cim magazine february 2015

It comes down to reaching your goals. At Metso, we’re here to help by providing you with the best technology, the highest levels of service, and a commitment to safety and sustainability. Contact Metso today, and together we will build the crushing solutions that maximize your profitability. When you partner with Metso, you can expect results.

Crushing solutions focused on the bottom line

Did you know that Metso recently introduced the world’s largest cone crusher to respond to e� ciency challenges in the mining industry? Discover more at www.metso.com – Email: [email protected]

Visit us at Booth 16022015 SME ExpoFeb 15-18, 2015Denver, CO USA

We de� ne performance the wayyou do.

FDe

Mining & Bulk Material Handling Design-Build Construction Services

Our exceptional knowledge of material storage and handling requirements allows us to deliver

a diverse range of mining project solutions.

W I N N I P E G | C A L G A R Y | V A N C O U V E R | F A R G O

Innovative Solutions for Building Value!FWSgroup.com

Phone: 1-800-553-0007 Email: [email protected]

IN THIS ISSUE C IM MAGAZINE

FEBRUARY | FÉVRIER2015

February/Février 2015 | 5

Generation in jeopardyShort-sightedness risks

giving up on tomorrow’s deposits before they are found

By Virginia Heffernan

51Icebreaker

North Baffin Island, Nunavut, is the site of Canada’s northernmost-producing mine –

Mary River – now operational thanks to a team of experienced Arctic operators

By Eavan Moore

57Sky’s the limit

The potential for drone technology in surveying andplanning for the mining industry is enormous.

Manufacturers are confident that demand will soonexplode for their cost-effective eyes in the sky.

By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

42cover story

51

42

MAY 10–13 MAI 2015PALAIS DES CONGRÈS DE MONTRÉAL

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM | PROGRAMME PRÉLIMINAIRE

61

contenufrancophone

La version françaiseintégrale du CIM Magazine estdisponible en ligne :magazine.CIM.org/fr-CA

8 Editor’s letter 10 President’s notes

tools of the trade 12 The best in new technology

compiled by Chris Balcom

news 14 Mount Polley cleanup

focuses on spring thawBy Eavan Moore

21 Canada’s “enhanced” CSRstrategy for mining companiesabroadBy Kelsey Rolfe

23 MAC releases results from recent TSM Progress ReportBy Tom DiNardo

columns 30 Understanding project capital

cost escalation of the 21st centuryBy Kenneth G. Thomas, John A. Wells,Leticia Conca

32 Ensuring social investments in mining create value for localcitizens and companiesBy Rohitesh Dhawan

33 Canada joins global transparencymovement with new legislationBy Pierre Gratton

logistics 34 Sept-Îles headed for the big

leagues with new portBy Pierrick Blin and Antoine Dion-Ortega

36 How Iamgold built a 5-MW solarplant in SurinameBy Kelsey Rolfe

38 Rotating containers cut down on concentrate dust emissionsduring transportBy Eavan Moore

40 Logistical challenges abound in Myanmar’s emerging miningsectorBy Chris Balcom

standards update 84 GMSG works to collect

guidelines for miningBy Kelsey Rolfe

travel112 Valledupar, Colombia

By Katelyn Spidle

mining lore114 Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada’s

expedition for the legendary El Dorado kingdomBy Correy Baldwin

108 Technical abstracts

111 Innovation showcase and Professional directory

article de fond96 Génération en danger

Sous-estimation des risques liésaux gisements futurs avant qu’ilsne soient découvertsPar Virginia Heffernan

87 Lettre de l’éditeur 87 Mot du président

88 Les actualités en bref 94 Tenir le cap

Sept-Îles rejoint les liguesmajeures avec son nouveau quaiPar Pierrick Blin et Antoine Dion-Ortega

104 Brise-glaceLe nord de l’île de Baffin, auNunavut, est le site de la mineen production la plus nordiquedu Canada – Mary River –actuellement en exploitationgrâce à une équipe ayant del’expérience en matièred’exploitation dans l’ArctiquePar Eavan Moore

108 Résumés techniques

6 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 10, No. 1

21 9636

At Hitachi, we’re not distracted by building every kind of mining equipment.

