INDUSTRY AND TRADES FALL/WINTER 2021
INDUSTRY IN OUR REGION EDUCATION EDITION
SCHOOLS & TRAINING CENTRES BCIT www.bcit.ca
Kwantlen Polytechnic University www.kpu.ca
Thompson Rivers University www.tru.ca
Camosun College www.camosun.ca
Nicola Valley Institute of Technology www.nvit.ca
University of the Fraser Valley www.ufv.ca
Coast Mountain College www.coastmountaincollege.ca College of New Caledonia www.cnc.bc.ca College of the Rockies www.cotr.bc.ca E&R Professional Driver Training www.erprodrive.com Electrical Industry Training www.eiti.bc.ca Fox Professional Driver Training www.foxpro.bc.ca Industry Training Authority www.itabc.ca
North Island College www.nic.bc.ca Northern Lights College www.nlc.bc.ca
Okanagan College www.okanagan.bc.ca Piping Industry Training www.uapicbc.ca Selkirk College www.selkirk.ca
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Features BUSINESSBRIEFS
PG 4-5
Canfor invests in new biofuel plant in BC
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FOCUS ON EDUCATION
PG 8
Growing new markets for forestry products
PG 13
Patience is golden for B.C. mining company
PG 14
B.C. wood to help fuel clean power initiative in U.K.
PG 16
B.C. investors behind major mine restart in Yukon
PG 18
EDUCATION EDITION
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BUSINESSBRIEFS people, products & partnerships TECK CONSIDERING SELLING COAL ASSETS
STRONG PORT TRADE HELPED B.C.’S NORTH THROUGH PANDEMIC: STUDY Strong trade through the Port of Prince Rupert has helped offset pandemic economic dampening. (Business in Vancouver file photo by Rob Kruyt)
Gas Ltd., Pembina Pipeline, RayMont Logistics, Quickload Logistics, Coast 2000 Terminals, Gat Leedm Logistics, Vopak Canada and the International Longshore & Warehouse Union.
Jeremy Hainsworth - BIV One of Teck’s metallurgical coal mines near Sparwood. (Teck handout image) Nelson Bennet - Business In Vancouver
Teck Resources is considering selling its metallurgical coal assets, says a report by Bloomberg News. The Vancouver headquartered mining company’s biggest and most valuable business has historically been metallurgical coal -used for making steel -- though it also owns copper and zinc mines, as well as a share of the Fort Hills oil sands mine. Earler this year, Teck produced a climate change outlook that
sketches out its plans to become carbon neutral by 2050. The plan sees the company more focused on growing its copper business -copper being an essential metal in the energy transition. Bloomberg reports that “people with knowledge of the matter” have said the company is now weighing options for “a sale or spinoff” of its metallurgical coal business. Teck owns four met coal mines in the Elk Valley region of B.C.
The Port of Prince Rupert Gateway Council’s study, released September 22, shows strong employment benefits associated with the movement of trade through Prince Rupert. Over the last decade, the movement of goods to and from international markets through Prince Rupert has increased by more than 100 per cent to a record 32.4 million tonnes of cargo in 2020, thanks to the vast contributions of Gateway partners.
The study found pandemic impacts were particularly acute in tourismrelated businesses tied to cruise ship and ferry visitors, but also affected containerized cargo volumes and related employment numbers. Growth in cargoes and terminals related to coal, wood pellets and propane were important counterweights and highlighted the value of cargo diversification moving through the port.
Gateway council members include the Prince Rupert Port Authority, CN, Ridley Terminals Inc., Prince Rupert Grain, DP World Canada, Pinnacle Renewable Energy, Alta-
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MICHELLE CARR NAMED NEW CEO OF OIL AND GAS COMMISSION Michelle Carr has been named the new CEO and commissioner of the BC Oil and Gas Commission. (BC Oil and Gas Commission handout photo) Dillon Giancola - BIV mental Assessment Office, and
Michelle Carr has been named the new CEO and commissioner of the BC Oil and Gas Commission.
