CIM Magazine August 2016 by CIM-ICM Publications

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A UGUST | 2016 | AOÛT

cover story

Damage control In the face of a ferocious wildfire in Fort McMurray, the local oil sands operators harnessed their resources to respond and mitigate its effects By Chris Windeyer

The talking mine Smaller sizes and longer battery lives have made sensor technology a powerful tool for optimizing mine operations By Eavan Moore

CIM Magazine reader survey Check out some of the things we learned from you, our readers

August • Août 2016 | 5

8 10 11

Editor’s letter President’s notes Chatter tools of the trade 12 The best in new technology

CIM MAGAZINE A UGUST | 2016 | AOÛT

Compiled by Tom DiNardo

and Vince Morello

43 contenu francophone 60

La version française intégrale du CIM Magazine est disponible en ligne : magazine.CIM.org/fr-CA

developments 14 Ontario prospectors concerned about financial hit with province’s new Mining Act By Correy Baldwin 17 Briefs 18 Environmental rules in flux and commodity market uncertain after U.K. votes to leave EU By Graham Lanktree 21 Exhibitors at Minexpo 2016 aim for optimization under pressure

By Eavan Moore

Lithium experiencing a “second coming” driven by growing interest in electric cars By Kate Sheridan columns 28 Addressing water risks with closure in mind By Derek Chubb 30 The inclusion imperative By Sean Willy mine planning & design 32 Kirkland Lake stays on top of seismic events at its Macassa mine Glencore designs Onaping Depth around all-electric mining vehicle fleet By Ian Ewing 36 Paste backfill has opened a new door for UG developers, and CEMI’s Doug Morrison wants to invite miners in By Vince Morello technical abstracts 70 CIM Journal 72 Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly mining lore 74 Viola MacMillan pushed gender boundaries to succeed as a prospector, mining financier and the first female president of PDAC By Jen Glanville

49 50 60

Table des matières Lettre de l’éditeur | Mot du président article de fond Grâce à l’intervention rapide et aux opérations logistiques dirigées par les sociétés d’exploitation des sables bitumineux confrontées au feu de forêt dans le nord de l’Alberta, on a pu éviter le pire Par Chris Windeyer les actualités en bref 51 Le lithium connaît un second souffle, propulsé par l’intérêt grandissant pour les automobiles électriques Par Kate Sheridan 52 Les exposants de Minexpo 2016 sont pressés d’atteindre l’optimisation Par Eavan Moore technologie 65 L’Internet des objets innove dans l’utilisation des capteurs visant à optimiser l’exploitation minière Par Eavan Moore chroniques 54 S’attaquer aux risques qui touchent l’eau en prévision de la fermeture de la mine Par Derek Chubb 55 L’indispensable inclusion Par Sean Willy planification et conception des mines 58 Des changements de conception qui partent du sommet

Par Vince Morello

Résultats du sondage auprès des lecteurs 2016

The future. Here it comes. Driven by PC-11, two new categories of heavy duty diesel engine oils are coming: API CK-4 and API FA-4. Petro-Canada Lubricants is ready. On December 1st 2016, we will launch DURON™ Next Generation™. Oils so advanced and so durable they can improve your reliability, extend your drain intervals and help you meet your toughest challenges, head on. (YL `V\ YLHK`& >H[JO V\Y ]PKLV HUK Ä UK V\[ ^OH[ `V\ need to know at herecomespc11.com.

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Published 8 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; magazine@cim.org Advertising sales Dovetail Communications Inc. Tel.: 905.886.6640; Fax: 905.886.6615; www.dvtail.com Senior Account Executives Janet Jeffery, jjeffery@dvtail.com, 905.707.3529 Neal Young, nyoung@dvtail.com, 905.707.3525 Subscriptions Included in CIM membership ($187); Non-members (Canada): $275/yr (AB, BC, MB, NT, NU, SK add $13.50 GST; NB, ON add $35.10 HST; QC add $40.40 GST + PST; PE add $37.80 HST; NS add $40.50 HST); Non-members (USA & International): US$325/yr; Single copy: $25.

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An aerial view of the Wood Buffalo Estates neighbourhood of Fort McMurray, Alberta by Greg Halinda. Copyright Greg Halinda Photography Layout and design by Clò Communications Inc. www.clocommunications.com Copyright©2016. All rights reserved.

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

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. 11, No. 5

Be st

aving revisited the images and videos of walls of flames bearing down on the roads out of Fort McMurray during the evacuation of the town in May, I am amazed that the wildfire that cut through the heart of oil sands country cost so few lives. The fire claimed no one, and the evacuation of some 80,000 people resulted in only two fatalities. I would like to add my voice to the many others celebrating the success of the emergency response to what is now declared the worst natural disaster in Canadian history. There is likely not a community better trained and equipped to respond to the logistical demands of such a disaster. In our cover story, “Damage control” (p. 38), Chris Windeyer highlights some but by no means all of the efforts mining operations and service and supply companies committed to move people out of harm’s way as they fought against “The Beast.” Windeyer also relates the hard reality that the recovery will be a long, tough, slow process, the success of which will be much more difficult to capture than that of the evacuation. The task will be to rebuild the town – its homes, schools, churches and workplaces – into a community that once again sustains its members. It will be difficult to measure when the project is complete, but those with the grit and persistence to return the town to that place will deserve just as much acclaim as those who stepped up when the flames were threatening. In this issue, you’ll also find the results of our reader survey on page 46. The overarching message was that you want us to keep our ears to the ground for new and innovative technology, processes and operations strategies, and pass along what we hear. That is a supremely reasonable request and to that end, I would encourage you to have a look at Eavan Moore’s technology piece, “The talking mine” (pg. 43). It is a great example of what the Industrial Internet of Things looks like in practice. Also, keep your eye out for our upcoming issue, in which we will tackle the subject of innovation in mining head on.

ia ed

Ashes, grit and determination

Editor-in-chief Ryan Bergen, rbergen@cim.org Executive editor Angela Hamlyn, ahamlyn@cim.org Managing editor Andrea Nichiporuk, anichiporuk@cim.org Section editor Tom DiNardo, tdinardo@cim.org Junior section editor Kelsey Rolfe, krolfe@cim.org Copy editor Marilena Lucci, mlucci@cim.org Web content editor Maria Olaguera, molaguera@cim.org Contributing editors Peter Braul, pbraul@cim.org; Eavan Moore, emoore@cim.org Editorial intern Vince Morello, vmorello@cim.org Digitization technician Marie-Ève Lapierre, melapierre@cim.org Contributors Correy Baldwin, Derek Chubb, Ian Ewing, Jen Glanville, Graham Lanktree, Eavan Moore, Kate Sheridan, Kylie Williams, Sean Willy, Chris Windeyer Editorial advisory board Alicia Ferdinand, Garth Kirkham, Vic Pakalnis, Steve Rusk, Nathan Stubina Translations CNW, Karen Rolland

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president’s notes

The mining connection

“It’s nice to see young professionals step up to the plate to participate as volunteers and to develop leadership and organizational skills”

The comradery and fellowship in the mining industry is always heartwarming. It seems no matter where you are in the world, when you meet a mining professional, you always know at least one person in common. I was reminded of this recently at a backyard neighbour’s BBQ in Oakville this summer, where half the people seemed to be connected to mining and talk turned to mining experiences in Zimbabwe, South Africa, U.K., Greenland, Indonesia, and Sudbury. It is very positive to see the financial support that has come in from our CIM members for our mining friends in Fort McMurray. Over 1,800 houses were lost and the insurable damage has been estimated to be at least $3.8 billion. Some donations from miners have gone to the Canadian Red Cross, and CIM National is also collaborating with the CIM Oil Sands branch to disperse most of the contributions through to local organizations that our Fort Mac mining members know intimately. This is mining fellowship in action! On a lighter note, CIM golf tournaments are teeing up around the country. I enjoyed myself at a CIM GTA West tourney recently, re-connected with past colleagues and met new friends. These events are great places to network and are beneficial to individuals as well as corporations. Often they are also important fundraisers for the CIM branches. It is nice to see young professionals step up to the plate to participate as volunteers and to develop leadership and organizational skills. Although the mining industry remains in quite a fragile state, I hope we have active participation at the CIM tournaments and the many other events across Canada this year. Happy summer!

Michael Winship CIM President @CIMPrez

10 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

chatter RE: TENSION OVER TRANSPARENCY (JUNE/JULY ‘16)

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association releases the Mary River IBA. Excellent example to follow #mining - Sabina Mlodzianowska, @SMlodzianowska My quote is out of context. MAC was not happy w previous gov consultation w Indigenous groups and tensions that were arising…also share concerns re: clawback but not opposed to transparency, per se. – Pierre Gratton, @GrattonPierre

RE: MINIATURE MINERS (JUNE/JULY ‘16)

In case you missed it: Great article about "miniature miners" - Genome Canada, @GenomeCanada

RE: CANADA’S FORGOTTEN SILVER BOOMTOWN (JUNE/JULY ‘16)

1903 Cobalt Silver boom had a much greater impact on CDN history than Klondike gold rush! - Stan Sudol, @SudolStan

TWITTER twitter.com/CIMorg/ FACEBOOK facebook.com/CIMMag/ facebook.com/CIM.ICM/ LINKEDIN linkedin.com/groups/40506/ INSTAGRAM instagram.com/cim_mag YOUTUBE youtube.com/canadianinstituteofmining

RYAN BERGEN @Ryan_CIM_Mag

@ RE: NAMES TO KNOW (MAY ‘16)

“I’m having diﬃculty connecting the dots… 3) What does Rangold Resources have to do with Canada and how did they make it to #3 on the list? The article even quotes him as saying expats are bad: “expensive mercenaries.” A large part of the Canadian mining business has been founded and sustained by contracting our expertise globally. 4) Mauricio Macri…. Another non-Canadian 7) Denise Johnson…. Another non-Canadian I picked up the article expecting to read about Canadian names to know. Is it that there just aren’t any good Canadian miners left?” - John Gravel

ANGELA HAMLYN @AngelaH_CIM

ANDREA NICHIPORUK @Andrea_CIM_Mag

TOM DiNARDO @Tom_CIM_Mag

KELSEY ROLFE @kelseyarolfe

MARIA OLAGUERA @Maria_CIM_Mag

WATCH: Andressa Lacerda from Noble Puriﬁcation Inc. discusses algae-based innovation in the mining sector, and Hugh de Souza from SGS talks about the mining and exploration applications of automated core logging using hyperspectral analysis in their presentations for McEwen Mining’s Lunch and Learn Series. See the full series on our Youtube channel.

DO YOU TWEET? Get on Twitter and start following @CIMorg so you don’t miss out on the latest #mining news from CIM and the magazine!

LET’S TALK Want to sing our praises or read us the riot act? Email your comments to editor@cim.org and you could be featured on these pages. August • Août 2016 | 11

A scoop of fresh air An underground mine’s diesel machines can drive up the cost of ventilation, with diesel emissions needing to be filtered out to protect employee health. Atlas Copco expects its Scooptram ST7 Battery will help to bring those costs down. The new scooptram uses the Battery Pack 165 from Artisan Vehicle System (AVS), an electric and hybrid powertrain company, but is otherwise the same model as Atlas Copco’s diesel-powered version. “Battery machines seem to be the ideal solution,” said Erik Svedlund, the global project manager for electric vehicles and underground material handling at Atlas Copco. “They have all the flexibility of a diesel machine but without any diesel emissions.” The scooptram is the same size as the diesel-powered version, and the battery allows it to reach full power more quickly. It takes only 10 minutes to change the battery. “Electric technology does give you the power immediately so it’s not like it needs revving up to get there,” said John Gravelle, executive vice-president and CFO of AVS. “It’s a better work environment for workers. You don’t have the heat coming off the diesel engine and fumes.” On a full charge, the battery is expected to handle more than four hours of work, and a quick changeup over lunch should keep it going for the rest of the day. – Vince Morello

Courtesy of Atlas Copco

tools of the trade

Courtesy of Martin Engineering

A cleaner belt

More than meets the eye Demountable body systems are common in the trucking industry and have been available for a number of years. But Western Star has taken it a step further, creating a new class of truck body system for its XD off-road line of trucks that XD and vocational sales manager John Tomlinson refers to as a “transformer.” Western Star’s 40 ton 6900XD MBT-40 (short for multi-body transformer), developed in partnership with Carco Industries and Palfinger, can swap truck bodies like a typical demountable using an attached hook lift, but the transformer fully integrates the new body into the machine via multiple hydraulic connections. A generic in-cab control system overlaid with customized control panel templates depending on the truck body allows operators to easily operate each body once attached. “We’ve created a system where you plug the trucks in, hook them up, all the switches turn into the new body switches, all the hydraulics size themselves to the new body, and you can bolt it to the frame permanently,” said Tomlinson. “It’s now a fully functional, permanent water truck [for example] for as long as you need it.” In just 10 minutes, the MBT-40 can change between two of the three bodies currently available with the technology: a Klein 8,000-gallon water truck, an 80-ton SmithCo side dump trailer and a Ground Force 40-ton dump body. The company is currently working with other body builders to expand its offering. – Tom DiNardo 12 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

Courtesy of Western Star

Conveyor belts that transport solid materials are subject to wear that can create valleys that capture dust, which can remain even after passing the belt cleaning blades. In some cases, shaking from return idlers can cause the valleys to release this material, leading to excessive dust on the belt. Martin Engineering’s Washbox Cleaning System combines water spray bars and secondary cleaning blades to remove leftover residue. “The biggest thing it offers is a clean belt [when it leaves] the box,” said Dave Mueller, a senior product specialist at Martin Engineering. “That’s what the customers are after and that’s what we’re after.” When the belt comes through the front of the box, it goes through a roller that prevents it from dragging on the box. It is sprayed with water, and then passes through the cleaners. The Washbox is located under the conveyor’s frame behind the return idlers, and has two spray bars inside the box itself for selfcleaning purposes. – Vince Morello

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Environmental rules in flux and commodity market uncertain after U.K. votes to leave EU

Exhibitors at Minexpo 2016 aim for optimization under pressure

A carbon capture breakthrough in Iceland

Lithium experiencing a “second coming” driven by growing interest in electric cars

Developments Raising the stakes Ontario prospectors concerned about financial hit with province’s new Mining Act Ontario is modernizing its Mining Act, introducing changes in three phases to bring the province in line with other Canadian jurisdictions. The province is the last jurisdiction to do so, and legislators hope the new Act will maintain the province’s competitive edge. But the latest changes are also set to drastically alter the livelihood of Ontario’s prospectors – a profession that has traditionally been vital to discoveries of mineral deposits. Amendments for Phase 3 of modernizing the Mining Act, introduced at the end of 2015 and currently making its way through the legislature, pave the way for online registration of mining claims (or online map staking) and an electronic system for administering mining lands. The goal is to create greater efficiency in the way mining lands are administered and managed, while also recognizing indigenous and treaty rights and better respecting private landowners by ensuring less intrusive exploration. With online map staking, mining companies simply select the area of land they want to claim on a digital map using an online registration system, thus replacing traditional staking done by prospectors working in the bush. This has left smaller, independent prospectors fearing a major loss of income. In addition to traditional prospecting work, many independents 14 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

Photos courtesy of Jessica Bjorkman

By Correy Baldwin

In addition to traditional prospecting work, many independents stake both on contract and for themselves, including northern Ontario prospector Karl Bjorkman and his family, who make up Bjorkman Prospecting.

stake both on contract and for themselves, acquiring land they then sell to mining companies at significant profit. It is work that they rely on to support their business, largely done in the winter when prospecting contracts slow. With staking now much easier to do, prospectors worry mining companies will no longer need to hire independents to stake for them. “We will lose 50 per cent of our income overnight. That’s a tremendous loss for us,” said prospector Karl Bjorkman, whose family business Bjorkman Prospecting received the 2016 PDAC Special Achievement Award. “We stake claims to keep ourselves floating, so we can have some money to go prospecting,” he said. Bjorkman has already had to diversify, finding work in forestry. His fear is

that prospectors will be forced to find work elsewhere and that, as they do, the industry will lose a lot of professional skill and knowledge. But the true effects of the legislation are difficult to predict. “There is the possibility of fewer discoveries,” said Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association (OPA). “But there’s also the possibility that it’s going to be cheaper to acquire ground, so companies may spend more money on the ground, therefore hiring more prospectors.” The cost of acquiring land is another source of concern. “The price of claims is going to go up substantially for us,” said Bjorkman. “That’s going to be a really hard knock to the prospector.” Under the current system, land is inexpensive for prospectors

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($61.20 for a 16-unit claim), who sell to mining companies for a hefty profit. Under the new system, everyone will pay the same amount – a fee that, although yet to be determined, will almost certainly be cheaper for companies and more expensive for prospectors, cutting into their profits. According to Bjorkman, this means

that prospectors will no longer be able to operate on a level playing field with companies. “The little guys are going to be kept down,” he said. “It’s a double whack, because we lose all this income, and then we also have to put out hard dollars to acquire land,” said Mike Tremblay, the prospector behind the Borden Lake gold discovery,

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Engineering

16 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

EPC+

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Construction

which was awarded the 2013 OPA discovery of the year. Tremblay stresses the ramifications for local economies. When he hires crews, “all their wages stay in Northern Ontario, and all of our costs benefit business in Northern Ontario,” he said. Roy Denomme, project lead for modernizing the Mining Act, said the government is listening. “We’ve done a tremendous amount of outreach through the local regional prospector groups, and held specific meetings just with prospectors and contract stakers,” he said. “The proposed changes to the Mining Act were based on careful assessment of the impact online registration has had on the prospecting communities in other Canadian jurisdictions,” explained Phil Andrews, a spokesman for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM). “What we learned was that prospectors found ways to adapt, innovate and tap into new ways of deploying their services.” Andrews said the ministry found prospectors in other jurisdictions were able to acquire previously-inaccessible mining claims, such as ones in mountainous terrain or that could only be accessed by aircraft once online staking was implemented. Online staking also allowed prospectors who found the physical requirements of staking too difficult to continue to stake claims, and for prospectors to continue contract staking for companies without “expending significant resources,” he said. MNDM will have engagement sessions and meetings with regional prospecting associations throughout the summer and fall. The government has also introduced several programs with prospectors in mind, including the Junior Exploration Assistance Program (JEAP), implemented during Phase 2 of the modernization, which returns money to juniors that spend money on the ground. The hope is that the program will encourage companies to hire prospectors. “They’re putting things in place to stimulate the industry, to help stimulate the exploration cycle, which will then allow more properties to be optioned,

and attract more people to Ontario to work,” explained Clark. The OPA administers JEAP. The province also announced a more formalized prospector training course, hosted by the OPA, for training future prospectors and teaching more advanced principles of prospecting. The hope, said Clark, is to encourage more young people to enter the field – something the industry desperately needs. Tremblay, however, has doubts about the courses’ effectiveness. “There’s very few people who are tough enough to do the job,” he said. Prospectors are turning to their regional prospecting associations to raise their concerns, as well as their recommendations for direct support. “The new Act is covering the issues of many different stakeholders, so it is a battle to keep our issues on the front lines,” said Bob Chataway, president of the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association (NWOPA). One recommendation is to give companies double assessment credits if they hire a prospector, allowing them to maintain land for longer. (Companies must conduct a certain amount of exploration activity on a mining claim – the costs for which are converted into credits – to maintain the rights to explore it.) Another recommendation is to make it easier for prospectors to obtain exploration permits and plans, given that prospecting does not alter the land like other exploration or extraction activities. Denomme insists that some of these discussions will happen: “Once the legislation is passed, we will turn our minds to the assessment regulations, and those are some of the things we would be looking at.” Although Tremblay agrees such measures would help, he is concerned about a loss of independence: “They’re setting this up so that it’s going to be harder for me to do it as an independent, and easier to end up as somebody else’s worker. “I know how to survive, so I’ll figure out a way,” he said. “But I don’t see the next generation coming along.” CIM

Courtesy of Imperial Metals

developments

Imperial Metals was given the go-ahead to resume normal operations at Mount Polley in late June, using its repaired and modified tailings facility (pictured).

Imperial Metals sets its sights on engineering firms Imperial Metals is suing Knight Piésold and Amec Foster Wheeler (formerly known as AMEC) for negligence and breach of contract over the August 2014 tailings dam failure at its Mount Polley mine in south-central B.C., which spilled 24 million cubic metres of waste and water into nearby rivers and lakes. The company is requesting an undisclosed amount in damages. In its filing to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Imperial Metals claims “each of the defendants failed to undertake necessary, proper and reasonable investigation of the subsurface conditions underlying the tailings storage facility (TSF) prior to and during its phased construction and operation.” Imperial Metals declined CIM Magazine’s request for comment. Knight Piésold designed and supervised the dam from the late 1980s until 2011, when caretaking of the dam was transferred to Amec Foster Wheeler until its collapse in 2014. The suit alleges the design and construction of the TSF did not have “an adequate factor of safety as required by applicable regulations and sound engineering practice.” It claims that Knight Piésold failed to take into account the risks of the subsurface conditions and the effect it would have on the foundation when designing the TSF. The suit also alleges Knight Piésold “failed to design the TSF in compliance with the Dam Safety Guidelines and the HSR Code.”

Knight Piésold said in an email to CIM Magazine that “significant design changes” were made after the firm left the project, “such that the tailings storage facility at the time of the breach cannot be considered a Knight Piésold design. “Knight Piésold is confident that our engineering services were appropriate and that the breach would not have occurred if the facility had continued to be developed and operated in accordance with our design,” the company said. The lawsuit alleges Amec Foster Wheeler failed to identify and warn the company of the design flaws of the TSF created by Knight Piésold and concluded that the dam was safe in its 2006 AMEC Dam Safety Review. Lauren Gallagher, a spokesperson for Amec Foster Wheeler, said the company could not comment on the matter, but that the company “continues to work with industry partners, professional organizations and regulators to ensure that the future of British Columbia mining prioritizes safety, accountability and environmental responsibility.” The provincial government of British Columbia declined to charge Imperial Metals for the dam’s collapse in December 2015, and shortly after, a government-appointed panel found the dam failed because of its initial design. The TSF had been shut down since the dam collapsed, but B.C.’s Ministry of Energy and Mines and Ministry of Environment gave the go-ahead for Mount Polley to return to normal operations in late June using its repaired and modified facility. – Vince Morello August • Août 2016 | 17

Actions and reactions after the Brexit vote Environmental rules in flux and commodity market uncertain after U.K. votes to leave EU By Graham Lanktree

The internal political tumult of the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union is beginning to settle. But uncertainty about the vote’s longterm impact on the market and Britain’s environmental laws and regulations looms. One of the big unknowns is what kind of separation agreement will emerge between the U.K. and EU, how long it will take to reach it, and what industry laws and regulations will change after it is signed. “Some international treaties relating to the environment, such as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes are implemented in U.K. law via European regulations,” said Penny Cygan-Jones, a senior oil and gas solic-

itor at global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. That means that outside the EU this law will no longer be a part of U.K. domestic law, she said. However, “existing U.K. legislation which is derived from EU law would be likely to remain in place upon Brexit and any changes would be introduced gradually and over time,” Cygan-Jones added. It is likely to take at least two years of negotiation to pick apart the legal strands, but right now there are two primary paths for a separation agreement. The first would see the U.K. become part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and retain access to the single market and its laws and regulations. The second would see the U.K. join the European Free Trade Association

(EFTA) a free trade area including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, that also has access to the EU’s single market. Unlike the EEA, the EFTA does not make legislation for its member nations or press for political integration. In both options the U.K. would keep some EU environmental laws and regulations and become unbound by others. Specifically, said Cygan-Jones, “the U.K. would no longer need to follow the Common Agricultural Policy or the Common Fisheries Policy, and European directives relating to habitats, birds and bathing water.” Controversially, though, both options would require the U.K. to allow some degree of free movement of EU workers to the U.K., which proBrexit voters generally oppose.