We focus 100% on shovels and haulers. By specializing, we give you exactly what

you want. Better reliability, higher productivity and bottom-line efficiency. THAT’S ALL.

hitachimining.com


editor’s letterEditor-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]

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

Web content editor Maria Olaguera, [email protected]

Contributing editor Eavan Moore

Editorial intern Katelyn Spidle, [email protected]; Chris Balcom

Contributors Correy Baldwin, Pierrick Blin, Leticia Conca, RohiteshDhawan, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Sahar Fatima, Pierre Gratton, VirginiaHeffernan, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Valerian Mazataud, CooperQuinn, Kelsey Rolfe, Ken Thomas

Editorial advisory board Alicia Ferdinand, Garth Kirkham, Vic Pakalnis, Steve Rusk, Nathan Stubina, John A. Wells

Translations CNW, Pierrick Blin, Karen Rolland

Published 8 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 protected]

Advertising salesDovetail Communications Inc.Tel.: 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 ManagerMark Spasaro, [email protected], 905.707.3523

For Quebec:Info-Industriel Inc.Senior Account ExecutiveYvan Gauthier, [email protected], 514.576.5869

Subscriptions Included in CIM membership ($187); Non-members (Canada):$270/yr (AB, BC, MB, NT, NU, SK add $13.50 GST; NB, NL, ON add$35.10 HST; QC add $40.40 GST + PST; PE add $37.80 HST; NSadd $40.50 HST); Non-members (USA & International): US$290/yr;Single copy: $25.

This issue’s coverWorkers haul tools and core boxes for Candente Copper in Peru.Photo by Valerian Mazataud

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

Copyright©2015. 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

2014

Kenneth R. Wilson Awards

Finalist

Best in Canadian Business Publi

shin

g

It’s the dead of winter, and nobody isfeeling the chill more than junior min-ers right now, especially the ones that

can no longer afford to keep the heat onin their offices. But explorers are hardyfolk, used to dressing in layers, and theyare showing remarkable resilience despitethe best efforts of the markets to freezethem out.

At CIM Magazine, we see the headlinesabout how investors on Bay Street believeexploration is too risky, that safe ouncesor tonnes are the best ones to add, andhow spending is out of control. While in

some cases that may be true, in her feature story, (p. 42), VirginiaHeffernan offers insight into how, despite the odds, explorers are stilldeveloping targets worth looking at. For all its inherent risk, grassrootsexploration is the lifeblood of the industry, and those who do it welldeserve much more credit than they get – literally.

There is a good chance you are reading this exploration-focused issueat, or just before, PDAC. If you’re near the tradeshow floor, please come bythe CIM booth (#215), say “ Hi!” and let us know what you think of oureditorial. We are always prospecting for new ideas from those who haveboots on the ground.

By the time this issue is in your hands, editor-in-chief Ryan Bergen, nowon paternity leave, will be back chatting up sources. His youngest daugh-ter, who is enjoying his company while I enjoy his desk, will be nearlythree months old. How many commodity cycles will she see in her life-time? What will they mean for her? What can we learn from these tryingtimes to teach the next generation of explorers? And how will we continueto keep the home fires burning when it’s cold outside?

Peter Braul, Section editor [email protected] @Peter_CIM_Mag

In hibernation

president’s notes


It all starts with exploration!My first employment in the minerals industry was working in hard rockexploration during the summers while I attended the University of BritishColumbia, pursuing a degree in geology. Upon graduation in 1980, the oilindustry was booming, and I headed to Calgary to start a career in petroleumexploration. Eventually, my career path led me into the operation and designof mining projects. Now, working with a junior mining company, I am onceagain involved with mineral exploration. Having seen all sides of the miningbusiness, in my view, exploration is the most exciting aspect – discovering anew mineralized outcrop, drilling a well-mineralized intersection, or strikingoil! Canadian exploration companies and geologists work in all corners ofthe globe searching for mineral and petroleum deposits, driven at least inpart by this sense of excitement.

