cim magazine august 2014

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IN THIS ISSUE C IM MAGAZINE

AUGUST | AOÛT2014

Names to know 201412 characters whose energy, imagination and impactare catalysts for change in a tumultuous yearby Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Christopher Pollon and Kelsey Rolfe

52 Better than biggerProductivity does not always drivedevelopment. Energy storage mechanisms,improved remote monitoring capabilities and increased reliability are just a few of the ways equipment manufacturers are improving their hydraulic and electricrope shovelsby Eavan Moore

project profileBig league debutImperial Metals called in an experienced,resourceful team to bring its Red Chris project to production. When it starts up, the mine promisesto give the company a big boost – and likely morein the future by Peter Braul

20 Canada loses a pioneerCIM remembers Gerry Hatch – a titan of the mining industryby Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

cover story

August/Août 2014 | 5

66 70Conference program Preliminary conference program

NAMEStoknow

34

56

8 Editor’s letter 10 President’s notes

tools of the trade 11 The best in new technology

compiled by Tom DiNardo and Herb Mathisen

news 12 Industry at a glance 16 Quebec’s uranium industry is

clouded in uncertainty as theprovincial governmenteffectively puts a halt toStrateco’s Matoush projectby Herb Mathisen

18 Recently elected Ontario PremierKathleen Wynne has vowed tomake the Ring of Fire a prioritybut not everyone is content withher proposed developmentcorporationby Andrew Reeves

columns 22 The peril of ignoring public

sector costsby Mauro Chiesa

23 Plan the work, plan for changeby Thomas Struttmann

24 Getting beyond duty to consultmythsby Dwight Newman

upfront: surface mining 26 Goldcorp’s Peñasquito operation

is building parts for its Bucyrusshovels in-house and savingmillions in the processby Antoine Dion-Ortega

28 German researchers are workingto make nodule mining on theseafloor of the Pacific a realityby Tom DiNardo

32 Montreal-based Corner Cast islowering costs for Cliffs’ BloomLake expansion with its truckshop made of shippingcontainers and a fabric canopyby Eavan Moore

travel 64 Antofagasta, Chile

by Pierrick Blin and Antoine Dion-Ortegaphotos by Michel Huneault

cim community 68 CIM news from Canada and

beyond

mining lore 78 Quebec’s Forges du Saint-

Maurice iron ore deposit sawnearly 200 years of starts andstops from discovery toproductionby Jakub Stachurski

74 Technical abstracts 77 Product file &

Professional directory

contenufrancophone

6 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 5

18 26

CIM Magazine estdisponible entierement en français en ligne :magazine.CIM.org/fr-CA

61page couverture34 Les noms

à connaître12 personnages dont l'énergie,l'imagination et l'impact ont étédes catalyseurs du changementau cours d'une annéetumultueusepar Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco,Christopher Pollon et Kelsey Rolfe

10 Mot du président

61 L’entrée dans la cour desgrandsImperial Metals a fait appel àune équipe ingénieuse etchevronnée pour amener sonprojet Red Chris au stade de laproduction. La mine promet dedonner un élan considérable àl’entreprise au moment dulancement des activités et enfera probablement de même àd’autres occasions dans lesannées à venir.par Peter Braul

68 La communauté de l’ICM

74 Résumé techniques

www.maptek.com

Implicit Modelling available in Vulcan 9

Rapid & repeatable resultsFlexible tools allow geologists to rapidly generate models of complex geological domains. Then move seamlessly into resource estimation by automatically producing a block model and triangulations.

t CIM Magazine, we do not spend muchtime on big personalities in the mining

industry. Though there are plenty ofthese, too much attention dedicated to themseems a distraction.

A silver-tongued talker who sees nothingbut upside may be just the character a smallproject needs to distinguish itself from thecompetition. But when the time comes toextract the resource, charisma alone will notimprove the mineral recovery rate.

Our “Names to know” issue runs againstthat grain. It affords us the chance to explorethe industry in a way that captures the ideasand the inspiration of people such as Don

Lindsay, Rob McEwen and Glenn Nolan who have an influence in this field– or, in the case of the Indonesian president, influence on it.

The emphasis on personalities extends beyond the feature. With hisprofile “Big league debut,” editor Peter Braul successfully outlines the char-acter of Imperial Metals, a company rich with experience and a sense ofshared purpose, and its Red Chris project through the people in his story.And, of course, we honour the professional accomplishments of GerryHatch, who passed away in June.

In a nice bit of symmetry, this character-focused issue also marks a tran-sition in the editorial department. We welcome Kelsey Rolfe as editorialintern. Finally, Tom DiNardo has taken on the editorial responsibilities car-ried by Herb Mathisen, who is returning to his hometown of Yellowknife.You can find evidence of the talent and energy of each of them throughoutthis issue. On behalf of everyone at CIM National, I can say without reser-vation that Herb will be missed.

Ryan Bergen, [email protected]

@Ryan_CIM_Mag


editor’s letter Editor-in-chief Ryan Bergen, [email protected] editor Angela Hamlyn, [email protected] editor Andrea Nichiporuk, [email protected]

Section editors Peter Braul, [email protected] DiNardo, [email protected] Mathisen

Copy editor/Communications coordinator Zoë Koulouris, [email protected]

Web content editor Maria Olaguera, [email protected]

Editorial intern Kelsey Rolfe, [email protected]

Contributors Pierrick Blin, Mauro Chiesa, Antoine Dion-Ortega,Michel Huneault, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Eavan Moore, DwightNewman, Christopher Pollon, Andrew Reeves, Karen Rolland, JakubStachurski, Thomas Struttmann

Editorial advisory board Alicia Ferdinand, Garth Kirkham, Vic Pakalnis,Steve Rusk, Nathan Stubina

Translations Karen Rolland, SDL, Jody Salicco

Published 9 times a year by:Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum 1250 – 3500 de Maisonneuve Blvd. WestWestmount, QC H3Z 3C1Tel.: 514.939.2710; Fax: 514.939.2714 www.cim.org; Email: [email protected]

Advertising salesDovetail Communications Inc.30 East Beaver Creek Rd., Ste. 202Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1J2Tel.: 905.886.6640; Fax: 905.886.6615; www.dvtail.com Senior Account Executives 905.886.6641Janet Jeffery, [email protected], ext. 329Neal Young, [email protected], ext. 325Account ManagerFiona Persaud, [email protected], ext. 326

Subscriptions Included in CIM membership ($177.00); Non-members (Canada),$270.00/yr (PE, MB, SK, AB, NT, NU, YT add $11.00 GST, BC add$26.40 HST, ON, NB, NL add $28.60 HST, QC add $32.95 GST +PST, NS add $33.00 HST) Non-Members USA and International:US$290.00/year. Single copies, $25.00.

This issue’s coverLynne Bouchard, field mine rescue team captain at St. AndrewGoldfields. Photograph by Katelyn Malo

Layout and design by Clò Communications Inc.www.clocommunications.com

Copyright©2014. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1718-4177. Publications Mail No. 09786. Postage paid at CPA Saint-Laurent, QC.

Dépôt légal: Bibliothèque nationale du Québec.The Institute, as a body, is not responsible for statements made or opinions advanced either in articles or in any discussion appearing in its publications.

Printed in Canada

Names to know and remember

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president’s notes | mot du président

L’écart en matière de sécuritéLes sociétés minières canadiennes ont des projets partout dans le monde et sont respectées à l’échelle

mondiale pour leur technologie et leur expertise. Mon expérience de travail dans d’autres pays et cultures estun fait marquant de ma carrière, et j’encouragerais tout le monde à travailler à l’étranger s’il en avait l’occasion.

Cependant, il faut être prudent. Dans de nombreux pays en développement la sécurité personnelle estloin d’être aussi importante qu’au Canada. Vous le constaterez immédiatement sur la route. Je trouvais que leshabitudes de conduite automobile, particulièrement dans certains pays en développement, étaient extrême-ment dangereuses. Je me souviens clairement le jour où nous avions évité un accident de justesse en quittantun aéroport au nord du Pérou. Notre conducteur a immédiatement pris la voie inverse sur laquelle roulait unvieux camion. Je me souviens encore des yeux horrifiés du conducteur de ce camion qui, heureusement, avaitde bons freins (ce qui n’est pas toujours une certitude!). Un autre facteur important est l’exécution de nom-breux projets miniers dans des régions très éloignées, qui ne nous permet pas de recevoir immédiatement del’aide médicale d’urgence en cas d’accident.

De plus, les soins médicaux de plus longue durée et le soutien social peuvent être difficiles à obtenir, s’ilsexistent. Les répercussions persistantes d’une blessure grave peuvent être désastreuses, quel que soit l’endroitoù a lieu l’incident. Cependant, ils sont souvent plus considérables dans les pays en développement, en raisondu manque de soutien après l’accident ou des possibilités d’emploi si la victime ne peut reprendre son ancienposte. Pourtant, malgré cela, la tolérance au risque est très élevée dans beaucoup de pays en développement.Ce qui signifie que nous négligeons tout aussi la sécurité en milieu de travail, malgré les efforts intensifsdéployés par la direction pour transmettre une culture de la sécurité.

Les sociétés minières canadiennes travaillent très fort pour inculquer une culture de la sécurité là où ellesopèrent, et le dossier de sécurité de notre industrie est exceptionnel. À mon avis, c’est l’outil le plus importantde la trousse des pratiques exemplaires que nous pouvons apporter lorsque nous travaillons à l’étranger.

Sean WallerCIM PresidentPrésident de l’ICM


The safety gapCanadian mining companies have projects around the world, and we are respected globally

for our technology and expertise. The experience of working in other countries and cultures isa highlight of my career, and I would encourage anyone to work overseas if the opportunityarises.

Be careful, though. The emphasis we in Canada put on personal safety is not nearly as strongin many developing countries. This is immediately evident on the road. I found that drivinghabits, especially in some of these areas were extremely risky. I can vividly recall one near missleaving an airport in northern Peru. Our driver pulled out immediately into the path of anoncoming dump truck. I can still see the look of horror on the face of the dump truck driver,whose truck, fortunately, had good brakes (which is not always a certainty!). Another importantfactor is that many mining projects are very remote and should a car accident occur, emergencymedical assistance may be many hours away.

Furthermore, longer-term medical care and social support may not be readily available – ifavailable at all. The enduring impact of serious injury can be devastating regardless of where ithappens, but the impact is often magnified in developing countries due to the lack of post-injury support and/or alternative employment opportunities should the victim not be able toresume his or her previous role. And yet, despite this, in many of these places the tolerance forrisk is enormous. This means attitudes towards workplace safety can be similarly lax – despitethe intensive efforts by management to impart a culture of safety.

Canadian mining companies work very hard to instill a safety culture wherever they operateand our industry’s record on safety is exceptional. In my view, it is the most important tool inthe best practices tool kit that we can bring to our foreign assignments.

◢ Efficient breakdownGE has introduced a new membrane bioreactor(MBR) that works with its MembraneAccommodating Carrier (MACarrier)technology to more efficiently remove toxins likecyanide, phenols, recalcitrant organics andother contaminants in tough-to-treat refineryand chemical processing plant wastewater. “TheMACarrier is a modification to the MBR processwhere we add activated carbon to the bioreactor toabsorb and assist in the breakdown of toxic materials,”said Michael Hribljan, regional vice-president,Canada. Typically, the toxins are chemically composedof long chains of carbon compounds that are difficult tobiodegrade with traditional filtration systems. TheMACarrier also has the ability to biologically

regeneratein the bioreactor,which cuts down on operational costs. Hribljan saidmining companies can use the new MBR to cleangroundwater or waters containing nitrates or inhibitorycompounds from blasting activities.

TOOLS OFTHE TRADE

◢ Custom pump set-upsMeeting local demand is crucial for mining pumpdistributors, but quickly addressing the diversity ofcustomers’ site-specific dewatering needs can be achallenge. To allow for greater pump customization,BBA Pumps offers a new standardized pumppackage that includes the customers’ choice of anyof its BA or BA-C pumps, along with a diesel engineand control panel assembled on a galvanised frame.This lets users choose the pump unit they need aspart of BBA’s “bolt-on” philosophy, which allowsdistributors to attach the pump to any surface theywant. “We send it to our customers and distributorsall over the world and, for them, it is ready to runafter they have built it on their own tank frames or intheir own sound attenuated canopies,” said productand marketing manager Henno Schothorst. Inconjunction with the launch of the pump package,BBA has added a new pump to its mining range –the BA-C250H45 – for more flow (maximum 1500cubic metres/hour) and increased pressure(maximum 180 metres of water column).

Compiled by Tom DiNardo and Herb Mathisen

◢ Location, location, locationA new, versatile and low-bandwidth offering from ABBcould make underground location monitoring a loteasier. The Swiss-based company’s Mine LocationIntelligence system provides real-time positionmonitoring of personnel, equipment and vehiclesunderground. Patrik Westerlund, global productmanager of mine automation, said the system is“technologically agnostic,” allowing it to use a variety ofcommunication network sources underground. “Thismeans that the system can use WiFi networks, leakyfeeder with RFID technology, [GSM, 3G and 4G] mobilenetworks and so on,” he said. The web-based system isaccessible by PC and smartphone, allowing users tomonitor personnel and assets in 3D maps for safety andproductivity purposes from control rooms or on-the-flyunderground. Mine Location Intelligence can also beintegrated into other production and fleet managementsystems, and other ABB systems that automate ventilationand traffic control underground. “This system is built tosupport different technologies for positioning, whichenables the customers to evolve from their actualtechnology to new and future positioning andcommunications technology,” said Westerlund.

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Rio Tinto forges aheadwith US$20B Guineaproject

Rio Tinto moved one step closer torealizing its massive Simandou iron oreproject on May 26, signing an invest-ment framework that gives Guinea a7.5 per cent stake in mine owner Sim-fer S.A., a Rio Tinto subsidiary, withthe option to increase its share to 35per cent over a 20-year period. Theagreement was ratified by the Guineangovernment in early June.

The Simandou project – an iron oreproject owned by Rio Tinto, the Gov-ernment of Guinea, Chinalco, and theInternational Finance Corporation – islocated in southeastern Guinea, 30 kilo-metres west of Beyla. The frameworkagreement ensures Guinean commercialand private users will have access to thetwo major infrastructure components ofthe project: a 650- kilometre trans-Guinean railway that will transport orefrom the site to Guinea’s coast, and adeep-water port slated for the Foré-cariah prefecture. Those infrastructureprojects will be owned for 30 years by aprivately managed company calledInfraCo, which helps develop infra-structure in sub-Saharan Africa. Afterthat, ownership will be transferred tothe Republic of Guinea.

The investment framework is amajor milestone for Rio Tinto, whichin April launched a complaint in a New

York district court againstVale and BSG Resourcesfor allegedly corrupt min-ing practices that led to theloss of Blocks 1 and 2 ofSimandou.

Rio Tinto’s next step isto begin work on a bank-able feasibility study,which should be com-pleted in a year. Siman-dou would be the largestcombined iron ore andinfrastructure project inAfrica. Rio Tinto esti-mates the project coulddouble Guinea’s GDP andcreate 45,000 jobs. – Kelsey Rolfe

Coal producers to takestock at Vancouverconference

The Coal Association of Canada’s(CAC) annual three-day conference willkick off in early September with panelslooking at how producers can weatherthe industry’s challenging markets. Thecoal industry is currently facing animbalance in supply and demand, withan overabundance of coal coming pri-marily from Australia and Indonesia,and a lower need for coal in large mar-kets like China driving prices down,according to Ann Marie Hann, CACpresident. “The global price of coal is ata level that hasn’t been seen in years,”she said.

CAC conference panels will examinemeasures companies could take tobecome more efficient in order to helpthem deal with the short-term imbal-ance and better prepare them torebound when the markets change. “Wewanted to have a discussion about theindustry’s current perceptions about therealities that are facing them,” Hannsaid, “and more importantly, where dothey see the markets moving, and whatare they planning to do between nowand then.”

The CAC’s conference will be heldfrom Sept. 10 to 12 in Vancouver. - K.R.

Roundup and VRIC buddy up

The Association for Mineral Explo-ration British Columbia (AME BC) andCambridge House International will bealigning their annual conferences start-ing in 2016, they announced in early-June.

AME BC’s Mineral ExplorationRoundup and Cambridge House’s Van-couver Resource Investment Confer-ence will be held back to back at theVancouver Convention Centre in late-January 2016.

Gavin Dirom, president and CEO ofAME BC, said the decision was made toaccommodate delegates who travel toVancouver from around the world forboth conferences but have to wait up toa week in between events. “[The confer-ences] are quite linked in many ways,”he explained. “Having a week of discon-nect just made no sense.” Dirom said hehopes aligning the conferences can helpconnect investors with the more scien-tific and technical sides of the industry,“especially given the venture capital cri-sis that we’ve all been facing for overtwo years now.”

The organizations’ 2015 conferenceswill still be held a week apart, withCambridge House’s Investment Confer-ence running from January 18 to 19,and AME BC’s Roundup from January26 to 29. - K.R.

GAC-MAC conferencegives reason forexcitement

For Dave Lentz, the 2014 GAC-MAC conference, held in Fredericton,signalled what he believes will be thebeginning of economic improvementin Canadian geosciences after a chal-lenging year. At the 2013 Winnipegconference “we were hitting the bot-tom of our economic cycle,” saidLentz, who chaired the 2014 confer-ence. “Right now we’re just at theinflection, and we’re starting definitelyon an upward path.”

This year’s annual conference,hosted jointly by the Geological Associ-

news

Rio Tinto signed an agreement with the Guinean government in anotherstep towards realizing the mammoth Simandou iron ore project.

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from TransCanada for its $12-billionEnergy East pipeline, which would move1.1 million barrels of crude oil per dayfrom Alberta to Quebec, and eventuallyfurther east to New Brunswick. KinderMorgan will also seek to expand thecapacity of its Trans Mountain pipelinethrough British Columbia. Watson’s termat NEB will last for seven years. – K.R.

Total setbackTotal E&P Canada has shelved its

northern Alberta oil sands mining

project indefinitely, citing issues withescalating costs. The Canadian sub-sidiary of France-based Total SAannounced in late-May that site workon the $11-billion Joslyn mine wouldbe suspended, and the company wouldfocus on engineering studies aimed atreducing the costs of the project.

The move will cause up to 150 lay-offs by the end of the year. Erin Mac-Donald, a Total spokesperson, saidthe company is attempting to rede-ploy the laid-off workers to some ofits international projects or to oil


ation of Canada (GAC) and Mineralog-ical Association of Canada (MAC), ranfrom May 21 to 23 on the University ofNew Brunswick campus and welcomedmore than 700 attendees as well as fed-eral Environment Minister LeonaAglukkaq, who made a guest appear-ance. Session topics ranged from pro-fessionalism and accreditation tomicropaleontology and geo-ecology,with three special sessions dedicated tohonouring prominent geologists andmineralogists: McGill University pro-fessor Andrew Hynes, and the late JohnJambor and André Lalonde. Attendeesalso got the chance to participate inmany multi-day trips to local mineraldeposits before and after the confer-ence, including the Bathurst MiningCamp and the Mount Pleasant area.

The 2015 conference will be heldat the Palais des Congrès de Montréal. – K.R.

Peter Watson named new NEB chief executive

Peter Watson, the deputy minister forthe Alberta premier’s executive council,was selected to become the new chair-man and CEO of the National EnergyBoard (NEB), replacing the outgoingGaeton Caron. Natural Resources Minis-ter Greg Rickford made the announce-ment on June 13, with Watson assumingthe position on August 18. Lyne Mercier,an NEB board member, was alsoappointed vice-chair of the federalenergy watchdog. “The comprehensiveexperience and knowledge of these indi-viduals will be invaluable during thiscritical time for our federal energy regu-lator,” Rickford said in a release.

Watson has served in the past asAlberta’s deputy minister of energy anddeputy minister of the environment. Inhis current role as deputy minister ofthe premier’s executive council, he is incharge of the province’s public service.He will be leaving this position to takeon the NEB role.

Watson will see applications for someimportant projects pass his desk in thecoming years including an application

industry at a glance

Northern Gateway: by the numbersEnbridge got the go-ahead from the federal government on June 18 to begin

building its Northern Gateway pipeline, which would stretch from Bruderheim,Alberta, to Kitimat, B.C. Pipeline proponents argue the project is needed tomove the expanded production expected in Alberta’s oil sands and help thebitumen crude reach tidewater to access Asian markets. But the project hasdrawn criticism from both federal opposition parties, and the threat of legalaction from B.C.’s Coastal First Nations. “First Nations and our allies will pro-tect our rights and the interests of future generations,” the group’s executivedirector, Art Sterritt, said in a release. “We will never allow oil tankers into ourterritorial waters.” - K.R.

Sources: JRP report, gatewayfacts.ca, Enbridge

209

twenty-six

$400 million

525thousand

1,177$6.5 billion Overall cost of the project

Conditions on the Northern Gateway approval. Of those, 113 must be met before shovels are in the ground.

Bitumen barrels per daythat the projectwould sendwestbound.

2018Enbridge’sprojected

operationsstart date.

Jobs availableduringconstruction of the pipeline:

3,000Long-termjobs created:

560Spent by Enbridge so far on the Northern Gateway,including the regulatory process, assessments, environmentand geotechnical work, and the joint review panel.

First Nations and Métis communities thatEnbridge says accepted a 10 per centequity stake in the project.

Prime ministerialcandidates (other thanStephen Harper) thatapprove of the pipeline.

Length in kilometres of the pipeline.

2015Enbridge’sprojected

constructionstart date.

zero


sands projects where Total is a co-investor.

The Joslyn project is targeted toproduce 160,000 barrels of bitumenper day, according to the company’ssubmissions with the Alberta EnergyRegulator, and production is slated tobegin in 2020. The site is about 65kilometres north of Fort McMurray.

Total controls 38.25 per cent of theJoslyn project, with Suncor holding36.75 percent, California’s OccidentalPetroleum holding 15 per cent, andInpex Corp. the remaining 10 percent. The decision to suspend theproject was unanimous among thefour partners, Total announced. Thecompany, however, declined to com-ment on how much it has spent on theJoslyn project so far, and what wouldneed to happen for the company toreturn to the mine. – K.R.

Quebec adopts federaltransparency measures

The global trend towards trans-parency in the extractive sector isknocking at Quebec’s door. In its2014–15 budget, the newly electedLiberal government pledges to get instep with both the federal governmentand mining industry groups to set upnew mandatory reporting standardsfor payments. Among other things,the government would require extrac-tive companies in the oil, gas andmining sectors to publish annual

reports of payments of$100,000 or more on aproject-level basis madeto all levels of govern-ment in Quebec, includ-ing aboriginal bandcouncils. The standardswould be harmonizedwith American and Euro-pean requirements andcome into effect on April1, 2015. The provincialinitiative follows recom-mendations released inJanuary 2014 by theResource Revenue Work-ing Group, which com-prises PDAC, MAC and

civil society organizations. Prime Min-ister Stephen Harper gave his supportto the group in June 2013 but, in theend, it is up to each province to set upits own disclosure rules. In Quebec,the mandate would fall under theAutorité des marchés financiers, theprovince’s securities regulator. Ironi-cally, representatives from Quebec’sNatural Resources Ministry declinedto provide comment on the new trans-parency initiative, stating it was tooearly in the process to discuss thematter. – Antoine Dion-Ortega

First Quantum buysLumina, Hudbay acquiresAugusta

Already this year, we have seen abidding war for Osisko and its Cana-dian Malartic golden goose, and Glen-core sell its Las Bambas copper mine inPeru to a Chinese consortium. Now,two more mining companies havepenned multi-million-dollar deals toexpand their project portfolios.

Vancouver’s First Quantum Mineralsannounced on June 17 that it had agreedto purchase Lumina Copper Corp. for$470 million to gain control of its TacaTaca copper project in Argentina.

“The acquisition of Lumina isanother step in First Quantum’s long-stated objective of geographical diver-sification through the acquisition ofworld class, early-stage copper assets,”

said First Quantum CEO Philip Pascallin a release. “Once the acquisition ofLumina has been completed we willimmediately review the Taca Taca proj-ect to determine the most efficient andeconomical timing for its developmentin the context of the projects that weare currently developing.”

Then, in late-June, Toronto’s HudbayMinerals announced it had reached afriendly agreement to purchase AugustaResource for roughly $555 million, afterHudbay initially offered $443 millionfor it in February in a hostile takeoverbid. Augusta is working on advancingits Rosemont copper project near Tuc-son, Arizona, slated to become the thirdlargest copper mine in the UnitedStates, with the intent to begin produc-tion in early-2017. – Herb Mathisen

Joy Global scoops upSudbury’s MTI

Mining equipment giant Joy Globalcompleted its purchase of MiningTechnologies International (MTI) for$51 million, the company announcedin June. The acquisition of the Sud-bury-based company marks JoyGlobal’s expansion into undergroundhard rock mining products.

“MTI is a natural fit with the exist-ing Joy Global product portfolio andstrategy,” said Josh Wagner, the Illinois-based company’s director ofproduct management. “It provides agreat building block for the companyin the underground hard rock mar-ket.” Joy Global acquired “substan-tially all” of MTI’s product lines,except for the company’s cylinderdivision and rail products, which willoperate in North Bay under its formername, LHD Equipment Limited.Robert Lipic, the former CEO of MTI,said the company may no longer offera complete line of rail equipment buthave a “more focused” approachinstead.

MTI will remain in Sudbury, and,for the time being, will operate as astand-alone unit under Joy Global’srecently established Hard Rock Miningdivision. Wagner says the majority ofMTI employees have become part of

news

Total E&P Canada, a subsidiary of France’s Total SA, announced thesuspension of its Joslyn oil sands mine, 65 kilometres north of FortMcMurray.

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Joy Global and will “provide the foun-dation” for the new division. – K.R.

Ross Gallinger out asPDAC executive director

The Prospectors and DevelopersAssociation of Canada (PDAC) islooking for another executive director,following Ross Gallinger’s decision tostep down in June. Gallinger had heldthe position since August 2011. Thedecision to leave the association was amutual one between Gallinger and theboard of directors, according to PDACspokesman Steve Virtue.

