion of an NI 43-101 filing. According to the document, the offs, who would be crazy enough to be liable for signing off QP must have “experience relevant to the subject matter of on costs? Why are the large EPCM firms not signing off on the mineral project and the technical report” and that it is the NI 43-101s if they have the most QPs and professional issuer’s responsibility to ensure that QPs meet this require- indemnity insurance? What recourse do investors have with ment. However, there is nothing specifically about the quali- the QPs who are signing NI 43-101s? Is their professional fications of a QP to prepare the capital and operating cost indemnity insurance adequate? Why does the Securities portion of an NI 43-101 filing, or at the very least standard- Commission not keep a list of QPs, at least those who are filized guidelines for the QP to follow to support proper project ing NI 43-101s? management. Looking at the current NI 43-101 guidelines and the lack This is problematic, as it can lead to poor project scope of rigour on cost and requirements for fundamental project definition. An oversimplified example of this is where an management, we should not be surprised that investors are early NI 43-101-compliant study underestimates the amount looking for better returns elsewhere. As a global mining of labour required for a project because the skills and avail- leader, Canada needs to do a better job in accurately estimatability of the workers are not well understood, while inap- ing costs. Nobody likes surprises. CIM propriate productivity factors and unrealistic escalation factors (inflation over time) are used. How could the QP who John Gravel is director of natural resources for Turner & Townsend. From a in finance, John has 17 years of experience leading project teams signed off on the report have accurately assessed the cost of background in mining and infrastructure. john.gravel@turntown.com labour? Poor scope definition, at this stage, in turn is linked www.turnerandtownsend.com.
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30 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
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are metals, which include rare earth elements (REEs), are widely used in the aerospace and defence sectors. As such, access to these metals is of great importance to defence-minded organizations like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Science and Technology Organization of NATO recently hosted a two-and-a-half-day meeting of international specialists under the banner Scarcity of Rare Earth Materials and Electric Power Systems. Securing access to a stable supply of rare metals is a matter of global security. These metals, typically used in alloy form, lend their unique chemical and physical properties to enable fast, energy-efficient flight with low-maintenance costs, minimal environmental impact and high functionality. These materials are used in avionic and computer electronics currently employed in aerospace technology and continue to allow for lighter yet stronger airframes and propulsion systems. Canada, with numerous advanced REE projects
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throughout the country as well as processing potential, could provide a viable supply of rare metals in the coming years. Electronic displays are now widely incorporated in all technologies. In the modern cockpit of an airplane, colourful digital displays are linked to weather radar, fuel flow meters, artificial horizons and auto-pilots which are activated or programmed by pressure-sensitive touch pads enabled by the rare metal indium. Germanium arsenide, gallium arsenide or hafnium can be found in computer chips that take over the navigation functions and, in turn, communicate with global positioning satellites. Beryllium-copper connectors are found in fly-by-wire controls that operate rare earth efficient motors for the ailerons, elevons, elevators, flaps, slots and rudders that surround the pilot. Many of the propulsive technologies in the aerospace sector also rely on rare metals as do the lightweight aircraft starter motors, fuel pumps, hydraulic pumps, and actuator
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32 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
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columns and linear motors peripheral to these engines. Turbojets and material supply chains. Luckily, Canada is poised to provide fanjets employ the rare metals tantalum (melting temperature a steady supply of rare metals. CIM 3017 C), niobium (melting temperature 2477 C), and rhenium (melting temperature 3186 C) in their “hot sections.� Ian London is the chairman of the Canadian Rare Earth Elements Network (CREEN) and was instrumental in its formation in mid-2013. He is also market These rare metals withstand the worst of the high tempera- development and energy advisor with Avalon Rare Metals Inc. Over his 40-year tures used to compress, ignite, heat and expand the gas career, he has served as president and CEO of Ontario Hydro International, CEO of Process Products Ltd., and on the boards of several technology and stream that provides the thrust. alternative energy companies. Ian recently presented at the NATO-hosted REEs are already a key additive in the liquid fuel produc- specialist meeting. tion process, with catalysts being the single largest demand for rare earth oxides. As an ingredient in fuel cracking catalysts (FCCs), lanthanum, cerium and neodymium improve the yield of the final product generated from crude oil, prevent the early deactivation of the catalyst and remove heavy metals. Adding lanthanum to an FCC can increase the yield of gasoline by up to 10 per cent, a significant advantage for end users. Perhaps lesser known is that in 2012, the U.S. Department of Defence alone purchased 104 million WHEN YOU NEED N IT. WHERE YOU NEED IT. barrels of liquid fuels at a cost of $16.4 billion. The air force consumed 54 per cent of the 104 million barrels, the navy Q MINING Q AGRICULTURE 30 per cent and 15 per cent went to fuel Q FORESTRY Q RAIN WAT TER STORAGE the army. Q AQUA CULTURE Q FIRE SUPPRESSION Individual soldiers also benefit from
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REEs on longer missions. The charge density of lithium-ion batteries and the efficiency of neodymium supermagnets lend themselves well to their tasks. The average marine on patrol carries 90 pounds of equipment, a third of which are batteries. Flexible lithium-ion batteries paired with flexible indium, gallium, germanium, selenium or tellurium solar panels and printed circuits of gallium, indium alloys would essentially allow the uniforms of service people to be wearable power plants. Better weight distribution would decrease strain on the carrier, while solar power would allow the various monitors, sensors and displays carried by modern soldiers to be powered directly while the sun shines with a battery ready to take over when the sun sets or in low-light conditions. Magnesium, a critical metal for the European Community, can also be used to generate power from urine. NATO and its allies are currently taking a greater interest in these important raw, semi-processed and fully processed
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Courtesy of Goldcorp
Taking a shortcut Goldcorp and Redpath blaze an underground trail to connect mine to mill at Red Lake By Eavan Moore
Goldcorp’s Cochenour headframe
hen Goldcorp bought the Bruce Channel property, which included the brownfield Cochenour mine site near Red Lake, Ontario, in 2008, the company acquired underground workings but not the processing facilities it needed. With the Campbell mill at its nearby Red Lake complex running under capacity and Campbell mine production winding down in the coming years, Goldcorp management opted to keep the Campbell mill running with ore from Cochenour, affording considerable capex savings. That raised the question of how to get ore to Campbell. Goldcorp entertained many scenarios that boiled down to three basic options: sink a new Cochenour shaft on McKenzie Island and connect it via a bridge across the Bruce Channel of Red Lake; retain the existing shaft on the mainland but haul the ore overground; or drive a long drift that would connect the existing Cochenour shaft to the mining complex near the Campbell mill. Goldcorp chose the latter, using the existing shaft and hauling the ore underground by rail. “Some of it had to do with permitting constraints,” says Elizabeth Howell, who took over as Cochenour project manager after these decisions were made. “The permits were already in place that addressed the historical mine and infrastructure. By applying for amendments and modification to existing infrastructure rather than permitting an entirely new project, Cochenour could begin development sooner.” For mining contractor Redpath, hired by Goldcorp to connect Cochenour and Campbell infrastructures, the nearly completed five-kilometre haulage drift represents the largest
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34 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
drift it has undertaken in North America. “We’ve done other similar projects, but not of this magnitude,” says Don Duhamel, safety and training coordinator at Redpath. Its closest comparisons are to be found in Redpath’s Indonesian work for Freeport-McMoRan and its work on Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia.
A solid link Timing and access played roles in the decision to transport underground. By connecting the mine workings at Cochenour to those at the Red Lake side, explains Howell, “We take advantage of existing infrastructure. Development of the drift allowed first access to the deposit while the surface infrastructure and shaft sinking was completed at Cochenour. Having two access points to the deposit allowed for flow through ventilation earlier as well.” The drift, which is 5,320 feet down, provides a platform for exploratory drilling at depth. As construction progressed, Redpath developed drill bays every 400 feet. With Goldcorp’s Rahill-Bonanza joint venture property sitting between Cochenour and Red Lake, future access could come in handy. Ventilation presented Redpath’s top challenge on the project. There was limited airflow available from the Campbell mine, as ongoing mining operations required the majority of it. “Originally, ventilation was around 48,000 cubic feet per minute, which is pretty tough for developing the drift,” says Howell. At the current 63,000 cubic feet per minute, ventilation is still a constraint as such volume only allows a limited amount of diesel exhausting equipment to be used. Workers use a tag board to check equipment in and out and ensure
upfront
Courtesy of Goldcorp
UNDERGROUND MINING & DEVELOPMENT
only so many pieces of equipment are running at one time. The list of equipment needed is long. It includes, among other things, Caterpillar 1,600 scoops, two-boom jumbo drill rigs, a MacLean bolter, two MacLean scissor lifts, two forklifts, utility vehicles, MTI 30-tonne locomotives, and three personnel carriers. The construction of the drift has taken place in stages. The drift is 14 feet wide and 16 feet high, and the ground control includes shotcrete. The workers also install power, leaky feeder communications, process water, dewatering and compressed air lines, and ventilation. The safety infrastructure includes not only seven refuge stations along the way but also an eight-tonne locomotive set aside to pull a mine rescue car if needed. The track for locomotives is currently two-thirds complete. “As we finish a third of the haulage drift, Redpath installs the track,” says Howell. “That lessens the amount of diesel haulage and decreases the cycle time for the next third of the development.” Goldcorp and Redpath are still evaluating how to lay track in the last third of the drift. Unlike the basalt that much of the tunnel runs through, the final section is in less-stable talc. “It slowed down the development when the drift went through the talc, and that’s mainly due to reducing the size of our rounds,” says Howell. Normally one drilling and blasting round would
The new haulage drift will connect the Cochenour shaft with the mining complex near the Campbell mill.
Courtesy of Goldcorp
Ore from Goldcorp’s Cochenour mine will be transported to the Campbell mill via a new haulage drift, shown in the bottom right.
advance the tunnel 12 feet further, but at times caution pushed that number down to eight feet. “We did stop and put in additional cable bolting,” he explains. “In addition, the drift requires rehab while we determine the right combination for the permanent ground control. We’ve installed ground support test November/Novembre 2014 | 35
sections and are in the process of evaluating those test sections right now. Five test sections were installed, and we’ve been monitoring them since June. The monitors were installed to track the ground movement. We will use the data gathered as a factor in making our determination for permanent ground support in the talc section.” As of late September, the haulage drift was 99 per cent finished – the original development timeline having been extended along the way. Design optimization conducted in 2013 resulted in a revised development plan to accelerate initial gold production. Priorities shifted from completing the haulage drift to ventilation and to increased exploration drilling. A T-drift was added perpendicular to the haulage drift, with six drill bays, to explore the Bruce Channel deposit. The drilling done on the Bruce Channel deposit is the first at depth, so it plays an important part in designing the rest of Cochenour’s infrastructure. The egress drift was developed to connect the haulage drift to the Cochenour shaft. This connection accelerated the timing of increased ventilation. “We hijacked the haulage drift project on these two sidelines to benefit the overall project,” says Howell.
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36 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
Working toward production Goldcorp did not have many case studies to consult in planning the drift. Back in the 1960s, Newmont built a 17km haulage tunnel in the Granduc copper mine in Stewart, B.C. “They actually put most of their offices down underground and rode a train in for half an hour, the same as we’re going to be doing,” says Lorne Gunby, project general foreman with Goldcorp. But the Granduc project used more air-and-electric-operated equipment, so the builders of the Cochenour drift needed more robust ventilation to manage diesel fumes. In full production, Cochenour is forecast to produce 225,000 to 250,000 ounces of gold per year. The tram system will carry 1,500 tonnes of ore to the Campbell mill each day. As long as development stays above the haulage drift level, gravity will do much of the work: the rock mined will tumble down ore and waste passes into bins and then into eight to 12 cars to be trammed across to Campbell, where skips will carry it upward. Once Cochenour goes past the 5,320 level, ore will have to be transported up and into the bins. In the meantime, Redpath has plenty of other development work to do at Cochenour: the legacy shaft has been expanded and revamped, but there are ramps, bins and entire levels to put in. The total development cost of the new mine is projected at $496 million. Goldcorp estimates it can recover about $44 million in costs with the integration of the Cochenour operation with the Red Lake sites, including the unified milling process. Production has been pushed back from its original start date, but Howell says the mine is on target to produce first ore from production stopes in the third quarter of 2015 with commercial production expected in the second half of 2016. CIM
Courtesy of Manroc Developments Inc.
A cut above Raise climbing brings production gains to Canadian companies By Eavan Moore
An alimak leaves its nest to climb into a raise.
hree-quarters of the way into 2014, it became clear that this was a very good year for Claude Resources. The Saskatoon-based gold miner had increased its year-to-date gold production by 63 per cent over 2013, thanks in part to a successful implementation of the Alimak mining method at its Seabee gold mine in Saskatchewan. “It’s one of the drivers for our turnaround,” says Brian Skanderbeg, senior vice-president and chief operating officer at Claude Resources. “It’s not the only one, but it’s been one of the key ones.” Raise climbing, widely known as the Alimak mining method after the company that introduced it, is a variation on longhole stoping developed for narrow-veined, tabular ore bodies. Successful users of the technique have found that it accelerates their path to production by centring development work within the ore body. In regular open stoping, overcuts and undercuts provide access to the ore along strike. Since drills can only reach so far, the traditional approach demands sublevels about every 25 metres. Alimak mining uses a specialized piece of equipment called a raise climber (or, casually, an “Alimak”) to drive a raise upwards from the bottom level of the stope to the top level, following the dip of the ore body. Eliminating the intervening levels cuts out a good chunk of lateral development time and spending. That was the main attraction for Claude Resources, which introduced the Alimak method in its L62 zone at Seabee in late-2013. The lens of interest stood 200 metres away from historical infrastructure; with lateral development included, a 100-metre-high stope at Seabee would have taken 16 to 18 months to mine out using longhole stoping. With Alimak mining, it took nine months.
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The method After an external consultant suggested cost-cutting via Alimak, Claude Resources looked to Barrick Gold’s Williams mine in Ontario as an example. Williams had expanded its Alimak production several years earlier with the help of narrow vein specialists Manroc Developments Inc. Manroc contractors at Williams build a “climber nest” into the hangingwall just outside the bottom of each stope. They blast the first few metres of the raise and then install a climber running on a curved rail from the nest into the raise. The climber holds two to three people and the drilling and blasting equipment they need. Once the top of the stope has been reached, the miners descend again, screening the raise walls as they go. Switching to a new drill, they drive cable bolts up the centre of the raise, grout them in place and drill production holes. After each round of blasting, the broken ore falls down the raise and is collected by a scooptram. Ken McKirdy, chief engineer at Manroc, says the Alimak method provides benefits beyond ore access. One is stability: Cable bolting provides better ground support from its position in the central hangingwall of the stope, and the broken ore adds support by putting outward pressure on raise walls. The set-up also provides ventilation if miners leave open one of the raises after breaking through to the next level. Avoiding repeat levels has slight time-saving effects during operation because it eliminates the further work, like fencing backfill, needed on each level. Allison Henstridge, engineering superintendent at the Williams mine, says the Alimak stopes produce higher tonnages: “Once you’ve done all the work to get it, and you blast it, you have a very good ore source there for a longer period of time. Our longhole stopes are approximately 5,000 to 10,000 November/Novembre 2014 | 37
tonnes, whereas the Alimak stopes are anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes. So you put in a lot of work, but you get a lot of ore out at the end.� The Seabee mine had to adapt to this new cycle. “You’ll end up being very high productivity and then very low productiv-
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several improvements to the method. One of the disadvantages to mining long, straight raises is that it becomes difficult to follow high-grade ore. Williams mine initially designed 180-metre raises but learned that was far too high. “Because the Alimak has limitations on how much you can change the dip as you’re driving the raise up the hangingwall, you’re potentially mining out dilution that you wouldn’t take if you were able to mine a longhole stope,� says - B. Skanderbeg Henstridge. Now a typical Alimak stope is 80 or 90 metres high and mucked more often – an improvement for grade and scheduling. Strike length was also reduced from 15 to 14 metres after problems with hangingwall caving and dilution. Other improvements have focused on the climber end. Manroc, Williams and Orica Ltd. worked together to set up a bulk emulsion loader on the climber and to incorporate electronic caps, which allow a stope to be blasted in one shot. Tinkering with the drill rig set-up allowed an entire ring of production holes to be drilled without repositioning the drill more than once. A new canopy design has provided more room on the climber platform. “Our miners now tend to view it as a safety device instead of an irritant,� remarks McKirdy.
