CIM Magazine May 2016 by CIM-ICM Publications

See us at CIM Booth 716

Mauricio Macri/Flickr

MAY | 2016 | MAI

cover story

Names to know 2016 This year’s class of leaders, innovators and regulators making their marks in the industry By Correy Baldwin, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Andrew Seale, Katelyn Spidle

38-47 Underground mining

60 In the Valley of the Kings

Instrumented bolts in Illinois

Bestowed with high-grades and blessed with a favourable exchange rate, the Brucejack project is a jewel in Pretium’s crown

By Eavan Moore

Mosaic Colonsay’s Canpotex run By Peter Braul

Dean Millar discusses the “40 per cent mine” By David Chen

By Virginia Heffernan

65 Pump it up Tougher materials and earlier treatment define the advances in dewatering technology By Eavan Moore

68 Coal in Canada A snapshot of the sector from the Pacific to the Atlantic By David Chen and Ryan Bergen

May • Mai 2016 | 5

CIM MAGAZINE MAY | 2016 | MAI

8 10 12

Editor’s letter President’s notes Chatter tools of the trade 14 The best in new technology Compiled by David Chen and Kelsey Rolfe

developments 17 Federal budget contains money for clean technology, exploration and regulatory reform

19 22 28

By Chris Windeyer

Briefs Four miners receive funding from federal sustainable development technology fund By Correy Baldwin

Taseko, other miners face off against activist shareholders By Kate Sheridan

columns 36 Measurement matters

By Jeff Geipel

Mining, the loonie and energy By Mauro Chiesa

tribute 48 Remembering Hugh Taylor By Lawrence Devon Smith

CRIRSCO 51 Standards committee expands its international reach By Deborah McCombe

65 contenu francophone

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

mining lore 90 California was not able to send soldiers to the Civil War, but the local mining industry offered a vital contribution By Kate Sheridan

technical abstracts 86 CIM Journal

71 72 75

Table des matières Lettre de l’éditeur | Mot du président

article de fond La classe de chefs de file, d’innovateurs et d’organismes de réglementation qui font leurs marques dans l’industrie cette année Par Correy Baldwin, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Andrew Seale, Katelyn Spidle

l’actualité 73 Le budget fédéral prévoit des fonds pour les technologies propres, l’exploration et la réforme de la réglementation Par Chris Windeyer

profil de projet 83 Le projet Brucejack, qui bénéficie de hautes teneurs et d’un taux de change favorable, est un joyau dans la couronne de projets de Pretium Par Virginia Heffernan

At Hitachi, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not distracted by building every kind of mining equipment. We focus 100% on shovels and haulers. By specializing, we give you exactly what you want. Better reliability, higher productivity and bottom-line efficiency.

hitachimining.com

THATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ALL.

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.

20 1

eth R. Wilson enn Aw 5K

s ard

Finalist Be st

ach spring, we editors at CIM Magazine take on the mantle of Qualified Person and get serious about our annual list of people whose past accomplishments or future projects merit concentrated coverage. With every new edition, we start with a core list of individuals. For example, the ascension of Denise Johnson to group president of resource industries at Caterpillar jumped out at us immediately. It is clear to us, having been on group tours of Caterpillar’s proving ground in Arizona with the company’s almost exclusively male mining dealers and clients, that Johnson is breaking ground. Moreover, the course she charts to navigate the group through the current marketplace is one to watch. Similarly Maureen Jensen, the first woman to head the Ontario Securities Commission, captured our attention earlier this year when she took the position and with it the task of helping to create a more elegant regulatory regime than Canada’s existing system of overlapping regulations among provincial security commissions. In other instances, we, like the market, play a hunch. Recently, Tesla Motors continued to distinguish itself as a singular brand in the automotive sector, with thousands of people lining up to pay their deposit for the company’s latest and most affordable electric car, due out next year. For better or worse, the lithium exploration company Pure Energy Minerals has become part of that spectacle. Its Nevada property, which showed promising drilling results last year, has an agreement to supply the material needed for the rechargeable batteries Tesla will require. The job of Pure Energy Minerals CEO Patrick Highsmith, who we also profile, is to convert the early buzz into the hum of production. To make this happen he will need to turn an exploration project into a bonafide producer, and that challenge will include the commissioning of a solvent extraction process plant that would avoid the industry-standard brine evaporation pools. Together, these and the other figures we profile are meant to create a composite portrait of the industry at this moment and lay out the interesting and sometimes unexpected dimensions within. We hope you enjoy it, and we would love to hear your thoughts.

ia ed

The names game

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 David Chen Digitization technician Marie-Ève Lapierre, melapierre@cim.org Contributors Correy Baldwin, Mauro Chiesa, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Jeff Geipel, Virginia Heffernan, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Deborah McCombe, Eavan Moore, Andrew Seale, Kate Sheridan, Larry Smith, Katelyn Spidle, Kylie Williams, Chris Windeyer Editorial advisory board Alicia Ferdinand, Garth Kirkham, Vic Pakalnis, Steve Rusk, Nathan Stubina Translations CNW, Karen Rolland

adian Busines sM Can in

editor’s letter

Leader of SGS Geostat’s Gold Rush Challenge team, Guy Desharnais Photograph by Riccardo Cellere 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. 3

president’s notes

An unforgettable year “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress and working together is success” – Henry Ford When I look back on the year that was my presidency, I am filled only with love and admiration for this organization. That includes council, committee members, our presidents (past and future), CIM staff (past and present) and particularly you, the CIM members. The unrelenting optimism, resilience, drive, determination and desire for excellence you all have displayed over the past year have been inspiring to me. I must say that I will always value the relationships I have formed at CIM and hope they will endure. I have loved travelling to branch meetings, conferences, the Montreal head office, regional events and international gatherings, all of which gave me an opportunity to meet with you in friendship and common purpose. I have loved the challenges, and in all honesty this past year has posed many of them. Starting with the repair of relationships last spring, then the long-awaited implementation of the five-year strategic plan and the subsequent re-organization, all with the backdrop of the continued downturn in the mining and metals sector. However, having seen a surprising buoyancy at the PDAC convention, I truly expect that mood to continue at the CIM 2016 Convention. One benefit of these trying times is that we have been brought together in fellowship and resolve. Heady days afford us much less time, so let us take advantage of these opportunities. I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude for all you have done, are doing and will do on behalf of CIM and the mining community. It is truly appreciated. I commit to serve our new president Michael Winship, his successor Ken Thomas and incoming president-elect and my dear friend Janice Zinck as awesomely as they have supported me. Rest assured, we are in good hands! I do hope that you have enjoyed these notes as much as I have enjoyed writing them. This quote from Dr. Seuss sums my feelings up to a T: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” I bid you all a fond farewell, with a tear in my eye but a smile on my face!

Garth Kirkham CIM President @GarthCIMPrez

10 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Visit Weir Booth #731

First choice for the mining industry. Weir Minerals is a world leader in the design and manufacture of slurry pumps, mill liners, hydrocyclones, slurry valves, mining hose, crushers, screens, screen media and rubber lining products for the mining and minerals processing industries. Our reputation is based on engineering excellence applied to innovative, customer focused solutions to reduce your total cost of ownership.

Minerals www.global.weir

chatter

RE: GRINDING DOWN COSTS (MARCH/APRIL ’16)

Gold mine in Quebec reduces cyanide usage by 20% by adding it after grinding. – Lydia Miller, @LydiaCAMiller “Canadian Malartic reduces its cyanide use by switching to different injection points” #GoldMining – Jeffrey J Davis, @JeffreyJDavis

RE: KNOW NO FEAR (FEB. ‘16)

It will be very interesting to see how this technology and associated analytics deliver on possibility for improved safety. – Robert Seitz Sci-Fi keeps getting more real. Will be interesting to see how this gets implemented and if the employees/unions will be accepting of the new tech. I would imagine more adopters with time and education. – Marty Dilworth

RE: GRINDING DOWN COSTS (MARCH/APRIL ’16)

Very interesting report. I would further be interested in the effect of cyanide level (maintained in the leach slurry) on ferrocyanide formation. If mechanical attrition of steel balls is the major contributor to formation of ferrocyanides, as concluded in the report, the fine ground steel balls [with] iron should still consume cyanide downstream of milling. Perhaps moving from single point cyanide addition to dividing addition points ensured that conditions are less favourable for sidereactions. – Michael Sithole

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

Very useful information; maybe we may have to look at incorporating this kind of “new thinking” into other processes. – Tadimety Rao

ANGELA HAMLYN @AngelaH_CIM

Very good article, and seems almost intuitive that grinding media would consume Cyanide. We wasted a lot of Cyanide over the years!!! – Sadek E. El-Alfy

ANDREA NICHIPORUK @Andrea_CIM_Mag

TOM DiNARDO @Tom_CIM_Mag

RE: FEB. ‘16

Is it sad that I get excited about mining/tech magazines? A little bit? Ok. #CIMBC16 – K M, @AngelusEstNomen

KELSEY ROLFE @kelseyarolfe

MARIA OLAGUERA @Maria_CIM_Mag

DO YOU TWEET? Get on Twitter and start following @CIMorg so you don't miss out on all the important news before, during and after this year's convention #CIMBC16!

WATCH: Lesley Warren from University of Toronto discusses the possibilities of mine wastewater bacteria in her presentation at McEwen Mining’s Lunch & Learn series. See the complete series on our Youtube channel, and read more about mining genomics projects on page 20. 12 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

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.

RELIABILITY

HYDRAULIC OIL

EXPECT TO REALIZE MORE WITH HYDREXTM XV Your hydraulic system is exposed to a wide range of temperatures and conditions. HYDREX is the one brand of hydraulic oil you can always count on for up to 2x better wear protection*. With HYDREX XV, you can also expect reliable, all-season protection across the toughest environments. Factor that year-round reliability across your mining operation and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll realize operational efficiencies that save you time and money. Help your business realize more. Visit TryHYDREX.com Petro-Canada is a Suncor business *Measured against leading North American hydraulic oil brands.

Trademark of Suncor Energy Inc. Used under licence.

Better blending

Memory drive

Courtesy of RCT

Grade fluctuations at the processing plant can hobble productivity and drive up operational costs, with engineers spending extra time blending material reclaimed from stockpiles to meet the plant’s requirements. Hexagon Mining believes its newlyreleased Atlas 3.0, an upgrade to its Atlas activity scheduling and stockpile management software, can solve that problem. Introducing a new license for Atlas integrated with IBM’s ILOG CPLEX, Atlas 3.0 allows users to select multiple reclaim sources and a destination for the material. It also enables them to specify a range of lower- and upper-grade constraints from each source, which helps with blending at the processing plant, or to set volume and tonnage constraints. “The optimization results can be manually modified to allow more control over the reclaimed material,” said Samira Kalantari, Hexagon’s engineering product manager. Atlas 3.0 can also schedule other minesite activities like drilling and blasting. – Kelsey Rolfe

Remotely-operated equipment is becoming more common on mine sites, but it is “quite difficult, and you need to be quite skilled to do it,” said Dave Holman, RCT’s product manager. That is why the company developed its new ControlMaster Independent Guidance (Point-2-Point), a system that allows underground equipment like loaders and trucks to autonomously travel between two fixed points. Operators “train” the equipment on the path it will be traveling – by driving it once in either direction – and it remembers the route until it is shut down. “Once it gets to either end, the machine will stop and the operator takes over and does the digging or the dumping,” Holman said. With the Point2-Point, the machine can safely travel faster than it could with an operator, reducing cycle times, and experience less wear and tear that can come from operators accidentally driving the equipment into walls. Point-2-Point can be installed as an update on RCT’s Teleremote and Guidance software. It was designed specifically for underground equipment, but can also be used in surface applications. – Kelsey Rolfe

Courtesy of Klüber Lubrication

A greater grease

14 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

The purpose of mobile equipment lubricants is simple: reduce friction and protect against wear. Klüber Lubrication believes its new calcium sulphonate-based greases, the Klüberplex EM 91-151 and 91-152, perform substantially better than the commonly-used lithium and lithium complex grease. While adding calcium sulphonate to the formula increases complexity during manufacturing, it is “superior in corrosion-protection and load-carrying capabilities,” said Daniel Narnhammer, head of Klüber North America’s Global Competence Centre. “In our field tests in both surface and underground mines, we were able to test our grease against a standard lithium complex grease,” said Narnhammer. “The customer noted they had increased pin life and the overall consumption of grease was significantly lower.” Narnhammer said the lubricant can “take up water, keep its properties and adhere to metal,” which results in corrosion protection and the ability to carry more load. – David Chen

Courtesy of Hexagon Mining

tools of the trade

Rexnord’s newest gear drive, the Falk V-Class™, is engineered to deliver power, durability and reliabiility i under the toughest conditions. Its unprecedented p design g and test procedures mean longer seal life, improved thermal performance and d increased operating life. The Falk V-Class gear drive provides shorter lead times, convenient serviceabilittty and faster, easy access support. And, you can find the Rexnord Falkk V-Class at your local Motion Canad d da location. Our local sales and servic ce specialists are experts in applicatio on and technical support, providing the parts and the know-how you need to stay up and running.

The brands you count on from m the people you trust…that’s Rexnord and Motion Canada.

Call. 800-526-9328 Click. www.MotionCan nada.com Visit. Over 50 Locations

RopeCon® The Innovation in Bulk Materrial Handling Wherever bulk material needs to go – across impassable terrain, rivers, highways ghways and buildings – RopeCon® delivers without a hitch! Long distances, capacities of up to 25,000 tonnes/hour, minimal environme ental footprint, quiet operation plus low operating and maintenance costs: These are the features that convinced ed leading mining businesses. www.doppelmayr-mts.com

Please visit us at CIM 2016, Vancouver Vancouverr, bo booth oth #1240

... your success story

Our know-how ...

Doppelmayr T Transport ransport Technology Technology GmbH, Holzriedsttrasse 29, 6922 Wolfurt / Austria, T +43 5574 604 1800, F+43 5574 604 1209, 9, dtt@doppelmayr.com

British Columbia to amend Mines Act

Ontario court paves the way for Ring of Fire road

Four miners receive funding from federal sustainable development technology fund

Taseko, other miners face off against activist shareholders

Developments Funding the future Federal budget contains money for clean technology, exploration and regulatory reform Three of Canada’s main mining organizations are taking a page out of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “sunny ways” playbook, at least as far as their responses to the federal budget are concerned. There is not much in the 2016 budget specifically earmarked for mining. But the 15 per cent Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (METC) is back again for another year, extended until March 31, 2017, to the delight of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC). “We heard the arguments in favour of the credit, we think they’re compelling arguments,” said Natural Resources Minister James Carr in a sitdown interview with CIM Magazine. “We certainly think that it’s well understood in the government that this has been very helpful to the mining sector.” In an environment where capital is still hard to come by for junior miners, the METC’s incentive is vital, said MAC spokesperson Jessica Draker. “What Canada needs to ensure is that there is a pipeline of projects that could eventually become mines to ensure sustainable growth in the industry,” she said. It is also worth keeping an eye on the government’s budget promises to change the rules surrounding Cana-

Reproduced with the permission of the Department of Finance, 2016

By Chris Windeyer

Finance Minister Bill Morneau tabled his first federal budget on March 22, with funding for clean technology and exploration, and a renewal of the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit.

dian Exploration Expenses to include regulatory work and consultations as eligible expenses, and its pledge not to apply any federal carbon tax in jurisdictions that already have one. Also on the exploration side, the budget contains $87.2 million for baseline research at Natural Resources Canada, including earth sciences and mapping. “The federal government’s commitment to earth sciences and mapping as well as minerals-related research will further boost Canada’s leadership and reputation for innovation and help attract more investment into mineral exploration and develop-

ment,” said Gavin Dirom, AME BC’s president and CEO, in a release. The budget also aims to kickstart the oft-congested regulatory process with new money for federal agencies, including $16.5 million over three years for the National Energy Board, Natural Resources Canada and Transport Canada to implement the government’s new interim regulatory principles for resource projects. There is $14.2 million over four years for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, and $10.1 million over four years for the Northern Projects Management Office, which coordinates federal agencies May • Mai 2016 | 17

involved in regulatory proceedings in the territories. Regulatory changes over the last few years were coupled with budget cuts to federal regulatory agencies, Draker said. “[The funding increase is] very important because it will ensure there will be enough capacity for regulators to carry out their duties, specifically the environmental assessment and permitting processes.” The budget’s centrepiece areas of “clean growth” and initiatives to address the social and economic disparities between indigenous people and the general population offer trickle-down benefits to mining. There’s $4.2 billion over five years for education and training in indigenous communities, and $3.4 billion over five years for infrastructure, including a major spending push on housing, healthcare and water on reserves. In a statement, MAC called these investments “important building blocks for

accelerating the participation of Indigenous Canadians in the mining industry.” And there is more than $1 billion over four years for research into clean technology, something that is of great interest to miners, said Draker. The mining industry spends around $700 million per year on innovation according to MAC, including energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and new federal spending on research can help “catalyze” existing investments by industry, she said. What is absent from the budget is any specific earmarks for major infrastructure projects of interest to miners, such as badly-needed roads to Ontario’s Ring of Fire, at least for the time being. The government has pledged $120 billion for new infrastructure over the next decade, but only offers details on the first phase, which focuses mostly on public transit, municipal infrastructure projects

and upgrades to existing federal infrastructure. The Liberals say they will develop Phase 2 in consultation with provinces, territories, First Nations, cities and other stakeholders. PDAC and MAC are both keen to see much of that new investment take place in remote and northern regions of the country, as are the territorial governments. Northwest Territories premier Bob McLeod said in early March he hoped some of the federal government’s planned infrastructure funding would go to the North to assist the territory’s mining sector. “Such investments, if made in resource-rich parts of the country, would both lead to more discoveries and would also make it economically viable to develop existing discoveries that remain undeveloped,” said PDAC president Robert Schafer. “Transportation infrastructure remains the key to unlocking the resource potential of the North.” CIM

:KHQ WKH JRLQJ LV WRXJK 2QO\ WKH 728*+ JHW JRLQJ

65 / 6 5

18 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

developments

British Columbia to amend Mines Act Nearly a year and a half after the Mount Polley tailings dam disaster, British Columbia is expanding its power to enforce its mining health and safety rules. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett introduced amendments to the Mines Act in late February that would give his ministry the ability to hand out financial penalties to companies without going through the courts. Currently, the government can only shut down mines or revoke permits of noncompliant companies. Bennett told CIM Magazine the update would put the mining industry on par with other sectors in the province. “The Environmental Management Act, the Forest Act, the Oil and Gas Activities Act, they all have administrative penalties,” he said. “It just gives us some flexibility and makes us a bit

more nimble to make sure that people are complying.” The amendment would also allow courts to hand out more severe financial penalties of up to $1 million, and jail terms of up to three years, up from the current maximum of $100,000 or one year in jail. B.C. is currently reviewing its health and safety code for mining to determine how to implement recommendations made in the reports from the independent Mount Polley investigation panel and B.C. chief mines inspector Al Hoffman. This is not the first time the province has reviewed the code after a mining accident; the last time the province examined its code was in 2007, after four people died due to the lack of oxygen in a pump shed at the decommissioned Sullivan mine in Kimberley. Bennett has pledged to implement all of the independent panel’s recom-

mendations. One would require mining companies to demonstrate they had examined all possible tailings options to determine the best possible method for their sites. In the past they only had to present information on the one they chose to build. Another would require all mines with a tailings facility to have an independent review board scrutinize engineering designs. Karina Briño, president and CEO of the Mining Associations of B.C. (MABC) said the industry knew the government has been contemplating changes since December. “We were notified through the release of the chief [mines] inspector’s report after the Mount Polley investigation,” she said. Briño said the current regulations are already very strict, but the industry wants to be “part of the conversation” about safety and updating the regulations to ensure public confidence in mining.

May • Mai 2016 | 19

“We are a mining country, we are a mining jurisdiction here in British Columbia, so it is important to us that we have a good relationship with the – David Chen general public.”

Mining projects advance in Genome Canada competition Four proposals to improve the environmental impact of mining by capturing the enormous potential of biological processes have moved on to the next round of a $26-million Genome Canada funding competition. The next step for the teams – among a total of 21 from various industries – is preparing a final application and presenting it to Genome Canada’s review board. Between 10 and 12 projects will receive funding for up to four years. Final applications are due in mid-April, and Genome Canada will announce the funding recipients in late

June. The federally-funded organization’s task is to spark the creation of technologies based on the genetic information that modern science can now easily access. A team from Université Laval and COREM, including researchers Alain Garnier and Philippe Gagnon, wants to use proteomic tools to find, develop and test new protein-based flotation reagents to replace others that are toxic in water, including xanthate. The project’s total cost would be about $4 million. Shawn Mansfield and his team at the University of British Columbia, Natural Resources Canada’s forestry centre and Queen’s University want to sequence the genomes of 800 trees to determine what genetic signature might make certain trees particularly suited to rehabilitate mine sites – for example, by sequestering contaminants like heavy metals. Specialized tree breeders could use this information to grow trees

specifically to rehabilitate the soil around closed mine sites. “It’s like breeding show dogs,” Mansfield explained. The project, TerraTrees, could cost around $9 million. With a DNA amplification and detection technique, qPCR, and $10 million, a project called PROAQUA, led by the University of Victoria’s Caren Helbing, could better assess the impact of mine sites on local frog and fish populations. The project could also help companies detect endangered species in the environment by testing water for the species’ DNA, giving mining companies more certainty about their impact on local ecosystems. Lesley Warren from the University of Toronto would use $4 million to discover how bacteria act in a mine’s wastewater. “Mining sites are rich in terms of bacteria,” she said, but bacteria genetics are poorly understood. Learning more could lead to new treatments or even discovering helpful bacterial impacts.

From m dessign and detaailed ai engineering too installa nsta laation t on, F Fournie er is a leader inn field elds su such as mining ning and and indu dustriall equip e ipment, heavyy mach chinery ((dams dams ms), on-site te mach chiningg annd sludge ddewaatering ng.

3787, booul. Fronttenac O Oueest, Thet etford Mines M Québec ec, Canada da G6H H 2B5 418 423-4241 23-4241 | fax: ax: 418 423-7366 66 general@f @fournier o erindustriess.com

www..fou urnierind dust striess.com

20 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Industry partners are already interested in the projects. Goldcorp is providing Mansfield with tailings from the Porcupine mine in Timmins, Ontario and the closed Equity mine in British Columbia. Helbing will also be near the Equity site for one of her four case study sites; Imperial Metals will also provide case study sites “to show how it will work in the real world,” Helbing said. Glencore and Hudbay Minerals are among Warren’s backers and will give her team access and samples and serve on the project’s advisory board.

Courtesy of Rio Tinto

developments

– Kate Sheridan

Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh retires After three challenging years at the helm of mining giant Rio Tinto, Sam Walsh will soon retire as chief executive officer. He will be replaced by Jean-Sébastien Jacques in July. Walsh took over the top job at the world’s second-largest mining company from predecessor Tom Albanese in January 2013, shortly after Rio Tinto recorded its first annual loss in decades. Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis credited Walsh with transforming the business against a volatile economic backdrop. During his time as chief executive, Walsh and his team cut over $6 billion in costs, leaving Rio Tinto in a stronger position than when he took on the role. “I have been seriously fortunate to lead one of the world’s best companies. After 25 great and enjoyable years with Rio Tinto, now is the right time to pass the reins on to JeanSébastien,” Walsh said in a March 17 press release. The incoming CEO joined Rio Tinto in 2011 after more than 15 years in various aluminum, bauxite and steel industry roles. Jacques quickly proved his worth within Rio Tinto, referred to as a “standout performer” by Walsh, most recently as chief executive of its extensive copper and coal portfolio. Jacques’ most notable achievement of recent years was his leading role in negotiations with the Mongolian gov-

Jacques took a leading role in negotiations with the Mongolian government over the Oyu Tolgoi mine and oversaw delivery of its first copper shipment.

ernment over the Oyu Tolgoi mine. He oversaw delivery of the first copper shipment from Oyu Tolgoi and the signing of an underground mine development and financing plan in May 2015, paving the way for the further development of the one of the world’s largest known copper and gold – Kylie Williams deposits.