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18 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

developments Amidst this, Britain’s government is taking pains to avoid recession. After the June 23 vote, Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) George Osborne announced plans to cut the U.K.’s corporate tax rate to 15 per cent, down from 20, by 2020 making it one of the lowest of any major economy. The London Metal Exchange (LME), the global centre of industrial metal trading, has so far emerged from this Brexit confusion relatively unscathed. “Despite the expected volatility following the outcome of the referendum, there was no major

impact on our market,” said the exchange’s chief executive Garry Jones in a note to members on June 29. LME trading is completed in U.S. dollars and therefore protected from the steep fall of the British pound. Yet “post-Brexit USD strength will weigh broadly on commodity prices,” argued Scotiabank Commodity Economist Rory Johnston in the bank’s latest Global Outlook. “Our global growth outlook has been downgraded slightly in the wake of the Brexit vote, weighed down by uncertainty and weaker investment across Europe,” he wrote. As a result Johnston predicts prices for

oil and many base metals will be “slightly lower in 2017.” The uncertainty falling over Europe’s economies has boosted the price of gold, which thrives in times of crisis, and “is likely to continue to support demand for safe-haven asset classes,” wrote Douglas Rowlings, a Moody’s analyst, in a recent note to investors. But “despite the importance of the shock to Europe,” said Scotiabank’s Johnston, “we expect its impact outside of the region to be relatively contained, as the U.S., China, and India remain on reasonably solid footing.” CIM

Courtesy of Dominion Diamond Corporation

The company also announced in early July that development of the large, high-grade Jay Project, a kimberlite pipe deposit located 30 km southeast of the main Ekati mine infrastructure, would begin next year. Dominion aims to begin mining the deposit in late 2022. The project received approval from the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board in February. Dominion revised its production forecast for Ekati in the 2017 fiscal year in the wake of the fire; the mine is expected to produce 4.7 million carats, down from the initial estimate of 5.6 million. – Kylie Williams Repairs on Ekati’s processing plant, damaged by a fire in late June, are expected to take three months and cost $25 million.

Small fire makes big impact at Ekati processing plant More than 300 workers were temporarily laid off or reassigned after a fire damaged the processing plant at Dominion Diamond’s Ekati mine, located 300 kilometres north of Yellowknife, on June 23. Dominion, which also owns 40 per cent of nearby Diavik, estimated repairs would take three months and cost $25 million. The fire broke out at 7 a.m. during a planned shutdown to replace a degritting screen, and was quickly extinguished. All employees working in the area were safely evacuated and no

injuries were reported. Although the damage was limited to a small area and most of the items needed to repair the screen are already on site, additional items needed to be ordered and will be delivered by air freight, and ore will be stockpiled until the plant is repaired. “We’ve planned mining activities to allow for the option to prioritize higher value ore sources on startup, thereby minimizing the impact on the value of our fiscal year production,” said Dominion’s CEO, Brendan Bell, in a press release on July 5. Dominion will suspend mining kimberlite at the lower-grade Pigeon and Lynx open pits and focus on the higher value Misery open pit and Koala underground operation.

Northern Superior pushes forward with appeal Junior miner Northern Superior Resources has filed to appeal the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s decision against the company in the ongoing civil case regarding its exploration work in northern Ontario. The company’s notice of appeal argued that the judge in its first trial, Judge Thomas Lederer, did not rule on the “nature and scope” of the province’s duty to consult, among 36 other grounds. The company alleged that the Ontario government did not meet its duty to consult with the Sachigo Lake First Nation about the company’s project, to the detriment of its exploration work. August • Août 2016 | 19

FROM THE WIRE

Global engineering group DRA appointed Phildi Scholtz as executive vice-president of projects, the company announced in late May. Daniel M. Gagnon, previously the mining group general manager of mining at recently-acquired Met-Chem Canada, was also named DRA’s senior vice-president of mining, geology and MetChem Operations. Centerra Gold announced in late June that its Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan received maximum allowable emissions (MAE) and maximum allowable discharge permits for 2016 from the Kyrgyz Republic State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry (SAEPF). The MAE permit is valid until December 31, 2016, and is the first permit Kumtor has received since 2014. Centerra is currently seeking international arbitration with Kyrgyzstan after prosecutors raided the company’s office and Kumtor received environmental penalties, which the company argues are illegitimate. Nick Fogarty was named ARANZ Geo’s general manager of mining and minerals in early June. Fogarty, who has been with the company since 2013 and was previously its global sales and channel director, will oversee the company’s Leapfrog platform, among other duties.

20 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

Courtesy of Northern Superior Resources

Rio Tinto shook up its management ranks in late June, including booting its iron ore division CEO Andrew Harding, which took effect July 1st. Chris Salisbury, previously the leader of Rio Tinto’s copper and coal division was named Harding’s replacement. Alan Davies was named chief executive of the energy and minerals division (a newly-formed combination of coal, uranium, salt borates and other units). Alfredo Barrios took over the aluminum division, Arnaud Soirat joined the copper and diamond executive committee, and Stephen McIntosh will have an executive role on the growth and innovation team.

Northern Superior filed to appeal an Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision against the company in a civil case regarding the company’s exploration work in northern Ontario.

“There are quite a number of issues out there that the government is not addressing,” said Northern Superior CEO Thomas Morris. “I’m simply trying to look after my shareholders here.” Northern Superior asked for $110 million in damages in the lawsuit as compensation for the company’s losses. “This case has far-reaching effects for the industry,” Morris said. He added he has heard that other companies are concerned about similar issues. “We think [the case is] important for the industry, to the First Nations and to government.” Thomas Isaac of the law firm Osler Hoskin & Harcourt, commenting in Canadian Lawyer InHouse, noted “the bigger issue is, what is the reasonable standard of conduct a proponent should expect from a Crown decision-maker, period.” Northern Superior, formerly Superior Diamonds, and Sachigo had negotiated several agreements since 2005 and worked together while the company drilled near Meston Lake and Rapson Bay, but the relationship soured after disagreements emerged about staking activity in July 2011, “incomplete” invoices from Sachigo that the Nation says went unpaid and Sachigo’s request for a 24 per cent administration fee, based on the value of a contract being negotiated. Negotiations to continue work broke down in the summer of 2012, and that fall the company asked the provincial government for compensation.

As part of a “transitional” approach to the way First Nations were consulted about mining exploration and projects, the government sent letters to First Nations communities and mining companies, between 2009 and 2012. First Nation communities were notified about new claims in their area, and companies were notified about which First Nations were in the area of claims and given contact information. In the initial trial, the judge ruled against the company and stated that the Ontario government did not owe a duty to consult to Northern Superior. “There can be no duty owed by the Crown to Northern Superior,” the judge wrote. “In such circumstances, the loyalty of the Crown is to the First Nation.” Requiring the government to advocate for both parties would not be possible, the judge added. The judge stated the company cannot be compensated by the government when it was not “directly involved” in the company’s relationship with the First Nation. The government had offered to meet with communities and companies in some of the letters sent to Northern Superior that provided the contact information for the First Nations in its area of exploration, according to the decision. Northern Superior’s stock peaked in January 2012 at 42.5 cents/share, and in 2011 was valued as high as $1.05/share. At press time it was trading at two cents/share. – Kate Sheridan

developments

Cost-cutting and creativity Exhibitors at Minexpo 2016 aim for optimization under pressure By Eavan Moore

Exhibitors at this year’s Minexpo in September will have spent the past four years watching a downturn deepen into a protracted slump for mined commodities. The sense of caution that accompanied the last expo in 2012 “has given way to often stricter requirements and greater need for customers to keep costs down, improve productivity and find ways to do more with less,” said Caley Clinton, public relations manager at Joy Global. “These areas are of key focus for us at this year’s booth, as we work to help our customers optimize their operations in this challenging market.” Joy Global will highlight the expanding use of its SR hybrid drive across product lines. In a new family of underground hard rock loaders, the power-regenerating drive will work with a Kinetic Energy Storage System (KESS) that helps improve productivity by increasing acceleration speeds to reduce cycle times. The supersized trucks and excavators of prior expos are unlikely to take centre stage this year. “We’ve figured out in the last four years that bigger isn’t necessarily better,” said Jan Kwak, managing director of mining and mineral processing at Hatch, noting that higher production only exacerbates an unfavourable supply-demand balance. “What I’m interested to find out is, are there people out there trying out technologies that have a different flowsheet? That don’t rely on scale for keeping costs down?” Hatch engineers will be at Minexpo to crawl over new equipment, but also to network and share ideas for working in a new kind of industry environment informed by record debt levels, climate change and software solutions that did not exist several years ago. Stantec will attend primarily to check out technical papers and stay

up-to-date on equipment, said Mike Mayhew, vice-president, sector leader of mining and director of global mining. Stantec will also take the opportunity to advertise its recent acquisition of MWH Global, which expands its global reach and brings in new water resource expertise. Mayhew said he has seen a sharpening focus on safety issues, both at Stantec and among its clients. He expects safety to be a frequent topic of discussion on the floor. Some of the new technologies on display could address that concern; for example, Mayhew is interested in fully-automated rock breaking and remote mucking, which keep people away from the mine face. Battery power has also experienced significant advances in the last four years as companies seek to protect worker health and keep their ventilation and fuel costs down in deepening mines. “You can see that it’s across major suppliers now, and there’s a big shift there on the battery equipment,” said Mayhew. Sudbury-based RDH Mining, the first company to commercialize battery-powered equipment for hard rock mines, will use Minexpo 2016 to introduce the 600EB version of its Liftmaster scissor-lift. RDH will also debut a small, one-cubic-metre model in its Muckmaster LHD line. Gustavo Portalier, chief operations officer at RDH, said these products meet the needs of mining companies looking to reduce their environmental impact. “I see the development of battery-powered equipment as one of the biggest technological advances in mining equipment,” he said, “since it eliminates many of the environmental and health concerns that are posed when using diesel equipment.” RDH is looking to expand its reach into new markets like Africa and Brazil.

FROM THE WIRE Anthony Makuch has replaced George Ogilvie as CEO of Kirkland Lake Gold, leaving his position at Tahoe Resources as executive vice-president and president of the company’s Canadian operations. Makuch previously served as CEO of Lake Shore Gold, which was acquired by Tahoe in February. With Makuch leaving, Tahoe’s president and COO Ron Clayton will manage the dayto-day operations of the company’s Lake Shore Gold division. Metso announced several changes to its executive team in early June, which took effect on August 1. Jani Puroranta was named chief digital officer and Olli-Pekka Oksanen the new senior vice-president of strategy and business development. Eeva Sipilä is Metso’s new chief financial officer; Harri Nikunen was named senior vice-president of mergers and acquisitions and special projects; and Simo Sääskilahti became head of valve technologies in the flow control business area. Yorbeau Resources and Kinross Gold have signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) giving Kinross the option of obtaining a 100 per cent interest in Yorbeau’s Rouyn property in Quebec, the exploration company announced in late June. As part of the terms of the LOI, Kinross must meet a certain set of investment conditions, including an initial $12-million investment in exploration, over a four-year period to eventually fully acquire the property. The Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB), in its report to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett, recommended that the ministry not approve Sabina Gold and Silver’s Back River gold project. The review board said in mid-June that moving forward with the project would cause unmanageable environmental damage to the wildlife in the area, including the caribou population. Sabina has requested that Bennett send the report back to the NIRB for more consideration.

Compiled by Vince Morello

August • Août 2016 | 21

MINING SOLUTIONS Range of High Performance Lubricants & Services

Sandvik stands among the larger manufacturers adopting battery power for underground equipment. The company’s DD422iE jumbo set to debut at Minexpo features batterypowered tramming. Kerry Falk, marketing manager for Canada, said Sandvik would share a number of new features and products focused on optimizing operations. “Mining houses have moved away from production at any cost to material moved at lowest total cost per tonne produced,” he commented. “Mining houses in turn have expectations that OEMs can bring their technology pipeline forward faster to meet the new focus.” First-time exhibitor SmartCap Technologies has spent the last four years commercializing and marketing its wearable fatigue detection system. Developed within the Australian government research centre CRCMining, the SmartCap is a piece of headwear fitted with a removable sensor that reads electrical brain activity, paired via Bluetooth with a display that automatically alerts fatigued drivers. Kristy Hamilton, marketing manager at SmartCap, said the company would be making use of Minexpo to introduce a new version of the system; instead of relying on a mounted in-cab display, operators will now get their alerts through a smartphone app. In choosing Minexpo as the product launch, she said, “We thought, what event would be better? Even though SmartCap is used on planes, trains and buses, it was built by mining for mining, and Minexpo is mining’s

A carbon capture breakthrough in Iceland

Total Canada

total-canada.ca

Energizing performance. Every day

22 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

Scientists from the United States and Europe, in partnership with Iceland public utility Reykjavik Energy, have successfully tested a new method of capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The research team on the project, called CarbFix, published its findings in the journal Science in early June. The team’s goal was to dissolve CO2 and H2S into water, and then inject that into the volcanic rock under Iceland. “Long term, you have to put [the CO2] somewhere, and the idea of putting it back into limestone is the most geologically safe, stable place to go,” said Eric Oelkers, a professor of aqueous geochemistry at the University College London, and a researcher on the project. “It’s where the Earth wants to put its carbon dioxide.” To inject the H2S and CO2 emissions into limestone, the researchers first dissolved them into water by mixing the gasses with water with a pH of 7, at a slightly elevated pressure, said Oelkers. They found that injecting the dissolved emissions into volcanic rock under Iceland allowed the CO2 to react with basalt rocks, turning the gas into carbonate materials, which form the basis of limestone. Two years after seeing the results of the initial injections, the researchers published their data. The project took place at Iceland’s Hellisheidi power plant where in 2012 the team began injecting 250 tonnes

of CO2 into volcanic rock. After only two years, 95 per cent of the gas mineralized into carbonite minerals. Previously, scientists believed CO2 would only turn into rock after hundreds or thousands of years, said Jeurg Matter, the project’s research team leader and an associate professor in geoengineering at the University of Southampton. “Simulations of our reservoir and of our injection showed that it takes roughly between five to 10 years to fully carbonate the CO2,” he said. “We did it in two years. It was more rapid than what we expected.” With this part of CarbFix a success, the team has begun attempting to increase its scale by injecting 5,000

tonnes of CO2 and 2,000 tonnes of H2S into deep reservoirs. The team’s goal for next year is to inject 10,000 tonnes to test the capacity of the technique. The basalt rocks in which the gas-charged water is injected are more important than the type of emissions being captured, said Oelkers, so the method should work on any fossil fuel emissions. Neil Wildgust, global lead – storage for the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, said he is excited about the results and sees the project as another way to store CO2 in addition to current methods, rather than a replacement. “The option of storing CO2 in basalts, which has been demonstrated

at CarbFix, still has to make that progression up to larger scale to really be significant in terms of greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. Mineralizing CO2 could be applied worldwide, Matter said, because basalt rocks underlie Earth’s surface more than any other rock type. But while most continents have some basalt exposed on the surface, the majority is found on the seafloor. The environmental effects of injecting CO2 into the ocean floor would determine whether the method will see widespread use. “We don’t know what environmental problems it can cause by having bubbles of dense carbon dioxide in the ocean floor,” Oelkers said. – V. Morello

Lithium powers through the downturn Industrial mineral experiencing a “second coming” driven by growing interest in electric cars The lithium markets and industry have been growing, spurred by the growth of the electric car market, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Mine 2016 annual report on the industry, published in early June. Lithium is one of only two commodities – gold being the second – whose prices have survived the global downturn, the report said. “Lithium has experienced unprecedented demand over the past year due to its widespread application in batteries,” and especially in electric car batteries, noted the report. Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors, currently constructing a battery factory in Nevada, expects to produce as many lithium-ion batteries from that location in 2020 as were produced worldwide in 2013. Meanwhile, nearly every major carmaker has begun marketing electric vehicles, and 2015 saw an 80 per cent increase in sales over the year before. Tesla has stated that it believes there will be enough lithium supply to build the batteries it needs, but some ana-

Courtesy of Nemaska Lithium

By Kate Sheridan

Nemaska Lithium claims its Quebec mine will be the second-largest lithium reserve in the world, and expects production to begin in 2018.

lysts worry lithium producers will struggle to supply the commodity. Today, however, Tesla’s brand is far more noteworthy than its lithium appetite. “From a lithium demand standpoint, Tesla is not significant – right now. Based on last year’s production, they’re less than two per cent of the lithium market,” said Joe Lowry, president of consulting firm Global Lithium.

Batteries used to store energy from renewable sources, like wind and solar power, will add to the demand for lithium and lithium batteries, Lowry said. Lithium is also used in ceramics, glass and air conditioners. This is not the first time Lowry has seen a groundswell of interest in lithium; interest also spiked in the late 2000s, when electric and hybrid-electric vehicles began to make a mark on August • Août 2016 | 23

the market. While that wave of interest was premature, he said, “I see this as kind of a second coming, only this time it’s real.” The price for lithium carbonate, one of the major types of lithium used in batteries, increased 400 per cent in the last two years to a yearly average of $6,400 per tonne in 2015, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) 2016 lithium outlook. For the first time, a lithium company broke into PwC’s Top 40 mining companies by market capitalisation. Deutsche Bank has forecasted the lithium supply will triple over the next decade. Reports indicate Tesla may need about 24,000 tonnes of lithium to have enough batteries to produce half a million cars by 2018. However, only 32,500 tonnes were produced worldwide in 2015, according to data from the USGS.

Increasing production Most of the world’s lithium supply is produced by three companies: FMC Corp., Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) and the Albemarle Corporation. SQM’s CEO Patricio de Solminihac said in a 2015 interview with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence that the company could increase production within 12 months, if necessary, to meet higher demand. FMC and Albemarle have decided not to wait. FMC announced in May it would triple its production of lithium hydroxide by 2019, increasing to 30,000 tonnes from 10,000. Albemarle also announced it would be increasing production of lithium carbonate to 70,000 tonnes from 24,000 over 27 years. The majors are not the only ones capitalizing on the lithium rush. Tesla secured deals to buy lithium from a few junior companies, including Canada-based Pure Energy Minerals and Bacanora Minerals. Neither have mines in production, but others are coming online – especially in South America. Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile are the true lithium powerhouses. Of about 34 million 24 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

tonnes of identified lithium resources around the world, these three countries account for the majority. But Canada – and Quebec in particular – may become another lithium hotbed. Canada has about one million tonnes of identified lithium resources, according to data from the USGS. One project in Quebec is getting closer to production: Nemaska Lithium, which closed a $69-million public offering and began trading on the TSX on July 8. “The world needs a couple of newcomers to the market, as soon as possible,” said Nemaska President and CEO Guy Bourassa, “and we’re one of them.” Nemaska claims its mine will be on the second-largest reserve in the world. “We’re also one of three projects around the world that are currently fully permitted and ready to build,” Bourassa added, estimating that similar projects in Canada are probably five to seven years behind Nemaska’s. Bourassa said he expects production will begin in 2018. The most recent feasibility study for the project estimated the mine would produce about 213,000 tonnes of concentrate per year, which would become about 27,500 tonnes of lithium hydroxide

Federal government to review environmental assessment processes, National Energy Board Six federal cabinet ministers announced reviews of Canada’s environmental assessment processes and the National Energy Board (NEB), which is responsible for approving pipelines, among other duties. Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna is leading the environmental assessment review, and Minister of Natural Resources James Carr is leading the “modernization” of the NEB. “We are seeking to provide regulatory certainty not only to project proponents, so they know the basis on which decisions will be made, but also to the public, so they know that the environment will be protected and eco-

and 3,245 tonnes of lithium carbonate. Both are often used as cathodes – the positive end of a battery.

Looking ahead There is the possibility that the supply of other components of a lithiumion battery may be in jeopardy – particularly cobalt, most of which comes from mines in countries not known for their political stability. Lowry does not share those concerns. “I don’t think cobalt, long-term, is going to be something that stops the story,” he said, citing recycled cobalt, the relatively large markets for both nickel and cobalt, and the push to develop cobalt-free cathodes. There remains the potential for other projects in the future to threaten the dominance of the lithium-ion battery – an issue alluded to in the PwC report. But Bourassa is not worried. “Nobody sees a replacement for at least 15 or 20 years from now,” he said. “What we see is the evolution of lithium-ion batteries with new chemistries: more cycles, higher power density, more safety, less heat generated. But they’re all lithium-ion batteries at the end of the day.” CIM

nomic growth will be based on proper oversight and safeguards,” McKenna said at a news conference in mid-June. Both reviews were campaign promises made by the Liberal party during the 2015 election. During the campaign, the Liberals said they wanted to make sure Canadians are “able to trust that government will engage in appropriate regulatory oversight, including credible environmental assessments, and that it will respect the rights of those most affected, such as Indigenous communities.” Both ministers will establish expert panels to seek feedback from indigenous groups and stakeholders, as well as members of the public. The panels will report back to their respective ministers with recommendations by Jan. 31, 2017. The environmental assessment review panel will examine the Canadian

Courtesy of Kinder Morgan

developments

Minister of Natural Resources James Carr is leading a review of the National Energy Board, which is responsible for approving pipeline projects like Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion.

Environmental Assessment Act, which the previous Conservative government introduced in 2012 in an omnibus bill. The Act relaxed the rules around environmental assessments, reducing the number and scope of necessary assessments, allowing some federal depart-

ments, specifically the NEB, to issue licences and permits without a completed assessment and limiting public input on projects. Carr said the NEB review will focus on the board’s governance and look at how to better consult with indigenous

groups. The review will also examine the NEB’s compliance, enforcement and monitoring practices. When Justin Trudeau unveiled the Liberals’ environmental platform last June he promised to “put some teeth” back into the board, and criticized the previous government for “[choosing] to be a cheerleader instead of a referee on issues like this.” The government put a set of “interim principles” and transitional measures in place in January for major resource projects under review, which involve better engagement with indigenous groups and the public, and assessment of projects’ upstream greenhouse gas emissions. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the NEB will all continue to use the 2012 Act to conduct assessments until the review is finished. The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) will be part of the environmental

August • Août 2016 | 25

review process, which it supports because it believes that the act “resulted in a slight increase in the extent of federal approvals required for mining projects,” MAC spokesperson Jessica Draker wrote in an email. “[The review] should promote the sustainable development of our mineral resources,” said Draker, “including meaningful consultation with Aboriginal communities, and ensure that Canada remains a top place for mineral – V. Morello investment.”

British Columbia launches web platform for mine inspection and safety information British Columbia’s mining ministry has a new, user-friendly portal for documents and information about mines in the province. The website, BC Mine Information, first went live on April 19. As of midJune, the site hosted inspection reports from 2013 to 2016 for metal, coal and industrial mineral mines that are currently operating in the province. Information is also available for some mines that have closed or moved into care and maintenance. Dam safety information for 70 mines, originally made available online last year, also moved over to the new website. The website features a map showing each mine’s location and a sortable and searchable table that lists each project by name, region and status. “Following the Mount Polley dam failure, we recognized the need to improve our records management systems and committed to implement a system that was more readily accessible to the public,” Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett said in a statement to CIM Magazine. “I think this new webbased system delivers on that commitment, providing easier access and greater transparency to permit information, inspection reports and other details about mines in British Columbia. “Moving forward, we will continue to refine and improve this system and populate it with more information.” 26 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

The University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre filed a complaint with the provincial privacy commissioner in 2014 alleging that the provincial government broke freedom of information law when it did not release environmental assessments and dam inspection reports about Mount Polley after the incident. In July 2015, the commissioner found that the ministry’s actions were not illegal and re-interpreted B.C.’s privacy and freedom of information legislation, removing a requirement for making information public only in “urgent circumstances.”