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“It’s marginally higher in terms of cost per tonne, but the difference we’ve seen in terms of productivity per man-hour and development costs per tonne has been significant.�
ity,� comments Skanderbeg. “So your backfill cycles are longer and your mucking cycles are longer. You end up creating stockpiles and drawing off your stockpiles, so it’s important, in terms of blending your ore and ensuring your mill is fed, that you properly manage your stockpile.�
Improvements over time Since Barrick-Hemlo and Manroc began full-scale Alimak mining in Williams’ C zone ore body in 2004, they have made
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D ͜ƚŚĞ Ä?ĆľĆ?Ĺ?ŜĞĆ?Ć? ŽĨ ĹľĹ?ĹśĹ?ĹśĹ? Ä‚ĹľÄ?Ä?ŽŜĆ?ƾůƚĂŜƚĆ?͘Ä?Žž 38 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
Though Manroc alone has collected a double handful of Alimak success stories, uptake of the technique has been limited since it was popularized in the 1990s. Asked why, McKirdy says, “It’s a relatively new mining method, and we’ve been more or less refining it ever since. Other people have tried it and haven’t had the same success as us.� He thinks unsuccessful adopters probably made one of two basic mistakes: either they skimped on the number of cable bolts or they oversized the stope. Overall costs are lower, but the method also costs more to run, which could deter some but does not faze its proponents. “It’s marginally higher in terms of cost per tonne, but the difference we’ve seen in terms of productivity per manhour and development costs per tonne has been significant,� says Skanderbeg. “We have seen significant reductions in all-in sustaining costs.� Henstridge attributes the higher cost of Alimak mining to reliance on contractors; at Williams mine, that makes it 10 per cent more expensive than longhole stoping. Claude Resources used Dumas Ltd. to smooth its transition to Alimak mining but will go completely in-house as it moves forward. The company has committed to expanding the method beyond its current, relatively small lens. “It’s been a good process for us,� says Skanderbeg, “and we’ll keep at it and keep using it where it’s applicable.� CIM
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Courtesy of Goldcorp
Underground entrepreneurs Red Lake miners now members of small business cells operating with more autonomy By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco
Mining cells are organized so that each team takes ownership of its work environment and equipment.
ast fall Goldcorp’s Red Lake mine was organized conventionally, with teams reporting to supervisors who in turn reported to a general foreman. With a wicket system in place, employees arriving for their shift lined up to receive their assignment from their supervisor for the day, taking them to different parts of the mine. It was a hierarchical approach that managers had determined was less than ideal. To build the foundation for a more employee-driven organization, Red Lake management chose to reorganize operations into 14 different cells – or business units – each comprising between 10 and 15 members. Each cell is assigned dedicated resources that include equipment, labour and support of organizational structures. And each one handles its own accounting and metrics. “Essentially, we set up each cell to act as an independent small business,” says Bob MacDonald, operations manager at Red Lake. “Collectively, we get to learn from the best practices of each unit, and independently, each unit is best equipped to deal with its own unique operating conditions. It’s a win-win.”
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Planning The planning process for the new organizational structure took three months, carried out by a team made up of a general foreman and a technical services representative as well as Trevor Krawchyk, Goldcorp’s operations excellence manager. They also worked closely with daily supervisor and technical teams to revise and fine-tune every aspect of the plan. It was a daunting process. Krawchyk, who worked on planning and implementing cell mining at Barrick Gold’s Hemlo in 2004, says the complexity of Red Lake’s operation added to the challenges. “Hemlo was easier because it was a standard mining method,” he says. “Here, there are two complexes, the Red Lake complex and the Campbell complex, two separate undergrounds and within those, there are captive mining areas and 40 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
different mining methods, overhand and underhand cut and fill, pillar recovery and longhole, so it’s a mixed bag.” Geography had to be taken into account, as the Red Lake and Campbell complexes collectively occupy a large area. “Keeping the cells small enough geographically so supervisors can have more face time with their employees versus spending a lot of their day travelling from one operation to another was important,” Krawchyk points out. Infrastructure limitations such as adequate ventilation for each team and their equipment was another piece of the puzzle, he adds: “We were not going to have one team logically go from one area that was ramped and had access to lower levels of the mine and then have to go into another area that was captive mining. So we had infrastructure that limited how we designed the cells.” Another key aspect was scheduling since team members working in the same cells needed to be on the same rotations. Due to different historical hiring practices, Red Lake had a variety of rotations. The new set-up standardized these, as well as creating fly in/fly out and local teams. With a three-year mine plan in mind to avoid creating cells that would become obsolete within a couple of months, every cell was created to have a production rate of 100,000 to 150,000 tonnes per year. For equipment selection, the cells were prioritized based on ore production and grade. Ideally, each cell would have had its own maintenance team, but Red Lake does not currently have the resources for this, so instead maintenance teams were allocated zones that cover three to four cells. The wicket system was replaced with cell meeting rooms, where the teams gather at the beginning of their shift to discuss safety and production goals for the day and resolve issues encountered during previous shifts. “It’s more of a team collaboration and discussion than a directive,” says Krawchyk. Technology was also built into the plan: each cell meeting room is equipped with a 60-inch TV screen and video cameras to allow the cells to interface with all-employee meetings.
Then came planning for the human element: adapting to change, which involved a lot of communication with employees. There was significant training as well, in some cases for use of equipment where operators did not have prior experience. In others, as in the case of the supervisors, it involved coaching to improve their skills in leading meetings and team discussions. Other adjustments included increasing the number of supervisors. “So we’ve had a fairly steep recruitment and training curve,” says MacDonald.
Implementation In January Red Lake’s cell mining structure went live. Peter Gula, Goldcorp’s mining manager, says it was an easy sell to employees. “When you tell your workers, ‘You’re going to have your own planning room with only the people who support your area underground, and we’re going to provide you your own equipment,’ there’s just smiles from ear to ear and they think that it’s great that they have a permanent workplace they can be accountable for.” For the first three months, “there was fairly intensive follow-up. We’re still working on it and will make adjustments as needed,” says MacDonald. “The employees themselves were great to work with. People were patient and understood we were trying to make changes for positive reasons.”
Benefits Engagement and ownership as well as communication have dramatically improved, says Gula. In the large meetings of the past, Red Lake management found the same few people tended to speak up. Now, with the new smaller team meetings, it is easier to get the message across that “We want to hear what you think, not only the good but also the bad,” he says. “Now you go into a cell meeting, and they’re the first to tell you: We need to do the material handling storage differently. We want to put some lighting here, we want to make sure the forklift can turn on a right angle to maximize the areas used – details that we didn’t even consider before, and we’re getting that input from the workers themselves.” One of the theories behind implementing cell mining was that workers would take more ownership of their designated equipment. That has already paid off with lower maintenance costs. “People take more pride and make sure they do all the necessary maintenance on it because they don’t want to jeopardize up-time of the equipment designated for their cell,” says Gula. Improvement in efficiency has already been noted at Red Lake as a result of cell mining, particularly in the areas of supplies and maintenance. Face-to-face communication between supervisors and their teams has also grown from about 10 percent of their time to between 25 and 35 percent. “I believe this is a journey,” says MacDonald. “I always like to see better engagement with the workforce and we’re always going to be making adjustments to improve this, so we still have some work to do on it. But to be honest, I’m glad we did it and I think over time we will see substantial benefits as well.” CIM November/Novembre 2014 | 41
Courtesy of Itasca Consulting Group
Big on rock mechanics Matthew Pierce leads research that can help large cave mines achieve better safety and production By Virginia Heffernan
atthew Pierce, a specialist in geomechanical characterization of rock masses and underground mine design, was recently named director of the Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction (RTC-UMC) at the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI). Pierce is a principal engineer with Itasca Consulting Group in Minneapolis and a recipient of the International Society of Rock Mechanics Rocha Medal. RTC-UMC was created in 2010 to conduct research in support of Rio Tinto’s Mine of the Future programme and its underground mining operations, and Pierce is now leading the Centre into new territory.
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CIM: What makes Rio Tinto’s underground mine construction centre unique? Pierce: From an organizational perspective, Rio Tinto has given CEMI the mandate to find the right researchers by recruiting several different players including other mining companies, consultants and academics. CEMI does not conduct its own research but can organize the appropriate parties to carry out the research because it’s not associated with any one university. From a technical perspective, we recognize that characterization, excavation and support design need to consider brittle spalling as the main rock mass failure mechanism, not shear failure, and that traditional rock mass failure criteria are likely to underestimate the rock mass strength under high confinement. 42 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
CIM: Why are you stepping in to lead the Centre? Pierce: Peter Kaiser was the director of the Centre for the first four years and set the technical vision to help Rio Tinto improve how they excavate and support their caving operations. In a step towards retirement, he wanted to remain involved but find someone to start developing a vision for the next five years that would add even more value. The solution was to have the directorship shared between me and associate director Erik Eberhardt from UBC, with Peter’s continuing involvement. CIM: The Centre has made rock mass characterization a priority. What further work is needed in rock mass characterization research to improve on what has been done so far? Pierce: In rock mechanics, there is an increasing recognition that we don’t completely understand how rock masses respond to mining under one particular combination of conditions: when the rock is massive (sparsely jointed) but densely veined and under high stress – for example copper porphyries at depth. Traditional rock mechanics has focused on how more heavily jointed rocks behave at shallow depth. But if we want good designs for deep underground mines in massive rocks, we need to change the way we think about spalling as a failure mechanism. The Centre will bring cuttingedge rock mechanic theory into practice rather than discuss it purely in academic terms.
upfront UNDERGROUND MINING & DEVELOPMENT
CIM: Footprint reliability is a big focus for the Centre; what is it and why it is important? Pierce: In this case, the word “footprint” means the bottom of a caving mine. In order for a huge volume of fragmented ore to get out of the mine to the mill, it must flow through the footprint or extraction level. Recent experience at a number of operations shows that if you keep the extraction level stable and the ore flowing freely through the drawpoints, you will have a more productive mine. If, on the other hand, the tunnels begin to deteriorate or the support turns out to be inadequate, you can quickly lose drawpoint availability. If only half of your drawpoints are available, you start to pull in waste, stress the extraction level causing further damage, and create the knock-on effects of lost recovery, low productivity and higher rehabilitation costs. The key driver for footprint reliability is keeping drawpoint availability high and a large part of that is proper ground support for spalling ground conditions. CIM: What are some of the solutions you are working on to minimize delays and maximize speed in underground mine construction? Pierce: To speed things up, you need to pull as much ore out as fast as you can. That comes down to drawpoint availability, but perhaps an even more important consideration is the leadup to developing a cave. The faster we can excavate the tunnels while still being safe, the quicker we can start getting the ore out. One way is to put in fewer drawpoints. Another way is to design the ground support so that it takes less time to install and acts more effectively, minimizing rehabilitation.
timing of installation. So our focus is not necessarily to come up with a new type of support, but rather to understand how existing support tools should be installed, in what combination and when. CIM: The Centre is planning to deliver a support selection guide founded on deformation-based support design principles. Can you explain those principles? What is novel about them? Pierce: You can think about ground support in terms of surface pressure (applying pressure to the wall of the pillar or tunnel) or in terms of reinforcement (tying the rock together internally with bolts and cables). Those are two ways to achieve the same result: allowing the rock to stay together and support itself. We are questioning which combination of these two methods is appropriate for the spalling mode of failure. This forms the basis for a lot of our support design studies. CIM: What is the “Mine of the Future” and can you explain the importance of the concept? Pierce: From the Centre’s perspective, it’s a mine that can be more reliably developed and operated. That has been a struggle for caving mines for a long time. We have to change the way we construct, support and monitor these operations. CIM
CIM: Can you elaborate on how the Centre incorporates lab, in situ and numerical studies? Pierce: Any engineering study should have a basis in these three areas. If we can take the field data and use it to validate a numerical model, we have a tool to predict a wider range of scenarios. For example, the Centre will be monitoring the pillars at three different mines in the coming year. We’ll take that data and use it to calibrate numerical models of those pillars and hopefully validate their utility. The third leg is physical modelling that allows us to scale down the problem in the lab. There is a lot of value to that for cave mining because instead of having to model the flow of giant boulders we can model the flow of gravel or sand. It’s another way to either study the problem directly or collect data for calibration of numerical models. CIM: One of the Centre’s aims is to develop efficient and effective ground control measures. Are there any new measures either in the works or ready to be deployed? Pierce: A number of these caving operations are not in a position to take on a new type of support element and incorporate it into their support design philosophy. We’re aiming to combine the existing types of support including bolts, cables and shotcrete in new ways and change the November/Novembre 2014 | 43
Chuck Sutherland
karst
mining within a maze
Formations such as the Haskell Sims cave (pictured) can be spectacular, but also present a major challenge for hydrogeologists attempting to understand them.
ater is one of the primary concerns in mining. Unless they are correctly managed, water inflows can destabilize pit slopes, flood underground mines and have a dramatic effect on production schedules. In fact, in some cases, water management can be the largest external cost of a mining operation – anywhere from five to 25 per cent of a mine’s operating budget and occasionally higher, says Geoff Beale, a mining hydrologist at Schlumberger. Some of the most unpredictable hydrogeologies – but also some of the most lucrative ore deposits – exist in areas of karst. By Ian Ewing
Karst is a topography formed in geographies containing carbonate rock, particularly limestone and dolomite, which can be selectively dissolved by water that has become acidic during precipitation and infiltration of the ground. This dissolution of rock creates underground drainage systems characterized by solution-enlarged fractures, sinkholes, disappearing streams, shafts and caves that together can quickly capture an enormous amount of water, discharging it at karst springs. Although these networks include some of the most spectacular caving destinations in the world, they can be daunting for mining hydrogeologists. Karst exists worldwide – anywhere that carbonate rock is exposed to surface or subsurface water. The properties of karstic features – especially large-scale jointing – make it an excellent host for metallic mineralization. The limestone belt in the Peruvian Andes, for example, stretches for more than 2,000 kilometres, accounts for only 13 per cent of the Andes’ surface area, but contains over 50 per cent of Peru’s metal mines, including Antamina, according to David Evans, managing director at FloSolutions. His company is a Peru-based hydrogeology consultancy specializing in karst. Projects from Nevada to Zambia and from Poland to Indonesia deal with karst
and feature some of the biggest dewatering operations on the planet. In karstic regions, cavities and channels in the carbonate rock are the primary mode of subterranean water transport. The complex fault and fracture systems of karst create discrete, high-volume groundwater flow paths that do not conform to standard hydrogeological permeability models. And worse for the would-be miner is that hydrogeological features in these regions can be so interconnected that the region may have a hydraulic drawdown area in excess of 400 square kilometres. In fact, Barrick Goldstrike monitors water levels over an area of 15,000 sq. km around its mine, in part to ensure mining and dewatering activities do not adversely affect nearby aquifers. Such extensive monitoring is necessary because karstic sources and drains are so difficult to find and correlate, and precise modelling of the subterranean network is nigh impossible. Nonetheless, for miners, characterizing karstic geology is vital. Everything from drilling and dewatering to slope design and siting of tailings dams depend on the ability of hydrogeologists to map and manage the groundwater systems around a mine. The very economic viability of the mine may depend on the hydrogeologist’s ability to confidently characterize a karstic region. November/Novembre 2014 | 45
drilling and dewatering
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Solving the puzzle Evans says a preliminary conceptual hydrogeological model must be developed upon which a field program can be built. In parts of Peru, the field program will consist of detailed remote sensing, geological and hydrogeological mapping, speleology, baseline water quality testing, geophysical surveys, dye tracer testing (the gold standard for understanding where flows start and end), drilling, and installation of water pressure-monitoring piezometers. In other areas, the system can be characterized by carefully analyzing large-scale pumping trials. Finally, 3D site-wide numerical modelling can be carried out to predict flows, estimate seepage losses from tailings facilities and run impact analyses. Despite the many techniques available, there is as yet little agreement on the best way to tackle the challenge of modelling karstic terrain. “There are different philosophies in the industry as to whether you can use standard groundwater models to reflect the fact that a site has karst or not,” says Patrick Corser, the country manager for Canada at MWH Global. “Whether you can characterize the range of variabilities that you’d get in karst, by doing sensitivity [analyses] on fractures, permeabilities and locations, is an issue that is debated a lot in industry right now.”
Chuck Sutherland
Despite the challenges, however, modern characterization techniques and dewatering capabilities have made mining possible in the most inhospitable of hydrogeological conditions. Dewatering has significant benefits for many mines, even for those that could operate without it. In open pit mines, dewatering the ground around the pit can help stabilize pit walls, meaning steeper slopes may be possible. “For a large open pit, one degree on the slope angle can mean half a billion dollars in stripping,” says Schlumberger’s Beale. “You can’t change the structure, you can’t change the rock. All you can change is the water pressure.” He figures that, on average, for every dollar spent on dewatering or depressurizing the slope, a mine can reap a $5 payback in slope performance. Underground mines, meanwhile, may choose to work under the water table, and so exclude water from the mine, or they may encourage inflow for the purposes of dewatering in order to lower the water table to below the level of mining. But either way, the water management plan has to account for labyrinthine karstic hydrogeology. In both underground and open pit mines, the existence of karst complicates dewatering plans. In Nevada, for example, mine operators at Newmont Mining Corporation must contend with limestone-hosted karst features that store huge volumes of water. The company pumps 16,000 gallons per minute (roughly 1,000 litres per second) from its Gold Quarry open pit, and a further 15,000 gallons per minute at its Leeville underground facility. Next door to Newmont, neighbour Barrick Goldstrike pumps another 16,000 gallons per minute (down from a peak of around 70,000 gallons per minute in the 1990s) from its welldeveloped karst. The companies have achieved a drawdown of more than 500 metres near the mines since pumping began. Dewatering that volume requires the use of 1,500-horsepower submersible motors driving nine-stage pumps at Gold Quarry, each of which can move between 2,000 and 2,400 gallons per minute against a hydraulic head of roughly 2,000 feet (600 metres). The deeper wells at Leeville mean a pair of 1,500-hp eight-stage pumps must be used to remove 2,500 gallons per minute each against a head of 2,300-2,400 feet. The geometry, hydraulic properties and interconnectivity of a given karstic network are often poorly understood and so must be inferred. Drilling is extremely unlikely to find major karstic drains because they are so discrete, and many channels cannot be accessed by cave specialists (known as speleologists) because they are too small to enter or they extend below the water table. Complicating things further is the fact that hydraulic properties can vary by orders of magnitude over very short distances. “We rarely model the individual karstic channels because we rarely know the exact geometric details of the karst plumbing, in terms of size, depth and orientation,” says FloSolutions’ Evans. “Rather, an equivalent hydraulic conductivity is assigned to the principal mapped faults, which are commonly karstified. We can, however, stochastically estimate what the karst system might look like based on known factors and include the karstic drains in the model.”