Under Gallinger’s leadership,PDAC was involved in an initiative todisclose payments that oil and gas andmining companies make to domesticand international governments. PierreGratton, president and CEO of theMining Association of Canada (MAC),credited Gallinger, who he has knownfor more than a decade, as a “serious,ethical, responsible voice” for theexploration industry. “I thought Rosswas outstanding, and I have to saythat under his tenure the relationshipbetween MAC and PDAC has neverbeen stronger, so I’m sad to see himgo,” Gratton said. “He’s leaving somereally big shoes to fill.”

PDAC’s board is creating a hiringcommittee to replace Gallinger in thenear future. Until then, PDAC presi-dent Rodney Thomas will step in asinterim executive director. – K.R.

Ontario miners cautiously optimistic with Liberalvictory

After a stunning Liberal victory inOntario’s June election, which saw theparty swept back into power with anunexpected majority mandate, Pre-mier Kathleen Wynne re-opened thelegislature on July 2 and tabled theleft-leaning budget her party cam-paigned on. This included a $1 billioncommitment towards infrastructure tothe Ring of Fire that no longerrequires matching funds from the fed-eral government.

industry at a glance

which are the highest in North Amer-ica, to give the province’s miningindustry more of an edge. “We’ve madesome strides with Premier Wynne inthe last year, and we’re hoping to con-tinue that progress,” he said. “It maynever be a level playing field [withenergy rates,] but we need to be com-petitive.” (for more on the Ring of Fire,see pg. 18) – K.R.

Chris Hodgson, president of theOntario Mining Association, said theRing of Fire funds are a positive stepforward. “We’ve had a good relation-ship with Premier Wynne,” he said.“The door’s always been open for ourconcerns, and we’re optimistic that willcontinue.” However, Hodgson said hehopes Wynne will consider reducingthe province’s industrial hydro rates,


Spending $1.5 million annually todo nothing does not make sense. Thatwas the thinking behind Strateco’s June12 announcement to shut down itsMatoush uranium camp and focus attention on its Saskatchewanproperties.

CEO Guy Hébert said the decisionwas made to cut costs at the stalledQuebec project after years of wranglingwith the provincial government. Thecompany, which Hébert said has spentroughly $123 million to explore,develop and permit its Matoush projectsince 2006, had its exploration pro-gram approved by the federal govern-ment in February 2012, but found outin March 2013 that the province wasputting a moratorium on uraniumexploration and mining until a com-prehensive public review was com-pleted by the Bureau d’audiencespubliques sur l’environnement (BAPE).The review, which only started thisspring, is slated to wrap up in May2015, with its findings published nolater than July 2015.

“We don’t know what that meansfor us,” said Hébert, alluding to the factthat before the review even began, thenParti-Québécois environment ministerYves-Francois Blanchet announced thegovernment would deny Strateco afinal exploration permit, based on theproject’s lack of sufficient social accept-ability – namely, the Cree Nation ofMistissini’s opposition. Strateco hassince taken the government to courtover this refusal, calling the minister’sdecision “illegal.” “First of all, socialacceptance is not defined anywhere inany law,” said Hébert. “Secondly, whatis ‘sufficient?’”

Early on, the project had localapproval and some in the communitystill support it, Hébert said, but whenthe Mistissini’s leadership changed, sodid its stance on Matoush. Accordingto Hébert, the company is ultimatelyhoping to have the minister’s decision

Quebec’s uranium uneaseStrateco suspends project, public review puts local industry in doubt

By Herb Mathisen

overturned. Failing that, he saidStrateco would be seeking compensa-tion.

Like the Matoush project, the futureof Quebec’s entire uranium industry isfar from certain. The PQ governmenthad called for the uranium BAPE aftermounting opposition from FirstNations and civil groups. In August2012, the Grand Council of the Crees(Eeyou Istchee) declared a permanentmoratorium on uranium explorationand mining on its land.

Educational or inflammatory?BAPE will carry out the public

review in three phases. The first is apre-consultation, where the panelmeets with community members andorganizations across the province tofigure out what the issues are. Oncethat is complete, a question andanswer session with experts will beheld in communities in September, fol-lowed by a final presentation sessionnext spring. The review’s mandate is tolook at potential issues, “identifyingthrough consultation the challenges of

uranium exploration and exploitation,”according to Louise Bourdages, BAPEspokesperson.

Josée Méthot, president and CEO ofthe Association Minière du Québec,said her organization could supportsuch a review if BAPE was investigatinghow Quebec should go about explor-ing and exploiting uranium, but not ifit becomes a referendum on whether itshould or not.

But Jean-Marc Lulin, president andCEO of Azimut Exploration, is con-cerned that BAPE will be just that. “I’mnot against the BAPE itself. Of course,it is critical for public acceptance. Theproblem with this specific BAPE is itwill cover the overall uranium indus-try, not related to a specific project,” hesaid, adding most of the questionsbeing addressed by such a generalreview can largely be found in publicdocuments available. “I think for thisreason it is more likely an ideologicaldebate, than a rational debate regard-ing the industry,” he said.

Lulin has been retained by BAPE asan industry expert for this review to

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Strateco shut down its Matoush camp in June. The company had built an airstrip, accommodations and othersurface buildings for its 70-person facility. Stornoway Diamonds, currently building its Renard project, bought thebuildings and equipment. Strateco will still maintain water infrastructure, “hoping that within a year or two we willbe able to return,” CEO Guy Hébert said. But that will be up to the Quebec government, First Nations and, perhaps,the Quebec Superior Court.

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answer questions. He hoped it would educate Quebecersabout the industry, pointing out how Saskatchewan residentsare highly educated about uranium and, he said, supportiveof it. “In Quebec, by contrast, the population is unaware ofthe uranium industry and they are against the uraniumindustry without knowing it,” he said. “It’s a problem.”

Cree Nation concernsMatthew Coon Come, grand chief of the Cree Nation,

said the Cree Nation undertook its own review of uraniumdevelopment prior to declaring its moratorium. “The Creedid not start off opposed to uranium mining,” he told CIM Magazine. “We are open to responsible mining in ourterritory. However, Strateco’s Matoush project forced us toconfront the issue because Strateco, we believe, refused togive us the information regarding the risks associated withuranium development, so we sought the information elsewhere.”

The review, which Coon Come said included input fromindustry experts, found that there were uncertainties withstorage, containment and communication of risks associ-ated with uranium waste. “We learned that there are seriousrisks that could have catastrophic effects if they material-ize,” he said. “We Crees have lived on and relied on thisland since time immemorial and I believe we have theresponsibility to protect the land for generations that willcome after us.”

Coon Come welcomes the public review and its intent toget input from citizens, even if he said BAPE does not havejurisdiction over Cree territory. The James Bay and NorthernQuebec Agreement provides for a unique environmental andsocial protection regime with special participation of theCree. But the Cree Nation, he said, will argue against ura-nium development at the BAPE review. “We believe that ifthis environmental review process is conducted properly, theissues and risks are thoroughly discussed and considered,Quebecers as a whole will join with the Cree Nation andreject uranium development activities in the province ofQuebec,” he said.

Not all northern organizations are closing the door onuranium mining, though. Makivik Corporation, which pro-tects the legal and financial interests of Quebec’s Inuit, willparticipate in BAPE consultations “before producing a finalbrief stating a position towards uranium,” according to min-ing coordinator Jean-Marc Séguin.

Still, Strateco’s Hébert said the government’s actions haveinvestors furious: “Until this thing is clean and clear, it willbe very hard to restore the Plan Nord for smaller companies.

“This project has very badly hurt the credibility of Quebec.” CIM

Technical, economic and feasibility studies NI 43-101 technical reports Mine planning, design and simulation Plant design and simulation EPCM projects Commissioning assistance Power generation and T&D Automation and industrial IT Telecommunications Optimization of drilling and blasting applications

Process optimization and control

A MINE OF SOLUTIONS


Almost everyone with a stake in theRing of Fire wants to see developmentin the region move ahead. But when itcomes to determining how to do that,the consensus evaporates. Ontario Pre-mier Kathleen Wynne has pledged toform a regional development corpora-tion (Devco) to govern the Ring ofFire’s advancement within 60 days oftaking office. But in recent weeks, alter-native processes have been proposedthat seek to put industry in the driver’sseat and help it take a more holisticapproach towards environmental protection.

Last November, Ontario NorthernDevelopment and Mines MinisterMichael Gravelle announced a solutionto break the logjam that had seized theregion, which his government boastsholds a known mineral potential of$60 billion. Prompted by infrastruc-ture squabbles between rival miners,Gravelle became convinced of the needto create a process to hear from FirstNations, industry and government onhow to proceed.

The Liberals proposed a not-for-profit Devco, which the governmentwould lead, to set the pace and tone ofdevelopment in the Ring of Fire andbring disparate voices to the negotiat-ing table. The Ontario governmentwould have control over the design,construction, financing, operation andmaintenance of all infrastructure built.Consulting firm Deloitte was broughtaboard last February to begin work ona technical infrastructure report andhandle the legalese of forming a newgovernance structure. Deloitte will alsobe there to act as a neutral, third-partyresource for all stakeholders in theDevco in case tempers flare or dis-agreements persist.

Not everyone is pleased with theLiberals chosen governance model forthe Ring of Fire, however. Former fed-eral deputy transportation ministerNick Mulder penned a report for the

One Ring of Fire approach to rule them allOntario’s development corporation plan criticized in new reports

By Andrew Reeves

Northern Policy Institute (NPI),released in mid-June, arguing that theDevco heavy a burden on taxpayers toaccept risk and front the infrastructurecosts. “Uncertain mineral markets, agrowing provincial deficit… and unre-solved aboriginal demands,” he said,are reason enough to bring greater pri-vate sector involvement into the Ring ofFire to share in decision-making, profitand risk.

Mulder’s preferred solution is a portauthority model that brings stakehold-ers together into an independent com-munal body that appoints its ownleadership, rather than the Ontariogovernment choosing the governingbody’s captain. The authority wouldsee the marketplace, not the govern-ment, make decisions about how theregion would develop and it would beresponsible for generating financing,according to his report.

KWG Resources president FrankSmeenk is on board with Mulder’splan. His company owns a 30 per centstake in the Big Daddy chromite proj-ect. Shortly after the NPI paper wasreleased, Smeenk applauded the port

authority suggestion as a step towardsbringing the federal government andOntario in sync in the region, claimingin a release that a port authority mightbe “the most elegant means for theircollaboration.”

Smeenk argued the NPI paper alsosupported draft legislation he releasedduring Ontario’s recent election cam-paign, calling on all parties to supporthis Northland Development Corpora-tion idea. This would merge authorityover the region between industry, FirstNations, northern mayors and theOntario Northland TransportationCommission, the local rail serviceprovider that Smeenk supports be -cause of his preference for rail infra-structure into the mining area, 540kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

Alan Coutts, head of junior minerNoront Resources that leads the packwith its Eagle’s Nest nickel and copperproject as the most advanced in theRing of Fire, said his ambitions for howto govern the region are “pretty well-aligned” with the port authority modelspelled out in Mulder’s paper. AlthoughCoutts has been active in the

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Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Matawa member First Nations chiefs officially celebrate the RegionalFramework Agreement in April in Thunder Bay.

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government’s Devco talks to date, hepointed out that it was critical to getproper representation from industry,First Nations and government becausethey all have a stake in how the areadevelops. Industry is largely concernedabout getting projects approved andoperational in a timely manner, he said,so setting a steady pace for develop-ment under the Devco is priority one ifthat model persists.

Meanwhile, a joint report from theWildlife Conservation Society and Eco-justice released in late-June claims thecurrent planning framework for theRing of Fire misses the forest for thetrees. The report’s authors write that itis blind to cumulative ecological effectsof mining development and fails to

investigate what impact road buildingin one part of the region could have oncaribou migration hundreds of kilome-tres away, for example.

Given the many environmental,economic and cultural impacts ofmining, the authors call for a RegionalStrategic Environmental Assessment(R-SEA) to take place before infra-structure decisions at the Devco aremade. “Adopting an R-SEA planningprocess is a way of building consensusaround where, when and in whatform development is appropriate,”said co-author and conservation sci-entist Cheryl Chetkiewicz. Conduct-ing an R-SEA is also compatible with aDevco making infrastructure deci-sions, said Ecojustice lawyer Anastasia

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Lintner: it would better coordinatewhat is built.

But undertaking an R-SEA wouldput the brakes on development, atleast temporarily. Premier Wynnecould be hesitant to slow the processto conduct a regional assessment afterpromising during the campaign totake swift action on forming themuch-delayed Devco. Her govern-ment also made a $1 billion infra-structure commitment in the Ring ofFire in its defeated May budget, apromise Wynne resurrected duringthe campaign.

In late-June, Gravelle reaffirmed thegovernment’s commitment to the Devcomodel, though he welcomed alternativeperspectives and suggestions. CIM

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Gerald Hatch, one of Canada’s mostinnovative metallurgical engineers andbusiness leaders, died on June 9, 2014,

Canada loses a pioneerGerald Hatch built one of the world’s most successful mining and metallurgical engineering firms

By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

one month shy of his 92nd birthday.Although his death seems to have fallenunder the radar of most mainstream

media, it marks a great loss to Canadaand its mining industry. Hatch, accord-ing to all who knew him, was a giant inhis professional career, while remaininga modest, gentle and remarkable humanbeing. “Gerry had the depth of characterto reach great heights in his personal andbusiness life,” said Kurt Strobele, currentchairman of the Hatch Group of Compa-nies, the 59-year-old engineering con-sulting firm founded by Gerry Hatchthat today has more than 11,000employees in 65 offices on six continents.

“He set the stage for a lot of engi-neering developments in Canada, par-ticularly in re la tion to metallurgy,” saidGord Irons, director of the SteelResearch Centre at McMaster Univer-sity. Working with Falcondo in theDominican Rep ublic in the 1970s,Hatch de signed an innovative com-mercial plant that revolutionized theproductivity of fer ro nickel production.He co-patented two de sign features ofthe electric smelting furnaces thathave since been incorporated intoHatch’s successful furnace technologybusiness, along with num erous otherinnovations.

Hatch also contributed to sustain-ability in the mining and metals indus-try through his leadership of theSulphur Dioxide Abatement programsfor Inco and Falconbridge in Sudbury,Ontario, and Noranda Mines inNoranda, Quebec. Hatch’s designenabled sulphur dioxide collection andconversion to saleable sulphuric acid.These projects significantly reducedacid rain caused by metals refining inEastern Canada.

Although Hatch retired as the com-pany’s president in 1988 and its chair-man in 1990, the structure he createdfor Hatch to this day continues to posi-tively impact its employees while play-ing an integral role in its ongoingsuccess. With the clarity of an engineer’smind in combination with his passion

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for fairness and ethics, Gerry Hatchdeveloped a 100 per cent employee-owned and managed business model.“He set it up so that when employeesretired, they had to divest themselves ofall their stock. When he retired, he didso as well,” said Irons. “The people whorun the company are the people whoare most involved with it so he really setup an extraordinary legacy for thosewanting to participate in the enterprise.The company has been profitablealmost all the time, but during reces-sions when there had to be layoffs, hetried to reduce the impact on employ-ees. They would work a three- or four-day week, or take people back whenthings picked up, but he always tried todo the best for his people. He knew the

engineering side, the business side andthe people side.”

Strobele describes it this way: “Gerrybuilt a company with strong foundationsthat were based on a culture of innova-tion, excellence and integrity that broughtsuccess to its employees and benefits toour clients and society at large.”

Hatch, a CIM member, was a com-mitted philanthropist, supportingresearch and innovation at such univer-sities as McGill and McMaster. He alsodonated to the Princess Margaret Hospital and Trillium Hospital, amongothers. Hatch held a life-long commit-ment to mentorship and the develop-ment of the next generation ofengineers at Hatch Ltd. and throughmembership in such advisory councils

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Career highlights1958 Hatch became president of W.S. Atkins & Associates

Ltd. in Toronto. With just five employees, hedeveloped projects with Stelco, QIT, Falconbridgeand Noranda, and tunnelling work for the TorontoTransit Commission.

1964 He purchased the company, set up employeeownership and renamed it Hatch Ltd.

1988 Retired as company president.

1990 Retired as company chairman.

1997 Hatch worked with the Canadian Institute forAdvanced Research and helped establish the G.G.Hatch Stable Isotope Laboratory at the University ofOttawa.

1997 Became a member of the Order of Canada.

1998 Inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.

2011 Inducted into the Canadian Science and EngineeringHall of Fame.

as the Dean’s Advisory Councils forMcGill University, McMaster University,Queen’s University and the Universityof Toronto. He established Gerry Hatchscholarships, awarded to 12 studentsannually in the regions where Hatchoperates: Australasia, the Americas,Africa, and Europe.

“We all know that Gerry had a verysharp and analytical mind and wouldchallenge everybody to do their home-work, know the facts and articulatethem well,” said Strobele at Hatch’sfuneral. “Gerry was also an attentive lis-tener. He would not only respond towhat he heard but he would respond tothe concerns, fears or excitement thathe sensed in the individual. He was agreat mentor and role model.” CIM


The peril of ignoring public sector costs

BY MAURO CHIESA

F I N A N C E

returns of 10 per cent and four per cent to the public sectors,when the tax and royalty revenues are factored in.

Such oversight hides several vital issues. For instance,development speed is not factored into the decision. Project A,with its 18 per cent IRR needs no co-financing and offers theopportunity to bypass the double queue. The government mayeven endorse this project because it brings jobs, satisfies thepermits required and does not need any public funds whilegenerating royalty and tax revenues.

However, if the public sector has the capital to co-invest,Project B would be the win-win candidate, as the public sectorwould see a 10 per cent return. Such a win-win situationwould also be wise given the public’s current perceptions thata mining operation only profits companies. Project C couldactually invite detractors because the private sector would be

seen to make handsome returns while thepublic sector would not. Regardless of thereturn of public sector funds, the end resultfor both is a double queue that would onlyrequire more time – thus more inflation –more public scrutiny and increased anxietyfrom shareholders with high expectations,given Project C’s announced IRR.

By fully costing all options before makingany strategic decisions, Company X also

places itself in a better position to negotiate “asset swaps” withthe public sector. For instance, Company X can see a lowerreturn in exchange for financing more assets (like a powerplant) and possibly encourage a faster approval process byreducing the funding load on the public sector and enhancingits return. The company could also simply hold on to ProjectA rather than let it go prematurely.

The bottom line is that a company must fully cost all strate-gic options, as the new projects must not only be delivered ontime, on budget and on spec, but may require greater co-investment from a public sector that is financially challenged.The “greenfield” or “frontier” nature of some new projects fur-ther underscores this need. Failure to fully cost all options mayinvite unexpected delays and additional political risk, creatingpotential gaps in production plans because of a double queue.Today’s investor does not welcome these situations, as theyincreasingly look for dividends and a more timely perform-ance that “satisfies guidance.” CIM

In a recent column, I called for mining companies to factorpublic sector costs into their financial projections for futureprojects in development. My rationale was that this would

facilitate a more inclusive and expedient public sector role inthe project’s funding and approvals. Yet the comments Ireceived from this column suggested that financial resourcesare already limited, and that the public sector should be left toits own processes. The need to assess the public sector costsshould not be underestimated, however, as it is essential fordetermining the viability of a project and a company’s strategicdecision-making.

Since capital is scarce and will remain so, mining compa-nies will require careful queuing of their in-development proj-ects to replace their depleting assets. This scarcity arisesbecause many institutional investors are dismayed with an

industry whose 40 largest players, according to Pricewater-houseCoopers’ Mine Report 2014, had to collectively writedown $97 billion of assets in 2012 and 2013. Meanwhile, gov-ernments are running deficits and are no longer able to readilyassist future mining projects. If governments were able to co-invest, they would now look for a higher return on the publicsector co-investment. This means a “double-queue” for thecompany: one for the permits and one for the public co- investment approvals. Recent examples include Ontario withthe Ring of Fire and Mongolia with Oyu Tolgoi.

A hypothetical example may help illustrate the value of fac-toring in public sector costs: Company X has three candidateprojects but can only afford one with its $1 billion of capital.It finds that Project A offers an internal rate of return (IRR) of18 per cent, Project B offers 22 per cent and Project C offers26 per cent. The board agrees to pursue C first, followed by Bas a fallback option. Project A is sold to its competitors.

Overlooked in this process is the public sector capitalrequired. This can include technical training, environmentalcost-sharing, infrastructure, energy subsidies, and social costs.If each project had been fully costed, Company X would havediscovered that Project A requires no public sector capital, andB and C each required $300 million and offer the respective

A company must fully cost all strategic options, as the new projects must not only be delivered

on time, on budget and on spec, but may require greater co-investment from a

public sector that is financially challenged.

Mauro Chiesa has 33 years of experience in financing and advising extractiveand infrastructure projects, including with multinational banks in New York, theWorld Bank Group in Washington, D.C., and EDC in Ottawa.


wide-ranging business elements from corporate (e.g. sales con-tracts, financing, supply chain variation) to operations (e.g.productivity, recovery, reliability, variation in grade). Unfortu-nately, when an operational plan is rolled out, both corporateand operations generally assume that the plan is a fixed docu-ment. As a result, neither team implements strategies to avoidsetbacks and optimize financial performance when changesoccur. If one side does respond to changing conditions, due toa lack of transparency between operations and corporate, itdoes so in a vacuum, without regard for its impact elsewhere.For instance, operations might reach production targets butspend more than anticipated on labour and energy, therebydecreasing profit margins.

Successful mining companies deploy systems that offerdynamic transparency to both the operational and financialsides, providing metrics that help managers control costs andaccurately forecast production, revenue and margin. Withthese systems and protocols in place, operations managementteams can understand future conditions and make adjust-ments to the operating plan accordingly. When managersunderstand what the future events might look like, they areable to mitigate risk and consistently meet guidance.

Managing live eventsMost companies take daily measurements of physical data

and monthly measurements of financials. As a result, today’soperations teams are flooded with a continuous stream of data,including daily production results, new geological information,production system health, sales information and the supplychain. In short, there is a storm of data about the past but littleinformation about what is on the horizon. The easiest thing tomeasure is what happened yesterday, but it is also the leastvaluable because little can be done about past performance.

Companies that can model live events with key operations,finance and marketing leaders can effect changes to the oper-ating model in order to get ahead of the curve to mitigate risk.Mining optimization software solutions such as AlightMining’sEnterprise are indispensible tools for achieving this goal. Man-agers can use this software to model entire mines, makingchanges to numerous variables (e.g. utilization, productivity,recovery, grade, supply chain, ore body) to see their impact onthe income statement and balance sheet across the portfolioand inform any changes to their operational plan.

The most successful mining companies understand that anoperational plan is not a stagnant document. It is a constantlyevolving roadmap that enables them to deftly navigate thebusiness environment and keep their margins high. CIM

A n effective operational plan ensures companies can setimportant goals and make short- and long-term plan-ning decisions about how to efficiently extract their

commodities, and process and sell them. Designing a soundoperational plan is no small feat, though. Industry-wide,roughly 40 per cent of mining operations regularly miss theirmarket guidance. The level of complexity involved in effec-tively managing one site is often compounded when compa-nies must duplicate these processes across as many as 20 sitesworldwide. Moreover, the technical nature of the mining busi-ness necessitates that engineers and planners produce theoperating plan. When corporate managers receive it, they failto understand the technical components, and as a result theyproduce financial metrics that do not fully align with reality onthe ground.

This situation means that when the economic environmentshifts, corporate and operations managers are unable to effec-tively adjust the operating plan, deploy resources, or modify theoperating strategy to mitigate risk. In an era of declining com-modity prices, optimizing the operating plan is essential to allmining companies that want to meet their earnings guidance.Without this key component, it is extremely difficult for man-agement to adequately quantify operational risk, let alone assessan existing plan’s quality or revise it when the markets fluctuate.

Rigorous analysisAn operational plan requires expert analysis to ensure it

presents an accurate picture of a company’s most significantvariables: grade, geological model, commodity prices and pro-duction schedule. Such analysis ultimately determines theamount of investment necessary to achieve production goals, aswell as the total ore that will be produced, while also outliningrevenue and operating margins. A top-tier global gold minerreported on a recent project that more than one-third of theounces produced in the company’s portfolio were unprofitable.In this case, both the corporate and operating teams were toofocused on growth and revenue and subsequently failed to payattention to margins, thereby wasting precious capital.

Before a plan is implemented, there is usually a healthydebate about the revenues, margins, resource recovery andassumptions that go into it. There are various methods ofreview to validate the quality of a plan. While some companiesuse peer reviews, others request outside technical assistance.In general, it is good business practice to engage outside sup-port. These reviewers have read thousands of operationalplans and can provide insights and opportunities for improve-ment including geological estimates and production strategies.

Executing the planMining companies comprise a complex portfolio of vari-

ables that are constantly in flux. Their operational plans cover

Plan the work, plan for changeBY THOMAS STRUTTMANN

Thomas Struttmann is CEO of Struttmann Consulting. He brings more than 30years of industry experience leading projects, supporting M&A due diligence,and providing expertise on asset management and capital planning for topFortune 500 companies. [email protected], www.struttmann.com

E Y E O N B U S I N E S S

http://www.struttmann.com

mailto:[email protected]

The best results will often be achieved by implementing abusiness practice that develops relationships that rise above andbeyond the strict requirements of the law. Some of the mostrecent fractious situations have been the result of companiesrelying on government to deal with every aspect of the duty toconsult. The lawsuits that arose against the Ontario governmentby companies like Solid Gold and Northern Superior Resourcesin recent years speak to the fact that losses can occur when com-panies rely solely on government to deal with the duty to con-sult. If governments fail to do so, and delays result, there may belost opportunities. Even if those lawsuits are resolved in somemanner that responds to those losses, the business that miningsector people want to be in is not litigation but mining.

To stay ahead of the regulatory curve, companies need torealize that the duty to consult is not static but will continueto develop. The December 2012 decision of the Yukon Courtof Appeal in the Ross River Dena Council case – on which theSupreme Court of Canada decided in late-2013 not to hear anappeal – is an example of how the duty to consult may causefurther changes. That decision has forced the Yukon govern-ment to amend its mining legislation to move away from thelong-standing free entry system. Proposed amendments willput the government in a position to make a discretionary deci-sion about permission for exploration activities that were pre-viously automatically permitted.

Although the move away from free entry is something thatother jurisdictions like Ontario had already been doing, itspeaks to an evolving environment in which the duty to con-sult may yet have bigger implications. While changes to freeentry impact junior exploration companies, Canadian majorsthat have faced consultation issues on mining projects underthe law of other jurisdictions like Guatemala and Chile havealso discovered a changing regulatory environment. TheSupreme Court of Canada’s latest recognition of aboriginal titlein the Tsilhqot’in case also speaks to situations where consul-tation requirements will be elevated close to consent.