Feedback about the site has been positive, according to a ministry spokesperson, and may help build public confidence in the mining sector. The ministry believes the information may be useful to industry, government staff, academic researchers and even private citizens who want to learn more about nearby mine sites. Traffic data for the new site was not available. According to information provided by the ministry, new information about decisions and penalties will be posted – K. Sheridan on an ongoing basis.

CENOVUS INVESTS IN

CARIBOU HABITAT RESTORATION Cenovus Energy announced in early June it would spend $32 million over 10 years to restore caribou habitats affected by its Alberta oil sands operations. Cenovus has worked to restore the caribou habitats near its Foster Creek oil sands operation through various pilot projects since 2008. Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) also plans to continue restoring the caribou habitat in the Athabasca and Cold Lake oil sand areas. Cenovus’s commitment came a week after the Alberta government said it had accepted all the recommendations in mediator Eric Denhoff’s report on developing a provincial caribou protection strategy, including providing more permanent range protection. The government also released a draft of its plan to recover the caribou populations in west-central Alberta which recommends the restoration of over 10,000 kilometres of deforested terrain created by past oil and gas exploration, and will eventually develop plans for all caribou ranges in the province; a plan for the Cold Lake range, which overlaps with several oil sands operations including Cenovus’s Foster Creek, is expected in 2017. The province’s caribou are listed as threatened under the Alberta Wildlife Act. Part of that decline is attributed to those long tracks of seismic exploration lines which have made the caribou easy prey for – V. Morello wolves.

3,900

KM2

OF FOREST CENOVUS PLANS TO REPLANT

six

CARIBOU RANGES NEAR CENOVUS OPERATIONS (INCLUDING COLD LAKE)

150

CARIBOU IN THE COLD LAKE HERD

18,000

KM2 OF LAND THE ALBERTA GOVERNMENT PLANS TO PROTECT, FOR A TOTAL

49,000

OF KM2 PROVINCE-WIDE

15.2%

ANNUAL RATE OF DECLINE FOR ALBERTA’S CARIBOU IN 2012

(it was 4.6 % in 1993)

columns

Addressing water risks with closure in mind By Derek Chubb

n its Global Risks Report, the World Economic Forum (WEF) identified water crises as one of the top five risks that could most impact society over the next ten years. WEF defines a water crisis as a significant decline in the available quality and quantity of fresh water, resulting in harmful effects on human health and/or economic activity. Global population growth, urbanization, economic pursuits and climate change are key contributing factors to an already complicated situation in which specific water risks vary from region to region. Access to fresh water is a basic human right and integral for healthy ecosystems, while at the same time essential to the mining and milling process. Leading companies understand responsible stewardship is an underlying business principle and organizations such as the International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM), have developed guidance documents in support. Stewardship is not simply an altruistic responsibility; mining operators who do not effectively address water issues risk unacceptable returns on investment. There are many case studies where water has been oversimplified as a process consumable without adequate consideration of the potential environmental, social and regulatory risks that may occur over the life of the mine, resulting in significant consequences.

The end in mind While all mines eventually close, closure planning is rarely top of mind. This phase, typically decades in the future, does not meaningfully influence today’s economic decisions. Discounted cash flow analysis can mask the true cost of closure. Run of mine ore generates revenue today; progressive reclamation does not. So why worry about it? 28 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

Constrained thinking during mine planning and daily operations can lead to infrastructure design that is not resilient to changing conditions and deferral of work may increase and/or complicate closure liabilities. Mines requiring perpetual water management, which therefore could not be relinquished, are costly and can create a material liability. Environmental Resources Management recently examined 73 mine closure plans dating from 2007 to 2013. This research showed that, on average, relinquishment was proposed to be achieved in 11 years. A follow-up study showed that of 57 mines in actual closure, 91 per cent of the sites had average closure durations of 21 years and were still going. This research illustrates that miners are overly optimistic; our studies show that both the time and cost to close a mine site are often significantly underestimated. The data are clear: ineffective planning and management of water throughout the life cycle decreases the real return on investment because of environmental, social and reputational impacts.

Turning plans into reality Effective water stewardship requires both a technical solution and an integrated holistic strategy. To better manage this business-critical risk, consider water across the mine life cycle from concept through to closure: • Recognize water as more than an internal operational issue. External factors such as climate change and the demands of other users, such as agriculture, can significantly influence water risk. The use of a “water risk footprint” tool can provide a good characterization of a mine within a multi-user watershed. • Establish your organization’s ambition level and ensure alignment. Do

you strive to be an industry leader or look to meet acceptable standards? Set business goals accordingly. Do not over-promise and under-deliver. • Risks and opportunities vary geographically and temporally. Understand your local context and think long-term. Consider a broad suite of risks that span environmental, social and financial realms. A one-size-fitsall approach does not work. • Monitor and adapt to changing conditions. Integrate water risk into established business decision-making processes. Look beyond discounted cash flow analysis to characterize closure costs. Answer these key questions at different mining stages: Planning: Have we considered all life stages of this project, including closure? What closure commitments are required to obtain and maintain my license to operate? Operations: Are we proactively undertaking closure work to minimize long-term liabilities, including those related to water? Will we be able to uphold our closure commitments and are they sufficient to manage our evolving risk profile? Closure: Can we execute our closure plan on time and on budget? Are we treating closure as a project in its own right? Water plays a key role in mining, and its related risks are becoming more prominent. Water can no longer be viewed simply as a necessary process input. A proactive life cycle approach, where we have planned and operated for closure, needs to become the norm. CIM Derek Chubb, P. Eng., is a senior partner with Environmental Resources Management (ERM) and is based in Toronto. The author would like to thank Jim Chan, senior consultant at ERM, for contributions to this article.

NEW STATE OF MINE

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS CONFERENCE THEMES HEALTH AND SAFETY SHOWCASE OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE NEW AND RECENT PROJECTS GEOLOGY AND EXPLORATION ROCK MECHANICS EMERGING LEADERS GENOMICS EXPLOSIVES AND BLASTING INNOVATIONS IN ENERGY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION FRANCO-MINE INNOVATION: PRESENT AND FUTURE MINING STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT PLANETARY AND TERRESTRIAL MINING SCIENCES SYMPOSIUM (PTMSS) MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE (INVITED SPEAKERS) IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE SUBMITTING AN ABSTRACT • • • •

The format of the conference allows for 20-minute presentations and 5-minute Q&A periods. Abstracts should not exceed 200 words. Authors will be notified of acceptance by December 22, 2016. Paper manuscripts or PowerPoint presentations must be submitted online before April 28, 2017. Presenters must register and pay the author registration fee on or before March 24, 2017, in order to guarantee their place in the program schedule. Conferences rely on registration fees from all categories of attendees for financial sustainability. A preferential registration fee is set for presenters in recognition of their special contribution to the conference.

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The inclusion imperative By Sean Willy

he relationship between Canada’s resource sector and First Nations, Inuit and Métis people throughout this country must evolve to full indigenous inclusion. The resource sector is the foundation of Canada’s economy and has demonstrated leadership in progressive engagement of Indigenous Peoples, but more needs to be done. I continue to hear from leaders of indigenous communities across Canada that they support resource development – provided that they are treated as partners, their voices are heard, the benefits are shared and environmental stewardship is a core component of project plans and operations. Dialogue is vital to achieve success. Quite often, both sides find that they foster many shared values and objectives, and once a healthy relationship is established, they can work together to drive toward these common goals. This foundation is even more important in our country, as the majority of natural resources are found in remote regions of northern Canada. This has created a very real public policy challenge which requires new forms of partnership to overcome. The challenge is magnified by the low population density of the North. Gaining political voice in federal, provincial and territorial governments is incredibly difficult with only a handful of parliamentarians and legislators representing smaller communities with people scattered across vast tracts of land. Jurisdictional wrangling further exacerbates the issue with Ottawa and the provinces at various times treating responsibility for Indigenous Peoples like a hot potato. What has been the net result? A lack of direction in vital areas such as infra-

structure and education funding in northern Canada, leading to a higher cost of living, less access to the same basic services and necessities as in the south and greater barriers to development and economic activity. So, when communities and resource companies sit down to discuss new and existing projects moving forward, it should become clear that a shared objective between them is a partnership that works toward addressing this public policy challenge. We must strive to add value and capacity to both indigenous communities and resource companies, while at the same time building a relationship with all levels of the Canadian government to ensure they are both at the table and supportive. In northern Saskatchewan in the late 1970s, the provincial government established local targets for the uranium industry to meet. These targets were based on engagement with indigenous community leaders who wanted to share in the benefits of development, but also wanted a voice in environmental stewardship. Since that time, Cameco Corporation has become not only Canada’s largest industrial employer of indigenous people, but a leader in local indigenous business procurement and the first resource company to engage local traditional leaders in environmental monitoring. Further, in the past year, the company has started to engage the federal and provincial government jointly with chiefs and mayors whose traditional territories we operate in. The success of these trips has highlighted a resource partnership and allowed government to witness communities in support of resource development when partnerships are achieved.

I want to be clear that this model emphasizes a partnership; the company does not fund everything and cannot resolve all the issues facing northern communities. Northerners understand this, as well, and the goal of our joint outreach is to work toward providing the federal and provincial governments with the opportunities and the motivation to become part of this progressive partnership. Our experience shows that it makes good business sense to work together on shared objectives in the public policy realm such as indigenous education and infrastructure, including community housing, better roads and communication networks. Investment in education leads to better career opportunities for local residents and thereby increases our ability to hire local people. Communities that are connected to roads have a lower cost of living and are more attractive to outside professionals who are needed to provide health care and other necessary services. Better communication opens up new avenues for educational programming through initiatives such as online and distance learning models. With the new federal government’s focus on improving living conditions and creating opportunity for Indigenous Peoples, this model shows that communities and companies can become true partners whose mutual wellbeing is indeed closely interwoven. This is inclusion, and it will lead to healthier communities, a more successful industry and future value for all Canadians. CIM Sean Willy is the director of corporate responsibility at Cameco Corporation.

Got an opinion on one of our columns? Send your comments to editor@cim.org. 30 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

An Introduction to Cutoff Grade: Theory and Practice in Open Pit and Underground Mines (with a new section on blending optimization strategy) Cut-off grades are essential in determining the economic feasibility and mine life of a project. The fundamentals of cut-off grade calculation, first established by Ken Lane forty years ago, are revisited. In this course it is shown how direct and indirect costs, opportunity costs imposed by operational constraints, and other factors, such as political risk, legal, environmental and regulatory requirements, must be taken into account. Mathematical equations are developed and graphical analytical methods are displayed, which can be used to solve most cut-off grade estimation problems. It is shown how minimum cut-off grades are estimated and how they must be modified to take into account constraints imposed by mine or mill capacity, or by limits on sales volumes. Multiple practical examples are given, illustrating the role of cut-off grades in mine planning, in allocating material to different processes, in optimizing mill operating conditions, and in poly-metallic deposits.

INSTRUCTOR Jean-Michel Rendu, JMR Consultants, USA • DATE September 21-23, 2016 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Geostatistical Mineral Resource Estimation and Meeting the New Regulatory Environment: Step by Step from Sampling to Grade Control This course is designed according to the latest regulations on public reporting of Mineral Resources. It aims at showing how state-of-the-art statistical and geostatistical techniques help answer the requirements of those regulations in an objective and reproducible manner. A particular emphasis is put on understanding sampling and estimation errors and how to assign levels estimation confidence through the application of resource classification fundamentals. In addition to a solid introduction to mining geostatistics this course provides a comprehensive overview of industry’s best practices in the broader field of Mineral Resource estimation.

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 26-30, 2016 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Optimization and Risk Management in Strategic Mine Planning: Unearthing Material Value in Mining Complexes Growing volatility and uncertainty in global metal markets highlight the need to focus on new technologies that can unveil significant value and reliability to the performance of mining operations. This three-day course explores the foundations of strategic mine planning and stresses the new generation of applied technologies related to: (a) simultaneous optimization of integrated mining and processing operations, and (b) orebody risk management with new stochastic mine planning optimization developments.

INSTRUCTORS Roussos Dimitrakopoulos and Ryan Goodfellow, McGill University, Canada; and Joe Kraft, Minemax, USA • DATE September 14-16, 2016 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessments: An Integrated Approach to Planning for Exploration Risk Reduction Learn about exploration risk analysis for strategic planning. Understand how to demonstrate how operational mineral deposit models can reduce uncertainties; make estimates of the number of undiscovered deposits; and integrate the information and examine the economic possibilities. INSTRUCTOR Don Singer, USA • DATE September 12-14, 2016 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Courtesy of Kirkland Lake Gold

To keep its Macassa mine running safely, Kirkland Lake has installed an ever-expanding network of sensors to detect near-daily seismic activity.

Riding the wave Kirkland Lake stays on top of seismic events at its Macassa mine By Eavan Moore

y the time Kirkland Lake Gold took ownership of the Macassa Mine Complex in 2002, daily seismic activity at the deep Ontario hard rock mine presented well-established planning challenges. In 1993, a rockburst resulted in a double fatality. In 1997, routine longhole activity triggered a series of rockbursts that rendered the main shaft unusable below 5,800 feet. To keep Macassa running safely, Kirkland Lake relies on a recently upgraded microseismic monitoring system for realtime warnings and historical information that helps guide short- and long-term decision making. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With a seismically active mine, we need that information to keep mining,â&#x20AC;? said Chris Chartrand, senior mine planner at Macassa.

The tech Senior ground control technologist Richard Hong was at the start of his career when he installed the first seismic monitoring system at Macassa in the mid-1980s. Since his return to the mine eight years ago, he has overseen the latest minewide upgrade to the Paladin system sold by Kingston, Ontariobased ESG Solutions, one of only two companies in the world that provide microseismic monitoring systems for underground mines. The sensor array at Macassa has been expanding as the mine grows, and is now one of the larger arrays in Ontario. It 32 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

covers the original Main Zone orebody and the newer South Mine Complex. Throughout the mine, coverage consists of 9 triaxial geophones and 90 uniaxial accelerometers, with the array optimized to provide for the most accurate source location. These sensors are responsive to higher frequency, lower magnitude events. The underground system is supplemented by the SGM Paladin (Strong Ground Motion) system on surface which uses triaxial geophones that are designed for lower frequency, higher magnitude events. This enables the ground control team to calculate a magnitude value for the larger events that would otherwise overwhelm the sensors underground. While the sensor technology itself has not changed much since the 1980s, the hardware and software that receives and interprets sensor signals is far more sophisticated. Each sensor transmits via copper cable to a Paladin digital recorder placed nearby in the mine workings. The Paladin records these signals with exact times and transmits this information by fibre optic cable to an acquisition computer in the ground control office on surface. In the current version of the system, the only limit to the number of possible channels is determined by the capacity of the processing hardware, an important factor for the expanding mine in deciding to upgrade. From surface, Hong and a three-person ground control team provide 24/7 monitoring using ESGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proprietary soft-

mine planning and design ware suite on a Windows computer. The WaveVis module identifies each wave’s arrival time and calculates the event source location against a geophysical model. SeisVis visualizes the seismicity within a 3D model of the mine site and allows the operators to perform advanced analytics with the data. It can display information in real time or as an animated historical playback. Every 12 hours, ground control reviews the data and publishes reports that are communicated to all production crews in their pre-shift safety huddles. Other interested personnel, like Chartrand, can check the 3D model themselves. “This seismic program shows me exactly where every seismic event has been in the last 24 hours, and the magnitude,” said Chartrand. “I can rotate the whole mine in 3D to pinpoint exactly where these things occur. It picks up all our blasts as well, in real time, so we can tell if it happened with the blast or between blasts.” Hong’s office uses additional tools for post analysis of the seismic data. One such program is mXrap, a platform developed at the Australian Centre for Geomechanics with funding from a consortium that includes Kirkland Lake. “We routinely use mXrap to look at seismically active headings for post-blast activity, for determining re-entry times, and for larger production blasts,” said Hong. “In addition, we conduct a mine-wide post analysis every two weeks and concentrate on the most active headings during that time period to try to identify the mechanism for the seismicity – whether it is related to geometry, a reducing pillar dimension, or mine sequencing.”

Safety and mine planning Strong microseismic events – defined at Kirkland Lake Gold as having a local magnitude of -1 or higher – happen almost every day, but they only affect working crews a few times a month. Usually the events occur with a blast when underground crews are not present. If unusual seismic activity is occurring, ground control and senior production mangers can take immediate action. “If, during a shift, we see an escalation of events in a particular heading, we can pull the crew out of a heading for the remainder of the shift,” said Hong. The crew members themselves, if they hear a suspicious noise, can call up to ground control and find out whether they need to move to a different area. It may take ten minutes to half an hour to move a crew out. In the longer term, ground control helps avoid unexpected disruptions to the schedule by assisting with mine planning. The ground control team reviews design options and makes recommendations about the best scenario to deal with the known seismicity in certain areas. Typically, input from the ground control team can influence the selection of the mining method, its mining sequence or the minimum re-entry time into the area after a blast. Normally, if a blast was conducted at the end of the first shift, the second shift would be able to enter and muck out the stope. When an area is known to be very seismically active,

ground control recommends that nobody enter it until a minimum of 12 hours have passed. “Usually we know that coming in with the three-month plan, and we’ll account for that,” said Chartrand. “It’s usually in a longhole area, that twelve-hour reentry.” The fact that this is a common and foreseeable problem means the production schedule includes room for occasional slowdowns. “We don’t necessarily schedule a blast every shift,” said Dave Willoughby, chief engineer. “We reduce that number to so many blasts in a week, knowing there could be many things that cause a crew to miss a blast – ground conditions being one.” A given area’s production rate is also affected by the nature of the ground support installed; more seismically active areas require dynamic support, such as cone bolts, that take additional time to install. Seismic information helps the mine planning team sequence activities around long-term pillars that are as stable as possible. The proportionally smaller pillars used in many other mines are too risky for Macassa. “We have to watch the size of pillars that we leave between stopes or in stopes themselves,” said Chartrand. “We can’t mine a panel stope leaving little rib pillars and whatnot; those have to be taken out. So we have to mine the whole lot from one end to another, without leaving any low-grade areas out.” Despite frequent seismicity, Chartrand said that damaging events are quite rare. On June 4, 2016, a seismic event heaved up the floor on the 5,300 level and toppled a battery locomotive. It was the first event of that magnitude he had witnessed in at least two years. The mine was prepared for it. Following a rockburst in October 2015, a post analysis of the event was conducted and ground control was able to identify the triggering mechanism and anticipated an increase in seismic activity. The decision was made to increase the level of ground support. “Because we knew this area was active, we put in a dynamic support, which is designed to handle this amount of energy,” he said, “and it did its job. [The seismic event] just heaved the floor because there’s no support there at the bottom three feet.”

A growing problem The Macassa mine was one of the earliest customers for ESG’s products back in the 1990s according to Alexander Mataseje, technical sales specialist of mining and geotechnical services at ESG Solutions. “Companies like Kirkland Lake have always been very proactive and on the cutting edge for their mining methods and operational procedures,” he said. The necessity that bred early invention is spreading to more mines over time. “We are seeing a lot of newer operations come up, and as they’re approaching 800 metres in depth – because we’re mining in the Canadian Shield, very hard rock – they’re starting to approach a realm where seismicity becomes a problem,” said Mataseje. “So we do see a lot of mines looking into putting in some kind of preliminary system and growing it with their operation so that they’re protected and covered.” CIM August • Août 2016 | 33

The electric underground Glencore designs Onaping Depth around all-electric mining vehicle fleet

lencore’s Onaping Depth nickel/copper deposit in Sudbury, Ontario has been known to miners since the mid-1990s, sitting roughly 2,500 metres below the surface near two past producers, the Craig mine and the Onaping mine. But the question of how to access the deep orebody and mine it economically had never been answered. “This thing has been studied since the late 90s,” said Craig Harris, a senior electrical engineer with Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (Sudbury INO). “We’ve gone through a number of iterations to try and overcome the technical and financial hurdles.” The primary problem at Onaping Depth is ventilation. The deposit lies more than a kilometer away horizontally and over 1,000 metres deeper than the existing Craig mine works. Even using new ramps and winzes from the Craig mine to simplify access, the project would require four new openings to surface – two intake and two exhaust – to adequately ventilate the fumes from diesel equipment. At that depth, the cost of those shafts was prohibitive. Enter the potential solution: electric mining vehicles. The technology has been successfully implemented at Kirkland Lake Gold’s Macassa and South Mine Complex. Kirkland Lake began using a handful of electric LHDs and haul trucks in 2012 due to its own ventilation constraints during a minedeepening plan. “It adds a lot of credibility when somebody is already mining with it,” said Harris. “We looked at KLG’s success and said, ‘Well, why can’t we do the whole mine around that?’”

If you can’t stand the heat, get rid of your diesel equipment The advantages of electric vehicles that Harris lists include reduced greenhouse gas emissions, a better underground air environment, lower noise levels, less heat emitted and reduced operating costs (fueling with electricity being approximately one-third the price of diesel, in Sudbury INO’s estimation). But the key to making Onaping Depth economically viable is the ventilation savings. “If you look at any mine, one of the largest portions of the cost is for ventilation,” Harris said. “If you can cut that in half, which is roughly what we’ve done, it pays enormous dividends.” 34 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

The deposit at Sudbury INO’s Onaping Depth project is over a kilometre away horizontally and over 1,000 metres deeper than the existing Craig mine (above).

There are other follow-on benefits, too. With no diesel equipment, the company does not have to consider ever more stringent vent-per-horsepower particulates regulations. That opens up new design possibilities, said Harris, including recirculation of air underground and the use of a smaller, betterlocated cooling plant. “The less air you need to bring from surface to underground, the less cooling you need to do,” he pointed out. As young as electric vehicle technology is above ground, though, the technology is in its infancy in the mining world. Glencore wants to make every underground vehicle in its fleet of more than 80 at Onaping Depth electric. But many of those vehicles do not currently exist in electric form. “To build an entire mine with battery-electric vehicles today would be hard to do,” Harris said. “But we believe that in three, four, five years from now, it’s going to be there.” He said virtually all the equipment manufacturers are in some phase of research and development to electrify their products. “We have gone to the street for proposals and have seen at least one offering for all 80 pieces of gear.”

Can’t we all just get along? A July workshop on the topic of electric mining vehicles in Sudbury drew more than 70 participants, including representatives from mining companies, vehicle manufacturers and electrical suppliers who make charging equipment. One of the pressing questions raised at the meeting was whether the industry can agree on a single charging standard for batteryelectric vehicles. That would create options for miners wanting to order machines from multiple manufacturers while avoiding duplication of infrastructure. And getting many disparate companies and organizations to agree on a single standard will not be easy.