Dye tracing allows researchers to follow flows through karst formations.
Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
Research on that question and others is ongoing. The Karst Commission of the International Association of Hydrogeologists aims to “promote a defensible scientific basis and professional practice for the sustainable management of karst water resources.” The commission publishes research in the field and organizes conferences and training courses to help promulgate knowledge and best practices. For now, characterization of karstic geology does not mean knowing exactly what will happen with water flows. But it should mean narrowing down what can or cannot happen, according to Evans. The narrower the range of possibilities, the more precise a dewatering plan can be in terms of required capacity and adequate monitoring. Dewatering itself is relatively straightforward, once suitable well locations have been determined. Peripheral wells around the mine are out of the way of operations but by necessity deeper, while in-pit (or underground) wells can be shallower but can potentially interfere with operations. The water collected from dewatering wells may be used in the mine plant or simply discharged downstream, sometimes after filtration or treatment.
Nothing is easy In Nevada, Newmont’s Gold Quarry and Leeville operations and Barrick’s Goldstrike are located in a relatively dry area of the world with low levels of recharge. Most of their dewatering is storage removal – a semi-permanent drawdown. The Konkola copper mine in Zambia, by contrast, pumps more than three times as much water as Gold Quarry – over
3,000 L/s – from almost 1,000 metres underground, and the Grasberg open pit in Indonesia has to deal with three to five metres of rainfall each year. “They say that water at Grasberg can get from the sky to the dewatering tunnel in as little as a week,” marvels Beale. That compares to a scale of tens of years in nonkarstic rock. Even the most basic of exploratory tasks, drilling for core samples or monitoring wells for instance, take on added challenges in karst. Cavities, either empty or filled, and fractures are impediments to drilling. Newmont typically uses a flooded reverse circulation drilling method, where drilling mud is gravity-fed between the borehole wall and the drill string, before compressed air carries the mud and cuttings back to the surface inside the drill rods. “When you’re drilling the wells, sometimes you’ll just lose circulation” as the mud flows out of the borehole and into a fracture or void, explains Bob St. Louis, the regional hydrology manager at Newmont. Without the hydrostatic pressure of the mud to move the cuttings away from the bit, the drilling assembly can get stuck. Solutions vary by situation, but all add cost, time and difficulty. Decommissioning wells is similarly challenging, says St. Louis: “It can take a substantial amount of material to properly close them so that they’re no longer a conduit for water to move. Those open fractures or void spaces just consume material like nobody’s business.” One well drilled at Gold Quarry early in the mine life intersected a large fracture, and when the company tried to add stabilization gravel, several tractor-trailer loads of gravel simply disappeared into the well. “It was just pouring out into this very large fracture,” St. Louis explains ruefully. The problems did not end there, either. “When the well was commissioned, that fracture produced so much water that the entry velocities of the water coming into the well were so high that it caused the casing to erode.” The company has to continually rehabilitate the well to keep it in service. Diligence and perseverance – and no small amount of money – have made seemingly impossible projects viable by removing vast quantities of water from the ground in karstic regions. But surprises can still happen. “Water management strategies have been effective,” cautions Beale, “but because of the discrete nature of the features, you can still get – I wouldn’t say catastrophic – but unanticipated large inflows.” Determining the risk of those potential incidents remains a critical aspect of the mining hydrogeologist’s job when working in karst. Preventing and mitigating them is up to the engineers, like Corser, who work closely with them. November/Novembre 2014 | 47
engineering and tailings
Ulrichstill
Dealing with waste material can hold surprises at any site, importantly, it is critical to get the best understanding possible as the August Mount Polley tailings pond breach in British of the hydrogeological properties of a potential tailings site. Columbia demonstrated. However, such incidents can be even “When developing mine waste facilities in karstic areas, more problematic in karstic geologies. The challenges are you don’t need a huge cavern to cause environmental and threefold. For one, unsealed surface or subsurface fractures in geotechnical problems,” David Evans says. “A karstic pipe just the foundation of a tailings pond may allow relatively large a few centimetres in diameter could cause piping of tailings volumes of contaminated water to enter the karstic network. or high seepage losses from a tailings facility.” Once inside these flow “The characterization paths, waste may travel of the hydraulic containunimpeded kilometres ment for the basin where “You have to deal with the risk, and even downstream in unpreyou’re going to put a tailafter spending a lot of money characterizing dictable directions. Secondly, ings facility is very imporany karstic flow paths near tant,” agrees Corser. the site and designing, you have to accept the base of a tailings dam can “That’s your best mitigathat there will be some risk associated undercut the dam, washing tion against the two with karst features.” away dam material and biggest risks with karst,” – N. Kresic destabilizing the structure. which, he says, are piping And thirdly, as the tailings of tailings and unconpond fills, the increased trolled pond water dishydraulic head pressure may enhance development of new charges. “Any tailing facility will leak some amount of and existing conduits and create sinkholes, and can actually water into the groundwater, but it’s a matter of scale. At a increase the downstream catchment area of the karstic net- karst site, if you encounter a karst feature, you could lose work by increasing the height of the local water table. “Realize your whole tailings pond.” that with karst, you can’t use standard approaches or standard That would be disastrous for more than one reason. thinking as to where water or tailings could report to,” says “Uncontrolled discharge to an unknown location is a problem MWH’s Corser. “You need to go into it with your eyes open.” from an environmental standpoint,” notes Corser, “but it’s also To meet the challenges of engineering tailings facilities in a problem because it could shut your operation down, carbonate-rich regions, both prevention and mitigation strate- because you’d have no water to operate with.” gies are necessary. Looking at what may be affected by a dam Ideally, a suitable tailings site can be found that is not failure is the first step. The designer must determine what level directly over karst. At a well-characterized site in other geoof seepage is acceptable based on local logical conditions, it is often possible to geography, ecology and popshow that the surrounding ulations. Most water table is higher
Global distribution of major outcrops of carbonate rocks (mainly limestone, except evaporites).
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than the tailings pond, meaning that the pond is hydraulically contained, and that piping of tailings is unlikely. But that may not be possible for some mines. “The risk with karst is: have you drilled everywhere that there could be a karst feature?” asks Corser. Any undiscovered karstic feature may mean a low local water level and could result in a loss of hydraulic containment. In many cases, engineered physical barriers may be necessary. Open karstic pipes and conduits that are located in the waste site foundation can be plugged and grouted. Liners made of geosynthetic or, more commonly, geologic materials – low permeability soils – can be used to control the head pressure from the tailings facility. Monitoring and hydraulic control systems installed behind the liners or blankets can measure, collect and pump seepage and outflows before they reach karstic features. Corser also recommends that owners purchase as much land around their mines as possible, so they have access to any areas that karstic tailings flows might report to. Good exploration and preparation, while expensive and time consuming, is the best approach. Remedial measures – that is, dealing with leaks after the pond is filled – are far more difficult and costly and less effective. “In my mind, it’s better to invest a lot before than trying to deal with it after,” says Neven Kresic, the hydrogeology practice leader at AMEC.
Managing risk Safety factors must be used for various aspects of design, but like everything else in karst, the factors’ values depend on the local geology. “Safety factors are very site-specific and depend greatly on the degree of karstification, hydraulic
gradients to surrounding rivers and springs, and hydraulic containment levels,” says Evans. “There is no rule of thumb yet. One needs to recognize that it is simply impossible to characterize these areas sufficiently to definitively say ‘the risks are low’ – particularly during the feasibility stage when budgets can be tight.” A colleague of Evans, Petar Milanovic, adopted the mantra “expect the unexpected” after working on the Keban Dam hydroelectric project in Turkey. During that project, Evans says, 36,000 metres of exploratory drilling and 11 km of exploratory adits failed to detect an underground cavern the size of an indoor football stadium. New sensing techniques may help. Borehole-to-borehole 3D imaging will allow more accurate mapping of features than ever before, with resolutions of potentially a decimetre or better, according to Kresic. “You can also do much better dye tracing tests now than you used to,” he adds, “because you have better probes and they’re cheaper now. So you can insert these probes at different levels or depths in different borings, and then trace between and see where the water is flowing.” Additionally, drilling is getting more advanced, allowing geologists to isolate smaller intervals and image them, looking for cavities. Meanwhile, cheaper processing power lets computer analyses synthesize much more data, creating more accurate models of hydrogeological conditions. But in spite of everything done to characterize the local hydrogeology and so much careful design to manage and mitigate it, risk is something that miners must make peace with. “You have a lot of unknowns,” emphasizes Kresic. “You have to deal with the risk, and even after spending a lot of money characterizing the site and designing, you have to accept that there will be some risk associated with karst features. You will not be able to find all of them.” CIM
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November/Novembre 2014 | 49
Chuck Sutherland
karst
un dédale minier
La grotte Blue Spring, Tennessee
Par Ian Ewing L’eau est l’une des préoccupations premières de l’exploitation minière. Si elles ne sont pas correctement gérées, les venues d’eau peuvent déstabiliser les talus de mines, inonder les mines souterraines et avoir un effet désastreux sur les calendriers de production. Comme l’indique Geoff Beale, hydrologue minier chez Schlumberger, la gestion de l’eau peut effectivement constituer, dans certains cas, le coût externe le plus élevé d’une exploitation minière (de 5 à 25 % du budget d’exploitation d’une mine, parfois plus). On rencontre les hydrogéologies les plus imprévisibles (qui sont également les gisements de minerai les plus lucratifs) dans les zones karstiques. Le karst est une topographie particulière, où le paysage est façonné par le phénomène de dissolution sélective des roches carbonatées (en particulier des calcaires et des dolomies) par l’eau devenue acide pendant les précipitations et l’infiltration dans le sol. Cette dissolution des roches crée des réseaux d’évacuation souterrains caractérisés par des fractures 50 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
agrandies par dissolution, des dolines, des pertes de cours d’eau, des puits et des grottes qui, ensemble, recueillent une grande quantité d’eau et la déversent dans des sources karstiques. Ces réseaux ont beau renfermer certaines des destinations les plus spectaculaires au monde pour les passionné(e)s de spéléologie, ils peuvent s’avérer décourageants pour les hydrogéologues miniers. On rencontre des structures karstiques dans le monde entier, dès lors que les roches carbonatées sont exposées aux eaux de surface ou souterraines. Les propriétés du modelé karstique, et notamment les grandes fissures, en font un hôte parfait pour la minéralisation métallique. David Evans, directeur général de FloSolutions, une société d’expertsconseils en hydrogéologie spécialisée dans le karst, cite à titre d’exemple la ceinture de roches calcaires des Andes péruviennes, qui s’étend sur plus de 2 000 kilomètres et représente seulement 13 % de la surface des Andes, mais renferme environ 50 % des mines métallifères du Pérou, dont
la mine d’Antamina. Du Nevada à la Zambie et de la Pologne à l’Indonésie, de nombreux projets portent sur le karst et sont dotés des plus grandes opérations d’assèchement de la planète. Dans les régions karstiques, les cavités et les conduits dans la roche carbonatée constituent les principaux modes de transport des eaux souterraines. Les systèmes complexes de fractures et de failles du karst créent des voies discrètes et volumineuses d’acheminement des eaux souterraines qui ne sont pas conformes aux modèles hydrogéologiques de perméabilité. Pire encore pour la future société minière, les caractéristiques hydrogéologiques de ces régions peuvent être si interconnectées que la région pourrait présenter une surface de rabattement (diminution de charge hydraulique) de plus de 400 kilomètres carrés. De ce fait, la mine Goldstrike de Barrick surveille les niveaux de l’eau sur une superficie de plus de 15 000 kilomètres carrés (km2) autour de sa mine, en partie pour s’assurer que les activités d’exploitation minière et d’assèchement n’aient pas d’impact négatif sur les aquifères environnant. Ce genre de surveillance minutieuse est indispensable car les sources et les drains karstiques sont très difficiles à trouver et à mettre en corrélation, et également car la modélisation précise du réseau souterrain est pratiquement impossible. Pour les sociétés minières, la caractérisation de la géologie karstique est néanmoins vitale. Toutes les activités, du forage à l’exhaure en passant par la conception des talus de mine et la sélection d’un site pour la digue à stériles, dépendent de la capacité des hydrogéologues à organiser et à gérer les systèmes des eaux souterraines autour d’une mine. La viabilité économique même d’une mine pourrait dépendre de l’aptitude d’un hydrogéologue à caractériser en toute confiance une zone karstique.
forage et exhaure Cependant, malgré les difficultés rencontrées, les techniques modernes de caractérisation et les capacités d’exhaure ont rendu possible l’exploitation minière dans les conditions hydrogéologiques les plus austères. L’exhaure présente d’importants avantages pour beaucoup de mines, même pour celles qui pourraient fonctionner sans. Dans les mines à ciel ouvert, l’exhaure du terrain entourant la fosse contribuera à stabiliser ses parois, ce qui permettra d’envisager des talus plus pentus. « Pour un grand puits à ciel ouvert, une différence d’un degré dans l’angle du talus peut se traduire par un demi-milliard de dollars en décapage », explique M. Beale de Schlumberger. « On ne peut ni changer la structure, ni changer la roche. La seule chose que l’on puisse changer, c’est la pression de l’eau. » D’après lui, pour chaque dollar dépensé dans l’exhaure ou la décompression d’un talus, une mine peut récupérer en moyenne 5 $ en termes de performance du talus. Les exploitants de mines souterraines peuvent cependant choisir de travailler sous la nappe aquifère et ainsi éliminer l’eau de la mine, ou ils peuvent encourager les venues à des fins de dénoyage afin de rabaisser la nappe aquifère en dessous du niveau de l’extraction minière. Quoi qu’il en soit, le plan de gestion de l’eau doit tenir compte de l’hydrogéologie karstique
labyrinthique. Dans les mines souterraines et celles à ciel ouvert, la présence du karst complique les plans de dénoyage. Dans le Nevada, par exemple, les exploitants miniers de Newmont Mining Corporation doivent composer avec des modelés karstiques dans le calcaire qui stockent de grands volumes d’eau. La société pompe 16 000 gallons par minute (soit environ 1 000 litres par seconde) de sa mine à ciel ouvert Gold Quarry, et 15 000 gallons par minute supplémentaires dans son installation souterraine de Leeville. À proximité de Newmont, la mine voisine Goldstrike de Barrick pompe 16 000 gallons par minute (bien moins que dans les années 1990, où elle pompait parfois jusqu’à 70 000 gallons par minute) de sa structure karstique bien développée. Les sociétés sont parvenues à un rabattement de plus de 500 mètres près des mines depuis qu’elles ont commencé à pomper. L’exhaure d’un tel volume implique d’utiliser des moteurs submersibles de 1 500 chevaux commandant des pompes à neuf étages à la mine Gold Quarry, chacune d’elles pouvant déplacer entre 2 000 et 2 400 gallons par minute pour une charge hydraulique d’environ 2 000 pieds (environ 600 mètres). Les puits les plus profonds à Leeville impliquent d’utiliser deux moteurs de pompes à huit étages de 1 500 chevaux pour éliminer 2 500 gallons par minute chacune pour une charge de 2 300 à 2 400 pieds (entre 700 et 730 mètres). La géométrie, les propriétés hydrauliques et l’interrelation d’un réseau karstique donné sont souvent mal comprises et doivent ainsi être inférées. Il est très improbable que le forage permette de trouver des drains karstiques car ils sont très discrets et les spécialistes en exploration des grottes (les spéléologues) ne peuvent accéder aux conduits car leurs entrées sont trop étroites ou ils se trouvent en dessous de la nappe aquifère. Les propriétés hydrauliques peuvent varier de plusieurs ordres de grandeur sur de très courtes distances, ce qui vient encore compliquer les choses. « Nous modélisons rarement les conduits karstiques car nous ne connaissons généralement pas les détails géométriques exacts des réseaux karstiques, à savoir leur taille, leur profondeur et leur orientation », explique M. Evans de FloSolutions. « Nous assignons plutôt une conductivité hydraulique équivalente aux principales failles cartographiées, qui sont souvent karstifiées. Nous pouvons cependant estimer de manière aléatoire ce à quoi le système karstique pourrait ressembler sur la base de facteurs connus, et inclure les drains karstiques dans le modèle. »
Résoudre l’énigme M. Evans explique qu’il faudra commencer par développer un modèle hydrogéologique conceptuel sur lequel s’appuiera le programme de prospection. Dans certaines régions du Pérou, le programme de prospection comprendra des procédures détaillées de détection à distance, la cartographie géologique et hydrogéologique, la spéléologie, des tests de base sur la qualité de l’eau, des études géophysiques, des tests de colorant (la norme de référence pour comprendre où commence l’écoulement et où il se termine), le forage ainsi que l’installation de piézomètres pour mesurer la pression. Dans November/Novembre 2014 | 51
Juan Carlos Vásquez Peña
La mine d'Antamina est située dans une région karstique des Andes péruviennes.
activités mais, par la force des choses, plus profonds, alors que les puits de la fosse (souterrains) peuvent certes être moins profonds, mais peuvent affecter les activités. L’eau recueillie dans les puits d’exhaure peut être utilisée dans l’usine de traitement de la mine ou simplement être évacuée en aval, parfois après la filtration ou le traitement.