The announcement comes following a four-month search after Paul Jeakins announced his retirement in April, the OGC said Tuesday. Carr comes to the OGC from the provincial energy ministry, where she has worked as the assistant deputy minister of the LNG Canada Implementation Secretariat since October 2018. Carr also spent almost four years as assistant deputy minister and executive lead for the BC Environ-
the OGC says she was chosen for her work in regulations, operations, and government engagement.
Carr holds a Master of Arts degree in Geography from the University of Victoria, as well as a Certificate in Advanced Leadership from the UBC Sauder School of Business Executive Program, the OGC said. Carr also worked as assistant deputy minister and general manager of the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, and oversaw the development of the province’s first-ever non-medical cannabis retail system, the OGC said.
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DEATH OF FOUNDER LEADS TO SALE OF LNG ASSETS Top Speed Energy was among the exhibitors at the Canada and LNG Conference and Exhibition in 2019. (Business in Vancouver file photo by Rob Kruyt) Nelson Bennet - BIV
Two new micro-LNG plants under development in Terrace and Prince Rupert and a fleet of containers for shipping liquefied natural gas domestically or overseas are up for sale, following the death of Jianrong Chen, the founder of the company that owns the assets. Top Speed Energy Canada Holding Ltd. has been planning the construction of two small LNG plants to serve both domestic markets and for exports to Asia. The proposed Skeena LNG plant in Terrace would produce 150,000 tonnes of LNG annually. A smaller
plant in Prince Rupert, Totem LNG, would produce 75,000 tonnes per year. Sayer says the plants are “scheduled to come into service in the fourth quarter of 2023 (Skeena) and the fourth quarter of 2024 (Totem) respectively.” According to the BC Oil and Gas Commission, neither the Skeena LNG nor Totem LNG projects are permitted yet, although a permit application is in play for the Skeena LNG project. Bids on the Top Speed assets were open until Oct. 7.
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CANFOR INVESTS IN NEW BIOFUEL PLANT IN BC Nelson Bennett - BIV
Australia’s Licella Fibre Fuels Pty Ltd. had earlier announced a new joint venture with Canfor and Royal Dutch Shell, though the Shell Catalysts and Technologies. The new joint venture, called Arbios Biotech, will use wood waste to produce “biocrude” at one of its pulp and paper mills in Prince George. The biofuel is expected to be used by Shell
at its oil upgraders. Arbios Biotech was formed to commercialize Licella’s CatHTR hydrothermal liquefaction technology to turn wood and other organic waste into renewable fuels, Licella said in a news release. Licella’s technology is an alternative to pyrolysis. It uses water and high pressure to turn organic waste into a variety of fuels, including biocrude.
The plant will use first-of-akind technology to convert sawmill residues into high value renewable biocrude
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“The plant will use first-of-akind technology to convert sawmill residues, primarily bark, into high value renewable biocrude which can be further processed in refineries to produce low-carbon transportation fuels,” Canfor said in a news release. The company did not disclose the capital cost of the new plant. “As part of our sustainability journey, Canfor is committed to growing our business to in-
clude bio-materials and bioinnovation to support a low carbon future,” Canfor president Don Kayne said in a news release. “Our decision, as part of the Arbios joint venture, to support investment in a stateof-the-art biomass to low carbon biofuel plant in British Columbia is a demonstration of our commitment. We are also building a Bio-Innovation team that will unlock the full value of each log by developing and commercializing new opportunities.”
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FOCUS ON EDUCATION
New program filling demand for civil engineering technologist in the north
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Their eyes just kind of lit up and they were so excited and proud of the work they did in the workforce
Professor Timothy Schwab demonstrates equipment in CNC’s Civil Engineering Technologist Lab. Hanna Petersen - Prince George Citizen The new two-year
Students in the first-ever cohort of a new civil engineering technologist program are already finding jobs and filling industry demand in the north.