Courtesy of Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickle Operations

By Ian Ewing

mine planning and design One group helping to direct and inform the discussion is the Global Mining Standards and Guidelines Group (GMSG), which organized the workshop in Sudbury, as well as two others in Toronto and Brisbane, Australia. Heather Ednie, managing director of GMSG, said every company developing electric vehicles for use in mining right now is forging their own path as it relates to batteries, chargers and electrical current requirements. “If we continue on this path, we’re going to have severe safety concerns and a lot of extra expenses by mining companies trying to enable this mess of mismatching technology to work together,” said Ednie. “If we don’t work together, it will take longer to achieve the full potential of the electric mine.” GMSG recently created a working group to develop standards around underground mining with battery-electric vehicles in the hopes of providing a robust framework for technology developers to work within. Harris pointed out that because Onaping Depth is still in feasibility, it buys Glencore some time for these standards to be agreed upon and for the technology to mature or be developed. The company is estimating a cost premium of anywhere from 10 per cent to 100 per cent depending on vehicle type for its electrified vehicles, compared to diesel, however it expects this gap to narrow in the next few years. Harris admitted there is uncertainty around the premium, but said that it will not change the feasibility of the project. “With our timeline, we have a high degree of confidence that we can get there,” he said. “We wouldn’t be making this our base case and pushing this up the line if we didn’t think that.” He is eager for the technology to arrive, though. “The performance, on almost every metric, of an electric motor just blows diesel engines out of the water,” he said. “Any measurement you care to take – pollution, sound, acceleration, efficiency, comfort, maintenance even – they’re all better on an electric vehicle.” “The only challenge is, really, energy density.”

Other differences are relatively minor. “You need more electricians,” Harris noted. “Your expertise needs to change a little bit.” Maintenance costs may actually be lower, at least once initial teething problems are solved. “An electric drivetrain, with a proper control system, can really minimize the shocks on the mechanical portions of the vehicle,” he said. “It can slowly ramp up acceleration so you’re not as hard on your drivetrain.” As with any new technology, safety and training are concerns. Industry will have to find ways to vet new battery technologies and battery manufacturers. But neither Ednie nor Harris think these issues are insurmountable. “What our group will be looking at, rather than saying this is the battery chemistry you should be going for, will be the safety standards around [each chemistry],” said Ednie. “So if you want to bring this sort of battery into the mine site, what are the safety precautions that need to be considered? If a battery company can make sure that they’ve tested and met safety standards so the battery they’re selling you is safe, and the risks are well-known and documented, it’ll be up to the mining company to decide what technology they want to use.” And this is not just about technology for technology’s sake. As miners go deeper and hotter, Harris explained, electric mining vehicles become a vital enabler. “There’s really no other industry in the world that we know of that can benefit more from battery-electric vehicles.” CIM

Counting kilowatts That issue – manifesting in both the amount of work a vehicle is able to do on one charge and in the length of recharging times – does mean that mine planning has to tackle more granular issues, like vehicle parking schemes, than are typical. “Most engineering companies don’t put much thought into where you’re going to put your diesel equipment,” Harris explained. “With electric, it forces you to think about that, because you need to have the charging infrastructure in place.” Glencore hopes its vehicles will be usable for an entire eight-to-ten hour shift without interruption. Taking advantage of natural charging opportunities, like during breaks and shift changes, can help extend battery life, so the company plans to place chargers – over 100 in total, assuming infrastructure standardization – where the equipment will end up during those predictable downtimes. Regenerative braking can also drastically extend battery life. For a new project like Onaping Depth, that means designing the mine so that ore is carried on downhill grades to the dump, rather than uphill. Existing projects might not be so lucky. August • Août 2016 | 35

Courtesy of CEMI

Design changes from the top down Paste backfill has opened a new door for underground developers, and CEMI’s Doug Morrison wants to invite miners in By Vince Morello

nderground mining has always been a costly endeavour. Most operations currently spend huge amounts of capital upfront by digging to the bottom of an orebody and mining up. However, Doug Morrison, CEO of the Centre for Excellence in Mining (CEMI), thinks this method of mine design, which he refers to as “bottom-up mining,” is inefficient. He believes there is an alternative way to design mines that could reduce the financial risk of projects by flipping current mine design convention: mining from the top of an orebody downwards. Before joining CEMI, Morrison worked at MIRARCO as interim CEO and as the global mining sector leader at Golder Associates. He has a master’s degree in rock mechanics and excavation engineering.

CIM: What caused you to start thinking about underground mine design? Morrison: Basically it was out of our research project examining the opportunity of using paste fill in place of hydraulic fill. We did a project with Labrecque Technologies – they do distinct event simulations – where we looked at standard open stoping with a [hydraulic] backfill system and then we compared it to a similar stoping arrangement with paste backfill. [We] established that using paste is a better way to do things, [as] paste fill allows you to create a higher quality backfill product in place. CIM: What kind of research is CEMI conducting now? Morrison: What we really focus on is productivity, so that means improving the speed, reducing the cost and reducing the time in which we do things. All things [that] contribute to the productivity of operations on the ground and so one of the advantages that comes with using paste backfill as opposed to hydraulic backfill is you eliminate some tasks like building barricades, installing drainage towers and waiting for drainage. CIM: What are the current problems with bottom-up mining? Morrison: The biggest problem for us is that as we go deeper and deeper, the cost of mining goes up, and if we continue with the same mining methods as we go down then we’re 36 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

becoming less profitable all the time, with the same [ore] grade in place. It’s becoming more expensive just because of the logistics of moving deeper and heat issues. It gets hotter as we go deeper and so we need to spend more money on ventilation, so it’s a greater energy and electricity demand for the ventilation systems. CIM: What are the benefits of mining top-down? Morrison: [In] bottom-up mining, you have to invest the capital to access all the way to the bottom of the orebody and then you have to also install the ventilation system to go all the way to the bottom of the orebody. You spend all [your] money before you get any production. Then you start producing ore at the bottom of the orebody [and that’s when] you begin to get a return on your investment. If you do top-down mining, basically you’re only opening the top three levels, or maybe four levels, and then you start producing in the upper most levels so the total investment that you have to make is much less and you begin to get a return on investment much sooner than if you go all the way to the bottom of the orebody, and so you begin to move progressively down. The big advantage of this kind of approach [is that it’s] a low-risk approach because if there’s a big drop in the price of the metal you’re producing, you can stop production and wait for the price to return to an acceptable level. If you’re doing bottomup mining, you’re putting all your capital upfront and so you can’t sustain mining when the price drops because you have no way to return or provide something to your investors. Normally bottom-up mining requires a projected stable price for the future, [such as the next] 15 or 20 years. If you don’t see a stable price then you won’t actually start the project because the risk of not getting a return is too high whereas with a top-down approach the risk is much less, and so you can afford to take the risk of moving forward with a less stable future price of metal. CIM: What are the challenges with top-down mining? Morrison: First of all you have to have the backfill to do it well, so that you have a stable backfill placement above you.

Then you have to perfect the blasting techniques, so you can do up-hole blasting underneath the backfill, or if you are not comfortable with that you can actually go mining underneath the backfill and do conventional downhill drilling or blasting with open stoping. You have to look at the cost and benefits of both of those.

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CIM: Are there any more or different safety risks involved with this method? Morrison: We don’t see any more safety risks because the mining methods would [use] the same equipment and techniques as we have now so there’s no additional risks from those issues. CIM: If the cost of bottom-up mining was so expensive, why did it take so long to innovate? Morrison: It’s very expensive and difficult to innovate while operating mines. You have a lot of work that has to be done before you can introduce a new way of doing things into a mining operation. Mining operations are typically planned several years in advance and so usually your best opportunity to bring in a new innovation is with a new mine, or a new orebody within an existing mine. CIM: What are the risks involved with innovating in this field? Morrison: There are a lot of risks of doing something different but the risk of not changing anything is not zero. If you continue to go deeper and deeper without changing anything, your costs are increasing because of the logistical burden you have to carry, and because of a need for more electricity for the ventilation systems. I would say the way to think of this is that the innovation is an opportunity cost rather than an expenditure risk so you are trying to gain the opportunity or benefit of doing it differently whereas continuing down the same path is going to take you to a place that is not productive and not profitable. It’s not like you can just keep on doing the same old, same old and have no effect.

BATTERY POWER ENGINEERED FOR LIFE UNDERGROUND.

CIM: How can this method of mining break into the mainstream of the mining industry? Morrison: I think once miners become comfortable using paste [backfill], and have used paste for a long time, they’ll recognize that the quality of paste backfill is much higher than it was with hydraulic [backfill] and they’ll recognize that this becomes a much more cost effective way to do mining underground because it limits the amount of capital outlay you have at the beginning of a project. CIM: Are a majority of mines still using hydraulic backfill? Morrison: Most new mines will use paste fill. Many older mines that already had an existing hydraulic backfill plant will likely not have changed over. In many cases they will calculate the savings from paste against the capital cost of a new plant and decide that there is not enough mine life to recover the investment. Few mines include the lost opportunity cost from productivity gains in this calculation – but this where the biggest benefit of paste fill is to be gained. CIM

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August • Août 2016 | 37

The wildfire in northern Alberta prompted the evacuation of Fort McMurray, a town of about 80,000 inhabitants.

By Chris Windeyer

Premier of Alberta/Flickr

The wildfire that ripped through northern Alberta in early May devastated the land and disrupted oil sands operations. But thanks to quick action and logistical leadership by oil sands companies in the face of the natural disaster, they avoided the worst of the fire and helped evacuate the town of Fort McMurray.

Premier of Alberta/Flickr

Industry estimates that disruption to oil sands operations as a result of the fire in May equalled nearly a billion dollars of lost GDP.

hen Dave Wallace, the Fort McMurray branch manager for Brandt Tractor, picked up the phone to talk to CIM Magazine it had been seven weeks since the massive forest fire that came to be known as “The Beast” swept through the town and Wallace apologized for the noise in the background. It sounded like he was in a car driving at highway speed, but it was actually a phalanx of fans running at full blast in an effort to purge the Brandt offices of the lingering smell of smoke. “When the whole town is bathed in smoke, and it’s just hanging over top of it on a calm day, it kind of drifts in and stays; there’s nothing you can do about it,” Wallace said. “It’s going to go into everything anyways.” Cleaners have been working on the office since the week before, but, like every other element of Fort McMurray’s cleanup and recovery in the wake of The Beast, it is going to take a while. When the wildfires flared up in early May, it was immediately clear that this would be a disaster of an unprecedented scale. Each night, television news relayed images of frantic escapes from a burning city, entire neighbourhoods on fire and expletive-laden amateur videos of highway overpasses surrounded by hellish sheets of flame. A nation watched, gobsmacked, as it considered the very real possibility that a vital Canadian city might burn to the ground in a matter of days. Instead, first responders, aided by oil company workers and countless acts of kindness by Good Samaritans achieved what was nearly unthinkable: the complete evacuation of a city of 80,000. They came achingly close to pulling it off without any fatalities, were it not for the deaths of two teenagers in a highway crash on May 4, after most of the evacuation had taken place. “The fact that they got everybody out that first day [May 3] is an absolute miracle,” said Wallace. A major supplier of heavy equipment and parts to oil sands companies and contractors in the area surrounding 40 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

Fort McMurray, Brandt stayed open through most of the period of mandatory mass evacuation. When the fires first struck, Wallace ordered all of his employees to go home, which was easier said than done, given the traffic paralyzing the main roads out of town. Wallace said his own drive home, which normally takes 15 minutes, took an hour and a half, with flames closing in on the road. “I went into the ditch one time just to get away from the Flying J [truck stop] when it lit up on fire because I wasn’t sure how long it was gonna take before the tanks blew up.” Most of Brandt’s 55 workers were evacuated. Some managers, Wallace included, set up shop at the company’s Edmonton office. But there was little rest for anyone. A handful of workers trickled back in to Fort McMurray after May 6 to find the fire had passed within 300 metres of the Brandt building as they dispatched an excavator and other heavy equipment to help the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo cap the city garbage dump with clay to prevent it from burning. The company was declared an essential service (which is why employees remained in Fort McMurray during the mandatory evacuation) and helped establish a critical supply chain, with drivers travelling about four and a half hours from Edmonton every day. Brandt workers also travelled to the fire line, bringing replacement parts and performing maintenance on firefighting equipment, much of which was constantly coated with ash. “We were doing everything we could to try and help out the fire crews,” Wallace said. Thanks to some good luck and the herculean efforts of those fire crews, the doomsday scenarios never came to pass. But the scale of the destruction wrought by the wildfires was still massive. Flames destroyed about 10 per cent of the city, some 2,400 buildings in all. Nearly two months later, not everyone who fled had come home, and those who had returned were welcomed by everything from refrigerators full of rotting food to piles of ash where their homes once stood.

LOGISTICAL LIFELINE Virtually every major oil sands player performed some role in the disaster response. Companies and their employees donated millions to the Red Cross to assist relief efforts, but companies also drew on their own logistical heft to help out in the midst of a chaotic situation where the conventional playbook was often thrown out the window. Perhaps most notable was the thousands of evacuees who were sheltered at and then flown out of various oil sands camps after they fled north from the city and were cut off from the rest of the province. More than 25,000 evacuees passed through oil sands camps on their way to safety. Suncor, for example, flew more than 10,000 people out of its Firebag Aerodrome, near Fort McKay, using its own fleet of aircrafts and leasing four more planes from WestJet. Shell Canada sheltered around 2,000 evacuees at its Albian oil sands facility and flew out 8,000 people from the airstrip there. Imperial Oil sheltered 2,000 people at its Kearl facility. And Syncrude sheltered and evacuated employees, plus their families and pets, at a decommissioned camp at its Mildred Lake upgrading complex. “We have our own emergency operations centre and this was a goal of the people running it – that we would work towards getting all non-essential people relocated off our site and out of the region, [and we] worked with other operators to coordinate airlifts to get them down to other parts of the province,” said Syncrude spokesman Will Gibson. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley told reporters at a news conference on May 10 that industry’s response to the fires “was a combination of organic and planned.” “Safety is a key feature of the work that everybody in the industry does and part of that is having a well thought out evacuation plan should their particular camps and facilities be threatened,” Notley said. “So it worked out quite well that those plans were able to be transferred to the process of evacuating the folks from Fort McMurray who had moved north as a result of the fire.” “We were able to do some things in a very short space of time, we were able to do some things that would have been impossible on our own,” Suncor CEO Steve Williams told reporters at the same news conference. Oil sands companies also helped keep the firefighting machine running during the height of the fire. Syncrude contributed firefighters and firefighting equipment to the effort, while Imperial Oil donated 20,000 litres of gasoline to the RCMP. The National Post reported that Brion Energy sent daily shipments of perishable goods to the Fort McKay First Nation

and trucks provided by Canadian National Resources were used to shuttle around supplies airlifted into the region. “Our industry partners provided tremendous assistance to evacuees and government when the fires were at their worst,” said Alberta energy minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd in an emailed statement. “Industry opened their doors and welcomed thousands of people from Fort McMurray into their work camps, providing food, water and shelter to people who desperately needed it. Government was in contact with companies who were providing assistance and worked closely to determine what their needs were, how many people they were sheltering and how everyone could act in a coordinated manner.” All this was happening as the oil sands companies were dealing with volatile situations at or near their own operations.

SAFETY SHUTDOWN Shell shuttered its Albian Sands operation on May 4 in order to focus on using the airstrip there to fly evacuees to safety, even though the camp itself was not initially threatened by fire, before restarting production three days later. “I feel incredibly proud to be part of this team, and humbled to witness how we have responded in the face of an extremely difficult set of circumstances,” said Peter Zebedee, Shell’s manager of mining at Albian. On May 7, the same day the fire was reported to have reached some 2,000 square kilometres in size, Syncrude announced it was evacuating essential personnel from its Mildred Lake complex and Aurora mine, located 70 kilometres from Fort McMurray. “We’ve been producing oil in Fort McMurray since 1978,” said Gibson. “We’ve never shut down Syncrude contributed firefighters and firefighting equipment to the effort to control the wildfire in northern Alberta in May.

Courtesy of Syncrude Canada Ltd.

Still, the response to Fort McMurray has to stand as an alltime feat of emergency management, and oil sands companies played a huge part in that. As reporter Tristin Hopper wrote in the National Post, “Alberta’s oil producers effectively turned themselves into multi-million dollar humanitarian organizations at the drop of a hat. All told, the reason so much of Fort McMurray was saved – and the reason no fullscale military relief deployment was ever required – was due in no small part to the lightning response of the region’s major employers.”

August • Août 2016 | 41

our operation until we did earlier this month. We’ve faced adversity before, but this is something that’s unprecedented in Syncrude’s history.” Suncor shut down its base plant, as well as operations at Firebag and MacKay Lake, plus an upgrader and two surface mines, taking around 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline. Cenovus, meanwhile, evacuated all non-essential staff on May 5 as a precaution from its Christina Lake project – located about 150 kilometres southeast of Fort McMurray – but continued to operate at normal levels. “This was done primarily to facilitate a swift evacuation and shutdown of the plant if it became necessary,” said spokesman Brett Harris in an email. “As it turned, out however, Christina Lake was never directly threatened by any wildfire, essential staff remained at site and we continued to produce at normal levels throughout.” Harris said the Christina Lake evacuation was based on the extreme fire conditions in the area as well as intermittent disruptions of the area’s communications network. As producers worked towards a restart, a sudden northward shift in the wildfire two weeks after the initial evacuations put those plans on hold. Syncrude and Suncor halted restart plans, and the Globe and Mail reported more than 8,000 workers had to be evacuated. As the hot dry weather lingered into June, Cenovus endured a minor scare when flames from an unrelated fire came within a kilometre of its Pelican Lake conventional heavy

42 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

oil operation. The plant was shut down and evacuated, but was back online inside a week.

THE COST Industry estimates peg the disruption to Canada’s oil output at an average of 1.2 million bpd for two weeks, resulting in nearly a billion dollars of lost GDP. In mid-May, the “catastrophe modelling firm” AIR Worldwide estimated the total damage to the city of Fort McMurray at between $4.4 billion and $9 billion, making the wildfires the costliest disaster in Canadian history, though those figures do not extend to the oil industry. McCuaig-Boyd, Alberta’s energy minister, said the government could not confirm those figures. “Detailed assessments are underway to help better determine the overall cost of the wildfire,” she wrote. While there was no physical damage to the oil sands operations, there are the costs associated with the evacuations and emergency response borne by oil companies. “The costs are important,” said Williams, the Suncor CEO, during the May news conference. “We’re looking at them, but they’re immaterial as far as Suncor is concerned.”

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY Back at Brandt Tractor, life is slowly returning to normal. It has already been a brutal year in the oilpatch, thanks to the massive collapse in oil prices. Wallace estimates the market for heavy equipment in Fort McMurray is down between 60 and 70 per cent in the last year, before the fires. There will be work cleaning up what remains of burned-out and smoke-damaged homes and commercial buildings in the city, although Wallace said the selection of a B.C.-based company to do this work created “a fair bit of animosity” while residents are still looking for work. Wallace said all but one of his 55 employees are returning to work. According to him, morale around the office was high, but so were the stress levels, with people unsure about when their families would return or what was happening with housing. Wallace said four workers lost houses in the fire, and 15 more could not get back in their rental places for various reasons. Wallace himself even moved into his boss’s house for more than two weeks. The road back for Fort McMurray promises to be long. The hardest hit neighbourhoods, like Abasand and Beacon Hill, which together saw more than 1,600 buildings destroyed by the fire, remain uninhabitable. At first, Wallace said, residents were excited to start the rebuilding process. But as the tedium of routine settled in, and people began to realize that bringing their town back will be a long, slow grind. “It’s probably a 10year rebuilding process,” he said. “We’re trying to restart a whole economy.” For now, it is the little things that keep spirits up around town. On May 20, during a barbecue held in honour of the first responders who worked so hard to save Fort McMurray, the skies finally opened up and dumped a three-hour deluge on a town that had been baking in the sun for the better part of a month. It ruined the barbecue, but nobody seemed to mind. “I’ve never been so happy to see rain in my life,” Wallace said. “It was pouring on top of the barbecue and nobody cared.” CIM

O P T I M I Z AT I O N

| technology

The talking mine The Internet of Things makes novel use of sensors to optimize mine operations By Eavan Moore

ast year, McEwen Mining learned something from a small experiment at its El Gallo gold mine in Mexico. Moisture monitors buried in the heap leach betrayed a dearth of cyanide solution on the side of the heap, which meant recoverable gold was being left behind. The company also made another valuable discovery: it is possible to monitor conditions from thousands of miles away, using buried sensors and a WiFi connection. The individuals working on bringing the industrial Internet of Things into the mining space see no limit to the spaces and devices that could conceivably be instrumented. Once transmission becomes truly wireless, sensors can be fitted to anything: a person, a vehicle, a tool. The information they provide offers numerous ways to optimize mining operations.

Courtesy of McEwen Mining

Scanimetrics Sensors such as this were deployed at McEwen Mining’s El Gallo operation in the heap leach to monitor irrigation, as well as on a crusher to pinpoint the cause of downtime.

“People have talked about this for twenty years, but it’s only in the last couple years that it’s actually been practical to do this,” said Steven Slupsky, President and CEO of Scanimetrics, the electronics company that McEwen engaged to help monitor its heap leach. Slupsky pointed to three critical advances in technology: low-power electronics that can run off a battery, low-power wireless protocols for duty cycling a transmitting device and analytical software that interprets vast quantities of data. At the same time, certain sensors, including accelerometers, have improved in quality and dropped in price. Much of this work took place to meet a consumer-driven demand for smartphones and reliable server farms. Scanimetrics originally developed its completely wireless condition monitoring solution for the oil and gas industry. Sensor pods run off a battery, lasting up to a year on one charge, and transmit to a repeater, data capture unit, or Internet gateway 10 metres away. That information is sent to the Scanimetrics office in Edmonton to be analyzed and made available as simple visualizations in a web browser. Following an initial collaboration on crusher condition monitoring, McEwen and Scanimetrics worked together on the El Gallo heap leach project. A full-scale trial is now underway. “We’re going to a pristine area of the leach pad,” said Nathan Stubina, managing director of McEwen Mining. “We’re putting two cells side by side. We’re trying to put the same amount of ore and the same type of ore on both sides, and one we’re going to monitor the way we do now, and the other is by installing a moisture detector and a compaction detector to learn more. We’re going to see whether we’re going to get an improvement in gold recovery by monitoring it.”

August • Août 2016 | 43

Courtesy of ThingWave

The Smart Rockbolt mounted on a standard rockbolt head.

The sensors had already been ruggedized for underground pipeline monitoring. In the heap leach, they are laid out in a cable-connected grid across the bottom of the heap, about 10 to 20 metres apart. A tube running from the cable to open air gets the signal out where it can be picked up by a data capture unit. While the moisture sensors pick up on how well the cyanide leach is distributed, compaction sensors can tell Scanimetrics whether the heap is stable. Slupsky sees this as a source of insight for future design criteria and a potential help to miners’ struggle for social licence. “The same technology can be used in tailings dams,” he pointed out. “A tailings dam breach was being reported in the media, and I thought, ‘Aren’t we measuring the same things that are important to understanding whether one of these things is going to suffer a stability issue?’”