Rien n’est simple
d’autres régions, on peut caractériser le système en analysant soigneusement des essais de pompage à grande échelle. Enfin, on pourra effectuer une modélisation numérique en 3D de l’ensemble du site pour prévoir les écoulements, estimer les exfiltrations d’eaux usées des parcs à résidus miniers et mener des analyses de l’impact. Malgré les diverses techniques disponibles, on ne parvient pas à déterminer la meilleure façon de faire face à la complexité de la modélisation d’un terrain karstique. « On rencontre différentes philosophies dans l’industrie concernant l’utilisation de modèles standards d’eaux souterraines pour déterminer si un site contient du karst ou pas », déclare Patrick Corser, directeur national pour le Canada chez MWH Global. « L’industrie se demande beaucoup en ce moment s’il est possible de caractériser la gamme de variabilités que l’on pourrait trouver dans le karst en effectuant des [analyses] de sensibilité sur les fractures, les perméabilités et les emplacements. » Des travaux de recherche sur cette question et bien d’autres sont en cours. Le comité sur le karst de l’association internationale des hydrogéologues (AIH) vise à « promouvoir une base scientifique et une pratique professionnelle défendables pour la gestion durable des ressources en eau du karst ». Le comité publie des recherches dans ce domaine et organise des conférences ainsi que des stages de formation pour aider à promulguer les connaissances et les bonnes pratiques. Pour le moment, la caractérisation de la géologie karstique ne signifie pas que l’on sait exactement ce qu’il se produira lors des écoulements d’eau. Cependant, explique M. Evans, elle nous permettra de limiter les recherches à ce qui peut ou non se produire. En limitant l’éventail de possibilités, on pourra obtenir un plan d’exhaure plus précis en termes de capacité requise et de surveillance adéquate. Une fois que les emplacements des puits ont été déterminés, le processus d’exhaure est relativement simple. Les puits périphériques autour de la mine sont à l’écart des 52 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
Dans le Nevada, les exploitations Gold Quarry et Leeville de Newmont et la mine Goldstrike de Barrick sont situées dans une région du monde relativement aride présentant de faibles niveaux de recharge. La majeure partie de l’exhaure concerne l’élimination des eaux de retenue (un rabattement semi-permanent). La mine de cuivre Konkola en Zambie, en revanche, pompe audelà de trois fois plus d’eau que Gold Quarry, soit plus de 3 000 litres/seconde (L/s), à pratiquement 1 000 mètres de profondeur ; la mine à ciel ouvert Grasberg en Indonésie, quant à elle, doit composer avec des précipitations atteignant entre trois et cinq mètres chaque année. « À Grasberg, les précipitations peuvent remplir le tunnel d’assèchement en l’espace d’une semaine », s’exclame M. Beale. À titre de comparaison, ceci peut prendre des dizaines d’années dans une roche non karstique. Même les étapes exploratoires les plus fondamentales, par exemple le forage de carottes ou la surveillance des puits, sont plus complexes avec des structures karstiques. Les cavités, pleines ou vides, et les fractures sont des obstacles au forage. Newmont emploie généralement une méthode de forage par circulation inverse avec injection d’un fluide, où la boue de forage est injectée par écoulement gravitaire entre le train de tiges et les parois du trou de forage, avant que l’air comprimé ne fasse remonter en surface la boue et les déblais de forage par l’intermédiaire des tiges de forage. « Lorsque l’on fore des puits, il est parfois difficile de maintenir la circulation » car la boue se répand en dehors du trou de forage et s’infiltre dans une fracture ou dans un vide, explique Bob St. Louis, directeur régional de l’hydrologie à Newmont. Sans la pression hydrostatique de la boue pour enlever les déblais de forage du trépan, le dispositif de forage peut se coincer. Les solutions varient en fonction des situations, mais toutes viennent rajouter des coûts, du temps et des difficultés. Le déclassement des puits est tout aussi complexe, ajoute M. St. Louis. « Leur fermeture hermétique peut requérir une grande quantité de matériaux, de manière à ce qu’ils ne servent plus de conduit permettant l’écoulement de l’eau. Ces fractures ouvertes ou espaces vides consomment des quantités faramineuses de matériaux. » En forant un puits à Gold Quarry au début de l’exploitation de la mine, l’équipe s’est heurtée à une grande fracture et, lorsque la société a tenté
d’ajouter du gravier de stabilisation, plusieurs chargements de graviers déversés par les semi-remorques les transportant ont tout simplement disparu dans le puits. « Tout s’est répandu dans cette très grande fracture », reconnaît M. St. Louis avec regret. Et les problèmes ne se sont pas arrêtés là. « Lorsque le puits a été mis en service, la fracture a généré un volume d’eau important, et les vitesses d’entrée de l’eau dans le puits étaient si importantes qu’elles ont provoqué l’érosion du cuvelage. » La société doit constamment réhabiliter le puits pour le maintenir opérationnel. La diligence et la persévérance, associées à des fonds non négligeables, ont permis de rendre viables des projets apparemment irréalisables en éliminant de grandes quantités d’eau du sol dans les régions karstiques. Mais nous ne sommes jamais à l’abri d’une surprise. « Les stratégies de gestion de l’eau se sont révélées efficaces », explique M. Beale, « mais en raison de la nature discontinue des modelés, on peut encore être confronté à de grandes venues d’eau, je ne dirai pas catastrophiques, mais certainement imprévues. » Déterminer le risque lié à ces incidents potentiels reste un aspect critique du travail de l’hydrogéologue minier lorsqu’il (elle) travaille sur le karst. La prévention et l’atténuation de ces risques sont du ressort des ingénieurs qui, comme M. Corser, collaborent étroitement avec eux.
ingénierie et résidus La gestion des déchets peut réserver quelques surprises sur tous les sites, comme l’on a pu l’observer avec la brèche du bassin de décantation des résidus qui s’est produite en août à la mine Mont Polley, en Colombie-Britannique. Cependant, dans les géologies karstiques, ce genre d’incidents peut s’avérer encore plus problématique. On compte trois difficultés. Tout d’abord, une surface non scellée ou des fractures souterraines dans la base d’un parc à résidus peuvent laisser s’infiltrer de grands volumes d’eau contaminée dans le réseau karstique. Une fois qu’ils ont pénétré ces voies d’acheminement, les résidus peuvent se déplacer sans obstacles sur des kilomètres en aval dans des directions imprévisibles. Ensuite, toute voie d’acheminement dans les calcaires karstiques près de la base de la digue à stériles peut sous-caver la digue, emportant avec elle des matériaux de la digue et déstabilisant la structure. Enfin, à mesure que le parc à résidus se remplit, la pression de la charge hydraulique peut accroître le développement de conduits nouveaux et existants et créer des dolines, et peut par ailleurs agrandir la zone de captage en aval du réseau karstique en élevant le niveau de la nappe aquifère. « Il faut bien comprendre qu’avec le karst, on ne peut pas se fonder sur des approches ou des perspectives habituelles quant à l’endroit vers lequel l’eau et les résidus pourraient se déplacer », explique M. Corser de MWH. « Il faut rester vigilant. » Pour faire face aux difficultés inhérentes à la construction de parcs à résidus miniers dans les régions riches en minéraux carbonatés, il faudra développer des stratégies de prévention et d’atténuation. La première étape consistera à identifier les personnes qui seront affectées par une rupture du parc à résidus. Le constructeur doit établir le niveau de suintement acceptable en fonction de la géographie, de l’écologie et des
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November/Novembre 2014 | 53
populations locales. Le plus important est de bien comprendre les propriétés hydrogéologiques d’un site de résidus potentiel. « Lors du développement de sites de traitement des résidus miniers dans les régions karstiques, il n’est pas nécessaire que la grotte soit immense pour que des problèmes environnementaux et géotechniques surviennent », explique David Evans. « Un conduit karstique de quelques centimètres de diamètre suffira à entraîner des renards dans les bassins de résidus ou de fortes exfiltrations d’eaux usées d’un parc à résidus miniers. » « La caractérisation du confinement hydraulique pour le bassin où vous envisagez de placer un parc à résidus miniers est très importante », reconnaît M. Corser. « Il s’agira de votre meilleure mesure d’atténuation de deux des principaux risques que l’on rencontre avec le karst » qui, selon lui, sont les renards dans les bassins de résidus et les déversements incontrôlés des eaux de bassin de décantation. Les renards peuvent entraîner le déversement des résidus dans les modelés karstiques où ils se déplaceront sur de longues distances ou pourraient même provoquer une doline dans le parc à résidus miniers. L’évacuation incontrôlée de l’eau pourrait avoir des conséquences encore plus désastreuses. « Tout parc à résidus miniers laissera s’infiltrer une certaine quantité d’eau dans les nappes phréatiques, mais c’est une question d’échelle. Dans un site karstique, si l’on rencontre un modelé karstique, on pourrait perdre l’intégralité du bassin de décantation des résidus. » Ceci serait une véritable catastrophe, et ce pour plusieurs raisons. « Un déversement incontrôlé dans un endroit inconnu sera certes problématique du point de vue environnemental », fait remarquer M. Corser, « mais également du point de vue de votre exploitation car vous n’auriez plus d’eau pour la faire fonctionner, ce qui entraînerait sa fermeture. » Dans l’idéal, il faudra trouver un site approprié pour les résidus miniers qui n’est pas directement situé sur une zone karstique. Dans un site bien caractérisé dans d’autres conditions géologiques, il est souvent possible de montrer que la nappe aquifère environnante est plus élevée que le bassin de résidus, ce qui signifie que le bassin est confiné du point de vue hydraulique et qu’il est peu probable qu’un phénomène de renard se produise dans le bassin de résidus. Cependant, ce ne sera pas possible pour certaines mines. « Le risque avec le karst est de déterminer si l’on a foré partout afin de s’assurer que le terrain ne présente pas de modelé karstique », explique M. Corser. Tout modelé karstique non découvert pourrait se traduire par une nappe aquifère locale relativement basse et pourrait entraîner une perte du confinement hydraulique. Dans bien des cas, il pourrait être nécessaire d’aménager des barrières physiques. Les conduits karstiques ouverts situés dans les fondements du site des résidus peuvent être obturés et jointoyés. Des revêtements constitués de matériaux géosynthétiques ou, plus communément, géologiques (des sols à faible perméabilité) permettent de contrôler la pression de refoulement des parcs à résidus miniers. Les systèmes de surveillance et de contrôle hydraulique installés derrière les revêtements ou les nappes géosynthétiques permettent de mesurer, recueillir et pomper les eaux d’infiltration et les débits sortants avant qu’ils n’atteignent les modelés karstiques. M. Corser recommande également aux propriétaires d’acheter 54 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
suffisamment de terres autour de leur mine de manière à avoir accès à toute zone vers laquelle pourraient se répandre les écoulements des résidus dans la structure karstique. Bien que ce processus soit long et coûteux, la meilleure approche consiste à mener de bons travaux d’exploration et de préparation. Les mesures correctives (à savoir la gestion des fuites après que le bassin soit rempli) sont bien plus complexes et coûteuses, et moins efficaces. « Selon moi, mieux vaut investir beaucoup dès le début plutôt que d’essayer de se rattraper ultérieurement », indique Neven Kresic, responsable des services professionnels d’hydrogéologie chez AMEC.
Gestion des risques Les facteurs de sécurité doivent servir à plusieurs aspects de la conception, mais comme pour tout le reste avec le karst, les valeurs de ces facteurs dépendent de la géologie locale. « Les facteurs de sécurité varient en fonction du site et dépendent grandement du degré de karstification, des gradients hydrauliques entre les rivières et les sources environnantes, et des niveaux de confinement hydraulique », explique M. Evans. « Il n’existe pas encore de règle générale. Il faut reconnaître qu’il est tout simplement impossible de suffisamment bien caractériser ces zones pour affirmer en toute confiance que “ le niveau de risque est faible ”, et particulièrement pendant l’étape de faisabilité lorsque les budgets sont restreints. » Un collègue de M. Evans, Petar Milanovic, a adopté la devise « Prévoyez l’imprévisible » après avoir travaillé sur le projet de travaux hydroélectriques pour le barrage de Keban, en Turquie. Pendant ce projet, explique M. Evans, les 36 000 mètres de forage d’exploration et 11 kilomètres de galeries de reconnaissance n’ont pas permis de détecter la présence d’une grotte souterraine de la taille d’un stade de football intérieur. Les nouvelles techniques de détection pourraient se révéler utiles. L’imagerie en 3D pour le sondage transversal sismique permettra de réaliser une cartographie des modelés plus précise que jamais, avec des résolutions potentielles d’un décimètre, voire mieux, explique M. Kresic. « On peut aussi effectuer de bien meilleurs tests de colorant qu’avant », ajoutet-il, « car les sondes sont maintenant plus performantes et bien moins coûteuses. On peut insérer ces sondes à différents niveaux ou profondeurs dans divers forages, suivre leurs traces et identifier l’endroit où l’eau s’écoule. » Par ailleurs, le forage devient bien plus sophistiqué et permet aux géologues d’isoler de plus petits intervalles et de les représenter sur images à la recherche de cavités. En outre, la puissance de traitement est plus abordable, aussi les analyses informatiques synthétisent bien plus de données, ce qui crée des modèles plus précis des conditions hydrogéologiques. Cependant, malgré tous les efforts déployés pour caractériser l’hydrogéologie locale et la conception si pointue pour gérer et atténuer les risques, les sociétés minières doivent s’y habituer. « Il y a beaucoup d’inconnues », insiste M. Kresic. « Il faut savoir faire face aux risques, et même après avoir investi de grosses sommes d’argent pour la caractérisation d’un site et sa conception, il faut accepter que les modelés karstiques s’accompagnent de certains risques. On ne pourra pas tous les identifier. » ICM
| project profile
Valerian Mazataud
KAMI
A LESSON IN PATIENCE BY PIERRICK BLIN AND ANTOINE DION-ORTEGA
Andy Robertson, Alderon’s general manager of human resources and community engagement, says the company will rely on its proximity to the labour pool in Labrador West and a packaged purchasing strategy to help keep capital and operating costs down.
O
n the smooth hills that spread along the border between Quebec and Labrador, a patchwork of red, green and yellow shrubs grow from the burnt taiga. This is where Alderon Iron Ore hopes to soon start constructing its Kami mine, the most advanced development project in the iron-rich Labrador Trough.
Among these, Alderon Iron Ore’s Kami project is the furthest along. “Within the next few years or so, Alderon will be the one most likely to go ahead,” says Jackie Przybylowski, vicepresident and analyst of metals and mining at Desjardins Securities. Alderon filed its feasibility study in January 2013 and is currently striving to conclude financing before it can start construction. “We are working on the debt portion right now,” says Tayfun Eldem, president and CEO at Alderon. “Once we raise the debt, we will go to the equity market. From the time we are fully financed and board-sanctioned, it will take us about 26 months to construct.” Management is targeting a 70 per cent debt and 30 per cent equity mix in its financing efforts.
Putting the puzzle together A few years ago, when China’s steel mills were running at full capacity and the whole world was experiencing an unprecedented iron rush, a number of projects were set up in the Labrador Trough in the hopes of grabbing a piece of the action. The price for a tonne of iron ore, which until 2004 had for years not popped above US$17, suddenly skyrocketed in 2011 to nearly US$190. Nearly four years later, things have changed. Many of the projects constructed during the iron rush have entered production and big players such as Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale have flooded the global market with supply, pulling prices down to the US$80 per tonne range and pushing minor players to the sidelines. In the Labrador Trough, development projects are working hard to raise financing.
Beyond its ore deposit, the Kami project has a number of important assets, the first one being its location. “One of our greatest advantages is that we are close to the existing infrastructure for rail and power,” says Eldem. “We don’t have to build a large rail line to connect to the transportation network; it is only 14.5 kilometres away. As for power, we are about 15 km away from the main high-voltage power grid [in Labrador West].” While Alderon took part in the CN’s feasibility study for a new rail line from Labrador City to Sept-Îles, Quebec, in August 2012, it has always based its projections on using the existing Iron Ore Company of Canada-owned QNS&L railway which runs north-south between Labrador City and the port of Sept-Îles. So it was not disappointed when CN decided to November/Novembre 2014 | 55
cancel the study in February 2013. “The QNS&L will be accommodating our tonnage because it has an obligation as a common carrier,” says Eldem. “Once we advance the project to a point where we are about a year before production, we will conclude an agreement.” Not all companies might have this chance. “QNS&L still has some capacity left on its rail line,” says Nochane Rousseau, mining industry group leader for Quebec at PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada. “But will it be able to accommodate all of the projects that are coming in the Trough? No.” Kami’s timing enables it to secure its share of the carrier’s remaining capacity. QNS&L has the ability to add 45 Mt to the current 35 Mt from IOC, Cliffs, and Labrador Iron Mines. As for power, Eldem calls the construction of a third transmission line – from Churchill Falls to Labrador West by Nalcor Energy – “critical” to the feasibility of the project. “For us, it secures 62 megawatts to power up our initial operations,” he says. Kami will provide up to $65 million in security deposits, which will be released back to it once the line starts supplying the project. The first security deposit of $21 million was paid last February, and Nalcor has already cleared 20 km of land. But work on the 240-km line will progress only as long as Kami can provide the remaining $44 million in security deposits. Nalcor suspended work on Oct. 2 due to delays in the Kami project’s financing. The last piece of the puzzle is the new multi-user dock at the port of Sept-Îles, in which Kami has claimed its place. This $220-million project, launched in 2012 in the wake of the Plan Nord, will add 50 Mt to 60 Mt to the port’s capacity; Alderon has claimed an 8 Mt piece of that new capacity. Mining companies were asked to contribute to the financing to secure their share. “Our port access is guaranteed, along with three other mining companies,” says Eldem. “We have contributed $20.5 million towards construction, as a buy-in payment. We will recover our initial capital injection when we start shipping, because we will be getting a discount like the other users who have contributed towards construction.”