It bears repeating: exploration is the future of our industry. Yet, theimportance of discovery of the future supply of minerals to support thedemands of society is often underappreciated by the broader public. Tocomplicate matters, recently the conventional sources of capital forexploration and development have virtually dried up, and those that havecapital are deploying it sparingly, leaving many exploration companiescurtailing, if not eliminating, their activities.

These downturns are not new but they are damaging, as the discovery of theminerals so critical for future supply is delayed. Furthermore, during thesedownturns academic and technological research slows, young people arediscouraged from entering the industry and some veterans leave, not toreturn.

There are no easy solutions; we must wait for the mechanics of supply anddemand to take effect. As we have seen before, this will cause mineral pricesto rise, potentially dramatically, and then once again exploration will be bigbusiness. With that in mind, it is exciting to consider two importantConferences: PDAC in Toronto in March, and the annual CIM Conventionin Montreal in May. The preliminary program for the latter can be found inthis issue, and as you will` see, the very best of our industry will be on display– come and experience it!

Sean WallerCIM President

This prestigious Rock Mechanics Congress, which takes place every 4 years, will bring together over 1,000 high-profile international researchers, engineers and practitioners to present the latest accomplishments, innovations and potential future directions in rock mechanics and their applications in civil and mining industries around the world.

7 reasons why you should attend:

PLAN TOATTEND

The 13th InternationalCongress of ISRM:Innovations in Applied

and TheoreticalRock Mechanics

www.ISRM2015.com

F

THE 13TH INTERNATIONAL

IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CIM CONVENTION

MAY 10-13, 2015 | PALAIS DES CONGRÈS | MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC, CANADA

ISRM CONGRESS 2015


Steady flowMiners rely on valves to control slurry flow.Leaks, pressure buildups and dust onthe valve can damage or compromiseperformance by making it difficult toopen and close. Flowrox launched anew slurry knife wafer (SKW) valve builtwith a single cast body to eliminate anypossible leak paths. The valve also boasts

a tower design with a steel cover, switchholders, locking mechanisms and a flushingplate at the bottom of the valve. Todd Loudin,president and CEO of Flowrox in NorthAmerica, explained that competitors makethese features optional, but Flowrox wantedto provide a product that was as reliable aspossible: “If you make the best valve rightfrom the start, we feel that it’s better for thecustomer in the long run.” The new valvealso incorporates load distribution ringswithin the rubber sleeve, ensuring thatpiping stress will not affect performance.

Increased load capacityCost-per-tonne loading efficiency is essential for any miningoperation to stay competitive and keep overall expenses down. Tothis end, Caterpillar launched the Cat 994K Wheel Loader. Themodel is the company’s largest yet, carrying 40.8 tonnes per pass,which is an 18 per cent increase in payload over Caterpillar’sprevious model, the 994H. That means there are fewer passes toload trucks and a lower cost per unit of material moved. Designchanges such as an extended floor and angled side bars helpimprove material retention as well. Other efficiency improvementsinclude an electronically controlled and hydraulically drivencooling system fan, and a new engine air filtration system. “The994K is a completely new design,” explained Randy Aneloski,senior marketing specialist. “Caterpillar has […] used the latesttechnologies to create a wheel loader that digs aggressively, cyclesquickly and loads trucks faster.”

Remote accessManual drilling can be extremelydangerous; not only is there the risk of strainfrom over-exertion, but operators are alsovulnerable to falling rocks and debris asthey drill a rock face. To meet the growingdemand for safer drills, remote-controlleddemolition machine manufacturer Brokkand drill manufacturer TEI Rock Drillslaunched the new TE160 hydraulic drifterrock drill. The hydraulic drill attachment isTEI’s smallest yet and is designedspecifically for the Brokk 100 and 160carriers. The Brokk 100 is only 45 inchestall, making it ideal for cramped, hard-to-drill spaces. The TE160 itself is just under 26 inches tall, but delivers 35 to 60 foot-pounds of impact energy at 5,000 to 6,500blows per minute. The drill can reach up to250 rotations per minute and offers 100pound-feet of torque, ensuring speed andaccuracy. A single operator can control thedrill and machine, too. “This makes theBrokk and drill combination moreconvenient and practical, and also frees upan extra worker who normally would berequired to operate the second control,”explained Peter Bigwood, Brokk vice-president of sales and marketing.