The challenges of mining are no longer just the physicalchallenges of getting minerals out of the ground. They involve,rather, sophisticated business strategy questions associatedwith developing legal and social expectations. It is importantto keep developments like the duty to consult in perspective,but also to work in sophisticated ways with good, responsivebusiness practices so as to move forward effectively in explo-ration and development. CIM

T he question of aboriginal consultation and accommo-dation has probably kept many people in the miningsector awake at night over the last decade, following a

trilogy of Supreme Court of Canada decisions thatenshrined the duty to consult in 2004 and 2005. Thoughthe rulings have raised the general awareness about theduty to consult, widespread misunderstandings persistabout what it actually means.

Legally speaking, the duty to consult is a requirement ongovernments – federal or provincial, depending on the matterat hand – to consult affected aboriginal communities prior tomaking development decisions that could negatively impacttheir aboriginal rights or treaty rights and to appropriately con-sider these impacts. This applies even where there remainsuncertainty on the scope of these rights. The duty to consult isa proactive duty on the part of relevant governments to makeadjustments to decisions that may have a negative impactbefore any harm is done.

The most pervasive myths about the duty to consult areeither that the courts have created a legal veto held by aborig-inal communities in relation to development on their landsand/or that the duty to consult is going to lead to the blockingof all resource development. On the contrary, the courts havebeen consistent in stating that the duty to consult does not cre-ate a legal veto. Misinformation has also circulated within abo-riginal communities that there is a legal protection for “free,prior and informed consent” in all circumstances and that hascreated misunderstandings.

The duty to consult does create an important set of protec-tions for aboriginal communities. Where a resource develop-ment project might impact on aboriginal rights or treaty rightsheld by an aboriginal community, the government has to con-sult with that community in advance. The government musttake all the information about the impacts on these rights fromlocal groups, as distinct from general views from within thecommunity, and possibly make appropriate adjustments to theproject, which could include a refusal of permits in certainlimited circumstances.

A refusal of permission for Taseko’s New Prosperity mine inB.C. will capture the headlines, but it is an exception. In fact,in many cases, aboriginal communities are keen to participatein resource development and need simply to be brought intothe process for matters to move ahead harmoniously.

Although the duty to consult does not have all the implica-tions some may think, it will undoubtedly mean changed busi-ness practices. For example, it would be a mistake for anyonein the mining sector to assume that because the duty to consultis ultimately a duty on governments, industry should thereforestep out of the way.

Getting beyond duty to consult myths

BY DWIGHT NEWMAN


Dwight Newman is professor of law and Canada Research Chair in indigenousrights in constitutional and international law at the University of Saskatchewan.His latest books include Revisiting the Duty to Consult Aboriginal Peoples(Purich Publishing 2014) and Natural Resource Jurisdiction in Canada(LexisNexis 2013).

E N G A G E M E N T

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4:10 PM


Home-stylerecipe DIY bucket-buildingproject saves millionsfor PeñasquitoBy Antoine Dion-Ortega

would mobilize four of them for an unpredictable periodof time, depending on the damage. “In the first few years,fixing a door could take us as long as 20 to 25 man-hours,which affected our availability for other maintenancework,” recalls Julio Jardon, maintenance manager atPeñasquito.

As soon as one door was fixed, another one would fail, ata rate that was only increasing due to fatiguing parts, addingstress to the welding department. “It disrupted our workingschedule,” says Castillo. “We would make working plans,but each time these repairs would just override them.”

A flash of inspirationGlobal circumstances began working against Goldcorp.

The price of gold – which had reached its US$1,800 peak in2011 – started to decline during the winter of 2013 andsoon fell to less than US$1,300. Moreover, expenses atPeñasquito had boosted all-in sustaining costs to nearlyUS$915 per ounce. Buying new doors from Milwaukee soonbecame out of the question. “We had found an intermediarybased in Wyoming that would sell us doors for US$450,000,but that was still too high,” says Jardon. “Moises wouldcome to me and ask me to order new doors, since the onesthat we had were all cracked up and wouldn’t last for long.And with the company’s focus on driving down costs, theexpensive purchases were out of the question.”

That is when Castillo had a stroke of brilliance. “Repairswere so intensive and were carried out on so many differentdoor components that we realized we were almost makingthe doors anew,” he says. “At one point I thought, ‘Why notbuild them ourselves then?’”

Since it entered commercial production in 2010,Goldcorp’s Peñasquito mine has been operating fourBucyrus 495 electric rope shovels – each a nearly1,500-tonne mammoth able to lift 100 tonnes of

rock in a single scoop. Few of the local employees from thearid state of Zacatecas in north-central Mexico, had everseen such a large beast. Maintenance quickly became quitea challenge for the welding department, which was unfamil-iar with most of the components.

The contact point of the Bucyrus 495 became a majorsource of stress for welders at Peñasquito. Located on thebottom of the dipper, there is a huge, trapdoor-like panelthat they found tended to crack prematurely. Its size makesit hard to handle: the dipper door alone is five metres high,5.5 metres wide and weighs up to eight tonnes.

“We did not know these components,” says MoisesCastillo, the supervisor’s assistant at the welding shop. “Crackssoon started to appear that were worrying.” In the first year,rope shovels had to be shut down so that welders could sealthe cracks on the spot. These interruptions were costly. “Wehad to stop operations for as long as 10 hours, a full shiftsometimes, with many welders on site,” Castillo recalls.

One weak linkManagers at the mine loathed these blips in their opera-

tions, and they soon ordered a brand new replacement doorfrom Bucyrus’ manufacturing facility in Milwaukee. But itwas a costly fix: the price for the door was US$600,000.

It soon became obvious that one replacement doorwould not cut it. The welding department has 103 techni-cians, divided into three shifts. A single cracked door

Moises Castillo inspects a dipper doormanufactured at Goldcorp'sPeñasquito mine in Mexico.

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The suggestion was music to Jardon’s ears. Departmentshad just been asked to find new strategies to cut down theircosts. “It was a coincidence,” says Castillo. “The contextgave us the opportunity to put our idea to the test.”

Castillo was aware that success would be critical, so hetook his time. “We knew that we wouldn’t be allowed a sec-ond chance,” he says. “The manager would not let us carryout experiments over and over again on a 1,500-tonneshovel.”

It took about a hundred days, orroughly 6,000 man-hours for the weld-ing shop to design its first door. Notevery part could be made on site; twokey components had to be ordered fromlocal providers. For one, the departmentdid not have the equipment to roll atwo-inch thick sheet of steel. Neithercould they machine hinges and bolts ofthe large diameter required. However,all the other parts were made in house,assembly was done at the mine and bythe end of last October the first doorwas installed. It is still part of the oper-ation cycle.

“It was a huge success here,because the door has been improved,”says Jardon. “It is lighter, we improvedthe design and we added reinforce-ments to the weaker parts so that itcan last longer.” Also, the originaldoors had a thick liner that tended toclog in the loads. “We removed theliner so that the sheet is thinner,” headds.

Riding a wave of confidenceThe welding department now has a

little more room to maneuver. “Whenwe see that a door is not worth beingfixed anymore, we can just dump itwithout the stress of suddenly having tospend extra hours on it,” says Castillo.“We can plan our schedule better. Youdon’t see our welders having to climbup the shovel on site during mainte-nance time. We just agree on when thedoor will be replaced and put it in theschedule.”

The gains are huge. According toGoldcorp’s estimates, the cost of build-ing a door in-house is as low asUS$95,000. Up to US$1.2 million willbe saved in 2014 alone. The seconddoor is about to be finished, saysCastillo. A third one could be on orderfor 2015.


Castillo is positive about the chance that the initiativecould be extended to other applications. “In our depart-ment, we are looking for savings on other components aswell,” he says. “We are quite versatile in what we can cut andweld, not only in the shovel bucket but in structures such ashallways, handrails and platforms. For complex mechanicalpieces, it is all about precision, and parts need to complywith very high standards. But when it comes to structures,there are many opportunities.” CIM


The lifeaquaticWhy Germany is eyeing upthe Pacific seafloor By Tom DiNardo

A box corer is deployed to takea seafloor sample from the

research vessel Kilo Moana.

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Since the 1970s, mining companies have been inter-ested in extracting minerals from the bottom of thePacific Ocean. While there is plenty of valuable metalto be found, economically mining in the ocean is an

enormous task. Yet Germany, in an attempt to secure accessto several key commodities, has made an enormous push inresearch into the location and the liberation of these miner-als.

Earlier this year, Dennis Kraemer and Charlotte Kleint,PhD candidates at Jacobs University in Germany, published apaper detailing a method for extracting metals with high-technology applications such as lithium and molybdenumfrom ferromanganese nodules. The nodules – spherical col-lections of minerals that include iron, manganese, copper,nickel and cobalt, and range from two to 15 centimetres indiameter – exist in clusters scattered around the world’soceans but are especially abundant and rich in valuable met-als in a region of the northeast Pacific known as the ClarionClipperton Zone (CCZ). Located between Hawaii and Mex-ico, it is roughly five million square kilometres and boastsplentiful nodules at depths of around 5,000 metres. Theseare the nodules Kraemer is focused on.

Using a method of selective leaching, Kraemer and hiscolleagues were able to extract up to 80 per cent of thelithium and up to 50 to 80 per cent of other elements includ-ing molybdenum, tungsten, niobium and tantalum fromnodules procured in the CCZ. “This enables the possibilityfor selectively extracting some high-technology metals fromferromanganese nodules and crusts prior to conventionalbase metal refining,” he says. “That’s quite new.”

Kraemer’s method also retains the main elements thatmake up a majority of the nodule; less than 10 per cent ofmanganese and iron components are dissolved, which meansmining companies would still be able to recover them.

“If you mine an ore, you usually have the option ofextracting certain metals and dumping the rest,” says Krae-mer. “However, if this rest contains a lot of precious metals,it makes sense to extract, refine and sell these as well, thuslowering the cost of the operation by added revenue due tothe selling of byproducts in addition to the main products.”

Germany’s treasure chestIf Kraemer’s method is ever to see commercial use, explo-

ration and understanding of the CCZ nodules will need to beadvanced: something his German compatriots are workingtowards. In June, Carsten Ruehlemann, project manager formanganese nodule exploration at Germany’s Federal Institutefor Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), returned froma seven-week exploration voyage to the CCZ, his sixth since2008. During the voyages, Ruehlemann and his colleagueshave been trying to determine the size and abundance ofnodules in two highly prospective zones within the Germancontract exploration areas that total about 3,500 square kilometres.

To do so they have developed a three-pronged approachinvolving sound, images and sampling. A multibeam systemsends sound waves directly below the research vessel andrecords the time it takes for the acoustic signal to travel fromthe transmitter to the seafloor and back to the receiver. More-over, they record the volume of the sound – called the


backscatter – when the signal returns. Coupled with near-bottom video mapping and in situ sampling, the backscattermethod allows BGR to determine nodule abundance andsize.

In the June expedition, BGR explored a potential miningfield with mainly small nodules (2-5 cm in diameter) thatcovers roughly 1,500 square kilometres and contains around30 million tonnes of nodules in wet weight. Last year, BGRstudied another nodule field of approximately the same sizeand resource in the eastern German contract area. Accordingto Ruehlemann, these two areas alone contain about 20 mil-lion tonnes of manganese, 1.2 million tonnes of nickel andone million tonnes of copper, and could sustain 15 to 30years of deep-sea mining.

Global impactBGR has so far explored a relatively small portion of the

entire CCZ. The area is split up into 13 areas of explorationunder the auspices of the International Seabed Authority(ISA); the licence areas are contracted from ISA by state-sponsored as well as private companies. BGR is currentlycontracting two areas: one roughly 56,000 square kilometresand the other about 19,000 square kilometres. Other compa-nies include Marawa Research and Exploration Ltd.


(Kiribati), China Ocean Mineral Resources Research andDevelopment Association (China), Deep Ocean ResourcesDevelopment Company (Japan), the Government of Korea,Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation de la mer(France) and Nauru Ocean Resources (Nauru).

The millions of ferromanganese nodules scatteredthroughout this region are known to contain high levels ofbase metals: on average 25 per cent manganese and threeper cent copper, nickel and cobalt. They are formed overmillions of years by the accumulation of manganese andiron oxides in the surrounding water around a nucleus,precipitating out of relatively cold water onto hard rocksubstrates.

Thomas Kuhn, a colleague of Ruehlemann’s at BGR, saysquantities of manganese, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum,yttrium and tellurium contained in nodules of the CCZ likelyexceed current terrestrial reserves. However, he is quick topoint out that the estimates of the quantity of elements aresubject to a wider margin of error. “This is because the num-bers for the CCZ nodules can only be classified as resourceswhereas the numbers for the terrestrial deposits are classifiedas reserves,” he says, explaining that terrestrial reserves canbe mined under the current economic and technologicalconditions while the underwater nodules cannot.

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Still, according to Kuhn, the value of the metals stashedaway in the nodules is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.The total amount of nickel in the CCZ is worth an estimatedUS$35.7 billion, and copper an estimated US$15.6 billion.

Kuhn says he believes mining ferromanganese noduleswould have a major impact on global metal prices. If miningactivities were to start at the same time in all 13 licence areasin the CCZ and each produced two million tonnes of dry oreannually, he says the amount of manganese accumulatedwould represent 81 per cent of the current global market andthe cobalt produced would represent 45 per cent. Nickel, themost economically valuable metal present in the nodules,would account for 23 per cent of the global market.

The next stepSo far, the biggest economic potential comes from the

high concentrations of manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper.While Kraemer’s research does give some hope that extract-ing other metals present in the nodules will be economicallyviable one day, Kuhn, who advised Kraemer and his col-leagues on their work, says he believes the process is tooexpensive and unreliable for the time being: “At the moment,this method is only established in the lab and far from work-ing at an industrial scale.”

BGR has been exploring its licence areas since 2006 andis planning to continue for the next seven years in greaterdetail. “We want to identify a field or explore a location orsite within these larger areas where mining could actuallystart, and explore in such a detail that a mining companycould start right then when we are finished,” says Ruehle-mann. “That’s the next stage.”

Aker Solutions, a Norwegian technology provider work-ing mainly in the oil and gas industry, has been workingclosely with BGR to develop a “mining concept.” The idea isto have a robot vehicle, or “crawler,” to collect ferroman-ganese nodules found along the bottom of the ocean. Thenodules would be transported through flooded flexible pipeto the main vessel to be stored. The nodules would then bemoved onshore for processing.

The German Ministry of Economics is currently in theprocess of tendering offers from mining companies interestedin the area. Mining will not start any time soon, Ruehlemannsays, adding, “I’m convinced that it will only come in thenext 10 years or so.”

Whoever gets access to the German contract area is goingto have to invest heavily in the project; Ruehlemann esti-mates that it will require a US$1 billion initial investmentand around US$200 million in operating costs per year. CIM


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THE BROADEST PRODUCT LINE IN THE MINING INDUSTRY

WHEREVER THERE’S MINING, WE’RE THERE.


When Cliffs Natural Resources announced it wouldhalve the expansion budget for its Bloom Lake ironore mine in Quebec in 2014, staff at Corner CastConstruction Inc. and its affiliate Britespan Que-

bec started to worry. Cliffs put Phase 2 of its expansion on holdindefinitely, and Corner Cast and Britespan were not sure ifcore expenses would also be cut in tough times. The Montreal-based companies had an agreement with Cliffs to supply atemporary truck shop: an innovative fabric steel hybrid struc-ture they were excited to deploy near Fermont.

The hybrid structure has two main advantages over conven-tional buildings, according to Magnus Consiglio, partner atCorner Cast. First, it saved significant dol-lars by eliminating the need to pour con-crete on site. “What’s really unique aboutthis is that instead of having a concretefoundation, you use shipping containersas the foundation,” he explains. TheCorten steel shipping containers rest on acompacted gravel pad and support a steelframe covered with synthetic fabric, all ofit prefabricated and trucked to the client’ssite. The shipping containers on bothsides of the main structure are outfitted aslocker rooms, lunch rooms, offices, wash-rooms and mechanical rooms.

To accommodate Caterpillar 797 andKomatsu 730E trucks, Bloom Lake’s tem-porary truck shop required 40-by-40-foot doors and an interior of 160 feet by100 feet. The containers on each sideadded another 28 feet of width. It is thebiggest hybrid structure Corner Cast – orany company – has built. Consiglio

estimates that a similarly sized conventional building wouldstart at roughly twice the price.

The total construction time on site was two months, a frac-tion of the time it would normally take. Once on site, the con-tainers were sealed or “zipped” together to make a series ofsmaller rooms connected to open space. Steel supports wentup, then the fabric covering, followed by insulation, lighting,heating, doors, steel cladding and other finishing touches. Theinstallation process composed about 30 per cent of the build-ing’s price tag; materials accounted for 65 per cent and truckshipments from factories in Ontario and Quebec added up tofive per cent of the total cost.

Buildingblocks Reusable hybridstructures helpminers stayflexibleBy Eavan Moore

The shipping containers on each side of the main structure are outfitted as locker rooms, lunch rooms, offices, washroomsand mechanical rooms.

Corner Cast’s hybrid structure uses Cortensteel shipping containers to support a steel

frame covered with synthetic fabric andrests on a compacted gravel pad.

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A recyclable buildingA second important advantage is that the modular structure

can be disassembled and moved elsewhere on site as needed.Cliffs is currently using the shop for light maintenance onheavy equipment and the building can also be used to assem-ble new trucks or other tasks that demand a large protectedworkspace. If no longer needed at its current location, it couldbe moved to a different spot to continue duty as a maintenancefacility. “From what I see, almost everything would bereusable, if we moved it to another area,” says Amélie Dorion,project manager of the operation.

“The fact that mining companies can actually reuse thesethings later down the line at another location on their facilityis really the sales point there,” Consiglio agrees. “It is a veryunique kind of a proposition for them to have almost a recy-clable building that they can just keep moving from place toplace.”

Dorion points out the Britespan fabric covering is dividedinto sections; if wind damages one section, it can be replacedwithout touching the rest. The sturdiest components, shippingcontainers made of weathering steel, have already been repur-posed and can be passed on to further sites or clients. For thisreason, Corner Cast was awarded a sustainable developmentprize by Hydro Québec in June 2014.

“With conventional construction you have a huge amountof waste left at the end,” says Consiglio. “You have to do a

demolition of the building, and obviously this is not a verysustainable way to do construction.”

Recession breeds innovationThree years ago, Corner Cast needed to carve its own niche

in a difficult, recession-hit market. The company had beenbuilding shipping container rooms, thus supplying miningcamps with offices and sleeping quarters. But as explorationbudgets began to dry up, competition among building suppli-ers became fierce. Together with a partner in Alberta, VerticalBuilding Solutions, Corner Cast founders came up with theidea of using furnished shipping containers as the foundationfor a fabric roof. “We really had to innovate to succeed in themarketplace,” comments Consiglio.

The Cliffs Bloom lake truck shop is Corner Cast’s thirdhybrid structure. Although it has sold container units in everyprovince in Canada, the company’s biggest projects to datehave stayed in Quebec, where it is a licensed contractor. Ateam of five to nine people did the majority of the installationwork.

But the obvious attraction of shipping containers is thatthey travel anywhere. “We could be doing these truck assem-bly shops for the mining industry in South America very eas-ily,” says Consiglio. “That’s why we strongly believe that thiswill become not just a product for Canada or Quebec, butsomething that can be exported all over the world.” CIM


Corner Cast’s temporary truck shop at Bloom Lake required 40-by-40-foot doors and an interior of 160 by 100 feet.

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NAMEStoknow

LES NOMS À CONNAÎTRE

Lynne BouchardDon LindsayGeorge GritziotisBen ShellyBob RaeElizabeth Lewis-GrayRob McEwenSean RoosenGlenn NolanEira ThomasAubrey EveleighJOKO widodo


Born in Kirkland Lake, Bouchard began her miningcareer with the engineering department at Vale’s Garsonmine in Sudbury while she was still a student. Followingthe completion of her education as a mining and civil engi-neering technician at College Boréal, Bouchard worked fortwo years on civil projects across Ontario until she washired by St. Andrew Goldfields in 2011 as an undergroundsurveyor. She has since progressed in the company’s engi-neering department, now responsible for long hole planningand blasting as well as some mine planning.

“When I saw the signup sheet to join mine rescue, allI thought was that I wanted to be on that team, make adifference, and be a person who could be relied on if anemergency ever arose,” she says. “I was also told that ateam of guys from each mining company compete everyyear; you have to study the books a lot, you have to besmart and be able to endure a lot of training. I thought, ‘Iwant in on this.’”

Bouchard was surprised when she was informed that shewould be the first woman to ever compete in the KirklandLake District competition in 2012. But, she says, she did notthink much of it. This year, she assumed the role of captainof her otherwise all-male team and led them to a first placefinish against three other mines in the Kirkland Lake districtcompetition, thus qualifying for the provincial competitionin June, where they won the award for best firefighting. “Itstarted all over again with people saying I was breaking newground as the first woman captain,” she says. But oncemore, she did not think much of it, saying: “I’m just doingwhat my little heart desires. When people come up to meand say, ‘Don’t you find it’s a very male-dominated world,in a team with all these men?’ It never really fazed me. I’mfriends with these people and work with them.”

n By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

À l’âge de 25 ans,Lynne Bouchard est lapremière femme àdiriger une équipedans la compétitionprovinciale de sauve-tage minier en Ontario.Née à Kirkland Lake,Lynne commence sacarrière dans le secteurminier au départementd’ingénierie de la mineGarson de Vale, à Sud-bury, alors qu’elle estencore étudiante.Après avoir obtenu sondiplôme de technici-enne en génie civil etminier au CollègeBoréal, Lynne travaillependant deux ans surdes projets de géniecivil en Ontario jusqu’àce qu’elle soit

embauchée en 2011 par la société St Andrew Goldfields Ltd.en tant qu’arpenteuse dans les mines souterraines. Elle adepuis grimpé les échelons dans le département d’ingénieriede la société et est maintenant responsable de la planifica-tion et de l’abattage à l’explosif des longs trous ainsi qued’une partie de la planification de la mine.« Lorsque la fiche d’inscription pour intégrer l’équipe

de sauvetage minier a commencé à circuler, j’ai immédi-atement su que je voulais en faire partie, me démarquer etêtre une personne sur qui l’on peut compter en cas d’ur-gence », explique-t-elle. « On m’a expliqué qu’une équipede chaque société prenait part à la compétition chaqueannée ; il faut beaucoup étudier, et faire preuve d’intelli-gence et d’une grande endurance physique. J’ai décidé detenter ma chance. » Mme Bouchard a été très surprise lorsqu’elle a appris

qu’elle était la première femme à participer à cette compéti-tion dans le district de Kirkland Lake en 2012. Mais cela nel’a pas découragé pour autant. Cette année, elle a endossé lerôle de capitaine de son équipe composée uniquementd’hommes, et l’a mené à la première place de la compétitioncontre trois autres équipes représentant les mines du districtde Kirkland Lake. Ils se sont qualifiés pour la compétitionprovinciale qui a eu lieu en juin, où ils ont remporté le prixde la meilleure lutte contre l’incendie. « J’ai de nouveauentendu les gens s’exclamer et dire que j’ouvrais de toutesnouvelles perspectives en tant que femme capitaine. » Unefois de plus, cependant, elle n’en a pas fait état. « Je me con-tente de suivre ce que mon cœur me dicte. Quand des gensme disent “ Ne te sens-tu pas totalement dominée par laprésence masculine, avec ton équipe entièrement composéed’hommes ? ” je ne me laisse pas déstabiliser. Nous sommesamis et travaillons ensemble. »

n Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

At 25 years of age, LynneBouchard is thefirst woman tolead a team inthe ProvincialOntario Mine Rescuecompetition as captain.

LYNNE BOUCHARD

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The secret to Lindsay’s success is twofold: building a tal-ented team around him and focusing on Teck’s long-termgrowth and sustainability.

CIM: do you hAve A long-term vision for teckthAt you Are working towArds?DL: We’re building a Canadian champion on the world stageand we want to be a diversified company. Diversification haslong been our strategy and it’s not really so much for port-folio risk diversification as it is from a capital allocationpoint of view. We’d like to be able to invest our capital wherethe best risk-reward ratio is, rather than in any one partic-ular commodity. In the end, the kind of company that I’dlike to build is the kind of company that the kids of ouremployees would be proud to work for.

CIM: in the lAst two yeArs something like 20mining ceos hAve stepped down or retired.whAt wAs it like seeing thAt exodus?DL: I know a lot of them very well and not just from my cur-rent career but from my previous career when they wereclients of mine, so I’ve known a lot of them for a long time.Part of it is the natural evolution of the industry, but theindustry did suffer from misallocation of capital thatresulted in a lot of write-downs. Teck did not have any bigwrite-downs, and, believe me, our auditors looked very hardand carefully because they saw the rest of the industry withwrite-downs and they assumed we would have it too.

CIM: sustAinAbility hAs been A reAl pAssion foryou; whAt do you see As the next step for teckin thAt sense?DL: Well, we set very distinct sustainability goals under sixfocus areas that represent our greatest sustainability oppor-tunities and challenges: community, our people, water, bio-diversity, energy and materials stewardship. We publishedthese goals three years ago; the short-term goals were for2015 and the long-term goals for 2030. While 2030 mayseem like a long time from now, the long-term goals are

Don Lindsay est le président etdirecteur général de Teck depuis plusde neuf ans, un long mandat d’autantplus remarquable si l’on considère ledépart en masse de nombreuxdirigeants de l’industrie minière cesderniers temps. Le succès de M. Lind-say s’explique de deux façons : lacréation d’une équipe talentueuseautour de lui, et l’intérêt qu’il porte àla croissance et la viabilité de Teck àlong terme.

ICM : Avez-vous une vision àlong terme à lAquelle vousAspirez pour teck ?DL: Nous nous efforçons de constru-ire un champion canadien sur la

scène mondiale et nous souhaitons être une société diversifiée.La diversification fait depuis longtemps partie de notrestratégie ; elle ne s’inscrit pas tant dans une perspective dediversification des risques liés au portefeuille que dans cellede l’allocation des fonds propres. Nous aimerions pouvoirinvestir notre capital là où le rapport risque/récompense estle meilleur plutôt que dans une marchandise en particulier.Au final, j’aimerai développer une société pour laquelle lesenfants de nos employé(e)s seraient fiers de travailler.