College of New Caledonia (CNC) civil engineering technologist diploma, established in 2020, trains students to be ready to jump into a hands-on and varied career path.
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“Civil engineering technologists, I’d like to describe them as the informed eyes and ears of the engineer,” said program coordinator Timothy Schwab.
in a different field, and you can change roles within those fields. So if you talk to three or four engineering technologists at the end of their career, none of their careers will look the same.”
Civil Engineering Technology involves the planning, design and construction of roads, bridges, subdivisions, buildings, municipal services, and heavy infrastructure. They can do everything from surveying to lab testing, design, and inspecting and supervising, all within a variety of fields including construction, forestry, mining, oil and gas and transportation.
After initially deciding to take the program as an engineering stepping stone, second-year student Dustin Borschawa has instead decided to continue his career as a technologist.
They are an essential member of the engineering team who split their time between office and fieldwork, and, when on-site, may work in urban, rural, and remote settings. “That is the big advantage of civil engineering technology is my mind is that you’ve got multiple roles that you can do but also within multiple subdisciplines,” said Schwab. “You can get out and work in the field, transition to another company and work
“Being a tech helps, as you get to dabble in all the engineering fields to really see what you like and what you don’t like,” said Borschawa, who added he enjoys how hands-on the program is and how he’s being trained on the actual equipment he’ll be using in the workforce. Students were also connected with engineering firms for summer work experiences where they were mentored by local engineers. From this experience, Borschawa has already been offered a full-time position once he graduates in May. “Their eyes just kind of lit up and they were so INDUSTRY & TRADES | FALL/WINTER 2021
excited and proud of the work they did in the workforce,” said Schwab, adding that more than half of the students already have full-time job offers. “I talked to a couple of the employers in town who had hired them and they were getting rave reviews of the students saying they were taking so much workload off their plates.” Schwab says the industry has been struggling to find qualified civil engineering technologists to meet the workforce demand. This is a demand also recognized by the province, as it funded the development of the program to help meet industry demand. It’s now the first engineering technologist program to be offered north of Kamloops. This funding support also means CNC has been able to develop a state-ofthe-art lab for students to receive that hands-on experience.
“That is a unique thing about our program,” said Schwab. “We have brand new equipment, giant lab space and great learning aids for some of the theory.” Schwab is hoping more students realize the value of the new program and the opportunities a career as a civil engineering technologist can provide. “It is really exciting for me to see the potential for students who were to come into our program.” He said he doesn’t think the importance of the role of a civil engineering technologist is well known but it’s an exciting, entertaining and engaging career. “It is really an exciting time to get into the field because employment is somewhat easy. There’s not a lot of careers where you can go to school and already have a job lined up so I think that is pretty unique for us.”
This electric vehicle technology and safety course is FALL/WINTER 2021 | INDUSTRY & TRADES
WIRELESS SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN The resource and manufacturing sector is changing – get the skills you need to respond.
Become an Automotive Service Technician At the College of New Caledonia (CNC), we recognize the growing importance of electric cars the region we serve. Electric vehicles (EVs) are selling in record numbers, with more than 54,000 light-duty EVs now registered in BC. With that comes a higher demand for battery replacement and servicing. This led CNC to develop and offer a new electric vehicle technology and safety course, which will prepare automotive service technicians to safely diagnose and service high voltage EVs.
Think. Do. Become.
for certified automotive service technicians and registered automotive service technicians fourth year apprentices. The course includes a six hour online self-paced module, which is required in advance of 30 hours of classroom and hands-on skills training in the shop. CNC thanks the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation for funding this course by investing $100,000 into training, equipment, and tools at CNC. The goal is to make it easier and less expensive for EV owners to have their cars serviced locally.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence are rapidly changing the way resource companies operate remote facilities. The Wireless Systems Technician* (WIST) program introduces the skills needed to install, maintain, and repair wired and wireless communications networks and electronics equipment for use in natural resource and manufacturing environments.