Compiled by Chris Balcom

Cour

tesy

of B

rokk

Cour

tesy

of F

low

rox

Cour

tesy

of C

ater

pilla

r

TOOLS OFTHE TRADE

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.INSTRUCTOR Don Singer, USA • DATE March 1-3, 2015 • LOCATION University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

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 9-11, 2015 • 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 14-18, 2015 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Strategic Risk Management in Mine Design and Production Scheduling: Generating Optimal Mine Plans Given Uncertainty• Find out how to manage and minimise risks and produce optimal pit designs with strategic mine planning processes and the next generation

optimisation methods. • Discover how new developments will help you capture the “upside potential” in mine designs and minimise “downside risks” as well as increase

cash flows through the effect of the mining sequence and “risk blending”.• Explore real-world examples and participate in hands-on computer sessions that show how to increase project value by employing new risk-

based (stochastic) optimisation models.• Understand and learn about the new stochastic mine planning optimisation framework and its contribution to sustainable utilisation of mineral

resources.• Discover new developments in optimizing mining complexes and mineral value chains.INSTRUCTORS Matt LaBonte, Minemax, Denver, USA; and Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada • DATE September 21-23, 2015 •LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada


Cleanup from the tailings dambreach at the Mount Polley mine inBritish Columbia last August has provi-sionally controlled further erosion andtailings leakage, but more work isneeded in advance of the upcomingspring freshet, according to the provin-cial Ministry of Environment. Mostimportantly, mine operator Mount Pol-ley Mining Corporation (MPMC)began repairing its broken dam inDecember.

About 17 million cubic metres ofwater and eight million cubic metres oftailings flooded into local waterwaysduring the breach. By late September,MPMC had built a temporary rock dikeupstream from the 150-metre-widebroken spot in the original dam.Neighbouring Polley Lake, which rose1.7 metres after a debris plug devel-oped where it meets Hazeltine Creek,was drawn down to a safer level bypumping into the creek. Pumping sys-tems are also moving water in andaround the tailings site to one of themine’s open pits.

The dam repair started after provin-cial investigators had concluded theiron-site work. The repaired section willhave a cut-off wall made of a mixtureof cement, bentonite and aggregate – adeparture from the tailings dam asoriginally constructed, which con-tained a low-permeability glacial tillcore zone to control seepage. SteveRobertson, vice-president of corporateaffairs at MPMC’s parent company

Imperial Metals, said the choice of thenew design came down to timing –using the earlier centreline construc-tion method would be difficult to com-plete in winter. The rock dike builtafter the spill will not be removed, butsome materials will be borrowed fromthe top to complete the repair job. “Bythe end of February, we should havemost of the materials placed in therepair area and be ready for injection ofbentonite and cement for the cut-offwall,” said Robertson.

Phase 1 goalsThe dam repair is part of MPMC’s

Phase 1 remediation plan, running

until June and defined by three goals:there should be no further unautho-rized discharges into Hazeltine Creek;the impact zone should be stabilized tomanage seasonal events; and waterentering Quesnel Lake and at the outeredge of the impact zone should meetprovincial water quality guidelines.

“We’re relatively happy with howthings are going,” said Hubert Bunce,mining operations director at theprovincial Ministry of Environment’senvironmental protection division. Hesaid the company was “making goodprogress on mitigating the ongoing lossof tailings and eroded material fromthe Polley Lake-Hazeltine Creek area.”

Cour

tesy

of I

mpe

rial M

etal

s

Plan Nord central

to presentations at Québec Mines

20

Canada announces “enhanced” CSR strategy for mining companies

abroad

21

MAC awards Sudbury INO its TSM Leadership

Award

23

Survey reveals aboriginal

view of mining

26

NewsMount Polley cleanup focuses on spring thawRepair of tailings dam is priority number one for mine operator

An environmental monitor samples the water quality at the outlet of Hazeltine Creek into Quesnel Lake.

Imperial Metals estimated in lastyear’s third-quarter results that it spent$20.3 million immediately after the fail-ure and it expects to pay another $47.1million to rehabilitate the site. A $115million financing package from share-holders in September helped covercosts, as would anticipated revenuefrom Imperial’s new Red Chris mine innorthwestern B.C., which Robertsonsaid should achieve commercial opera-tions by the second quarter of 2015.