Making friends All of this, though, would mean little if Kami was not sure of where to sell its 8 Mt of iron ore fines. In 2012 Hebei Iron
Valerian Mazataud
PROJECT SPECS
Courtesy of Alderon Iron Ore
project profile | K A M I
Much of the required infrastructure for Kami is already in place due to its location near existing operations, though it will require the construction of a 240-km powerline from Churchill Falls, NL.
and Steel Group, China’s largest steel producer, strategically invested more than US$180 million for a near 20 per cent share in Alderon and a 25 per cent share in Kami itself. In return, the steelmaker committed to buy 60 per cent of Kami’s total output, with a five per cent discount. According to a statement from the Chinese steelmaker when it made the deal, the investment was sound because Alderon offered one of the few, “high-quality, late development-stage iron ore projects” in a buyers’ market. Last July Alderon signed
The mine will be an open-pit truck and shovel operation. The primary crusher located near the pit will deliver ore via conveyor to the ore stockpile and processing plant, which will include primary grinding, and gravity and magnetic concentration. MEASURED AND INDICATED RESOURCE OF THE KAMI PROPERTY’S ROSE DEPOSIT 1.09 billion tonnes (Cut-off grade 15%, 29.5% total iron) PROVEN AND PROBABLE RESERVES OF THE ROSE DEPOSIT 668.5 million tonnes (Cut-off grade 15%, 29.5% total iron)
PRODUCTION 8.0 million tonnes per year CONCENTRATE GRADE 65.2 per cent iron MINE LIFE 30 years CAPEX US$1.27 billion IRON FREIGHT ON BOARD PRICE ASSUMPTION US$107/tonne for initial five years and US$102 thereafter AVERAGE OPERATING COSTS US$42.17/tonne
According to the January 2013 feasibility study completed by BBA Inc., Stantec Consulting, Watts, Griffis McOuat Limited. The study assumes US$1 = CA$1
56 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
KAMI
| project profile Courtesy of Index Mundi
196.54 172.57 160.58 148.59 136.61 124.62 112.63
100.65
Aug 2014
May 2014
Feb 2014
Nov 2013
Aug 2013
May 2013
Feb 2013
Nov 2012
Aug 2012
May 2012
Feb 2012
Nov 2011
Aug 2011
May 2011
Feb 2011
Nov 2010
Aug 2010
May 2010
Aug 2009
76.67
Feb 2010
88.66
Nov 2009
US Dollars per Dry Metric Ton
184.55
After decades of relative stability, the price of iron ore in recent years has jolted up and down, making project financing and construction particularly difficult.
another off-take agreement to sell the remaining 40 per cent while the market is down limits your ability to catch the of its production to Glencore, with a two per cent discount. upside.” “With Glencore now on board, we are fully sold out,” said There are obvious benefits to staying the course when the Eldem. “When we go into operation, we will automatically others are falling by the wayside. Equipment suppliers, servhave a revenue stream from ice providers and the whole conthese two long-term contracts.” struction industry have cooled “ If you are going to do a project, Now, with iron ore fines down since the overheated days prices flirting with US$80 per of 2011, when both ArcelorMittaking your foot off the gas while tonne, it was critical to limit tal and IOC were launching the market is down limits your capital expenses and overall their expansion projects. In ability to catch the upside.” production costs. In such a addition, with the idling of opercompetitive environment, proations at both Labrador Iron ductivity is clearly the name of mines and Wabush mines, – T. Eldem the game. “We are aiming at a labour is not as much of an issue US$43 per tonne freight on as it was three years ago, when board production cost,” says Andy Robertson, general man- hundreds of workers had to be flown in and accommodated ager of human resources and community engagement at in new camps. “The benefit for projects going ahead is that Alderon, as he walked through the burned taiga covering there will be less competition for port and rail infrastrucAlderon’s property. “In order to accomplish that, we have tures, and for labour, so the projects which do proceed learned lessons from past experiences in the Trough.” Last should be more attractive in terms of the economics,” says June Alderon signed a package deal agreement with Metso Przybylowski. for the supplying of most of its equipment. “The way to limit In this context, the closeness to Labrador West and its capital expenses is by bundling as much of a package as pos- 10,300 residents is priceless for Alderon. “Labrador West was sible,” says Eldem. “The agreement with Metso is a great built to support the mining operations in the region, so there example of it. Our AG mill, our ball mill, our gyratory is a wealth of mining knowledge and there is a strong supcrusher, and our railcar dumper will all come from Metso.” port network in place,” says Eldem. “You have a number of equipment manufacturers, technical personnel, repair shops and warehouses in the region.” Speed up or slow down? With industry estimates for iron ore fines staying below As for labour itself, Alderon clearly favours local labour US$100 per tonne in the coming years, many projects in the over non-residents flying in and out. “If you have a shovel Trough could decide to wait for better days. “They won’t be breaking down at 2 a.m., you need your specialist around, executing their plans in the way they hoped to,” admits Przy- not in Montreal,” says Robertson. “You don’t want to wait bylowski. “Raising financing in this environment will be for eight hours to fix it.” Depending on whether Wabush challenging.” Even Alderon is already taking longer than she mines resumes operations, housing may even be available had expected. already. So why not simply put the project on hold? “We take a “We believe in a residential employment model. It’s less long-term view of iron ore prices,” says Eldem. “We are at a expensive and it promotes ownership for employees,” says downpoint of this saw-toothed profile that we have seen Eldem. “They commit to the community, and they support lately in iron ore prices. Keep in mind that it will take us two the business.” With access to port, rail, power, clients and to 2.5 years to complete construction and begin operation. If labour already well in hand, many are watching to see when you are going to do a project, taking your foot off the gas and how the company will play its cards. CIM November/Novembre 2014 | 57
Valerian Mazataud
UNE LEÇON DE PATIENCE PAR PIERRICK BLIN ET ANTOINE DION-ORTEGA
Sur les douces collines qui s’étendent à la frontière du Québec et du Labrador, une mosaïque d’arbustes rouges, verts et jaunes pousse à travers la taïga brûlée. C’est ici qu’Alderon Iron Ore espère commencer bientôt la construction de sa mine de fer Kami, le projet en développement le plus avancé de la riche fosse du Labrador. Andy Robertson, directeur des ressources humaines et de l’engagement communautaire, affirme que sa société misera sur la proximité du bassin de maind’oeuvre de Labrador West ainsi qu’une stratégie de regroupement d’achats pour maintenir ses coûts d’exploitation et de capital au plus bas.
l y a quelques années, lorsque les aciéries chinoises fonctionnaient à plein régime et que le monde entier traversait une ruée vers le fer sans précédent, bon nombre de projets ont démarré dans la fosse du Labrador, dans l’espoir de toucher une part du gâteau. Le prix de la tonne de concentré (qui, jusqu’en 2004, ne s’était guère éloigné des 15 $ depuis des décennies) est soudainement monté en flèche pour atteindre près de 190 $ en 2011. Près de quatre ans plus tard, les choses ont bien changé. Nombre des projets lancés au cours de la fièvre du fer ont commencé la production et les grands acteurs comme Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton et Vale ont inondé le marché mondial, tirant les prix vers le bas jusqu’à atteindre 80 $ la tonne et poussant les les petits acteurs sur le bas-côté. Dans la fosse du Labrador, les projets en développement doivent maintenant travailler fort pour obtenir un financement. Parmi ceux-ci, le projet Kami d’Alderon Iron Ore est clairement dans le peloton de tête. « Dans les années à venir, Alderon sera le plus susceptible d’aller de l’avant », déclare Jackie Przybylowski, vice-présidente et analyste des métaux et mines à Valeurs mobilières Desjardins. Alderon a déposé son étude de faisabilité en janvier 2013 et s’efforce actuellement de conclure son financement avant de pouvoir commencer la construction. « Nous travaillons sur la partie dette en ce moment », dit Tayfun Eldem, président et chef de direction à Alderon. « Une fois que nous aurons terminé, nous irons sur le marché des actions. Quand nous serons
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58 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
entièrement financés et sanctionnés par le conseil, il nous faudra environ 26 mois pour construire. » Le montage financier consistera à 70 % de dette et 30 % d’actions ordinaires.
Assembler les pièces du casse-tête Au-delà de son gisement, le projet Kami jouit d’un certain nombre d’atouts, le premier étant son emplacement. « L’un de nos plus grands avantages est que nous sommes proches d’infrastructures existantes, autant ferroviaires qu’électriques », dit M. Eldem. « Nous n’avons pas à construire une longue ligne de chemin de fer pour nous connecter au réseau de transport ; il se trouve à seulement 14,5 km. Quant à l’électricité, nous sommes à environ 15 km du réseau principal d’alimentation à haute tension [à Labrador West]. » Malgré qu’Alderon ait pris part, en août 2012, à l’étude de faisabilité du CN pour une nouvelle ligne de chemin de fer entre Labrador City et Sept-Îles au Québec, elle a toujours fondé ses projections sur l’utilisation du chemin de fer du QNS&L. Elle ne s’est donc pas retrouvée en mauvaise posture lorsque le CN a décidé d’annuler l’étude en février 2013. « Le chemin de fer de QNS&L prendra notre tonnage, car il a une obligation en tant que ligne de transport publique », dit M. Eldem. « Une fois que nous serons à environ un an du début de la production, nous conclurons un accord avec lui. » Cette chance n’est pas donnée à toutes les sociétés. « QNS&L a encore une certaine capacité disponible sur sa ligne de chemin de fer », explique Nochane Rousseau, chef de groupe de
KAMI
l’industrie minière pour le Québec chez PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada. « Mais sera-t-il en mesure de répondre à la demande de tous les projets à venir dans la fosse du Labrador ? Non. » Le calendrier avancé de Kami lui permet d’assurer sa part sur la capacité restante du transporteur. QNS&L a la possibilité d’ajouter 45 millions de tonnes (Mt) aux 35 présentement réservés à IOC, Cliffs et Labrador Iron Mines. Quant à l’énergie électrique, M. Eldem qualifie de « déterminante » à la faisabilité de son projet la construction d’une troisième ligne de transmission de la centrale de Churchill Falls à Labrador West par Nalcor Energy. « Elle nous assure 62 mégawatts pour alimenter nos premières activités », dit-il. Kami fournira jusqu’à 65 millions $ en dépôts de garantie, qui lui seront remis une fois que la ligne commencera à alimenter le projet. Un premier dépôt de 21 millions $ a été versé en février dernier et Nalcor a déjà déboisé 20 km de terrain pour la future ligne. Mais les travaux sur la ligne de 240 km n’avanceront pas tant que Kami ne fournira pas les 44 millions $ restant en dépôts de garantie. Nalcor a suspendu les travaux le 2 octobre en raison de retards dans le financement du projet Kami. La dernière pièce du casse-tête est le nouveau quai multiusager du port de Sept-Îles, pour lequel Kami a revendiqué sa place. Ce projet de 220 millions $, lancé en 2012 dans la foulée du Plan Nord, viendra ajouter de 50 Mt à 60 Mt à la capacité actuelle du port ; Alderon s’en est réservé 8 Mt. Les sociétés minières ont été sollicitées pour contribuer au financement et ainsi assurer leur accès. « Notre accès au port est garanti, comme pour trois autres sociétés minières », dit M. Eldem. « Nous avons déboursé 20,5 millions $ pour la construction comme paiement initial. Nous allons récupérer notre apport en capital lorsque nous commencerons nos expéditions, car nous bénéficierons d’une réduction, tout comme les autres utilisateurs qui ont contribué à la construction. »
Se faire des amis Tout cela, cependant, ne signifierait rien si Kami n’était pas sûr de vendre ses 8 Mt de concentré. En 2012, Hebei Iron and Steel Group, le plus grand producteur d’acier de Chine, a stratégiquement investi plus de 180 millions $ pour mettre la main sur 20 % des parts d’Alderon et 25 % des parts du projet
Valerian Mazataud
CARACTÉRISTIQUES DU PROJET
| profil de projet
Kami lui-même. En retour, le sidérurgiste s’engage à acheter 60 % de la production totale de Kami, avec une réduction de 5 %. Selon l’aciériste chinois, l’investissement était raisonnable car Alderon est l’un des rares « projets de minerai de fer de haute qualité en phase finale de développement » sur le marché des acheteurs. En juillet dernier, Alderon a signé un autre accord d’écoulement pour les 40 % restants avec Glencore, moyennant une réduction de 2 %. « Glencore étant maintenant impliqué, notre production est entièrement vendue », dit M. Eldem. « Quand nous allons commencer la production, nous aurons automatiquement une source de revenus de ces deux contrats à long terme. » Enfin, avec les prix du concentré avoisinant les 80 $ la tonne, il était essentiel de limiter les dépenses en capital et l’ensemble des coûts de production. Dans un environnement aussi concurrentiel, la productivité est clairement la base de tour. « Nous visons un coût de production de 43 $ par tonne fret à bord», affirme Andy Robertson, directeur général des ressources humaines et de l’engagement communautaire à Alderon, alors qu’il traverse la taïga brûlée qui recouvre la concession d’Alderon. « Pour y parvenir, nous avons tiré des leçons des expériences passées dans la fosse du Labrador. » En juin dernier, Alderon a signé un accord forfaitaire avec Metso pour la fourniture de la plupart de ses équipements. « Pour limiter les dépenses en capital, il faut regrouper les achats autant que possible », explique M. Eldem. « L’accord avec Metso est un excellent exemple. Notre broyeur AG, notre broyeur à boulets, notre concasseur giratoire et notre tombereau de wagons proviendront tous de Metso. »
Accélérer ou ralentir ? Les estimations de l’industrie prévoyant un prix du concentré en dessous de 100 $ la tonne dans les années à venir pourraient convaincre nombre de projets d’attendre les jours meilleurs. « Les sociétés n’exécuteront pas leurs plans comme elles l’espéraient », admet Mme Przybylowski. « Trouver le financement dans ce contexte sera difficile. » Même Alderon prend déjà plus de temps que prévu. Alors, pourquoi ne pas tout simplement susprendre le projet ? « Nous avons une vision à long terme de l’évolution
Le projet sera une mine à ciel ouvert, avec une exploitation conventionnelle de camions et de pelles mécaniques. Le concasseur primaire situé près de la fosse acheminera le minerai par convoyeur vers les aires de stockage et à l’usine de transformation, qui comprendra un broyage primaire et des concentrations par gravité et magnétique. RESSOURCES MESURÉES ET INDIQUÉES DU GISEMENT ROSE, PROPRIÉTÉ KAMI 1,09 milliard de tonnes (teneur de coupure de 15 %, 29,5 % de fer total) RÉSERVES PROUVÉES ET PROBABLES DU GISEMENT ROSE 668,5 millions de tonnes (teneur de coupure de 15 %, 29,5 % de fer total)
PRODUCTION 8,0 millions de tonnes par an TAUX DU CONCENTRÉ 65,2 % de fer DURÉE DE VIE DE LA MINE 30 ans CAPEX 1,27 milliard $ US PRÉSOMPTION DU PRIX DU FER FRET À BORD 107 $ US/tonne pour les cinq premières années, et de 102 $ US par la suite COÛTS D’EXPLOITATION MOYENS 42,17 $ US/tonne
Selon l’étude de faisabilité réalisée en janvier 2013 par BBA Inc., Stantec Consulting, Watts, Griffis McOuat Limited. L’étude américaine considère que 1 $ US = 1 $ CA
November/Novembre 2014 | 59
profil de projet | K A M I des prix du concentré de fer », dit Eldem. « Nous nous trouvons au point le plus bas de ce graphique en dents de scie observé ces derniers temps. Gardez à l’esprit qu’il nous faudra entre deux et deux ans et demi pour terminer la construction et commencer les activités. Si vous développez un projet, relâcher l’accélérateur alors que le marché est en baisse limite votre capacité à être prêt lors de sa remontée. » Il y a des avantages évidents à maintenir le cap lorsque les autres sont au ralenti. Les fournisseurs d’équipement et de services ainsi que l’ensemble de l’industrie de la construction ont refroidi depuis la surchauffe de 2011, lorsqu’ArcelorMittal et IOC lançaient leurs projets d’expansion. De plus, avec le ralentissement des activités chez Labrador Iron Mines et Wabush Mines, trouver des travailleurs n’est plus aussi problématique qu’il y a trois ans, lorsque ceux-ci devaient être amenés et logés par centaines dans de nouveaux camps. « L’avantage pour les projets allant de l’avant est qu’il y aura moins de concurrence pour les infrastructures portuaires et ferroviaires ainsi que pour la main-d’œuvre, de sorte qu’ils devraient être plus attractifs en termes économiques », dit Mme Przybylowski. Dans ce contexte, la proximité de Labrador West et ses 10 300 habitants est inestimable pour Alderon. « Labrador
West a été construit pour soutenir les activités d’exploitation minière dans la région, aussi il existe déjà une grande expérience et un solide réseau de soutien », dit M. Eldem. « Vous avez une multitude de fabricants de matériaux, de personnel technique, d’ateliers de réparation et d’entrepôts dans la région. » En ce qui concerne la main-d’œuvre elle-même, Alderon favorise clairement l’emploi local plutôt que le modèle des non-résidents, communément appelé fly-in fly-out. « Si une excavatrice tombe en panne à deux heures du matin, votre spécialiste doit se trouver à proximité, pas à Montréal », dit M. Robertson. « On ne peut pas attendre huit heures pour la réparer. » Si la mine de Wabush Mines ne reprend pas ses activités, des logements pourraient même être déjà disponibles. « Nous sommes partisans du modèle de l’employé résident », dit M. Eldem. « Il est d’une part moins cher et favorise le sentiment d’appartenance des employés. Ces derniers s’impliquent dans la communauté et soutiennent la sociéte. » Avec l’accès au port, au chemin de fer, à l’électricité, à des clients et à une main-d’œuvre bien intégrée, beaucoup attendent avec impatience de voir quand, et comment, la société jouera ses cartes. ICM
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60 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
Prepared for impact
technology S W E A R PA R T S
By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco
Courtesy of Rhino Linings Corporation
Wear parts, found in practically every piece of mining equipment, are among the hardest working, taking the brunt of abrasion, fatigue, impact or corrosion that is inevitable with the scooping, scraping, transporting, breaking and crushing of rock that the industry demands.