ICM : ces 20 dernières, une vingtAine de pdg desociétés minières ont démissionné ou sont pArtisà lA retrAite. quel effet vous ont fAit cesdépArts en mAsse ?DL: J’ai rencontré bon nombre de ces personnes depuis queje suis PDG chez Teck, mais aussi au cours de ma carrièreantérieure, où ils étaient mes clients. J’en connais donc beau-coup depuis longtemps. Cela fait partie de l’évolutionnaturelle dans ce secteur ; mais l’industrie a aussi beaucoupsouffert d’une mauvaise allocation des fonds propres, qui aengendré de nombreuses dépréciations. Teck n’a pas connude grandes dépréciations et croyez-moi, nos auditeurs n’ontrien laissé au hasard ! Étant donné que le reste du secteuraffichait des dépréciations, ils ont supposé que Teck ne devaitpas faire exception à la règle.

ICM : lA viAbilité, c’est une vrAie pAssion pourvous ; quelle serA lA prochAine étApe pour tecken lA mAtière ?DL: Teck a établi des objectifs de viabilité très distincts danssix domaines d’intérêt qui représentent nos plus grands défiset opportunités en la matière : la communauté, nos employés,la biodiversité, l’énergie et la gestion responsable des matières.Nous avons publié ces objectifs il y a trois ans ; ceux à courtterme étaient pour 2015, ceux à long terme pour 2030. L’an-née 2030 semble bien éloignée, mais il est important d’établirdes objectifs à long terme car ils définissent notre vision enmatière de viabilité. Les objectifs que nous nous étions fixés pour 2015 sont

pratiquement atteints, aussi nous avons lancé une procédure


Teck president andCEO Don Lindsayhas held hisposition for morethan nine years, along tenure mademore noticeable bythe mass departureof mining industrychief executives inrecent memory. DON LINDSAY

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important because they set out the vision of where we aregoing in sustainability.

As our 2015 goals are nearly complete, we have started aprocess to set the next set of goals from 2015 to 2020. Weare bringing a team of our top people together from a varietyof backgrounds, across the company, including some of ourvery talented, young people to discuss the next steps so thatwe ultimately achieve our vision for sustainability.

CIM: whAt kind of leAder do you see yourself As?DL: I go back to why I was hired in the first place. I washired to build a team. My job as CEO is to set a long-termstrategy and then build the most capable, seasoned, collegialteam that I possibly can, and so we’re always working ondeveloping talent. It’s like parenting; when you see your kidsgrow up, there’s nothing more gratifying. I’m very proud ofthe team we’ve got here at Teck, and it’s exciting to me tosee that talent continue to grow and evolve.

n By Kelsey Rolfe

pour déterminer la prochaine série d’objectifs de 2015 à 2020.Nous constituons une équipe qui comprendra les plus grandstalents de la société, tous issus de disciplines différentes, dontcertains de nos jeunes recrues exceptionnelles, afin de discuterdes prochaines étapes de manière à réaliser notre vision enmatière de viabilité.

ICM : quel genre de chef de file pensez-vous être ?DL: Retournons en arrière ; à l’époque, j’ai été embauchépour créer une équipe. Ma mission en tant que président etdirecteur général consiste à établir une stratégie à longterme, puis à créer l’équipe la plus apte, aguerrie et collé-giale possible ; nous œuvrons continuellement audéveloppement du talent. C’est un peu comme être parent ;il n’y a rien de plus gratifiant que de voir vos enfantsgrandir. Je suis très fier de l’équipe que nous formons àTeck, et me réjouis de voir que ce talent continue de sedévelopper et d’évoluer.

n Par Kelsey Rolfe

He is theMinistry of Lab -our’s first chiefprevention offi-cer, and follow-ing three miningfatalities in theprovince thisspring, pressureis mounting forhim to find away to reducerisk for Ontar -

io’s mine workers. “We know health and safety is about con-tinuous improvement,” he says. “The review is aboutstakeholders and miners finding even better ways and bestpractices to bring our miners home safe and sound.” Withthe official stakeholder consultation now complete, thereview is expected to release a mid-year report this summeron six key areas:n the capacity of the mining sector’s health and safety sys-

tem, including enforcement, support and trainingn technology and management of changen internal responsibility system n health and safety hazards in the mining sectorn training skills and labour issuesn emergency preparedness and mine rescue


Depuis le mois de janvier, George Gritziotis est chargé demener le plus récent examen de la santé et la sécurité dans lesecteur minier en Ontario. En sa qualité de directeur généralde la prévention du ministère du travail, et après trois acci-dents miniers mortels qui se sont produits dans la provincece printemps, la pression est de plus en plus forte et il doitimpérativement trouver un moyen de réduire les risques pourles mineurs de l’Ontario. « Seules des améliorations continuespermettront de garantir la santé et la sécurité de tous »,explique-t-il. « L’objectif de cet examen est d’aider les partiesprenantes et les sociétés minières à trouver les meilleursmoyens et les pratiques exemplaires pour protéger leursmineurs. » La consultation officielle des parties prenantesétant maintenant terminée, l’examen devrait aboutir à la pub-lication d’un rapport semestriel cet été sur six points importants :n La capacité du système de santé et de sécurité du secteur

minier, dont la mise en application, le soutien et la for-mation

n La technologie et la gestion des changementsn Un système de responsabilité interne n Les risques en termes de santé et de sécurité dans le

secteur miniern L’acquisition de compétences et les questions relatives au

travailn La préparation aux situations d’urgence et le sauvetage

miniern Par Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

Since January, George Gritziotis has led Ontario’s most recent mining health and safety review.

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Just after Christmas last year,Navajo Nationpresident Ben Shellyput his signature to legislationapproving thepurchase of a coal mine onNavajo land from a subsidiary of BHP Billiton for US$85 million.

“We have secured a vital revenue stream for the Nationwith this purchase,” says Shelly, who has led the NavajoNation since January 2011. It was a deal Shelly says wouldsecure the economic future of the Navajo.

The thermal coal mine located on Navajo territory southof Farmington, New Mexico, sells 100 per cent of itsroughly 5.4 million tonnes of annual coal production to apower plant also located on Navajo land. (The NavajoNation holds the largest reservation in the United States,covering nearly 30,000 square miles across Arizona, NewMexico, and Utah.)

Shelly’s administration views the purchase as a necessaryaction to protect the US$50 million to US$70 million theNavajo currently receive in royalties, taxes and leases fromboth the mine and power plant, which together employabout 800 Navajo.

Prior to the purchase, changes were afoot that placed thefuture of the mine and power plant in question: retrofittingthe plant to comply with new Environmental ProtectionAgency rules necessitated a lowering of capacity, reducingthe average annual coal burn from 7.2 million to 5.4 milliontonnes. “This decreased volume has made the mining oper-ation unattractive to BHP Billiton...” reads the website ofthe Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC), a whollyowned Navajo Nation company created to purchase andoperate the mine.

Not only did the Navajo go ahead and buy it, but NTEChas signed a coal supply agreement with the power plant(owned by a consortium of public utilities) that will runfrom 2016 and 2031.

However, not all Navajo have been supportive of the pur-chase. Five members of the 22-person Navajo Nation Coun-cil voted against the legislation. Diné CARE, a Navajo

Peu après Noël l’année dernière, le président de la nationnavajo Ben Shelly a signé une loi approuvant l’achat d’unemine de charbon située sur les terres navajos auprès d’une fil-iale de BHP Billiton pour la somme de 85 millions $ US.« Cet achat nous a permis d’assurer un flux de rentrée con-

stant pour la nation », expliquait M. Shelly, qui dirige le peu-ple navajo depuis janvier 2011. Selon lui, cette acquisitionpermettra d’assurer l’avenir économique des Navajos. La mine de charbon thermique, située sur le territoire

navajo au sud de Farmington, au Nouveau Mexique, vend l’in-tégralité de sa production annuelle de charbon (environ 5,4millions de tonnes) à une centrale électrique basée sur les ter-ritoires navajos (le peuple navajo occupe la plus granderéserve des États-Unis, laquelle couvre près de 50 000 kilo-mètres carrés entre l’Arizona, le Nouveau Mexique et l’Utah). L’administration de M. Shelly considère cet achat comme

une action nécessaire pour protéger les redevances, taxes etbaux (entre 50 et 70 millions $ US) que perçoivent actuelle-ment les Navajos de la mine et de la centrale électrique,lesquelles emploient à elles deux près de 800 Navajos. Avant l’achat, certains changements envisagés compromet-

taient l’avenir de la mine et de la centrale en question : la mod-ernisation de la centrale conformément aux nouvellesréglementations de l’agence de protection de l’environnement(EPA) impliquait de diminuer la capacité, entraînant unebaisse de la quantité annuelle moyenne de houille brûlée de7,2 millions à 5,4 millions de tonnes. « Cette baisse du volumea rendu l’exploitation minière inintéressante pour BHP Billi-ton... », peut-on lire sur le site Internet de la Navajo Transi-tional Energy Company (NTEC), une société entièrementdétenue par le peuple navajo créée pour l’achat et l’exploita-tion de la mine. Les Navajos ont non seulement acheté la mine, mais la

NTEC a signé une entente avec la centrale électrique concer-nant l’approvisionnement en charbon (détenue par un con-sortium de services publics) qui s’étendra de 2016 à 2031.Cependant, tous les Navajos n’ont pas approuvé cet achat.

Cinq des 22 membres constituant le conseil du peuplenavajo ont voté contre cette mesure législative. Diné CARE,un groupe environnementaliste navajo, s’est plaint de cettevente qui allait trop loin en ce qu’elle acquittait BHP Billitondes responsabilités « passées, présentes et futures » associées


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He quit politics to become chief negotiator for theMatawa First Nations, a group of nine communities locatednear Ontario’s Ring of Fire, about 500 kilometres northeastof Thunder Bay.

This spring the Matawa chiefs signed a framework agree-ment with Ontario that sets the early stage for resourcedevelopment in a region predicted to contain $60 billion inchromite, nickel and copper.

CIM: in 10 yeArs’ time, whAt do you think thering of fire will look like? will there be mines inproduction?BR: I don’t think we know. First, we don’t know who theproponents are going to be and what their real intentionsare, and that has been confusing for a lot of people. Thelevel of economic activity depends on who the proponents

Ancien premier min-istre de l’Ontario etdirigeant du Parti libéraldu Canada, Bob Rae en asurpris plus d’un l’annéedernière lorsqu’il a quittéle monde politique pourdevenir médiateur auprèsdes Premières NationsMatawas, un groupe deneuf communautés vivantprès de la région du Cer-cle de feu en Ontario, àenviron 500 kilomètres aunord-est de la baie Thun-der. Ce printemps, leschefs Matawas ont signéun accord-cadre avecl’Ontario établissant lespremières étapes du

développement des ressources dans une région qui con-tiendrait l’équivalent de 60 milliards $ en chromite, nickel etcuivre.

ICM : selon vous, à quoi ressemblerA le cercle defeu d’ici une dizAine d’Année ? y trouverA-t-ondes mines en production ?BR : C’est difficile à dire. Tout d’abord, on ne sait pas quiseront les promoteurs et quelles seront leurs intentions réelles,ce qui sème la confusion chez beaucoup de personnes. Leniveau d’activité économique dépend des promoteurs, de leursérieux et de leur volonté à s’engager avec les communautés.Nous aspirons à l’amélioration de la situation sociale et de lasanté des membres de ces communautés, souhaitons leur don-ner la possibilité de réussir et assurer une véritable protectionde l’environnement.

environmental group, has complained that the sale went toofar in absolving BHP Billiton for “past, present and future”liabilities connected with the mine. It has also questionedwhether the coal mine can be operated profitably by theNavajo given the uncertainty of future federal legislation tofight climate change.

NTEC chairman Steve Gundersen says the coal mine isjust one asset in what will soon be a diversified energy mixfor the Navajo, part of president Shelly’s energy policy thatenvisions a transition from Navajo fossil fuel extraction tothe development of clean energy on their land. To that end,the NTEC is mandated to fund promising solar and windprojects on Navajo territory by re-investing 10 per cent ofits future net company income into renewable energy.

Whether Shelly will have the chance to deliver on thatvision will be determined at the end of this month, whenNavajo Nation members cast their votes in the presidentialelection.

n By Christopher Pollon

à la mine. Il a également émis des doutes quant à la rentabil-ité de l’exploitation de la mine de charbon par les Navajosétant donné l’incertitude qui plane autour de la future légis-lation fédérale concernant la lutte contre le changement cli-matique.Steve Gundersen, président de la NTEC, déclare que la

mine de charbon ne constitue qu’un seul des actifs dans cequi sera bientôt un bouquet énergétique diversifié pour lesNavajos. En effet, la politique énergétique du président M.Shelly prévoit une transition de l’extraction des combustiblesfossiles par les Navajos au développement de l’énergie propresur leurs territoires. Ainsi, la NTEC a pour mission de financerdes projets prometteurs dédiés aux énergies solaire et éoliennesur le territoire navajo en réinvestissant 10 % du bénéfice netfutur de la société dans des sources d’énergie renouvelables.M. Shelly pourra-t-il réaliser cette vision ? On le saura d’ici

la fin du mois, lorsque les membres de la nation navajo irontdéposer leurs votes à l’occasion de l’élection présidentielle.

n Par Christopher Pollon

The formerOntario premierand ex-FederalLiberal leadersurprised manylast year.

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are and how serious they are, and how willing they are toengage with the communities. We want to see better healthand social conditions, better opportunities for people toprosper, as well as real protection for the environment.

CIM: whAt exActly hAs been Achieved with thefrAmework between the mAtAwA communitiesAnd ontArio?BR: The communities have agreed to work together and toput down on paper exactly what that involves, and the gov-ernment has agreed to do the same. These things take time,but we’ve agreed to focus on the environmental assessmentprocess, infrastructure, the well-being of communities andrevenue sharing.

CIM: whAt Are the next steps?BR: We’re now having to sit down with the communitiesand work out what kind of environmental [assessment]process would make sense for them, and we’re also wantingto talk to communities about what infrastructure improve-ments they want to see. Now that the Ontario majority gov-ernment has been elected, we’ll begin to see more clearlyexactly what the government has in mind too. In some sensethe work will now become more complicated, with moredetailed discussions about the environment and infrastruc-ture. The chiefs have asked me to carry on as their advisor.

CIM: one Aspect of the frAmework is creAting Anew economic relAtionship between firstnAtions, government And industry. whAt doeseconomic development look like to the peopleyou represent?BR: One of the clear mandates I’ve been given is to talk tothe government about what road improvements and otherimprovements the First Nations want to see. An interestingdevelopment has been the interest in taking a stronger own-ership position in the development of infrastructure likeroads, power and energy generation. The First Nations areno longer prepared to simply be the passive recipients ofwhatever largesse either happens or doesn’t happen – peoplewant to be owners. The second thing is to have a direct par-ticipation in terms of jobs, joint ventures and other possi-bilities that flow from the mining development itself.

CIM: As recently As 2012, some mAtAwAcommunities were threAtening to evict industry.how hAs the relAtionship evolved since then? BR: What hasn’t changed is the continuing concern that thecompanies and government seem to regard development assomething that they do, not something that First Nations directlyparticipate in. And that’s something that needs to change.

CIM: hAs the fAct thAt most mAtAwAcommunities hAve concluded treAties helped orhindered progress towArd development?BR: The good thing about the treaties is that they are government-to-government documents that establish arelationship over time, and establish the principle of shar-

ICM : quels résultAts concrets ont découlé decet Accord-cAdre entre les communAutésmAtAwAs et l’ontArio ?BR : Les communautés ont accepté de collaborer et de con-signer tout ce que cela implique, et le gouvernement en a faitde même. Ce genre de choses prend du temps, mais nousavons décidé de nous concentrer sur la procédure d’évaluationenvironnementale, l’infrastructure, le bien-être des commu-nautés et le partage des revenus.

ICM : quelles sont les prochAines étApes ?BR : Nous devons maintenant prendre le temps de déterminer,en concertation avec les communautés, quel genre de procé-dure [d’évaluation] environnementale est importante poureux, et voulons également leur demander quelles améliora-tions elles souhaitent voir au niveau des infrastructures. Main-tenant qu’un gouvernement majoritaire a été élu en Ontario,nous allons pouvoir déterminer ses motivations réelles. Dansun sens, notre travail va maintenant devenir plus complexe etimpliquera des discussions plus approfondies concernant l’en-vironnement et l’infrastructure. Les chefs m’ont demandéd’être leur conseiller.

ICM : l’un des volets de l’Accord-cAdre consisteà étAblir une nouvelle relAtion économiqueentre les premières nAtions, le gouvernement etl’industrie. qu’évoque le développementéconomique Aux personnes que vousreprésentez ?BR : L’une des missions claires dont j’ai été chargé est de m’en-tretenir avec le gouvernement quant aux améliorations,notamment des routes, chères aux Premières Nations. Un faitintéressant concernait leur souhait de contribuer davantageau développement de l’infrastructure telle que les routes et laproduction d’électricité et d’énergie. Les Premières Nations nesont plus disposées à être des bénéficiaires passifs de quelquelargesse qui se produit ou ne se produit pas ; elles veulentavoir des droits. Elles souhaitent également avoir une partic-ipation directe dans les emplois, les entreprises communes etles autres possibilités qui émanent du développement minier.

ICM : en 2012, certAines communAutés mAtAwAsAvAient menAcé d’expulser l’industrie. commentlA relAtion A-t-elle évolué depuis ? BR : Ce qui préoccupe encore les communautés, c’est le faitque les sociétés et le gouvernement semblent envisager ledéveloppement comme quelque chose qu’ils font, et non pascomme une chose à laquelle participent les Premières Nations.Ceci doit changer.

ICM : le fAit que lA plupArt des communAutésmAtAwAs Aient conclu des trAités A-t-il Aidé ouentrAvé les progrès vers le développement ?BR : La bonne nouvelle est que ces traités sont des docu-ments intergouvernementaux qui créent une relation au fildes ans et établissent le principe de partage des terres. L’in-convénient au niveau de la façon dont les gouvernementsont interprété ces traités est qu’ils ont considérablement



réduit ou limité les droits des Premières Nations. En Colom-bie-Britannique, les Premières Nations expliquent très claire-ment qu’elles n’ont jamais renoncé à leur revendication àl’égard du territoire, et elles bénéficient d’un soutien consid-érable de la loi. Dans les territoires couverts par le traité dela [baie James #9], la situation est plus confuse et probléma-tique étant donné que les gouvernements provincial etfédéral ont pris la fâcheuse habitude de s’approprier ces ter-res, les terres de la Couronne, et d’évoluer sans même envis-ager d’en faire part aux premiers concernés. Ces attitudeschangent, certes, mais très lentement.

ICM : comment vous-êtes vous retrouvé Au postede négociAteur en chef ?BR : Un groupe d’avocats travaillant au nom des chefsMatawas m’a contacté l’année dernière à la fin de l’hiver. J’aiaccepté de leur donner des conseils alors que j’étais encoredéputé, et au fil du temps, j’ai décidé de m’y consacrer à pleintemps et de quitter mon poste de député.


“There was a lot of knowledge that was not being appliedand not communicated to the board level and CEOs,” saysthe co-founder of Gekko Systems, a gold and silver mineralprocessing technology company based in Australia. So in2011, Lewis-Gray established the Coalition for Eco-EfficientComminution (CEEC) with the goal of attacking the prob-lem head on. The coalition raises awareness of research find-ings, alternative comminution strategies and installedoutcomes in its attempt to lower processing costs and raiseshareholder value.

Il y a quelques années,Elizabeth Lewis-Gray a étéstupéfiée d’apprendre queles recherches cruciales surl’efficacité énergétiquedans le domaine de lacomminution n’arrivaientpas jusqu’aux personnesprenant des décisions cri-tiques. « Une grande partiedes connaissances n’étaientpas appliquées ni commu-niquées aux membres desconseils ou de la direc-tion », explique la cofon-datrice de Gekko Systems,une société spécialiséedans la technologie detraitement des mineraisaurifères et argentifèresbasée en Australie. Ainsi,en 2011, Mme Lewis-Gray acréé la Coalition for Eco-Efficient Comminution(CEEC, la coalition pour le

broyage écoénergétique) dans l’objectif d’aborder le problèmede front. Cette coalition sensibilise le public aux résultats dela recherche, aux autres stratégies possibles de comminutionet aux exemples concrets dans un effort de réduire les coûtsde traitement et d’augmenter la valeur pour les actionnaires.À ses débuts, la CEEC était majoritairement soutenue par

des sociétés spécialisées dans la recherche et l’approvision-nement, mais aujourd’hui, l’organisation compte parmi sescommanditaires et ses membres du conseil un nombre crois-sant de sociétés minières participant activement. Parmi ces

A few years ago,Elizabeth Lewis-Gray wasshocked todiscover thatcritical researchon energyefficiency incomminutionwas not reachingthe peoplemaking the bigdecisions. Elizabeth

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ing the land. The bad thing about how governments haveinterpreted the treaties is that they have severely curtailedor limited the rights of First Nations. In B.C., FirstNations are very clear they have never given up theirclaim to the land, with considerable support in the law.In the [James Bay #9] treaty areas, it’s less clear and moreproblematic because provincial and federal governmentshave gotten into the habit of saying, “This is our land,Crown land, we’re moving forward, there’s no need to dis-cuss.” These attitudes are changing but they are changingvery slowly.

CIM: how did you end up with the chiefnegotiAtor job?BR: I was approached by a group of lawyers who were work-ing on behalf of the Matawa chiefs in late winter of last year.I agreed to provide them with some advice while still an MP,and as time went on, I decided to work full-time and nolonger be an MP.


In its early days, CEEC was largely supported by researchand supply companies, but today the organization has agrowing number of mining companies that are activelyinvolved both as sponsors and board members. These futur-ist miners include Barrick Gold, which last year signed atwo-year sponsorship contract. The organization now ben-efits from experienced board members such as Barrick’s IvanMullany and Mirabela Nickel’s new CEO, Maryse Belanger,who was previously with Goldcorp.

“Increasingly, CEEC’s mission is being taken up by theindustry itself, and that’s very exciting because they’re theones who can make the change,” says Lewis-Gray, whorecently stepped down from her role as chair of CEEC inorder to facilitate increased industry involvement.

However, Lewis-Gray remains a patron of CEEC and isin no way stepping back from her commitment to the organ-ization and its mission. There are exciting times ahead, shesays, as the industry moves towards even bolder steps andsolutions. “The best way to reduce the energy consumptionof crushing and grinding is not to crush and grind,” sheadds. “So if we can eliminate that by better blasting, or pre-concentration, for example, or use more efficient technol-ogy, these are the strategies mining companies need to paymore attention to.”


sociétés minières futuristes figure Barrick Gold, qui a signél’année dernière un contrat de commandite de deux années.Le conseil d’administration de l’organisation est désormaisdoté de membres chevronnés, dont Ivan Mullany de Barricket Maryse Belanger, la nouvelle présidente et directricegénérale de Mirabela Nickel, qui travaillait auparavant chez Goldcorp. « L’industrie s’inspire de plus en plus de la mission de la

CEEC, ce qui est une très bonne chose étant donné que c’estd’elle qu’émaneront les changements », indique Mme Lewis-Gray, qui a récemment quitté son poste de présidente de laCEEC afin de pouvoir s’impliquer davantage dans l’industrie. Cependant, Mme Lewis-Gray reste présidente d’honneur de

la CEEC et ne renonce en aucun cas à son engagement enversl’organisation et sa mission. L’industrie s’apprête à prendre desmesures et des solutions plus audacieuses, et l’avenir s’an-nonce très intéressant. « Le meilleur moyen de réduire la con-sommation énergétique liée au concassage et au broyageconsiste à ne plus concasser ni broyer », ajoute-t-elle. « Ilfaudrait parvenir à éliminer ces procédés en améliorant l’a-battage à l’explosif ou la préconcentration par exemple, ouencore utiliser des technologies plus performantes ; ce sontsur ces stratégies que les sociétés minières doivent davantagese pencher. »

n Par Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

CIM: how key hAs long-term thinking been foryou?RM: It’s very important. You need a goal, a strategy, lots ofpassion and luck! In Goldcorp’s case, our goal was to con-

Rob McEwen a construit GoldcorpInc. de A à Z et en a fait l’un des princi-paux producteurs d’or, affichant unecroissance exceptionnelle. Il dirigemaintenant une société qui porte sonnom, McEwen Mining Inc., et espèreque son don de tout transformer en orne va pas l’abandonner.

ICM : dAns quelle mesure votreperspective à long terme vousA-t-elle Aidé ?RM : Elle a été très importante. Il fautavoir un objectif, une stratégie, et unebonne dose de passion et de chance !Dans le cas de Goldcorp, notre objectifétait de nous concentrer sur des activitésqui établiraient le prix de nos actions.McEwen Mining est aussi le résultat d’unegrande planification, et je suis bienévidemment curieux de voir si nouspourrons en faire une deuxième Gold-corp. Trouver l’équivalent du site de RedLake est loin d’être simple, mais tout eny travaillant dur, nous développons aussiune société qui pourrait figurer sur

l’indice boursier S&P 500 (SPX), ce qui nous assurerait unebase d’actionnaires stables et sur le long terme, et un coût ducapital réduit. À l’heure actuelle, un seul producteur d’or figuresur cet indice. Actuellement, plus de 1 600 milliards $ sont


He built Goldcorp Inc. from the ground up andinto the world’s fastest-growing senior goldproducer. Now Rob McEwen is heading up hisnamesake McEwen Mining Inc., hoping hisMidas touch is in good working order.

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centrate on activities that would build our share price.McEwen Mining is also the product of planning, and yes I’dlike to see if we can do a Goldcorp again. Finding anotherRed Lake is not an easy task, but while we’re working onthat goal we are also building a company that would qualifyfor inclusion in the S&P 500 index, which would mean astable long-time shareholder base and a lower cost of capi-tal. Right now there is only one gold producer in that index.Currently there’s over $1.6 trillion invested by index fundsin the S&P 500. McEwen Mining is one of only about fivecompanies in the precious metal universe that has a shot ofgetting in.