Ontario court paves the way for Ring of Fire road A road to the northern Ontario Ring of Fire chromite deposit could be built on top of a mining company’s claims without that company’s consent, according to a Feb. 25 decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal. The court upheld a decision to allow a numbered company wholly owned by Noront Resources to build a road running north to the Big Daddy chromite deposit in the Ring of Fire if Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner approves it. The appellate decision affirmed that the road could be built on 108 of Canada Chrome Corporation’s mining claims without the company’s permission. Canada Chrome Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torontobased KWG Resources, which owns

FROM THE WIRE Eldorado Gold received a license for its Olympias project in Halkidiki, Greece in late March, which allows the company to set up a processing plant on the site. Eldorado has allocated $155 million, or nearly two thirds of its 2016 development budget, to develop the gold-silver-lead-zinc mine. Barrick Gold made two appointments in mid-March. Catherine Raw was named Barrick’s CFO, replacing Shaun Usmar. Raw was Barrick’s executive vice-president of business performance, and came to the company from BlackRock in 2015. Rob Krcmarov, Barrick’s senior vice-president of global exploration, took on the role of executive vicepresident of exploration and growth, and will join the company’s executive committee. Merushe (Meri) Verli was appointed Northern Superior Resources’ new CFO, the company announced in midMarch. Verli, a chartered accountant, comes to Northern Superior from Lake Shore Gold, where she was the vicepresident of finance. Goldcorp shook up its ranks in early March, announcing several new appointments. Russell Ball, executive vice-president of corporate development, was named the company’s CFO. Richard Orazietti, vice-president of internal audit, will be senior vice-president and controller. David Stephens, the director of corporate development, will become vice-president and treasurer. Rohan Athaide, director of internal audit, will take on the role of vice-president of internal audit. South Africa-based global engineering group DRA International acquired Met-Chem Canada from UEC Technologies, the company announced in early March. Met-Chem, a Montrealbased consulting engineering company founded in 1969, specializes in design engineering, mineral processing, EPCM project delivery and contract operations. Compiled by Kelsey Rolfe

May • Mai 2016 | 21

30 per cent of the Big Daddy project and had laid the chain of claims leading up to the deposit to improve the chances the project advanced. Noront owns the remaining 70 per cent, and is also the largest shareholder in KWG Resources. Noront inherited the lawsuit when it acquired Cliffs Natural Resources’ chromite properties in April 2015. In the court’s decision Justice George R. Strathy quoted from T.A. Ricard’s The Romance of Mining: “An unprofitable mine is fit only for the [tomb] of a dead mule.” Strathy noted that “the same might be said of an inaccessible mine.” The court said there was no evidence a road could interfere with future exploration and exploitation on the claims in question, but Maurice

Lavigne, vice-president of exploration and development at KWG, said direct mining activities were never intended for those claims. “When we staked those claims, it was for the purpose of building the infrastructure we needed for the mine,” he said. (KWG wanted to build a railroad to its site; according to Lavigne, there is not enough suitable area to support a railroad and a road.) Big Daddy, however, remains low on Noront’s list of development priorities in the Ring of Fire. The company’s flagship project is the Eagle’s Nest nickel-copperPGE project in the Ring of Fire. The company is also developing the Black Thor project near the Big Daddy deposit. Noront president and CEO Alan Coutts told CIM Magazine that while the company inherited the suit

near the end of the process, they continued it to keep their options open for potential chromite development projects. Coutts said the company’s focus is Eagle’s Nest, which would not require an access corridor through these claims. The Ontario government committed $1 billion to infrastructure projects in the Ring of Fire in the 2016 budget. So far, the province has spent at least $78 million to prepare communities in the area for development-related opportunities. The federal government has also been involved in the area and collaborated with the provincial authorities to fund a $785,000 study on corridor options for four Matawa First Nations communities. The provincial mining ministry has contributed $23 million. – K. Sheridan

Clean slate Four miners receive funding from federal sustainable development technology fund

Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) recently announced $206 million in funding for 36 clean technology projects across the country, including four projects by mining companies Alliance Magnesium, Avalon Advanced Materials, Quest Rare Minerals and Teck Resources. SDTC has funded over 300 projects in 15 years. And though just 10 (totaling $40 million) have come from the mining sector, four successful applicants this year alone signals an increasing interest from the industry. “It is an area we have been interested in getting into even more,” said SDTC president and CEO Leah Lawrence. “We see recognition [from the industry] that sustainability needs to be integrated into mining. And we have some really strong leaders in that area, so we are starting to see momentum.” SDTC has several priority investment areas when it comes to mining projects. One, not represented in this year’s recipients, is intelligent mining, or the application of data to the mining process. 22 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Courtesy of Teck

By Correy Baldwin

Teck’s SDTC-funded project to eliminate smelting by placing refineries close to high-arsenic copper deposits will involve work at its CESL demonstration plant autoclave.

A second involves attempts to eliminate the smelting process by refining near deposits, an approach taken by Teck, which is looking to place refineries close to high-arsenic copper

deposits. “Refining on-site or close to the mine makes a lot of sense from cost, environmental and sustainability drivers,” said Keith Mayhew, manager of Teck’s CESL operations. Teck has part-

Experience the Progress.

Visit us at:

CIM 2016 Vancouver Convention Centre Vancouver, BC, May 1 – 4 , Booth # 617

Liebherr’s Innovative Mining Solutions Integrated smart technologies lower the total cost per tonne Intelligent design to increase uptime and reliability Highest productivity and efficiency through intelligent energy management Ergonomic design for safe and user-friendly operation and maintenance Customer-focused support throughout the entire equipment lifecycle Liebherr’s continuous focus to reduce environmental footprint across all machines

Liebherr-Canada Ltd. 1015 Sutton Drive Burlington, Ontario L7L 5Z8, CANADA Phone: +1 905 319 92 22 E-Mail: info.lca@liebherr.com www.facebook.com/LiebherrMining www.liebherr.com

Providing full ser s vice mining solutions and innovation inn novation around the world for over 50 years.

EXPERIENCE • • • • • • •

Shaft Sinking Mine Development Contract Mining Raiseboring Raise Mining Underground Construction Engineering & Technical Services • Specialty Services AFRICA | ASIA | AUSTRALIA EUROPE | NORTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA

Mining Contractors and Engineers

Consider it done.

redpathmining.com

24 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

nered with the German refining company Aurubis to develop new technology to process concentrates hydrometallurgically rather than through smelting, to be tested at a two-year pilot plant in Richmond, British Columbia As high-grade copper deposits become scarce, companies are increasingly turning to lower-grade deposits, which often contain high levels of arsenic. “The amount of arsenic-containing copper concentrates is projected to significantly increase,” said Mayhew, “and smelters aren’t really designed to manage high-arsenic material.” Teck’s process extracts copper at higher levels than smelters, and simultaneously stabilizes the arsenic to the residue. It produces none of the sulphur dioxide or arsenic emissions produced through smelting, and significantly reduces energy and water consumption. SDTC’s third priority investment area is converting waste to products, as with a process developed by Alliance to remediate asbestos tailings to produce magnesium. Alliance is revamping the former Magnola plant in Asbestos, Quebec, improving the hydrometallurgy and electrolysis processes used at the plant by Noranda from 2000 to 2003. The SDTC funding will help test further improvements in engineering aimed at producing 50,000 tonnes by 2017, with full production soon after. The process is meant to replace the thermal Pidgeon process used in China, which leads global primary magnesium production. As it is used today, the Pidgeon process relies heavily on energy from coal, and emits a lot of C02, explained Alliance CEO Joël Fournier. “It’s also very expensive because it requires a lot of energy. It takes five times the amount of energy required by electrolysis.” Alliance’s process drastically reduces C02 emissions, and virtually eliminates what remains through carbon capture. There are also benefits downstream; magnesium demand is increasing, mainly from an automobile sector looking to improve fuel efficiency and cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing vehicle weight. Magnesium is a lighter alternative to metals traditionally used by the transportation and aerospace industry, like steel. SDTC has also become interested in supporting rare earth projects. “We like those because they support the value chain of many other things we fund – LEDs, solar panels, stronger magnets – all of these things that enable clean technologies and renewable energies,” said Lawrence. “We think this is an area where Canada can play a significant role, and maybe develop to be a world leader.” China dominates the rare earth market, and specifically those required for clean technology, like dysprosium, terbium, europium, neodymium and yttrium, which are already in short supply. Quest’s Strange Lake project in northern Quebec could change all that. “Strange Lake has one of the highest concentrations of environmentallyrelevant rare earths in the world,” said Quest President Dirk Naumann. “The downstream opportunities are immense. And the resource we have in Strange Lake is

developments good for 150 years, with a mining rate of 10,000 tonnes per year.” Rare earth extraction is energy-intensive, and creates significant waste. Naumann, a chemical engineer, was brought on board to reconceive the process for Quest’s Bécancour plant. “I went back to the physical and chemical fundamentals, and threw out lots of unnecessary process steps, simplifying things,” he said. The resulting Selective Thermal Sulphation (STS) process uses heat rather than chemicals to separate out impurities. High temperatures decompose all metal sulphates other than rare earths to insoluble components, and the remaining rare earths are dissolved in water. Sulphuric acid used in the processing is reused, rather than neutralized with calcium, which normally creates large amounts of solid tailings. The result is far fewer tailings and GHG emissions, and a two-thirds reduction in capital costs. “We will see 15 per cent of the tailings in Bécancour compared to what we initially put out in the prefeasibility study,” Naumann said. Avalon also received funding for their Nechalacho rare earth project in the Northwest Territories, though due to market conditions the project has been put on hold and the funding deferred. Avalon has been looking at recycling chemicals used in the recovery process, thus reducing tailings, along with GHG emissions. “It’s great that SDTC is recognizing that innovation in process metallurgy is important to sustainable development, and that a lot of these special metals and minerals such as rare earths are key to a lot of clean technology,” said Avalon president and CEO Don Bubar. “The fact that they are now recognizing that and supporting innovation in that sector is really good.” It counters a perception that the mining industry is not doing anything new or innovative, said Bubar: “There’s actually quite a lot happening. And it’s finally getting some recognition.” CIM

PDAC conference and trade show. The gathering brought 22,000 people – just a little less than last year’s 23,500 – to Toronto’s Metro Toronto Convention Centre where, despite an ongoing commodities rout, the mood was cautiously optimistic for the future. “Last year it was pretty downbeat. This year was definitely upbeat, so there is a change in sentiment,” said Rod Thomas, PDAC’s past-president. “I think last year we thought we were at the bottom [of the downturn]; this year we know we’re at

Bottomless optimism at PDAC Attendance numbers were down but spirits were high at this year’s annual May • Mai 2016 | 25

Ex xperrience e. Qualit Q Qua litty ty.. E llence Excel e. From ore to metal, FLSmidth is your One Sou urce for mineral processing, material han ndling, precious metals recovery and a tailings management solutions. We offer an increased level of service and unsurpassed knowledge within the minerals industry. In fa act, we have over 100 years of experience to prove it. Partnering with customers, we are able to maximize plant recoveryy, increase ore throughput, promote water con nservation and decrease emissions, all while striving to minimize envirronmental impact. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve built a strong reputation around providing safe and reliable equipment. Working together, our expertise,, customer services, optimized solutions and sustainable technologies empower customers with innovative ways to responsibly develop the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resources. Find out more at flsmidth.com /sustainability

FLSmi dt will b h e at CIM. V isit wi th the ex perts in boo th #631

the bottom and we get a sense that there’s a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.” Despite a positive outlook among delegates, presenters tended towards gloomier views of the year ahead. Paul Robinson, a director at CRU Group, said current supply cuts will not be enough to restore demand confidence, and he expects miners will continue “digging for victory” in 2016. “We think 2016 will be another difficult year for commodities…driven by weak demand and limited supply cuts,” he said. Exploration was also top of mind for presenters and attendees. Mark Bristow, CEO of Randgold Resources (see our profile, pg. 55), criticized the industry in a presentation for being “plagued by systemic short-termism” and cutting back on exploration funding. “Exploration is the only sure way of creating value in an extractive industry such as mining,” he said.

Courtesy of PDAC

developments

PDAC past-president Rod Thomas said this year’s conference was “definitely upbeat” in comparison to the previous year.

Natural Resources Minister James Carr attended the conference with assurances that the government of

Canada would assist the industry, highlighting investment in innovation, regulatory stability, engagement with indigenous communities and support for mineral exploration as four government priorities. “All of them are linked by one goal: to fortify the strong and vibrant mining sector we have in Canada,” Carr said during his open remarks. This year’s conference also marked the end of Thomas’s two-year term as PDAC president. Robert Schafer, previously the association’s first vice-president, will now step into the role. “I always have fun doing what I do,” Schafer said of taking over the top job at PDAC. “I feel very challenged, but I’m also feeling pretty comfortable about what I’m about to do, because everybody’s my friend here.” Next year’s conference will take place from March 5 to 8. – Kelsey Rolfe

May • Mai 2016 | 27

Battle for the board Taseko, other miners face off against activist shareholders By Kate Sheridan

It has been a busy year for British Columbia miner Taseko Mines. The company lost a defamation suit against an environmental group in January regarding articles about the potential environmental impact of its proposed New Prosperity copper-gold project, which the group posted during the federal environmental assessment’s public comment period. In February, the company launched a new lawsuit alleging the federal government did not meet its legal duties in the development of the New Prosperity project. Finally, a dissident shareholder group, Raging River Capital, called for a shareholder meeting in January. The battle has been acrimonious. On Feb. 25, Taseko sent a press release accusing Mark Radzik, Raging River’s

nomination for a Taseko board member spot, of failing to disclose his involvement in a corporate bankruptcy. (In an interview, Radzik said he was not a director at the time and claimed Taseko was attempting to direct the focus away from its performance.) The dispute is rooted in a key disagreement: Raging River believes Taseko is underperforming and should focus on a few development projects and sell off non-core assets; Taseko’s current leadership disagrees with Raging River’s assessment and proposed strategy. By definition, activist shareholders use their equity in a publicly traded company to force the company’s management to change something, like sell off assets or modify the shareholder or executive compensation structure.

“[Shareholder activism] is just generally a reality – shareholders are being more responsible about their investing,” said Kingsdale Shareholder Services’ president Amy Freedman. (Freedman has been peripherally involved in the Taseko/Raging River case.) “It could be the beginning of a new chapter. At the end of the day, the goal is to maximize shareholder value.” Proxy contests can happen when a shareholder or a group of shareholders have an opposing position to the company’s direction or the board’s strategy. Shareholders can hold a vote to apply pressure to the company; if they are successful, they can appoint a new director or a slate of new directors, push out an existing director or block a transaction.

PROVIDING THE SAFEST SOLUTIONS For 36 years we have been the foremost provider of mining services and solutions to the North American mining industry. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Contract Mining Shaft Sinking Raise Boring and Raise Excavation Mine Construction and Infrastructure Mine Development and Rehabilitation Headframes and Hoisting Plants Ground Freezing and Grouting Programs Engineering Design and Feasibility Studies Property Development through Equity Investment, Partnerships or Joint Ventures

Canada 1-800-892-8293 or USA 1-800-748-2375

www.dmcmining.com

28 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Companies faced 29 proxy contests across Canada as of September 2015, according to Kingsdale Shareholder Services’ latest proxy season review – which, the report noted, nearly matches 2014’s total. Nine of those contests were in the materials sector; another seven involved energy companies. Indeed, Taseko is not the only company currently fending off an activist advance; a dissident group claimed Dominion Diamond’s share price fell because of poor management. In January, shareholders voted for a new board appointee, Josef Vejvoda – a portfolio manager from K2 & Associates Investment Management Inc., a company reportedly leading an activist group. While the number of proxy contests is trending downward, Freedman noted reported figures are likely understating the situation. “People try to keep more out of the public eye,” Freedman said. “We work on many things quietly. You may see a press

Energy Data Management System

release go out that there’s a new board member or a strategic review, and it’s the result of activist activity in the background.” Cases typically go public when an activist has already tried to work with management, or when they believe the company will not act on their suggestions, Freedman added. David Salmon, president of shareholder solicitation firm Laurel Hill Advisory Group, agreed there has been an overall increase in shareholder

activism, “but not in traditional activism [like proxy battles].” (Salmon is directly involved with the Taseko/Raging River case.) Instead of fighting to change the company’s direction by appointing a new board member, Salmon said, activists have often tried to block specific transactions, mergers or acquisitions. Technology has enabled shareholders to communicate with each other and do their own research on transactions, Salmon said. “Generally speaking, if you look 10 or 15 years ago, no one opposed a transaction. But you saw that last year,” Salmon added. Salmon noted that even smaller shareholders have significant power today. One Fission Uranium shareholder, Jim Gifford, put together a coalition and blocked a merger with Denison Mines, Salmon noted, but Gifford’s own holding in the company relative to the potential value of the transaction was microscopic.

DuplineSafe TUV-SIL3 Pull Cord Switch Monitoring ring System

Ennergy gy Meters and Power Transducers T for VAC AC f connections up to 690V

Canadian proxy contests in 2015 (30 in 2014)

were from the materials sector (which includes mining)

were from the energy sector

Carlo Gavazzi is an internatio onal manufacturer t of the DuplineSafe TUV-SIL3 Safety Pull Corrd Switch Bus for long distance conveyors up to 5 km, using sttandard cable and loop powered safety inputs. Each pull cord sw witch has a unique address, allowing for immediate indication off the location of a trip.

Our VMUC VMUC-EM EM data logger/w logger/w webserver can collect electrical mea asurements from up to 32 energyy meters. The System is expandablee up to 3,200 meters when useed in combination with our VMUY Y data aggregator or EM2 serrver veer software. W Wee offer a comprehensive range of Energy Meters, Monitoring Relays, Current Trans r sformers and Power Transducers Transducers rs for connections up to 690V VAC. AC.

Visit us at Booth #520 0 at the CIM Co onvention GavazziOnnline.com • 888.575.2275 • Gavazzi@CarloG Gavazzi.com 30 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

developments “It wasn’t an institution. This was a small guy that lived in a farming community in Ontario who got his message out there,” Salmon said. “The ability [of this shareholder] to articulate his arguments and get enough support such that a $900 million transaction is killed – I think that speaks volumes about the level of engagement.” Why are shareholders getting involved now? The economy could be a factor. “[Shareholders are] losing money and they want to control as much as they can in those situations,” Salmon said. The number of proxy battles jumped after 2008, when the global economic downturn began, he noted. However, “the challenging economy was part of the reason, as many stock prices were down significantly, but not the only reason,” Salmon said. Ultimately, a company’s performance – and its shareholders’ fortunes – must be evaluated in the context of a downturn.

The materials sector has experienced more proxy battles over five years than any other industry surveyed by Kingsdale 32

Proxy battles per year

22 16

materials sector

16 13

2011

2012

2013

Taseko’s relative performance in the downturn is the driving factor for Raging River’s actions, said Raging River board nominee Mark Radzik. “We’ve watched our share price go down and we’ve seen action in millions of dollars go out, we’ve seen the CEO get a full bonus and full compensation, when in all the public documents it says he didn’t meet his objectives,” he said. Taseko’s vice-president of investor relations Brian Bergot acknowledged it had been a “challenging couple of years for copper miners,” but added that activist investors may take advantage of

2014

total

2015

frustrated shareholders. “I think they’re attacking Taseko because of the value of our assets,” he said. The suit the company has launched against the federal government regarding its assessment of New Prosperity is part of the effort to restore that value. “We are not interested in litigation and being tied up in court. But we need to do what we have to do to ensure our projects get fairly assessed in the environmental process,” he added. Taseko will hold a special meeting, as requested by Raging River, on May 10. CIM

Teamwork Achieving greatness together: In more than 3,100 projects globally, high-class infrastructure has been built, using Herrenknecht tunnelling technology.

Pioneering Underground Technologies www.herrenknecht.com

May • Mai 2016 | 31

Courtesy of SME

More than 6,300 delegates attended SME’s 2016 conference, which focused on the potential of data analysis.

Sorting through the data Tagged “The future for mining in a data-driven world,” the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) used the enormous potential that the capture and analysis of data

has for the sector to frame its 2016 Conference and Expo. The event, held at the Phoenix Convention Centre from Feb. 21 to 24, hosted a formidable amount of content in its three days of technical programming. It featured presentations divided

between at least 24 different streams each day. To open proceedings, SME president Steven Gardner threw a spotlight on perhaps the most promising data point of all. “Last year,” he declared to the crowd gathered for the keynote session, “was the best year for mine safety in the United States in history.” The country recorded only 27 mining fatalities in 2015, down from 45 the previous year and eight fewer than the preceding record set in 2009. Among a series of questions presenters tackled on the topic of data science was how the analysis of the growing collection of mine site data might continue to improve the industry’s safety record by helping to identify practices or trends that can predict safety performance. Presentations ranged from case studies, such as one from Leonardo Avila of Wenco International Mining Systems, which detailed how fueling dispatch software helped an oil sands mine gain

DIG AROUND AND SEE

THERE’S MORE BENEATH THE SURFACE

GOLDCORP ADVANTAGE

In a volatile market, our strategy remains unchanged. We continue to focus on execution – operating safely and efficiently, maintaining financial discipline and delivering sustainable value.

High-Quality, Profitable Production Gold Focused Investment-Grade Balance Sheet Responsible Mining Practices Low Political Risk

TSX:G NYSE:GG

www.goldcorp.com

32 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

developments 9,600 hours of haul truck productivity, to more open-ended discussions considering how the work of mine site surveyors, geologists and engineers might be captured for data analysis. A number of presentations referred to “Big Data” in their titles and with them the suggestion that computer science can deliver a new era of safer, more efficient and productive operations. Speakers, however, were careful to temper the excitement. “The more you automate and algorithmize, the more you need to have a sanity check,” advised Ted Branscombe, manager of innovation and technology for Modular Mining. “With large data sets you will almost always find something that seems significant, but that may not be the case.” Do not undervalue experience and common sense in the data analytics realm, he urged. “You need someone who knows the equipment and processes to judge what matters.” SME reported more than 6,300 attended the event. Next year’s confer-

ence will be held from Feb. 19 to 22 in – Ryan Bergen Denver, Colorado.

Standards group releases bond efficiency guidelines The Global Mining Standards and Guidelines Group (GMSG) took the first step towards standardizing how grinding circuit efficiency is calculated with the publication of its latest guideline in early March. The guideline, “Determining the Bond Efficiency of industrial grinding circuits,” was prepared by the Bond Work Index subcommittee led by Rob McIvor, chief metallurgist of grinding systems at Metcom Technologies. The guideline is “extremely important” for energy reduction and cost savings in the mining industry, McIvor said. “About 10 per cent of the cost of producing metal, before it can be processed into something useful, goes into the size reductions of the ores,” he said. “The typical medium-sized plant

will spend millions of dollars a year on grinding energy. You need a measure of efficiency; you need to know where you stand. You can’t improve what you don’t measure.” Efficiency is calculated using the ratio between the optimal amount of energy it takes to break down material, as measured in a lab, and the actual amount of energy it takes a mill to grind it. The standard measurement for grinding energy is called a work index, which is derived from the Bond equation. While the equation and the way efficiency is mathematically calculated have been used for decades, there have been wide discrepancies as to how lab work is done and how mills are measured. The new guideline aims to standardize those procedures in the industry. McIvor said the next step is to calibrate actual lab tests and create a benchmarking database for the industry to reference. GMSG will soon publish two additional comminution guidelines: “Methods

NEED A BETTER BALANCE? JUST ASK GOLDER. Balancing your short and long term needs, engineering design and environmental priorities, and the interests of stakeholders, requires a partner who understands your challenges and objectives. Visit Golder during the 2016 CIM Convention at Booth #1408 to learn how our global mining team of over 1700 consultants in mine waste, mine water, mine environment and mine engineering and stability can help you strike the right balance.

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

May • Mai 2016 | 33

YOUR CRUSHER SPECIALISTS

SINCE 1965 Complete heavy machining and fabricating facilities utilizing the latest CNC machine tools and CAD/CAM technology Babbitt service up to 120 inch diameter (Crushers, Mill and Hydro bearings) Complete service and repairs to all Mining Equipment Remanufacturers of all makes and sizes of Jaws, Cones, Gyratory Crushers and Hammer Mills complete with warranty Manufacturers of the Birdsboro-Buchanan line of Jaw Crushers

249 Toronto Avenue, Oshawa, Ontario Canada L1H 3C2 T: 905.579.9721 F: 905.434.6878 www.prengineering.com

to Survey and Sampling Grinding Circuits” and “Morrell Method for determining comminution circuit specific energy and assessing energy utilization efficiency of existing circuits.” – D. Chen

Exploration geochemistry research at UBC gets a funding boost Government funding for an industryled research program at the University of British Columbia’s Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) came through late last year. The initiative aims to reinvigorate research in exploration geochemistry, a field that has had very little formal research within Canadian universities and around the globe in recent years. Half of the $2.5 million the five-year program now has was contributed by mineral testing laboratory AcmeLabs, which was acquired by Bureau Veritas 34 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Courtesy of the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at UBC

SEE US IN VANCOUVER AT CIM 2016 EXPO (BOOTH 1516)

UBC researcher Peter Winterburn said the initiative is important because exploration is becoming increasingly difficult.