Smart Rockbolt More than a decade ago, a manager at the Swedish iron ore company LKAB wished for technology that would tell him how rockbolts were holding up. A research team led by Jens Eliasson, associate professor at Luleå University of Technology, is almost prepared to grant that wish. The Smart Rockbolt consists of a normal rockbolt fitted with a strain sensor, an accelerometer and electronics to record and transmit data. Light-emitting diodes on the head can be programmed to signal the rockbolt’s status, warn miners of dangerous ground conditions, or provide illumination in an emergency. “When we detect deviations, something that the rockbolt feels is strange, that will generate an alarm,” said Eliasson. “The data that we detect is then made available to existing software to be analyzed by the mining experts in seismicity or rock mechanics, for example.” Instrumented bolts provide information impossible to obtain by other means: Is the bolt intact? And is it holding an 44 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

acceptable load? These questions point directly to any potential failures, and they came up every time Eliasson spoke to a mining company about Smart Rockbolt. A network of instrumented bolts – at a density of about one to two per cent of the total rockbolt count – would also add supplementary data points to existing monitoring systems. For example, mine planners could see a complete picture of a tunnel’s deformation and judge its safety accordingly. Instrumenting rockbolts would also be a comparatively cheap way of getting local seismic information that the mine’s geophone network could not provide. The instrumentation on the rockbolt is designed to fit into the mine’s existing communications and data processing setup. A likely usage would see the bolt running on a battery and transmitting via low-power radio. The sensors would run continuously, but the bolt would sleep until its onboard processor detected an anomaly. Then it would wake up and start transmitting to the nearest network gateway within seconds. Each bolt would be identified by its own IP address on the network. Data is always stored on the rockbolt so that breaks in connectivity will not disrupt recordkeeping. “When you add a new gateway, it will resynchronize and upload everything to our cloud system,” said Eliasson. From the cloud, mine management could access, process and visualize the data any way it chose. A couple of planned test installations in Boliden mines will indicate what changes need to be made for usability in a working mine environment. Within a year, Eliasson said he expects to have something that could be deployed on a large scale and that could be installed manually or mechanically. The product will be sold by spin-off company ThingWave AB, of which Eliasson is CEO.

Vandrico Solutions The sheer number and diversity of data-capture solutions can give headaches to mine management attempting to integrate everything – and that is in spite of the software and services designed to make data user-friendly. That is where Paola Telfer, co-founder and chief commercial officer of Vandrico Solutions, sees her company stepping in. “What we’re bringing into the equation is this open communications platform, which is kind of a novel thing in the mining industry,” she said. “We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel, but we’re bringing together the best-in-class systems that mining companies have already chosen in a way that is consolidated and is a single pane to look at for the people who are making decisions in real time.”

Out in the The tablet field, that could display for the Connected mean that a mine Worker by worker puts on a Vandrico wearable device Solutions at the start of his or her shift. That device would be a single point of contact with all the condition monitoring systems in the mine; if ground control deemed an area unsafe, for example, a smartwatch could vibrate or blink an unmistakable warning to the person working there. The watch would also be the miner’s means of communication to the central office, by way of an IP camera or instant messaging. The wearable device itself could contain sensors. One existing product has an embedded sensor that detects dangerous gases. If a drill operator drills into a pocket of gas, the device could prompt that operator to leave instantly. At the level of operations management, Vandrico offers a three-dimensional visualization of the mine and its operations, based on relevant data from numerous monitoring systems. Telfer said that while plenty of third-party suppliers would like their interface to be the conduit for other services, Vandrico is unusual for designing with a strong emphasis on user experience and a philosophy of absolute openness. “From the perspective of an actual mining company like a Rio Tinto, these (closed) systems are data islands,” said Telfer. “So whether the interfaces are for the operation supervisors on their computers or on these massive dashboards that they have on the wall at the operation centre, they have to keep switching plugs, they have to keep switching logins, and they can’t see everything at once, because these legacy providers are quite siloed from each other. This could lead to dangerous situations and a decline in efficiency and productivity.” By contrast, Vandrico’s Connected Worker Software Suite uses an open-standard API built on the same architectural principle as the Internet, with the intention that it can share information as easily as it pulls information from other systems. Telfer also emphasizes that the user experience can be fully customized by and to the mine’s needs without the need to involve Vandrico. With the sheer number of monitoring providers out there, some of whom have invested heavily in their own closed systems, it may not be possible to integrate everything just yet. But as more people, places and things come online, streamlining all these data sources will likely become as high a priority as acquiring them in the first place.

| technology Courtesy of Vandrico Solutions

O P T I M I Z AT I O N

Vandrico has explored a number of different devices and is actively seeking hardware partners to develop more, but so far the pilot projects tend to start with smartwatches. CIM

August • Août 2016 | 45

2016 Reader Survey results

CIM Magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most valuable resource is its readership. The professionals who make up our audience are also the sources we draw our editorial from. The survey we do every other year gives us an opportunity

to check in with them and gauge where they are in their careers, what information they require and how

we might respond. Here are some of the things we learned.

READER COMMENT

The majority of our readers are highly educated.

86%

University degree or higher

76% PLAN ON AUGMENTING THEIR EDUCATION 70% ARE IN A MANAGEMENT POSITION

39%

Post-graduate degree

47% PD course/program 44% Seminars 35% Online courses 21% Senior management 33% Middle management 16% First-line management

WHAT PROFESSIONAL ROLES DO OUR READERS HAVE? Engineering

39%

Mining company

27%

I see a lot of innovation and technological advancements, but I think CIM Magazine can take an additional step in providing coverage to those providing thought leadership and to the end-users winning battles. Mining is too risk averse still, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a race to be second, or, even better - third. People often think about applying some proven (in other industries) technology and applying them to mining as a risk and what could go wrong, instead of what could go well.

TOP 10 TOPICS READERS FIND VALUABLE TO THEIR WORK Innovation

58%

Environment

46%

Operations

57%

Processing

44%

Exploration

42%

Extraction

40%

Metals economics

36%

Geology

32%

Management strategies Metallurgy

Technical consulting

23%

36% 35%

Mining services

20%

WHERE DO OUR READERS GET THEIR MINING NEWS?

81%

of readers are

CIM MEMBERS OUR READERS VALUE THEIR CIM MEMBERSHIP have been members 56% for more than 5 years

69% ARE INVOLVED IN THE

PURCHASING PROCESS

47% involved in the recommendation process 24% grant final recommendation 24% grant final approval

CIM MAGAZINE READERS RARELY TRAVEL FOR WORK

In the last 12 months the average reader took 2.7 business trips and spent only 2.9 nights in a hotel/motel.

67% Canada

36% United States

34% International

Survey DRAW WINNERS 1st: Ipad mini

Hassan Fatemi, University of Sherbrooke

2nd: Fitbit

Marcel Montpellier, Hard Line

3rd: $100 visa card

Kingsley Hortin, AMC Mining Consultants

4th: $100 Visa card

Mike Chamberlain, CCC Chemicals

5th: $100 Visa card

Paul Mustard

In total 416 responses were received (385 English & 31 French). The sample size of 416 ensures statistical accuracy of the results with the error rate of Âą4.7%, based on the total 12,364 subscribers (worst case scenario, confidence level 95%).

Manufacturer/

Distributor

18%

R&D

17%

Exploration

14% Technology 14%

% 74 Magazines (print)

% 55 Online news sites

% 53 Magazines (digital)

% 34 Conference proceedings % 34 LinkedIn

% 29 Newspapers

% 27 Newsletters/eNewsletters % 10 Facebook

% 9 White papers % 8Blogs

% 6 Twitter READER COMMENT

The site visits that provide operational overview and insights from key people are valuable because most people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get enough opportunity to visit other operations. The widest possible range of areas should continue to be highlighted including enviro and community aspects as well as Human Resources and Labour Relations issues along with the usual mining and geology and processing and maintenance.

Since 1968 ciM DiSTinguiSheD lecTurerS have shared their knowledge with the mining community.

MEET OUR NEW LINEUP OF EXPERTS. hani henein Professor at the Department of Chemicals & Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, AB

Daniel MarShall Professor of Economic Geology and Geochemistry Earth Sciences Department, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

advanced micro alloyed steels for sustainable pipelines | The evolution of the philosophy of engineering education | Quantifying solidification path in rapid solidification using 3D measurements

Melt inclusions of native-silver and native-bismuth at cobalt, ontario. Model for native-metal enrichments comparing natural samples with experimental and in-situ studies.

lawrence Devon SMiTh Principal consultant at Lawrence, Devon, Smith and Associates

PaTrick STePhenSon Director / Principal Geologist, AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd.

Dirk van Zyl Professor, Chair of Mining and the Environment, University of British Columbia

Discount rates and risk in long life projects

Mineral resources, minerals reserves or pie in the sky?

Tailings risk management

Book a ciMâ&#x20AC;&#x2C6;Distinguished lecturer today. www.cim.org/en/Services/Distinguished-Lecturers Dist_lecturer@cim.org | 514.939.2710 ext: 1332

SECTION francophone 60 Grâce à l’intervention rapide et aux opérations

logistiques dirigées par les sociétés d’exploitation des sables bitumineux confrontées au feu de forêt dans le nord de l’Alberta, on a pu éviter le pire

Par Chris Windeyer

50 Lettre de l’éditeur 50 Mot du président 51 Le lithium connaît un second souffle, propulsé par l’intérêt grandissant pour les automobiles électriques Par Kate Sheridan

52 Les exposants de Minexpo 2016 sont pressés 54 S’attaquer aux risques qui touchent l’eau en d’atteindre l’optimisation Par Eavan Moore prévision de la fermeture de la mine

55 L’indispensable inclusion Par Sean Willy 58 Des changements de conception qui partent Par Derek Chubb

65 L’Internet des objets innove dans l’utilisation des du sommet Par Vince Morello

capteurs visant à optimiser l’exploitation minière

68 Résultats du sondage auprès des lecteurs 2016 Par Eavan Moore

La version française intégrale du CIM Magazine est disponible en ligne : magazine.CIM.org/fr-CA

lettre de l’éditeur

mot du président

Cendres, courage et détermination

La connexion minière

Après avoir revu les photos et les vidéos des murs de flammes en train de s’abattre sur les routes entourant Fort McMurray durant l’évacuation de la ville en mai, je suis stupéfait de constater que ces incendies survenus au cœur d’une région de sables bitumineux aient fauché si peu de vies. Le brasier n’a fait aucun mort, et l’évacuation de quelque 80 000 personnes a entraîné seulement deux décès. Je tiens à joindre ma voix à celles des nombreuses autres personnes qui saluent l’efficacité des interventions d’urgence durant cette tragédie, désormais reconnue comme la pire catastrophe naturelle de l’histoire du Canada. Il n’existe probablement pas d’autre communauté mieux entraînée et mieux outillée pour répondre aux exigences logistiques d’un tel désastre. Dans notre article de couverture, « Limitons les dégâts » (page 60), Chris Windeyer dévoile une toute petite partie des efforts qu’ont déployés les exploitations minières et les sociétés de services et d’approvisionnement du secteur minier pour mettre les gens hors de danger tandis qu’elles luttaient contre « la Bête ». Windeyer raconte aussi la dure réalité des sinistrés : le rétablissement sera long et difficile, et la réussite à cet égard sera bien plus délicate à mesurer que celle des efforts d’évacuation. Il faut rebâtir la ville, les maisons, les écoles, les églises et les lieux de travail, dans une collectivité qui soutient encore une fois ses membres. Il sera bien difficile d’en prendre la mesure quand ce sera terminé, mais les gens courageux et persévérants qui reconstruiront la ville seront en droit de recevoir autant d’éloges que ceux qui sont intervenus lorsque l’incendie faisait rage. Dans ce numéro, nous vous présentons également les résultats de notre sondage auprès des lecteurs en page 68. Ce qui en ressort en général, c’est que vous voulez que nous restions à l’affût des nouveautés en matière de technologies, de processus et de stratégies opérationnelles, et que nous vous communiquions ce que nous apprenons. Il s’agit d’une demande extrêmement raisonnable, et pour y répondre, je vous invite à jeter un œil à « Une mine… d’information », un texte sur la technologie rédigé par Eavan Moore (page 65). Voilà un excellent exemple d’application pratique de l’Internet industriel des objets. Je vous invite également à ne pas manquer notre prochain numéro, où nous aborderons de front le thème de l’innovation dans le secteur minier.

La camaraderie dans l’industrie minière est toujours bien réconfortante. Lorsque deux professionnels du secteur se rencontrent, peu importe où ils se trouvent dans le monde, ils ont toujours au moins une connaissance en commun. Ce genre de situation m’est revenu à l’esprit récemment lors d’un BBQ dans la cour d’une résidence à Oakville cet été, où la moitié des invités semblait liée au secteur minier. Les conversations tournaient donc autour d’expériences dans ce domaine au Zimbabwe, en Afrique du Sud, au Royaume-Uni, au Groenland, en Indonésie et à Sudbury. J’ai été très heureux de constater le soutien financier que nos membres de l’ICM ont accordé à nos amis du secteur minier à Fort McMurray. Plus de 1 800 propriétés ont été détruites, et les dommages assurables ont été évalués à au moins 3,8 milliards de dollars. Certains dons des mineurs ont été versés à la Croix-Rouge canadienne, et le Bureau national de l’ICM collabore également avec la section des sables bitumineux de l’ICM pour distribuer la plupart des dons à des organismes locaux que nos membres à Fort McMurray connaissent bien. Voilà une belle preuve de cette camaraderie dans le secteur minier ! Sur une note un peu plus légère, les tournois de golf de l’ICM se déroulent actuellement un peu partout au pays. J’ai d’ailleurs moi-même participé récemment au tournoi de la section GTA Ouest ; j’y ai rencontré d’anciens collègues et je m’y suis fait de nouveaux amis. Ces événements sont d’excellentes occasions de réseautage pour les individus et les entreprises. Ces tournois permettent également aux sections de l’ICM d’amasser des fonds. Je suis toujours heureux de voir les jeunes professionnels se proposer comme bénévoles durant ces événements, ce qui leur permet de perfectionner leurs compétences en leadership et en organisation. Bien que le secteur minier demeure encore précaire, j’espère que la participation sera forte durant ces tournois de l’ICM et les nombreux autres événements qui auront lieu partout au pays cette année. Bon été à tous !

Ryan Bergen, Rédacteur en chef editor@cim.org @Ryan_CIM_Mag

50 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

Michael Winship Président de l’ICM @CIMPrez

Les actualités Le lithium ne connaît pas la crise Ce minéral industriel connaît un second souffle, propulsé par l’intérêt grandissant pour les automobiles électriques

Avec l’aimable autorisation de Nemaska Lithium

Par Kate Sheridan

D’après Nemaska Lithium, sa mine de Québec constituera la seconde plus grande réserve de lithium au monde, et la production devrait y commencer en 2018.

Le marché et l’industrie du lithium sont en pleine croissance, en raison de l’essor du marché de l’automobile électrique, selon le rapport Mine 2916 de PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) sur le secteur, publié au début du mois de juin. Le lithium est l’un des deux seuls produits de base (avec l’or) dont les prix ont résisté à la crise mondiale, selon le rapport. « Le lithium a connu une demande sans précédent au cours de la dernière année, en raison de son emploi généralisé pour la fabrication de piles et des batteries », plus particulièrement pour la fabrication de batteries destinées aux automobiles électriques, signale le rapport. Le fabricant d’automobiles électriques Tesla Motors, qui construit actuellement une usine de batteries au Nevada, s’attend à produire en 2020 autant de batteries lithium-ion à partir de ce site que la production mondiale en 2013. Au même moment, presque tous les grands constructeurs automo-

biles importants ont commencé à commercialiser des voitures électriques et les ventes de ce type de véhicule ont bondi de 80 % en 2015. Selon Tesla, il y aurait suffisamment de lithium pour fabriquer les batteries dont elle a besoin, mais certains analystes s’inquiètent et pensent que les producteurs de lithium auront du mal à fournir les quantités nécessaires. À ce jour, toutefois, la marque Tesla est bien plus connue par ses ambitions industrielles que ses besoins en lithium. « Du point de vue de la demande en lithium, Tesla n’est pas un joueur important, du moins pour le moment. Sur la base de sa production de l’an passé, Tesla représente moins de deux pour cent de la demande sur le marché du lithium », soulignait Joe Lowry, président de la société de conseil Global Lithium. Les batteries employées pour stocker l’énergie provenant de sources renouvelables comme l’éolien ou le solaire ajoutent également à la demande en lithium et en batteries,

ajoute M. Lowry. Le lithium est aussi utilisé dans la fabrication de céramiques, de verre et de climatiseurs. Ce n’est pas la première fois que M. Lowry est témoin d’une si grande demande en lithium ; en effet, l’intérêt a également augmenté considérablement à la fin des années 2000, lorsque les véhicules électriques et hybrides ont fait leur apparition sur le marché. « Cette vague d’intérêt était prématurée à l’époque, dit-il, mais je vois ce regain d’intérêt comme un second souffle qui, cette fois, sera durable. » Le prix du carbonate de lithium, l’un des minerais de lithium les plus utilisés pour fabriquer des batteries, a augmenté de 400 % au cours des deux dernières années, pour atteindre une moyenne annuelle de 6 400 $ par tonne en 2015, selon l’étude sur le lithium de 2016 de la Commission géologique américaine (U.S. Geological Survey – USGS). Pour la première fois, une entreprise consacrée à l’exploitation du lithium a fait son apparition dans le palmarès des 40 sociétés August • Août 2016 | 51

minières les plus importantes de PwC selon la capitalisation boursière. La Deutsche Bank prévoit que l’approvisionnement en lithium triplerait au cours de la prochaine décennie. Des rapports indiquent que Tesla pourrait avoir besoin d’environ 24 000 tonnes de lithium pour fabriquer suffisamment de batteries pour une production d’un demi-million d’automobiles d’ici à 2018. Toutefois, la production mondiale n’a atteint que 32 500 tonnes en 2015, selon les données de l’USGS.

Augmentation de la production La majorité de l’offre mondiale de lithium provient de trois minières : FMC Corp, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) et Albemarle Corporation. Le PDG de SQM, Patricio de Solminihac, a mentionné, au cours d’une entrevue accordée à Benchmark Mineral Intelligence en 2015, que la société pourrait augmenter sa production en 12 mois, s’il y avait lieu de répondre à une demande accrue. FMC et Albemarle ont choisi de devancer la demande sans attendre. En mai, FMC a annoncé qu’elle triplerait sa production d’hydroxyde de lithium d’ici à 2019, passant ainsi de 10 000 à 30 000 tonnes. Albemarle a également annoncé qu’elle augmenterait sa production de carbonate de lithium, passant de 24 000 à 70 000 tonnes au cours des 27 prochaines années. Ces sociétés d’envergure ne sont pas les seules à profiter de cette ruée vers le lithium. Tesla a conclu des ententes

d’achat de lithium avec quelques minières émergentes, dont les canadiennes Pure Energy Minerals et Bacanora Minerals. Aucune d’entre elles n’a pour l’instant de mine en production, mais d’autres sociétés font leur apparition dans le secteur, surtout en Amérique du Sud. L’Argentine, la Bolivie et le Chili ont de grandes réserves de lithium. Ces trois pays possèdent la majorité des 34 millions de tonnes de réserves de lithium à l’échelle mondiale. Toutefois, le Canada (et plus particulièrement le Québec) pourrait devenir un autre producteur de lithium important. Le Canada possède près d’un million de tonnes de réserves de lithium, selon les données de l’USGS. Un projet québécois sera bientôt prêt à passer en mode production : Nemaska Lithium, vient de clôturer un appel public de 69 M$ et a fait son entrée à la Bourse de Toronto le 8 juillet. « Le monde a besoin de nouveaux venus sur le marché, et ce, le plus tôt possible ; nous en faisons partie », a mentionné Guy Bourassa, PDG de Nemaska. Cette dernière affirme que sa mine constituera la deuxième plus importante réserve de lithium au monde. « Nous sommes l’un des trois projets à l’échelle mondiale intégralement autorisés et prêts à démarrer », ajoute M. Bourassa, estimant que d’autres projets semblables au Canada accusent probablement cinq à sept ans de retard comparativement à Nemaska. Il s’attend à démarrer la production en 2018. L’étude de faisabilité la plus

récente du projet conclut que la mine produirait environ 213 000 tonnes de concentré par année, ce qui équivaut à environ 27 500 tonnes d’hydroxyde de lithium et 3 245 tonnes de carbonate de lithium. Les deux peuvent servir à fabriquer des cathodes, les plaques positives d’une batterie.