CIM: you own 25 per cent of mcewen mining’soutstAnding shAres but you do not pAyyourself A sAlAry for your role As ceo AndchAirmAn. why?RM: After Goldcorp I wanted to try a different model ofmanagement and compensation where I was more closelyaligned with my fellow shareholders by positioning myselfmore like a merchant banker than a hired gun, professionalmanager.

Ten years ago, institutional investors rushed into the pre-cious metals market and appeared to want bigger companiesso they can put more money to work. Ambitious CEOs whowere being showered with money said, “Well, let’s build big-ger companies.” Unfortunately they got carried away withbuying companies at big premiums. The result has been big-ger companies and smaller share prices!

I think getting into the S&P 500 is worth striving for, butat the same time I don’t want to build a company that’s big-ger just for the sake of bigger.

CIM: whAt is your vision of the ideAl compAnystructure?RM: My ideal company becomes more efficient each year:more production, improved profit margins, pays a dividendand its share price increases significantly over the interme-diate and long-term. Also, I’d like to have a company thatissues financial statements that shareholders can read. Sim-ple language, clear statements and minimal text is urgentlyneeded.

CIM: whAt role do strong relAtionships withAll stAkeholders plAy in A compAny’s success?RM: When I created Goldcorp, our Red Lake mine alreadyhad a long history of troubled labour relationships. So, oneof the first things I did as CEO was to visit the mine union’shead office to talk about a different relationship where wecould both prosper. The importance of this step was themutual respect and cooperation it fostered. We didn’talways see eye to eye but at least the door was open for aconversation.

In my last four years running Goldcorp we would inviteour largest suppliers and representatives of important sec-tors of the communities around our mines to attend ourannual shareholders’ meetings and exhibit their services andneeds to our shareholders in a trade fair-like environment.

investis par des fonds indiciels dans le S&P 500. McEwen Min-ing est l’une des cinq sociétés seulement du monde des métauxprécieux à avoir une chance d’y figurer.

ICM : vous détenez 25 % des Actions encirculAtion de mcewen mining mAis ne percevezpAs de sAlAire pour votre poste de président etdirecteur générAl de lA société. pourquoi ?RM : Après mon expérience avec Goldcorp, j’ai voulu ten-ter un autre modèle de gestion et de rémunération danslequel je me rapprochais de mes collègues actionnaires enme positionnant davantage comme un spécialiste des serv-ices de banque d’investissement, et non comme un merce-naire professionnel. Il y a dix ans, les investisseurs institutionnels se sont pré-

cipités vers le marché des métaux précieux et voulaient dessociétés plus grandes pour pouvoir faire fructifier davantaged’argent. Les PDG ambitieux que l’on inondait d’argentabondaient dans leur sens et construisaient de plus grossessociétés. Malheureusement, ils se sont laissés aller à l’achat desociétés au prix fort. Ils avaient certes de plus grosses sociétés,mais ont vu le prix de leurs actions baisser ! Figurer sur l’indice S&P 500 vaut la peine de se battre,

mais je ne souhaite pas pour autant construire une plus grossesociété simplement pour le plaisir d’être plus grand.

ICM : quelle est pour vous lA structure idéAled’une société ?RM : Ma société idéale serait une société qui devient de plusen plus performante chaque année : une meilleure production,des marges de profit plus importantes, une société qui verseun dividende à ses actionnaires et dont le prix de l’action aug-mente considérablement sur les moyen et long termes. Enoutre, j’aimerai diriger une société dont les états financiers peu-vent être consultés par tous les actionnaires. Il est grand tempsd’utiliser un langage simple, des états clairs et peu de texte.

ICM : quel rôle jouent les relAtions étroitesAvec tous les ActionnAires dAns lA réussited’une société ?RM : Lorsque j’ai créé Goldcorp, notre mine de Red Lake avaitdéjà une longue histoire de relations de travail difficiles. Ainsi,l’une des premières choses que j’ai faites en tant que présidentet directeur général a été de me rendre au siège du syndicatde la mine pour présenter l’idée d’une relation dans laquellenous pourrions tous nous épanouir. L’importance de cetteaction s’est reflétée dans le respect mutuel et la coopérationqu’elle a engendrés. On ne se rencontrait pas toujours en faceen face, mais la porte était toujours ouverte pour discuter. Au cours de mes quatre dernières années à Goldcorp, nous

invitions nos plus grands fournisseurs et les représentants desecteurs importants des communautés sur le site minier afinqu’ils participent aux réunions annuelles des actionnaires etleur présentent leurs services et besoins dans un environ-nement rappelant un salon commercial. Quelles qu’ellessoient, les approches adoptées pour aider ces groupes à sedévelopper semblaient être un excellent investissement dansnotre avenir.

Whatever we could do to help these groups grow seemedlike an excellent investment in the future.

CIM: you recently hosted A number of speAkers Atyour heAd office to explore opportunities forinnovAtion in mining. the guest list includedsuppliers And AcAdemics, but Also employees fromyour competition. whAt Are you hoping to Achievewith these discussions?RM: The purpose was to gather individuals from all sectorsof the industry who have an interest in changing andimproving the way we do the business of mining. Hopefully,we will help speed up the adoption of new technologies inour company and the rest of our industry.


ICM : vous Avez récemment Accueilli plusieursintervenAnts à votre siège Afin d’explorer lespossibilités d’innovAtion dAns l’exploitAtionminière. pArmi vos invités figurAient desfournisseurs et des universitAires, mAiségAlement des employés de vos AdversAires.qu’espérez-vous Atteindre Au trAvers de cesdiscussions ?RM : Notre objectif était de réunir des individus de tous lessecteurs de l’industrie partageant un intérêt commun pour lechangement et l’amélioration de la façon dont nous menonsnos activités minières. Avec un peu de chance, nous pourronsaccélérer l’adoption des nouvelles technologies dans notresociété et le reste de notre industrie.

n Par Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

Sean Roosen disposeaujourd’hui d’environ155 millions $ enespèces pour tenterd’obtenir le même suc-cès qu’il a connu auposte de président etdirecteur général d’O-sisko. La nouvellesociété qu’il dirige,New Osisko, dont lavaleur implicite s’élèveà 575 millions $lorsque l’on tientcompte de tous les act-ifs, est bien mieuxplacée que de nom-breuses petites sociétésminières. En l’espaced’environ huit ans,M. Roosen a fait d’O-sisko Mining Corpora-

tion, une petite société minière qui luttait pour survivre, unproducteur d’or de taille intermédiaire dont les revenus en2013 ont atteint la valeur record de près de 676 millions $.Son plus grand projet, la mine Canadian Malartic au Québec,est l’une des plus grosses mines aurifères du Canada. « [M.Roosen et son équipe] ont emménagé dans une ville, rencontréle gouvernement du Québec et commencé la production à lamine, à laquelle participent non pas une, mais trois sociétésminières ; cela prouve bien l’étendue de leurs aptitudes »,déclarait John Ing, président et directeur général de MaisonPlacements à Bloomberg en avril. M. Roosen avait récemmentaidé à organiser l’acquisition amicale d’Osisko par YamanaGold et Mines Agnico Eagle. Les 3,9 milliards $ obtenus pourle rachat d’Osisko correspondaient à une suroffre de plus d’unmilliard $ par rapport à l’offre publique d’achat hostile initiale-ment proposée par Goldcorp, qui avait marqué le début desnégociations pour la vente.



He now has about $155 million in cash to seeif he can replicate the success he oversaw aspresident and CEO at Osisko.

Roosen and his new company, known as New Osisko, arein a better position than many juniors, as the company hasan implied value of $575 million when all assets are consid-ered. Over the course of about eight years, Roosen trans-formed Osisko Mining Corporation from a struggling juniorto an intermediate gold producer with record 2013 revenueof around $676 million. Its flagship Canadian Malartic minein Quebec is today one of Canada’s biggest gold mines. “Thefact that [Roosen and his team] were able to move to a town,deal with the Quebec government and put the mine into pro-duction and have now attracted not one but three miners forit is a testament to his abilities,” John Ing, CEO of MaisonPlacements, told Bloomberg in April. At that time, Roosenhad recently helped orchestrate a friendly takeover of Osiskoby Yamana Gold and Agnico-Eagle Mines. The $3.9-billionprice Osisko fetched was over a billion dollars more thanGoldcorp’s initial hostile bid that set the dealing in motion.


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Nolan was a three-term chief of the Missanabie Cree FirstNation before becoming the first aboriginal president of theProspectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC)in 2012. One constant throughout his 30-year mining careerhas been a determination to build bridges between Aborig-inal People and the resource industry.

CIM: hAve you experienced Any personAlbAcklAsh from other first nAtions leAders orcommunities for the role you hAve been plAyingwith industry?GN: Every time you are not wearing a jacket of conformityyou are criticized because you are taking a different path,and I’ve received a small amount of criticism from Aborigi-nal People. However some of my biggest supporters are alsowithin the aboriginal community. Phil Fontaine, ShawnAtleo, some of the regional chiefs, are big supporters. Over-all I would say that Aboriginal People have been very sup-portive of the opportunity that I have had as the firstaboriginal person at the helm of PDAC.

CIM: do you think AboriginAl people need todistAnce themselves from rAdicAl environmentAlist movements?GN: I think that communities are looking for informationto try to better understand what the issues are as it relates

Glenn Nolan est à ce jourvice-président des affairesautochtones chez NorontResources, une société bienplacée pour devenir le plusgrand producteur de la régiondu Cercle de feu, en Ontario.M. Nolan a assumé trois man-dats en tant que chef de la Pre-mière nation crie Missanabieavant de devenir le premierprésident autochtone de laProspectors and DevelopersAssociation of Canada (PDAC,l’association canadienne desprospecteurs et entrepreneurs)en 2012. Tout au long de sacarrière de 30 ans dans lesecteur minier, il s’est consacrécorps et âme au rapproche-ment des peuples autochtoneset de l’industrie desressources.

ICM : les Autres chefsou communAutés despremières nAtions ont-ils eu des réActionspersonnelles vives pArrApport Au rôle quevous jouez dAns

l’industrie ? GN : Si vous n’êtes pas conforme à la norme, on vous cri-tique car vous prenez une voie différente, et j’ai en effet faitl’objet de quelques critiques de la part des autochtones.Cependant, ce sont aussi les membres de la communautéautochtone qui m’accordent le plus grand soutien. PhilFontaine, Shawn Atleo, certains des chefs régionaux, m’en-couragent beaucoup. Globalement, les autochtones m’onténormément soutenu dans cette occasion qui m’a été don-née d’être le premier autochtone à diriger la PDAC.

ICM : pensez-vous que les peuples Autochtonesdoivent prendre une certAine distAnce pArrApport Aux mouvements environnementAlistesrAdicAux ?GN : Les communautés sont à la recherche d’informationsafin de mieux comprendre la source des problèmes, notam-ment pour tout ce qui a trait au développement desressources naturelles. Beaucoup de groupes et d’organisationsprofiteront de la soif de connaissances d’une communauté etprésenteront une vision partiale des choses en donnant l’im-pression de couvrir l’ensemble des informations. Les com-munautés ne doivent pas seulement se méfier des groupesenvironnementalistes exposant ouvertement leurs motiva-tions, mais aussi des sociétés souhaitant devenir partenairesdans des projets et qui n’ont pas toujours les intentions les

He is currently vice-president of aboriginal affairsfor Noront Resources, a company well positionedto become the first producer in Ontario’s Ring of Fire.

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to resource development. There are many groups and organ-izations that will take advantage of a community’s thirst forknowledge and provide a one-sided view, while making itappear to cover the information spectrum. It isn’t justgroups with agendas that communities need to be wary of,but also companies wanting to partner on projects, whichdo not always have the best intentions on actually sharingthe benefits of the partnership.

CIM: how do you see lAsting pArtnershipsdeveloping between first nAtions people Andmining compAnies when it comes todevelopments on their trAditionAl territory? GN: I think the next step is communities actively usingtheir own resources to go out and secure mineral claims,and then working either in partnerships or by themselvesto advance those claims into properties they can either sellor work on in joint ventures. It won’t happen overnight.Companies, as well, have to realize that communities reallydo have tremendous knowledge and ability to work on theland, and understand the land like no one else from out-side. So there’s a huge partnership opportunity there. Cre-ating partnerships is not something that will end with aparticular project. Communities having the chance todevelop businesses with mines provide many years if notgenerations of opportunity for their members. We see thattoday with numerous companies operating on many differ-ent projects across Canada.

CIM: whAt opportunities do you see existing inthe ring of fire for first nAtions – And how doyou communicAte the opportunities in A wAythAt promotes trust And cooperAtion?GN: First of all it’s all about being respectful to the commu-nity, not thinking that “our project is going to solve all theirproblems.” A resource project is a piece of a puzzle that willadd value to what the community wants to do, but it won’tbe the only thing. As companies wanting to work there, wehave to be willing to sit down and listen to the communities,work with them to develop strategies that will include themin every aspect of our project. That includes business devel-opment and offering opportunities for training and advance-ment within the project itself.

CIM: whAt did you tAke AwAy from your experience As president of pdAc? GN: The biggest thing for me as president of the PDAC wasthe incredible amount of support for inclusion of AboriginalPeople in this industry. Companies want to make a differ-ence with the communities they work with. As well, thesupport I’ve received from industry executives, governmentofficials, miners, people out exploring, and indigenous peo-ple right across the world has been overwhelming at times.I couldn’t have done it without that support.


plus pures concernant le partage des bénéfices émanant dupartenariat.

ICM : pensez-vous que des pArtenAriAtsdurAbles soient envisAgeAbles entre lespeuples des premières nAtions et les sociétésminières lorsqu’il est question dedéveloppements sur un territoiretrAditionnel ? GN : La prochaine étape pour les communautés consistera àactivement utiliser leurs propres ressources de manière à s’im-poser et à s’approprier des concessions minières ; elles devrontensuite travailler en partenariats ou seules pour transformerces concessions en propriétés qu’elles pourront soit vendre,soit exploiter en entreprises communes. Cela ne se fera pasdu jour au lendemain. Les sociétés aussi doivent se rendrecompte que les communautés possèdent des connaissancesexceptionnelles et une capacité extraordinaire à travailler surleurs terres, et qu’elles les comprennent mieux que quiconqueétranger à ce territoire. Les possibilités de former des parte-nariats sont donc immenses. La création de partenariats ne setraduira pas par un projet particulier. Les communautés ayantla chance de créer des entreprises dans le secteur minieroffrent des perspectives sur plusieurs années, voire généra-tions, à leurs membres. On le voit aujourd’hui dans plusieurssociétés dont les activités couvrent plusieurs projets dans toutle Canada.

ICM : quelles sont, selon vous, les opportunitésqui se présentent Aux premières nAtions dAnslA région du cercle de feu, et comment les leurtrAnsmettez-vous de mAnière à promouvoir lAconfiAnce et lA coopérAtion ?GN : Il convient tout d’abord de respecter la communauté etde ne pas penser que « notre projet va résoudre leurs prob-lèmes ». Un projet dédié aux ressources est une pièce du puz-zle qui viendra donner une valeur ajoutée à ce que lacommunauté souhaite faire, mais ne sera pas l’unique facteur.En tant que sociétés souhaitant travailler sur ces terres, nousdevons montrer notre volonté d’écouter les communautés etde collaborer avec elles afin de mettre en œuvre des stratégiesqui les incluront dans chaque aspect de notre projet, notam-ment le développement d’entreprise et les possibilités de for-mation et de promotion au sein du projet.

ICM : qu’Avez-vous retiré de votre expérience entAnt que président de lA pdAc ? GN : Mon poste de président de la PDAC m’a principalementfait comprendre l’ampleur du soutien dans ce secteur à l’égardde l’intégration des peuples autochtones. Les sociétés veulentfaire changer les choses en faveur des communautés aveclesquelles elles travaillent. Le soutien que j’ai reçu des dirigeantsde l’industrie, des représentants du gouvernement, des sociétésminières, des personnes impliquées dans l’exploration et despeuples autochtones de l’autre bout du monde a parfois été sur-prenant. Je n’aurai jamais pu y parvenir sans ce soutien.




Eira Thomas a toutes les raisons de se réjouir ces jours-ci ;en effet, sa société Kaminak Gold vient d’annoncer une éval-uation économique préliminaire (EEP) prometteuse pour sonprojet Coffee Gold dans le Yukon. La présidente et directricegénérale de 45 ans précise que sa société prévoit égalementd’investir dans d’autres projets d’exploration cette année.L’EEP, publiée début juin, indique une durée d’exploitation

de 11 ans pour le projet Coffee sur la base d’un prix de l’or à1 250 $ US de l’once, et d’un coûtde production de 700 $ US paronce. « Nous avons obtenu de bonsrésultats malgré la conjonctureactuelle dans le secteur aurifère »,explique Mme Thomas, laissantentendre qu’une étude de faisabilitén’est pas loin et que l’on ne connaîtpas tout du gisement. « Nousprévoyons d’autres découvertes

proches de la principale ressource qui pourraient bien changerla donne au niveau économique sur le long terme. »La recherche de l’or dans les régions du Nord est tout à fait

dans les cordes de Mme Thomas. Quand elle était plus jeuneet vivait à Yellowknife où elle prospectait avec son père, M. Grenville, ingénieur minier et fondateur d’Aber Resources,elle a développé une passion pour l’exploration qu’elle n’ajamais perdue. « L’exploration est la pratique de la chasse autrésor par excellence », déclare-t-elle. « C’est une disciplinequi vous ramène vraiment à ce sentiment de l’enfance qui, jepense, nous est tous si cher, celui de trouver quelque choseque personne n’a encore découvert. » Mais si nous sommes tous nés avec la même curiosité

enfantine, il est évident que Mme Thomas a évolué dans lecorps de cette adulte exceptionnelle qui peut exploiter sapassion. En 1994, au tout début de sa carrière, elle dirigeaitl’équipe d’exploration sur le terrain qui a découvert ungisement de diamant estimé à plusieurs milliards de dol-lars, aujourd’hui la mine de diamant Diavik dans les Terri-toires du Nord-Ouest. Ceci lui a valu le surnom de « Queenof Diamonds » (la reine des diamants), qu’elle déteste, marmonne-t-elle.« Je me souviens de mon père qui me disait à l’époque que

beaucoup de géologues passaient leur vie entière dans l’explo-

The 45-year-old Thomas says there is money dedicatedto other exploration projects this year as well.

The PEA, released in early June, points to a mine life of11 years for Coffee at a $1,250 gold price, with a productioncost of US$700 per ounce. “We’ve come out with a strongresult despite the challenge in the current gold space,”Thomas says, hinting a feasibility study is not far off andthat not all is known about the deposit. “We’re thinkingabout additional discoveries close to the main resource thatcould actually be game-changers for the economics in thelonger term.”

For Thomas, the pursuit of northern gold is right up heralley. In her days as a young girl, living in Yellowknife andprospecting with her father, Grenville, a mining engineerand founder of Aber Resources, she developed a passion forexploration that has never gone away. “Exploration is theultimate treasure-hunting exercise,” she says. “It really hear-kens back to that youthful inclination I think we all have,which is to find something that no one else has found.”

But if everyone is born with a similar childhood curiosity,it is clear Thomas has grown into the exceptional adult whocan capitalize on it. In 1994, at the start of her career, sheled the field exploration team that discovered a multi- billion-dollar diamond deposit, now the Diavik diamond

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mine in the Northwest Territories, and earned herself thenickname “Queen of Diamonds” – which, muttering, shesays she hates.

“I remember my father telling me at the time that manygeologists can spend their entire career in exploration andnever find an economic ore deposit,” she says, “so I was veryfortunate to be a part of the discovery. And I knew that atthe time, but I think in the subsequent years I realized moreand more how rare that is.”

Thomas and her father left Aber in 2006, three years afterDiavik went into production, and in the following years sheco-founded and helmed Stornoway Ventures (nowStornoway Diamond Corp.). In 2013 she made the switchto gold when she was appointed CEO at Kaminak. “Quitefrankly the diamond business is small, and the opportuni-ties are few, and I felt I had pretty good exposure to the dia-mond space already with the companies and investmentsthat I was involved in,” Thomas says. “And really, it wasabout the people at Kaminak.” She has a close working rela-tionship with John Robins, Kaminak’s chairman of theboard, who was one of the original founders of Stornoway.

Though she has spent most of her career working withyoung companies in their early stages and setting them “ona trajectory,” Thomas says she wants to see the Coffee proj-ect through to production.

“I’m excited about the potential of actually buildingsomething, where you employ people and generate realwealth and make a bigger contribution to society,” she says.“I guess as I get older and more mature, that starts tobecome an important aspiration.”

n By Kelsey Rolfe

ration, sans jamais découvrir de gisement de minerai présen-tant un intérêt économique », indique-t-elle. « Aussi, je con-sidère que j’ai eu beaucoup de chance de contribuer à cettedécouverte. Je le réalisais déjà à l’époque, mais avec les années,j’ai compris à quel point cela était rare. » Mme Thomas et son père ont quitté Aber en 2006, trois

ans après le lancement de la production à la mine Diavik,et au cours des années qui ont suivies, elle a cofondé et dirigé Stornoway Ventures (aujourd’hui Stornoway Diamond Corp.). En 2013, elle a abandonné les diamantspour l’or et a été nommée présidente et directrice généralede Kaminak. « Très franchement, le commerce du diamantest restreint, et les opportunités peu nombreuses, et je penseavoir été suffisamment exposée au monde des diamants lorsde mes activités avec les sociétés et dans le cadre desinvestissements auxquels j’ai contribué », déclareMme Thomas. « En outre, j’ai voulu me consacrer à l’aspecthumain chez Kaminak. » Elle entretient une relation pro-fessionnelle étroite avec John Robins, le président du conseild’administration de Kaminak, qui était l’un des premiersfondateurs de Stornoway.Bien qu’elle ait consacré la majeure partie de sa carrière aux

premières étapes de jeunes sociétés pour les « mettre sur lavoie », Mme Thomas déclare vouloir suivre le projet Coffeejusqu’à la phase de production. « Je me réjouis à l’idée de pouvoir construire quelque

chose, employer des personnes et créer une véritable richesse,et de contribuer davantage à la société », ajoute-t-elle. « L’âgeet l’expérience aidant, mes aspirations abondent davantagedans ce sens. »

n Par Kelsey Rolfe


A geologist by training, AubreyEveleigh heads up Zenyatta VenturesLtd., which has been the top-per-forming mining company on theTSX Venture for two years running.The stock has jumped more than800 per cent in the last two years.Why? The quick answer is Albany, arare, vein-type hydrothermal graphite deposit northeast ofThunder Bay, where the company is based. According toRoth Capital Partners, which covers Zenyatta, the secrets toits success also include:

Attracting key talent: The management team includes thelikes of Bharat Chahar (vice-president of market develop-

Zenyatta Ventures’CEO is navigatinga tough juniormarket.

La directrice générale de Zenyatta Ven-tures évolue dans un marché impitoyablepour les petites sociétés minièresAubrey Eveleigh, géologue de formation,

dirige Zenyatta Ventures Ltd., la sociétéminière qui enregistre pour la deuxièmeannée consécutive la meilleure performance àla bourse de croissance TSX. Le prix de sesactions a augmenté de plus de 800 % au coursdes deux dernières années. Comment expli-quer ce succès ? La réponse est Albany, ungisement de veines hydrothermales rares degraphite au nord-est de la baie Thunder où estbasée la société. D’après Roth Capital Partners,qui suit le cours des actions de Zenyatta, lasociété doit également sa réussite :

Aux talents qu’elle attire : l’équipe de direc-tion compte notamment parmi ses membres Bharat Chahar(vice-président du développement des marchés), qui afficheplus de 30 années d’expérience en matière de R&D sur ledioxyde de carbone et de technologies propres, et « est la per-sonne idéale pour promouvoir les essais et le marketing relatifsau graphite présent dans le gisement d’Albany de Zenyatta ».

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Indonesia elected itsnew president, JokoWidodo, in early July,and analysts fromANZ Research aresaying it means thecountry’s hotlycontested ban on theexport of unprocessedminerals will likelystay in place. Widodo,formerly the governorof Jakarta, won the unofficial vote countover Suharto-era general Prabowo Subianto.


The export ban – which has drawn harsh criticism frommining companies in Indonesia and is the subject of a con-stitutional court challenge – was written into law in 2009

L’Indonésie vient d’élire début juillet son nouveau prési-dent, Joko Widodo, et d’après les analystes d’ANZ Research,ceci signifie que l’embargo sur l’exportation de minerais non

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ment) – with 30 years of carbon R&D and clean-tech expe-rience, he is “ideal to advance the testing and marketing ofthe Zenyatta’s Albany deposit graphite.”

Government support: Eveleigh’s company continues toreceive support from the federal government in the form ofgrants from the National Research Council (NRC) ofCanada for metallurgical testing at Lakehead University.Roth Capital Partners reports the NRC relationship isimportant because it “contains a technical advisory compo-nent, which may provide Zenyatta with access to key R&Dpersonnel at research institutions.”

Larger-than-expected resources: Zenyatta’s 2012 resourceestimate for Albany, the first independent qualification,showed a larger-than-expected resource, providing impetusfor institutional investors to get involved in the stock (theynow comprise 15 per cent of all shareholders). Zenyatta hassince followed up with an NI 43-101 compliant resourceestimate, and is currently preparing a preliminary economicassessment.

The year ahead should be a telling one for Eveleigh andZenyatta, as his team seeks to prove the economics of theproject and the potential market for the product. Zenyattahas signed more than 20 confidentiality agreements withdifferent parties seeking to test Albany’s graphite in theirown labs, but no offtake agreement has been announced.


Au soutien du gouvernement : la société de Mme Eveleigh con-tinue de recevoir le soutien du gouvernement fédéral sous laforme de subventions du Conseil national de recherches duCanada (CNRC) pour les essais métallurgiques menés à l’uni-versité de Lakehead. Roth Capital Partners déclare que la rela-tion avec le CNRC est importante dans le sens où elle « revêtun aspect technique consultatif qui pourrait permettre à Zeny-atta d’établir le contact avec des membres hautement qualifiésdu personnel en R&D de certains instituts de recherche ».