Minerals Laboratories in 2011. NSERC provided the other half late last year after approving the program’s application in June. Research had already begun in the fall of 2014 in anticipation of the federal funding. UBC researcher Peter Winterburn, who is taking up the position of

NSERC/AcmeLabs/Bureau Minerals Industrial Research Chair in Exploration Geochemistry, said the initiative is important because exploration in mining is becoming increasingly difficult. “One of the big problems is that most outcropping deposits have, by and large, now been found,” he said. “The next set of deposits that we discover will be the ones that are buried under other material.” Winterburn, who was the global geochemist for Vale prior to joining UBC in 2013, hopes the program will lay a foundation for developing practical methods that can be applied to commercial exploration. “The intention there is, using geochemistry, we would actually be able to discriminate between [different] types of targets at a fairly early stage and give that drill or no-drill decision much more prominence, and obviously save a lot of money,” he said. – D. Chen

For Explosives, think BME

With over 30

years of experience,

BME supplies explosives and related technical services to

over 23

countries.

Ř Full range of bulk and packaged explosives Ř Initiating Systems Ř Electronic blasting systems Ř Surface & underground explosives delivery equipment Ř Mobile emulsion plants Ř Blasting Science services We pride ourselves in providing

world class technical services to ensure every blast brings value to our customers.

Tel: +27 11 709 8765 info@bme.co.za www.bme.co.za

columns

Measurement matters By Jeff Geipel

he Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act came into force last June, requiring mining and oil and gas companies of a certain size listed in Canada to disclose payments made to all governments in Canada and abroad. Rules and systems like this play a vital role in improving the governance of mining, both in advanced and developing countries. Transparency helps prevent problematic mining codes and contracts, and open data can help host country stakeholders to push for better management of natural resource extraction. It is striking, however, that to this point most of the attention of civil society when it comes to economic impacts of mining has been focused exclusively on tax payments. While important, these are not the only, or even the largest, economic contributions mining operations make to host economies. In most cases, companies actually spend more money on the procurement of goods and services than taxes, wages and community investment combined. The World Gold Council surveyed its 18 member companies, which operate in over 40 countries, and found that incountry procurement for 2013 accounted for 71 per cent of all economic value distributed in host countries by member company sites. So, if we really want to ensure mining has a positive impact on host economies, and for mining companies to obtain their social license to operate, miners need to optimize their local procurement strategies. Proper management of processes like local procurement require proper measurement. For three years we at the Mining Shared Value initiative of Engineers Without Borders have been tracking how Canada and the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest

mining companies report on local sourcing of goods and services. We have seen a steady increase in the number of companies reporting more detail on their programs, as well as statistics that show how much of their procurement is going to local suppliers. Kinross Gold, Anglo American and Cameco are among those companies reporting in a way that informs better decision-making by all stakeholders involved.

presenting the exact nature of their procurement, companies can work with governments to help create effective regulation. If companies are not able to demonstrate and explain the nuances of their sourcing, they risk government imposing regulations that have little foundation in reality. Unfortunately, many companies do not report on local procurement and have little in the way of sophisticated management systems. In addition, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Most countries creating new even for companies mining codes are now including that do a good job of tracking their efforts local content regulations.â&#x20AC;? to buy locally, there are no standard metrics for them to use If companies report more on local and many companies have to re-create procurement, it will better inform local the wheel to make their own systems. stakeholders making decisions on how To address this, we are working with to work with them. For example, if the German development organization mining companies report on the various G.I.Z. to provide a standard for mining programs they are using (supplier companies to report on local procuredevelopment for example), it informs ment of goods and services. The goal of local chambers of commerce, NGOs, this new system will be to help compatraining institutes and financing institunies manage their economic impacts tions on how they can support those with the most effective indicators to programs. inform decisions, and help host counBetter reporting on the volumes and tries better understand how they can types of goods and services a mining work with mining companies to operation buys could also help inform increase local procurement through collocal governments and businesses on laboration. what they should focus on supplying, Both mining companies and host rather than guessing at which sectors to governments as well as the communiinvest in. ties they interact with need metrics to It is also worth noting that most guide their decision-making. These countries creating new mining codes are measurement systems must capture now including local content regulanuance, provide accountability and help tions. Improvements to reporting will us understand how the private and pubhelp inform company engagement with lic sectors can support inclusive develgovernments on these new codes, and opment. CIM help prevent governments from imposing unrealistic and arbitrary requireJeff Geipel is venture leader for Mining Shared ments. By better measuring and Value at Engineers Without Borders Canada.

Got an opinion on one of our columns? Send your comments to editor@cim.org. 36 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

columns

Mining, the loonie and energy By Mauro Chiesa

ining is a changing business within a changing world. Existing operations and new projects cover more continents, have thinner grades, higher capital cost needs and more remote situations (not to mention host governments who now are hesitant to pick up costs such as roads or energy subsidies). Thus, feasibility work should include a careful review of currencies, energy costs and procurement options. Why introduce these issues? The economic landscape is changing and increasingly cautious investors do not want their investments crushed unexpectedly; they will query the issues and the mining company must show some degree of forethought and distinguish itself from global competitors. The U.S. economy is finally rebounding and has become more diversified, having developed into a net energy exporter – two simultaneous factors which boost the U.S. dollar, relative to other currencies, including the loonie. The global economic slowdown and slowing demand for oil has added a damper on oil prices and on the currencies of other oilexporting countries whose economies rely more heavily on energy exports. Four countries in particular – Venezuela, Nigeria, Russia, and Iran – are very crude-dependent and thus looking to increase production in order to mitigate the fall in revenues. Canada is also in such a bind with very high-cost oil defining the value of the loonie. While commodity-misery generally associated with slowing demand would be the first reaction for anyone to consider, there are silver linings associated with the fall in currency and oil prices, and the relationship between a host currency and the price of oil. A mining company should take note as it reviews its feasibility work – be it existing or expansion via brownfield or greenfield projects. First consideration: the loonie’s fall from par with the U.S. dollar is not as bad as indicated. With most of the

world’s commodities priced in American dollars, gold at US$1,200 per ounce with the loonie at US$0.75 offers the same revenue in Canadian dollars as gold at US$1,600 when the loonie was at par. And the weaker loonie, in US$terms, means operating costs are at 75 per cent of their former at-par levels. Secondly, should a mine be situated in a country where the currency is closely tied to the price of oil, like Canada, the benefits are further com-

additional advantages that could expedite the project, especially when capital is tight. Armed with the local procurement estimates for a project’s construction and operation, a mining company has the information and the third-party validation with which to negotiate and secure financial assistance from the local public sector. Crown corporations such as Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Business Development Bank of Canada focus both on the

“The economic landscape is changing and increasingly cautious investors do not want their investments crushed unexpectedly.” pounded. Not only are the operating expenses reduced because of the discounted loonie, but mining companies’ energy costs are also down as the US$-denominated price of energy has fallen by about 70 to 75 per cent. If a project is in, say, Nunavut, where diesel fuel is essential for year-round operation, the compounded effect does make a difference. Lastly is the issue of capital expenditure procurement, both during construction and operation. Many feasibility studies focus on US$-denominated costs, without a mention on local versus foreign procurement differentials, should currencies differ. Given the discounted currencies relative to the U.S. dollar and the cost of energy, a mining company must re-assess its procurement process, or “re-procure,” in its feasibility study and make sure the CAPEX estimates now reflect a procurement model that is consistent with the new assumptions. The sourcing of technical staff should also be re-assessed using these new assumptions. The issue of identifying local versus foreign procurement options packs

export benefits and on the Canadian content input of any project they are asked to co-finance. Given the economic slowdown, governments look to support domestic supply of both capital goods and services, such as training or immigration of specialised staff. Governments have now realised that these projects have multi-faceted benefits to their regions, especially in rural situations. In summary, currencies, energy exposure and procurement are variables that require careful consideration for each operation evaluated and each project considered. With the swings seen in the last 18 months and the global economic slowdown, mining companies need additional skill sets to avoid supporting a dud or neglecting a star, whether it is an operation or a development project; they can also expedite a project by facilitating cofinancing and policy support from the public sector. CIM Mauro Chiesa has over 35 years of experience in financing and advising extractive and infrastructure projects. He has worked with multinational banks in New York City, at the World Bank Group and EDC.

May • Mai 2016 | 37

Researchers and coal miners in Illinois capture shear stress with new instrumented bolts By Eavan Moore

ny mine support system will experience strain from surrounding rock, but understanding the direction and force of that strain allows miners to harness it in underground construction rather than fall victim to bent bolts and unpredictable failures. A Southern Illinois University (SIU) research team in association with Yieldpoint Inc. has developed a new research tool to investigate the effect shear stress has on roof bolts. By carving three slots along the length of the bolts, looping a length of fibre optic cable through the three slots, and analyzing light behaviour when force is applied, the researchers were able to calculate strain profile over the length of each bolt. Test monitoring in two Illinois coal mines showed that the technology worked in an underground setting. “We have very few devices to calculate the axial and shear stress,” said Kashi Vishwanath Jessu, who was a part of the project as a graduate student at SIU in 2015 and is now a PhD candidate at Curtin University in Australia. This innovative use of optical fibres in a three-slot design was developed by the SIU research team in collaboration with technology supplier YieldPoint of Kingston, Ontario. Todd Kostecki, PhD candidate at SIU; and Sam Spearing, then an associate professor in mining engineering at SIU and now acting director of the Western Australia School of Mines at Curtin University, were the lead graduate student and principal investigator on the project, respectively. Jay Emery, chief engineer at the participating Gibson South mine, said that accurately estimating the direction of horizontal stresses is critical to mine planning. Previously available resources include public data on the Illinois Basin and earlier instrumented bolt technology that uses discrete resistive strain gauges. In contrast, he said, “the optical sensing test bolts present an opportunity to gather information continuously throughout the entire length of the bolt, and specific to this mine rather than regional.”

Technology, design, analysis Kostecki and Spearing had previously partnered with YieldPoint in 2010 to run a different instrumented bolt project in 38 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Courtesy of Tood Kostecki

New angles on an old problem Researchers at SIU were able to calculate strain profile over the length of instrumented bolts.

underground coal mines. In the 2014 project, they tested the use of optical fibres as sensors. When a beam of light is directed through an optical fibre, the core of the fibre refracts that light. If the fibre is epoxied into long slots in a roof bolt, then the strain the bolt experiences will minutely change the fibre’s shape and therefore the way its core refracts light. The project tried out two different fibre optic technologies. The first, distributed optical sensing (DOS) measures continuously along the fibre. With DOS, strain can be calculated at multiple points within the space of a millimetre. A 48-inch bolt could have 4,500 strain points. Earlier strain gauge bolts might have had only ten gauges total. The second type of sensor, a fibre-Bragg grating (FBG), is not continuous, but is less costly and less sensitive to dust interference than DOS. Previous instrumentation studies had used only two diametrically opposed slots. That meant that any strain directed at certain angles in relation to the slots would be difficult to interpret. Someone who needed to collect shear data in their mine would have to know the mine’s shear-plane orientations already, and would have to accomplish the difficult task of installing the bolt at the correct angle to the shear plane. But with three evenly distributed slots cut into the bolts, strain from any angle would be apparent from at least two of the slots. “The idea behind the three-slot design is so we don’t have to know how the slots are oriented with respect to the shear plane,” said Kostecki. “When the bolts begin to develop strain, it should give us all the information we need.” To test both their technology and their method of analysis for calculating strain, the team started in a lab setting by applying force to both two-slot and three-slot instrumented bolts. In controlled bending tests, the bending strain calculated was close to theoretical values – and the three-slot setup picked up strain that the two-slot setup did not. The tests are described in detail in Jessu, Kostecki and Spearing’s recent paper in CIM Journal (Vol. 7, No 1). Kostecki said that it would not be obvious which is shear strain, and which is axial strain, just by looking at strain profile.

RO OCK SO OLID OLID, STEADY P PERFO ORMER RS

Dual-an nd single-boom drills Ã High-output, put, low-mainten nance drills Stable set set-up s up Ã Unsurpassed ed boom & feed control ntrol Ã Reduced DPM PM exposure Operatorr-friendly compartm ments and controls: Sound insulated Ã HEPPAA filters

PREC CISE DRILLING Ã Graphic Opperator Angle Display (GOAD) A Ã Shows preccise hole alignment Ã Calculates drill depth Ã Retracts drrill at proper depth Ã Monitor fluushing pressure

With Drill Jumboos from J.H. Fletcher & C Co. you’ll have a machine that’s truuly engineered for the rigors rs of underground mining: heavier components with weightt distributed for excellent machine stability, precise boom control; efficient, demand-regulated engine speed; ergonom mically-designed operator’s compaartments and more. You can c choose from models that operrate in heights as low as 10’ to our larger carrier that allowss you to cover a heading upp to 60’w x 35’h from one machinne setting. Call or email us u today to learn how you can have v a more productive, opeeratorr-responsive drilling operation..

J. H. Fletcher & Co.

sales@jhfletcherr.com .ccom c www.jhfletcherr.co om p: 3 0 4 . 5 2 5 . 7 8 1 1

J.H. Fletcher & Co. cannot anticipate ever y mine hazard that may develop during use of these products. Follow your mine plan and/or roof control plan p prior to use of the product. Proper use, ma aintenance and continued use of (OEM) original equipment par ts will be essential for maximum operating results. 2013 J.H. Fletche er & Co. All Rights reserved.

“With experience and in a controlled setting you can look at the total strain profile of a three-slot instrument and make an educated guess,” he said. But to be sure, one would need to know the actual positions of the slots in the bolt and calculate out the axial and shear strain.

In-situ research After confirming the technology worked in principle, the team needed to show it would still work in the damp and dust of a working mine. They contacted two local coal mines, including Gibson County Coal’s South mine, to enquire about participating in the project. “The engineers and mine personnel always show great interest in these types of projects because they are so unique,” said Kostecki. He praised the patient help of the mine personnel. Rock bolt operators at the mines conducted the installation themselves. Ryan Carey, roof bolter operator at Gibson County Coal, explained that these research bolts took extra care, because from each bolt protrudes a connecting port that allows the fibre optic data to be logged by separate equipment. The spinning movement when bolts are mechanically installed can damage the hair-thin optical fibres. “Near-perfect alignment of the roof bolting machine’s drill head and the roof bolt is critical,” said Carey. “Extra time was taken to assure each drill hole was straight and aligned with the drill head throughout bolt installation.” At each of the two mine sites, SIU students spent about a month monitoring the fibres hourly for sixteen hours a day. At each reading, they plugged a fibre from a data logger into the connector in each bolt. “This may seem like overkill, but when you’re dealing with optical fibre interrogators that are very expensive, you want to make sure someone is at the site in case something unexpected occurs,” explained Kostecki. Plus, he added, some instruments develop signs of strain over several hours. “Strain like this is what really gets us excited and you don’t want to miss it.”

40 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Positive results – with challenges As of March 2016, the research team had collected data from both mines, covering multiple installations of two-slot and three-slot bolts, fitted with either DOS or FBG. A full analysis will appear in Kostecki’s PhD thesis, but some initial results are already clear. First and foremost, the technology worked underground. There were challenges, admitted Jessu. DOS showed excellent results, but is vulnerable to breakage and dust interference. FBG also works well, but to approximate the level of detail in DOS results would require more reflectors per bolt – a significant cost increase. Kostecki added that the strain data itself was a bonus, sometimes an exciting one. “We were able to deduce the initiation of a shearing plane at one of the mines with the three-slot instruments,” he said. “This confirmed our lab results, where we were applying a force around the circumference of a threeslot instrument, and trying to detect the direction of the force. We even consulted with the mine afterwards and this was indeed their inferred direction of shear.” The larger goal of the project was to better understand and improve upon the industry’s approach to mine design. “Through this path we can better design our mine entries and rock bolt systems, which we believe will provide a safer working environment for the miners,” said Kostecki.

Where to next? Kostecki said his research team will hopefully conduct another underground instrumentation project in several years if funding becomes available again. The project was supported by the Alpha Foundation for the Improvement of Mine Safety and Health, established in 2011 following a lethal explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine. “We do anticipate that if this research gains some attention, it has the potential to be taken up abroad with different mines,” Kostecki said, “most likely in Canada and Australia.” CIM

EXTRAORDINARY

POSSIBILITIES IN MINING AND MINERALS PROCESSING

MINERALS PROCESSING

www.DRAglobal.com

MINE DESIGN

INFRASTRUCTURE

CONTRACT OPERATIONS

STUDIES

WINDER SYSTEMS

Not your typical run of the mill Comprehensive preparation earns potash operation a huge spike in productivity By Peter Braul

n late 2014, management time,” said Marshall. “You’re Mosaic’s Colonsay operation improved production by 50 per cent thanks to an overhaul of the mine’s facilities and leadership model. at Mosaic’s Colonsay hitting on all cylinders and you potash operation was do things to keep the place fighting for a chance to running that you wouldn’t norincrease the company’s share mally do. You give it a lot of of exports from Canpotex, the overtime; you maintain equipfirm that manages the ment well past what you think Saskatchewan potash exportit needs. The old part of the ing industry. Potash compamill that we had is 50 years old, nies split shares of the firm’s so you get into it and you tonnage based on the capacity think, ‘What are the things that of their facilities, and as such could take us down during this only produce enough to meet Canpotex run?’” demand. But Mosaic had Teams focused on improvrecently completed an expaning critical assets that could sion of Colonsay’s east mill, cause major delays; the hoist which triggered a special event known as a Canpotex run – and the mill were two of the most important. the best 90 out of 120 days of intense production to define “We did a full upgrade on our hoist,” said Marshall. “We the capacity of its improved facility – and a chance to grab rebuilt the motors to a bigger spec so they could handle more hotly contested market share. torque. We had skips that were capable of holding 30 tonnes, In collaboration with consulting firm CLG, Colonsay but were running at about 27, so we increased the load, and underwent a systematic overhaul of both the mine’s facilities we also decreased the cycle time of the skip by about 20 secand leadership model. “We proved out 2.8 million tonnes,” onds. That brought us from 800 tonnes per hour (tph) on the said Brian Marshall, general manager of the Colonsay mine, skip to about 1,100 tph.” which is located about 60 kilometres east of Saskatoon. This The usual approach to Canpotex runs is that operations amounted to about a 50 per cent improvement in production push production to its limits before something breaks, but at the mine, which previously had a nameplate capacity of Colonsay opted to do things differently. During the run, the 1.9 million tonnes. “That was well beyond what we thought mill shut down for a day every week to do regular maintewe were going to get. We were expecting that if we hit the nance. While this meant equipment availability was very mark we would get about 2.5 million tonnes.” At the same good (mill availability improved 19.2 per cent over baseline), time the mine achieved a reduction in safety incidents by 50 it also made mill startup procedures very important, and left per cent. After the run, Mosaic’s share of the Canpotex less room for unexpected shutdowns. “When you’re into a exports increased by 1.78 per cent to 40.55 per cent. Canpotex run, the way it works is at seven o’clock in the morning you need to start shoving full tonnage through the Downtime is frown time mill,” said Marshall. Preparations for September 2014, when the Canpotex run started, began more than a year in advance. “They pulled me Operational knowledge found to be lacking in to get them ready,” said Marshall, a 36-year veteran of the While the maintenance schedules got revamped, it mining industry who, the year before, had helped Mosaic’s became clear that the mill personnel had never received Esterhazy operation go through a Canpotex run of its own. the proper training to do their jobs. “We realized that over Many miners are familiar with the concept of maximizing a number of years we’d lost the experience in our mill and productivity over the long term, but very few ever need to do the guys didn’t understand how to actually run the mill,” it for just 120 days, where any downtime can result in a recalled Marshall. “They really didn’t understand the cirlower allocation of Canpotex’s exports. “It’s a pretty special cuits themselves. That was a big surprise. We had to pull Courtesy of Mosaic

42 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

underground mining

these operators out and give them some formal training.” To do this they brought back the previous mill manager, Neil Anderson, from retirement. He had worked at the operation for more than 30 years, and was given the task of coaching and mentoring staff on how to get the mill running efficiently.

“The thing that Colonsay did better than many of the other clients we work with is the integration of this behaviour change methodology with visual management,” said Methot. Visual management boards are white boards that leaders use to track key metrics, and help employees stay on the same page. “A supervisor would have a board on a wall where he’d write in the day’s production, any “We built a culture during the Canpotex safety issues, anything that was talked about the previous day, just getting communication out,” run that put a sense of urgency into the said Marshall. “It was a fairly big change. With organization, where, if you come up from the underground guys, they wanted to know a shut down, you come up fast.” – B. Marshall what the recovery was in our mill. They’re working hard to get the ore up the shaft, but they want to know what they’re doing with it up there. Get“When you get an operation that’s been around for 50 ting that kind of information out there helped with morale.” Though another Canpotex run is unlikely in the near years, and people turning over for 50 years, every time somebody trains somebody else on how to operate a piece of future, Colonsay is well set up now to deliver at full capacity equipment you get something different,” said Marshall. when the potash market picks up (the newer mill is currently “We’ve standardized that training now when people come on offline). “We have a philosophy that when the mill is runboard.” ning, we’re running at full rates. If the market doesn’t The types of things operators often need to know are sub- demand it, we run it full and then we take it offline and we jective, and need to be carefully transferred from one gener- do maintenance. [The winter of 2014-15] we hit our lowest ation to the next. Things, said Marshall, like “Just looking at cost per tonne that we’ve ever seen.” CIM a flotation circuit and saying, ‘Here’s what you should see coming out the other side. Here’s what the water should look like and here’s the amount of froth you should have on it.’ What they were doing before that was just turn it on, and what they got, they got.”

Behaviour science in action “CLG was on site and they’re a behaviour science group, so they look at why people do what they do,” said Marshall, who worked closely with consultant Laura Methot. Good results from the Canpotex run were critical for Mosaic as a whole, but could only be achieved if everyone was working in unison toward the same goal. Luckily, Mosaic had already planned leadership training at the mine, and it just happened to coincide with such a critical project. “There really are five things that the best leaders do more of than the rest,” said Methot, who conducted “turbo sessions” with mine management team members at the mine to educate them about how leadership is best modelled. These behaviours, she said, are: set clear expectations, monitor performance, enable barrier removal, provide feedback and coach employees for improvement. But all the theory in the world is of no use without some way to check if changes are having an effect. CLG and Mosaic tracked leader behaviour and were able to correlate the successful execution of leadership behaviours with crew level improvements and ultimately with better results on the ground. At the crew level, for example, safety observations increased and the number of injuries went down after leaders were able to outline how much they expected employees to focus on safety.

From geotechnical engineering to environmental assessments, water management, and renewable energy integration, our international team of consulting engineers and scientists has the expertise to help you in advancing your project through all stages of mine development.

www.knightpiesold.com

May • Mai 2016 | 43

Cutting consumption Dean Millar explains his energy reduction strategy for underground mines

Courtesy of Dean Millar

By David Chen

nergy consumption in Canadian underground mining operations has been on a steady rise over the past half-century as productivity has increased. But Dean Millar is convinced mines can be just as productive while using far less energy. Millar boasts a long list of credentials: a PhD in Rock Mechanics from Imperial College; faculty at Laurentian University’s Bharti School of Engineering; director of the Energy, Renewable and Carbon Management Group of MIRARCO; a former energy theme leader for the Ultra Deep Mine Network; and a CIM distinguished lecturer this year. Although he grew up in the UK and got his start in South Africa, it was his experience in Canada that inspired his energy reduction vision. Millar believes there already exists many proven methods that can help cut miner’s energy consumption to under 40 per cent of their 2010 levels, an idea he has dubbed the “40 per cent mine.”

and I suggested renewable energy. And that took my life in a completely different direction for over a decade. I set up the world’s first engineering program in renewable energy and launched that in 2003. Then, in 2009, out of the blue, somebody from Canada called me and said, “We see you’re doing renewable energy in a mining school, have you ever thought of putting these two together?” I said, “Yes, I’ve often thought about it, but I’ve never had any time to progress it.” I came to Sudbury, I met the team at MIRARCO, I met the group at the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) and I came away from it just thinking what a brilliant set up they have here. This is absolutely the prime place to get into a detailed research program on energy in mining. So five and a half years ago I joined.

CIM: How did you start out in the mining business? Millar: I was schooled in England. When I finished high school I went and worked in the South African gold mining industry for Anglo American. When I was done with that, I was certain I wanted to go into mining. So with the support of Anglo American, I went on to study mining at the Royal School of Mines in London [at Imperial College] in 1986.

CIM: Let’s get right into your idea of the “40 per cent mine.” What does it mean? Millar: The 40 per cent mine is shorthand for a vision: that we should be able to reduce energy consumption at a mine to 40 per cent of its current consumption value to lower costs, without penalizing production. We should also be able to roll that vision out across the whole Canadian mining sector by the year 2040. That’s down to 40 per cent for everyone by 2040.