If you’ve considered a career in electronics or electronic engineering, this program might be a great option for you! Classes start January 2022 for an 18-month condensed intake, or September 2022 for the two-year program.
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Preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s careers
Tyson Smith’s experience with, and interest in, new and emerging technologies was the spark that led him to College of the Rockies’ Wireless Systems Technician (WIST) diploma program. “As an avid gamer, I’ve seen and experienced incredible technological advancement while growing up, from the
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motion sensor bars to virtual reality,” he said. “With the rate at which technology has progressed, wireless technologies are an unavoidable part of the future. I’m excited to learn about all the internal workings of devices we use every day, and ones we will be using well into the future.”
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The work landscape is transforming rapidly, and automation is now part of industry’s everyday workplace language...
Tyson was one of the first students to enrol in the innovative WIST program, which aims to prepare graduates to install, maintain, and repair wired and wireless communications networks and electronics equipment for use in natural resource and manufacturing environments. In short, Tyson and his fellow students are preparing today for careers that can carry them long into the future. Lead instructor Dr. Oludare (Dare) Sokoya enthusiastically shares his extensive related educational background in electronic and electrical engineering with his students. Holding both a master’s degree and a PhD in Engineering, Dr. Sokoya worked in a variety of industries using wireless systems, especially in oil and gas, before joining the College to instruct the WIST program. “The work landscape is transforming rapidly, and automation is now part of industry’s everyday workplace language,” said Dr. Sokoya. “My goal is to ensure our students are ready for this emerging and exciting career path.” With women making up only 14 per cent of those currently working in the indus-
try, now is also an ideal time for female students to lean in and lead. “I have previous experience working as an IT Communications Technician in Suriname,” said Javiera Kuisma, another WIST student. “Technology is constantly evolving, so there is always something new to learn. This program is exactly what I needed. It has given me a deeper understanding.” Opportunities are anticipated for graduates of the WIST program due to the upcoming retirement wave and new job creation. WorkBC currently lists the annual provincial median salary for telecommunications installation and repair workers at $61,671. “Our students are on the forefront of this rapidly evolving work environment,” Dr. Sokoya added. “My students will leave WIST with a diverse set of technological skills they can use today and carry into the careers of tomorrow.” Interested students can apply now for the accelerated 18-month intake beginning January 2022, or the traditional two-year program in September. Learn more at: cotr.ca/WIST INDUSTRY & TRADES | FALL/WINTER 2021
Growing new markets for forestry products
Chunping Dai, professor at UBC’s department of wood science, studies applications for bamboo. (Conference screengrab image) Nelson Bennett - BIV
Given the carbon emissions intensity of steel and concrete, and the imperatives of addressing climate change, the market for engineered wood products in construction is expected to grow in the coming years. And as it grows and evolves, there may be added benefits for engineered wood manufactures to not only use locally grown timber, but to incorporate bamboo imported from places like Asia, Africa and South America as well.
That was one of the suggestions heard August 16 at the first day of a three-day virtual conference on forestry being held by the University of BC’s faculty of forestry. The Commonwealth Forestry Conference features speakers and experts from around the world to discuss the state of forestry around the world – from Brazil to New Zealand. Mass timber construction is expected to be a significant new market that will help regions like B.C. diversify its forest economy with higher val-
ued-added products, as decarbonisation policies for construction become more stringent around the world. “Wood-based products have to be considered as an integral part of our strategy to decarbonize economies and mitigate climate change,” said Ian De La Roche, a consultant and adjunct professor at UBC’s faculty of forestry. B.C. is already home to a number of engineered wood products manufacturers, including mass timber producers like Structurlam and Kalesnikoff Lumber. Mass timber is a type of engineered wood product typically made from compressed multiple layers of sawn lumber. While some high-rise buildings have been built using mass timber, the biggest market is likely to be mid-rise construction of buildings averaging five storeys, De La Roche said Monday at a session on new markets. “I think most of us agree that the sweet spot for urban construction going forward is going to be the midrise,” he said, adding about 700 midrise buildings have been built in the last five years using mass timber. While in North America engineered
wood products have used traditional woods like fir, spruce and pine, in Asia, bamboo is being used for a wide variety of engineered composites, like scrimber – a type of lumber made from a composite of crushed bamboo fiber bundles. Bamboo residuals can also be used in making biodegradable packaging to replace plastics, and bamboo composites can even be used to make water and utility pipes, instead of steel or plastic. One study in Taiwan showed bamboo is two to three times more efficient in sequestering carbon, compared to fir, said Chunping Dai, a professor at UBC’s department of wood science. “Bamboo has a lot of potential… as a replacement or supplement for wood as a building material,” Dai said. Dai said that both bamboo and conventional wood have their own advantages and shortcomings, so combining them in engineered wood products may capitalize on both of their strengths. “We believe there’s a potential for the two materials to come together,” Dai said.