À des ressources plus importantes que prévues : l’estimation desressources de Zenyatta menée en 2012 pour Albany (la pre-mière qualification indépendante) a révélé des ressources plusimportantes que prévues, ce qui a motivé les investisseurs insti-tutionnels à acquérir des actions (ils constituent aujourd’hui15 % de tous les actionnaires). Zenyatta a depuis mené uneévaluation des ressources conforme au règlement 43-101 etprépare actuellement une évaluation économique préliminaire.L’année à venir sera révélatrice pour Mme Eveleigh et Zeny-

atta ; en effet, son équipe cherche à prouver la valeuréconomique du projet et à établir le marché potentiel de leurproduit. Zenyatta a signé plus de 20 ententes de confiden-tialité avec diverses parties souhaitant mener des essais surle graphite d’Albany dans leurs propres laboratoires, maisaucun engagement concernant l’achat de la production n’aété annoncé.



but only came into effect on January 12 of this year. Itsintention is to increase domestic refining activity. Within amonth of its implementation, the Indonesian National Min-ing Workers Solidarity lobby group had estimated that570,000 people in the mining industry had lost their jobs,and that the numbers would continue to rise.

But Patricia Mohr, a commodity markets specialist atScotiabank, says the longer-term prospects for Indonesia arelikely positive.

“I think in the medium term they will probably benefit,”Mohr says, adding that investors, particularly from China,are “stepping up to invest in nickel processing plants inIndonesia.” She estimates that by 2016 there will be as manyas 10 or 11 refining plants in the country.

In the short term, the ban has given a boost to nickel pro-ducers, as the price for a pound of nickel has crept upsteadily from just above US$6 in January to nearly US$9 inmid-July.

Mohr does not anticipate other ore-exporting countriesimplementing similar bans. “Most countries are not willingto forgo current revenue for the possibility of additional pro-cessing,” she says. “But Indonesia appears quite prepared todo so. They obviously want the value added and want to getgreater benefit from the resource itself.”

Before the ban was implemented, Indonesia producedaround 28 per cent of the world’s nickel.

n By Kelsey Rolfe

traités, qui fait l’objet de vives contestations dans le pays, nesera sans doute pas levé. M. Widodo, anciennement gou-verneur de Jakarta, a remporté le dépouillement du scrutinnon officiel face à son adversaire Prabowo Subianto, anciengénéral de l’ère Suharto.

L’embargo sur les exportations, qui a fait l’objet de fortescritiques de la part des sociétés minières basées en Indonésieet a soulevé une contestation du tribunal constitutionnel, avaitété transposé en loi en 2009 dans l’intention d’augmenter lesactivités nationales d’affinage, mais n’est entré en vigueur quele 12 janvier cette année. Un mois seulement après sa mise enapplication, le groupe de pression Indonesian National MiningWorkers Solidarity estimait à 570 000 le nombre de personnesdu secteur minier à avoir perdu leur emploi, et ce chiffre necessait de croître.Patricia Mohr, spécialiste en marchés des marchandises

chez Scotiabank, explique cependant que les perspectives àplus long terme pour l’Indonésie sont vraisemblablement pos-itives. « L’Indonésie percevra les bénéfices de cette action sur le

moyen terme », explique Mme Mohr, ajoutant que les investis-seurs, particulièrement ceux de Chine, « redoublent d’intérêtpour les usines de traitement du nickel en Indonésie ». Elleestime que d’ici 2016, le pays comptera 10 ou 11 usines d’affinage.Sur le court terme, cet embargo a donné un nouvel élan

aux producteurs de nickel ; en effet, le prix de la livre de nickela augmenté de manière régulière, d’à peine plus de 6 $ US enjanvier à près de 9 $ US mi-juillet. Mme Mohr ne pense pas que d’autres pays exportateurs de

minerai mettront en œuvre des embargos de ce genre. « Laplupart des pays ne souhaitent pas renoncer à leurs revenusactuels pour envisager ce que pourrait leur rapporter un traite-ment supplémentaire », explique-t-elle. « L’Indonésie, cepen-dant, y semble prête. Elle souhaite visiblement en récolter lavaleur ajoutée et tirer de plus grands bénéfices des ressourcesen tant que telles. »Avant que l’embargo ne soit décrété, l’Indonésie produisait

environ 28 % du nickel au niveau mondial.n Par Kelsey Rolfe

COFFEEGOLD PROJECTRobust Economics at USD$1,250/Oz Gold

Open-pit, Heap Leach Gold in Canada

TSX-V: KAM www.kaminak.com

[email protected] 1-888-331-2269

« La plupart des pays ne souhaitent pas

renoncer à leurs revenus actuelspour envisager ce que pourraitleur rapporter un traitement

supplémentaire »

- Patricia Mohr, spécialiste en marchés des marchandises,

Scotiabank

9:12 AM


But productivity per se isnot necessarily the topfocus for shovel users or

producers. “The industry todayhas really shifted the focus oforiginal equipment manufactur-ers toward cost per tonne ratherthan simply maximizing produc-tivity,” says James Roush, electricrope shovel and dragline newproduct introduction and strat-egy manager at Caterpillar.

CaterpillarIn late-2013, Caterpillar dropped its previously announced plans to build the

highest-capacity hydraulic mining shovel yet. The 6120B H FS would have beenable to move 363 tonnes of material – the capacity of a CAT 797F truck – in asfew as three passes. But the mining downturn that immediately followed itsannouncement at MINExpo 2012 killed the program budget.

Instead, CAT invested in its existing models. According to CAT spokespeople,the most exciting development is an energy storage mechanism that will lightenthe load on 7495 and 7495 HF electric rope shovels. Energy created duringswing deceleration and bucket- lowering is stored in ultra-capacitors, and thenused to power high-demand activities. The electric shovels still require genera-tors but only about four megawatts’ worth – as opposed to eight megawatts ormore on the existing models.

Caterpillar calls this approach the Power Demand Management system. “Asthe most efficient off-grid power solution available, CAT rope shovels withPower Demand Management technology offer new possibilities for openinggreenfield sites and will help rope shovel operations anywhere become evenmore productive and cost effective,” says Ruth Haws, CAT’s electric rope shoveland dragline commercial manager. She adds that new projects with a focus oncost per tonne, availability and durability are being incorporated into futuremodel releases and will also be available as retrofits to existing machines.

Better than biggerBy Eavan Moore

As mine output goals intensified and haul trucks increased in size, manufacturerstypically built bigger excavators to match. A common rule of thumb recommendsthree to five passes per loading cycle for maximum productivity; that is what drovethe development of the largest hydraulic and electric rope shovels currently available.

technologyHEAVY EQU I PMEN T

Courtesy of Caterpillar

Caterpillar’s 7495electric rope shovelsports a new energystorage mechanism tohelp limit power draw.


HitachiBrian Mace, product marketing manager at Hitachi, reports

that keeping up to date with technology for better reliabilityhas guided Hitachi’s excavator program. Six to seven years ago,when Hitachi introduced its current excavator models, itfocused on improving remote monitoring capabilities. An all-hydraulic system became electric-on-hydraulic, with a new setof operator controls. “We took out all of the older analog-typegauges and put everything onto a digital monitor for the oper-ator,” says Mace. “So everything’s on one screen for ease ofoperation and looks at how the machine’s performing.”

Mace sees this as a general transition toward greater auton-omy. The current controls allow operators to do some trou-bleshooting directly from the cab, and as this technologybecomes more prevalent, he suggests it will open pathways toremote operation. Hitachi already has an autonomous haulageprogram, with trucks undergoing trials at the Meandu coalmine in Australia. “I’d say after that, within five years or furtherout, we may see that adapted to the shovels,” predicts Mace. “Iwould say on the shovels, it’s probably more remote operationsooner than autonomous.”

Mace suggests that safety concerns could also drive designchanges in the future: “We’re seeing more and more emphasisaround the operator regarding noise level exposure and vibra-tion exposure. So those will definitely affect the design if thereare major changes planned to what is currently available.”

In the meantime, Hitachi’s next redesign will enhanceonboard monitoring and diagnostics. But most importantly, itwill bring the machines’ diesel engine emissions up to scratchfor the American, Canadian, and European markets. The cur-rent line meets the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’sTier 2 standards; starting in 2015, any new models will needto reach near-zero Tier 4 levels. The release date has yet to bedetermined.

KomatsuAlexander Hochgürtel, mar-

keting assistant at Komatsu Min-ing Germany, agrees that remotemonitoring will become increas-ingly relevant. He feels that

Komatsu has already established expertisein this type of technology: for the lastdecade or so, Komatsu has had a monitor-ing kit, KomtraxPlus, that gives customers

access to machine data and key performance indicators, runsself-diagnosis, and can transfer data via satellite to the web.

In Komatsu’s latest tweaks to its hydraulic excavators, basicmaintenance has played a stronger role. “Komatsu has donemassive investigations on its boom and stick hose routing,”says Hochgürtel. The older configuration bent hydraulic fluidhoses over the top of the boom and stick; the new design runsthe hose routing along the side of the attachment in order tominimize bending, thereby reducing stress on the hose andgiving it a longer life. Introduced to the smaller-scale PC3000and PC4000 in early 2014, the new hose routing will eventu-ally extend to Komatsu’s entire range of excavators.

That includes the company’s largest hydraulic miningshovel, the PC8000, which has had a standard bucket capacityof 42 cubic metres at 1.8 tonnes per cubic metre material den-sity since 2004. Komatsu is not looking at increasing its shovelsize at the moment, but Hochgürtel says Komatsu will evaluatethe possibility of increasing shovel capacity if the industrydemands larger machines with regard to bucket size. To loadits largest truck, the 960E, the PC8000 takes an acceptable fiveloading passes.

LiebherrThe similar-sized R 9800 manufactured by Liebherr, with a

starting capacity of 42 cubic metres, has seen a recent upgrade.Liebherr developed an add-on to the R 9800 that improves itsperformance in backhoe configuration; the “high performancekit” includes a new bucket design with a capacity of 85 tonnesper pass, while reducing the overall weight of the attachment.

“We particularly focus our development on the reduction ofthe total cost of ownership but also increased reliability,” saysSwann Blaise, group leader of the marketing department atLiebherr Mining Equipment.

On the five machines Liebherr has introduced in the pastdecade, this focus takes many forms: reliable electronics, easier

Hitachi’s EX8000hydraulicexcavator

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troubleshooting, and the development ofelectric-drive hydraulic excavators, whichcombines the precise controls of an electricdrive with the flexible digging power ofhydraulic parts. The two largest machines,the R 9400 and the R 9800, both have elec-tric versions available.

Joy GlobalAlthough Liebherr took a cautious approach to growing

capacity, Blaise believes mining shovels will continue togrow bigger in the coming years. And indeed, prior to themining sector’s most recent downturn, certain users wereexpressing a strong interest in getting more capacity out oftheir excavators, according to Patrick Singleton, productmanager for the 4800XPC, a new electric rope shovel designfrom Joy Global.

High-production, low-cost mining operations running360-tonne haul trucks, like the oil sands and coal operationsin Canada and the hard-rock copper mines in South America,could see the economic benefits of getting down from four tothree loading passes. At the same time, customers who alreadyused Joy Global’s 4100XPC shovel had specific requests forany larger electric mining shovels: higher capacity with thesame footprint. “They wanted us to stay within the same rela-tive weight and ground-bearing pressure requirements,”explains Singleton.

The design of the 4800XPC is based on the 4100XPC AC,which has sold about 50 units since its introduction in 2010,but its dipper is at once larger and lighter, with a capacity ofaround 65 to 70 cubic metres or 123 tonnes. In order toaccomplish this, Joy Global improved load flow throughoutthe dipper structure and used castings in certain areas forimproved weight efficiency. An integral tooth base lip designborrowed and improved from hydraulic excavators alsohelped lighten the dipper.

“There’s really a lot of subtlety and nuance within thedesign,” says Singleton. “The boom is 3.4 metres wide,which is considerably larger than our existing booms froma width perspective, and that width allows us to offset thedamaging effects of corner tooth loading, because that dip-per lip is getting wider. We’ve improved the overall strengthof the dipper to allow for greater resistance to denting, andthen we’re focusing a lot of effort into the changes in thelatch system.”

The 4800XPC also introduces the Adaptive Controls sys-tem, a set of control functions that optimizes the machine’spower usage during different phases of the dig cycle.Although the operator largely maintains control over themachine, a set of algorithms quietly adjusts motor operationwhen certain tasks are taking place in order to limit unpro-ductive loads on the machine. For example, the“smart/dynamic crowd” function can prevent the boom fromjacking or the machine from tipping backward during acrowd motion, and it improves the dipper’s ability to pene-trate hard rock. As an operator assist feature, Adaptive Con-trols is a baby step towards autonomous operation of miningshovels.

Both Adaptive Controls and more structural innovationsfrom the 4800XPC could be applied across the entire shovel

product line, according to Singleton. Thequestion Joy Global now seeks to answer is:How do we get these other efficiencies ontothe existing machines that we manufacturetoday?

Another unanswered question lies outsideJoy Global’s power to answer: Who will be the first 4800XPCadopter?

“We’re still looking for the home for that first 4800,”says Singleton. “It’s not a situation where any customersare averse to the product at all. On the contrary, there aresome that are excited. But they’re fighting that uphill battleof capital expenditure in the current state of the miningindustry.” CIM

3D modelimage of JoyGlobal’s P&H 4800XPC

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One of Liebherr’slargest machines,the R9800, has astarting capacityof 42 cubicmetres.

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BIG LEAGUE DEBUT

BIG LEAGUEDEBUT

The recent completion of the 287-kilovolt NorthwestTransmission Line was critical for the feasibility of the RedChris mine development, and will likely prove a catalyst formore projects in northwestern B.C.


T im Fisch, the general manager of Red Chris, gives off aconfident, calm aura for someone under the pressure ofgetting construction completed under time and budget-

ary constraints. Even with some nine different contractingcompanies working simultaneously to meet a swath of dead-lines, he is able to make time to tour the operation. In addi-tion to putting the finishing touches on the mill, ametallurgical lab and other key components, the copper/goldmine is waiting on power from BC Hydro’s Northwest Trans-mission Line before production can begin. But, it becameclear Fisch’s poise stems from a deeply held trust in the expe-rience of the team which extends from head office down tothe people working on site day to day.

Take Jack Zuke, for example, who came out of retirementto refurbish the P&H 2800XPC shovel that Imperial boughtfrom Northgate Minerals’ recently closed Kemess operation.“It’s what he’s done all his life: take shovels apart and put themback together,” says Fisch. “He could tell you where everyshovel in North America is, when it was made, how it runs.Jack and his hand-picked team are putting that shoveltogether for a fraction of the cost of what other companieswould charge. It’s an example of that experienced team thatwe have that knows where to take the shortcuts, and thetricks of the trade.”

“This machine here, to buy it new would probably beabout $26 million,” Zuke reckons of the rope shovel, whichwill deliver 59-tonne buckets of copper porphyry ore intoCaterpillar 793F haul trucks once extraction is underway.

Imperial Metals is already an established operator inBritish Columbia, with its Mount Polley andHuckleberry mines. The development of the RedChris project in the province’s northwest, however,will springboard the company from a well-capitalized mid-tier producer to a powerful minedeveloper. To get there, the company is relying on aexperienced team with a thrifty streak to completethe $570 million-project and bring it into productionlater this year.

BY | PETER BRAUL

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project profile | R E D C H R I S

“I’m anxious to see what kind ofproduction we can get out of this installation.” – T. Fisch

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copper-gold-silver concentrate will be loaded onto B-traintrucks at the mine, and shipped some 325 km to the coastaltown of Stewart, before heading across the Pacific.

That drive – across a wilderness whose beauty needs to beseen to be believed – is the clearest explanation why Imperialhas made the environment surrounding the mine a priority.To oversee the mine’s environmental monitoring plan, twoyears ago Imperial hired Jack Love.

Red Chris is located on a treeless expanse known as theTodagin plateau that overlooks a deep valley and is sur-rounded by jagged peaks, including Todagin Mountain. It is

traditional Tahltan territory, but besides First Nations, veryfew people have a better grasp of the area than Love. “We arewedged between two of the nicest parks in the province,” hesays. “We have the Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Park 15 kmnortheast and the Todagin South Slope Park to the south.

“We are in the headwaters of two systems, which makeswater monitoring very challenging,” Love adds. “These littlestreams – they are pristine. They are ultra-low level clean. Ifyou could run a pipe of this water to California, you’d be abillionaire. But because everything is so clean here you cansee every little blip.” Love says his objectives for the mine’seffluent are aquatic life guidelines typically 10 times morestringent than for drinking water.

Love explains that his job includes monitoring groundwa-ter to an extraordinary degree of accuracy. In addition to thewells within the mine’s footprint, more than 20 groundwatermonitoring wells have been drilled outside of it, which hesays produce an enormous quantity of data. “If you’re familiarwith models, the more data the more certainty and the morecomfort you have.”

In addition to fish habitat monitoring, Love has alsoinstalled motion sensing cameras in the surrounding regionwhich register animal movement and will be able to monitorany reactions to blasting in the mine.

Love compiles his reports every two weeks and updatesthe local Tahltan First Nation. The Tahltan, initially wary ofthe project, have since come around to it and are activelyinvolved in development. A sizeable proportion of the con-struction workforce comes from local communities. Because


R E D C H R I S | project profile

“It’ll be like a new machine when we’re done with it, andprobably cost about $8 million.”

And Zuke, with over 60 years working on shovels, is farfrom the only veteran at the new mine. Every direction weturn, Fisch has an easy, familial relationship with the peoplethat are driving the project forward.

Reliability mindedWith first electrons set to flow to the site this August, Fisch

hopes everything will be ready to power up by then, with theprincipal draw coming from the 30,000 tonne-per-day mill.There, again, Imperial has saved moneyby bringing in the SAG mill fromKemess, and combining it with newABB variable frequency drives and anew 24-foot ball mill from FLSmidth.“I’m anxious to see what kind of pro-duction we can get out of this installa-tion,” Fisch says, looking forward tothe task of coaxing the best perform-ance from this mix of old and newcomponents. “Over the years I’ve foundthat some used equipment tends to bemore reliable in the long run.”

Prior to taking on the job at RedChris, Fisch was the general managerfor the company’s Mount Polley Mine.Over his career, he has amassed decades of experience man-aging mill operations in Canada and the United States. As hetours the facility, it is apparent he is constantly doing a visualinspection, taking stock of progress and squaring reality withthe engineering drawings hanging on his office wall.

Of the new equipment, Fisch is most excited about theABB drives used on the SAG and ball mills. “The drives forboth mills are identical,” he explains. Both mills use two9,000-hp variable frequency drives, so the SAG mill willprobably not draw the full nameplate horsepower. “It proba-bly will only draw about 14,500 horsepower at the top end.However, we were able to keep capital costs down by onlypurchasing one spare motor.” New meets old again as the oremakes its way towards flotation cells in the regrind circuit,where the design has a small ball mill from Imperial’s MountPolley mine matched to a brand-new Metso vertical mill. Theentire plant has been developed with flexibility in mind, anddepending on the ore’s hardness, it can be treated differently.

GeographyLike all of Imperial’s operations, the products of Red

Chris’s mill are likely destined for Asian consumers. The

PROJECT SPECS

CAPITAL COST $570 million (est.)

OPERATION START DATE End of 2014

DAILY THROUGHPUT 30,000 tonnes

RECOVERY RATE

Copper: 86.5% avg

(copper concentrate grade 27%)

Gold: 46.9%

CURRENT MINE LIFE 28 years

*at a 0.1% copper cut-off** at 0.1% copper equivalent cut-off

RESOURCE*:

MEASURED AND INDICATED RESOURCE

8.90 billion lbs copper

12.9 million oz gold

44.6 million oz silver**

INFERRED RESOURCE

7.97 billion lbs copper

12.75 million oz gold

47 million oz silver**

Clockwise from top right: Red Chris general manager Tim Fisch; The processingcircuit features new installations, including the flotation cells and a vertical mill, aswell as refurbished equipment trucked in from other mine sites in the province;The old exploration camp overlooks the pit and will be removed as the mine grows;Imperial built nearly 100 kilometres of power line to connect to the NorthwestTransmission Line.

Indeed the copper Resource at Red Chris – 8.89 billionpounds of Measured and Indicated – is an order of magni-tude larger than any of Imperial’s other projects. “We’ve neverseen anything like this at Imperial before,” says Steve Robert-son. He has been with the company for 21 years and wasresponsible for exploration of the Red Chris deposit. Now, asvice president of corporate affairs, Robertson says “this is thetype of deposit that’s a company-maker. The current mineplan is only targeting a small part of that resource.” Themajor hurdle to expansion would be the additional wasterock, which would be too much for the current facility andrequire water management on a larger scale. All those inter-viewed seemed eager to begin the process of solving thoseproblems, though, and confident an expansion will eventu-ally happen.

“[Red Chris] gives us a different perspective on every-thing,” Robertson says. “We don’t spend money that we don’thave and that isn’t likely to change. We just have muchgreater means to live within now.”

Perhaps it is that comfort with the long-term viability ofthe project that keeps Imperial’s big investors happy. The mostnotable is N. Murray Edwards, who owns 36 per cent ofImperial’s common shares.

Robertson explains that Edwards’ involvement has shapedthe character of the company. Earlier this year, Edwards’ EdcoCapital Corporation arranged a $75 million junior unsecuredloan to fund cost overruns and backstop payments for theRed Chris build. Edco gets a $750,000 fee and warrants tobuy 750,000 shares at $20 each out of that deal. Imperialshares currently trade at around $16.

“He’s the reason why we are still around today,” Robertsonsays. “Having a strong, committed shareholder like Murrayhas prevented us from being a takeover target when we hadgreat things happen, but he’s also been there during the badtimes. It really has been an empire-building exercise.”

Fisch and his team are focused on the day-to-day tasks ofbuilding a mine, but he often mentioned the commitment ofmanagement and investors, and it is clear that despite theisolation, he does not feel cut off from Vancouver. “I like totell people we interview [for jobs] not to be surprised if thepresident calls you up for this, that and the other thing,”Fisch chuckles. “We have a total of about 35 people in thehead office. We started very small, and while we’ve grown inprojects we haven’t necessarily grown in corporate size.There’s a lot of trust and a lot of communication between thatsmall group. It’s just how we interact. It’s not a strictly top-down kind of organization.” Fisch has had three separatestints with the company, his current one beginning in 2004.

“It’s very much a family-oriented operation where many ofus have been working together for a very long time,” Robert-son adds. “We’re very intent on making a great mining com-pany, and I don’t think there are a lot of people at Imperialthat feel that flipping properties and selling out to a biggerventure for a lot of money would be a way to go. That’s notthe vision that we hold.” CIM

the mine will inevitably have its impacts, everyone involvedhas had to reconcile the economic windfalls with the transfor-mation of the landscape that is now underway. But due tolarge projects like Red Chris, the local Tahltan communitiesalso have very low unemployment rates. Though the two par-ties have not finalized an impact benefit agreement for the lifeof the mine, negotiations are underway.

TrustThe First Nations are now invested in Red Chris’s suc-

cess, both economically and environmentally, and the part-nerships that have been formed bode well for the long haul.And Imperial certainly has a bigger vision for the mine thanwhat is currently being installed. “Probably this time nextyear, we’re starting to look at a feasibility study on an expan-sion,” says Fisch, who explains that when Imperial acquiredRed Chris in its 2007 purchase of bcMetals Corp., the appli-cation for the environmental assessment certificate hadalready been made. “The size of the orebody suggests that a30,000 tonne-a-day plant isn’t adequate. There’s an awful lotof work to do.”


project profile | R E D C H R I S

Tim Fisch talks things over with Jack Zuke (right), who is applying decades ofexperience to the commissioning of the mine’s rope shovel.

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2800XPC acquise par Imperial à la suite de la récente ferme-ture de la mine Kemess de Northgate Minerals. « C’est ce qu’ila fait toute sa vie : désassembler des pelles, puis les réassem-bler », indique M. Fisch. « Il pourrait vous dire avec exactitudel’emplacement de chaque pelle en Amérique du Nord, vouspréciser le moment de sa fabrication et vous expliquer com-ment elle fonctionne. Jack et son équipe triée sur le volet mon-tent cette pelle pour une fraction du coût qu’exigeraientd’autres sociétés. Cet exemple illustre bien l’expérience denotre équipe qui sait quand prendre des raccourcis et qui con-naît les rouages du métier. »

« Achetée neuve, cette machine coûterait sans doute prèsde 26 millions $ », estime M. Zuke en parlant de la pelle àcâble dont le godet, d’une capacité de 59 tonnes, permettra detransférer du porphyre cuprifère dans des tombereaux Cater-pillar 793F une fois l’extraction entamée. « Lorsque nousaurons terminé, elle sera comme neuve et ne nous aura prob-ablement pas coûté plus de 8 millions $. »

M. Zuke, qui travaille sur des pelles depuis plus de 60 ans,n’est pas le seul vétéran à la nouvelle mine. Où que l’onregarde, on constate que M. Fisch entretient des rapports sim-ples et familiaux avec les gens qui font avancer le projet.

La fiabilité avant tout Les premiers électrons devraient arriver sur le site à

compter du mois d’août prochain, mais M. Fisch espère quel’intégralité de l’exploitation sera alimentée d’ici là, y compris

Avec ses mines Mount Polley et Huckleberry, Imperial Metalsest un exploitant déjà bien établi en Colombie-Britannique.Toutefois, le développement du projet Red Chris dans le

nord-ouest de la province représente un tremplin qui permettraà la société de passer du stade de producteur bien capitalisé decatégorie intermédiaire à un important développeur minier. Pourfaire aboutir ce projet de 570 millions $ et lancer la productionplus tard cette année, la société mise sur une équipe chevronnéequi sait gérer un budget restreint.

Malgré la pression auquel il est soumis pour terminer laconstruction de la mine dans les temps et sans dépasser lebudget, Tim Fisch, directeur général du projet Red Chris, sem-ble être calme et confiant. Neuf sociétés contractantes travail-lent simultanément pour respecter une multitude d’échéances,mais malgré tout, M. Fisch parvient à prendre le temps de fairela tournée de l’exploitation. Avant que la production ne puissecommencer, il reste à apposer les touches finales à l’usine deconcentration, à un laboratoire de métallurgie et à d’autreséquipements importants, ainsi qu’à finaliser le raccordementde la mine de cuivre et d’or à la ligne de transport d’énergie duNord-ouest de BC Hydro. Il devient cependant évident quel’assurance dont fait preuve M. Fisch s’explique par la pro-fonde confiance qu’il témoigne à l’égard de l’expérience de sonéquipe, des membres de la direction jusqu’aux personnes quitravaillent sur le site tous les jours.