CIM: So how did you end up at Laurentian University in Sudbury? Millar: Just a couple of years after I began teaching at the Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter, I was asked to put forward my ideas for a new engineering program

CIM: Only about five per cent of Canadian underground mining production costs were from energy in 1961, why is it over 15 per cent now? Millar: Over that period of time, there has been more diesel used in the mines and more mechanization.

44 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

modular so olutions from Telsm mith. There are numerous avenues for minerals processing equipment, unless your OEM M is truly a partner. A partner that can provide p a full-scale modular solution with design, eng gineering, manufacturing, site planning, a and construction. Te elsmith is that partner in the aggregate regate & mining industry. Partnering with h someone who knows the industry and equipment yields a solution thatt will impact the performance of your site.

tels smith.com

TELSMITH

miningalllin.com

an Aste ec Industries Company

& & & & % ! $ " % # " ÂŠ 2016 Te Telsmith, Inc.

underground mining What we think happened is this: if you use more diesel in a mine, you have to apply more ventilation energy to keep the contaminants below their threshold levels. And if you increase the ventilation energy, that should be seen as a commensurate increase in electricity consumption. [But] while the diesel consumption has increased, the electricity has stayed pretty flat. What that suggests to us is that the various conservation measures that have been implemented in mines have basically allowed more diesel to be used in the operations. The electricity conservation measures have really been converted to enhancing mine production. For mining engineers, this is what they want. CIM: And how does Canada compare to the rest of the world? Millar: Canada and Australia are two of the most mechanized jurisdictions for underground mining. If you were to compare them to South Africa for example, where mining remains a very labour intensive process, the energy consumed per tonne would be a bit higher here than it is there. CIM: So what can mine operators do to try and achieve the “40 per cent mine?” Millar: The secret is a three-pronged approach. The first thing you do is eliminate waste. And it’s simple stuff first, like turning off the lights when you walk out the room at home. An equivalent in mining is ventilation on demand: turning off the air when there’s nobody at the heading. Then the next stage is to use more efficient equipment, or use the energy you have to use more efficiently. An example of this would be upgrading to high-efficiency motors or adopting high-efficiency screw compressors. The last stage that you can look at then is using renewable energy technologies, as they have done at Diavik mine in the Northwest Territories. CIM: Do you have other examples where companies are making good strides to reduce energy consumption with technology? Millar: One that really appeals to me is at Stobie mine, here in Sudbury. Generally, methane or propane is used to heat the air up in the winter in Canadian mines so that when the air goes into the mine, it goes in at a temperature above zero. If it goes in underground significantly below zero, any water it encounters turns into ice in the shaft, a real danger. At Stobie mine, they don’t do that. Instead, in winter, they let water pumped up from the bottom of the shaft come in contact with the really cold fresh intake air. The water heats up the air, so it goes down at the right temperature. And in heating up the air, the water cools down, so much that it becomes snow. Later on in the year when the intake fresh air may be too warm, you can use that snow, by allowing it to melt, to create a refrigeration effect. The thing is, simply as a heater it’s a great option for Canadian mines because it’s an air heater that doesn’t rely on the use of any fossil fuel. But as a heater and a refrigerator, it’s even better. We wonder why there aren’t more of them around. If you

plan ahead, the capital cost of using a system like that is very low indeed. CIM: Why are there so few adopters for technologies like that? Millar: We don’t know, but we’re trying to promote it as a money saver for mines. We’ve got an Ultra Deep Mine Network project here at MIRARCO called “Wind-to-Ice” that has the objective of understanding what the barriers might be. CIM: So is the “40 per cent mine” goal a realistic one? Millar: There are some game changing technologies on the horizon, but I believe that there are plenty of technologies right now, even proven for decades in mines, like the Stobie ice-stope air heater, that we should think about adopting. Not all the technologies apply to every mine, but when we have looked at individual mining operations, we have managed to draw upon the established technologies to reach our 40 per cent target. Also, you can see in the data that where operations have had a conservation effort in play, it’s had an impact. So we think that the 40 per cent mine vision is not unrealistic at all. I’m pretty confident that it can be done wherever there is genuine desire to erode energy costs to enhance profitability. CIM

Cradle to cradle

Exploration, feasibility, due diligence, engineering and operations through to mine closure. Our global experience gives you expert, integrated solutions on every phase of your mining project. Same team — start to finish.

.com >1,400 professionals • > 45 offices

May • Mai 2016 | 47

tribute

Measuring mine life A tribute to Hugh Taylor and his work By Lawrence Devon Smith

Life = 0.2(Reserves)0.25 Production rate = 0.0143(Reserves)0.75 Life is in years Reserves are in metric tonnes Production rate is in metric tonnes per day based on a 350 day-per-year operation

Hugh Taylor was a mining engineer working for Placer Development Limited in Vancouver in 1976 when he presented his “law” in a paper at a mining seminar in Spokane, Washington. Taylor had observed that using economic theory and net present value methods tended to result in “optimum” mining rates that were impractically high and unachievable in practice. This was particularly true for inexperienced companies. Taylor developed his equation from the observation of some 30

Hugh Taylor passed away in Vancouver on May 15, 2015 at the age of 98. He was a CIM Fellow, CIM Life Member and recipient of the Robert Elver mineral economics award in 1982. He was very active in CIM, serving on the Vancouver Branch and District Six committees in the 1970s, as well as being the London IMM’s Overseas Member of Council for Canada in the 1980s. He wrote and presented a number of papers that covered most aspects of practical mining economics, generally as seen from the operating perspective of the production man that, at heart, he had always remained. Taylor was born in London in 1916 and after graduating from the Royal School of Mines, University of London in 1937, he immigrated to southern Africa where he spent the next thirty years working on the Witwatersrand and other areas of the Transvaal and the copper mines of Northern Rhodesia/Zambia. In 1967 he brought his family to Vancouver, where he remained for the rest of his life. For the next 14 years, he served Placer Development Limited as mine valuation superintendent. He retired officially in 1981, but continued working as a consultant until 1989 and as a technical author until 1995. Taylor’s Law has stood the test of time as the quickest and easiest way to determine a starting point in the estimation of mine life and the production rate for preliminary mine design. This is due to its simplicity of calculation and the fact that it was developed using real world data. Hugh was a kind and thoughtful man, a true English gentleman. And he was always a little surprised by the acclaim his “law” had received. CIM

Courtesy of Lawrence Devon Smith

erhaps the single most critical decision in the development of a mining project is the determination of the size of the operation. How big will the mine and mill be? What will be the daily and annual throughput? All of the major elements of the project hinge on this decision: the capital cost, the operating cost and the life of the mine. It is a daunting task. As a young mining engineer, I was introduced to Taylor’s Law while part of a project development team. The equation is meant to help guide project teams towards a reasonable estimate of the operating capacity of a mine. It was a revelation to me that such a thing existed and I was more surprised to see how straightforward the equation was. Taylor expressed his equation for determining a mine’s life in several forms:

mining projects which encompassed a wide range of mine types. It was an empirical approach or rule-of-thumb rather than theoretically derived. It should be pointed out that Taylor himself noted a number of situations where his equation did not work well, including old mines in the late stages of operation; very deep, flat ore bodies where production is limited by hoisting limits of the shaft; and erratically mineralized systems. Over the intervening years, a number of people studied and tested Taylor’s work and even developed several other equations that, while they may do a better job in specific circumstances, require more variables, including capital and grade, to obtain results. In 1995, I began a correspondence with Taylor when he wrote a critique of a paper I had published in the CIM Bulletin. I was quite surprised to have the man who developed Taylor’s Law engage in a discussion of my work. We met in person at a CIM convention shortly after and began a friendship that lasted over 20 years.

A description of Taylor’s law, can be found at: https://queensminedesign.miningexcellence.ca/index.php/Estimation_of_the_potential_production_rate

48 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

CRIRSCO

Reserves reporting update Standards committee expands its international reach By Deborah McCombe

he Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO) has been gaining momentum in recent years, with Brazil as its latest inductee and first Portuguese-speaking member. In November, the country became the ninth member and the second South American country to become a member of the CRIRSCO family of Codes. CRIRSCO’s members are National Reporting Organizations (NROs), which are bodies responsible for developing mineral reporting codes, standards and guidelines for a single country or a grouping of countries. The member NROs, such as CIM, nominate two representatives to the Committee who offer their service on a voluntary basis. Each year CRIRSCO holds an Annual General Meeting in a country working towards CRIRSCO membership, during which the NRO representatives provide an update of their jurisdiction’s codes and guidelines, and the chairperson of CRIRSCO outlines the organization’s progress and future goals. The most recent meeting was held in Brasilia, Brazil in late November. The first day’s session was hosted by the Comissão Brasileira de Recursos e Reservas (“CBRR” – Brazilian Resources and Reserves Commission), a newly created NRO for Brazil. To be accepted for CRIRSCO membership, a NRO must meet several requirements that include conducting international consultations with NROs represented on CRIRSCO, maintaining a reporting standard compatible with the CRIRSCO template which is recognized as the standard of public reporting for that region, and establishing procedures for the registra-

tion of a Qualified (Competent) Person and a Code of Ethics, with suitable provisions for disciplining its members. Under the stewardship of Felipe Holzhacker Alves, President of the CBRR, the Brazilian NRO prepared a reporting standard and established procedures for registering Qualified Persons in the country. This allowed CBRR to achieve its objective of establishing a solid basis for the local mining industry and incentivizing investments and developments. The acceptance of Brazil into CRIRSCO comes after a culmination of a year of tremendous effort by three organizations working in concert within the nation: Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Pesquisa Mineral (Brazilian Association of Mineral Exploration Companies), Agência para o Desenvolvimento Tecnológico da Indústria Mineral Brasileira (Brazilian Agency for Minerals Technology, Research and Development) and Instituto Brasileiro de Mineração (Brazilian Mining Association). CBRR will act as the national representative organization and will be responsible for registering Qualified Professionals, Brazil’s equivalent of a Competent or Qualified Person. CRIRSCO’s international acclaim continues to quickly progress, with several other countries expressing interest in becoming members. Representatives from Kazakhstan, India, and China attended this year’s CRIRSCO meeting in Brasilia, with Kazakhstan having signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CRIRSCO and establishing its own NRO – the Kazakhstan Association of Public Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves – in 2015. CRIRSCO has appointed two representatives in India to help establish a compliant mining code, and in November 2015, India established a National Core Committee with 30 members representing all regions of the country from various companies and professional societies.

Discussions have been held with China for many years on reporting systems and there is a close relationship between AusIMM and leaders in the Chinese mining industry, many of whom are fellows of AusIMM. Other South American countries in attendance, such as Peru, Colombia, and Argentina, are aiming to join CRIRSCO, and are currently in different stages of setting up a code modelled on the Chilean Comisión Minera. With support from CIM and the International Council on Mining and Metals, CRIRSCO, established in 1994, continues to build momentum as an important international organization seeking to improve the standards of public reporting of exploration results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. CIM has been an important supporting member of CRIRSCO, and is a vital contributor to the standardization of codes and guidelines. The standardization of these codes and the involvement of a Qualified (Competent) Person has led to increased investor confidence in the mining industry worldwide. CIM

CRIRSCO members Australasia (JORC)* Canada (CIM)* Europe (PERC) South Africa (SAMREC)* United States (SME)* Chile (National Committee) Joined 2002 Russia (NAEN) Joined 2011 Mongolia (MPIGM) Joined 2014 Brazil (CBRR) Joined 2015 *Founding member

Deborah McCombe is the president, CEO and principal geologist at Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. and CRIRSCO’s CIM representative.

May • Mai 2016 | 51

Riccardo Cellere

2016

NAMES TO KNOW

Although the mining industry is relatively small, it contains some big personalities. Our annual survey of the major players in the industry this year includes savvy mining execs, a strong First Nations leader and a family of prospectors, all of which are sure to make their mark on the year to come. By Correy Baldwin | Antoine Dion-Ortega | Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco Andrew Seale | Katelyn Spidle

Courtesy of Guy Desharnais

GUY DESHARNAIS Leader of SGS Geostat’s Gold Rush Challenge team Left to right: Doug Hatfield, Jean-Phillippe Paiement and Guy Desharnais

hen the team at Quebec-based geological consulting firm SGS Geostat started brainstorming its entry for Integra Gold’s Gold Rush Challenge crowdfunding competition, the first idea was based on an existing concept: build a framework in which all available information would be integrated, interpolated and extrapolated. “We started off with a more conventional approach,” said Desharnais, technical manager of geological services in SGS’s minerals division. “We wanted to make sure we leveraged the data to the maximum, and populate a block model.” It was not until near the end of the process that the team came upon a more novel approach of machine learning. On March 6 at the PDAC convention in Toronto, SGS Geostat won the $500,000 first prize at the competition intended to identify the best drilling targets on Integra’s Sigma-Lamaque property. By combining 3D geological interpretations with machine learning, SGS Geostat made a case for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with more conventional exploration methodologies. The team first used sophisticated geostatistical methods to push all the available data on the property into an expansive block model. Mineralization vectors were then combined to generate an overall prospectivity score between 0 and 100 for every block that covered the property to a depth of 2 kilometres. In parallel, the data was processed with an advanced machine learning algorithm to assist in identifying new targets

01 and confirming the first set of scores. The prospectivity scoring system thus took into account both geological knowledge and machine learning. All of the geological data including the high-value targets were integrated into a virtual reality model using Oculus Rift technology for vetting and for the judges to examine. Desharnais and SGS geologist Jean-Philippe Paiement originally came up with their own geological system, but they also understood the limitations of human reasoning. “Humans are biased by our very nature,” said Desharnais. “Jean-Philippe and I have a perceived understanding of what the controls are on ore gold mineralization, but we are biased based on our experience. So we decided to let the machine take a whack at this and try to do better than we had done.” Desharnais started looking inside the SGS Canada network for people who would be inclined to have a look at the block model. He eventually contacted Doug Hatfield in Toronto. “Doug was already using quite sophisticated math concepts to do simulation work for geometallurgy, and I knew he was pushing the limits of the capabilities of math for other things,” said Desharnais. “He has a side interest in the technology.” This was the first time SGS Canada applied machine learning to geoscience and mining. However, it could be part of its toolkit in the future. “Since winning the contest, we have had quite a bit of interest in applying our methodology to other properties,” said Desharnais. – Antoine Dion-ortegA May • Mai 2016 | 53

Courtesy of Jessica Bjorkman

THE BJORKMAN FAMILY Bjorkman Prospecting

Left to right: Jessica, Veronique, Ruth, Nikki, Karl, Katarina, Bjorn and Karla Bjorkman

or the Bjorkmans of Whisky Jack Lake near Atikokan, Ontario, prospecting is a family affair. Karl Bjorkman heads Bjorkman Prospecting, joined by his wife Nikki as bookkeeper, and his six children – five girls and one boy. This year the family received PDAC’s Special Achievement Award for its contribution to the industry. Karl began prospecting around 1990, getting his license after prospectors began working on his own property. He took a prospecting course and, as he said, “I kind of got the bug.” Then while attending a symposium in Thunder Bay in 1992, he was approached by Garry Clark, who would go on to become executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association. “He came up and offered me a job, and I thought, ‘Wow, I can get paid to go prospecting, this is great!’” The family works largely out of Ontario and the territories, but has worked in nearly every province as well as Norway and Sweden, focusing on smaller jobs. Traditionally, around half of their income comes from staking claims, but the advent of electronic staking means the Bjorkmans have had to diversify into such services as geological mapping, soil sampling and assessment reports. Siblings Ruth and

54 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

02 Katarina have also received degrees in geology, adding to the family’s expertise. “We grew up prospecting with our dad, so it was just a natural thing to do,” explained Ruth. There is, however, a lack of new prospectors entering the field, something the Bjorkman children are trying to change. “There aren’t very many prospectors who are younger than my dad,” said Ruth. She and her siblings are involved with PDAC’s Mining Matters, teaching courses at schools and in First Nations communities. “Early education is really important,” said Ruth. “A lot of kids don’t really even know that prospecting exists.” The family hires helpers as well, providing training for new recruits. The sisters also encourage women to enter the field, and provide support for those who do. For these efforts, Ruth, Jessica and Veronique were named Tradeswomen of the Year by the Influential Women of Northern Ontario last year. For Karl, there are many benefits to running a family business, but a lot of it comes down to trust, and an ability to stick together through tough times. “We have a bit of an edge that way,” he said, “because I trust my children. I trust their honesty and their integrity.” – Correy BAlDwin

MARK BRISTOW CEO of Randgold Resources sk Bristow and he will tell you the gold industry has been plagued for decades by short-term thinking based on the last quarter return for shareholders or the latest gold price. Instead, under the stewardship of Bristow, Randgold Resources has opted for a long-term strategy of investing in its Africa-based exploration and mining business consistently, not just when the price soars. That is why, as the price of gold plunged by 11 per cent in 2015, Randgold was outperforming the S&P 500 by almost 27 per cent. In fact, the company, considered among the most profitable in its industry, was having one of the best years since it was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1997. Its production was up by six per cent from the previous year to more than 1.2 million ounces and its cash on-hand was up by 158 per cent to US$213.4 million, although its profit was down due to gold prices. In the first two months of 2016, the company’s stock rose by almost 29 per cent as gold prices sharply turned upward. By March, analysts were ringing the bells: gold was back in a bull market for the first time since 2013. “Our success in 2015 was driven in the years preceding. The things that we’re doing now will deliver the results in the future,” he said.

“Our core business is to be profitable and to create value for the benefit of all our stakeholders, which is our shareholders, the governments who act on behalf of the people, communities and our workers,” said Bristow, whose long-term strategy includes turning each of Randgold’s mining operations into standalone businesses run and managed 100 per cent by locals rather than bringing in expensive expats. “The return on the investment in training an engineer is a matter of months,” said Bristow. “Expats cost a lot more and they are mercenary in that they’re not in it for the long-term.” – AlexAnDrA lopez-pACheCo

Courtesy of Jim Bunn

hris Cline has turned his shovel north to begin digging into Canadian coal. In January, Kameron Collieries – a Canadian-based subsidiary of the selfmade billionaire’s company, the Cline Group – announced that the Donkin coal mine in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia would re-open this summer. Kameron Collieries bought Glencore’s 75 per cent interest in the project in 2014 followed by the purchase of the remaining interest from Morien Resources in early 2015. According to Jim Bunn, vice-president of operations at Cutlass Collieries – a Cline Group company of American coal baron which Kameron Collieries is a subsidiary – reviving the mine will bring many benefits to the country. “Donkin coal could potentially replace imported petroleum coke from the United States and coal from both the U.S. and South America,” Bunn said. “This should benefit not just Nova Scotia Power and their cost and reliability of fuel supply, but also the balance of trade for Canada overall.”

Courtesy of Randgold Resources

An affiliate of the Cline group also purchased Coalspur Mines Limited last June, acquiring its Vista coal project in Alberta. But even though the Alberta Energy Regulator has issued the final permits on the project, development is on hold for the moment. “Given depressed coal prices in Asia and the likelihood that they will remain depressed for the near future, the project is not economically viable,” said Bunn. “When prices recover, we will reevaluate the project and the timing associated with its development.” Credited for reviving the industry in Illinois, Cline’s company Foresight Reserves owns a number of subsidiaries that operate coal mines in that U.S. state. Cline has also earned a reputation as a philanthropist, particularly in his home state of West Virginia. In 2011, the Cline Family Foundation donated US$5 million to West Virginia University, his alma mater. “He is a third generation coal miner with a big heart and firmly believes in giving back,” Bunn said. – KAtelyn SpiDle

CHRIS CLINE

May • Mai 2016 | 55

Mauricio Macri/Flickr

MAURICIO MACRI President of Argentina

ince he took office on Dec. 10, Macri has been focusing on reassuring foreign investors, and in particular mining companies, that his country is back to business. In midFebruary, Macri lifted the five per cent export duties on mining products, instituted by the previous administration 10 years ago. The objective is to re-establish the attractiveness of Argentina’s mining provinces, particularly San Juan and Catamarca. “The measure was well received in the mining provinces because these export duties were increasing costs, thus hindering their attractiveness for mining investors,” said Leonardo

Courtesy of OSC

Chair and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission

56 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

– Antoine Dion-ortegA

MAUREEN JENSEN

ensen has worked in male-dominated sectors all her life, as a geologist, a former mining executive and a veteran in capital markets regulation. As of Feb. 10, Jensen is also the first woman to ever head the country’s largest capital markets regulator. She will be leading the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) through a historic transformation as Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Yukon and the federal government join to form a new national regulator called the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System (CCMR) that will be in operation by the end of 2016. “You will have one form and you will file it once, and you will get one answer. That will be amazing,” said Jensen, who hopes other jurisdictions in Canada will join CCMR. These

Viglione, mining leader of PwC Argentina. “The objective is to give a signal that Argentina is back on the right track.” Macri also lifted foreign exchange controls in midDecember, which for years had maintained the Argentinean peso artificially high compared to the U.S. dollar (US$1=9.5 pesos). This overvaluation inspired the creation of a parallel, non-official market more in tune with the currency’s real value (US$1=14 pesos). By allowing the peso to float freely, Macri triggered a dramatic devaluation against the U.S. dollar, which almost reached 60 per cent at the beginning of March. The decision obviously had a very positive impact on capital and operational costs for exporting companies, since most of those costs are incurred in pesos while products are sold in U.S. dollars. “The devaluation benefits all exporting companies, including the mining ones,” said Viglione. “The government has merged the two foreign exchange markets and now there is only one.” The new secretary of mines, Daniel Meilán, was busy getting the message out at the PDAC convention held in March in Toronto. According to the Argentinian press, Meilán said it was simply “impossible” to attract the required investment with the previously imposed export duties and controls on foreign exchange. Argentina still has 750,000 square kilometres waiting for mining development, of which only 150,000 have been prospected. The country would need US$400 million per year in exploration efforts, and US$20 billion to develop the 20 to 25 projects currently on the map, he said.

are exciting days for Jensen, because the possibility of playing a role in reducing regulatory burden was one of the top reasons she took a job at the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1998. “When I was CEO of [Noble Peak Resources], I spent a lot of time filling and filing forms. The rules were not very clear,” she said. “Regulators in one province told me to do it one way and regulators in another told me to do it another way. I couldn’t do it because they each wanted something that was counter to what the other wanted.” CCMR “will continue to focus on improving behaviour through compliance activities rather than just adding to the rule book,” said Jensen, who headed the OSC’s “comply or explain” initiative that saw a 15 per cent increase in the number of women on the boards of directors and in leadership roles of publicly traded companies in its first year. “We’re going to keep a focus on ‘comply or explain’ by publishing the results annually and at the end of the three years, we’re going to determine what we should do next if there hasn’t been enough movement,” said Jensen. “It’s important.” – Correy BAlDwin

Group president of resource industries at Caterpillar hen Johnson took on her new role at Caterpillar on April 1st, she became the company’s first female group president. Since leaving General Motors five years ago to join Caterpillar as the general manager of Special Products within the company’s Reman, Components and Work Tools Division, Johnson has smoothly navigated through rapid changes in her career as she was promoted to vicepresident positions in three different divisions at Caterpillar. “As a whole, I’m very adaptable to change,” said Johnson, who is now in charge of four divisions: Advanced Components & Systems, Surface Mining & Technology, Material Handling & Underground, and Product Development & Global Technology. “New jobs, situations, environments and people don’t really throw me very much. I also have a lot of ‘stick-to-itness,’ as I call it. I don’t run away from challenging situations.” Unfazed by the current obstacles faced by the mining sector, her vision for Caterpillar’s mining division is to help cusCourtesy of Caterpillar

GLENN KOSICK

– AlexAnDrA lopez-pACheCo

Courtesy of Woodgrove Technologies

DENISE JOHNSON

tomers adapt to the new realities of the industry and come out ahead. “I want to continue to get closer to our customers and listen to their needs,” said Johnson. “If we can focus on the things that make them successful then they will win and if they win, we win.” Under her leadership, Caterpillar will be investing heavily in research and development to help customers improve their site productivity by focusing on connectivity technology to integrate and monitor machinery, including competitors’ machines, as well as technology to improve safety. “Everything that allows the site manager to really understand what’s happening and how she or he can maximize the output,” said Johnson. Other areas the company will be looking at include alternate fuels as well as noise and dust suppression. For underground mining, said Johnson, Caterpillar will be pushing forward with batteries and electric technologies to help mines reduce emissions and lower their costs. “We’re approaching this downturn as our new reality and we’re not waiting for it to turn back,” said Johnson. “We focus on what we can control within our environment so we can all be successful, even in the current state.”