M
anufacturing durable wear parts can be challenging, but the ideal approach is to strike a balance between hardness and toughness. “Wear is in direct relation to hardness,” says Maurice Picard, area technical manager for Swedish steelmaker SSAB. “As you go up in hardness, the toughness, which is resistance to cracking, goes down. So the best wear product has a high hardness and a very good toughness, especially in a cold environment like Canada because the cold makes material more brittle.” Beyond their composition they must also be designed for easy replacement to reduce downtime and adhesiveness in the case of components added to protect vulnerable parts, as well as to avoid cumbersome and weighty solutions that compromise energy efficiency, functionality and, ultimately, operating costs.
Protective coatings
Pure polyurea being applied to a thickener tank at BHP Billiton’s Kalgoorlie nickel concentrator and smelter for its Nickel West operations
Over the last few decades, there has been a significant focus on developing applications and components to protect not just wear parts but entire structures, including mining vehicles, equipment and facilities in general, from the effects of corrosion, abrasion and impact so as to extend their longevity and durability. One of the leaders in this sector is Rhino Linings Australasia Pty Ltd., owned by U.S.-based parent company Rhino Linings Corporation. Back in the 1990s, the Australian company began developing and manufacturing spray-on polyurethane and polyurea coatings that protect materials in the mining sector from extreme temperatures, dust, risk of fire, corrosion, abrasion and impact. The coatings adhere to prepared steel, concrete, fibreglass reinforced polymer and wood substrates to create a monolithic protective barrier. In addition to hardness and toughness, the coatings are also very flexible, another key to impact protection, as it accommodates the shrinking and expansion of materials throughout the day due to changing temperatures. This technology is meant to replace traditional protective glued-on materials, such as rubber netting or ceramic tiles. “Those materials are very expensive to put on and time consuming to apply for wear applications, whether it be impact, abrasion or chemical attacks,” says Denis November/Novembre 2014 | 61
Attachable components
Courtesy of ESCO Corporation
Baker, the company’s Australia-based special projects engineer. “Our liners are sprayed, so you can build it to any thickness, and it’s completely seamless so you can completely encapsulate a structure to stop impact, corrosion or chemical attacks. You can apply these products quickly because they snap cure. Pure Polyurea cures between three to six seconds.� The company’s polyurethane linings have a slightly longer curing time of around 15 to 20 seconds but stronger impact protection, which is why they are often used to protect ore chutes. In fact, the company has a wide range of coatings to address the specific stresses for different parts and structures, namely vibration screen decks and bowls, mine-loading pads, conveyor belts and insulated tanks. The coatings can also be used to replace paints and epoxies protection in high-wear or abrasion areas. “For that you need a hard, durable, flexible membrane that will remain attached,� says Baker. “We even put these coatings on large haul trucks to protect their fuel and hydraulic tanks and undersides because they pick up the mud under their wheels and fuel tanks at mine sites and corrode very quickly. So we put a three-to-fourmillimetre thick coating on the dump trucks and then there’s no longer any issue with corrosion.�
ESCO’s award-winning cent less than its previous prodNemysis lip system can be ucts and boast a 20 per cent attached to a variety of mining equipment, weighs improvement in digging effisix per cent less than ciency. Ease of installation is also previous ESCO products, and boasts a 20 per cent one of the highlights of the sysimprovement in digging tem. When Nemisys N1 Bridge efficiency. Adapters for draglines were installed in one coal mine, the maintenance crew reportedly cut the installation and removal time by half compared to what they expended with previous wear part attachments.
U.S.-based ESCO Corporation is tackling another front in wear part protection. The 100-year-old company has developed an extensive suite of innovative wear parts and attachments for crushers, chain and rigging, draglines, and hydraulic equipment. For ESCO, the key to wear part solutions lies in continuously refining the balance between durability, efficiency and weight. It uses rapid prototyping to produce lowcost models that allow its engineers to identify design issues early in the process. ESCO’s award-winning Nemisys system, for example, features lips for dragline buckets that weigh around six per
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Stronger steel
Ultimately, developing more durable high-strength steel to produce longer-lasting wear parts is the Holy Grail for steel manufacturers such as SSAB, which has developed a highly efficient vacuum degassing technique to remove impurities from the steel. This is important because impurities – be they gases like hydrogen or nitrogen, metal or non-metal traces –
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62 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
Courtesy of SSAB
are the weakest link when it comes to cracks. “It allows us to achieve high strength and toughness,” says Picard. With steel, there are four common causes of wear: sliding, impact, abrasion and squeezing. Because different applications will face different degrees and types of wear, SSAB has created a wide range of steels, along with different grades and costs, to accommodate any operation.
SSAB’s WearCalc technology calculates the relative wear rate and service life of a customer’s product by analyzing the type of wear and abrasive material on various grades of steel for their specific application.
Not every application is going to require the same degree of hardness or toughness. “We have WearCalc software that’s an excellent tool for end-users in mines to help them choose the right steel for their needs and costs,” says Picard. “The software simulates the wear. They just have to give us the details on how it will be used. For example, in mining, dump truck bodies, crusher chutes and liner applications can give us mineral composition of the ore, rock size, angle of impact and speed of impact, and we can input that in the software. It will predict the wear life and compare different wear solutions.” This too reflects another major stride in wear part technology: customized analysis of any given part in any given environment to identify and predict the actual wear it will likely experience. From SSAB to ESCO to Rhino, the move has been towards providing not just parts but also sophisticated services and wear part management.
Cutting-edge innovation
Much of the future for wear parts in the mining industry could be headed toward 3D printing, otherwise known as additive manufacturing. This technology creates objects by adding layer after layer of powdered material and has been advancing with lightning speed. One of the leaders in the laser additive manufacturing space is U.S. group NanoSteel. The company announced in September it had successfully built a 99.92 per cent crack-free sample part with very high
hardness values of over 1,000 HV (as measured by the Vickers hardness test) and wear resistance comparable to conventionally manufactured M2 tool steels, typically used to manufacture drills. This represents a major breakthrough for the 3D manufacturing method known as direct metal laser sintering since, up until now, high-hardness metallic materials have had a tendency to crack. Even more promising, says Harald Lemke, NanoSteel’s general manager of engineered powders, is that the company chose one of its most challenging alloys, prone to cracking with increased hardness, to use for its initial testing. “This is the first step to explore how far we can take our hardness and toughness capabilities,” he explains. The company expects successful results as it tests other alloys and different applications and shapes. Given that NanoSteel has some 300 to 400 alloys, Lemke anticipates that the once unimaginable could become reality in the not-too-distant future. “You’ll be able to dial in the microstructure of the alloy depending on the performance requirements of the part or component. In essence, what we have is very tiny but very hard particles embedded in softer material. So you’ll be able to change the ratio between hard and soft and the shape of the micrograins, and specify whether you want something with more hardness, toughness, tensile strength or elongation,” he says. “All that [adds to] the benefits additive manufacturing brings to the table, which is that if you need a part very quickly and you are in a remote place, as is often the case in the mining industry, you can make the part on site.” CIM
Mining and Minerals Education for BC Teachers
Learning Opportunities
Classroom Resources
BC Teacher Workshops
Student and Teacher Fieldtrips
Educating Teachers and Students since 1991
900-808 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia T 604.682.5477 E info@MineralsEd.ca W www.MineralsEd.ca
November/Novembre 2014 | 63
L
TRAVEL Ouagadougou By Chris Balcom
STAY
For cosier accommodation, try Chez Tess.
This B&B, run by a Swedish expat, offers an oasis from the hustle and bustle of Ouagadougou for very modest rates. While it seems quite removed
Burkinabè food has much in common with other West African cuisines. Meals typically involve a base of sorghum, millet or rice accompanied by vegetable or groundnut sauces. Grilled dishes of fish, mutton, goat and chicken are also popular. Many of the city’s high-end restaurants 64 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
specialize in French cuisine, and Frenchstyle café terraces abound throughout Ouagadougou. Guests might be surprised by the wide variety of other options in the city including Japanese, Middle Eastern, and Vietnamese restaurants. Café Zaka is an excellent place to sample some local dishes in a
from the traffic and noise of the city, guests are in fact only minutes from downtown. Chez Tess offers wireless Internet, room service and a compli-
breakfast. mentary The guesthouse also has a car with a chauffeur on hand who can take you around. Rooms start at $42 (19,000 CFA).
Make sure you get vaccinated for yellow fever before leaving. You’ll need to present a vaccination card on arrival.
DINE Burkina Tourism
WHERE TO
location, cab rides are a must for any excursions you would like to take. Rooms start at $280 (130,000 CFA). Other popular and slightly cheaper business hotels offering similar amenities include the Hotel Ricardo and the Azalai Hotel Independance.
lovely outdoor garden setting. There is a craft boutique where you can pick up souvenirs during the day, and it hosts live music most evenings. A favourite is the Gondwana, where sensational separate dining rooms are set as tuareg or mauritanian tents, and artisanal creations are displayed and for sale. Both West
African and western cuisines are served. If you’re in the mood for a more upscale dining experience, look no further than Le Bistrot Lyonnais, one of the city’s finest French restaurants. Certainly on the pricey side as far as Ouagadougou goes at around $20 (8,000 to 10,000 CFA) a plate, but it offers an impeccable gourmet menu. If you find yourself craving a simple burger and fries, you can’t go wrong with Happy Donald of Hamburger House, which
TIP
also serves pizza, omelettes and other North American fare for cheap prices.
Jeff Attaway
A favourite among business travellers, the Laico Ouaga 2000 is located in the embassy sector of Ouagadougou and offers a complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport. The hotel boasts room service, a fitness centre, an outdoor swimming pool, and high-speed Internet in all rooms but, due to its non-central
Laico Ouaga 2000
WHERE TO
ong an urban centre, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso became the capital of the Mossi Empire in the 15th century and later the administrative hub for the French colonial government. Today the region is home to 1.5 million Burkinabè and is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for foreign investment in gold mining. CIM hosted its first mining symposium in the city last June, and Ouagadougou is home to CIM’s second West African branch. The city promises to be an important centre for the industry in years to come.
TIP Try some Poulet Bicyclette at a roadside grill, so named because the chickens are typically bicycled around the city.
Ouagadougou enjoys a strong reputation as an artistic and cultural hub. If you’re lucky enough to be in town
during one of the city’s festivals, they are certainly worth attending. The city is host to the world-renowned Pan-African Film Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), held every two years in March. It includes perhaps the most prestigious awards ceremony in African cinema. If you happen to be in the city around the end of April and beginning of May, the well-established Jazz Ouaga festival is a must. If you miss it,
The city hosts a number of impressive
TIP mudbrick buildings. Highlights include the Ouagadougou Cathedral and the Grand Mosque.
HOW TO
PAY
Burkina Faso uses the West African CFA franc, a currency shared with seven other West African countries. One Canadian dollar equals around 465 CFA francs. The CFA franc is pegged to the euro, and as such the euro is the most widely accepted foreign currency. It is difficult to find CFA francs in Canada, so use the ATMs once you arrive to withdraw local bills. Most establishments are cash only, so never assume you’ll be able to pay by credit card.
HOW TO
Musée de Musique is a wonderful introduction to Burkinabè music culture. Explore the Central Market or the Gounghin Market to get a real Ouagadougou experience. It is, however, advisable to go with a Burkinabè companion, as a lost foreigner is an easy target for touts and pickpockets.
HOW TO
Make some time for Burkina Faso’s incredible national parks, where it is possible to see lions, hippos, elephants and various
other animals in their natural habitats. There are several tour operators in the city, and it is easy to set up excursions of any duration.
TIP You’ll need a visa to enter Burkina Faso, but it
FIT IN
While most Burkinabè speak one of the country’s several indigenous languages as a first language, French is the official language of the country. A basic familiarity with French will make Ouagadougou much easier to navigate, as it can be difficult to find an English speaker even in hotels and restaurants.
Deborah Mullen
Every Friday at 7 a.m. you can witness a traditional Mossi ceremony at the Moro-Naba Palace, the historic home of the Mossi king. His chiefs pledge their allegiance following a round of cannon fire in this colourful reenactment of a historic declaration of war. Visitors are welcome to attend but photos are prohibited.
C. Hugues
EXPLORE
Henryk Kotowski
WHERE TO
It is essential to establish a personal relationship before talking business. Bring up family – it’s the most talked-about subject in the country. Don’t try and rush into deals, commitments and work-related matters, as these things are usually left until the end of the meeting and take up a minimal amount of time.
GET THERE
No Canadian airport has direct flights to the Ouagadougou International Airport, but Air France and Brussels Airlines fly in regularly from Europe. The airport is just outside the city centre, and it is not a long cab ride to any hotel.
can be obtained on arrival at the airport for around $214.
GETTING AROUND There are two types of taxis operating in Ouagadougou – green and yellow cabs. Of the two, the yellow taxis are far more reliable and comfortable. They have fare meters, better maintained vehicles and use centralized dispatchers. The green taxis aren’t as safe a bet. They generally circle a route around the centre of town, and diverging from this circuit can dramatically raise the price, so be sure to negotiate a fare before
taking off. Drivers typically stop to pick up other passengers along the way, so be quite clear if you want to travel alone. Ouagadougou is one of the safer Western African capitals, but theft is common enough that one should exercise caution in crowded areas and avoid walking alone at night.
November/Novembre 2014 | 65
CIM community Don Worth steps down from CIM Foundation board
OBITUARY
CIM remembers Rick Hutson (1957–2014)
By Tom DiNardo
Rick Hutson was deeply committed to cultivating the industry’s next generation and often spoke at student functions, like the annual introduction to networking event at the CIM Convention.
friend and colleague. For many years, the pair put on the “The Rick and Larry Show” at student events, in which they offered practical insights into pursuing a career in mining, always with a comedic bent. “He was a throwback to the past in that he generously gave of his own time and took much satisfaction in observing and assisting in the success of “Rick had boundless energy where students others,” said Curtis were concerned.” – Larry Smith Clarke, who served as an executive officer of Hutson will be remembered as a the Toronto branch with Hutson for pillar of support for the many univer- several years. “Rick was a trusted colsity students to whom he offered league and respected advisor to memguidance. He regularly coached grad- bers of the executive, myself uates looking for work and was a included.” Hutson began his professional strong advocate for CIM Toronto’s funding of student-related activities. career as a geologist with Amoco and He was also a frequent guest speaker spent the latter part of his working life at student events run by the Prospec- as a senior consultant with C.J. tors and Developers Association of Stafford & Associates. His involvement Canada. “Rick had boundless energy with CIM has shaped the lives of many where students were concerned and in the community, and his legacy will he worked with many universities and undoubtedly be carried on through all student groups speaking, listening those whose lives he touched. CIM and sharing his enthusiasm for min- extends its deepest sympathy to his ing,” said Larry Smith, a long-time family and friends. CIM Rick Hutson, a highly valued member of the CIM community, passed away suddenly on Sept. 15, 2014. Rick’s involvement with CIM, both at his local Toronto branch and on a national level, was extensive. At the time of his passing, he was Central District vice-president on the CIM Council.