Prenons par exemple Jack Zuke, qui a momentanémentinterrompu sa retraite pour remettre à neuf la pelle P&H

L’entrée dans la cour des grandsPAR | PETER BRAUL

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L’équipement de la mine Red Chris, explique ledirecteur général du projet Tim Fisch, sera une

association d’éléments nouveaux et remis à neuf.

Le projet Red Chris est situé sur une étendue sans arbres, leplateau Todagin. Cette région surplombant une profonde val-lée et entourée de montagnes accidentées, dont le mont Toda-gin, est le territoire traditionnel des Tahltan. Mais mis à part lesPremières Nations, très peu de gens comprennent mieux larégion que M. Love. « Nous sommes nichés entre deux desplus beaux parcs de la province », affirme-t-il. « Le parcprovincial sauvage de Spatsizi Plateau est situé à 15 km aunord-est, et le Todagin South Slope Park au sud. »

« Nous sommes situés dans les eaux d’amont dedeux réseaux hydrographiques, ce qui rend très difficile la sur-veillance de la pollution de l’eau », ajoute M. Love. « Ces petitsruisseaux sont cristallins et contiennent des concentrationsultra-faibles d’impuretés. Si vous pouviez acheminer l’eaujusqu’en Californie avec une canalisation, vous seriez milliar-daire. Mais l’eau est tellement claire que l’on peut discernerchaque impureté. » M. Love explique que ses objectifs pourl’effluent de la mine sont conformes aux lignes directrices rel-atives à la protection de la vie aquatique, qui sont générale-ment dix fois plus strictes que pour l’eau potable.

M. Love précise que son rôle comprend la surveillance deseaux souterraines avec un niveau de précision extraordinaire.En plus des puits situés à l’intérieur du périmètre de la mine,plus de 20 puits de surveillance des eaux souterraines ont étéforés à l’extérieur de cette zone, ce qui, comme l’expliqueM. Love, génère une énorme quantité de données. « Si vousconnaissez les modèles, vous saurez que plus les données sontnombreuses, plus votre degré de certitude et de confort à l’é-gard des résultats sera élevé ».

En plus de surveiller l’habitat des poissons, M. Love ainstallé dans la région environnante des caméras à détecteur demouvement qui enregistrent les mouvements des animaux etqui permettront de surveiller toute réaction à l’abattage à l’ex-plosif dans la mine.

M. Love compile ses rapports toutes les deux semaines ettient informée la Première Nation des Tahltan qui habite larégion. Les Tahltan, qui étaient initialement méfiants à l’égarddu projet, ont fini par changer d’avis et participent activementà son développement. En effet, une grande partie de lamain-d’œuvre qui participe à la construction est issue des col-lectivités locales. La mine aura inévitablement des répercus-sions, aussi toutes les personnes touchées par sa présence ontdû concilier l’influence positive sur l’économie avec la transfor-mation du paysage qui est en cours. Mais c’est aussi grâce à degrands projets comme Red Chris que les collectivités desTahltan de la région affichent un très faible taux de chômage.Bien que les deux parties n’aient pas encore finalisé uneentente sur les impacts et les avantages pour la durée de vie dela mine, des négociations sont en cours.

ConfianceLes Premières Nations participent maintenant au succès

du projet Red Chris, tant sur le plan économique qu’environ-nemental, et les partenariats qui se sont formés sont de bonaugure sur le long terme. En outre, la vision d’Imperial à l’é-

le concentrateur qui consommera le plus d’énergie pour letraitement de 30 000 tonnes de minerai par jour. Ici aussi,Imperial a récupéré le broyeur semi-autogène (broyeur SAG)de la mine Kemess et l’a associé à de nouveaux mécanismesd’entraînement à fréquence variable d’ABB et à un nouveaubroyeur à boulets de 24 pieds de FLSmidth, ce qui lui a permisde réaliser des économies. « J’ai hâte de voir le niveau de pro-duction que nous réussirons à atteindre avec cetéquipement », reconnaît M. Fisch, qui espère tirer de cemélange d’éléments anciens et neufs le meilleur rendementpossible. « Au fil des ans, j’ai découvert que certaines piècesd’équipement usagées ont tendance à être plus fiables à longterme que les pièces neuves. »

Avant d’accepter son poste pour le projet Red Chris,M. Fisch était le directeur général de la mine Mount Polleyd’Imperial. Sa carrière lui a permis d’acquérir des décenniesd’expérience dans la gestion d’usines de concentration auCanada et aux États-Unis. Alors qu’il effectue la tournée del’installation, on se rend rapidement compte qu’il ne cessejamais de l’inspecter visuellement, évaluant les progrès et com-parant la réalité aux dessins techniques affichés sur le mur deson bureau.

Parmi les nouveaux éléments de l’équipement, ce sont lesmécanismes d’entraînement d’ABB associés au broyeur semi-autogène et au broyeur à boulets qui suscitent le plus d’ent-housiasme chez M. Fisch. « Les mécanismes d’entraînementdes deux broyeurs sont identiques », indique-t-il. Les broyeurssont dotés de deux mécanismes d’entraînement à fréquencevariable de 9 000 hp ; par conséquent, le broyeur semi-auto-gène ne fonctionnera pas à la puissance nominale en hp figu-rant sur sa plaque signalétique. « Il n’atteindra probablementque 14 500 hp au maximum. Toutefois, nous avons pu limiterles coûts en capital en n’acquérant qu’un seul moteur derechange. » Le neuf et l’ancien se côtoient de nouveau pour l’a-cheminement du minerai vers des cellules de flottation dans lecircuit de rebroyage. En effet, le système comprend un petitbroyeur à boulets provenant de la mine Mount Polley d’Impe-rial associé à un nouveau broyeur vertical de Metso. L’usineentière a été développée avec une certaine souplesse pour per-mettre un traitement variable du minerai selon sa dureté.

GéographieComme c’est le cas pour tous les projets d’Imperial, les pro-

duits de l’usine de concentration du projet Red Chris sontprobablement destinés à des consommateurs asiatiques. Lesconcentrés de cuivre, d’or et d’argent seront transférés dansdes bogies de trains doubles de type B sur le site de la mine ettransportés sur une distance d’environ 325 km jusqu’à la villecôtière de Stewart avant de traverser le Pacifique.

En voyant la route, qui traverse une nature sauvage dont ilfaut voir la beauté pour le croire, on comprend mieux la raisonpour laquelle Imperial a fait de l’environnement entourant lamine une priorité. Il y a deux ans, la société a embauchéJack Love pour contrôler le plan de surveillance environ-nementale de la mine.


profil de projet | R E D C H R I S

prêt non garanti de rang inférieur de 75 millions $ pour cou-vrir les dépassements de budget et les remboursements ducrédit de sûreté associés à la construction des installations duprojet Red Chris. Dans le cadre de cette entente, Edco a perçudes frais de 750 000 $ et s’est engagée à acheter750 000 actions à 20 $ chacune. Les actions d’Imperial secotaient à environ XX $ sur le marché à la mi-juillet.

« C’est grâce à lui que nous sommes toujours ici », affirmeM. Robertson. « Compter un important actionnaire aussiengagé que M. Edwards nous a permis d’éviter de devenir lacible d’une acquisition lorsque les affaires marchaient bien.Mais il était également présent lorsque les choses n’allaient passi bien. C’était un peu comme si l’on construisait un véritableempire. »

M. Fisch et son équipe se concentrent sur les travaux quo-tidiens liés à la construction de la mine, mais il a souventparlé de l’engagement de la direction et des investisseurs. Ilest clair que, malgré l’isolation, il ne se sent pas coupé deVancouver. « Je préviens les candidats lors de l’entretien[pour un poste] de ne pas s’étonner s’ils reçoivent un appeldu président pour une chose ou une autre », indiqueM. Fisch en riant. « Le siège social compte environ 35 per-sonnes au total. Au début, la société était très petite. Con-trairement à nos projets, qui se sont développés, la taille dela société n’a pas beaucoup évolué. Une excellente commu-nication et une grande confiance se sont établies au sein dece petit groupe. C’est la façon dont nous communiquons,tout simplement. Il ne s’agit pas d’une organisation dont lahiérarchie est strictement descendante. » M. Fisch a travaillépour le compte de la société à trois reprises. Son mandatactuel a débuté en 2004.

« Il s’agit d’une société très familiale où bon nombre d’en-tre nous travaillons ensemble depuis très longtemps »,ajoute M. Robertson. « Nous avons la ferme intention debâtir une grande société minière, et je ne pense pas quebeaucoup de gens à Imperial soient d’avis que la bonnefaçon de procéder consiste à acheter des propriétés et à lesrevendre rapidement ou bien à vendre Imperial à une plusgrande société pour faire un gros profit. Ce n’est pas lavision que nous privilégions. » ICM


R E D C H R I S | profil de projet

gard de la mine ne se limite pas aux installations actuelle-ment en construction. « À cette période l’an prochain, nouscommencerons probablement à envisager une étude de fais-abilité en vue d’une expansion », affirme M. Fisch, qui pré-cise que la demande de certificat d’évaluationenvironnementale avait déjà été déposée au moment où leprojet Red Chris a été racheté par Imperial dans le cadre del’acquisition de bcMetals Corp. en 2007. « D’après l’ampleurdu corps minéralisé, une usine traitant 30 000 tonnes deminerai par jour n’est pas suffisante. Il y a énormément detravail à faire. »

En effet, les ressources en cuivre à Red Chris (ressourcesmesurées et indiquées de 8,89 milliards de livres) sontsupérieures à celles de tout autre projet d’Imperial. « Nousn’avons jamais rien vu de tel à Imperial », expliqueSteve Robertson, qui travaille pour la société depuis 21 ans etétait chargé de l’exploration du gisement de Red Chris.Aujourd’hui, en sa qualité de vice-président chargé des affairesgénérales, M. Robertson indique « qu’il s’agit du type de gise-ment qui permet à une société de s’établir fermement. Le planactuel pour la mine ne cible qu’une petite partie de cesressources ». Le principal obstacle à l’expansion concerneraitles roches stériles supplémentaires, qui dépasseraient la capac-ité des installations actuelles et exigeraient une gestion deseaux à plus grande échelle. Cependant, toutes les personnesinterrogées semblaient impatientes de commencer à résoudreces problèmes et persuadées qu’une expansion finirait paravoir lieu.

« [Red Chris] nous donne une vision différente sur tout »,affirme M. Robertson. « Nous ne dépensons pas des fonds quenous n’avons pas, et il est peu probable que la situationchange. À l’heure actuelle, nous devons tout simplement vivreen fonction de nos moyens, mais à très grande échelle. »

C’est sans doute la viabilité du projet à long terme qui ras-sure les gros investisseurs d’Imperial. Parmi eux se trouveN. Murray Edwards, le principal investisseur qui détient 36 %des actions ordinaires.

M. Robertson précise que la participation de M. Edwards afaçonné le caractère de la société. En début d’année, l’EdcoCapital Corporation de M. Edwards a consenti à Imperial un

CAHIER DES CHARGESCOÛT EN CAPITAL 570 M$ (est.)

DATE DE DÉMARRAGE

DE L’EXPLOITATION fin 2014

CAPACITÉ QUOTIDIENNE 30 000 tonnes

TAUX DE RÉCUPÉRATION

Cuivre : 86,5 % en moyenne

(teneur du concentré de cuivre de 27 %)

Or : 46,9 %DURÉE DE VIE ACTUELLE DE LA MINE 28 ans

RESSOURCES*RESSOURCES MESURÉES ET INDIQUÉES

8,90 milliards de livres de cuivre

12,9 millions d’onces d’or

44,6 millions d’onces d’argent **

RESSOURCES PRÉSUMÉES

7,97 milliards de livres de cuivre

12,75 millions d’onces d’or

47 millions d’onces d’argent **

*sur la base d’une teneur limite de 0,1 % de cuivre** sur la base d’une teneur limite de 0,1 %

d’équivalent de cuivre


Chileans are used toeating late in theevening compared toNorth Americans.Even if they usuallyopen at 7 or 8 p.m.,restaurants will notstart filling up before9 p.m. Do not missChile’s national aperi-tif, the pisco sour,made with local grapebrandy. For excellentcoffee, go to thepedestrian Prat Street,between Condell andPlaza Colón. Café DelCentro is recom-mended.

Divinus Ave. Bernardo O’Higgins 1456, Parque BrasilDivinus is an idealplace for a businessdinner, with its diverse

No need to pack an umbrella for Antofagasta. Stretched along the shore between thePacific Ocean and the Chilean Coast Range mountains, the 20-kilometre-long capitalof the Antofagasta Region enjoys the dry climate of the Atacama Desert, the most arid

in the world. With nearly 400,000 inhabitants, this city was founded by Bolivians but con-quered by Chile more than a century ago. It is now the country’s top mining port and playsa key role for the dozens of mines in the area, which include BHP Billiton’s Escondida andKGHM’s Sierra Gorda. A busy railroad carrying copper cathodes to port and the global markettraverses the city, and marks the boundary between the poor neighbourhoods reaching upthe mountain slopes and the wealthy centre that extends down the oceanfront.

TRAVEL

bistro-fusion cuisineand its lounge atmos-phere. The restaurantalso has a comfortableterrace. The food,ranging from appetiz-ers to passion fruitdesserts, is excellent.(appetizers $17; maincourses $25)

AmaresAve. Antonino Toro995A spotless and mod-ern bistro bar, Amaresis a major player inthe Antofagasta food

El Desierto (Ave. Angamos 1455)Because of its location in the city’s southwest, ElDesierto is a perfect fit for those who want tolimit their trips through the downtown core. Itboasts two restaurants, a gym, a swimming pool,a large parking lot and is next to the city’s casino.The Museum of Mining History is right acrossthe street. (queen or king from $150/night;$360/night for luxury rooms)

Terrado (Ave. Baquedano 15)Two blocks away from the central Plaza Colón ina modern building that is currently beingexpanded, the Terrado offers top-quality serviceand a gorgeous view over the Port of Antofa-gasta. What is more, it is right next to the centralmall. Two presidential suites are available.(queen or king from $150/night; $200/night forluxury rooms with two queen beds)

Radisson (Ave. República de Croacia 1151)Not far from El Desierto and faithful to the rep-utation of its brand, the Radisson offers a rangeof single and double rooms with great views ofthe ocean. There are five meeting rooms that canaccommodate groups from 10 to 40 people.(queen or king from $140/night; two queenbeds for $225/night)

scene and is wellsuited for businessdinners, although thedecor can look a bitcold. The menu fea-tures a very goodselection of seafood.(appetizers $16; maincourses $20)

El Chico JaimeMercado Central,second floor local115For an authentic ex -perience, why notpop by Chico Jaime inthe market? For morethan 40 years, thismuseum-like restau-rant has offered afairly simple cuisinebased on fresh marketproducts, includingsucculent ceviche.Service, exclusively inSpanish, is both effi-cient and friendly.(appetizers $16; maincourses $20)

WHERE TO STAY

Book your room at least one week in advance whatever the season.

WHERE TO DINE

TIP

Men almost always footthe bill at restaurants

and may be embarrassedif a woman tries to pay.Do not bother fighting

this battle. Make arrangements inadvance if it is important

that you pay.

TIP

AntofagastaBy Pierrick Blin and Antoine Dion-OrtegaPhotos by Michel Huneault

https://www.google.com/url?sa=D&oi=plus&q=https://maps.google.ca/maps?expflags%3Denable_star_based_justifications:true%26ie%3DUTF8%26cid%3D10002361424735814183%26q%3DEnjoy%2BAntofagasta%2BHotel%2BDel%2BDesierto%26iwloc%3DA%26gl%3DCA%26hl%3Dfr


Taxis in Chile are safe and inexpensive. Blackcars with yellow roofs can be hailed in the street.Make sure your taxi has a meter, and it is best tohave a general sense of the route to your destina-tion. Taxis can also be called from your hotel.

WHERE TO EXPLORE

HOW TO PAY

Museo del Desiertode Atacama (Entry$4, 10 a.m. to 1p.m./2 to 7 p.m.)The museum coversthe history of miningin the AntofagastaRegion from pre-Columbian times tothe modern era. It islocated above theruins of an impressivesmelting plant thatonce treated silver orecoming from thePotosi Region inBolivia.

Museo Regional deAntofagasta (Entry$1.50, 9 a.m. to 5p.m./weekends 11 a.m.to 2 p.m.)Housed in the old cus-toms house of Antofa-gasta built in 1867, themuseum holds a col-

lection of artefacts fromthe pre-Columbian eraas well as historical andgeological records ofthe region.

Near the nationalcapitalIf you have one ortwo days to spare asyou pass throughthe na tional capitalof Santiago, do notmiss the opportunityto visit one of themany wineries in theregion. It is also agreat opportunity tovisit Valparaiso, achaotic but pictur-esque port city and aUNESCO world her-itage site just a two-hour drive fromSantiago on theshore of the PacificOcean.

Credit cards are gen-erally accepted intourist-friendly places.You should keepsome cash on handthough, for commonpurchases and taxis.The na tional currencyis the Chilean peso(CLP) – try not to besurprised by veryhigh prices as oneCanadian dollar isworth about 505 CLP.You can exchangeyour dollars in banksor in exchange housescalled casas de cambio.

Chile’s consumptiontax, the IVA, is 19 percent on all goods andservices. Foreignersare exempt from it ifthey pay for theirhotel room in U.S.dollars. Always checkwhether the tax isincluded in the price.

In restaurants andbars, Chileans usuallyleave a 10 per centtip. In hotels, a tip isnot expected but issometimes left out ofgoodwill. As for taxidri vers, they usuallyexpect no gratuitybut Chileans oftenround up the price.In small, family-runrestaurants, tipping isnot required butappreciated, consid-ering that waiterstypically re ceive lowwages.

There are no direct flights to Antofagasta from any city inCanada, but Air Canada offers five direct 12-hour flightsper week from Toronto to Santiago. From there you canmake a connection to all of the major cities in Chile,including the two-hour flight to Antofagasta. Most major

U.S. carriers and the official Chilean carrier LAN offerflights from major Canadian cities through the UnitedStates and Santiago to Antofagasta, but those involveclearing U.S. customs. Expect to pay from $1,500 in econ-omy class to $7,000 in first class.

If it is your first trip to Chile, you will berequired to pay a reciprocity fee of US$132 at the airport.

GETTING AROUND

TIP

• Although educated Chileans usually havesome English basics, the main language isSpanish. Having a background knowledge ofSpanish is usually noticed and greatly appreci-ated.

• Chileans are known to be more formal and a lit-tle colder than other Latin Americans. TheChilean business dress code can often seemmore formal than the one in Canada. Menshould wear jackets regardless of the heat,though for women bare legs are acceptable withdresses.

• Chileans are probably the most “North Ameri-can” Latino people. Their distant politenesspartly explains their reputation as a “serious”people in South America. However, physicalcontact such as touching arms, hugging and kiss-ing on the cheek is more common than inCanada.

HOW TO GET THERE

HOW TO FIT IN

Plénière d’ouverture | Plenary11 septembre | 11 September | 15:00 — 17:00

Autour de la thématique générale « Le Carrefour des Géants »,la session plénière d’ouverture permettra à cinq joueursinfluents de l’industrie minière de débattre des enjeuxmajeurs auxquels les producteurs miniers canadiens serontconfrontés afin d’affronter la compétition internationale.

Revolving around the general theme “The Hub of Giants,”the opening plenary session will allow five influential play-ers in the mining industry to discuss key issues the Cana-dian mining producers will be facing from the internationalcompetition.

Inscrivez-vous : memo2014.cim.org

Bish ChandaVice-Président principal, Marketing et stratégie, New Millennium Iron Corp. Senior Vice-President, Marketing and Strategy, New Millennium Iron Corp.

Terence F. BowlesPrésident et chef de la direction,Corporation de gestion de la voie maritime du Saint-Laurent President and CEO, St. Lawrence SeawayManagement Corporation

Modératrice | ModeratorJo-Anne BoucherDirectrice générale, Sudbury, BESTECHGeneral Manager, Sudbury, BESTECH

Louis CyrenneVice-Président, opérations de Sept-Îles, Compagnie minière IOCVice-President, Sept-Iles Operations, Iron Ore Company of Canada

Nicole PiggottDirectrice des Services de la main-d’œuvre,communications et relations externes, Compagnie minière IOC Services Manager Workforce Communicationsand External Relations, Iron Ore Company of Canada

Pierre LapointeDirecteur Général de l’excellence opérationnelle, ArcelorMittal MinesGeneral Manager Operational Excellence, ArcelorMittal Mines

32STANDS à visitergratuitementBOOTHS to visit forFREE

Courtesy of CIM

JEUDI 11 SEPTEMBRE | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1115:00 – 17:00 Séance plénière | Plenary Session

VENDREDI 12 SEPTEMBRE | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 128:30 – 10:00

Projets – Repousser les limites

Projects – Pushing Boundaries

Projets – 1ère partieProjects 1

10:30 – 12:00

Gestion de l’énergie – Relever le défi

Energy Management – Taking the Challenge

SécuritéSafety

13:30 – 15:00

Ingénierie – Les meilleures pratiques

Engineering – Best Practices

Nouvelles techniques aux vieux problèmes

New Techniques for Old Problems

15:30 – 17:00

Maintenance et fiabilité – Les meilleures pratiquesMaintenance and Reliability –

Best Practices

Projets innovateursInnovative Projects

SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBRE | SAMEDI, SEPTEMBER 128:30 – 10:00

Sécurité et Environnement – Clefs de la réussite

pour l’avenir Safety & Environment –Keys to Future Success

Projets – 2ième partieProjects 2

10:30 – 12:00

Chaîne d’approvisionnement– La gestion des coûts augmente la rentabilitéSupply Chain – ManagingCosts Increases Profitability

Contrôle de roche au sol

Ground Control

13:30 – 15:00

Les gens du secteur minier – D’aujourd’hui

et demainMining Sector People– Today and tomorrow

Planification et cédule des minières

Mine Planning and Scheduling

15:30 – 17:00

“La Belle Province” – Secteur minier

“La Belle Province”– Mining Sector

Développement et construction des mines

Mine Development and Construction

Aperçu de l’horaire | Schedule at a Glance

Mercredi, 10 septembre | Wednesday, September 10

VISITES INDUSTRIELLES• Mine de fer du Lac Bloom ;• Usine de Métal 7 et installation de la Compagnie IOC ; et• ArcelorMittal

INDUSTRIAL TOURS• Bloom Lake Iron Mine• Metal 7 & Iron Ore Company (IOC) installations• ArcelorMittal

Jeudi, 11 septembre | Thursday, September 11

VISITES INDUSTRIELLE • Aluminerie Alouette et Quai multi-usagers du Port de Sept-ÎlesPROGRAMME SOCIAL• Visite du site traditionnel innu Telina• Croisière et visite de la ferme maricole Purmer15h00 à 17h00 Plénière d’ouverture17h15 Cérémonie de bienvenue17h30 à 19h30 Réception dans le salon commercial20h00 à 22h00 Soirée réseautage scotch et saveurs

INDUSTRIAL TOUR • Aluminerie Alouette & Multi-User dock of the Sept-Iles harbourSOCIAL PROGRAM • Visit of the aboriginal camp Telina• Cruise & visit of the Purmer mussel & scallop farm15:00 to 17:00 Opening plenary17:15 Welcome ceremony17:30 to 19:30 Reception in the trade show20:00 to 22:00 Scotch and Tapas networking evening

Vendredi, 12 septembre | Friday, September 12

08h30 à 17h00 Programme technique (2 salles / thèmes)08h30 à 15h30 Cégep de Sept Îles - Salon M4S 10h00 à 17h00 Salon commercial (pauses-café, lunch

et réception)19h00 à 22h00 Soirée banquet MEMO 2014 au

Carrefour La Baie

08:30 to 17:00 Technical program (two rooms/themes)08:30 to 15:30 Cégep de Sept-Îles – M4S Show 10:00 to 17:00 Trade show (coffee breaks, lunch & reception)19:00 to 22:00 Evening banquet MEMO 2014 at Carrefour

La Baie

Samedi, 13 septembre | Saturday, September 13

08h30 à 17h00 Programme Technique (2 salles / thèmes)10h00 à 17h00 Salon commercial (pauses-café, lunch

et réception)10h00 à 16h00 Cégep de Sept Îles - Salon M4S

08:30 to 17:00 Technical Program (two rooms/themes)10:00 to 17:00 Trade show (coffee breaks, lunch & afternoon

reception)10:00 to 16:00 Cégep de Sept-Îles – M4S Show

Register today: memo2014.cim.org

Programme technique

| Technical program

Thèmes / Streams Ingénierie de maintenance Exploitation minière

et de la fiabilité souterraine et à ciel ouvert Maintenance Engineering Surface Mining and and Reliability Stream Underground Mining


CIM community

The Canadian Mining andMetallurgical Foundation willnow officially be known as theCIM Foundation. The namechange is for the sake of clarity,

explained foundation manager Deborah Smith-Sauvé: “Wewere created by members of CIM. We are funded totally byCIM members, and whenever anybody said CMMF,nobody understood the relationship between the founda-tion and CIM, so we are charting a closer path.”

CIM Foundation: a change in name only

The not-for-profit charitable foundation was estab-lished in 1972 and provides scholarships for studentspursuing careers in the mining and metallurgical sectors.It also raises funds for various CIM activities and pro-grams like M4S that promote the benefits and opportuni-ties provided by the industry. The foundation is legallyseparate and distinct from CIM and is run by its ownboard, Smith-Suavé said. “But we are aligned with CIMand we are here to continue to support CIM, especiallywith its new strategic plan,” she added.

Pressure, deadlines and last-minute surprises are all part ofa university student’s life and factor into a unique business casecompetition held in Saskatoon each year. Organizers of theNational Mining Competition (NMC) are accepting registra-tions for this year’s event, scheduled from October 30 toNovember 2 and hosted by the Edwards School of Businessand the University of Saskatchewan.

Last year’s event featured 14 teams of four from across thecountry, with the lone non-Canadian team, Michigan Techno-logical University, winning the competition, said CooperMeadows, event co-chair external. Now in its third year,organizers are thinking globally to grow the contest. “Werecently reached out to the U.K., France, Germany, andChile,” said Meadows, adding that they have set a goal of 20teams this year.