Left to right: Glenn Dobby and Glenn Kosick

President of Woodgrove Technologies

GLENN DOBBY Vice-president of Woodgrove Technologies hen you develop technology of this magnitude to displace existing technology in a very mature industry, it’s not really for the faint of heart,” said Glenn Kosick of Woodgrove Technologies. Kosick and his partner Glenn Dobby launched Woodgrove in 2009 to develop and promote their Staged Flotation Reactor (SFR), a new approach to flotation equipment for the mineral processing industry. The two have been developing innovative technology together for nearly 30 years. SFR is their response to the challenge of processing for increasingly large-tonnage operations. “The trend has been to just build bigger and bigger, to the point where today [flotation equipment suppliers] are making 600-cubic-metre

“W

08 tank cells to try and reduce infrastructure and costs; but it’s not nearly enough,” said Dobby. The two saw an opportunity to deal with the large inefficiency that occurs when moving from the laboratory to full-scale operation. SFR separates the stages of the flotation process into its three core components: particle collection, phase separaMay • Mai 2016 | 57

Courtesy of Patrick Highsmith

tion and froth-recovery. The new technology results in around 50 per cent savings on operating costs, floor space and energy consumption, along with lower installation and maintenance costs. “It really is a paradigm shift in flotation,” said Dobby. There are other advantages: “We custom design every circuit, based on the metal units in the feed over the life of the mine, and the variability that we’re going to see over the life of the mine,” said Kosick. “And because each phase is separated, we can optimize each of these phases of flotation without interference from the other phases.” Their first full-scale installation was at Anaconda Mining’s Pine Cove gold mine in Newfoundland in 2010, followed by three projects with Dundee Precious Metals at their Chelopech mine in Bulgaria, for both copper and pyrite recovery. Concurrent with the Dundee projects, Woodgrove assembled a consortium of nine major copper producers for a largescale demonstration plant in Brazil, hosted by Vale at its Sossego mine. That testing, which finished up in March 2015, was such a success that Vale immediately installed four SFR units at Sossego’s sister copper plant at Salobo. “We’re at the point now where we’re getting so much awareness and contact from engineering companies and projects around the world that we haven’t even been actively marketing,” said Dobby. “It’s now coming to us.” – Correy BAlDwin

PATRICK HIGHSMITH CEO of Pure Energy Minerals Limited

SLIDEE OUT OF O THEE R RED ED WITH LUFF IM MPPACT ACT BEED DS

Reduce your your do d wntime and maintenance costs with ffast ast and easy removal of impac i t bars

Luff Impact Beds’ unique fram me design allows the impact bars to easily slide out in two sections for more efficient removal & replacement

Come visit us u at CIM Expo in Vanc Vancouverr, BC

Booth #616

Luff Indusstries Ltd. tf: 1.888.349.LUFF (5833)

e: info@luffind dustries.com

58 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

w: www.luffindustries.com

ure Energy got a big boost last summer with the release of an inferred resource estimate for its Clayton Valley South lithium brine project in west-central Nevada. With an estimated 816,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, its share price shot up and soon after the company struck a supply agreement with electric vehicle and battery manufacturer Tesla Motors. The company earned the honour of top performer in the mining sector on the TSX Venture exchange last year. Now, it is newly installed CEO Patrick Highsmith’s job to move the project forward. “We gained control of a land package of 9,300 acres and there’s an existing mine right next door,” said Highsmith, pointing to the adjacent Albemarle Corporation’s Silver Peak mine, currently the only lithium producer in the U.S. “In one sense that enables us to move a little faster.” Rather than the industry standard evaporation method of lithium extraction its neighbour uses, the Clayton Valley South project would rely on a relatively novel solvent extraction designed to improve efficiency, shorten production times and reduce the environmental impact. To get the mine online, Highsmith, a geochemist and engineer by trade, plans to draw from his 25 years’ experience in exploration, operations, business development and executive roles spanning over 200 projects and various companies, including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Newmont and Lithium One.

robust signal to the rest of the industry,” said Highsmith, who came up through both the technical and business sides of the mining industry. “The technical training is important because you have to visualize this lithium deposit and how it forms and how to explore for it,” he said. “But I also ran exploration business development – deal-making with juniors – at Newmont and during that time I learned the capital markets, how to structure deals and about relationships between juniors and major – AnDrew SeAle companies.”

www.archbould.com

Among Highsmith’s first moves after he took the reins in early March was to develop a timeline for delivering a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), which is expected this summer. The company has already begun retaining the engineering team to assemble the PEA. Pure Energy’s deal with Tesla is one of two such conditional agreements to supply lithium hydroxide to the company’s “Gigafactory” where it plans annual battery production capacity of 35 gigawatt hours by 2020. “Once you have a customer like that lined up, it sends a really

MATHIEYA ALATINI Chief of the Kluane First Nation

10 n February 2015, the Kluane First Nation (KFN) of Burwish Landing in southwestern Yukon signed a $583,000 agreement with the territorial department of Energy, Mines and Resources to collect geophysical data on the Nation’s traditional territories. The partnership, facilitated by Chief Mathieya Alatini and Yukon Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources Scott Kent, was exciting for both parties. An airborne survey allowed KFN to discover economic opportunities buried beneath its settlement lands and the Yukon government gained a better understanding of the geology of the region. “It was a win-win,” said Kent. “That’s been my experience of working with Chief Alatini.” Known for her straightforward approach and diplomatic leadership style, Alatini has taken bold steps to inject opportunities for independence and prosperity into her community. When she was first elected chief in 2010, it became clear that Alatini believed that developing a positive and fruitful relationship with the mining sector was

an important step toward KFN achieving economic self-sufficiency. “I certainly appreciate the opportunity to work with her,” Kent said. “She’s a very strong leader for KFN, and the people out there should be proud of her […] for the work that that First Nation has been able to accomplish.” In 2012, she and her team published the Proponents Engagement Guide following a mining summit KFN convened in early 2011 with representatives from industry, governments and the Yukon Geological Survey. The goal of the guide is to set clear definitions and expectations for any entity wishing to approach KFN about engagement opportunities. Describing her as “very hands on and eager to learn about the mining industry,” Kent noted that KFN’s Exploration Cooperation & Benefits Agreement with Wellgreen Platinum on its PGM-nickel deposit serves as a prime example of how Alatini is committed to developing economic opportunities within her community. – KAtelyn SpiDle May • Mai 2016 | 59

p above the treeline in the mountains of northwestern B.C., Pretium Resources’ Brucejack project promises to add lustre to the province’s mining industry.

Cost overruns in the gold mining industry have become so commonplace that investors are justifiably wary of feasibility estimates. But the Brucejack project in British Columbia is trending in the opposite direction as construction progresses, shedding capital costs amid fiercely competitive conditions for equipment and contractors and favourable currency markets. Since Vancouver-based Pretium Resources released a feasibility study for Brucejack in mid-2014, estimated capital costs for the project have dropped 14 per cent to US$641 million. That excludes the US$56 million in working capital set aside for startup in case gold receipts are delayed. The portion allocated to the underground mine fell 33 per cent to about US$101 million. It is mostly a matter of timing. “The silver lining for us in this industry downturn is that there are a lot companies and individuals looking for work, so there was a very competitive bid process for the underground contracting job and we were successful in getting good terms from a reputable contractor in Cementation Canada,” said Pretium president Joseph Ovsenek. And while the feasibility estimate assumed an exchange rate of US$0.92: CAD$1, the value of the Canadian dollar has fallen significantly since. Actual conversions – including hundreds of millions in debt and equity financing – are occurring at or near US$0.75 to the Canadian dollar. The exchange savings amount to roughly US$145 million, offsetting higher costs for environmental monitoring, winter construction and additional man hours.

Filling the funding gap Pretium is also celebrating a financing milestone in an otherwise brutal market for miners. In early March the company raised the final US$130 million needed to build Brucejack through a public share offering at US$4.58 per share. The offering followed a US$540 million financing consisting of US$350 million in debt, a US$150 million prepayment under a gold-silver stream agreement and a US$40 million private placement of shares. Investors opened their wallets after Brucejack received final permits from the provincial and federal governments in mid-2015. “It’s really an exciting time,” Ovsenek told CIM Magazine after returning to Vancouver from a site visit at the end of March. “Bulk earthworks are winding up, foundations are going in for the permanent camp and we’ll start constructing our mill building soon. By the middle of next year we’ll start commissioning the mill and expect to achieve commercial production before the end of the year,” he said. 60 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

The approach to the Brucejack project includes a 12-km traverse of the Knipple glacier. All images courtesy of Pretium Resources

With an average grade of 14.1 grams per tonne (gpt) gold, Brucejack is the highest-grade gold project in development worldwide, considerably higher than the next two in line, Roxgold’s Yaramoko in Burkina Faso (11.8 gpt) and TMAC Resources’ Hope Bay in the Northwest Territories (7.7 gpt). The underground mine is expected run for 18 years, producing 504,000 ounces of gold per year during the first eight years of life and 404,000 ounces per year thereafter at an all-sustaining cash cost of US$446 per ounce with the help of the sale of secondary silver.

In the

VALLEY of the

KINGS

BY VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN

Optimizing the flowsheet Because the mineralized zones at Brucejack are welldefined and the metallurgy (coarse electrum) lends itself to gravity separation, mining and processing will be relatively straightforward. A decline from a surface portal located near the concentrator will provide access to two deposits: The Valley of the Kings and the West Zone. Ore will be extracted at a rate of 2,700 tonnes per day by longhole open stoping (LHOS) – mostly transverse LHOS – and sent to a crusher at the 1,330metre level. There will be no ore passes; rather a fleet of LHDs

and trucks will transport the material from the various working areas to the crusher through an internal ramp system. Pretium will backfill the empty stopes with paste fill generated from unclassified mill tailings mixed with sufficient binder. At the western margin of the mine plan where the deposit touches the Brucejack fault, recoveries are expected to fall to about 75 per cent, but this more fractured rock represents only four per cent of the orebody. Development through the Brucejack Fault Zone will be supported using a combination of bolts, welded wire mesh and fibre-reinforced shotcrete. May • Mai 2016 | 61

A core sample from Brucejack

Pretium has continued infill drilling in response to the variability of the grade.

One challenge Pretium faces is variability between highgrade mineralization (sometimes greater than 1,000 gpt) and the surrounding, lower grade stockwork. The feasibility study input data for the Valley of the Kings includes a total of 218,127 meters of underground and surface drilling. To get a better handle on the grade distribution for mine planning, in 2015 the company launched an underground infill drilling program of over 60,000 meters at 7.5 to 10-metre centres. The aim is to drill off the stopes that will be mined in the first three years. “Ultimately, we have to start mining to get a real feel for the deposit and there is no shortcut for that,” said Ovsenek. “So in the first year, we will have variability on a short-term basis, but as we mine, the grade will become more predictable.” A 10,000-tonne bulk sample demonstrated that a gravity and flotation flowsheet is well suited for the varying mineralization and the wide range of feed grades. According to the flowsheet, a conveyor system will feed the crushed ore to a conventional SAG mill and ball mill at surface. The ore will be ground to 90 microns. The resulting material will pass through a gravity concentrator to extract the free gold and silver. Pretium will be able to recover about 45 per cent of its gold through gravity to produce gold-silver doré bars that can be sold directly to refiners. The remaining rock

The company upgraded a 75-km access road to reach the project.

Project specs Location 65 km north-northwest of Stewart, B.C. Elevation 1,300 m Area 3,200 ha Expected commercial production 2017 Capex US$641 million

Mining method Transverse and longitudinal longhole open stoping Throughput 2,700 tpd Current mine life 18 years Processing Gravity concentration and sulphide flotation

VALLEY OF THE KINGS & WEST ZONE Mineral Reserves Brucejack Proven

Ore Tonnes (Mt) 3.5

Grade Gold (g/t) 12.2

Grade Silver (g/t) 161

Metal Gold (Moz) 1.4

Metal Silver (Moz) 18.2

14.7

6.1

12.5

16.5

14.1

7.5

30.7

Probable Total

62 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

project profile

Work on the mill began this spring and will be completed in time for commercial production next year.

will be processed in flotation cells, concentrated down to less than 10 per cent of its original mass and shipped to refineries or metal traders. Total gold recoveries are estimated to be 96.7 per cent.

Navigating the glacier The Brucejack project is situated within the mountains and glacier-filled valleys of northwestern B.C. To reach the project from the nearest highway, Pretium upgraded a 75-kilometre access road that crosses the Nass Area and traverses the main arm of the receding Knipple glacier for the last 12 kilometres. During the winter, the final section can be groomed using snow cats but in the summer the road is an ice surface. The glacier is constantly moving, freezing and thawing and the resulting crevasses are a hazard to ATVs and people on foot. To maintain the road and keep it safe – particularly along this section – Pretium hired Tsetsaut Ventures, a contracting company run by the Skii km Lax Ha First Nation who have asserted rights in the area. “You need constant maintenance along the glacier. Tsetsaut does a good job, grading the road, grooming it in the winter and filling in the crevasses,” said Ovsenek. “They are sensitive to potential environmental impacts on the glacier because it means a lot to them.” Aside from maintaining the access road, Tsetsaut supplies trucks and earthmovers, manages the work camps and provides other services. The First Nations group has been working alongside Pretium since the junior purchased Brucejack and the nearby Snowfield project in 2010 and, by all accounts, the relationship is a respectful one.

Extending the mine life Ovsenek does not hesitate to call Brucejack a “companymaker” and it is easy to understand why. The deposit is a transitional epithermal gold silver occurrence hosted in stockwork

veins that were formed when a porphyry system introduced magmatic fluids through conduits to the overlying strata. The potential for finding more gold within this large hydrothermal system is high. Aside from Proven and Probable Reserves of 16.5 million tonnes grading 14.1 gpt gold, Brucejack contains Resources of 15.3 million ounces of gold in the main Valley of the Kings zone and the smaller West Zone 500 metres to the north. Valley of the Kings is currently defined over 1,200 metres (m) along strike and to a depth of 650 m. The defined reserves only cover approximately 450 m of strike and it is open to the east and west along strike and at depth. In 2015 Pretium conducted a regional exploration program, including 20,000 metres of drilling, to target porphyry and epithermal-style mineralization to the east of the project area. The program succeeded in extending the strike length of the Valley of the Kings mineralization 1,000 m to the east to what is called the Flow Dome Zone. Intersections included 2,100 gpt gold over 2.05 m, including 8,600 gpt gold over 0.5 m. “We initially drilled the Flow Dome Zone as a separate target, but we intersected Valley of the Kings-style mineralization,” said Ovsenek. “Our geos are quite confident, looking at the core and the position of the mineralization, that it is an extension of the Valley of the Kings. Once we’re in production, we’ll drive over there underground and set up some drill stations to confirm this theory.” Meanwhile, Pretium’s Snowfield project immediately to the north, a massive bulk tonnage opportunity with resources of about 26 million ounces of gold and 3 billion pounds of copper, awaits better commodity markets. “Snowfield could become worth building if the gold price improves and the copper price surges,” said Ovsenek. “At these prices, we are keeping up the environmental baseline work on Snowfield, but our focus is Brucejack.” CIM May • Mai 2016 | 63

P U M P S A N D D E W AT E R I N G

| technology

Pump it up Dollar-conscious miners are turning to tougher materials and earlier treatment to cut down on dewatering costs. By Eavan Moore

ore than one dewatering technology provider has noticed in recent years that mines are trying to pump out dirtier water than in the past. Some underground mines may be experiencing changing geology as they go deeper; others may have made a dollars-and-cents decision not to pre-treat water before pumping. Whatever the reason, mines and their suppliers have spent the last decade coming to grips with high solid contents of 10 per cent or more.

Courtesy of Technosub

Tougher alloys

Dewatering system providers are settling on different strategies to meet the challenge of pumping mine water with high solid contents.

Bill Schlittler, mining market manager at Cornell Pump, said he had seen the hardness of dewatering pump materials evolve as mining customers sought to get more pressure out of one pump. Schlittler explained that large-diameter impellers, spun at high speeds, take more damage from suspended solids than lower-pressure pumps. To make these newer pumps more durable, Cornell built them with stronger materials. The MX line of centrifugal pumps, introduced in 2011, can generate heads of up to 800 feet. MX pumps have a heat-treated ductile iron volute and an impeller made of stainless steel. Cornell followed up with the MP product line, which uses even harder steel with a high chrome content of 27 per cent. MP pumps can handle coarse abrasives of up to three inches in diameter. “We just sold 20 pumps of the MP line to a major U.S. copper producer for a dewatering loop that they developed for draining water out of the ore body,” said Schlittler. “They saw up to 10 per cent solids.” The mine dewatering pumps the operator had used “were just wearing out, like, in a week.” High-chrome alloys have a long history in slurry pump construction, but it is only in the last decade that they have seen widespread adoption in dewatering applications. “We have seen a tremendous change in the wear resistance in the hydraulic end,” said Peter Uvemo, sales manager at Swedish company Grindex, which specializes in submersible electric pumps. As of 2007, Grindex has offered all of its pumps with its own version of the chrome alloy, trademarked as Hard Iron. Harvinder Bhabra, global product manager of mine dewatering at Weir Minerals, said the company had also applied more of its materials technology to its dewatering range in the last four to five years. “Our product portfolio is constantly being updated to keep pace with industry demands. This includes our self-priming pumps, which have evolved from our traditional hard-iron wet ends to a chrome- iron alloy,” he said. “Similarly on our submersible pumps, potential weak spots have been reinforced by better materials in pumps used in dewatering applications where we might have a larger than expected solids content.” May • Mai 2016 | 65

Courtesy of Weir Minerals

The demand from operations to recover water from tailings ponds, shown above, is growing, says Harvinder Bhabra of Weir Minerals.

In 2015, Weir added a pump to its Floway vertical turbine range – traditionally used on clear water applications – by adding the capability of handling fine solids up to 15 per cent by weight. “For a vertical turbine pump, that was unknown in the past,” said Bhabra. The vertical turbine slurry pump includes iron bowls with abrasion resistant coatings, hard coated shaft, patented bearing design, and a mechanical shaft seal designed to withstand abrasion wear. Technosub, a company that provides high-head/low- to medium- flow dewatering solutions in Canada, addressed a different problem for certain customers. “We developed a special alloy for the mines in the Arctic where they work in permafrost, where classic high-chrome alloys show poor performances” said Patrick Martel, vice-president of engineering and innovations at Technosub. “They have a lot of problems with corrosion because they need to pump brine. Also, crystallization inside the pump is a major issue.” It took about two years to develop a double microstructure stainless steel that would resist corrosion. In 2012, Technosub began selling pumps with the new alloy to Arctic customers. In 2015, it began selling into Saskatchewan potash mines that also needed to pump corrosive brine.

Water treatment Technosub’s most prized innovation is not actually a pump. Treatment is an essential step in the process of mine dewatering – any water discharged must be safe for the environment. Technosub spent five years working on a simple clarification system for removing solids from water. In this treatment system – dubbed the MudWizard – the operator has only to insert a flocculant-filled tablet shaped like a hockey puck into a dispenser about once a week. “It’s so simple that anybody under66 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

ground can manage it,” said Martel. “The water flows into that dispenser, and we have a decanting system on the other side. Then we pump the clean water to surface or recirculate it via our dewatering system, and the solid concentrate goes into a disposal area where it will be dehydrated.” The 15 to 20 mines that have installed the MudWizard were previously settling out their solids in sumps that needed to be mucked out. Martel said the downside to running the system that way is that it requires production equipment that could be used elsewhere, and damages that production equipment with dirty water. On top of that, the pumps incur damage because sumps are often a low priority for maintenance. In contrast, Technosub’s decanting system requires less maintenance. It does not draw power, either. The pressure from the pump that feeds it starts the settling process, and the clarification puck continues it. The puck itself is made from non-toxic potato and corn starch. At what point exactly water should be treated is a question with diverse answers. David Willick, GE Mining’s commercial director for North America, made his preference clear. “We treat this as a system, not a product,” he said. “Create an environment in the water before you pump it that’s going to protect the pumping system. And if there are solids, corrosive water, etc., treat it before you pump it.”

Low-hanging fruit GE put that principle into practice when replacing a problematic dewatering system at a mine in Sudbury, Ontario. The original positive displacement pumps had frequent and heavy maintenance needs; GE’s solution has been running at 100 per cent uptime since installation in 2014, saving the mine operator more than $1 million a year in operating cost.

P U M P S A N D D E W AT E R I N G

According to Willick, several different elements combined to generate the savings. First, mine water runs through a solid separation screen before entering the pump system. Second, the pumps installed were multistage centrifugal pumps that GE had already proven in its oil and gas division. Third, because the combined pressure of one multistage installation could add up to about 6,000 pounds per square inch, it was possible to pump 1,700 metres to the surface in one straight shot, obviating the need for multiple pump stations on multiple levels. Willick said that GE customers had only begun to warm to this system in the last year or two. In a precariously low commodity price environment, optimizing system performance took on an allure it had not possessed back when meeting production targets was more of a concern than operational costs. “In the past, if a solution wasn’t developed in mining, it was often dismissed as not applicable to mining,” said Willick. “What we’re finding today, is the realization of operators that they have to do things differently and therefore they have started looking outside to other industries and this case study is a classic example of such.” GE is also looking at how innovations in adjacent industries can be deployed to the mining sector. Willick cites the example of advanced materials and nano coatings used in power generation turbines which could in turn be used to extend the life of pump impellers. “We call this approach, accessing the

| technology

GE Store for technical expertise and solutions,” said Willick. “We apply knowledge and experience from other industries to new applications.”

The future of dewatering A bit of innovation is also required to address an emerging challenge: in a time when environmental issues force mines to use their water efficiently, how can all that unwanted groundwater be put to best-use? Technosub and Weir are among the providers working with mines to recirculate the water they pump out. “Rather than just pump water into the tailings pond like we used to, and just leave it there to settle out, we find that there is an increasing demand for that water to be reused in some form or other,” Weir’s Bhabra said. “We’re doing a lot of work with mining companies where we’re supplying them with pumps which are designed for dewatering, but they’re not dewatering in the true sense, but pumping it back to the mine, for reuse in the process. As well as the pumps we manufacture, we now supply barges that you’re floating out on the tailings pond with pumps on them. And they’re pumping the water back to the mine.” In the dry mining climates of northern Chile, Weir has supplied several vertical turbine pumps, which circulate water back into mines from many kilometres away: an example of what, Bhabra jokes, they like to call re-watering. CIM

May • Mai 2016 | 67

Coal burning in Canada The federal government sketched out in 2012 its vision for cutting greenhouse gas emissions as it relates to coal. The released regulations dictate that if provinces want to run coal power plants beyond 2030, they will have to adopt carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. It also requires power plants built before 1975 to shut down once they reach 50 years of service, or by 2020. Alberta and Saskatchewan, with their mine-to-mouth coal plants, are the most affected jurisdictions. They are not only the heaviest coal-burners, but they also mine the largest amounts of thermal coal in the country. Saskatchewan’s response to the regulations was to invest heavily in CCS technology. In 2014, the province generated 44 per cent of its electricity from coal and has no plan to reduce it in the future. Alberta’s government chose a different path, pledging last November to eliminate coal burning by 2030. Last year the province cut its coal dependency to 38.5 per cent of its energy mix, a 16.5 per cent 68 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

drop from 2014. Natural gas is now Alberta’s biggest power source. The biggest coal-reduction story in Canada came in 2014 when Ontario became the first jurisdiction in North America to fully eliminate coal as a source of electricity. A decade earlier, the province still generated a quarter of its power from coal. The other provinces that still burn coal for electricity are Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The two maritime provinces currently import all of their coal from the United States and South America. Overall, Canada now generates around 18 per cent of its total electricity from coal.

Cost control for coking coal Metallurgical coal, the other half of the industry, accounts for half of the country’s coal production and almost all of its annual exports. It has been hit especially hard over the past few years as producers are faced with plummeting prices and market oversupply. It also did not help that Australia and China, the largest consumers of coal in the world, signed a free trade agreement last year, eliminating a three per cent tariff on coking coal and putting Canadian companies at a disadvantage. In an attempt to try to stay afloat in the volatile market, a number of companies in Canada have had to reduce or cut production altogether. Anglo-American and Walter Energy indefinitely suspended a combined four mines in northeastern British Columbia between 2013 and 2014. In Alberta, the Grande Cache mine was shut down at the end of 2015 after a series of layoffs. Teck Resources, now the sole producer of coking coal in Canada, took a rotating 3-week shutdown of its six coal mines last summer.