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Patience is golden for B.C. mining company In 2016, Equinox Gold Corp.’s assets consisted of an inactive Brazilian gold mine. It is now B.C.’s fastest-growing company, according to BIV research (Equinox Gold Corp. submitted photo)
Albert Van Santvoort - BIV
During the worst pandemic in over a century, many companies are trying to stay above water and many would appreciate steady year-over-year revenue, let alone sales growth. The context of the pandemic makes Equinox Gold Corp.’s mind-boggling 96,081.2% revenue growth over five years even more amazing. Equinox Gold recorded the largest revenue growth on BIV’s top 100 fastest-growing list since 2013 and posted greater growth than all the first-place companies combined in the intervening years.
“We had this vision of creating a top 10 or 15 gold mining company in the world, and do it in a five-year period,” said Christian Milau, CEO of Equinox Gold. “We’re not quite there yet, but we’ve come a long way.” But how did the company grow from $1.18 million in revenue and an inactive Brazilian gold mine in 2016 to posting $1.13 billion in revenue and seven operating mines in 2020? Equinox Gold achieved this goal through a three-pronged approach: Growing and acquiring new mines, developing its mines and continued exploration. For the first three years
after taking over Luna Gold Corp., the company focused on acquiring mining assets through mergers and acquisitions. During this time it also set a goal of building one mine per year, which it accomplished. Now that Equinox Gold has built up its portfolio, Milau says it’s more about developing current holdings while still focusing on acquiring assets and exploration. Equinox Gold has focused on looking further down the horizon, taking the time and money to develop the mines it invests in, he said. “We’re not just here to buy assets,
flip them, make a bunch and walk away,” said Milau. “We’re here to build a company that’ll last beyond [our] lifetimes.” He added that luck also played a role in the company’s astronomical growth. Broadly, the gold mining industry has benefitted from gold prices, which have increased 75% from a low of $1,000 an ounce in 2016. Entering the market in 2016 and taking over Luna Gold Corp. during the low was fortuitous timing. However, success takes more than luck, and the only reason Equinox
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Gold was able to capitalize on that luck was because it had the right pieces in place, such as having capital at the low end of the mining cycle when investments typically dry up. Milau and his management team found a mining asset in Brazil they liked. The mine had seen some success before ultimately failing and being bought by his group. It took more than luck to attract the attention of Vancouver business tycoon and Pan American Silver Corp. founder Ross Beaty, who merged Luna Gold with his company to create Equinox Gold in 2017. Attracting investments from established resource investors like Beaty and mining billionaire Richard Warke is easier said than done. Milau said that his team was able to attract the interest of these established investors by having a strong asset and management team that understood the space. Being in the right place at the right time also helped, he added. Milau had met Beaty at a previous company but got to know him on ferry rides to Bowen Island talking about gold and other commodities. They both had mining assets competing in Brazil and talked
while crossing Howe Sound about eventually partnering up. Milau, Beaty and Warke, as well as a senior Equinox Gold executive, sat in a room without lawyers or bankers and hashed out their business plan for the new company. Milau said finding camaraderie with people who have a shared vision was critical to their success, particularly within the mining industry. “If you have differing views on strategy, your board meetings become less effective, your ability to be nimble, grow, transact and take advantage of opportunities become a lot weaker,” he said. “You see a few companies in our sector now who are big and bureaucratic and can’t make decisions as quickly or easily; where we’re more entrepreneurial.” Established investors also played a large role in the company’s sustained growth. Most fund managers get money pulled away from them when they’re down, according to Milau. By partnering with established investors within the industry, Milau said they were able to find more patient capital and were able to survive the industry lows to benefit from the highs in revenue growth, which they did to the tune of 96,000 per cent.