After a long and illustrious tenure, CIM past-president Donald J. Worth stepped down from the CIM Foundation Board of Trustees in August. Worth, 82, has agreed to continue advising the board and help the foundation secure funds for important programs. Mining For Society (M4S), CIM’s highly successful educational mine exhibition, will be the first priority for funding, according to CIM Foundation manager Deborah Sauvé. The CIM Foundation, formerly the Canadian Mining and Metallurgy Foundation, is a not-forprofit charitable organization dedicated to supporting the development of the next generation of mining professionals. “We are delighted he has agreed to stay on in a consultation capacity,” said Sauvé. “He is a respected member of CIM and an excellent fundraiser, responsible for helping secure funds for important scholarships.” Worth has long been involved in CIM. He joined the Institute in 1964 and served as CIM president from 1996 to 1997, during which time he oversaw the planning of the CIM centennial year celebrations. Then in 1997 he became a member the CIM Foundation and was president from 1997 to 2000. CIM
Jon Benjamin Photography
Courtesy of Women in Mining
By Chris Balcom
Don Worth (left) became a member of the CIM FiftyYear Club at this year’s CIM Convention in Vancouver. This honour, presented by CIM past-president Robert Schafer (right), recognizes long-time members. November/Novembre 2014 | 67
93 %
NOS LECTEURS
47th ANNUAL
canadian mineral processors CONFERENCE 47e CONFÉRENCE ANNUELLE DES
minéralurgistes du canada
January 20
TO au
22 JanVIEr 2015 | wEsTIn hOTEl | OTTawa, canada
we are pleased to invite you and your colleagues to attend the 47th Annual Conference of the Canadian Mineral Processors to be held in Ottawa, Ontario, from January 20 to 22, 2015. For more than 45 years, the cMP conference has provided a forum for discussing best practices and the latest improvements in mineral processing technology. almost 600 delegates attended last year’s conference and profited from the outstanding opportunities in networking, knowledge-sharing and personal development the cMP conference consistently offers.
The technical program will be the heart and soul of the conference with close to 40 technical papers presented by fellow mill operators and mineral processing professionals. In addition to discussions on canadian milling practices, international speakers will weigh in on the mineral processing challenges they encounter abroad. we look forward to you joining us in the capital this January.
– The cMP Executive
nous sommes heureux de vous inviter, ainsi que vos collègues, à participer à la 47ème Conférence annuelle des minéralurgistes du Canada qui aura lieu à Ottawa du 20 au 22 janvier 2015. depuis plus de 45 ans, la cMP se fait un devoir de créer un lieu de discussion où les bonnes pratiques et les dernières techniques de minéralurgie sont à l’honneur. Plus de 600 délégués ont participé à la conférence l’an dernier pour profiter de cette occasion exceptionnelle de réseautage, de partage d’expériences industrielles et de développement professionnel.
cette année encore, le programme technique sera au coeur de l’évènement avec près de 40 articles présentés par des opérateurs d’usines et autres professionnels de la minéralurgie. Pendant que plusieurs se concentreront sur des problématiques typiquement canadiennes, d’autres présentateurs discuteront des défis techniques auxquels ils font face à l’étranger.
En espérant vous voir en grand nombre dans la capitale canadienne en janvier prochain.
– conseil d’administration de la société canadienne du traitement des minerais
72 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
www.cmpsoc.ca
Register early to avoid disappointment!
Inscrivez-vous tôt !
REGISTRATION | INSCRIPTION The early registration fee including tax is $600 for cIM/aIME/TMs members, $811.31 for non-members (includes one-year membership to cIM). registration includes the three-day meeting, coffee breaks, the Tuesday and wednesday luncheons and evening social receptions, the wednesday reception and awards banquet, as well as a copy of the proceedings. Please register online at www.cmpsoc.ca. registration kits for pre-registered delegates can be picked up at the conference registration desk, Fourth Floor, westin hotel, Monday evening between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., and Tuesday to Thursday between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. new registrations will be taken during these times. note: Pre-registration forms must be received by december 17, 2014, and any requests for refunds must be made in writing prior to this date. an administration fee of $100 will be charged for new and/or cancelled registrations after this date.
les frais de préinscription sont de 600 $ pour les membres de l’IcM, TMs et aIME et de 811.31 $ pour les autres participants (taxes incluses). le tarif pour les non-membres comprend un abonnement d’un an à l’IcM. ces frais donnent droit aux trois jours de conférence, à une copie des comptes rendus, aux pauses-café, aux dîners de mardi et mercredi ainsi qu’à la réception sociale du mardi soir de même qu’à la réception et au banquet des récompenses du mercredi soir. Veuillez vous inscrire en ligne à la conférence à l’adresse www.cmpsoc.ca.
Tous les délégués préinscrits pourront recevoir leur trousse d’inscription en se présentant au bureau d’inscription, 4e étage de l’hôtel westin, le lundi soir entre 19 h et 22 h et du mardi au jeudi de 7 h à 15 h. les autres délégués qui désirent participer à la conférence pourront également s’inscrire à cet endroit, aux mêmes heures.
remarques : Veuillez envoyer vos formulaires de préinscription avant le 17 décembre 2014. les demandes de remboursement doivent être faites, par écrit, avant cette date. des frais de 100 $ s’appliqueront à toute nouvelle inscription ainsi qu’à toute annulation après cette date.
SHORT COURSES | COURS ABRÉGÉS COURSE COURS
PRESENTER PRÉSENTATEUR
DATE
COST COÛT
Brian danyliw, chemtreat
sunday, January 18 (full day) | dimanche 18 janvier (journée complète)
$400
carmine ciriello, analyze and Improve
sunday & Monday, January 18 & 19 (one and a half days) | dimanche 18 janvier et lundi 19 janvier (une journée et demi)
$600
Mineral Processing for NonMineral Processors
Majid davoodi, cameco
sunday, January 18 (full day) | dimanche 18 janvier (journée complète)
$400
Metallurgical Testwork Types, Interpretation & Process Design
Majid davoodi, cameco
Monday, January 19 (full day) | lundi 19 janvier (journée complète)
$400
Guy deschênes, BBa, and other industry representatives from BBa, Barrick, Gekko and Flsmidth
Monday, January 19 (full day) | lundi 19 janvier (journée complète)
$400
Water Treatment for Mineral Processors Process Improvement – A Structured Lean 6 Sigma Problem-Solving Approach in Mineral Processing Operations – White Belt Certification
Gold Course
Included: lunch, coffee breaks and course materials. Note: Courses are given in English only. Comprend: le dîner, les pauses-café et le matériel de cours. N.B. : Les cours seront présentés en anglais seulement. November/Novembre 2014 | 73
www.cmpsoc.ca
Register early to avoid disappointment!
Inscrivez-vous tôt !
ACCOMMODATIONS | HÉBERGEMENT
SOCIAL PROGRAM | PROGRAMME SOCIAL Monday | Lundi
21:00 – 23:00
student Mixer
Fourth Floor, Westin Hotel
soirée « student Mixer » 4e étage, Hôtel Westin
a special rate of $201 (single/double) and $251 (deluxe), which includes complimentary Internet, has been negotiated at the westin hotel (reference the canadian Mineral Processors conference). The westin hotel will only guarantee these rooms until december 13, 2014, so reserve today at 613.560.7000 or online through the cMP website.
un nombre limité de chambres a été négocié au tarif spécial de 201 $ (en occupation simple/double) et 251 $ (de luxe) incluant l’internet, avec l’hôtel westin (mentionnez la conférence des Minéralurgistes du canada). Veuillez noter que les chambres sont retenues à votre intention jusqu’au 13 décembre 2014. réservez votre chambre en communiquant directement avec l’hôtel westin au 613.560.7000 ou en ligne à partir du lien situé sur le site internet de cMP.
Tuesday | Mardi
12:00 Beer and sandwich luncheon Fourth Floor, Westin Hotel
dîner bières et sandwichs 4e étage, Hôtel Westin
19:00 hockey cup challenge Carleton University
défi de hockey
Université Carleton
21:00 chairman’s reception
Governor General’s Ballroom
réception du président
Salle du Gouverneur Général
Wednesday | Mercredi
TECHNICAL PROGRAM | PROGRAMME TECHNIQUE COMMINUTION Overflow Versus Grate discharge Ball Mills: an Experimental comparison RAO LATCHIREDDI OMc Power-Based comminution calculations for design, Modelling and circuit Optimization PAUL SCINTO
retention of small Grinding Media within conventional Ball Mills CLAUDE BAZIN
a simple Estimation Method of Materials handling Energy in hPGr circuits ALEX DOLL
Fourth Floor, Westin Hotel
Predicting the Energy requirements of high-Pressure Grinding rolls with Piston Press Test ZORIG DAVAANYAM
dîner de réunion d’affaires
FLOTATION
12:00 Business Meeting luncheon 4e étage, Hôtel Westin
18:00 Executive reception (by invitation only) Rideau Suite
réception des dirigeants (sur invitation) Suite Rideau
18:30 reception
Fourth Floor, Westin Hotel
réception
4e étage, Hôtel Westin
19:30 annual Banquet
Confederation Ballroom
Banquet annuel Salle Confédération
74 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
a review of Gas dispersion studies in Flotation Plants JAN NESSET On-line Flotation simulator at Pyhäsalmi Mine JANNE PIETILÄ challenges in niobium Flotation CHARLOTTE GIBSON
nanoparticle Flotation aids for Pentlandite Fines SONGTAO YANG
aErOPhInE® 3418a Promoter – the canadian collector – 50 years of Improved Metallurgy in Various applications TOM BRUCE
Two new structures of hydroxamate collectors and their application to Ilmenite and wolframite Flotation LIUYIN XIA
GRAVITY coarse Gold recovery using Flotation in a Fluidized Bed ERIC WASMUND
The Effects of nuggety Gold on Gold deportment – lessons from Beaton creek Paleoplacer Gold Project, australia GEOFF LANE
AUTHORS | AUTEURS authors, session chairs and regional representatives must register as conference delegates. a speaker’s breakfast will be provided the day of their presentation at 7 a.m., tentatively held in the Quebec room. Please contact John chaulk for presentation information at 613.947.0394 or john.chaulk@nrcan.gc.ca.
Tous les auteurs, les présidents de sessions et les représentants régionaux doivent s’inscrire comme délégués à la conférence. un déjeuner sera servi le jour de leur présentation à 7 h, et ce possiblement dans le salon Québec. Veuillez contacter John chaulk au 613.947.0394 ou john.chaulk@nrcan.gc.ca pour obtenir des informations quant aux présentations.
IRON ORE
PROCESS CONTROL
wash water Optimization on an Iron Ore spiral NIEL LOURENS
advanced Process control (aPc) for Grinding circuits
aG Feed Particle size distribution Measurement of Iron Ore FAUCHER ARNAUD
MINERALOGY Predicting nickel recoveries at the Thompson Mill from Feed Mineralogy FRED FORD
a Geometallurgical approach of the cu-ni-(PGE) Maturi deposit, Minnesota, usa, using Quantitative Mineralogy NICOLE HOFFMANN
heterogeneity of low-Grade Material and amenability to sensorBased sorting ARVIN MAZHARY
OPTIMISATION summary of Tests with classification cyclones vs. Vibrating screens and their Effects on the recovery at niobec YANICK SASSEVILLE cyanide recovery and detoxification study on seabridge Gold’s KsM Project MARIAM MELASHVILI
how to use Energy Management to Improve Mining Operations Productivity and reduce downtime – canadian utility companies Incentive Programs SVETLANA LOIF
sustainable Optimization of the Bell creek saG Mill TUHIN BANERJEE
developing sustainable solutions to complex Metallurgical Problems BARUN GORAIN
comparison studies of Grates and Modified Grates on saG Mill Performance in the Processing of Gold Ore at the hutti Gold Mines company ltd. GURU SWAMY
DOMINIK GROENVELD
Mitigating Brownfield Projects risks by stochastic and dynamic application to an Ore Processing Plant simulations DANIEL ROY
content and structure of a Plant Grinding Management system OMAR ARAFAT
simulation Platform as a service for Operator Effectiveness RODRIGO TORO
Implementation of Flotation control at the raglan Mine GENEVIEVE COUTURE
unlocking Value through Flotation Equipment Maintenance BILL BREUR
PROJECTS assessing Vertimill ultrafine Grinding Performance: The Gibraltar Mine case KEITH MERRIAM start-up and Early Optimization of the new afton concentrator JENNIFER KATCHEN
Throughput and recovery Improvements following commissioning of the Mount Milligan Mine RANDALL PETERS Overview of lake shore Gold’s 2012–13 Bell creek Mill Expansion DAVE FELSHER
development of the “sII Mission” Mineral sands Project PETE DUNN
adjunct chemical dust control strategies for high Tonnage Mining Operations BRIAN DANYLIW
PLENARY doing More with what we already Know – Improving the Efficiency of Minerals Processing COALITION FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT COMMINUTION November/Novembre 2014 | 75
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 9-11, 2015 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Geostatistical Mineral Resource Estimation and Meeting the New Regulatory Environment: Step by Step from Sampling to Grade Control Learn about the latest regulations on public reporting of resources/reserves through state-of-the-art statistical and geostatistical techniques; how to apply geostatistics to predict dilution and adapt reserve estimates to that predicted dilution; how geostatistics can help you categorize your resources in an objective manner; and how to understand principles of NI 43-101 and the SME Guide. INSTRUCTORS Marcelo Godoy, Newmont Mining Corp., Denver; Jean-Michel Rendu, JMR Consultants, USA; Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada; and Guy Desharnais, SGS Canada Inc., Canada • DATE September 14-18, 2015 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Strategic Risk Management in Mine Design and Production Scheduling: Generating Optimal Mine Plans Given Uncertainty • Find out how to manage and minimise risks and produce optimal pit designs with strategic mine planning processes and the next generation optimisation methods. • Discover how new developments will help you capture the “upside potential” in mine designs and minimise “downside risks” as well as increase cash flows through the effect of the mining sequence and “risk blending”. • Explore real-world examples and participate in hands-on computer sessions that show how to increase project value by employing new riskbased (stochastic) optimisation models. • Understand and learn about the new stochastic mine planning optimisation framework and its contribution to sustainable utilisation of mineral resources. • Discover new developments in optimizing mining complexes and mineral value chains. INSTRUCTORS Tarrant Elkington, Snowden, Australia; and Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada • DATE October 14-16, 2015 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessments: An Integrated Approach to Planning for Exploration Risk Reduction Learn about exploration risk analysis for strategic planning. Understand how to demonstrate how operational mineral deposit models can reduce uncertainties; make estimates of the number of undiscovered deposits; and integrate the information and examine the economic possibilities. INSTRUCTORS Don Singer, USA; and David Menzie, U.S. Geological Survey, USA • DATE Fall 2015 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada
TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS
CIM
journal
Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 5, No. 4. To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org
Flotation and leaching studies on processing phosphate ore from El-Sebaiya East, Egypt A. M. Ramadan, Al-Azhar University, Faculty of Engineering, Mining and Petroleum Department, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt
ABSTRACT The composition of phosphate rocks, mainly used in manufacturing fertilizers, varies among deposits; therefore, phosphate rocks from different sources are expected to behave differently in acidulation processes. This paper examines the effect on uranium leaching resulting from using flotation on preconcentrate phosphate ore from El-Sebaiya East, Egypt. A high-grade ore sample (27.3% P2O5, 168 mg/kg U), supplied by the Al-Nasr Mining Company, was subjected to reverse single-stage flotation to separate carbonate from the phosphate sample. Subsequently, P2O5 and U concentrations were 32.2% (92.1% recovery) and 225 mg/kg, respectively. After the leach process, U concentration in the liquor was 319 mg/L.
RÉSUMÉ La composition des roches phosphatiques, utilisées surtout dans la manufacture de fertilisants, varie selon les gisements; les roches phosphatiques provenant de différentes sources auraient donc des comportements différents dans le procédé d’acidulation. Le présent article examine l’effet sur la lixiviation de l’uranium de l’utilisation de la flottation sur un minerai préconcentré de phosphate provenant de l’est d’El-Sebaiya, en Égypte. Un échantillon de minerai à teneur élevée (27,3 % P2O5, 168 mg/kg U), fourni par la compagnie minière Al-Nasr, a été soumis à une flottation inverse à étape unique pour séparer le carbonate du phosphate. Par la suite, les concentrations de P2O5 et de U étaient respectivement de 32,2 % (récupération de 92,1 %) et de 225 mg/kg. Après le procédé de lixiviation, la concentration en U dans la liqueur était de 319 mg/l.
Optimization of clean coal specifications L. X. Li, Lenerge Resources Ltd., Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
ABSTRACT Coking coal producers often encounter variations in clean coal quality when mining multiseam deposits containing coals with different washability and coking properties. This paper describes how, for a single coal property, an initial clean coal specification with an ash content of 8.5% on an air-dried basis (ADB) and a free swelling index (FSI) of 5.5 can be improved to a specification with 7.5% ash ADB content and an FSI of 6. This is accomplished by sorting coal seams into two groups for processing and blending. A preliminary economic model demonstrates how this improvement enhances economic returns through a beneficial factor.
RÉSUMÉ Les producteurs de charbon cokéfiable sont souvent mis en présence de situations où la qualité du charbon épuré s’avère variable lorsqu’ils exploitent des gisements multicouches renfermant des charbons aux propriétés de lavabilité et de cokéfaction différentes. Le présent article porte sur la façon de faire passer, dans le cas d’une propriété renfermant un seul type de charbon, les spécifications initiales d’un charbon épuré à teneur en cendres de 8,5 % obtenue sur une base de charbon séché à l’air (ADB) et un indice de gonflement libre (FSI) de 5,5 à une teneur en cendres (ADB) de 7,5 % et un FSI de 6. Il suffit de répartir les couches de charbon en deux groupes aux fins de préparation et de mélange dosé du charbon. Un modèle économique préliminaire illustre comment cette démarche permet d’augmenter le rendement économique grâce au recours à un facteur favorable.