In January MPMC submitted anapplication to the ministry to tem-porarily resume mining activities atMount Polley. “We don’t anticipate per-mitting to be a hindrance to any of ourplans at this point,” commentedRobertson. He said a long-term restartplan would need to be developed afterJan. 31, when conclusions areexpected from an engineering panelassembled by the province to investi-gate the causes of the dam failure. – Eavan Moore


MPMC has provided filters to waterusers affected by sediment runoff intoQuesnel Lake, removed wood debris,and seeded the tailings impoundmentand exposed earth around HazeltineCreek with grass to prevent erosion. Ithas also built a fish fence and a siltfence at the mouth of Hazeltine Creek,installed sediment ponds off HazeltineCreek, and joined stakeholders inmonitoring water quality, fish, archaeo-logical preservation, and other areas ofconcern.

Although Robertson said damreconstruction is “priority one” forMPMC, the company also hopes tocomplete a long chore list before thespring freshet, which usually occurs inApril and could add another two mil-lion to three million cubic metres ofsnowmelt. The ministry has askedMPMC to put together a plan to miti-gate windblown tailings dust; figureout how to control gravity outflow,fish, and freshet flow from Polley Lake;

conduct a bathymetric assessment inPolley Lake to evaluate the spill’simpacts on the benthic environment;and start new anti-erosion projects.

Long termStarting in July, Phase 2 will focus

on remediation. “Ultimately, the goal isto return Hazeltine Creek and PolleyLake and Quesnel Lake to as natural astate as possible,” said Bunce, addingthat could take months or years.

Before a long-term remediation plancan be submitted, however, an envi-ronmental and health risk assessmentis needed, which will in turn dependon monitoring information. SRK Con-sulting tested the exposed tailings inHazeltine Creek in September and con-cluded that they were unlikely to pro-duce acid rock drainage. Additionaltesting is still needed though to con-firm whether released copper and sele-nium will have a significant impact onthe environment.

news


is expected to cost US$350 millionover four years to develop, with pro-duction beginning in late 2018. Theopen pit mine will require the con-struction of a rockfill dike around theore body.

“This is great news for Diavik,” saidpresident Marc Cameron, “but also forthe local communities in which we

operate, where we are committed todelivering economic and social benefitsthat will endure beyond the life of theDiavik mine.”

The A21 project will be locatedsouth of Diavik’s existing operations atLac de Gras, about 300 kilometresnortheast of Yellowknife.

“A21 was the first kimberlitefound during exploration in the mid-1990s,” said Rio Tinto spokespersonDoug Ashbury.

Alan Davies, Rio Tinto diamondsand minerals chief executive, said,“Our decision to invest in the DiavikA21 project reflects our strong confi-dence in the diamond sector and inour ability to compete effectively inthe industry.”

Diavik will update its ore reservesin the first quarter of 2015. The cur-rent mine plan has production endingin 2023. – Sahar Fatima

Work temporarilysuspended at Endako mine

Thompson Creek Metals Companyput operations on hold at its Endakomolybdenum mine in northern B.C. inlate December.

The company cited the continuedweakness in the molybdenum market

Aerial view of Diavik diamond mine

Cour

tesy

of D

iavi

k di

amon

d m

ine

IEM has been in the Bulk Material Handling Business for over 50 years and has supplied equipment for projects all over the world for mining, forestry, fertilizer, dock handling and many other industries.

109, 19433 - 96th Ave. Surrey, BC | 604-513-5216 | Fax: 604-513-9905 | [email protected] | www.iem.ca

IEM specializes in:

ISO 9001: 2008 CERTIFIED

Diavik expandsDevelopment is set to begin this

year on a fourth kimberlite pipe at theDiavik diamond mine in the NorthwestTerritories. Diavik announced inNovember that its operator, Rio Tinto,approved the addition.

The final pipe, included in theoriginal mine plan and known as A21,


as the cause of the temporary suspen-sion. Thompson Creek holds a 75 percent interest in the mine, while jointventure partner Sojitz MiningResources Inc. owns the remaining 25per cent.