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B.C. wood to help fuel clean power initiative in U.K.
Drax Group PLC has phased out coal entirely at its North Yorkshire thermal power plant, and plans to add carbon capture and sequestration. (Drax Group PLC handout photo) Nelson Bennett - BIV
A British power company that has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 90 per cent since 2012, largely by switching from coal to wood pellets at its thermal
power plant in the U.K., has pledged to be carbon negative by 2030, and B.C.’s wood waste will play an important role in that effort.
Drax Group PLC aims to be the first major European power producer to combine biomass power generation with carbon capture and storage (CCS), which would result in negative
emissions, to the tune of eight million tonnes annually. The company’s plan to add CCS hinges on government support in the U.K. and a secure wood pellet supply, which is why it
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“
One of the big benefits with bioenergy, as compared to solar and wind, is it generates jobs acquired B.C.’s largest wood pellet producer, Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. in April. Pinnacle operates eight wood pellet plants in Western Canada
and one in Alabama. Some environmentalists are squeamish about bioenergy and carbon capture, even though the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends both in its pathways to decarbonization assessment. Some environmentalists view CCS as sweeping CO2 under the carpet and object to bioenergy if live trees are cut to feed wood pellet plants. But intermittent wind and solar energy has proven unable to provide the amount of firm power modern industrial societies need. So for countries that don’t have sufficient hydro power, the next best options are either nuclear or biomass power. While burning wood or other organic waste to produce power creates CO2, sustainable energy experts consider it to be carbon neutral, if done sustainably, because the CO2 emitted during combustion is eventually soaked up again when trees regrow.
Mark Jaccard, energy economist at Simon Fraser University, describes what Drax is planning to do on negative emissions as “wonderful,” and added that he hopes to see similar conversions of coal power plants in Alberta and Saskatchewan. But Chris Bataille, adjunct professor at SFU’s School of Resource and Environmental Management and co-author of the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project for Canada, said “the net neutrality of bioenergy is highly feedstock and case dependent.” He said the problem with harvesting live trees for bioenergy – especially older ones — is the carbon debt: the time it takes for a tree to regrow and sequester all the CO2 that was released through combustion. If only wood waste is used, that debt is less, which increases when live trees are harvested, and increases even more with older trees.
Canada is now the world’s second-largest wood pellet producer, and B.C. is Canada’s largest producer. Environmental groups have raised concerns that whole, live trees are being harvested in increasing volumes in B.C. to feed wood pellet plants. Bioenergy researcher Jack Saddler, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Wood Science, said recent wildfires in B.C. have underscored the need not only to address climate change, but also the need to remove “fuel” – dead wood and debris – from forests. If that wood debris were to end up as wood pellets, it strengthens the case for biomass energy. “If it’s done the right way, it’s good,” Saddler said. “But it can be done the wrong way. If you look at, say, taking a nice log that you could make a nice house out of, and then using that for energy, I don’t think that’s the best use for that log.”