Process history and aerosol exposures for electrolytic copper refining at Vale Canada (Inco) B. R. Conard, BRConard Consulting, Inc., Oakville, Ontario, Canada
ABSTRACT Copper refining at Vale Canada (previously known as Inco) has been associated with Ni production. Because Cu and Ni carry risks for adverse health endpoints through inhalation exposure, it is critical that their aerosol levels, and the metallurgical processes through which they enter the air, are understood. Because certain Ni substances have been linked to respiratory cancers, it is also important to characterize the amounts and types of Ni compounds in occupational settings. This paper describes electrorefining and electrowinning operations near Sudbury, Ontario (1930– present), and gives aerosol measurements (1978–present).
RÉSUMÉ L’affinage du cuivre chez Vale Canada (antérieurement Inco) a été associé à la production de Ni. Puisque le Cu et le Ni comportent des risques d’effets adverses sur la santé suite à une exposition par inhalation, il est critique de comprendre leurs niveaux en aérosols et le processus métallurgique par lequel ils entrent dans l’air. Puisque certaines substances contenant du Ni ont été reliées à des cancers respiratoires, il est aussi important de caractériser les quantités et les types de composés de Ni présents dans les environnements de travail. Le présent article décrit les opérations d’électroaffinage et d’extraction électrolytique à proximité de Sudbury, Ontario (de 1930 à ce jour) et donne des mesures des teneurs en aérosols (de 1978 à ce jour). November/Novembre 2014 | 77
TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS
CIM
journal
Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 5, No. 4. To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org
Industry-scale knowledge management—Introducing the RISKGATE underground strata and explosions body of knowledge P. A. Kirsch, J. Harris, D. Cliff, and M. Shi, Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; B. Hebblewhite, School of Mining Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; D. Sprott, Design Solutions Australia Pty Ltd., Buddina, Queensland, Australia; A. Ranjan, S. Sharma, and T. Biswas, Mining Engineering students, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, India; and S. Sharma, Mining Engineering student, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, Mangalore, India
ABSTRACT RISKGATE is an interactive online risk management system that compiles and presents current practices from a diverse range of Australian coal mining experts. The system is designed to assist the industry in implementing continual improvement in management of major unwanted events, thus maximizing health and safety performance. This paper presents an overview of the comprehensive body of knowledge developed for management of unwanted strata incidents and explosions in the underground environment. From a broader industry perspective, RISKGATE provides an environment for knowledge capture and exchange to drive innovation and advance current practices in the identification, assessment, and management of risk.
RÉSUMÉ RISKGATE est un système interactif en ligne de gestion du risque; il compile et présente les pratiques actuelles de divers experts australiens en extraction du charbon. Le système est conçu de manière à assister l’industrie à mettre en œuvre des améliorations continues dans la gestion d’événements majeurs non désirés, maximisant ainsi le rendement en santé et sécurité. Cet article présente un survol des connaissances développées pour la gestion des incidents non désirés impliquant des strates et des explosions dans l’environnement souterrain. D’un point de vue industriel plus général, RISKGATE fournit un environnement pour la saisie et l’échange des connaissances afin de pousser l’innovation et faire avancer les pratiques actuelles dans l’identification, l’évaluation et la gestion du risque.
Interactive tools for learning basic geostatistical concepts A. Vervoort, Department of Civil Engineering, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; and A. Govaerts, formerly Department of Civil Engineering, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
ABSTRACT Geostatistical concepts are often difficult for students to understand, even those with a strong mathematical background. One of the main problems is the link between the variation of the parameter value in space or time and the calculated experimental semivariogram. Another challenge is differentiating between directional and omnidirectional semivariograms and their interpretation. For these reasons, interactive tools were developed based on the free public domain software R. The use of these interactive tools is limited to educational situations only (i.e., to visualize basic concepts). The interactive modules can be accessed at www.bwk.kuleuven.be/geostatistics.
78 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
RÉSUMÉ Les étudiants, même ceux qui ont de fortes connaissances mathématiques, ont souvent de la difficulté à comprendre les concepts de la géostatistique. L’un des principaux problèmes est la relation entre la variation des valeurs des paramètres dans l’espace ou le temps et le semi-variogramme expérimental calculé. Un autre défi est de différencier entre les semi-variogrammes directionnels et omnidirectionnels et leur interprétation. Des outils interactifs ont donc été développés; ils sont basés sur le logiciel libre R dans le domaine public. L’utilisation de ces outils interactifs est limitée à des situations éducatives (c.-à-d. pour visualiser les concepts de base). Les modules interactifs sont disponibles au : www.bwk.kuleuven.be/geostatistics.
TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS
canadian metallurgical quarterly
Excerpts taken from abstracts in CMQ, Vol. 52, No. 4. To subscribe – www.cmq-online.ca
Effect of particle size distribution on recovery of coarse chalcopyrite and galena in Denver flotation cell B. Awatey, W. Skinner, and M. Zanin, Ian Wark Research Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, South Australia, Australia
ABSTRACT The flotation recovery by particle size of single mineral chalcopyrite and galena was studied in a Denver flotation cell, using sodium dicresylthiophosphate (DTP) and sodium isopropyl xanthate (SIPX) as collectors and polypropylene glycol (PPG) as a frother. The study was extended to very coarse particle size (up to 1.6 mm). Froth stability was also measured in parallel to the batch flotation tests, in a specifically designed froth stability column, following the Bikerman approach. It is shown that particles up to 850 μm can be floated successfully, provided they are liberated and hydrophobic. However, the recovery of both chalcopyrite and galena was strongly influenced by the overall particle size distribution, decreasing sharply as the fraction of fines (−106 μm) in the feed also decreased. Rheology measurements showed negligible differences in pulp viscosity, and therefore in the collection zone hydrodynamics, between the different conditions tested. Froth stability, on the contrary, decreased as the feed particle size distribution became coarser. Correlation was found between the amount of fines in the pulp, froth stability and flotation recovery. The recovery of mineral particles is critically dependent on froth stability, which in turn is highly influenced by the overall particle size distribution of the feed material. For these reasons, the study also suggests that it is not possible in batch flotation to determine the rate and recovery of the coarse particle size fractions floating them independently from the fine size fractions.
RÉSUMÉ Dans une cellule de flottation de Denver, on a étudié la récupération par flottation en fonction de la taille de particule d’un minéral unique de chalcopyrite ou de galène, en utilisant du dicrésyle thiophosphate de sodium (DTP) et de l’isopropyle xanthate de sodium (SIPX) comme agents collecteurs et du polypropylène glycol (PPG) comme agent moussant. On a étendu l’étude à la taille de particule très grossière (jusqu’à 1,6 mm). On a également mesuré la stabilité de la mousse en parallèle aux essais de flottation discontinue, dans une colonne de stabilité de la mousse spécialement conçue, d’après l’approche de Bikerman. On montre que l’on peut faire flotter avec succès des particules ayant jusqu’à 850 μm, à la condition qu’elles soient libres et hydrophobes. Cependant, la récupération, tant de la chalcopyrite que de la galène, était fortement influencée par la distribution globale de la taille de particule, diminuant sévèrement à mesure que la fraction de particules fines (-106 μm) dans l’alimentation diminuait. Les mesures de rhéologie montraient des différences négligeables dans la viscosité de la pulpe et ainsi dans l’hydrodynamique de la zone de collection, parmi les différentes conditions évaluées. Au contraire, la stabilité de la mousse diminuait à mesure que la distribution de la taille de particule de l’alimentation devenait plus grossière. On a trouvé une corrélation entre la quantité de particules fines dans la pulpe, la stabilité de la mousse et la récupération par flottation. La récupération des particules minérales dépend, de façon critique, de la stabilité de la mousse qui, à son tour est hautement influencée par la distribution globale de la taille de particule du matériel d’alimentation. Pour ces raisons, l’étude suggère également qu’il n’est pas possible, en flottation discontinue, de déterminer la vitesse et la récupération des fractions de taille de particules grossières, en les faisant flotter indépendamment des fractions de taille fine.
Conductive polymer coating for anodes used in zinc electrowinning M. Taghizadeh, NFCR, NSTRI, Tehran, Iran; H. Hooshangi, Faculty of Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Saveh Branch, Saveh, Iran; and M. Asgari, NFCR, NSTRI, Tehran, Iran
ABSTRACT In this study polypyrrole was coated on the lead silver alloy (0.5 wt-%) using electrochemical synthesis. The performance of the coating on the lead alloy corrosion behaviour in a severe corrosive electrolyte has been evaluated. Also, the morphology of polypyrrole coating was studied utilising scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that the protective layer of polypyrrole decreases the corrosion rate of the anodes by about 30% for the optimum coating condition.
RÉSUMÉ Dans cette étude, on a recouvert l’alliage de plomb et argent (0,5% en poids) avec du polypyrrole en utilisant la synthèse électrochimique. On a évalué le rendement du revêtement sur le comportement à la corrosion de l’alliage de plomb dans l’électrolyte sévèrement corrosif. On a également étudié la morphologie du revêtement de polypyrrole en utilisant le microscopie électronique à balayage (SEM). Les résultats montrent que la couche protectrice de polypyrrole diminue la vitesse de corrosion des anodes par environ 30% en condition optimale du revêtement.
November/Novembre 2014 | 79
TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS
canadian metallurgical quarterly
Excerpts taken from abstracts in CMQ, Vol. 52, No. 4. To subscribe – www.cmq-online.ca
Rhodium cementation from spent plating solution using Taguchi’s method M. H. Morcali, B. Zeytuncu, and O. Yucel, Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey
ABSTRACT The Taguchi method was used as the experimental design to determine the optimum conditions of cementation behaviour of the spent rhodium sulphate plating solution. Cementation was carried out using metallic zinc powder. The experimental conditions were studied in the range of 25-45°C for reaction temperature (A), 0.5-1.5 for pH of solution (B), 30-50 mg for zinc powder (C) and 30-60 min for reaction time (D). Experimental parameters and their levels were determined in the light of preliminary tests. An orthogonal array (OA) L934 consisting of four parameters each with three levels, was chosen. The optimal conditions found for cementation of rhodium, such as: reaction temperature, pH of the solution, mass of zinc and reaction time are respectively: 45°C, 1.5, 50 mg and 60 min. A verification experiment was conducted under optimum conditions and it was found that theoretically calculated and experimentally obtained results were in good agreement at 99.98 and 99.95% respectively.
RÉSUMÉ On a utilisé la méthode de Taguchi comme plan expérimental dans la détermination des conditions optimales du comportement de cémentation de la solution usée de sulfate de rhodium pour galvanoplastie. On a effectué la cémentation en utilisant de la poudre métallique de zinc. On a étudié les conditions expérimentales dans la gamme de 25 à 45°C pour la température de la réaction (A), 0,5 à 1,5 pour le pH de la solution (B), 30 à 50 mg pour la poudre de zinc (C) et 30 à 60 min pour la durée de réaction (D). On a déterminé les paramètres expérimentaux et leurs niveaux au moyen d’essais préliminaires. On a choisi un arrangement orthogonal (OA) L9(34) comprenant quatre paramètres, chacun à trois niveaux. Les conditions optimales de la cémentation du rhodium, incluant la température de réaction, le pH de la solution, la masse du zinc et la durée de réaction étaient respectivement de 45°C, 1,5, 50 mg et 60 min. On a effectué une expérience de vérification sous les conditions optimales et l’on a trouvé que les résultats calculés théoriquement et les résultats obtenus expérimentalement étaient en bon accord, 99,98 et 99,95 % respectivement.
Cold deformation and heat treatment influence on the microstructures and corrosion behavior of AISI 304 stainless steel H. R. Bakhsheshi-Rad, Department of Materials, Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia; B. Haerian, and A. Najafizadeh, Department of Materials Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad Branch, Isfahan, Iran; M. H. Idris, M. R. A. Kadir, E. Hamzah, and M. Daroonparvar, Department of Materials, Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
ABSTRACT In the present study AISI 304 stainless steel with different degrees of cold deformation and annealing parameters were investigated. Microstructural evolutions by optical micrography and scanning electron microscopy showed relatively fully austenitic ultrafine-grained structure obtained after annealing at 700°C for 80 min. The volume fraction of α′-martensite increased with increasing compressive deformation rate and maximum volume fraction of α′-martensite was attained in the samples subjected 0.65% strain. The potentiodynamic polarization results in 3% NaCl indicated that the corrosion current density increased with cold deformation, while after annealing, it reduced from 2.86 to 2.29 μA cm−2, showing an enhancement of corrosion resistance. The immersion test showed that the austenitic ultrafine-grained structure exhibits moderate and more uniform pitting corrosion attack compared to the coarser grain in NaCl solution.
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RÉSUMÉ Dans cette étude, on a examiné un acier inoxydable AISI 304 ayant différents taux de déformation à froid et différents paramètres de recuit. L’analyse de l’évolution de la microstructure par micrographie optique et par microscopie électronique à balayage a montré une structure à grains ultrafins et presque complètement austénitique obtenue après un recuit à 700°C pendant 80 minutes. La fraction volumique de martensite α′ augmentait avec l’augmentation du taux de déformation en compression et la fraction volumique maximale de martensite α′ était atteinte par les échantillons soumis à une déformation de 0,65%. Les résultats de polarisation potentiocinétique dans 3% de NaCl indiquaient que la densité du courant de corrosion augmentait avec la déformation à froid, alors qu’après le recuit, elle était réduite de 2,86 µA/cm2 à 2,29 µA/cm2, montrant ainsi une augmentation de la résistance à la corrosion. L’épreuve d’immersion dans la solution de NaCl a montré que la structure austénitique à grains ultrafins exhibait une attaque par corrosion localisée modérée et plus uniforme comparée au grain plus grossier.
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Who brought the canary into the coal mine? By Correy Baldwin
T
Courtesy of the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration
he poisonous or flammable pockets of gases in a mine, families who raised mine canaries to help make ends meet. known as “damps,” earned evocative names. Firedamp Other mines purchased canaries from pet shops, which had is flammable and usually consists of methane. difficulty selling canaries with poor colouration and female Stinkdamp is the explosive and particularly pungent hydrogen canaries (which generally do not sing as well as the males), sulphide. Blackdamp (or chokedamp) consists of suffocating both of which could be purchased inexpensively. carbon dioxide (CO2), and afterdamp is mainly carbon The idea of using small animals to detect poisonous gases monoxide (CO) produced in the mines was first sugafter an explosion. gested by the Scottish Afterdamp, an especially physiologist John Scott lethal enemy, being Haldane. He investigated a odourless, colourless and number of mine disasters tasteless, was extremely in the late 1890s, examindifficult for 19th century ing the bodies of miners miners to detect – unless, of killed after explosions and course, they were carrying a determining they had been yellow canary with them. killed by CO exposure. Small animals like canaFrom this discovery, he ries proved useful for designed the first respiradetecting poisonous gases tors for mine rescue crews because of their rapid and suggested using safety breathing rate and high lamps that burned with a metabolism, making them bright bluish tint when the turn of the 20th century, mine rescue crew brought canaries underground with more sensitive to the effects At CO was present – as well them in the wake of an explosion to detect noxious gases. of poisonous gas. When as canaries or white mice – exposed to low levels of to detect the poisonous CO, a canary has difficulty breathing and becomes quite vis- gas. However, even these lamps were not as sensitive as the ibly agitated and unsteady. Miners knew there was poisonous yellow birds, so most rescue crews preferred to respond with gas around when the bird began to sway on its perch or a canary, or opted to use both. collapse. Before the introduction of canaries, miners had long Regular miners rarely brought canaries with them into the known to watch the behaviour of mice, which were plentiful mines on their shifts. The birds were, instead, primarily used in the mines, especially those with underground stables, by rescue crews following explosions resulting from regular where straw and feed was kept for the mine’s pit ponies. If detonations during mining, sparks from mining equipment, miners saw mice scampering away from an area or found or the open flames of the miners’ carbide lamps. Combustion dead mice, it was a sure sign of gas. Using canaries quickly in the mines produced CO, which could kill miners through caught on and by the early 1900s they were being used in asphyxiation. mines around the world, along with such other birds as linCanaries were brought underground in cages about the nets, redpolls and pigeons. In 1914, the United States size of a lunchbox, made out of a durable, transparent Bureau of Mines tested a number of small animals to find material known as Perspex. The handles doubled as a out which reacted more quickly and most visibly when small oxygen canister, and if a canary collapsed from expo- exposed to CO. Unfortunately for the yellow canary, it won sure to CO, the miner could cover the ventilation holes out, followed closely by white mice, then chickens, dogs, and open the oxygen canister to revive the bird. It was not pigeons, sparrows, guinea pigs and rabbits. in anyone’s interest to let the birds die, and miners were Canaries were finally phased out in 1987 as new detection known to grow fond of them and treat them like pets, technology was developed. England, the last country to use whistling to them as they worked. Some even carried extra them, officially replaced the birds with electronic (and feathoxygen bottles with them especially for the canaries just in erless) methane and CO monitors, by then more effective case they needed a refill. and precise than any living creature. After nearly a century of A few mines raised their own canaries, but more com- life-saving work, the “canary in the coal mine” lives on as a monly they purchased them from private breeders – often powerful metaphor for an early warning sign for danger. CIM 82 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 8
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