Perspectives Il est possible que l’approvisionnement des autres composantes entrant dans la composition des batteries lithium-ion soit en péril, notamment le cobalt, qui provient en majorité de mines situées dans des pays dont la stabilité politique est souvent menacée. M. Lowry ne partage pas ces préoccupations. « Je ne pense pas qu’à long terme, le cobalt soit ce qui mette fin à cette histoire », a-t-il dit, en soulignant les initiatives de recyclage du cobalt, la taille des marchés respectifs du cobalt et du nickel, ainsi que les efforts déployés pour concevoir des cathodes sans cobalt. Il se peut tout de même que certains projets menacent l’utilisation répandue de la batterie lithium-ion à l’avenir, ce qui est également abordé dans le rapport de PwC. Cela n’inquiète cependant pas M. Bourassa. « On ne voit aucun potentiel de substitution d’ici 15 ou 20 ans, dit-il. Ce que nous voyons actuellement est l’évolution de la batterie lithium-ion grâce à de nouvelles réactions chimiques : plus de cycles, plus grande densité de puissance, meilleure sécurité et moindre dissipation de chaleur. Et malgré cette évolution, ce seront encore des batteries lithium-ion. » ICM

Réduction des coûts et créativité Les exposants de Minexpo 2016 sont pressés d’atteindre l’optimisation Par Eavan Moore

En septembre, cela fera quatre ans que les exposants de Minexpo voient le ralentissement de la demande pour les produits miniers s’intensifier en un marasme prolongé. 52 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

La dernière expo de 2012 était marquée d’une prudence qui « a fait place à des exigences généralement plus sévères et au besoin accru de la clientèle de réduire les coûts, d’améliorer la

productivité et de trouver des moyens de faire plus avec moins », a déclaré Caley Clinton, directrice chargée des relations avec l’extérieur, Joy Global. « Ces questions constitueront notre

les actualités priorité au kiosque cette année, alors que nous souhaitons aider nos clients à optimiser leurs activités sur ce marché difficile. » Joy Global mettra l’accent sur l’utilisation accrue de son système d’entraînement hybride SR Joy dans tous les secteurs d’activité. Le système, qui appartient à une nouvelle famille de chargeuses pour exploitations minières souterraines de roche dure, se régénère en énergie. Il fonctionne à l’aide d’un système d’accumulateur cinétique d’énergie (Kinetic Energy Storage System ou KESS) visant à améliorer la productivité grâce à l’augmentation des vitesses d’accélération, de façon à réduire les temps de cycle. Il est peu probable que les camions et excavatrices de grand format présentés aux expositions précédentes occupent une place centrale cette année. « Nous avons découvert au cours des quatre dernières années que plus gros ne signifie pas nécessairement mieux », précise Jan Kwak, directeur général de l’extraction minière et du traitement des minéraux, Hatch, en soulignant qu’une production accrue ne fait qu’aggraver un équilibre défavorable de l’offre et de la demande. « Je suis curieux de savoir s’il y a des gens ayant adopté un schéma de traitement différent qui essaient ces technologies. Y en a-t-il qui ne se fient pas à la production à grande échelle pour réduire les coûts ? » Les ingénieurs de Hatch seront à Minexpo pour examiner minutieusement le nouvel équipement, mais également pour faire du réseautage et partager des idées sur le travail dans un nouveau milieu industriel, désormais renseigné sur les niveaux d’endettement record, les changements climatiques et les solutions logicielles qui n’existaient pas il y a quelques années. Stantec assistera d’abord à l’expo pour consulter les documents techniques et rester à l’affût des équipements, a souligné Mike Mayhew, vice-président, chef de file des extractions minières et directeur des extractions minières mondiales. Stantec profitera aussi de l’occasion pour pro-

mouvoir sa dernière acquisition, MWH Global, qui lui permet d’accroître sa portée mondiale et d’ajouter une nouvelle expertise liée aux ressources en eau. Mayhew affirme avoir remarqué que l’on portait davantage d’attention aux problèmes de sécurité, à la fois chez Stantec et parmi sa clientèle. Il s’attend donc à ce que la sécurité soit un sujet de conversation fréquent. Certaines des nouvelles technologies présentées pourraient répondre à cette préoccupation ; Mayhew s’intéresse notamment à l’automatisation complète de l’abattage et à un marinage à distance qui permet de tenir les gens à l’écart du front d’abattage. L’alimentation par batterie a aussi bénéficié d’avancées considérables au cours des quatre dernières années, alors que les entreprises cherchent à protéger la santé des travailleurs et à réduire les coûts de ventilation et de combustibles pendant les travaux d’approfondissements des mines. « On peut constater que beaucoup de fournisseurs importants y ont désormais recours et cela fait bouger les choses en matière d’équipement alimenté par batterie », ajoute Mayhew. Basé à Sudbury, RDH Mining est la première entreprise à commercialiser l’équipement alimenté par batterie pour les mines en roche dure. Elle utilisera Minexpo 2016 pour présenter la version 600EB de sa plate-forme élévatrice à ciseaux Liftmaster. RDH lancera aussi un petit modèle d’un mètre cube appartenant à sa gamme Muckmaster LHD. Selon Gustavo Portalier, chef de l’exploitation, RDH, ces produits répondent aux besoins des entreprises minières qui cherchent à réduire les répercussions de leurs activités sur l’environnement. « Je considère l’élaboration d’équipements alimentés par batterie comme une des plus grandes avancées technologiques en matière d’équipements miniers, car cela permet de calmer de nombreuses inquiétudes que nous avons quant aux répercussions sur l’environnement et la santé de l’utilisation d’équipement diesel. » RDH souhaite étendre ses activités sur

de nouveaux marchés comme l’Afrique et le Brésil. Sandvik figure parmi les producteurs les plus importants ayant adopté l’alimentation par batterie pour son équipement d’exploitation minière souterraine. Le jumbo DD422iE de l’entreprise, dont le lancement est prévu à Minexpo, présente un moteur alimenté par batterie. Kerry Falk, directeur commercial pour le Canada, promet que Sandvik exposera un nombre de nouvelles caractéristiques et de produits visant à optimiser l’exploitation. « Les sociétés minières ont abandonné la production à n’importe quel prix pour se tourner vers le transport des matières au prix le plus bas par tonne produite », a-t-il ajouté. À leur tour, les sociétés minières s’attendent à ce que les fabricants d’équipement d’origine (FEO) développent ces récentes technologies plus vite afin de répondre à ce nouvel objectif. » SmartCap Technologies, qui participe comme exposant pour la première fois, a passé les quatre dernières années à commercialiser et à promouvoir son système de détection de la fatigue à porter. Élaboré par le centre de recherche CRCMining du gouvernement australien, SmartCap est une casquette munie d’un capteur amovible capable de détecter l’activité électrique du cerveau et de se connecter via la technologie Bluetooth à un dispositif qui alerte automatiquement les conducteurs fatigués. Kristy Hamilton, directrice commerciale, SmartCap, précise que l’entreprise profitera de Minexpo pour présenter la nouvelle version du système. Plutôt que de se fier à un dispositif fixé à la cabine, les opérateurs pourront désormais recevoir les alertes sur une application pour téléphone intelligent. « Avant de choisir Minexpo pour lancer le produit, ajoute-t-elle, nous nous étions demandé quel événement serait le meilleur. Même si SmartCap est utilisé à bord d’avions, de trains et d’autobus, il a été conçu par des mineurs pour des mineurs, et Minexpo est l’événement minier de premier plan. » ICM August • Août 2016 | 53

chroniques

S’attaquer aux risques qui touchent l’eau en prévision de la fermeture de la mine Derek Chubb

ans son rapport sur les risques mondiaux, le Forum économique mondial (FEM) indique que les crises des ressources en eau sont l’un des cinq principaux facteurs susceptibles d’influer grandement sur la société au cours des dix prochaines années. Le FEM définit une crise de l’eau comme une baisse significative de la qualité et de la quantité de l’eau douce ayant des effets néfastes sur la santé des êtres humains et l’activité économique. La croissance démographique mondiale, l’urbanisation, les activités économiques et les changements climatiques constituent des facteurs clés d’une situation déjà complexe où les risques liés à l’eau varient d’une région à l’autre. L’accès à l’eau douce est un droit fondamental des êtres humains et s’avère essentiel à la santé des écosystèmes, tout en étant indispensable aux procédés d’extraction minière et de broyage. Les grandes sociétés savent que la responsabilité de la gestion des ressources est un principe d’affaires sous-jacent, et des organisations comme le Conseil International des Mines et Métaux (ICMM) ont élaboré des documents d’orientation à cet effet. La gestion des ressources ne relève pas uniquement d’une responsabilité altruiste ; les exploitants miniers qui omettent d’aborder comme il se doit les enjeux liés à l’eau risquent d’afficher un taux de rendement réduit de leur capital investi. Il existe de nombreuses études de cas où l’on a simplifié à outrance le processus de consommation de l’eau sans tenir adéquatement compte des possibles problèmes environnementaux, sociaux et réglementaires qui risquent de se produire pendant la durée de vie de la mine et d’avoir d’importantes conséquences.

54 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

La fermeture en vue Bien que toutes les mines finissent par fermer, on accorde rarement beaucoup d’importance à la planification de leur fermeture. Cette étape particulière, qui se situe généralement plusieurs décennies plus tard, n’exerce que peu d’influence sur les décisions économiques prises aujourd’hui. Une analyse de la valeur actualisée des flux de trésorerie peut masquer les véritables coûts d’une fermeture. L’exploitation du minerai génère des revenus aujourd’hui même, contrairement à la réhabilitation progressive. Alors, pourquoi s’en soucier ? Des idées préconçues pendant la planification de l’exploitation de la mine et les opérations quotidiennes peuvent donner lieu à une conception d’infrastructure ne résistant pas à l’évolution des conditions, et le report des travaux risque d’accroître ou de compliquer les coûts de fermeture. La gestion perpétuelle de l’eau, que l’on ne saurait négliger, est onéreuse et peut représenter un passif important pour les exploitations minières. La société Environmental Resources Management (ERM) a récemment examiné 73 plans de fermeture de mine de 2007 à 2013. Cet examen indique qu’en moyenne, on propose que l’abandon se fasse sur une période de 11 ans. Une étude de suivi a démontré que, sur 57 mines en cours de fermeture, 91 % des sites affichaient des durées de fermeture de 21 ans sans avoir encore été fermés. Cette étude illustre bien que les sociétés minières sont exagérément optimistes, et nos études démontrent que l’on sousestime souvent et considérablement le temps et les coûts requis pour fermer un site minier. Les données sont claires : si on agit de façon inefficace pour la planification et la gestion de l’eau tout au long d’un

cycle de vie, le rendement réel du capital investi est réduit en raison des répercussions sur l’environnement, la société et la réputation.

Matérialiser les plans Une gestion responsable et efficace de l’eau exige à la fois le recours à une solution technique et à une stratégie globale intégrée. Afin de mieux gérer ce risque fondamental pour l’entreprise, il faut tenir compte de l’eau tout au long de la durée de vie de la mine, de sa conception à sa fermeture. • Reconnaissez que l’eau ne se limite pas à un enjeu opérationnel interne. Les facteurs externes comme les changements climatiques et les demandes de la part d’autres utilisateurs, comme les exploitations agricoles, peuvent exercer une influence majeure sur les risques liés à l’eau. Le recours à un outil permettant de mesurer l’« empreinte du risque lié à l’eau » peut fournir une bonne interprétation d’une mine à l’intérieur d’un bassin hydrologique à multiples utilisateurs. • Établissez le niveau d’ambition de votre organisation et assurez l’harmonisation de vos activités. Vous efforcez-vous d’être un chef de file de l’industrie ou cherchez-vous plutôt à respecter les normes acceptables? Établissez vos objectifs opérationnels en conséquence. Ne faites pas de promesses que vous ne pourrez pas tenir. • Les risques et les occasions varient en fonction de la région et de la période. Vous devez comprendre le contexte local et avoir une vision à long terme. Évaluez un vaste éventail de risques qui touchent à la fois les domaines environnementaux, sociaux et financiers. L’adoption d’une approche uniforme pour toutes les situations ne fonctionne pas.

chroniques • Procédez au suivi de l’évolution des conditions et adaptez-vous en conséquence. Intégrez le risque lié à l’eau à vos processus décisionnels d’entreprise. Allez au-delà de la valeur actualisée des flux de trésorerie afin de déterminer les coûts de fermeture. Répondez aux questions ci-dessous aux diverses étapes de l’exploitation minière. Planification : Avons-nous tenu compte de toutes les étapes de la durée de vie de ce projet, y compris de la fermeture ? Quels engagements dois-je prendre pour

la fermeture afin d’obtenir et de conserver mon permis d’exploitation? Exploitation : Entreprenons-nous les travaux de fermeture de manière proactive afin de réduire au minimum les risques à long terme, y compris les risques liés à l’eau ? Serons-nous en mesure de maintenir nos engagements de fermeture, et sont-ils suffisants pour gérer notre profil de risque en constante évolution ? Fermeture : Pouvons-nous exécuter notre plan de fermeture à temps et en respectant notre budget ? Traitons-nous la fermeture comme un projet en soi ?

L’eau joue un rôle essentiel dans les activités minières, et les risques qui y sont associés sont de plus en plus évidents. Nous ne pouvons plus nous contenter de percevoir l’eau uniquement comme un simple procédé nécessaire. Adopter une approche proactive à l’égard du cycle de vie, dans laquelle la fermeture est planifiée et les activités d’exploitation en tiennent compte, doit devenir la norme. ICM Derek Chubb, ing., est un associé principal à Environmental Resources Management (ERM) et travaille à Toronto. L’auteur aimerait remercier Jim Chan, conseiller principal, ERM, pour sa contribution au présent article.

L’indispensable inclusion Par Sean Willy

a relation entre le secteur des ressources au Canada et les Premières Nations, Inuits, et Métis de partout au pays doit évoluer vers une inclusion complète des peuples autochtones. Le secteur des ressources est le fondement de l’économie canadienne. Il a fait preuve de leadership et d’avant-garde en sollicitant la participation des peuples autochtones, mais il reste encore du travail à faire. Je continue d’entendre des leaders de communautés autochtones au Canada dire qu’ils soutiennent le développement des ressources, pourvu qu’ils soient traités comme des partenaires, qu’ils soient entendus, que les bénéfices soient partagés et que la gérance environnementale soit une composante principale des plans et des activités de projets. Le dialogue est essentiel à la réussite. Très souvent, les deux parties se rendent compte qu’elles partagent de nombreux objectifs et valeurs, et lorsqu’une relation saine est établie, elles peuvent collaborer afin de poursuivre ces objectifs communs.

Un tel dialogue est encore plus important dans notre pays, car la majorité des ressources naturelles se trouve dans les régions éloignées du Nord canadien. Cette réalité donne lieu à un véritable défi à relever dans le domaine des politiques publiques, ce qui nécessite de nouvelles formes de partenariat. Le défi est amplifié par la faible densité de population du Nord. Avec seulement un petit nombre de parlementaires et de législateurs qui représentent les petites communautés dont les membres sont dispersés sur de vastes étendues de terre, il est très difficile d’obtenir une voix politique au sein des gouvernements fédéral, provinciaux et territoriaux. Les disputes entre secteurs de compétence aggravent d’autant plus le problème avec Ottawa et les provinces, qui ont cherché à de nombreuses reprises à se refiler la responsabilité des peuples autochtones. Quel a été le résultat net ? Un manque de direction dans des domaines essentiels comme le finance-

ment des infrastructures et de l’éducation dans le Nord canadien, menant à l’augmentation du coût de la vie, à la diminution de l’accès aux mêmes services de base et aux produits de première nécessité qu’au Sud et à de plus grandes barrières au développement et aux activités économiques. Ainsi, lorsque les communautés et les sociétés de ressources se rencontrent pour discuter de l’avancement de projets nouveaux et existants, il devrait être clair qu’elles devraient avoir un objectif commun, soit un partenariat qui vise à relever ce défi dans le domaine des politiques publiques. Nous devons nous efforcer d’ajouter valeur et capacité à la fois aux communautés autochtones et aux sociétés de ressources, tout en bâtissant une relation avec tous les paliers du gouvernement canadien, pour veiller à ce qu’elles soient toutes deux présentes à la table et qu’elles apportent leur soutien. Dans le nord de la Saskatchewan à la fin des années 1970, le gouvernement provincial avait fixé des objecAugust • Août 2016 | 55

chroniques tifs locaux pour l’industrie de l’uranium. Ces objectifs étaient basés sur un engagement pris avec des leaders de communautés autochtones qui souhaitaient obtenir leur part des bénéfices du développement, mais qui voulaient également avoir un droit de parole dans la gérance environnementale. Depuis ce temps, Cameco Corporation est devenue non seulement le plus important employeur industriel embauchant des autochtones au Canada, mais également un leader dans l’acquisition d’entreprises autochtones locales et la première société de ressources à mobiliser des leaders traditionnels dans le suivi environnemental. De plus, au cours de la dernière année, l’entreprise a commencé à mobiliser les gouvernements fédéral et provinciaux conjointement avec les chefs et les maires des territoires traditionnels dans lesquels elle exerce ses activités. Le succès de ces voyages a mis en valeur un partenariat de ressources et a permis au gouvernement de constater le soutien apporté

par les communautés au développement des ressources lorsque des partenariats sont conclus. Je tiens à préciser que ce modèle met l’accent sur un partenariat ; l’entreprise ne finance pas tout et ne peut pas résoudre tous les problèmes vécus par les collectivités du Nord. Ces collectivités le comprennent également, et l’objectif de nos efforts conjoints est d’offrir aux gouvernements fédéral et provinciaux les occasions de faire partie de ce partenariat progressiste et de les motiver en ce sens. Notre expérience démontre qu’il est rentable de travailler ensemble à la poursuite d’objectifs communs du domaine des politiques publiques, comme l’éducation et les infrastructures au sein des communautés autochtones, par exemple, dans les logements communautaires et l’amélioration des routes et des réseaux de communications. L’investissement dans l’éducation permet d’offrir aux résidents locaux de meilleures possibilités de carrière et nous permet d’embaucher davantage

d’habitants de la région. Les communautés desservies par des routes bénéficient d’un coût de la vie moins élevé et sont plus attirantes pour les professionnels de l’extérieur dont la présence est requise pour la prestation de services de santé et d’autres services essentiels. De meilleurs moyens de communication ouvrent de nouvelles avenues pour les programmes éducatifs, par exemple l’apprentissage en ligne et à distance. Compte tenu de la priorité que le gouvernement fédéral vient d’accorder à la création de possibilités pour les peuples autochtones et à l’amélioration de leurs conditions de vie, ce modèle démontre que les communautés et les sociétés peuvent devenir de réels partenaires dont le bien-être respectif est étroitement lié. Voilà ce qu’est l’inclusion, et elle donnera lieu à des communautés plus solides, à une industrie plus prospère et à des avantages dont profiteront tous les Canadiens. ICM Sean Willy occupe le poste de directeur de la responsabilité sociale à Cameco Corporation.

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THÈMES DU CONGRÈS VITRINE SUR LA SANTÉ ET LA SÉCURITÉ EXCELLENCE DANS LES OPÉRATIONS NOUVEAUX ET RÉCENTS PROJETS GÉOLOGIE ET EXPLORATION MÉCANIQUE DES ROCHES NOUVEAUX ET ÉMERGENTS LEADERS GÉNOMIQUE EXPLOSIFS ET MÉTHODES DE DYNAMITAGE INNOVATIONS DANS LE SECTEUR DE L’ÉNERGIE DIVERSITÉ ET INCLUSION FRANCO-MINE NORMES MINIÈRES ET PRATIQUES EXEMPLAIRES ENVIRONNEMENT ET DÉVELOPPEMENT DURABLE INNOVATION : PRÉSENT ET AVENIR SCIENCE MINIÈRE PLANÉTAIRE ET TERRESTRE (PTMSS) GESTION ET FINANCES (PRÉSENTATIONS SUR INVITATION) INFORMATIONS IMPORTANTES À CONSULTER AVANT DE SOUMETTRE VOTRE RÉSUMÉ • La conférence permet une présentation de 20 minutes et une période de 5 minutes pour répondre aux questions du public. • Les résumés ne doivent pas dépasser 200 mots. Les auteur(e)s seront informé(e)s de l’acceptation de leur candidature au plus tard le 22 décembre 2016. • Envoyez vos papiers ou vos présentations PowerPoint au plus tard le 28 avril 2017. • Les intervenant(e)s doivent s’inscrire et s’acquitter des frais d’inscription inhérents aux auteur(e)s au plus tard le 24 mars 2017 afin de réserver leur place dans le programme. La viabilité financière des conférences dépend des frais d’inscription de toutes les catégories de participants. Un tarif préférentiel d’inscription sera proposé aux intervenant(e)s en reconnaissance de leur contribution spéciale à la conférence. Une sélection d’articles présentés lors du congrès de l’ICM 2017 sera disponible en ligne par le biais des archives virtuelles de documents techniques de l’ICM (cim.org).

ENVOYEZ VOTRE RÉSUMÉ AVANT LE 31 OCTOBRE 2016

CONVENTION.CIM.ORG L’institut canadien des mines, de la métallurgie et du pétrole (ICM) détient et gère le congrès de l’ICM.

Avec l’aimable autorisation de CEIM

Des changements de conception qui partent du sommet Le remblai en pâte offre de nouvelles possibilités aux promoteurs de mines souterraines, et Doug Morrison du CEIM invite les compagnies minières à s’y intéresser Par Vince Morello

’exploitation minière souterraine a toujours été une activité coûteuse. La plupart des promoteurs investissent d’énormes sommes dès le départ en creusant jusqu’au fond d’un gisement et en l’exploitant ensuite de bas en haut. Doug Morrison, PDG du Centre d’excellence en innovation minière (CEIM), croit toutefois que cette méthode de conception de mine, qu’il appelle « exploitation ascendante », est inefficace. Il croit qu’une autre façon de concevoir les mines pourrait réduire le risque financier des projets en bousculant les conventions actuelles pour exploiter plutôt les mines du haut du gisement vers le bas. Avant de se joindre au CEIM, Doug Morrison travaillait comme PDG par intérim chez MIRARCO et comme responsable du secteur minier international chez Golder Associates. Il a une maîtrise en mécanique des roches et en génie d’excavation.

nous l’avons comparé à un abattage par chambre vide semblable, mais avec un remblai en pâte. Nous avons déterminé que l’utilisation de pâte était préférable, puisque la pâte permet de créer un remblai de qualité supérieure.

ICM : Qu’est-ce qui vous a donné l’idée de repenser la conception des mines souterraines ? Doug Morrison : Tout est parti de notre projet de recherche sur l’utilisation du remblai en pâte pour remplacer le remblayage hydraulique. Nous avons fait un projet avec Labrecque Technologies – une entreprise spécialisée dans la simulation d’événements – où nous avons étudié l’abattage par chambre vide standard avec un système de remblayage hydraulique et

ICM : Quels sont les problèmes actuels associés à l’exploitation ascendante ? Morrison : Le principal problème pour nous, c’est que plus on creuse profondément, plus le coût de l’exploitation augmente. Si on continue à utiliser les mêmes méthodes d’exploitation minière, en creusant on devient de moins en moins rentable, tout en produisant la même qualité de minerai. L’exploitation devient plus coûteuse en raison des problèmes logis-

58 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

ICM : À quels genres de projets de recherche le CEIM travaille-t-il actuellement ? Morrison : Nous nous concentrons principalement sur l’amélioration de la productivité, et donc sur la recherche de façons de faire les choses plus rapidement, à moindre coût et en moins de temps. Tous ces facteurs contribuent à la productivité des opérations terrestres. Un des avantages d’utiliser le remblai en pâte au lieu du remblayage hydraulique, c’est que vous éliminez certaines tâches comme construire des barricades, installer des tours de drainage et attendre que le terrain se draine.

planification et conception des mines tiques liés au fait de descendre plus en profondeur et des problèmes de chaleur. Plus on descend, plus il fait chaud. La demande d’énergie et d’électricité pour faire fonctionner les systèmes de ventilation est plus élevée et il faut donc dépenser plus d’argent. ICM : Quels sont les avantages de l’exploitation descendante ? Morrison : Dans l’exploitation ascendante, vous devez investir pour creuser jusqu’au fond du gisement, puis vous devez installer un système de ventilation jusqu’au fond du gisement. Vous dépensez tout votre argent avant même de démarrer la production. Vous commencez ensuite à extraire du minerai au fond du gisement et c’est alors que votre investissement commence à rapporter. Si vous faites de l’exploitation descendante, vous ouvrez en fait seulement les trois niveaux supérieurs, ou peut-être quatre niveaux, puis vous commencez à produire dans les niveaux supérieurs. Ainsi, l’investissement total que vous devez faire est beaucoup moins important et vous commencez à rentabiliser votre investissement beaucoup plus rapidement que si vous deviez creuser jusqu’au fond du gisement. Puis, vous vous déplacez progressivement vers le bas. Le principal avantage de ce genre d’approche est qu’il s’agit d’une approche peu risquée, car s’il survient une chute importante du prix du métal que vous produisez, vous pouvez interrompre la production en attendant que le prix remonte à un niveau acceptable. Si vous faites de l’exploitation ascendante, vous investissez tout le capital dès le départ, et vous ne pouvez donc pas poursuivre l’exploitation lorsque le prix chute, parce que vous ne pouvez plus offrir de rendement à vos investisseurs. L’exploitation ascendante exige normalement un prix stable prévu pour l’avenir, disons les 15 ou 20 prochaines années. Si vous ne prévoyez pas une stabilité des prix, alors vous ne démarrez pas le projet parce que le risque de ne pas offrir de rendement est trop élevé, alors qu’avec une approche descendante, le risque est beaucoup moins important, et vous pouvez donc aller de l’avant, même si le prix du métal à l’avenir est moins stable. ICM : Quels sont les défis associés à l’exploitation descendante ? Morrison : Vous devez premièrement disposer du remblai nécessaire, afin d’avoir un remblai stable au-dessus de votre tête. Vous devez ensuite perfectionner les techniques d’abattage. Vous pouvez utiliser une technique de forage ascendant sous le remblai, ou si vous n’êtes pas à l’aise avec cette méthode, vous pouvez extraire le minerai directement sous le remblai en utilisant des techniques traditionnelles de forage descendant ou d’abattage par chambre vide. Vous devez évaluer les coûts et les avantages de chaque approche. ICM : Cette méthode implique-t-elle des risques plus importants ou différents pour la sécurité ? Morrison : Il n’y a pas vraiment de risques supplémentaires pour la sécurité parce que les méthodes d’exploitation minière

font appel au même équipement et aux mêmes techniques que nous utilisons maintenant. ICM : Si le coût de l’exploitation ascendante était tellement élevé, pourquoi l’innovation a-t-elle tellement tardé ? Morrison : Il est très difficile et très coûteux d’innover dans le domaine de l’exploitation minière. Il y a beaucoup de travail à faire avant de proposer une nouvelle façon de faire les choses. Les opérations minières sont généralement planifiées plusieurs années à l’avance. Le meilleur moment pour proposer une innovation est donc lors de l’ouverture d’une nouvelle mine ou d’un nouveau gisement dans une mine existante. ICM : Quels sont les risques associés à l’innovation dans ce domaine ? Morrison : Il y a beaucoup de risques à faire les choses différemment, mais cela ne signifie pas pour autant que le fait de ne rien changer ne comporte aucun risque. Si vous continuez à creuser de plus en plus profondément sans rien changer, les coûts augmentent en raison de la logistique et parce que vous avez besoin de plus d’électricité pour faire fonctionner les systèmes de ventilation. Selon moi, il faut considérer l’innovation comme un coût d’opportunité plutôt que comme une dépense risquée. Vous essayez de profiter des occasions ou des avantages de faire les choses différemment, alors que si vous continuez sur la même voie, vous finissez par ne plus être productif et rentable. Vous ne pouvez pas continuer à toujours faire la même chose sans que cela ait de conséquences. ICM : Comment cette méthode d’exploitation minière pourra-t-elle percer dans le secteur ? Morrison : Je pense qu’une fois que les compagnies minières seront à l’aise avec l’utilisation du remblai en pâte et qu’elles auront utilisé la pâte pendant un certain temps, elles reconnaîtront que la qualité du remblai en pâte est largement supérieure à celle du remblayage hydraulique et que c’est une façon beaucoup plus rentable d’exploiter une mine souterraine parce que cela limite les dépenses en immobilisations au début d’un projet. ICM : La majorité des mines utilisent-elles toujours le remblayage hydraulique ? Morrison : La majorité des nouvelles mines utilisent le remblai en pâte. Plusieurs mines plus anciennes qui avaient déjà un système de remblayage hydraulique ne sont probablement pas passées au remblai en pâte. Dans plusieurs cas, elles calculent les économies générées par la pâte par rapport aux dépenses en immobilisations d’une nouvelle mine et concluent que la durée de vie restante de la mine ne justifie pas l’investissement. Peu de mines incluent le faible coût d’opportunité lié aux gains de productivité dans ce calcul – mais c’est pourtant là où le remblai en pâte peut procurer les avantages les plus importants. ICM August • Août 2016 | 59