The Vancouver-based company has implemented a number of costcutting measures to its mining operations. According to company

spokesperson Chris Stannell, one of the biggest savings comes from the reduction in diesel fuel consumption by haul trucks. Stannell said Teck has installed lighter truck boxes, ran an anti-idle campaign and cut the amount of time it takes a haul truck to load and unload. He also said the decline in oil prices have helped significantly with cost savings. Other diesel-saving measures the company is looking into is the use of liquefied natural gas as a fuel source for its haul trucks, a measure it is testing out at its Fording River coal mine in B.C.

Renaissance project There are signs of life in the cradle of Canada’s coal mining industry. The Donkin project on the northern tip of Cape Breton, where coal mining in North America first began centuries ago, has been recruiting experienced coal miners to help bring the roomand-pillar mine into production. The last operating coal mine in Cape Breton was shuttered in 2001. Xstrata sparked hope for the industry in 2005 when it bought controlling interest in the Donkin project in 2005. The company and its junior partner Morien Resources spent a combined $43 million before it stopped operations there in 2013. Jim Bunn, Kameron Collieries senior vice-president of operations and development, would not say how much the company has spent so far since it bought in 2014 the 75 per cent interest Xstrataacquirer Glencore had in the project, but confirmed the site is buzzing. In addition to the dewatering of two

3.5-kilometre tunnels that lead to the coal seam beneath the ocean floor, underground work includes roadway improvements, tunnel support, geotechnical work, the installation of a new power distribution system as well as the beginnings of a conveyor system. According to Bunn, the deposit “has great mining height – 3.5 metres at the face – and great coal quality, but it is on a 10 per cent grade.” Donkin has an estimated resource of nearly half a billion tonnes of coal well suited for both power generation and steel making. “We are sharing quality information with Nova Scotia Power and preparing to collect a sample for a test burn in the summer of 2016,” said Bunn. The mine is also a short haul away from port facilities, which goes a long in improving the economics of the project. CIM

May • Mai 2016 | 69

Plan to attend IMPC 2016, September 11-15, Québec, Canada The Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) is honoured to be hosting the XXVIII International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) in Québec City, Québec, Canada. In September 2016, over 1,000 mineral processing experts, academics and industry professionals from more than 60 countries will gather to explore and discuss the important issues and trends currently shaping our industry and its future. Canada last hosted the IMPC in 1982 and is proud to do so again.

TECHNICAL STREAMS Characterization: Mineralogy, Geometallurgy

TRANSFORMATIONAL What to expectTECHNICAL at IMPCPROGRAM 2016?

FOUR-DAY CONGRESS

8 600 150 70 1000

TECHNICAL TOPICS +

Flotation: From Chemistry to Machines Extractive Metallurgy: Hydro and Pyrometallurgy Comminution: AG/SAG, Crushers, HPGR, Tumbling and Stirred Mills

DAILY THEMED PLENARIES

Process Control: Instrumentation, Modelling, Simulation

SHORT COURSES + INDUSTRIAL TOURS

Physical Separation: Gravity, Magnetic, Electrostatic, Ore Sorting, Upgrading (physical and chemical) Plant Design: Complex Ores, Integrated Flowsheets

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Asset Management: Sampling, Metal Accounting, Surveys and Flowsheet Improvement

POSTERS

New Frontiers: Harsh Environments Including Arctic, Undersea, Space and Beyond Environment, Recycling and Social Responsibility

EXHIBITORS

Dewatering: Thickening, Filtering, Drying

PARTICIPANTS

VAST NETWORKING & BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES NETWORK WITH PEERS AND PARTNERS

SYMPOSIA 4th International Symposium on Iron Control in Hydrometallurgy Electrometallurgy 2016 Rare Earth Elements

IMPC 2016 IS HOSTING THE 55TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF METALLURGISTS

Lightweight Metals and Composites: Production, Processing and Applications IMPC Commissions: Education, Mineral Processing for the Future

IMPC2016.ORG

INFO@IMPC2016.ORG

SECTION francophone 75 La classe de chefs de file, d’innovateurs et

d’organismes de réglementation qui font leurs marques dans l’industrie cette année Par Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Correy Baldwin, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Katelyn Spidle, Andrew Seale

72 Lettre de l’éditeur 72 Mot du président

73 Le budget fédéral prévoit des fonds pour les

technologies propres, l’exploration et la réforme de la réglementation

83 Profil de projet : Le projet Brucejack, qui bénéficie Par Chris Windeyer

de hautes teneurs et d’un taux de change favorable, est un joyau dans la couronne de projets de Pretium Par Virginia Heffernan

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

lettre de l’éditeur

Des noms qui en disent long Toutes les années au printemps, les éditeurs du CIM Magazine revêtent leur manteau de personnes qualifiées et se lancent concrètement dans la création d’une liste annuelle de femmes et d’hommes dont les accomplissements passés ou les projets futurs méritent d’être mis à l’honneur. Chaque nouveau numéro s’accompagne d’une liste d’individus. Par exemple, l’ascension de Denise Johnson au poste de présidente du groupe des industries des ressources chez Caterpillar nous a immédiatement sauté aux yeux. Nous avons eu l’occasion de prendre part à des visites de groupe sur les terrains d’essai de Caterpillar en Arizona aux côtés des fournisseurs et des clients miniers de la société, à forte dominance masculine, aussi il ne fait aucun doute à nos yeux que Mme Johnson est une pionnière. En outre, sa manière de procéder pour diriger le groupe au sein du marché est un exemple à suivre. De la même manière, Maureen Jensen, la première femme à diriger la commission des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario, a attiré notre attention en début d’année lorsqu’elle a été nommée présidente et directrice générale et a été chargée de créer un régime réglementaire plus élégant que le système canadien actuel, qui multiplie les chevauchements de réglementations entre commissions provinciales des valeurs mobilières. Dans d’autres cas, tout comme le marché, nous suivons notre inspiration du moment. Récemment, Tesla Motors s’est de nouveau démarquée au sein du secteur automobile lorsqu’elle a annoncé la commercialisation l’année prochaine de sa toute dernière voiture électrique, la plus abordable du marché ; sans plus attendre, des milliers de personnes sont allées faire la queue pour réserver leur véhicule et régler leur premier versement. Que l’on s’en réjouisse ou non, la société d’exploration du lithium Pure Energy Minerals fait partie du spectacle. Sa propriété du Nevada, dont les résultats en matière de forage l’année dernière se sont révélés très prometteurs, a signé un accord avec Tesla pour lui fournir le matériel nécessaire à ses batteries rechargeables. La fonction du président et directeur général de Pure Energy Patrick Highsmith, dont nous dressons également le portrait, est de s’assurer que la spéculation caractéristique de la fièvre initiale se traduise par la concrétisation de la production. Pour ce faire, le projet d’exploration devra évoluer pour devenir un producteur sérieux, ce qui comprendra la lourde tâche de mettre en service une usine utilisant la méthode d’extraction par solvants qui permettrait d’éviter d’avoir recours à des bassins d’évaporation de la saumure, comme c’est souvent le cas dans l’industrie. Notre objectif est qu’ensemble, ces personnes et les autres dont nous établissons le profil créent un portrait composé de l’industrie telle qu’elle est à l’heure actuelle, et exposent les dimensions intéressantes et parfois inattendues qui en font partie. Nous espérons que vous apprécierez ces portraits, et attendons avec impatience votre point de vue sur le sujet.

Ryan Bergen, Rédacteur en chef, editor@cim.org, @Ryan_CIM_Mag 72 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

mot du président

Une année inoubliable Se réunir est un début ; rester ensemble est un progrès ; travailler ensemble marque la réussite. – Henry Ford Quand je repense à mon année à la présidence de l’ICM, je ne ressens qu’amour et admiration pour cette organisation. Ce sentiment concerne autant le conseil que les membres des comités, nos présidents (sortants et entrants), le personnel de l’ICM (ancien et nouveau) et tout particulièrement vous, membres de l’ICM. L’optimisme, la tolérance, le dynamisme, la détermination et le désir d’excellence incessants dont vous avez tous et toutes fait preuve l’année passée ont été pour moi une véritable source d’inspiration. Je n’oublierai jamais les relations que j’ai établies avec l’ICM et espère qu’elles perdureront. J’ai particulièrement apprécié de me rendre aux réunions des sections, aux conférences, au siège social à Montréal, aux événements régionaux et aux rencontres internationales, car tous ces déplacements m’ont permis de vous rencontrer dans une atmosphère amicale et de constater que nous tendions tous à un même objectif. J’ai apprécié les défis qui, en toute honnêteté, ont été nombreux durant l’année qui s’est écoulée, qu’il s’agisse du rétablissement des relations au printemps dernier, de la mise en œuvre très attendue de notre plan stratégique sur cinq ans ou encore de la réorganisation qui a suivi, le tout avec pour toile de fond le ralentissement économique que traverse le secteur des mines et des métaux. Je dois avouer que l’entrain général que j’ai observé lors du congrès de la Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC, l’association canadienne des prospecteurs et entrepreneurs) m’a redonné confiance et j’espère vraiment retrouver cette atmosphère au congrès de l’ICM 2016. L’un des points positifs de ces temps difficiles est qu’ils nous ont rapproché dans un élan de fraternité et de résolution. Les périodes fastes nous laissent bien moins de temps pour établir le contact, aussi sachons profiter de cette occasion. Je tiens à exprimer ma profonde gratitude envers tous ceux et celles d’entre vous qui ont déployé, déploient et continueront de déployer tant d’efforts au nom de l’ICM et de la communauté minière. Je vous en suis extrêmement reconnaissant. Je m’engage à soutenir notre nouveau président Michael Winship, son successeur Ken Thomas ainsi que la présidente élue entrante et ma très chère amie Janice Zinck avec le même enthousiasme dont ils ont fait preuve durant mon mandat. Soyez rassurés, nous sommes entre de bonnes mains ! J’espère que vous avez lu ces billets avec autant de plaisir que j’ai pris à les écrire. Ne pleure pas parce que c’est fini, mais souris parce que c’est arrivé. Cette citation du Dr Seuss résume parfaitement ce que je ressens. Je vous dis au revoir à tous et à toutes, la larme à l’œil mais le sourire aux lèvres !

Garth Kirkham CIM President @GarthCIMPrez

L’actualité Investir dans l’avenir Le budget fédéral prévoit des fonds pour les technologies propres, l’exploration et la réforme de la réglementation Trois des principales organisations minières du Canada trouvent une inspiration dans le programme des « voies ensoleillées » préconisée par le premier ministre Justin Trudeau, au moins dans leurs réactions au budget fédéral. Il n’y a pas grand-chose de prévu pour le secteur minier dans le budget de 2016. Cependant, le crédit d’impôt pour exploration minière de 15 % (CIEM) est de retour pour une autre année, prolongé jusqu’au 31 mars 2017, à la grande satisfaction de l’Association minière du Canada (AMC), de l’Association de l’exploration minière de la Colombie-Britannique (AME BC, pour Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia) et de l’Association canadienne des prospecteurs et entrepreneurs (PDAC, pour Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada). « Nous avons entendu les arguments en faveur du crédit, nous pensons qu’ils sont convaincants », a déclaré le ministre des Ressouces naturelles, James Carr, dans une entrevue approfondie avec CIM Magazine. « Nous pensons vraiment qu’on a bien compris au gouvernement que cette mesure a été très utile pour le secteur minier. » Selon la porte-parole de l’AMC, Jessica Draker, dans un contexte où les petites sociétés minières ont du mal à attirer des capitaux, la mesure incitative que représente le CIEM est essentielle. « Le Canada doit faire en sorte d’avoir une liste de projets miniers en réserve susceptibles de se concrétiser et d’assurer la croissance durable de ce secteur », a-t-elle déclaré. Il convient aussi de prêter attention aux promesses faites par le gouvernement dans son budget portant sur des modifications de la réglementation entourant les frais d’exploration au Canada afin d’inclure les tâches de régle-

Reproduit avec l’autorisation du ministère des finances, 2016

Par Chris Windeyer

Le ministre des finances Bill Morneau a déposé son premier budget fédéral le 22 mars, qui accorde un financement aux technologies propres et à l’exploration ainsi qu'un renouvellement du crédit d’impôt pour l’exploration minière (CIEM).

mentation et les consultations à titre de frais admissibles, ainsi qu’à sa promesse de ne pas appliquer de taxe fédérale sur le carbone dans les provinces et territoires où il en existe déjà une. Par ailleurs, au chapitre de l’exploration, le budget alloue une somme de 87,2 M$ aux projets de recherche de base de Ressources naturelles Canada, incluant les sciences de la Terre et la cartographie. « L’engagement du gouvernement fédéral à l’égard des sciences de la Terre et de la cartographie, ainsi qu’à la recherche liée aux minéraux, renforcera le leadership et la réputation du Canada en matière d’innovation et contribuera à attirer de nouveaux investissements dans l’exploration minérale et la mise en valeur », a souligné Gavin Dirom, président et chef de la direction d’AME BC, dans un communiqué. Le budget vise aussi à relancer le processus réglementaire souvent engorgé en allouant de nouveaux fonds aux organismes gouvernementaux, dont 16,5 M$ sur trois ans à l’Office national

de l’énergie, Ressources naturelles Canada et Transports Canada, afin de mettre en œuvre les nouveaux principes réglementaires provisoires du gouvernement pour les projets portant sur les ressources naturelles. Un montant de 14,2 M$ sur quatre ans sera alloué à l’Agence canadienne d’évaluation environnementale et un montant de 10,1 M$, également sur quatre ans, sera octroyé au Bureau de gestion des projets nordiques qui assure la coordination entre les organismes fédéraux concernés par les démarches réglementaires dans les territoires. Selon Mme Draker, ces dernières années, les modifications de réglementation ont été liées à des restrictions budgétaires dans les organismes de réglementation fédéraux. « [La hausse de financement est] très importante, car elle leur permettra d’avoir les moyens nécessaires pour effectuer leur travail, en particulier en ce qui concerne les processus d’évaluation environnementale et d’octroi de permis. » May • Mai 2016 | 73

Les domaines de la « croissance propre » et les initiatives visant à résoudre les problèmes de disparités sociales et économiques entre les Autochtones et la population en général qui sont au cœur du budget auront des retombées positives sur le secteur minier. Ainsi, le budget prévoit d’allouer 4,2 G$ sur cinq ans à l’éducation et à la formation dans les communautés autochtones et 3,4 G$ sur cinq ans aux infrastructures, dont une concentration importante des dépenses dans le logement, les soins de santé et l’approvisionnement en eau dans les réserves. Dans une déclaration, l’AMC a qualifié ces investissements de « fondations essentielles pour stimuler la participation des Autochtones du Canada dans l’industrie minière. » Un montant de plus de 1 G$ sur quatre ans sera affecté à la recherche sur les technologies propres, ce qui présente un grand intérêt pour les sociétés minières, a déclaré Mme Draker. Selon l’AMC, chaque année, l’industrie minière consacre quelque 700 M$ aux

innovations, notamment en matière d’efficacité énergétique et de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Mme Draker a ajouté que les nouvelles dépenses du gouvernement fédéral dans la recherche auraient un effet de « catalyseur » sur les investissements actuels de l’industrie. Ce qui ne figure pas dans le budget cependant, c’est l’affectation spécifique de crédits à des projets d’infrastructure qui sont importants pour les sociétés minières, comme les routes dont elles ont grandement besoin dans le Cercle de feu de l’Ontario, du moins actuellement. Le gouvernement a promis d’investir 120 G$ dans de nouvelles infrastructures au cours de la prochaine décennie, mais n’a fourni des détails que sur la première phase axée principalement sur les projets de transport public, d’infrastructures municipales et la rénovation des infrastructures fédérales existantes. Les Libéraux disent qu’ils développeront la Phase 2 en consultation avec les

provinces, les territoires, les Premières Nations, les villes et d’autres parties prenantes. La PDAC et l’AMC souhaitent toutes deux vivement, de même que les gouvernements des territoires, que la majeure partie de ces nouveaux investissements aient lieu dans les régions éloignées et nordiques du pays. Au début du mois de mars, le premier ministre des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, Bob McLeod, a déclaré qu’il espérait qu’une partie du financement des infrastructures prévu par le gouvernement fédéral serait consacrée au Nord afin d’aider le secteur minier des territoires. « Ces investissements, s’ils sont faits dans les régions riches en ressources du pays, mèneraient à la fois à plus de découvertes et feraient aussi en sorte qu’il soit économiquement viable de mettre en valeur des découvertes existantes encore inexploitées », a souligné le président de la PDAC, Robert Schafer. « Les infrastructures de transport demeurent la clé qui permettra de libérer le potentiel des ressources dans le Nord. » ICM

Démarquez-vous de la foule

Offres relatives au parrainage et aux annonces Sur place

En ligne

Une solution pour tous les budgets ! 74 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Dans nos publications imprimées

Appelez-nous pour découvrir nos diverses options pour vos annonces

JANET JEFFERY jjeffery@dvtail.com 905.707.3529

NEAL YOUNG nyoung@dvtail.com 905.707.3525

Riccardo Cellere

L’industrie minière a beau être relativement petite, elle renferme de grandes personnalités. Cette année, notre enquête auprès des principaux acteurs de l’industrie se tourne vers des dirigeants chevronnés de l’industrie, un chef déterminé des Premières Nations et une famille de prospecteurs, qui laisseront assurément leur empreinte sur l’année à venir.

Gracieuseté de Guy Desharnais

De gauche à droite : Doug Hatfield, Jean-Phillippe Paiement et Guy Desharnais

chacun des blocs recouvrant la propriété, jusqu’à une profondeur de 2 kilomètres (km). Parallèlement, les données étaient traitées à l’aide d’un algorithme d’apprentissage automatique qui contribuait à l’identification de nouvelles cibles tout en confirmant la première série de résultats. Le système de notation des perspectives d’exploration a donc pris en compte les connaissances géologiques ainsi que l’apprentissage automatique. Toutes les données géologiques, et notamment les cibles de grande valeur, ont finaCapitaine de l’équipe de SGS Geostat dans le cadre du concours Ruée vers l’or lement été intégrées dans un modèle de réalité virtuelle reposant sur la technologie Oculus Rift à des fins de vérification, et orsque l’équipe d’experts-conseils en géologie de la aussi pour que les membres du jury puissent juger d’euxsociété québécoise SGS Geostat a commencé à préparer mêmes. sa participation au concours Ruée vers l’or d’Integra Gold, À l’origine, M. Desharnais et le géologue de SGS Jean-Phisa première idée s’appuyait sur un concept déjà existant, lippe Paiement avaient conçu leur propre système géologique, celui visant à développer un cadre au sein duquel seraient mais ils étaient aussi bien conscients des limites du raisonneintégrées, interpolées et extrapolées toutes les données dispo- ment humain. « Par nature, les êtres humains ne sont pas objecnibles. « Nous avons commencé avec une approche plus tra- tifs », indiquait M. Desharnais. « Jean-Philippe et moi avons ditionnelle », déclarait Guy Desharnais, directeur technique une compréhension subjective des contrôles de la minéralisades services géologiques de la section Minéraux de SGS. tion de l’or, mais nous ne sommes pas impartiaux en raison de « Nous voulions être sûrs d’exploiter au mieux les données en notre expérience. Nous avons donc décidé de laisser faire la les compilant dans un modèle de blocs. » Ce n’est que vers la machine pour voir si elle parvenait à un meilleur résultat. » fin du processus que l’équipe en est venue à envisager l’apM. Desharnais a donc commencé à chercher, à travers le prentissage automatique. réseau SGS Canada, des personnes disposées à examiner leur Le 6 mars dernier, à l’occasion du congrès de la Prospectors modèle de blocs. Il a fini par contacter Doug Hatfield à and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC, l’association cana- Toronto. « Doug utilisait déjà des concepts mathématiques dienne des prospecteurs et entrepreneurs) qui s’est tenu à assez sophistiqués pour faire des simulations en géométallurToronto, SGS Geostat a remporté 500 000 $, le premier prix du gie, et je savais qu’il poussait les limites de ce que les mathéconcours dont l’objectif était d’identifier les meilleures cibles de matiques sont capables de faire pour les appliquer à d’autres forage sur la propriété Sigma-Lamaque d’Integra Gold. En asso- domaines », déclarait-il. « Il a un intérêt personnel dans cette ciant les interprétations 3D et l’apprentissage automatique, SGS technologie. » Geostat a montré l’intérêt d’intégrer l’intelligence artificielle (IA) C’était la première fois que SGS Canada intégrait l’apprenaux méthodes d’exploration traditionnelles. tissage automatique aux sciences de la Terre et à l’exploitation L’équipe a d’abord utilisé des méthodes géostatistiques minière. Toutefois, la société pourrait bien intégrer cet essai à sophistiquées pour compiler toutes les données disponibles ses méthodes de travail à l’avenir. « Depuis que nous avons dans la propriété et produire un modèle de blocs expansif. Les remporté le concours, nous avons senti un intérêt marqué vecteurs de minéralisation ont ensuite été combinés pour pour l’application de notre méthodologie à d’autres propriéaccorder une note de perspectives d’exploration de 0 à 100 à tés », indiquait M. Desharnais. – Antoine Dion-ortegA

GUY DESHARNAIS

Gracieuseté de Jessica Bjorkman

our les Bjorkman de Whisky Jack Lake, près d’Atikokan, en Ontario, la prospection est une affaire de famille. Karl Bjorkman dirige Bjorkman Prospecting, aidé de son épouse, Nikki, qui tient les comptes, et de leurs six enfants – cinq filles et un garçon. Cette année, la famille a reçu un prix pour réalisation exceptionnelle décerné par l’Association canadienne des prospecteurs et entrepreneurs (ACPE) pour sa contribution à l’industrie. Karl s’est lancé dans la prospection vers les années 1990, ayant obtenu son permis de prospecteur après que des pros-

LA FAMILLE BJORKMAN

76 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Bjorkman Prospecting

De gauche à droite : Jessica, Veronique, Ruth, Nikki, Karl, Katarina, Bjorn et Karla Bjorkman

pecteurs eurent commencé à travailler sur sa propriété. Il a suivi un cours de prospection et, comme il le dit : « J’ai eu la piqûre. » Puis, en 1992, alors qu’il participait à un symposium à Thunder Bay, il a été abordé par Garry Clark, qui allait devenir directeur général de l’Association des prospecteurs de l’Ontario. « Il est venu me proposer un emploi et j’ai pensé, ‘Wow, je peux être payé pour faire de la prospection, c’est formidable!’» La famille travaille surtout en Ontario et dans les Territoires, mais a travaillé dans presque toutes les provinces ainsi qu’en Norvège et en Suède, occupant des emplois plus modestes. Jusqu’à maintenant, les Bjorkmans tiraient environ la moitié de leurs revenus du jalonnement de concessions, mais avec l’avènement des procédés de jalonnement électroniques, ils ont dû diversifier leurs activités dans des services tels que la cartographie géologique, l’échantillonnage de sol et les rapports d’évaluation. Deux des filles, Ruth et Katarina, ont en outre obtenu des diplômes en géologie, ce qui accroît l’expertise de la famille. Comme l’explique Ruth, « Nous avons grandi en faisant de la prospection avec notre père, cela nous a paru tout naturel de continuer dans cette voie. »

Chef de la direction de Randgold Resources

– correy BAlDwin

arlez-en à Mark Bristow et il vous dira que l’industrie de l’or souffre depuis des décennies d’une vision à court terme ne tenant compte que du dernier rendement trimestriel pour l’actionnaire ou du cours de l’or le plus récent. Sous sa gouverne, Randgold Resources a plutôt misé sur une stratégie à long terme consistant à investir de façon soutenue – et non uniquement lorsque les cours s’envolent – dans ses activités d’exploration et d’exploitation minières en Afrique. C’est ce qui explique pourquoi en 2015, quand le cours de l’or a chuté de 11 %, Randgold surpassait l’indice S&P 500 de près de 27 %. En fait, la société, considérée comme faisant partie des plus rentables de son industrie, a connu l’une de ses meilleures années depuis son introduction à la Bourse de Londres en 1997. Sa production, de plus de 1,2 million d’onces, s’était accrue de 6 % par rapport à l’exercice précédent, et ses fonds en caisse s’élevaient à 213,4 M$ US, un bond de 158 %, malgré un profit en baisse plombé par les prix de l’or. Durant les deux premiers mois de 2016, les actions de la société ont augmenté de près de 29 %, les prix de l’or amorçant une forte remontée. En mars, les analystes ont annoncé haut et fort que, pour la première fois depuis 2013, l’or était de retour dans un marché haussier. « Le succès que nous avons connu en 2015 était l’aboutissement des années précédentes. Les mesures que nous prenons aujourd’hui produiront les résultats de demain », a-t-il affirmé.