The NMC includes one main business case problem and anadditional surprise challenge. For the main challenge, teamsare presented with data and a strategic question to answer fora fictional mining company and they are given 36 hours toprovide a business case to a panel of industry experts. “Thisyear, we’re really planning on making it a multidisciplinarycase,” said Meadows, noting it would encourage participationfrom teams made up of engineering and geosciences studentsalong with financing and accounting people on the businessside. “The reason why we’re trying to do that is to put togethera simulation of industry,” he said.

During the 36-hour period, teams will be able to consult apanel of mining industry professionals to help them solve theircase. Teams then submit their results and give an initial 20-minute presentation, which includes a question and answersession with a judging panel made up of sponsors and miningexperts. The top teams in each group go on to a final presen-tation, with the winners announced at an awards gala.

The competition also includes a surprise challenge, whichfactors into the overall scoring. ”Last year, the surprise chal-lenge was a crisis challenge,” said Meadows, explaining it cen-tred on a simulated incident at a mine and how publicrelations employees would respond to it.

National Mining Competition looking beyond borders

Meadows said the event provides students with a valuablelearning opportunity, as they have to put together a case undera tight deadline and undergo a boardroom-style Q&A from thepanel. But there are other important benefits too, like network-ing with students and industry professionals.

This paid off for one of last year’s winners, Matt Schwalen,who lined up an internship with Cameco following the event.“Overall the competition is meant to be educational, but givenNMC’s structure, you are also able to network and it undoubt-edly played a part in my ability to get a job at Cigar Lake,” saidSchwalen, who is in the last year of his bachelor of sciences inthe civil engineering program, with a mining engineeringminor at Michigan Technological University.

At last year’s contest, teams were given three fictional golddeposits and instructed to guide the panel to pursue the mosteconomical, and Schwalen’s team was the only one to decide itwas not worth considering any of the options for develop-ment. “In the final hours when we realized these depositscouldn’t be developed, the team was under a lot of pressure,”he said. “I know I could feel it.”

The registration deadline is September 30. CIM

The National Mining Competition awards gala

Courtesy of The National Mining Competition


CIM community

Janice Zinck, mine waste management and processing research programmanager, Natural Resources Canada. Green mining: an oxymoron or an opportunity? InCanada, miners understand that in order toobtain – and retain – their social licence to oper-ate, they must conduct operations responsibly.This includes being environmental stewards.Zinck will illustrate the development and applica-tion of technologies and processes that maximizeenvironmental performance while also maintain-ing competitiveness throughout the entire miningcycle, from exploration to post-closure.

Joseph Ringwald, president and CEO of SelwynResources. The inevitability of CSR This presentation looks atthe origins and the future of corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) and what aspects of CSR arenow making news. This includes the resource rev-enue transparency initiative that the federal gov-ernment is currently discussing. Ringwald willalso discuss the potential impacts to companies ifthey decide to ignore CSR, and touch on therewards for companies that choose to invest in it.

Ken Thomas, project development and metallurgypresident, Ken Thomas & Associates Inc. Project execution and cost escalation in the min-ing industry In the last 10 years, the miningindustry has witnessed an escalation in capitalcosts, with project costs doubling or tripling insome cases during that time. Meanwhile, operat-ing costs have also increased, affecting the pro-ject’s net present value and internal rate ofreturn. Thomas will explain why capital costshave increased and discuss the various compo-nents that make up capital estimates. He willalso look at why preliminary estimates have been so much lower than theultimate construction costs and how miners can exercise better disciplineduring project execution to stay on budget.

Distinguished LecturersNow in its 47th year, CIM’s Distin-

guished Lecturer program is poised to onceagain provide mining professionals and stu-dents at branch, society or university eventswith informative, engaging and entertain-ing presentations on relevant and vital sub-jects. This year’s program features talks oncorporate social responsibility, governmenttransparency, project execution, and envi-ronmentally conscious mining. CIM

Ben Chalmers, vice-president of sustainabledevelopment with MAC, and Ross Gallinger,former executive director of PDAC.Resource revenue transparency Though min-ing offers governments around the world theopportunity to generate revenue, it is difficultto know how society benefits from miningoperations when there is no means of track-ing how tax and royalty revenues are spent. Alack of transparency can lead to the misman-agement, loss or even theft of resource rev-enues that are critical for development.Chalmers and Gallinger will discuss howtheir organizations partnered with civil soci-ety groups on an initiative that will requireCanadian companies to disclose paymentsderived from resource extraction to govern-ments all over the world.

One to watchFaizul Mohee, left, is presented with the OntarioSociety of Professional Engineers (OSPE) President’sYoung Professional Award by Paul Acchione, thesociety’s CEO, on May 6. The award is presentedannually to recognize an outstanding OSPE volunteerwho promotes engineering at school and followinggraduation. Mohee, a CIM student member who hasparticipated in many CIM Toronto Branch events, hasa master’s in civil engineering from the University of

Toronto and is completing his PhD at the Universityof Waterloo. “It was a really good feeling,” saidMohee. “OSPE gives this award to one youngengineer for all engineering disciplines all overOntario, so I am feeling encouraged and motivatedin my work. It’s a big morale boost.” Mohee hasworked with Genivar and Hatch, and is interested inpursuing civil and structural engineering related tomining and nuclear infrastructure projects.

Courtesy of Marina Freire-Gormaly

To find out more about CIM’s distinguished lecturers and their presentations in their own words, visit cim.org. To book a distinguished lecturer, visit www.cim.org, call (514) 939-2710, or email [email protected].

53rd Annual Conference of Metallurgists

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

PROSPERITY THROUGH PROCESS ADVANCEMENTS

Vancouver, B.C., Canada | September 28-October 1, 2014 | Hyatt Regency Hotel

From base and light metals to rare earths to nanomaterials,processes are critical for making metals and materials in aneconomical and safe way, and this is highlighted at the 53rd Annual Conference of Metallurgists.

COM's main purpose is to provide a forum for learning. Italso serves to recognize those who have spent theircareers teaching others. Learning extends beyond thesymposia with short courses, tours of metallurgical and

materials operations, a poster session and an expandedtrade show.

I encourage you to participate in what will be an excellentopportunity to learn and teach, meet old friends and makenew ones, and honour and celebrate those in our industry.

See you in Vancouver!Boyd Davis, COM 2014 Conference Chair

Check out the complete technical program and speakers list online: web.cim.org/COM2014

Arsenic Metallurgy & the EnvironmentProcess Control ApplicationsRare Earth ElementsProcess & Flowsheet DevelopmentRisk ManagementBill Davenport SymposiumMetals & Mineral Process in honour of Dr. Ram Rao

Light Metals ProcessingNanoscale Materials CharacterizationVanadium in honor of Prof. Gilles AllardAdvanced Materials ManufacturingMultiscale Modelling and Simulations of Failure in Structural MaterialsProcess Safety Management in Metallurgical Operations

TECHNICAL PROGRAM This year’s technical program consists of more than 300 papers organized under the following themes:

web.cim.org/COM2014

THE GREAT DEBATEDebates & special talks PLENARY

Metallurgy in the 21st Century – The BalanceBetween Operational Excellence andTechnological Step-Change

The debate on how to best use precious financial resourcesto maximize return on investment has been brought to theConference of Metallurgists. Moderated by conference chairBoyd Davis, the plenary will feature four highly experiencedmetallurgists discussing the relative balance betweeninvestment in technological step-change and operationalimprovement, and the circumstances that tilt the scales inone direction over the other.

Speakers:Nils Voermann, Global Managing Director, HatchJean-François Turgeon, Executive Vice-President, TronoxMichael Agnew, Principal, Michael Agnew Inc.Phillip Mackey, President, P.J. Mackey Technology Inc.

ROUND TABLE LUNCHEON

Role of Extractive Metallurgy Societies

COM 2014 brings together technical personnel andmanagement teams from different players in the industry todiscuss the modern-day role of extractive metallurgysocieties and to explore how these societies could supportthe industry in its search for technical and other solutions tomaintain a healthy, sustainable and profitable mining andmetals business.

A lunch will follow the discussion where a summary aimedat discerning commonalities between the technical societieson how they see the future of extractive metallurgy will bepresented. Tickets are required.

REGISTER NOW AND SAVE! Be sure to reserve your tickets for

activities as quantities are limited:web.cim.org/com2014. Take advantage

of the reduced registration cost for CIM Nationalmembers this year!

METALS TRADE SHOWBook your space today!Only a few spaces are left in the Metals 2014 Trade Show,strategically located in the foyer of the ballroom at theHyatt Regency Vancouver Hotel to ensure optimal visibility.

Contact Brigitte Farah at [email protected] for more info.

SHORT COURSESThough strongly encouraged, it is not necessary to be aconference delegate to register for short courses.

The complete schedule, with presenter information, isavailable on our website.

k Control of Mineral Processing Systemsk Risk Managementk Process Safety Management Awarenessk Process Hazard Analysisk Energy Storage Course Overviewk Process Safety and Managing Risk

74%of delegates

are from industry

Courtesy of IPI Photography

INDUSTRIAL TOURSAn industrial tour is being held on Thursday, October 2, atthe CESL Pilot/Demo Plant and SGS Technology Centre.Spaces are limited – register today!

CESL As part of Teck Resources, CESL focuses onsustainable external and internal growth opportunities,technology transfer and improvement projects. Thecompany frequently works with partners to evaluate avariety of hydrometallurgical technology applicationsusing its extensive bench, pilot and demonstration facilityin Richmond, B.C. SGS Technology Centre SGS offersan extensive range of services for the minerals sector,from exploration to closure. The company is breakingnew ground as the only global service provider ofintegrated geochemical, metallurgical, mineralogical andenvironmental expertise under one roof.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY

Welcome ReceptionAll delegates are invited to enjoy

a complimentary drink and hors d’oeuvres.

Bill Davenport Pub Night*Join Bill Davenport and his colleagues

for a pub night in his honour. The casual event will take place at alocal pub. Heavy hors d’oeuvres and

two beverages are included.

MetSoc Awards Banquet*

We honour our outstanding members by presenting the Society Awards.

WEDNESDAY

Historical Metallurgy Lunch Box*

The Historical Metallurgy Committee of MetSoc willhost a box lunch featuring guest speaker Carlos Diaz,past president of MetSoc, who will present “From empirical to science enlightened pyrometallurgy.”

SPONSORS Several sponsorship opportunities are still available.Contact Nathan Stubina at [email protected] tofind out more.

GOLD

SILVER STUDENT

EVENT/ACTIVITY

*Note: Tickets must be purchased to attend these events.


SOCIAL PROGRAM …more than just a technical conference

Courtesy of Teck Resources Limited

Courtesy of IPI Photography

web.cim.org/COM2014


STUDENT PROGRAM Your career starts hereStudent Networking – Fun NightKick off the conference with this informal get-together for fellowstudents.

Student-Industry MixerStart building your network of contacts at the Student-IndustryMixer – and don’t forget to bring your resume!

Poster CompetitionPresent your poster to peers and industry professionals. A cashprize is available.

MetSoc Students Financial AssistanceFinancial assistance is available to support student travel to theconference. Students may also partially defray expenses byserving as session monitors. Contact Brigitte Farah for furtherdetails: [email protected].

Annual General MeetingThe Annual General Meeting of themembers of the Metallurgy and MaterialsSociety of the Canadian Institute of Mining,Metallurgy and Petroleum will be held inVancouver on Monday, September 29, at 8a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Assemblée générale annuelle

L’Assemblée générale annuelle desmembres de la société de la métallurgie etdes matériaux de l’Institut canadien desmines, de la métallurgie et du pétrole auralieu à Vancouver le lundi 29 septembre à 8 h à l’hôtel Hyatt Regency.

NOTICE TO MEMBERS AVIS DE CONVOCATION

© Can Stock Photo

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 5, No. 3.To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org

The Canada Mining Innovation Council Exploration Innovation Consortium’s Footprints project: A roadmap for large research project development and implementationA. Galley, Canada Mining Innovation Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; F. Robert, Barrick Gold Corporation, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and R. Tosdal, PicachoEx LLC, North Potomac, Maryland, USA

ABSTRACT The Canada Mining Innovation Council (CMIC)Exploration Innovation Consortium developed a 10-yearbusiness case for developing new discovery criteria, explo-ration techniques, and better data management and analysisto improve exploration success in deep, remote, and coveredterrains. Within this context, the CMIC devised a five-yearproject proposal to create improved multiparameter explo-ration tools to detect ore systems and more efficient vectoringtoward high-grade mineralized cores. The Footprints projectwas approved March 2013. More than CAD$13 millionfunding was provided through the CMIC-led joint sponsor-ship from 30 companies, and the Natural Sciences andEngineering Research Council. Consistent industry leader-ship and integration of dedicated industry and academicexpertise has the project on track for reaching its well-defined objectives.

RÉSUMÉ Le Consortium sur l’innovation en exploration du Conseilcanadien de l’innovation minière (CCIM) a développé une analyse derentabilité sur dix ans pour développer de nouveaux critères dedécouvertes, de nouvelles techniques d’exploration et une meilleureanalyse et gestion des données afin d’améliorer les chances de réus-sir l’exploration dans des terrains profonds, éloignés et couverts.Dans ce contexte, le CCIM a conçu une proposition de projet surcinq ans afin de créer de meilleurs outils d’exploration à paramètresmultiples pour détecter des systèmes minéralisés et un guidage plusefficace vers des amas minéralisés à teneur élevée. Le projet Foot-prints a été approuvé en mars 2013. Une commandite menée par leCCIM auprès de 30 compagnies et le Conseil de recherches en sci-ences naturelles et en génie (CRSNG) a permis d’obtenir unfinancement de plus de 13 millions de dollars (CAN). Un leadershipsoutenu de l’industrie et l’intégration d’une expertise industrielle etacadémique spécialisée a permis de garder le projet sur la bonnevoie d’atteindre ses objectifs bien définis.

T E C H N I C A L A B S T R AC T S

CIM journal


Designing and developing an integrated cave management systemM. J. Mol, A. van As, and R. Tosen, Rio Tinto Underground Technology Centre, Brisbane, Australia; and J. McGaughey,Mira Geoscience Ltd.,Westmount, Quebec, Canada

ABSTRACT Geotechnical monitoring is a key element of thesuccessful management of a block cave mine. The interrela-tionships between production and various monitoringdatasets are often not realized due to a lack of data integra-tion and appropriate 3D visualization. Timely delivery ofinformation to ensure best cave management practices isonly possible with an integrated cave management system. AtRio Tinto, a state-of-the-art cave management system(CaveCAD) has been designed and developed in cooperationwith Mira Geoscience to integrate and analyze vast datasetsand report this as instructive information regarding the cur-rent “status” of the cave.

RÉSUMÉ Le suivi géotechnique constitue un élément clé pour biengérer une mine exploitée par la méthode des blocs foudroyés. Sou-vent, en raison du manque d’intégration des données et d’unevisualisation tridimensionnelle appropriée, on ne tire pas profit desinterrelations entre la production et les divers ensembles de donnéesde suivi. La livraison en temps opportun de l’information afin d’assurerles meilleures pratiques de gestion du foudroyage est uniquementpossible avec un système intégré de gestion du foudroyage des blocs.Chez Rio Tinto, un système de gestion du foudroyage à la fine pointede la technologie (CaveCAD) a été conçu et développé en coopéra-tion avec Mira Geoscience afin d’intégrer et d’analyser de vastesensembles de données et d’en faire rapport sous forme d’informationrévélatrice en ce qui concerne le « statut » actuel du foudroyage.

Monitoring wear and corrosion with integrated ultrasonic transducersS. E. Kruger, K.-T. Wu, and A. Blouin, National Research Council Canada, Boucherville, Quebec, Canada

ABSTRACT Real-time wear and corrosion measurement pro-vides crucial information in determining an optimalschedule for corrective maintenance and is a powerful tool

RÉSUMÉ Les mesures en temps réel de l’usure et de la corrosionfournissent de l’information cruciale pour établir un échéancieroptimal de maintenance corrective; c’est aussi un puissant outil

to maximize equipment availability and reliability. Thispaper presents integrated ultrasonic transducers (IUTs)that—when incorporated into structures to accurately meas-ure the remaining thickness—can determine wear orcorrosion losses. Transducers have a small footprint, per-form comparable to other commercial ultrasonictransducers, and can withstand temperatures up to 400ºC.Results show that thickness changes of a few micrometrescan be detected. Applications of this technology to miningequipment and its potential benefits are discussed.

pour maximiser la disponibilité et la fiabilité des équipements. Cetarticle présente des transducteurs ultrasoniques intégrés (IUT) qui,lorsqu’incorporés dans des structures pour mesurer avec précisionl’épaisseur restante, peuvent déterminer les pertes par usure ou cor-rosion. Ces transducteurs ont une petite empreinte, ils ont uneperformance comparable aux autres transducteurs ultrasoniquessur le marché et ils peuvent résister à des températures atteignant400 °C. Les résultats montrent qu’il est possible de détecter deschangements d’épaisseur de quelques micromètres. Les applica-tions de cette technologie aux équipements miniers et sesavantages potentiels sont discutés.

Numerical modelling of mining selectivity for oil sandsJ. G. Manchuk, Centre for Computational Geostatistics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; O. Babak, Total E&P Canada Ltd.,Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and C. V. Deutsch, Centre for Computational Geostatistics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

ABSTRACT High levels of geological heterogeneity occurringover relatively short distances pose a challenge to the uncon-ventional open-pit techniques used in oil sands mining.There is strong motivation to mine selectively and minimizedilution and loss; however, the large equipment and highmining rate used to meet production targets tend to reduceselectivity. A numerical model is developed to account forgeological complexity, mining equipment, regulatory crite-ria, and other operational parameters. This framework isused for more accurate forecasts, optimization of equipment,and other operational decisions. An example demonstratesthe approach in light of Alberta Energy Regulator criteria.

RÉSUMÉ La grande hétérogénéité géologique des terrains sur desdistances relativement courtes pose un défi aux techniques nonconventionnelles d’exploitation à ciel ouvert des sables bitumineux.Il est très tentant d’extraire de manière sélective et ainsi minimiserla dilution et les pertes; cependant, la grande taille des équipementset le taux élevé de production nécessaires pour rencontrer les ciblesde production tendent à diminuer la sélectivité. Un modèlenumérique est proposé pour tenir compte de la complexitégéologique, des équipements miniers, des critères de réglementa-tion et d’autres paramètres d’opération. Ce cadre est utilisé pourobtenir des prévisions plus précises, optimiser les équipements etprendre d’autres décisions d’opération. Un exemple démontre l’ap-proche basée sur les critères du Alberta Energy Regulator[organisme de réglementation de l’énergie de l’Alberta].


T E C H N I C A L A B S T R AC T S

CIM journal

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 5, No. 3.To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org

Preliminary findings on the health and well-being of the long distance commuting workforce in the Australianresources industryP. A. Kirsch, J. Harris, and M. Shi, Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane,Australia; S. Arend, M. A. Barclay, J. Everingham, and J. Kim, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, Sustainable Minerals Institute, Universityof Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

ABSTRACT Mineral resource development activities impactthe health and well-being of many people, including work-ers, their families, and the surrounding communities. Withindustry growth predominantly in rural and remote areas,companies often implement long-distance commuting (LDC)programs to staff sites with limited local populations in Aus-tralia. Results are presented from a survey of Australianresource industry LDC workers regarding variable nonresi-dent accommodation arrangements and individual health,well-being, and job satisfaction. Further investigation soughtevidence of linkages between accommodation factors, hoursof work, health, well-being, job satisfaction, and job reten-tion in the LDC workforce.

RÉSUMÉ Les activités de développement des ressourcesminérales ont un impact sur la santé et le bienêtre de nombreusespersonnes, incluant les travailleurs, leurs familles et les commu-nautés environnantes. Alors que l’industrie croît surtout dans lesrégions rurales et éloignées, en Australie, les compagnies mettentsouvent en oeuvre des programmes de navettage sur de longuesdistances (LDC) afin de doter en personnel les sites à populationlimitée. Les résultats d’un sondage auprès de travailleurs LDC del’industrie australienne des ressources, concernant les arrange-ments de logement des non-résidents, la santé des individus, leurbien-être et leur satisfaction au travail, sont présentés. Une étudeplus poussée cherchait des évidences de liens entre les facteurs delogement, les heures de travail, la santé, le bien-être et le maintiende l’emploi dans une main-d’oeuvre LDC.

An Introduction to Cutoff Grade: Theory and Practice in Open Pit and Underground Mines (with a new section on blending optimization strategy)Cutoff grades are essential in determining the economic feasibility and mine life of a project. Learn how to solve most cutoff grade estimationproblems by developing techniques and graphical analytical methods, about the relationship between cutoff grades and the design of pushbacks inopen pit mines, and the optimization of block sizes in caving methods.INSTRUCTOR Jean-Michel Rendu, USA • DATE September 3-5, 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Geostatistical Mineral Resource Estimation and Meeting the New Regulatory Environment: Step by Step from Sampling to Grade ControlLearn about the latest regulations on public reporting of resources/reserves through state-of-the-art statistical and geostatistical techniques; howto apply geostatistics to predict dilution and adapt reserve estimates to that predicted dilution; how geostatistics can help you categorize yourresources in an objective manner; and how to understand principles of NI 43-101 and the SME Guide.INSTRUCTORS Marcelo Godoy, Newmont Mining Corp., Denver; Jean-Michel Rendu, JMR Consultants, USA; Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGillUniversity, Canada; and Guy Desharnais, SGS Canada Inc., Canada • DATE September 8-12, 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessments: An Integrated Approach to Planning for Exploration Risk ReductionLearn about exploration risk analysis for strategic planning. Understand how to demonstrate how operational mineral deposit models can reduceuncertainties; make estimates of the number of undiscovered deposits; and integrate the information and examine the economic possibilities.INSTRUCTORS Don Singer, USA; and David Menzie, U.S. Geological Survey, USA • DATE September 29-October 1, 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Strategic Risk Management in Mine Design: From Life-of-Mine to Mining ComplexesLearn how you can have a significant, positive impact on your company’s bottom line by utilizing strategic mine planning methodologies and software;improve your understanding of strategic mine planning and life-of-mine optimization concepts, as well as your understanding of the relationship ofuncertainty and risk, and how to exploit uncertainty in order to maximize profitability. Note: The strategic mine planning software used is Whittle.An optional half-day skills refresher workshop on Whittle may be available.INSTRUCTORS Tarrant Elkington, Snowden, Australia; and Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada • DATE October 15-17, 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada


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IN THE NEXT ISSUE

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ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND CLOSURE

Preparing to leave a positive legacy

OIL SANDSTo fuel growth, Alberta will need to find

new sources of electricity – but what option will win out?

TECHNOLOGYImproving uptime

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Test your mettle with SCC accreditationSCC is a proud supporter of CMA 2014 Saskatoon

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Financing, processingand human resourceproblems associated

with developing projectsare not new to the miningindustry. Les Forges duSaint-Maurice in Quebectook nearly 200 years ofstarts and stops to movethe iron ore deposit fromdiscovery to production.Nonetheless, all thedifficulty would proveworthwhile for NewFrance and, later, Canada.

In 1541, JacquesCartier first surveyed theareas near what is nowknown as Trois-Rivières,Quebec, for precious met-als and found “a fine mineof the best iron ore in the world.” But it was not until 1670that serious investigations into the prospects of mining thedeposit began, when the first intendant of New France, JeanTalon, oversaw further testing on ore samples in the area.“As the expense of a forge and its furnaces is not inconsid-erable, every precaution must be taken not to embark lightlyon such a venture,” he wrote, underscoring the capitalinvestment that would be required to develop the resourcesof the area, an amount of money that could not be providedby private interests in what was then New France. Addition-ally, there was a dearth of skilled labour in the Frenchcolony that would be required to go forward with any min-ing project.

Despite the success of the initial tests, in which Talon’sironmaster extracted approximately 800 tonnes of ore,work on the future forge would not go forward untilmany years later. In the intermittent period, France’s ironindustry experienced demand shortages and, in 1717, theDuc d’Orléans dismissed the proposed iron mining proj-ect that Jean Talon had researched, stating in reference toiron ore that, “There is enough in France to supply all ofCanada.”

In the subsequent years, the demand for iron grew and,in 1730, the King of France provided local merchantFrançois Poulin de Francheville with an advance of 10,000livres to mine the iron ore deposits of the Trois-Rivièresarea and establish a forge along the Saint-Maurice River. In1733, Francheville used the money to launch the Compag-


nie des Forges duSaint-Maurice. Laterthat year, however,the 41-year-oldFrancheville died.

After his death,François PierreOlivier de Vézin, aFrench ironmaster,was sent to Canada toassess Francheville’swork on the Forgesdu Saint-Maurice. OnAugust 20, 1738,after subsequenttechnical snags andamendments toFrancheville’s originaldesign, Vézin and hiscrew managed to fireup the blast furnace

and begin successful bar iron production.Yet, rumours of financial mismanagement and a lack of

skilled iron workers in the new French colony plagued theoperation, and it was not long before the Forges du Saint-Maurice went bankrupt. Vézin resigned from the miningproject in 1741, and subsequent reports pinned the blameon his financial mismanagement and lack of experience, ashe was only 28 years old when he arrived in New France tooversee the project. Still, during his three years in charge atSaint-Maurice, Vézin had overseen the construction of asecondary forge as well as numerous necessary workshopsand adjacent structures that would last another 150 yearsafter his departure. The forges, taken over by France follow-ing the bankruptcy, were the foundation for shipbuilding inthe French colony and a vital resource for its defenceagainst the British.

The forges would remain profitable for more than 100years, providing the economic foundation for a commu-nity of 425 residents at its peak, with new generations ofironworkers learning the craft from the previous genera-tion. Eventually, the once state-of-the-art and technologi-cally advanced forges became bygone relics from aprevious era and the operation shut down for good inMarch 1883.

Today, buildings from les Forges du Saint-Maurice arepreserved as a national historic site and serve as a cen-turies-old reminder of the difficult path to productionthat miners face. CIM

Forges du Saint-Maurice: a troubled historyBy Jakub Stachurski

The village of Les Forges du Saint-Maurice, in 1845. Although it took more than 200 years to takethe iron ore deposit from discovery to production, the forges remained in operation for nearly 150years.

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cim magazine august 2014

Documents