Premier of Alberta/Flickr

Le feu de forêt qui ont enflammé le nord de l’Alberta début mai ont dévasté le paysage et perturbé l’exploitation des sables bitumineux. Mais grâce à l’intervention rapide et aux opérations logistiques dirigées par les sociétés d’exploitation des sables bitumineux confrontées à ce désastre naturel, on a pu éviter le pire, et ils ont participé à l’évacuation de la ville de Fort McMurray. Par Chris Windeyer

L’incendie qui s’est propagé dans le nord de l’Alberta a entraîné l’évacuation de Fort McMurray, une ville d’environ 80 000 habitants.

orsque Dave Wallace, directeur de succursale de Brandt Tractor à Fort McMurray, a décroché le téléphone pour parler à CIM Magazine, sept semaines s’étaient écoulées depuis que l’immense feu de forêt baptisé « The Beast » (la Bête) avait déferlé sur la ville, et il s’est excusé pour le bruit en arrière-plan. On aurait dit qu’il roulait à vive allure sur l’autoroute, mais en réalité, le bruit provenait de l’arsenal de ventilateurs qui fonctionnaient à plein régime dans l’espoir de purger les bureaux de Brandt Tractor de l’odeur de fumée persistante. « Lorsque toute la ville est enveloppée par la fumée, que celle-ci flotte tout simplement au-dessus de la ville les jours calmes, elle finit par s’infiltrer partout et stagner ; il n’y a rien à faire », affirme M. Wallace. « Elle va tout envahir de toute façon. » Des nettoyeurs s’affairent dans le bureau depuis une semaine, mais comme pour tous les efforts de nettoyage et de reprise en cours à Fort McMurray dans le sillage de la « Bête », il va falloir beaucoup de temps. Lorsque les incendies ont éclaté début mai, on a vite compris qu’il s’agirait d’une catastrophe d’une ampleur sans précédent. Chaque soir, les bulletins de nouvelles télévisés diffusaient des images de fuites affolées, de quartiers entiers en proie aux flammes, et des vidéos amateurs agrémentées de nombreux jurons montrant des viaducs de l’autoroute entourés de panaches de flammes. Tout le pays regardait, stupéfait, en songeant à la possibilité très réelle qu’une ville Canadienne essentielle soit réduite en cendres en seulement quelques jours. Au lieu de cela, les premiers répondants, aidés par les employés des sociétés pétrolières et de bons samaritains qui ont accompli d’innombrables gestes de bonté, ont réalisé ce qui était pratiquement impensable : l’évacuation complète d’une ville de 80 000 habitants. Ils sont passés très près d’une évacuation sans victime, s’il n’y avait pas eu le décès de deux adolescents dans un accident survenu sur l’autoroute le 4 mai, alors que la grande partie de l’évacuation avait déjà eu lieu. « Le fait que nous ayons évacué tout le monde le premier jour [3 mai] est un vrai miracle », soutient M. Wallace. Brandt Tractor, important fournisseur de machinerie lourde et de pièces d’équipement des sociétés d’exploitation des sables bitumineux et des entrepreneurs de la région de McMurray, est restée ouverte pendant la majeure partie de la période d’évacuation massive obligatoire. Dès le premier feu, M. Wallace a ordonné à tous ses employés de retourner à leur domicile, ce qui était plus facile à dire qu’à faire, en raison de la congestion sur les routes principales pour sortir de la ville. Il affirme que son propre trajet, qui prend normalement 15 minutes, lui a pris une heure et demie, avec des flammes qui se rapprochaient de la route. « À un moment, je suis allé dans le fossé pour éviter le Flying J [relais routier] lorsqu’il a pris feu, car je n’étais pas certain du moment auquel les réservoirs allaient exploser. » La majorité des 55 employés de Brandt ont été évacués. Certains directeurs, comme M. Wallace, se sont installés dans le bureau de l’entreprise à Edmonton. Mais personne n’a vraiment eu le temps de se reposer. Quelques travailleurs sont retournés à Fort McMurray après August • Août 2016 | 61

Premier of Alberta/Flickr

Selon l’industrie, les perturbations au sein des exploitations de sables bitumineux en raison de l’incendie de mai correspondent à près d’un milliard $ de perte de PIB.

le 6 mai pour se rendre compte que le feu était passé à 300 mètres de l’immeuble de Brandt, alors qu’ils devaient acheminer une excavatrice et d’autres machineries lourdes afin d’aider la municipalité régionale de Wood Buffalo à recouvrir le dépotoir d’argile pour l’empêcher de brûler. L’entreprise a été déclarée service essentiel (raison pour laquelle les employés sont demeurés à Fort McMurray pendant l’évacuation obligatoire) et a aidé à mettre sur pied une chaîne d’approvisionnement vitale grâce à des chauffeurs qui faisaient tous les jours le trajet de quatre heures et demie depuis Edmonton. Les employés de Brandt se sont également rendus sur la ligne de feu, pour apporter des pièces de remplacement et effectuer l’entretien de l’équipement de lutte contre les incendies, dont une grande partie était constamment recouverte de cendres. « Nous faisions tout ce que nous pouvions pour aider les équipes de pompiers », mentionne M. Wallace. Grâce à une certaine bonne fortune et aux efforts herculéens de ces équipes, on a échappé aux scénarios apocalyptiques. Mais l’ampleur de la destruction causée par les feux de forêt est quand même considérable. Les flammes ont détruit environ 10 % de la ville, soit quelque 2 400 immeubles. Presque deux mois plus tard, tous les évacués n’étaient pas encore retournés sur place et ceux qui étaient revenus avaient été accueillis par différentes choses allant de réfrigérateurs remplis de nourriture en état de putréfaction à des piles de cendres là où se tenaient leurs maisons avant. Néanmoins, la réponse aux incendies de Fort McMurray représente certainement un exploit de tous les temps pour ce qui est de la gestion d’urgence, et les sociétés d’exploitation des sables bitumineux y ont grandement contribué. Comme l’a écrit le journaliste Tristin Hopper dans le National Post : 62 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

« Les pétrolières de l’Alberta se sont transformées avec efficacité en organisations humanitaires multimillionnaires en un tour de main. Tout bien considéré, le fait qu’une si grande partie de Fort McMurray ait été sauvée, et qu’aucun déploiement militaire à grande échelle n’ait été nécessaire, s’explique en grande partie par la réponse prompte des principaux employeurs de la région. »

LA LOGISTIQUE POUR ASSURER UN LIEN VITAL Pratiquement tous les acteurs clés de l’industrie des sables bitumineux ont joué un rôle quelconque dans la réponse au désastre. Les sociétés et leurs employés ont fait don de millions de dollars à la Croix Rouge afin d’aider aux efforts de secours, mais les sociétés ont également misé sur leurs propres forces logistiques au milieu d’une situation chaotique où les directives habituelles étaient souvent mises au rancart. L’exemple le plus remarquable concerne peut-être les milliers d’évacués qui, fuyant la ville vers le nord et coupés du reste de la province, ont été hébergés dans divers camps des projets des sables bitumineux, puis transportés par avion vers d’autres lieux. Plus de 25 000 évacués sont passés par les campements des sables bitumineux en route vers un lieu sécuritaire. Suncor, par exemple, a évacué par les airs plus de 10 000 personnes depuis son aérodrome de Firebag, près de Fort McKay, grâce à sa propre flotte d’appareils et à la location de quatre avions supplémentaires de WestJest. Shell Canada a hébergé environ 2 000 évacués dans son installation des sables bitumineux d’Albian et plus de 8 000 personnes ont pris l’avion à partir de sa piste d’atterrissage. Imperial Oil a hébergé 2 000 personnes dans son installation de Kearl. Syn-

« Nous avons été en mesure d’accomplir des choses en très peu de temps, des choses qu’il aurait été impossible d’accomplir seuls. » – S. Williams

ment au pire moment des feux », a soutenu Marg McCuaigBoyd, ministre de l’Énergie de l’Alberta dans une déclaration par courriel. « L’industrie a ouvert ses portes et accueilli des milliers de personnes de Fort McMurray dans leurs campements de travailleurs, fournissant de la nourriture, de l’eau et un abri aux personnes qui en avaient grandement besoin. Le gouvernement était en communication avec les entreprises qui offraient de l’assistance et travaillait en étroite collaboration afin de définir les besoins, de déterminer combien de personnes étaient hébergées et de trouver une façon pour que les gens travaillent de façon concertée. » Tout cela s’est produit alors que les sociétés d’exploitation des sables bitumineux étaient aux prises avec des situations instables dans leurs propres installations ou tout près de celles-ci.

crude a également évacué des employés et les a hébergés, avec leurs familles et leurs animaux de compagnie, dans un campement désaffecté situé dans ses installations de valorisation de Mildred Lake. « Nous avons notre propre centre d’opérations d’urgence et les personnes à la tête de ce centre avaient comme objectif de relocaliser toutes les personnes non essentielles hors de notre site et de la région, et nous avons collaboré avec d’autres Shell a interrompu ses activités à Albian Sands le 4 mai opérateurs pour coordonner le transport aérien afin d’évacuer afin de se concentrer sur l’utilisation de la piste d’atterrissage ces personnes vers d’autres parties de la province », a déclaré pour transporter les évacués vers un lieu sécuritaire, même Will Gibson, porte-parole de Syncrude. si le camp lui-même n’était pas initialement menacé par le La première ministre de l’Alberta, Rachel Notley, a déclaré aux journalistes lors d’une conférence de presse tenue le 10 mai que la réponse de l’industrie aux feux « était la combinaison d’éléments internes et d’éléments planifiés. » « Comme la sécurité est un élément important du travail que tout le monde effectue dans l’industrie, des plans d’évacuation bien conçus sont en place au cas où les camps et les installations des entreprises seraient menacés », a indiqué Mme Notley. « Donc, cela a plutôt bien fonctionné, car il a été possible d’intégrer ces plans au processus d’évacuation des gens de Fort McMurray qui s’étaient déplacés vers le nord en raison des incendies. » « Nous avons été en mesure d’accomplir des choses en très peu de temps, des choses qu’il aurait été impossible d’accomplir seuls », a déclaré Steve Williams, chef de la direction de Suncor, lors de la même conférence de presse. Au plus fort des feux, les sociétés d’exploitation des sables bitumineux ont aussi maintenu leur participation à la lutte contre les incendies. Syncrude a mis à contribution des pompiers et de l’équipement de lutte contre les incendies, alors qu’Imperial Oil a fourni 20 000 litres d’essence à la GRC. Le National Post a rapporté que Brion Energy a envoyé tous les jours des cargaisons de biens périssables à la Première Nation de Fort McKay et que des camions fournis par Canadian National Resources ont servi à acheminer les provisions transportées par voie aérienne dans la région. « Nos partenaires de l’industrie ont offert une Syncrude a détaché des pompiers et tout l’équipement nécessaire pour tenter de maîtriser les aide remarquable aux évacués et au gouverne- incendies qui ont ravagé le nord de l’Alberta en mai. Avec l’aimable autorisation de Syncrude Canada Ltd.

ARRÊT DES ACTIVITÉS POUR DES RAISONS DE SÉCURITÉ

August • Août 2016 | 63

feu. Les activités ont repris trois jours plus tard. « Je suis extrêmement fier de faire partie de cette équipe et touché par la façon dont nous avons réagi en dépit de circonstances extrêmement difficiles », a affirmé Peter Zebedee, directeur de mine de Shell à Albian. Le 7 mai, le jour même où l’on rapportait que le feu couvrait désormais une superficie de 2 000 km2, Syncrude a annoncé qu’elle commençait à fermer son installation de Mildred Lake. Elle a également fermé sa mine Aurora, à 70 kilomètres de Fort McMurray, évacuant un total de 1 500 employés de ces deux projets. « Nous produisons du pétrole à Fort McMurray depuis 1978 », précise M. Gibson. « Plus tôt ce mois, nous avons cessé nos activités pour la toute première fois. Nous avons fait face à l’adversité par le passé, mais cette situation est sans précédent dans l’histoire de Syncrude. » Suncor a fermé son usine de base, a cessé ses activités à Firebag et à MacKay Lake ainsi que dans une installation de valorisation et deux mines de surface, ce qui représentait une perte de capacité d’environ 300 000 barils par jour. Entre-temps, le 5 mai, par précaution, Cenovus a évacué tout le personnel non essentiel de son projet de Christina Lake, situé à environ 150 km au sud-est de Fort McMurray, mais a poursuivi ses activités selon les niveaux habituels. « Cette mesure a été prise principalement pour faciliter une évacuation rapide et une fermeture de l’usine en cas de besoin », a expliqué le porte-parole Brett Harris dans un courriel. « Cependant, il s’avère que Christina Lake n’a jamais été menacé directement par les feux de forêt, le personnel essentiel est demeuré sur le site et nous avons continué notre production selon les niveaux habituels tout au long de cette période. » M. Harris a affirmé que l’évacuation de Christina Lake était fondée sur les risques extrêmes d’incendie ainsi que sur les perturbations intermittentes du réseau de communications dans la région. Alors que les producteurs travaillaient à la reprise des activités, un changement soudain dans la direction des feux vers le nord, deux semaines après les évacuations initiales, les a forcés à suspendre leurs plans. Syncrude et Suncor ont ajourné leurs plans de reprise et selon le Globe and Mail, plus de 8 000 travailleurs ont dû être évacués. Alors que le temps chaud et sec s’est poursuivi en juin, Cenovus a connu une petite frayeur lorsque des flammes sans lien avec les feux de forêt se sont approchées à un kilomètre de son projet de pétrole lourd classique de Pelican Lake. L’usine a été fermée et évacuée, mais elle était de nouveau fonctionnelle en moins d’une semaine.

LES COÛTS L’industrie estime que la perturbation dans la production pétrolière du Canada s’élève à environ 1,2 million de barils par jour pendant deux semaines, ce qui se traduit par une perte de près d’un milliard de dollars en PIB. À la mi-mai, AIR Worldwide, cabinet de modélisation de catastrophe, a estimé que le total des dommages à la ville de Fort McMurray se chiffrait entre 4,4 milliards et 9 milliards de dollars, faisant de ces incendies la catastrophe la plus coûteuse de l’histoire du 64 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

Canada. Toutefois, ces chiffres ne tiennent pas compte de l’industrie pétrolière. Mme McCuaig-Boyd, ministre de l’Énergie de l’Alberta, a affirmé que le gouvernement ne pouvait pas confirmer ces chiffres. « Des évaluations détaillées sont en cours afin d’aider à mieux déterminer le coût total des feux de forêt », a-t-elle écrit. Même s’il n’y a pas eu de dommage physique aux installations d’exploitation des sables bitumeux, les sociétés pétrolières doivent assumer les coûts associés aux évacuations et à l’intervention d’urgence. « Ces coûts sont importants », a déclaré M. Williams, chef de la direction de Suncor, lors d’une conférence de presse en mai. « Nous examinons ces coûts, mais ils sont négligeables en ce qui concerne Suncor. »

LE CHEMIN DE LA REPRISE De retour chez Brandt Tractor, la vie reprend petit à petit son cours normal. L’année était déjà difficile dans le secteur pétrolier en raison de l’effondrement des prix du pétrole. M. Wallace estime que les activités commerciales liées à la machinerie lourde à Fort McMurray ont connu une baisse de 60 à 70 pour cent au cours de la dernière année, avant les feux. Le nettoyage de ce qui reste des maisons et des immeubles commerciaux incendiés et endommagés par la fumée fournira des occasions d’emploi, mais M. Wallace déclare que le choix d’une entreprise de la Colombie-Britannique pour s’occuper de cette tâche a créé « pas mal d’animosité » alors que les résidants sont à la recherche de travail. Il mentionne que parmi ses 55 employés, un seul n’est pas de retour au travail. Le moral est bon au bureau, M. Wallace a dit, mais les niveaux de stress sont élevés, alors que les gens ne savent pas à quel moment leurs familles vont revenir dans la ville ni quelle est la situation de l’hébergement. M. Wallace a affirmé que quatre travailleurs avaient perdu leur maison, tandis que 15 autres ne peuvent retourner dans leur logement pour diverses raisons. Lui-même a emménagé dans la maison de son chef pendant plus de deux semaines. Le retour à Fort McMurray promet d’être long. Les quartiers les plus touchés, comme Abasand et Beacon Hill, qui ensemble comptent plus de 1 600 immeubles détruits, demeurent inhabitables. Aux dires de M. Wallace, les résidants avaient d’abord hâte de commencer le processus de reconstruction. Mais la routine a repris le dessus et les gens se sont rendu compte que faire revivre leur ville allait être un processus long et ardu. « Il s’agit probablement d’un processus de reconstruction qui va s’étaler sur dix ans », a-t-il dit. « Nous tentons de relancer une économie entière. » Pour le moment, ce sont les petites choses qui aident à garder le moral dans la ville. Le 20 mai, pendant un BBQ organisé en l’honneur des premiers répondants ayant travaillé fort pour sauver Fort McMurray, le ciel s’est enfin ouvert pour déverser un déluge pendant trois heures sur une ville qui suffoquait sous le soleil depuis pratiquement le début du mois. Le BBQ a été gâché, mais cela n’a pas semblé déranger les gens. « Je n’ai jamais été aussi heureux de ma vie de voir de la pluie », affirme M. Wallace. « Il pleuvait à verse sur le dessus du BBQ et personne ne s’en souciait. » ICM

O P T I M I S AT I O N

| technologie

Une mine... d’information L’Internet des objets innove dans l’utilisation des capteurs visant à optimiser l’exploitation minière Par Eavan Moore

’an dernier, la société McEwen Mining a su tirer parti d’une petite expérience vécue dans sa mine d’or d’El Gallo, au Mexique. Des capteurs d’humidité enfouis dans les tas issus de la lixiviation avaient indiqué qu’il y avait moins de solution de cyanure sur le côté du tas, ce qui signifiait qu’on ne recouvrait pas tout l’or récupérable. L’entreprise avait également fait une autre découverte non négligeable : il est possible de surveiller l’état des lieux à des milliers de kilomètres de distance, grâce à des capteurs enfouis et à une connexion WiFi. Ceux qui travaillent pour faire adopter l’Internet des objets au monde minier ne voient en théorie aucune limite ou restriction quant aux espaces ou appareils pouvant faire l’objet d’une instrumentation. Une fois que la transmission se fait réellement sans fil, les capteurs peuvent équiper absolument tout : une personne, un véhicule, un outil. Or, l’information qu’ils transmettent permet d’optimiser de bien des façons l’exploitation minière.

Avec l’aimable autorisation de McEwen Mining

Des capteurs de ce type ont été déployés dans l’exploitation El Gallo de McEwen Mining pour la lixiviation en tas afin de contrôler l’irrigation, ainsi que sur un concasseur pour déterminer la cause du temps d’immobilisation.

Scanimetrics « Ça fait une vingtaine d’années qu’on en parle, mais seulement deux ou trois ans que la chose est devenue réaliste », indique Steven Slupsky, président et chef de la direction de Scanimetrics, la société d’électronique que McEwen a engagée pour contribuer à la surveillance de la lixiviation en tas. M. Slupsky a fait ressortir trois grandes percées technologiques : les appareils électroniques de faible puissance pouvant fonctionner sur pile, les protocoles sans fil de faible puissance servant à établir le cycle opératoire d’un appareil émetteur, et les logiciels d’analyse capables d’interpréter d’immenses quantités de données. Parallèlement à cela, certains capteurs, dont les accéléromètres, ont vu leur qualité progresser et leurs prix chuter. Pour l’essentiel, cela répondait à la demande des consommateurs pour les téléphones intelligents et les serveurs en grappe fiables. Au départ, Scanimetrics a mis au point une solution totalement sans fil permettant de surveiller l’état des installations pétrolières et gazières. Les modules de détection fonctionnent sur piles, avec une autonomie de charge pouvant atteindre un an; ils transmettent les données à un répéteur, une unité de saisie ou une passerelle Internet située à 10 m de distance. L’information est ensuite envoyée au bureau de Scanimetrics à Edmonton, à des fins d’analyse puis de visualisation simple dans un fureteur. August • Août 2016 | 65

Avec l’aimable autorisation de ThingWave

Aujourd’hui, une équipe de chercheurs – dirigée par Jens Eliasson, professeur associé auprès de l’Université de technologie de Luleå – est sur le point de concrétiser ce rêve. Il s’agit en fait d’un boulon d’ancrage normal doté d’un capteur de contrainte, d’un accéléromètre et d’appareils électroniques permettant d’enregistrer et de transmettre des données. Des diodes électroluminescentes montées sur la tête du boulon peuvent être programmées pour indiquer l’état de ce boulon, avertir les mineurs d’un danger posé par l’état du sol ou encore fournir un éclairage de fortune. « Lorsque nous détectons des anomalies, toute chose que le boulon intelligent juge étrange, l’alerte est donnée », note M. Eliasson. « Les logiciels déployés ont alors accès aux données détectées, en vue d’une analyse par les experts miniers dans les domaines de l’activité sismique ou de la mécanique des roches, notamment. » Les boulons instrumentés donnent des renseignements qui seraient impossibles à obtenir autrement. Le boulon est-il intact? Supporte-t-il une charge acceptable ? Ces questions, qui pointent tout droit vers des défaillances potentielles, ont surgi chaque fois que M. Eliasson a parlé des boulons d’ancrage intelligents à des représentants miniers. Un réseau de boulons instrumentés – disposés selon une densité d’environ 1 à 2 % du nombre total de boulons – pourrait ajouter d’autres points de données dans les systèmes de contrôle existants. Ainsi, les planificateurs de mines auraient une bonne vue d’ensemble de la déformation subie par une galerie, et pourraient alors mieux juger de sa dangerosité. Les boulons d’ancrage instrumentés pourraient aussi constituer une solution peu onéreuse pour obtenir des données sismiques que le réseau de géophones de la mine n’est pas en mesure d’offrir. L’instrumentation des boulons d’ancrage est conçue pour cadrer avec le dispositif préexistant de communications et de traitement des données dans la mine. Une configuration probable du système serait constituée par un boulon d’ancrage muni d’une pile et émettant au moyen d’une radio de faible puissance. Les capteurs fonctionneraient en continu, tandis que le boulon lui-même resterait en mode de veille jusqu’à ce que l’unité de traitement qu’il porte détecte une anomalie. Il passerait alors en mode actif en amorçant, en quelques secondes, une transmission vers la passerelle réseau la plus proche. Chaque boulon serait identifié sur le réseau par une adresse IP qui lui est propre. Comme les données restent en tout temps stockées sur le boulon lui-même, rien ne peut se perdre en cas de mauvaise transmission. « Une fois la nouvelle passerelle mise en place, il y a resynchronisation du dispositif, suivie d’un téléversement de l’information sur notre système nuagique », explique M. Eliasson. À partir du nuage, la mine est alors en mesure

Le dispositif Smart Rockbolt installé sur une tête de boulon d’ancrage classique.