Gracieuseté de Randgold Resources

MARK BRISTOW

Le secteur connaît cependant une pénurie de nouveaux prospecteurs, ce que les enfants Bjorkman essaient de changer. « Il n’y a pas beaucoup de prospecteurs plus jeunes que mon père », dit Ruth. Elle-même et ses sœurs participent aux activités de l’organisme Mining Matters de l’ACPE, en donnant des cours dans des écoles et dans des communautés des Premières Nations. « Un enseignement précoce est vraiment important », explique Ruth. « Beaucoup d’enfants ne savent même pas vraiment que la prospection existe. » La famille embauche aussi des aides et fournit une formation aux nouvelles recrues. Les sœurs encouragent aussi les femmes à se lancer dans ce domaine et apportent leur soutien à celles qui le font. L’an dernier, pour leurs efforts, Ruth, Jessica et Veronique ont été nommées Femmes de métier de l’année par l’organisme Influential Women of Northern Ontario. Selon Karl, diriger une entreprise familiale présente de nombreux avantages, mais il s’agit surtout de confiance et de se soutenir mutuellement dans les moments difficiles. « Nous sommes privilégiés », dit-il, « car j’ai confiance en mes enfants. Je crois en leur honnêteté et en leur intégrité. »

« Notre principal mandat consiste à être rentables et à créer de la valeur au profit de toutes nos parties prenantes, à savoir nos actionnaires, les gouvernements qui agissent au nom des gens, les communautés et nos travailleurs », a expliqué M. Bristow, dont la stratégie à long terme consiste à transformer chacun des sites d’exploitation minière de Randgold en entreprise autonome, entièrement exploitée et gérée par des membres de la communauté locale, plutôt que de faire appel à une main-d’œuvre étrangère coûteuse. « L’investissement dans la formation d’un ingénieur se rentabilise en quelques mois », a souligné M. Bristow. « L’embauche d’étrangers coûte beaucoup plus cher, sans compter qu’il s’agit en quelque sorte de travailleurs mercenaires qui ne s’engagent pas à long terme. » – AlexAnDrA lopez-pAcheco May • Mai 2016 | 77

Le baron américain du charbon

Gracieuseté de Jim Bunn

CHRIS CLINE

hris Cline, milliardaire qui ne doit sa fortune qu’à lui même, a dirigé ses efforts vers le nord, pour commencer à extraire du charbon au Canada. En janvier, Kameron Collieries – filiale canadienne de sa société Cline Group – a annoncé que la mine de charbon de Donkin à Cape Breton, en Nouvelle-Écosse, rouvrira cet été. En 2014, Kameron Collieries a acheté la participation de 75 % de Glencore dans le projet, puis a fait l’acquisition de la participation restante de Morien Resources au début de 2015. D’après Jim Bunn, vice-président, Exploitation, Cutlass Collieries – une société de Cline Group dont Kameron Collieries est une filiale – donner un second souffle à la mine apportera de nombreux avantages au pays. « La mine de charbon de Donkin pourrait remplacer le coke de pétrole importé des États-Unis ainsi que le charbon provenant des États-Unis et d’Amérique du Sud », a déclaré M. Bunn. « Cela devrait profiter non seulement à Nova Scotia Power sur le plan des coûts et de la fiabilité de l’approvisionnement en combustible, mais également à la balance commerciale du Canada dans son ensemble. »

Une société affiliée à Cline Group a également acheté Coalspur Mines Limited en juin dernier, faisant l’acquisition de son projet de charbon Vista, en Alberta. Cependant, même si l’organisme Alberta Energy Regulator a délivré les permis finaux pour ce projet, le développement est actuellement en suspens. « Étant donné la baisse des prix du charbon en Asie et la probabilité qu’ils restent bas dans un proche avenir, le projet n’est pas viable sur le plan économique », a déclaré M. Bunn. « Quand les prix remonteront, nous réévaluerons le projet et les délais associés à son développement. » Ayant réussi à donner un second souffle à l’industrie dans l’Illinois, la société de M. Cline, Foresight Reserves, détient un certain nombre de filiales qui exploitent des mines de charbon en Illinois. Chris Cline a également acquis une réputation de philanthrope, particulièrement dans son État natal de Virginie-Occidentale. En 2011, la Cline Family Foundation a remis 5 M$ US à l’Université de Virginie-Occidentale, son alma mater. « C’est un mineur de charbon de troisième génération doté d’un grand cœur et qui croit fermement qu’il faut donner aux – KAtelyn SpiDle suivants », a déclaré M. Bunn.

Mauricio Macri/Flickr

MAURICIO MACRI Président de l’Argentine epuis son élection le 10 décembre 2015, M. Macri s’est efforcé de rassurer les investisseurs étrangers, plus particulièrement les sociétés minières, sur le fait que son pays est de nouveau en affaires.

78 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

À la mi-février, M. Macri a supprimé les droits d’exportation de 5 % sur les produits miniers qui avaient été instaurés par le précédent gouvernement il y a 10 ans. Son objectif est de rendre les provinces minières argentines, particulièrement San Juan et Catamarca, de nouveau attrayantes. « Cette mesure a été bien reçue dans les provinces minières, car ces droits d’exportation augmentaient les coûts, rendant ainsi ces régions moins attrayantes pour les investisseurs du secteur minier », a déclaré Leonardo Viglione, dirigeant du secteur minier, PwC Argentina. « Nous souhaitons faire clairement savoir que l’Argentine est de nouveau sur la bonne voie. » À la mi-décembre, M. Macri a également levé le contrôle des changes qui, pendant des années, a maintenu le peso argentin artificiellement élevé par rapport au dollar américain (1 $ US = 9,5 pesos). Cette surévaluation a donné lieu à la création d’un marché parallèle non officiel qui correspondait davantage à la valeur réelle de la monnaie (1 $ US = 14 pesos). En permettant au peso de flotter librement, M. Macri a déclenché une dévaluation spectaculaire du peso par rapport au dollar américain, qui a atteint près de 60 % au début du mois de mars. De toute évidence, cette décision a eu une incidence positive sur les coûts d’investissement et d’exploitation des sociétés exportatrices, étant donné que la majeure partie de ces coûts sont

engagés en pesos, alors que les produits sont vendus en dollars américains. « Cette dévaluation est bénéfique pour toutes les sociétés exportatrices, y compris les sociétés minières », a indiqué M. Viglione. « Le gouvernement a fusionné les deux marchés des changes et il n’y en a qu’un désormais. » Le nouveau secrétaire responsable du secteur minier, Daniel Meilán, est venu donner des nouvelles lors du congrès de l’Association canadienne des prospecteurs et entrepreneurs (PDAC pour Prospectors and Developers Association of

MAUREEN JENSEN Présidente et chef de la direction de la Commission des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario me Jensen a œuvré toute sa vie dans un milieu dominé par les hommes, comme géologue, ancienne cadre dans le secteur minier et vétéran de la réglementation des marchés financiers. Depuis le 10 février, Mme Jensen est également la première femme à diriger l’organisme de réglementation des marchés financiers le plus important au pays. Elle présidera à une transformation historique de la Commission des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario (CVMO), alors que l’Ontario, la Colombie-Britannique, la Saskatchewan, le Nouveau-Brunswick, l’Île-du-PrinceÉdouard, le Yukon et le gouvernement fédéral s’unissent pour créer un nouvel organisme de réglementation national appelé le Régime coopératif en matière de réglementation des marchés des capitaux (le « RCRMC ») qui sera opérationnel d’ici la fin de 2016. « Vous n’aurez à remplir qu’un seul formulaire une seule fois et vous recevrez une réponse. Ce sera fantastique », a déclaré Mme Jensen, qui espère que d’autres juridictions au Canada se joindront au RCRMC. C’est une période enthousiasmante pour Mme Jensen, car la possibilité de jouer un rôle dans l’allégement du fardeau de la réglementation a été l’une des raisons principales pour lesquelles elle a accepté un poste à la Bourse de Toronto en 1998. « Alors que j’étais chef de la direction de [Noble Peak Resources], j’ai consacré beaucoup de temps à remplir des formulaires, encore et encore. Les règles n’étaient pas très précises », a-t-elle expliqué. « Des organismes de réglementation dans une province me disaient de faire les choses d’une manière, tandis que ceux d’une autre province m’indiquaient une autre façon de faire. Je ne pouvais acquiescer à leur demande, car ils voulaient quelque chose qui allait à l’encontre des désirs de l’autre. » Le RCRMC « continuera à s’efforcer d’améliorer les comportements par des activités de conformité plutôt que d’ajouter simplement des règlements », a poursuivi Mme Jensen. D’ail-

Canada) qui s’est tenu en mars à Toronto. Selon la presse argentine, M. Meilán a déclaré qu’il était tout simplement « impossible » d’attirer les investissements nécessaires compte tenu des droits d’exportation et des contrôles des changes imposés antérieurement. L’Argentine a encore 750 000 kilomètres carrés de terre prête pour l’exploitation minière, dont seulement 150 000 kilomètres carrés ont été mis en valeur. Le pays devrait consacrer 400 M$ US par année à l’exploration, et 20 G$ US à la mise en valeur de 20 à 25 projets actuelle– Antoine Dion-ortegA ment envisagés, a-t-il ajouté.

Gracieuseté de OSC

leurs, elle a été à la tête de l’initiative « se conformer ou s’expliquer » de la CVMO qui a donné lieu à une hausse de 15 % du nombre de femmes au sein des conseils d’administration et dans des postes de direction de sociétés ouvertes, et ce, dès sa première année d’existence. « Nous allons continuer à miser sur l’initiative « se conformer ou s’expliquer » en publiant chaque année les résultats et, à la fin de trois ans, nous déterminerons ce que nous devrons faire par la suite si les choses n’ont pas suffisamment changé », a affirmé Mme Jensen. « C’est important. » – correy BAlDwin May • Mai 2016 | 79

Gracieuseté de Caterpillar

DENISE JOHNSON Présidente du groupe Secteurs des ressources à Caterpillar n assumant ses nouvelles fonctions à Caterpillar le 1er avril, Denise Johnson est devenue la première femme présidente de groupe de l’entreprise. Depuis qu’elle a quitté General Motors il y a cinq ans pour entrer au service de Caterpillar en tant que directrice générale des Produits spéciaux au sein de la division Remanufacturation, Composants et Outils de travail de l’entreprise, Denise Johnson a su s’adapter sans encombre aux changements rapides qui ont marqué sa carrière alors qu’elle a été promue à la vice-présidence de trois divisions différentes au sein de Caterpillar. « Dans l’ensemble, je m’adapte très bien aux changements », a déclaré Mme Johnson, qui est maintenant responsable de quatre divisions : Composants et systèmes avancés,

Exploitation minière et technologie à ciel ouvert, Manutention et opérations souterraines et Développement des produits et technologies mondiales. « Je ne suis pas vraiment déstabilisée par la nouveauté, qu’il s’agisse d’emplois, de situations, d’environnements ou de gens. Je fais aussi preuve de beaucoup d’obstination. Je ne fuis pas les situations difficiles. » Sans se laisser ébranler par les obstacles rencontrés actuellement par le secteur minier, elle veut que la division de l’exploitation minière de Caterpillar aide les clients à s’adapter aux nouvelles réalités de l’industrie et à en sortir gagnants. « Je veux continuer de me rapprocher de nos clients et être à l’écoute de leurs besoins », a expliqué Denise Johnson. « Si nous pouvons nous concentrer sur les éléments qui assurent leur réussite, ils auront du succès et s’ils ont du succès, nous en sortirons gagnants. » Sous sa direction, Caterpillar investira massivement dans les activités de recherche et développement afin d’aider les clients à améliorer leur productivité sur le terrain en mettant l’accent sur les technologies de connectivité pour assurer l’intégration et la surveillance des machines, y compris celles de la concurrence, ainsi que sur les technologies pour renforcer la sécurité. « Tout ce qui permet au responsable des travaux de bien comprendre ce qui se passe et de savoir comment maximiser la production », a précisé Denise Johnson. Caterpillar s’intéressera également à d’autres domaines, comme les carburants de remplacement, ainsi que la suppression du bruit et l’élimination des poussières. Pour ce qui est de l’exploitation souterraine, selon Mme Johnson, Caterpillar poursuivra ses efforts dans le domaine des batteries et des technologies électriques pour aider les mines à réduire leurs émissions et à diminuer leurs coûts. « Nous considérons le ralentissement actuel comme notre nouvelle réalité au lieu d’attendre que la situation revienne à la normale », a souligné Denise Johnson. « Nous nous concentrons sur ce que nous pouvons contrôler dans notre environnement afin que nous puissions tous prospérer, même dans – AlexAnDrA lopez-pAcheco la conjoncture actuelle. »

GLENN KOSICK

Gracieuseté de Woodgrove Technologies

président de Woodgrove Technologies

GLENN DOBBY vice-président de Woodgrove Technologies uand vous mettez au point une technologie d’une telle envergure pour remplacer une technologie existante dans une industrie très mature, ce n’est pas vraiment pour les âmes sensibles », a déclaré Glenn Kosick de Woodgrove Technologies. M. Kosick et son partenaire Glenn Dobby

“Q

80 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

De gauche à droite : Glenn Dobby et Glenn Kosick

Gracieuseté de Patrick Highsmith

ont créé Woodgrove en 2009 afin de mettre au point et de promouvoir leur réacteur de flottation étagé (SFR, pour Staged Flotation Reactor), une nouvelle approche en matière d’équipements de flottation destinée à l’industrie de la minéralurgie. Ils développent ensemble des technologies novatrices depuis près de 30 ans. Ils ont conçu le SFR en réponse au défi posé par le traitement pour des exploitations au tonnage de plus en plus important. « La tendance a consisté à simplement construire de plus en plus gros, à un point tel qu’aujourd’hui, [les fournisseurs d’équipements de flottation] fabriquent des cellules de cuve de 600 m3 pour essayer de réduire les infrastructures et les coûts; mais cela reste insuffisant », a déclaré M. Dobby. Les deux partenaires y ont vu une occasion de pallier l’importante lacune qui apparaît au moment de passer du laboratoire à l’exploitation à grande échelle. Le SFR dissocie les étapes du processus de flottation en trois phases principales : la collecte des particules, la séparation de phases et la récupération de l’écume. La nouvelle technologie permet de réduire d’environ 50 % les coûts d’exploitation, l’espace au sol et la consommation d’énergie, en plus de réduire les coûts d’installation et d’entretien. « Il s’agit vraiment d’un changement de paradigme en matière de flottation », a ajouté M. Dobby.

Il y a d’autres avantages : « Nous avons conçu chaque circuit sur mesure, en fonction des métaux dans le minerai et de la variabilité que nous observerons au cours de la durée de vie de la mine », a déclaré M. Kosick. « En outre, comme les phases sont séparées, nous pouvons optimiser chacune des phases de flottation sans interférence avec les autres phases. » Leur première installation à grande échelle a eu lieu en 2010 à la mine d’or Pine Cove d’Anaconda Mining, à TerreNeuve-et-Labrador, suivie par trois projets avec Dundee Precious Metals à sa mine de Chelopech, en Bulgarie, pour la récupération du cuivre et de la pyrite. Parallèlement aux projets de Dundee, Woodgrove a réuni un consortium de neuf importants producteurs de cuivre pour implanter une installation de démonstration à grande échelle au Brésil, exploitée par Vale dans sa mine de Sossego. Cette démonstration, qui s’est terminée en mars 2015, a connu une telle réussite que Vale a immédiatement installé quatre SFR dans sa mine de cuivre de Salobo. « Nous en sommes maintenant au point où notre réputation a pris tellement d’ampleur, et où nous sommes tellement sollicités par des sociétés d’ingénieurs et pour des projets dans le monde entier, que nous n’entreprenons même plus d’activités de marketing », a souligné M. Dobby. « Les propositions – correy BAlDwin arrivent naturellement. »

PATRICK HIGHSMITH Chef de la direction de Pure Energy Minerals Limited ’été dernier, Pure Energy a reçu un puissant coup de pouce après la publication de l’estimation des ressources présumées pour son projet de production de lithium à partir de saumures à Clayton Valley South, dans le centre-ouest du Nevada. À la suite d’une estimation de 816 000 tonnes de carbonate de lithium équivalent, le cours des actions de la société a grimpé et, peu après, elle a conclu un contrat d’approvisionnement avec le fabricant de véhicules électriques et de batteries Tesla Motors. L’an dernier, Pure Energy a été honorée à titre de société la plus performante du secteur minier à la Bourse de croissance TSX. Le chef de la direction nouvellement nommé, Patrick Highsmith, a maintenant pour mission de faire en sorte que le projet aille de l’avant. « Nous avons obtenu le contrôle d’une superficie de 9 300 acres et il existe une mine juste à côté », souligne M. Highsmith, en parlant de la mine adjacente Silver Peake d’Albemarle Corporation qui est actuellement le seul producteur de lithium aux États-Unis. « En un sens, cela nous permet d’avancer un peu plus vite. » À la place de la méthode classique utilisée par l’industrie consistant à extraire le lithium par évaporation, le projet de Clayton Valley South aurait recours à un procédé relativement nouveau d’extraction par solvant permettant d’améliorer l’efficience, de réduire les délais de production et d’atténuer les incidences environnementales. En vue de la mise en service de la mine, Patrick Highsmith, géochimiste et ingénieur de formation, prévoit tirer

May • Mai 2016 | 81

parti de ses 25 années d’expérience dans les secteurs de l’exploration, de l’exploitation et du développement des affaires, ainsi qu’à la direction de plus de 200 projets dans diverses sociétés dont Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Newmont et Lithium One. L’une des premières tâches entreprises par M. Highsmith après avoir pris les rênes de la société début mars a consisté à préparer un échéancier pour la remise de l’évaluation économique préliminaire, qui est attendue cet été. La société a déjà retenu les services d’une équipe technique chargée de mettre sur pied l’évaluation économique préliminaire. L’entente conclue par Pure Energy avec Tesla est l’une de deux ententes conditionnelles de fourniture d’hydroxyde de lithium à la « Gigafactory » de Tesla où une capacité de pro-

duction annuelle de batteries de 35 gigawattheures est prévue d’ici 2020. « Lorsque vous avez un client comme celui-là en attente, cela envoie un signal vraiment fort au reste de l’industrie », souligne M. Highsmith, qui connaît bien les aspects à la fois techniques et commerciaux de l’industrie minière. « La formation technique est importante, car vous devez visualiser ce gisement de lithium ainsi que la façon dont il se forme et comment l’explorer », ajoute-t-il, « mais j’ai aussi dirigé l’expansion de sociétés d’exploration – conclu des marchés avec des petites sociétés – à Newmont, et à cette époque, j’ai beaucoup appris sur les marchés financiers, sur la façon de structurer les ententes et sur les relations entre les petites – AnDrew SeAle et les grandes sociétés. »

10 MATHIEYA ALATINI www.archbould.com

Chef de la Première Nation Kluane

n février 2015, la Première Nation Kluane (PNK) de Burwish Landing, dans le sud-ouest du Yukon, a signé une entente de 583 000 $ avec le ministère territorial Énergie, Mines et Ressources afin de recueillir des données géophysiques sur les territoires traditionnels de la Nation. Le partenariat, facilité par la Chef Mathieya Alatini et Scott Kent, ministre de l’Énergie, des Mines et des Ressources du Yukon, était enthousiasmant pour les deux parties. Un levé aéroporté a permis à la PNK de découvrir que des ressources offrant des possibilités économiques étaient enfouies sous ses terres et le gouvernement du Yukon a obtenu une meilleure compréhension de la géologie de la région. « Ce fut avantageux pour tout le monde », a déclaré M. Kent. « C’est ce que je retire de mon expérience de collaboration avec la Chef Alatini. » Reconnue pour son approche directe et son style de gestion privilégiant la diplomatie, la Chef Alatini a fait preuve d’audace en ouvrant des perspectives d’avenir pour favoriser l’indépendance et la prospérité de sa collectivité. Quand elle a été élue Chef pour la première fois en 2010, il était évident qu’elle croyait que le fait de cultiver une relation positive et fructueuse avec le secteur minier était une étape importante vers l’indépendance économique de la PNK.

82 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

« Je suis réellement heureux de collaborer avec elle », a affirmé M. Kent. « Elle est une véritable chef de file pour la PNK, et son peuple peut être fier d’elle […] et du travail que cette Première Nation a su accomplir. » En 2012, elle et son équipe ont publié un document intitulé Proponents Engagement Guide (Guide d’engagement des promoteurs) à la suite d’un sommet sur le secteur minier que la PNK avait organisé au début de 2011 et auquel ont participé des représentants de l’industrie, des gouvernements et de la Commission géologique du Yukon. L’objectif de ce guide est d’établir des définitions et des attentes claires pour toutes les entités désireuses de discuter de possibilités d’engagement avec la PNK. Décrivant la Chef Alatini comme étant une personne « très pratique et avide de connaissances sur le secteur minier », M. Kent a fait remarquer que l’Exploration Cooperation & Benefits Agreement (entente de coopération et de retombées en matière d’exploration) de la PNK avec Wellgreen Platinum à l’égard de son gisement d’ÉGP-nickel illustre parfaitement bien l’engagement de la Chef Alatini qui souhaite créer des débouchés économiques pour sa collectivité. – KAtelyn SpiDle

Avec l’amiable authorisation de Pretium Resources

dans la

VALLEE DES ROIS PAR VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN

Le projet Brucejack est situé à 1 330 mètres d’altitude.

u-delà de la limite forestière des montagnes du nord-ouest de la C.-B., le projet Brucejack de Pretium Resources promet de redorer le blason de l’industrie minière de la province. Les dépassements de coûts dans l’industrie de l’exploitation aurifère sont devenus si fréquents que les investisseurs ont toutes les raisons de n’accorder aucune confiance aux estimations des études de faisabilité. Le projet Brucejack, en Colombie-Britannique (C.-B.), évolue cependant dans la direction opposée à mesure que la construction avance, comprimant ses coûts d’investissements en optant pour les solutions les plus sensées dans un contexte de concurrence extrême au niveau du matériel et des fournisseurs et dans un marché des devises favorable. Depuis que la société Pretium Resources de Vancouver a publié son étude de faisabilité pour le projet Brucejack en milieu d’année 2014, les coûts d’investissements estimés du projet ont diminué de 14 % pour atteindre 641 millions $ US. Ce chiffre ne tient pas compte des 56 millions $ US en fonds de roulement mis de côté pour le démarrage au cas où les versements d’or seraient retardés. L’estimation concernant la part allouée à la mine souterraine a baissé de 33 %, pour atteindre environ 101 millions $ US. L’important est d’agir au bon moment. « Pour nous, le bon côté du ralentissement économique que connaît l’industrie est

que de nombreux particuliers et sociétés cherchent du travail ; ainsi, le processus de mise en candidature pour le contrat de travail concernant la mine souterraine s’est révélé très compétitif, et nous avons réussi à obtenir des conditions satisfaisantes de la part d’un entrepreneur renommé, Cementation Canada », déclarait Joseph Ovsenek, président de Pretium. Les estimations des études de faisabilité tenaient compte d’un taux de change à 0,92 $ US pour 1 $ CA, mais la valeur du dollar canadien a depuis bien chuté. Les taux de conversion réels, qui incluent des centaines de millions de dollars en financement par emprunts ou capitaux propres, se rapprochent davantage d’un taux de change à 0,75 $ US pour 1 $ CA. Les économies de devises avoisinent 145 millions $ US, ce qui vient compenser les coûts plus élevés liés à la surveillance de l’environnement, aux constructions hivernales et aux heurespersonnes supplémentaires.

Combler le déficit de financement Pretium célèbre aussi un tournant majeur en matière de financement dans un marché par ailleurs extrêmement rude pour les sociétés minières. Début mars, la société a obtenu les derniers 130 millions $ US nécessaires pour finaliser la construction du projet Brucejack grâce à une offre publique de vente à 4,58 $ US par action. Cette offre a suivi un financement de 540 millions $ US qui consistait en une dette de 350 millions $ US, un paiement anticipé de 150 millions $ US dans le cadre d’un accord d’écoulement de l’or et de l’argent ainsi qu’un placement privé d’actions de 40 millions $ US. Les investisseurs ont ouvert leurs bourses après que Brucejack ait May • Mai 2016 | 83

Avec l’amiable authorisation de Pretium Resources

Les aménagements souterrains sont effectués par Cementation Canada.

reçu les derniers permis des gouvernements provincial et fédéral au second semestre 2015. « C’est une période très intéressante », déclarait M. Ovsenek à l’équipe du CIM Magazine après son retour à Vancouver suite à une visite sur le site fin mars. « Les plus gros travaux de terrassement se terminent, les fondations du campement permanent sont posées et la construction de notre usine de concentration va bientôt commencer. D’ici le deuxième semestre l’année prochaine, le concentrateur devrait être opérationnel et nous devrions atteindre le stade de production commerciale d’ici la fin de l’année 2017 », indiquait-il. Avec une teneur moyenne de 14,1 grammes par tonne (g/t), Brucejack est le projet en développement affichant la plus haute teneur en or dans le monde, bien au-delà des teneurs des deux autres projets les mieux placés, à savoir Yaramoko de Roxgold au Burkina Faso (11,8 g/t) et Hope Bay de TMAC Resources dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest (7,7 g/t). La durée de vie de la mine souterraine est estimée à 18 années, durant lesquelles elle produira 504 000 onces d’or par an au cours des huit premières années et 404 000 onces par an au cours des années suivantes, pour des coûts décaissés réels de maintien de 446 $ US/once d’or (net des revenus de la vente d’argent).