SNOWPLOWS
Buy Or LeaSe tO OWN SErviNG BC & AlBErTA E-mail: sales@ior.ca BC & YUKON 1951 1st Ave, Prince George, BC Telephone: 250-562-6760 Toll Free: 1-800-663-4344 FALL/WINTER 2021 | INDUSTRY & TRADES
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17
THE BACKSTORY
B.C. INVESTORS BEHIND MAJOR MINE RESTART IN YUKON Don McInnes has been behind a number of successful mining and renewable power ventures. (Business in Vancouver photo by Chung Chow)
Nelson Bennett - BIV
The tiny Yukon town of Faro, a four-hour drive northwest of Whitehorse, would never have existed were it not for the nearby lead-zinc mine of the same name, which is said to have been the largest in the world at the time it was built in the late 1960s. At its peak the town was home to 2,100 people, with the Faro mine accounting for 35% of Yukon’s GDP. But after the mine’s owners went bankrupt, the mine shut down, the town’s population dwindled to 420 people and the federal government was left with what it described as “one of the most complex abandoned mine cleanup projects in Canada.” To date, it has cost the Canadian government an estimated $500 million in environmental remediation and mine site care and maintenance. But the Faro mine district is far from exhausted of valuable metals. The region may still host a wealth of lead, zinc, silver and gold, not to mention more than $100 million worth of mining and public infrastructure, including a small airport, so the potential to restart the mine has always been there. Now that First Nations in the area are on board with the idea of restarting the mine under a new co-ownership agreement, B.C. serial entrepreneur Don McInnes has helped put together 18
a consortium of investors and a plan to acquire the land and restart the Faro mine. The consortium – Tse Zul Development Corp. – includes McInnes’ company, Broden Mining, Vancouver-headquartered Strategic Metals Inc. and the Ross River Dena Council. McInnes has a long track record of financing successful mining and renewable energy projects. A partner at Oxygen Capital Corp., McInnes founded Plutonic Power, a B.C.-based renewable energy company that eventually became Alterra Power, which was sold to Innergex Renewable Energy (TSX:INE) in 2018 for $1.1 billion. “When the last operator went bankrupt, it wasn’t because the mine wasn’t doing well, it was because they also owned the Westray coal mine in Nova Scotia, which blew up, and that bankrupted the company,” McInnes said.
deposit, generally known as the Vangorda Lands. “When we close – which hopefully will be this fall – we are going to be responsible for cleaning up our portion of the project, should we make an investment decision,” McInnes said.
“
The deposits on the Vangorda Lands are some of the largest and richest zinc-leadsilver prospects in Canada...
The Faro mine complex has two main historic open-pit operations 15 kilometres apart. One of the pits is exhausted and is not part of the land package the consortium plans to buy. It is the Grum deposit in the southeast that the consortium is focused on.
“This is an economic arrangement between Canada and the Ross River Nation, and we’re kind of coming in behind Ross River as their mining partner, bringing them the financial and technical capacity. This is not a consult-and-accommodate opportunity. They are partners in acquiring it from the government.”
The federal government would continue to be responsible for the environmental remediation of the exhausted pit. The consortium would assume the liabilities of the area around the Grum
The consortium would need to rebuild a processing mill. Otherwise, the area has all the necessary infrastructure in place. When the mine was built in the 1960s, the federal government
spent more than $50 million building roads, bridges, power lines and a rail line to Whitehorse. The previous mine owners spent $68 million on the mine’s operations. “The deposits on the Vangorda Lands are some of the largest and richest zinc-lead-silver prospects in Canada, and they benefit from excellent infrastructure,” said Strategic Metals CEO Doug Eaton. Once the land is acquired, the consortium would do a prefeasibility study, and if investors decide to sanction the project, it would have to go through a new environmental assessment. McInnes expects that would take about three years. “If everything’s positive, and the community accepts the approach, then you might be able to start construction in three or four years from now,” McInnes said. The plan is to restart the open-pit mining operations at the existing Grum deposit, which had been mined for only a couple of years. “We are reasonably confident – because we have 700 drill holes of data – that there’s a lot of ore left there,” McInnes said. “We are also aware of significant other showings from previous exploration activities that stretch out to the east. And we also have a project just to the north of this called the Silver Range lands, at which a 36-million-ounce silver deposit has been found.” INDUSTRY & TRADES | FALL/WINTER 2021
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