Après une première collaboration portant sur le contrôle de l’état des concasseurs, McEwen et Scanimetrics ont coopéré au projet de lixiviation en tas à El Gallo. Un essai grandeur nature s’y déroule actuellement. « Nous avançons dans un secteur particulièrement pur du remblai de lixiviation », précise Nathan Stubina, directeur général de McEwen Mining. « Nous plaçons deux cellules côte à côte. Nous nous efforçons de placer les mêmes quantité et qualité de minerai des deux côtés; dans un cas, nous procédons au contrôle de la façon traditionnelle, tandis que dans l’autre, nous installons un détecteur d’humidité et un détecteur de compactage pour en savoir plus. Nous verrons s’il est possible de récupérer davantage d’or grâce à un tel contrôle. » Les capteurs ont déjà été renforcés en prévision d’un contrôle sur des pipelines enfouis. Dans le cas de la lixiviation en tas, ils sont posés en grille câblée à partir du fond du tas, à intervalles de 10 à 20 mètres. Une tubulure allant du câble jusqu’à l’air libre transmet le signal, qui sera capté par une unité de saisie des données. Les capteurs d’humidité renseignent sur la distribution de la lixiviation au cyanure, tandis que les capteurs de compactage indiquent à Scanimetrics les points où le tas est jugé stable. M. Slupsky y voit une source de renseignements utiles pour définir les prochains critères de conception et une aide potentielle aux mineurs, dans le processus d’accréditation sociale. « Cette même technologie peut servir dans les digues à stériles », observe-t-il. « Les médias avaient signalé une rupture dans les digues à stériles; je me suis alors demandé si nous étions bien en train de mesurer les mêmes éléments qui importent tant pour bien comprendre les effets d’un manque de stabilité, en un point ou l’autre du dispositif. »

Boulon d’ancrage intelligent Il y a une dizaine d’années, un cadre de la société minière suédoise LKAB rêvait d’une technologie qui puisse un jour nous renseigner sur l’état des boulons d’ancrage. 66 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

d’atteindre, de traiter et de visualiser les données de la façon qui lui convient le mieux. Les quelques installations d’essai prévues dans les mines de Boliden permettront de voir quels sont les changements nécessaires à faire pour pouvoir fonctionner dans une mine en exploitation. M. Eliasson précise qu’il s’attend à pouvoir proposer un déploiement à grande échelle dans les douze prochains mois, déploiement qui pourrait s’effectuer en mode manuel ou mécanique. Le produit sera commercialisé par une société dérivée, ThingWave AB, dont M. Eliasson est le directeur général.

| technologie

Avec l’aimable autorisation de Vandrico Solutions

O P T I M I S AT I O N

Vandrico Solutions Sur le terrain, le nombre et la diversité des solutions d’acquisition de données ont de quoi donner des maux de tête aux gestionnaires de mines en quête d’une intégration complète – et ce, malgré la nature des logiciels et services conçus justement pour convivialiser l’emploi des données. Et c’est précisément là que Paola Telfer, chef de l’exploitation de Vandrico Solutions, souhaite voir intervenir son entreprise. « Sur cet échiquier, notre apport consiste en une plateforme de communication ouverte, en soi une innovation dans les milieux miniers. Plutôt que de réinventer la roue, nous cherchons à réunir le nec plus ultra des systèmes que les sociétés minières ont déjà retenus, en procédant à une consolidation de la formule susceptible de donner aux décideurs le profil complet de la situation en temps réel. » Sur le terrain, cela pourrait signifier que le mineur sera équipé d’un dispositif portable avant le début de son quart de travail. Vandrico, qui a déjà exploré toute une gamme de possibilités et matériels, se cherche activement de nouveaux partenariats du côté des constructeurs; à ce stade, les projets pilotes se concentrent sur les montres intelligentes. Cet appareil pourrait servir de point de contact unique pour tous les systèmes de surveillance disposés dans la mine; quand le système de contrôle des sols note un danger, la montre intelligente pourrait envoyer un avertissement très clair (vibration ou clignotement) au travailleur sur place. Elle pourrait aussi servir de mode de communication avec le bureau central, moyennant le recours à une caméra IP ou une messagerie instantanée. Le dispositif portable pourrait lui-même contenir des capteurs. L’un des produits existants intègre un capteur qui signale la présence de gaz délétères. Ainsi, si un conducteur de foreuse pénètre une poche de gaz, le dispositif pourrait lui demander d’évacuer immédiatement les lieux. Sur le plan de la gestion de la production, Vandrico offre une visualisation 3D de la mine et de ses installations, qui se

L’écran de la fonde sur les données pertinentes issues de tablette de la nombreux systèmes de surveillance. Pour plateforme Mme Telfer, bien des fournisseurs tiers souhaitConnected Worker eraient faire de leur interface un intermédiaire vers d’autres services, alors que Vandrico opte pour une démarche inusitée, visant à concevoir des produits axés sur l’expérience Utilisateur et sur une philosophie des plus transparentes. « Dans l’esprit d’une société minière réelle comme Rio Tinto, ces systèmes (fermés) constituent des îlots de données », observe Mme Telfer. « Quelle que soit l’interface – celle des ordinateurs destinés aux superviseurs des opérations ou celle des immenses panneaux équipant le centre d’exploitation –, on doit toujours basculer d’une vue à l’autre, avec tout le cortège d’identifiants que cela présuppose; on bloque alors la vue d’ensemble puisque les fournisseurs traditionnels fonctionnent souvent cloisonnés les uns par rapport aux autres. » Le progiciel de Vandrico (Connected Worker Software Suite) fait appel à une norme API ouverte, fondée sur l’architecture WWW, l’objectif étant une facilité de partage de l’information comparable à la facilité d’extraction à partir des autres systèmes de données. Mme Telfer note que l’environnement Utilisateur devrait être facile à modifier à partir de la mine, sans passer le moindre appel à sa compagnie. Toutefois, vu le nombre de fournisseurs de dispositifs de surveillance, qui souvent investissent lourdement dans des systèmes clos, il pourrait s’avérer impossible d’intégrer à l’heure actuelle la totalité des options sur une seule plateforme. Cela dit, au fur et à mesure que les personnes, les établissements et les objets passent en ligne, la rationalisation de toutes ces sources de données deviendra une priorité aussi marquée que l’a été leur acquisition dans un premier temps. ICM August • Août 2016 | 67

Résultats du sondage auprès des lecteurs 2016 La ressource la plus précieuse de CIM Magazine est son lectorat. Les professionnels qui composent

notre public sont également à l’origine de notre contenu éditorial. Grâce au sondage que nous menons

tous les deux ans, nous pouvons prendre de leurs nouvelles, connaître leur cheminement de carrière et

les renseignements dont ils ont besoin et ainsi évaluer comment nous pourrions répondre à leurs

besoins. Voici ce que nous avons appris, entre autres, grâce à notre dernier sondage.

COMMENTAIRE D’UN LECTEUR

La majorité des lecteurs sont très instruits.

86 %

ont un diplôme universitaire ou de grade supérieur

76 % ENVISAGENT D’ÉLEVER LEUR NIVEAU DE FORMATION 70 % OCCUPENT UN POSTE DE GESTION

47 % 44 % 35 % 21 % 33 % 16 %

39 %

ont fait des études universitaires supérieures

Cours ou programme de perfectionnement professionnel Séminaires

Cours en ligne des cadres supérieurs

des cadres intermédiaires des cadres de terrain

QUELS RÔLES PROFESSIONNELS NOS LECTEURS EXERCENT-ILS ? Ingénierie

« Je vois beaucoup d’innovation et d’avancements technologiques, mais selon moi, CIM Magazine pourrait accomplir une étape supplémentaire en offrant une couverture à ceux qui fournissent un leadership éclairé et aux utilisateurs finaux qui remportent des combats. L’industrie minière présente encore une trop grande aversion pour le risque, c’est une course où l’on arrive deuxième, ou encore mieux – troisième. Les gens voient souvent comme un risque le fait d’appliquer à l’exploitation minière des technologies qui ont fait leurs preuves dans d’autres industries, et ils pensent à ce qui pourrait aller de travers plutôt qu’à ce qui pourrait bien aller. »

LES DIX SUJETS QU’ILS TROUVENT LES PLUS UTILES À LEUR TRAVAIL Innovation

58 %

Exploitation

57 %

Traitement

44 %

Environnement Exploration

46 %

42 %

Extraction

40 %

Économie des métaux

36 %

Stratégies de gestion Métallurgie Géologie

36 % 35 %

32 %

39 % Société minière 27 % Consultation technique 23 % Services miniers 20 %

81 %

membreS de L’ICm des lecteurs sont

NOS LECTEURS APPRÉCIENT D’ÊTRE MEMBRES DE L’ICM

% sont membres

depuis plus de 5 ans

PARTICIPENT 69 % AU PROCESSUS D’ACHAT

47 % participent au processus de recommandation 24 % accordent des recommandations finales 24 % accordent des approbations finales

LES LECTEURS DU CIM MAGAZINE VOYAGENT RAREMENT DANS LE CADRE DE LEUR VIE PROFESSIONNELLE

Le lecteur moyen a effectué 2,7 voyages d’affaires et a passé 2,9 nuits dans un hôtel ou un motel pour le travail au cours des 12 derniers mois

67 % Canada 36 %

États-Unis

34 % ailleurs à l’étranger

Gagnants du tirage du sondage 1ièr : Ipad mini

Hassan Fatemi, Université de Sherbrooke

2e : Fitbit

Marcel Montpellier, Hard Line

3e : carte Visa de 100 $

Kingsley Hortin, AMC Mining Consultants

4e : carte Visa de 100 $

Mike Chamberlain, CCC Chemicals

5e : carte Visa de 100 $

Paul Mustard

Au total, 416 réponses ont été reçues (385 en anglais et 31 en français). L’échantillon de 416 réponses assure l’exactitude statistique des résultats. La marge d’erreur est de ± 4,7 % en fonction du total de 12 364 abonnés (pire situation possible, niveau de confiance de 95 %).

Manufacturier/ Distributeur

18 % R et D 17 % Exploration 14 % Technologie 14 %

QU’EST-CE QUE NOS LECTEURS CONSULTENT SOUVENT POUR OBTENIR DES NOUVELLES DU SECTEUR MINIER ?

% 74 Magazines (imprimés)

% 55 Sites de nouvelles en ligne % 53 Magazines (numériques)

% 34 Comptes rendus de conférences % 34 LinkedIn

% 29 Journaux

% 27 Bulletins/bulletins électroniques % 10 Facebook

% 9 Livres blancs % 8 Blogues % 6Twitter

COMMENTAIRE D’UN LECTEUR

« Les visites des sites qui procurent un aperçu opérationnel et des connaissances de personnes clés sont précieuses, car la plupart des gens n’ont pas assez d’occasions de visiter d’autres exploitations. La plus vaste gamme de secteurs possible doit continuer à être mise en valeur, que ce soit les aspects environnementaux et communautaires, les enjeux liés aux ressources humaines et aux relations de travail ou les aspects habituels de l’exploitation minière, de la géologie, du traitement et de la maintenance. »

technical abstracts

CIM Journal Abstracts from CIM Journal, Vol. 7, No. 3.

High-resolution downhole data: A guide to front-end process-plant design R. Howard, Case Consulting Pty Ltd., Whangarei, New Zealand

In projects involving resource development and plant optimization, the use of in-mine geophysics can deliver considerable benefit. The value proposition lies in using very high resolution downhole measurements to model process-plant outcomes. The calibration procedure used to convert in-situ physical properties into process engineering parameters is illustrated using two iron ore projects. Data correction was related either to orebody structure or mineral formation. The deliverable from this approach is a series of high-definition sections indicating the variability of ore delivered to a frontend separation plant and parameters for mine scheduling and stockpile design needed for maximum product yield.

Behaviour and benefits of arsenic in copper electrorefining M.S. Moats, Materials Research Center, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, USA; N. Aslin and A. Pranowo, Glencore Technology, Townsville, Queensland, Australia; and G.R.F. Alvear F., Glencore Technology, Brisbane, Australia

The toxicity of arsenic is well known and documented; however, the presence of arsenic in copper electrorefining anodes and electrolytes is critically necessary to produce high-quality cathode. Arsenic as well as antimony and bismuth concentrations vary relative to their concentration in the anode copper received from the smelter. The behaviour and benefits of arsenic in copper electrorefining and the detrimental effects of antimony and bismuth on cathode quality and tankhouse performance are discussed. This will include the minimization and mitigation of problems associated with arsenic, antimony, and bismuth—including cathode contamination, floating slimes, scaling, and anode passivation.

Investigation of hydraulic fracture growth through weak discontinuities with active ultrasound monitoring A.P. Bunger, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; J. Kear, CSIRO Energy, Melbourne, Australia; R.G. Jeffrey, SCT Operations, Wollongong, Australia; R. Prioul, Schlumberger-Doll Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; and D. Chuprakov, Schlumberger Moscow Research, Moscow, Russia

Hydraulic fracture (HF) growth through naturally fractured rocks challenges the development of accurate predictive HF models. The authors present laboratory experiments differentiating behaviours associated with orthogonal and oblique intersections between HFs and natural fractures (NFs). HFs were created in sandstone and crystalline (gabbro) rock specimens, impinging orthogonally or obliquely on an unbonded machined frictional interface. Ultrasound monitoring was used to observe the rate of propagation through the interface. A contrast was observed between direct and offset crossing for orthogonal and oblique intersection, respectively. The stresses required to promote crossing depended on the intersection angle between HFs and NFs.

Vanadium purification: A review M.R. Tavakoli, Kemetco Research Inc., Richmond, British Columbia, Canada; and D.B. Dreisinger, Department of Materials Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Vanadium has been produced from a variety of sources. This metal is known to make aqueous solutions of complex speciation as a function of vanadium concentration and pH. Considering the method of leaching, the impurities in the pregnant leach solution, and the planned vanadium product, different extractants and flowsheets can be applied for solution purification. This paper reviews the purification of vanadium leaching solution using organophosphorus, solvating, and amine extractants. This review focuses on vanadium separation from iron, molybdenum, and uranium, which are often present in vanadium resources such as primary ores, fly ashes, and spent catalysts.

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technical abstracts

CIM Journal Abstracts from CIM Journal, Vol. 7, No. 3.

Rapid development in Canada: Myth or reality? An underground mining contractor’s perspective P. Healy, P. Hickey, and G. Hubert, J.S. Redpath Limited, North Bay, Ontario, Canada

J. S. Redpath Limited, an underground contractor with a worldwide presence, has implemented innovative techniques in various projects in Canada to shorten the development cycle. Conventional methods currently used for installing primary ground support are compared with the Australian technique of bolting and meshing with jumbos equipped with twin telescopic booms, in-cycle shotcreting, and the use of two jumbos and two scissor bolters set up side by side in wide headings. Recommendations and lessons learned are presented with the aim of providing realistic expectations with regard to development advance rates in a mining environment.

Screening peptide-ore interactions with a phage display library for bioflotation application K. Tremblay-Bouliane, D. Tremblay, S. Moineau, B. Gaillet, and A. Garnier, Université Laval, Québec City, Quebec, Canada; and C. Olsen, COREM, Québec City, Quebec, Canada

A heptapeptide library displayed on M13 bacteriophages (phages) was screened to identify peptide sequences able to selectively bind to gold, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, pyrite, and silica ores, and to evaluate phage potential as bioflotation reagents. Many peptide sequences were isolated through biopanning and differed from known sequences. Adsorption isotherms were determined and a receptor/ligand interaction model was identified and used to compare affinity of peptide sequences toward ores. Some phage sequences have slightly lower affinity to sphalerite than other sulphides. Adsorption was higher on sulphides than on silica. Induction time measurements suggested filamentous M13 phages lower hydrophobicity of the ore surface.

Hands-on teaching of applied rock mechanics D. Beneteau and D. Milne, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; and Y. Potvin, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Nedlands, Australia

Advances in technology provide educators with valuable tools to enhance their teaching and efficiently deliver content to larger audiences. University educators are often encouraged to become more “research intensive” and to increase student enrollment. Faced with these pressures, there is a tendency to use technology to improve teaching efficiencies rather than to enhance existing teaching approaches. Practical learning in applied engineering courses would suffer greatly if handson experience is not emphasized. This paper discusses advantages and limitations of new technologies applied to learning, and methods to incorporate more hands-on experiential teaching techniques to applied mining engineering courses.

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technical abstracts

Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly Papers in CMQ, Vol. 54, No. 2.

From extractive metallurgy to materials engineering: personal teaching and research perspective G.P. Demopoulos, Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

Influence of minor Zr and Ti on microstructures and properties of Al–8·6Zn–2·5Mg–2·2Cu alloys CH.F. Xu, State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, China and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Guilin University of Aerospace Technology, Guilin, China; K.H. Chen, H.C. Fang, J. Xu, W. Liu, S.Y. Chen, and L.P. Huang, State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, China

Effect of heating mode and electrochemical response on austenitic and ferritic stainless steels A. Raja Annamalai, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India and Manufacturing Division, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India; A. Upadhyaya, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India; and D.K. Agrawal, Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

Modelling HF generation in aluminium reduction cell Y.J. Yang, School of Materials and Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China and Light Metals Research Centre, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; M. Hyland, Light Metals Research Centre, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Z.W. Wang, School of Materials and Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China; and C. Seal, Light Metals Research Centre, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Effect of magnesium addition on evolution of inclusions in Mn–Si–Al deoxidised molten steels T.S. Zhang, Y. Min, and M.F. Jiang, Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China

Study on electrical conductivities of CaO–SiO2–Al2O3 slags J.-H. Liu, G.-H. Zhang, and K.-C. Chou, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China and School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China

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Stand Out in a Crowd

Mining Lore Remembering Canada’s mining doyenne By Jen Glanville

iola MacMillan overcame a multitude of obstacles in shares in many mining enterprises, including the Quartet synpursuit of a mining career that started in the 1930s and dicate (which had shares of the Hallnor gold mine in Timspanned more than six decades. In addition to finding mins) and Golden Arrow Mines. Viola’s most profitable success as a prospector and becoming a well-respected mining purchase was the Victor mine located southwest of Carpenter financier, Viola pushed gender boundaries Creek in British Columbia, for which she by becoming the first female – and longest paid $50,000 in 1948; the mine proserving – president of the Prospectors and duced over $9 million worth of silver, Developers Association of Canada, paving lead, zinc, cadmium and gold before closthe way for women in mining. ing in 1962. Born in 1903 and raised on a farm in Viola and George joined the Ontario Deebank, Ontario, Viola was instilled Prospectors and Developers Association with a tenacious work ethic at a young soon after its formation in 1932 (the age. Her mother, Harriet Spiers, was a organization dropped ‘Ontario’ from its strong-willed and energetic woman who name in 1957 and was renamed the found time to run the family farm, work Prospectors and Developers Association as the town midwife, fill in for her husof Canada in 1987), and in 1941 Viola band as a postworker and take on multibecame the secretary-treasurer while her ple cleaning contracts for nearby resorts, husband was president. Viola did such an all while raising 15 children. outstanding job attracting new members Harriet’s fourth child, Joe Huggard, that when she was elected president in Viola MacMillan was a successful prospector and worked in the Cobalt mines in northern mining financier, and the first female and longest 1944 there were “no dissenting voices.” Ontario. His mining stories inspired Viola serving president of PDAC She remained in the top spot for 20 years. to visit the Coniagas mine in 1922, when During the Second World War, the she was 19. Intent on entering, she disguised herself to hide government failed to inform the mining industry which metals her gender; women were considered bad luck and not allowed were needed for the war effort. In response, Viola approached underground. the War Metals Advisory Committee and with their help, In her autobiography, she describes the trek as “one of the organized educational sessions to identify sought-after metals. most glorious experiences of [her] lifetime,” which left her Viola’s tireless lobbying of the government also contributed “completely hooked on the glamour of mining.” When she to the creation of the Emergency Gold Mining Assistance Act in returned home, she read everything she could on the industry, 1948, which saved Canada’s gold mining sector from near colwhich prepared her for a prospecting opportunity in 1926. lapse, caused by high production costs. Her persistence Newly married to George MacMillan, Viola and her husband resulted in a government-supplied bonus system that helped received a request from a family member for help assessing a compensate developers for high operating costs. number of claims in Grenville Township. George and Viola In 1967, Viola was accused of wash trading for selling took up the challenge. It was her first trip into the bush. shares of MacMillan Prospecting & Development Co. Ltd. to During a subsequent prospecting trip, the couple ran into a George, and of fraud after a highly publicized claim turned prospector who had been recently swindled by investors in out to be fruitless. The fraud charge was dropped, but Viola Buffalo, New York. Having gained legal knowledge working as spent seven weeks of a nine-month sentence in prison for a stenographer in a law office in 1922, Viola sought out a wash trading. She was the first person to ever be convicted of lawyer and won the case in the Mining Court of Ontario on the offence in Canada, but the government issued her a full behalf of her comrade. This experience instilled a deep appre- pardon in 1978. ciation for the importance of protecting prospectors’ rights. The same year of Viola’s pardon, George passed away, By 1933, Viola was well-respected in the industry and had prompting her to close up her investments and companies. considerable knowledge of mining legislation. She opened She donated $1.25 million to the National Museum of Natural MacMillan Securities Ltd. to negotiate deals between prospec- Sciences to purchase a mineral collection, which was named tors and investors, sell shares for mining development com- after her. Viola was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of panies and set up syndicates. Through MacMillan Securities Fame in 1991, two years before her death, making history as and later ViolaMac Mines Ltd., Viola purchased majority the first ever female inductee. CIM Courtesy of PDAC

74 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 5

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