Optimiser le schéma de traitement Les zones minéralisées de Brucejack sont bien définies, et la métallurgie (de l’électrum à grains grossiers) se prête bien à la séparation par gravité, aussi l’exploitation et le traitement miniers seront relativement simples. Une descenderie accessible à partir d’un portique en surface situé près du concentrateur donnera accès à deux gisements, à savoir la vallée des rois et la zone Ouest. Le minerai sera extrait à un taux de 2 700 tonnes par jour (t/j) par la méthode d’exploitation en chambre vide par longs trous (LHOS, de l’anglais long hole open stoping), principalement par LHOS transversale, puis envoyé vers un broyeur situé à 1 330 mètres (m) d’altitude. Aucune cheminée à minerai 84 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

ne sera installée ; par contre, une flotte composée de chargeurstransporteurs et de camions transportera le matériau des diverses zones de travail vers un système interne de plan incliné. Pretium procédera au remblai des chambres vides en mélangeant une pâte épaisse formée de résidus miniers non classifiés à un liant. Au niveau des bords pleins à l’ouest du plan de la mine, là où le gisement effleure la faille Brucejack, les récupérations devraient baisser à environ 75 %, mais cette roche plus fracturée ne constitue que 4 % du corps minéralisé. Une structure composée de boulons, de treillis métallique soudé et de béton projeté fibreux sera installée de manière à assurer le développement à travers la zone de la faille Brucejack. L’une des difficultés que rencontre Pretium concerne le taux de variation entre la minéralisation à haute teneur (dépassant parfois 1 000 g/t) et le stockwerk environnant, dont la teneur est plus faible. Les données d’entrée de l’étude de faisabilité pour la vallée des rois comprennent un total de 218 127 mètres de forage souterrain et en surface. Pour mieux appréhender la distribution de la teneur à des fins d’aménagement de la mine, la société a lancé en 2015 un programme de forage intercalaire souterrain de plus de 60 000 mètres de forage en éventail, dont les centres étaient espacés de 7,5 à 10 mètres. L’objectif est de forer près des chambres qui seront exploitées de la première à la troisième année. « En définitive, nous devrons commencer l’exploitation pour vraiment saisir ce dont est fait ce gisement, et il n’y a pas de formule miracle pour y arriver », expliquait M. Ovsenek. « Ainsi, nous assisterons la première année à une variation sur le court terme, mais à mesure que nous exploitons le gisement, la teneur deviendra plus prévisible. » Un échantillon grossier de 10 000 tonnes a montré qu’un schéma de traitement reposant sur la concentration par gravité et la flottation est bien adapté aux variations de la minéralisation et à la large gamme de teneurs de l’alimentation. D’après le schéma de traitement, un système de transport amènera le minerai broyé jusqu’à un broyeur semi-autogène (broyeur SAG) et un broyeur à boulets en surface. Le minerai sera broyé en grains de 90 microns. Le matériau qui en résultera passera par un dispositif de concentration gravimétrique afin d’extraire l’or et l’argent vierges. La concentration par gravité permettra à Pretium de récupérer environ 45 % de son or afin de produire des lingots d’argent aurifère que la société pourra directement vendre à des affineurs. Les roches restantes seront traitées dans des cellules de flottation, concentrées à moins de 10 % de leur masse initiale et envoyées vers des affineries et des négociants en métaux. Les récupérations d’or totales sont estimées à 96,7 %.

Se frayer un chemin à travers le glacier Le projet Brucejack est situé au cœur des montagnes et des vallées du nord-ouest de la Colombie-Britannique, qui regorgent de glaciers. Pour atteindre le projet de la plus proche autoroute, Pretium a dû rénover une route d’accès de 73 kilomètres (km) qui traverse la région du Nass ainsi que le bras principal du glacier Knipple, en fort recul, sur les 12 derniers kilomètres. En hiver, la dernière portion de route peut être tas-

Avec l’amiable authorisation de Pretium Resources

profil de projet

Le campement, qui peut accueillir 330 personnes, sera terminé cette année.

sée à l’aide de dameuses, mais en été, la route est vitrifiée de verglas. Le glacier est en constant mouvement ; il gèle et dégèle, et les crevasses en résultant représentent un danger pour les véhicules tout terrain comme pour les piétons. Pour entretenir la route et s’assurer qu’elle soit praticable en toute sécurité, particulièrement sur cette section, Pretium a fait appel aux services de Tsetsaut Ventures, une société contractante dirigée par la Première Nation Skii km Lax Ha qui a revendiqué des droits dans la région. « Les environs du glacier doivent être constamment entretenus. Tsetsaut Ventures fait du bon travail, elle nivelle la route, la nettoie en hiver et rebouche les crevasses », indiquait M. Ovsenek. « L’équipe de Tsetsaut Ventures est sensible aux répercussions possibles sur l’environnement du glacier, car c’est un point qui tient beaucoup à cœur à cette Première Nation. » Outre l’entretien de la route d’accès, Tsetsaut Ventures fournit les camions et engins de terrassement, gère les campements et assure d’autres services. Le groupe des Premières Nations collabore avec Pretium depuis l’acquisition de Brucejack et du projet voisin Snowfield en 2010 par la petite société minière ; de toute évidence, les deux parties entretiennent des relations fondées sur le respect.

Prolonger la durée de vie de la mine M. Ovsenek n’hésite pas à qualifier Brucejack de projet « favorable à la société » et on peut facilement comprendre pourquoi. Ce gisement est une occurrence épithermale d’or et d’argent de type transitionnel abritée dans des filons entrecroisés en stockwerk qui se sont formés lorsqu’un système porphyrique a introduit des fluides magmatiques dans les voies d’accès menant au terrain de recouvrement. La probabilité de trouver d’autres sources d’or dans ce vaste système hydrothermique est élevée. Outre les réserves prouvées et probables de 16,5 millions de tonnes à une teneur de 14,1 g/t d’or, Brucejack contient des res-

sources de 15,3 millions d’onces d’or dans la principale zone de la vallée des rois et dans la zone Ouest, plus petite, située à 500 mètres au nord. La vallée des rois est actuellement définie sur une longueur de 1 200 m et une profondeur de 650 m. La zone de réserves définies ne couvre qu’environ 450 m de la découverte et s’ouvre à l’est et à l’ouest en longueur et en profondeur. En 2015, Pretium a mené un programme d’exploration régionale qui comprenait 20 000 mètres de forage pour cibler une minéralisation de type porphyrique et épithermique à l’est de la zone du projet. Ce programme a permis de prolonger l’étendue longitudinale de la minéralisation de la vallée des rois de 1 000 m à l’est, jusqu’à la zone baptisée Flow Dome. Les intersections ont révélé une teneur non coupée de 2 100 g/t d’or sur 2,05 m, dont une teneur non coupée de 8 600 g/t d’or sur 0,5 m. « Nous avons commencé par forer la zone Flow Dome comme cible distincte, mais nous avons recoupé une minéralisation du même type que celle de la vallée des rois », indiquait M. Ovsenek. « Nos géologues ont étudié la carotte et l’emplacement de la minéralisation, et sont pratiquement persuadés qu’il s’agit d’un prolongement de la vallée des rois. Une fois que nous commencerons la phase de production, nous nous rendrons sur place par voie souterraine et installerons des stations de forage pour confirmer cette théorie. » Quant à son projet Snowfield au nord, qui offre de multiples possibilités d’exploitation à fort tonnage avec des ressources d’environ 26 millions d’onces d’or et 3 milliards de livres de cuivre, Pretium le garde de côté pour une période plus favorable aux marchés des marchandises. « Snowfield pourrait devenir un projet intéressant à développer si le prix de l’or s’améliore et le prix du cuivre remonte », expliquait M. Ovsenek. « Cependant, au vu des prix actuels, nous menons les travaux de base sur l’environnement sur le site de Snowfield, mais nous concentrons nos efforts sur le projet Brucejack. » ICM May • Mai 2016 | 85

technical abstracts

CIM Journal Abstracts from CIM Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2.

Paragenesis of fluorspar deposits on the southern Burin Peninsula, Newfoundland, Canada J. H. Reeves, Newspar, St. Lawrence, Newfoundland; B. A. Sparkes, Canada Fluorspar (NL) Inc., St. Lawrence, Newfoundland; and N. Wilson, Newspar, St. Lawrence, Newfoundland

The St. Lawrence Granite hosts vein-type fluorite mineralization that was mined until 1977. Recent drilling identified a significant fluorite-bearing structure hosted in adjacent meta-sedimentary country rocks. Several phases of vein fill and brecciation indicate there are three phases of fluorite mineralization, of which the later two phases are volumetrically significant. The earliest fluorite is purple and occurs along joint and fracture surfaces, in fault-breccia matrices, and as stockwork veins. The second phase comprises primarily red, yellow, blue-green, and white colours of fluorite. The latest phase is green with lesser clear fluorite. Identification of fluorite veins in the meta-sedimentary rocks opens up new areas for exploration.

Application of cave-scale rock degradation models in the imaging of the seismogenic zone J. M. Reyes-Montes, SeisQ Consulting, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, United Kingdom; B. L. Sainsbury, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; J. R. Andrews, Caltech Seismo Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA; and R. P. Young, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Microseismic monitoring provides insight into the location and extent of rock-mass fracturing induced by cave mining, enabling interpretation of the cave profile and validation of predictive numerical models. Source location uncertainties can lead to misinterpretation of the inferred characteristics of the fracture network. One principal source of uncertainty is the velocity model used to invert the location algorithm. Large-scale 3D numerical models of modulus changes across a caved mass can represent such complexities in the location algorithms, allowing more accurate interpretation of the microseismic activity. A Northparkes mine case study applies this advanced approach to microseismic data interpretation.

Designing steel for ground-support applications in underground mines M. R. P. Snow, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

This paper outlines geotechnical conditions that commonly exist in underground, hardrock mines and the challenges posed for ground-support steel, specifically rockbolts, used in these environments. A model is proposed whereby the in-situ stress and rock-mass classifications (based on Bieniawski’s rock mass rating) form the basis of determining the desired steel properties of the rockbolts used. Based on the ASTM F432 bolting specification, recommended minimum steel properties are defined for three ranges of in-situ stress levels, each with their own six ranges of RMR values. Heat treatment for the steel can be specified once these minimum steel properties are known.

Subscribe at www.cim.org

2&72%(5 68'%85< &$1 1$'$

r /2 " $,

/ + ,9 "3 ! 5" 21&3" &/" 1,/ ,,!* + %,,) ,# &+"08 2/"+1& + +&3"/0&16

3/(1$5< 6(66,21 1

/($',1* $1' 0$1$ $*,1* ,1 $ 92/$7 $7,/( (&21 120< +RZ PXVW FRPSDQLHV OHDG DQG PDQDJH WKHLU RUJDQL]DWLRQV WKURXJK WKLV OHQJWK\ PDUNHW GRZQWXUQ" +RZ GRHV RQH FKDUW D SDWK DQG FRPPLW WR LWV H[HFXWLRQ ZKHQ WKH SDWK LWVHOI LV IUDJLOH" :KHQ FDSLWDO DYRLGDQFH LV WKH IRFXV KRZ FDQ IXQGLQJ EH VHFXUHG WR PDLQWDLQ D VDIH DQG UHOLDEOH RSHUDWLRQ" +RZ FDQ HQGHDYRXUV IRU FRVW FXWWLQJ EH UHVSRQVLEO\ EDODQFHG ZLWK PDLQWDLQLQJ WKH FRPSDQ\ V VNLOOHG ZRUNIRUFH"

7KH 0(02 SOHQDU\ VHVVLRQ ZLOO SURYLGH LQVLJKW WR WKHVH TXHVWLRQV

$1' 1' 0 08 8& &+ + 025 25( (

&RQILUPHG SDQHOLVVWV 0,&+$(/ :,16+,3 ,QWHULP 3UHVLGHQW &(2 5XELFRQ 0LQHUDOV V &RUSRUDWLRQ 3UHVLGHQW (OH LG OHFW &,0 0LFKDHO : :LLQVKLS LS Z ZD DV D DS SSRLQWHG WR WKH UROH RI 3UHVLGH HQW DQG &KLHI ([ ( [HFXWLYH YH 2II IILFHUU RQ DQ LQWHULP EDVLV LV LQ 2FWREHU 3ULRU WR KLV DSSRLQWPHQW 0LFFKDHO KDV EHHQ D 'LUHFWRU RI WKH FRP PSDQ\ VLQFH +H KDV RYYH HU \\H HDUV UVÃ&#x2030; H[S [SHULHQFH LQ PLQH GHYH YH HORSPHQW W RSHUDWLRQV DQG FRUS F USRUDWH EXVLQHVV

678$57 +$5 56+$: 9LFH 3UHVLGHQ QW 2QWDULR 2SHUDWLRQV 9DOH 6WXDUW UW +DUV UVKDZ LV WKH 9 9LLFH 3UH UHVLGHQW RI 9 9D DOHÃ&#x2030;V 2QWDULR RSHUDWL WLRQV DFFRXQWDEOH IIR RU 9 9D DOHÃ&#x2030;V VL[ L[ PLQHV PLOO VPHOWH W U DQG UHIILLQHU\ U\ R RS SHUDWLRQV LQ 6XGE GEXU\ U\ DQG 3 3RUW UW &ROE OERUQH 2QWDULR

3(7(5 ;$9,(5 9LFH 3UHVLGHQ QW 6XGEXU\ ,12 $ *OHQFRUH &RPSDQ\ 3HWHU ;DYL YLHU LLVV 9 9LLFH 3UHVLGHQW RI *OHQFRUHÃ&#x2030;V 6XGE GEXU\ U\ ,QWHJUDWHG 1LFNHO 2SHUDWLRQ QV 6 6XGE GEXU\ U\ ,12

2 3UHYL YLRXVO\ O\ 3HWHU Z ZD DV 'LUH UHFWRU RI 1LFNHO 5LP 6RXWK K 0LQH IIR RU 6XGE GEXU\ U\ ,12 Z ZK KHUH KH KDG WKH RYH YHUDOO DFFRXQWDELOLW\ W\ IIR RU WKH FRQWLQXHG GHOLYHU\ U\ RI RSHUDWLRQDO H[FHOOHQFH DW WKLV LV PLQH ZKLFK E EHFDPH DQ RSHUDWLRQ LQ

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

*HQHUDO &R &KDLUV

-R $QQH %RXFKHU 9LFH 3UHVLGHQW &,0 &HQWUDO 'LVWULFW 7UDQJ 7UDQ 9DODGH &KDLU &,0 6XGEEXU\ %UDQFK

0(02 &,0 25* 0(02 &,0 25*

marketplace

BELLEDUNE PORT AUTHORITY Situated on the Bay of Chaleur in northeastern New Brunswick, the port facilities are located in a rural area with no congestion. Belledune has an artificial harbor equipped with a breakwater, 4 terminals and 6 berths. The port has multi-type cargo facilities, including one of the most modern roll on- roll off and general cargo terminals in Atlantic Canada. More than 2 million metric tonnes of bulk, breakbulk and project cargo flow through the port every year. Since 2009 over $80 million in infrastructure improvements were made, including a new roll on-roll off/barge terminal, 27 acres of storage adjacent to the terminals and a new Modular Component Fabrication Facility. The Fabrication Facility has a 19.8 meter clear height and is equipped with two 20 tonne overhead cranes, 20 welding stations and is located along a straight 1.6km route from the port terminals. This industrial zoned site provides unlimited possibilities for fabrication, metal working, assembly, and storage allowing you to save time and money at eastern Canada’s mining port. www.portofbelledune.ca

ɥ' 2ɥ ##-ɥ(-ɥ3'#ɥ 4+*ɥ 3#1( +ɥ -"+(-%ɥ 42(-#22 for over 50 years and has supplied equipment for projects all over the world for mining, forestry, fertilizer, dock handling and many other industries. IEM specializes in: ƭɥ /1.-ɥ ##"#12ɥ ƭɥ #+3ɥ .-5#8.12ɥƭɥ #+3ɥ ##"#12ɥ ƭɥ (%'ɥ -%+#ɥ .-5#8.12ɥ ƭɥ 1(-"(-%ɥ ++ɥ -"+(-%ɥ 823#,2

ɥƙƎƎƏƨɥƐƎƎƘɥ 1 3 $ "

ƏƎƙƦɥƏƙƓƑƑɥǈɥƙƖ3'ɥ 5#ƥɥ 411#8Ʀɥ ɥǑɥƖƎƓǈƕƏƑǈƕƐƏƖ 7ƨɥƖƎƓǈƕƏƑǈƙƙƎƕɥǑɥ52 -3(23# -Ǟ(#,ƥ! ɥǑɥ666ƥ(#,ƥ!

Reduce Costs and Increase Efficiencies Mining & Metallurgical Expertise Teaching, Coaching and Project Execution www.AnalyzeandImprove.com contact@AnalyzeandImprove.com 88 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Courtesy of Rio Tinto

ad index

ADVERTISERS 9 18 35 3 30 49 28 16 74, 89 41 26 4 50 32 33 31 7 29 40 39 43 20

Ames Construction Ltd. BKT Tires (USA) Inc. BME Breaker Technology Carlo Gavazzi Canada Inc. Cementation DMC Mining Services Doppelmayr Transport Technology Dovetail Communications Inc. DRA Global FLSmidth USA Inc FWS Group of Companies Genome B.C. Goldcorp Golder Associates Herrenknecht Hitachi Mining HLS Hard-Line Solutions Independent Mining Consultants J.H. Fletcher & Co. Knight Piesold Les Industries Fournier

23 58 64 15 IFC 13 34 24 19 25 OBC 47 IBC 45 27 11 67 46 88

Liebherr Luff Industries Ltd. Minova Motion Industries Co-op Orica USA Petro-Canada PR Engineering Redpath Group Richwood Rousseau Metal Sandvik Mining & Construction SRK Consulting SSAB Telsmith, Inc. Tunnel Radio Weir Minerals North America Westbay Instruments Xylem Water Solutions Marketplace

IN THE NEXT ISSUE METALLURGY The sweet science of separation •

FEATURE Properly managing a mine’s environmental impact is key to a successful operation •

MATERIALS HANDLING

Analyze and Improve Belledune Port Authority Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Jim Pattison Lease

Moving ore from mine to mill for efficient production

You have digital advertising options WEB

DIR RECT

+ CIM.org earned 1.35 3 million pageviews last year

DIGIT TAL

Delivered to 13, 1 000+ mining professionals’’ inboxes biweekly

magazzine.cim.org is accessed by 3,3 300 visitors per month

to expand your reach h Janet Jeffery jjeffery@dvtail.com 905.707.3529

Neal Y Young oung nyoung@dvtail.com 905.707.3525

Advertise with us!

Source: Google Analytics 2015, MailChimp Reports 2016

May • Mai 2016 | 89

Mining Lore Western gold for a Northern victory By Kate Sheridan

he American Civil War was a time of great unrest in the The government’s debts could only be repaid in gold at the young country; the nation was torn apart and loyalties time – before the Civil War, the federal government did not were tested. And although the newly-admitted state of issue paper bills – so the Union needed a great deal of gold to California was unable to contribute much in the way of sol- pay for supplies including weapons, food and uniforms for its diers given its distance from the army of two million soldiers. eastern battlefields, it did play a It is unclear exactly who was When carpenter John Marshall struck gold at Captain John Sutter’s saw mill (pictured), it marked the beginning of the hand in helping to finance the behind the decision to move California Gold Rush. Union’s eventual victory, thanks gold from California to the to the local mining industry. East Coast, but move it did. In January 1848, a carpenter Ships left the Port of San named James Marshall struck Francisco once or twice a gold while working at Captain month with between $1 and John Sutter’s saw mill east of $2 million in 1860s U.S. dolSacramento in Coloma, Califorlars of gold on board. During nia. “Marshall took a rag from 1864 alone, $46 million of his pocket, showing me the yelgold was sent east. In addilow metal: he had about two tion to supplies, the gold ounces of it; but how quick Mr. may also have supported the M. put the yellow metal in his government’s currency as pocket again can hardly be more paper money came off described,” Sutter later wrote. the presses. California gold Sutter tested the quality of the metal with “aqua fortis” – nitric miners also contributed 25 per cent of the total raised for the acid – and “declared this to be gold of the finest quality, of at Sanitary Commission, an organization that paid for medical least 23 carats.” care for Union casualties, in individual donations. Marshall’s find was not particularly significant for its time; “I do not know what we would do in this great national gold had already been found at San Fernando, near present- emergency were it not for the gold sent from California,” day Los Angeles in southern California. But as more and more Union General – and future U.S. President – Ulysses S. Grant gold was found in northern California throughout 1848, said. rumours began to spread. Gold was the essence of California’s wartime contributions; In an address to Congress in December, President James it was too far away from the battlefield to send a useful number Polk confirmed those rumours – and the following year, 1849, of troops. An anonymous writer noted in an 1862 article in the became synonymous with prospectors heading west to make New York Times, “[Californians’] loyalty has always been their fortune. above reproach. They have done us the honor to sympathize Gold became the foundation of the California economy at with us in our troubles. California leads all her sisters of the the time. During the 1848-1855 Gold Rush, California mines Union, and wins as much glory as she could by fighting.” produced 11 million ounces of gold. Some miners tried to But the shipments from San Francisco did not go unnoticed exchange it for goods and services as a currency, though gold by Confederate sympathizers, who hatched several unsuccessdust was difficult to measure, and the purity of nuggets and ful plots to intercept the gold coming out of California. dust widely varied. Eventually a more reliable system of priA schooner called J.M. Chapman was seized by the San Franvate banking emerged, whereby these banks would exchange cisco police and U.S. government officials as a possible privateer gold for paper notes. ship in March 1863. Contemporary reports speculated the priWhen war broke out in 1861, the American govern- vateers may have wanted to take over the Oregon, a steamer ment’s finances – and its ability to pay for a war – were also ship, and use that vessel to confront Union treasure ships. tied to gold. The gold from California dodged the privateers and The Civil War cost the northern Union states $59 billion in enriched the Union, but Sutter was not so lucky. While the 2011 U.S. dollars, making it the most expensive war in the his- land where Sutter’s saw mill stood is registered as a state history of the country at the time. The Confederate states, made toric landmark, and the first flake of gold Marshall found is up of the thirteen Southern states that seceded between now stored at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, December 1860 and November 1861, spent over $20 billion. D.C., Sutter himself died in 1880, penniless. CIM United States Library of Congress, cph.3c37164

90 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

TH HERE IS ONL LY L Y ONE HARDOX X ®

Genuine Hardox H only comes from the Nordic steel company SSAB. Hardox has fo or more than 40 years set s the standard for extreme eme wear resistance e and extreme toughness. You can always tell it’s an original Hardox H wear plate from m the marking printed over er every plate’s surface.

The marrking will also tell which steel eel batch it comes frrom, the serial number, itss length, width and thickness. It’s like each Hardox ox wear plate having itts own passport. Just by looking, ooking, you know you are getting the real thing. ng. Learn more about the world’s only y Hardox wear plate at hardox.com

Co Va C me nc IM an ou E d s ve xp ee r, o 2 us bo 0 a ot 16 t th h in e #1 42 1! SSAB Montréal, QC C T +1 514 364 4 1752 Toronto, ON N T +1 416 527 7 0309 T +1 705 690 0 8863 Calgary, AB T +1 403 869 9 5601 Vancouver, BC T +1 604 526 6 3700 contactcana ada@ssab.com

www.harrdox.com

TRUST THE NUMBERS SANDVIK 365. EXPERTS YOU CAN COUNT ON. People tell you stories about quality, commitment and innovation. But for the real story, take a close look at the numbers. With Sandvik 365, you can rely on our highly trained expert engineers to get you the right parts and services to ensure safe operation, low operating costs and service intervals that can be extended by as much as 50%. Want to know what you can count on saving with Sandvik 365? Find out more at mining.sandvik.com/sandvik365.

Test results are to be considered as results reached under certain and controlled test conditions. or represent the outcome of test results in any or all circumstances.

MINING.SANDVIK.COM