Thompson Creek is uncertain atwhat point operations may resume,or to what extent the market needs torebound. “The price would have to behigher than our cost, and that pricewould have to be sustainable,” saidPamela Solly, director of ThompsonCreek’s corporate responsibility officeand investor relations. She added thatthe company is closely monitoringmarket conditions. By mid-Decem-ber, the price of molybdenumdropped to just over US$9/lb, whileThompson Creek’s extraction costsaveraged US$10.45/lb in the thirdquarter of 2014.

Roughly half of the 84 salariedemployees at the mine have been letgo, while work for the 263 hourly

employees has been suspendedindefinitely. – Chris Balcom

WIM receives funds toform gender advisorycommittee

Women in Mining (WIM) Canadareceived $250,000 from the federalgovernment in November to fund anew initiative to increase women’sparticipation in mining.

The funding helped create a gen-der advisory committee comprised ofrepresentatives from 12 mining com-panies and organizations includingCIM, Rio Tinto, Teck Resources, Vale,Barrick Gold and the Mining IndustryHuman Resources Council. The com-mittee held its first meeting inNovember. It will meet twice a yearfor the next three years to develop anational Women in Mining actionplan.

“The intent of the project is to hire50 women [amongst committeemember companies] by the end of it,in both senior executive roles and inthe trades,” said WIM Canada presi-dent Tabetha Stirrett. The initiativecould also include promoting womenat the management level to the seniorexecutive level. She said it was notyet clear how that goal would bereached.

According to Stirrett, the committeewill develop the national action plan inthe first two years, and then in thethird year the companies will puttogether individual action plans for thecommunities they operate in.

The committee has also hired a con-sultant from Women of Influence tosuggest best practices for educating allemployees of committee member com-panies on how gender diversity canhelp a company’s bottom line.

Women currently make up 14 percent of the Canadian mining sector

news


workforce and 12.3 per cent of seniorroles, according to WIM Canada. – Kelsey Rolfe

Saskatchewan Polytechnic home to the new CMI

The International Minerals Innova-tion Institute (IMII) and SaskatchewanPolytechnic are partnering to supportthe province’s mineral industry. Thanksto a $500,000 donation from IMIIannounced in mid-November,Saskatchewan Polytechnic is nowhome to the Centre for Minerals Innovation (CMI).

The centre’s purpose is to co- ordinate training programs that meetthe minerals sector’s needs. It will col-laborate with industry partners and theprovince’s regional colleges to offercourses with a standardized CMI-approved curriculum. The funds are

intended to support the centre throughthe next two years, but CMI will notdepend on IMII for financing in thelong term.

“[The minerals industry] is a hugepart of our economy,” said CristalGlass-Painchaud, the centre’s newdirector. “The province, Polytechnicand industry partners recognized thatthere was a need for more specifictraining and education services directlyfor that sector.” CMI’s current initia-tives include standardizing safety train-ing in the province, offering morebusiness management and leadershipcourses, and creating a “transition tomining” program. Glass-Painchaudsaid CMI will also offer simulator train-ing and is looking into industry needsin this area. Most of these new courseswill be offered by April 2015.

Engin Özberk, executive directorand senior technical advisor at IMII,explained that the collaboration is partof a larger effort to support

Saskatchewan’s mining industry. In thepast year, IMII – which is fundedjointly by industry and government –financed nine other projects aimed atsupporting mining education, trainingand research in Saskatchewan. IMIIrecently pledged $786,000 toward ajoint project by the University ofSaskatchewan and Saskatchewan Poly-technic to research industry safety cul-ture and practices.

“[CMI and IMII] are very muchinterested in applied research,” Özberksaid. “We were looking for new ways ofdoing things that are regularly applica-ble to the industry.” – C.B.

Yukon govt. appeals Peel Watershed decision

The Yukon government is appeal-ing a recent ruling on the Peel Water-shed by the territory’s Supreme Court.


On Dec. 2, Justice Ron Veale ruled thatthe government must renew consulta-tions with First Nations, as its plan todevelop the region violated the spiritof existing agreements over the plan-ning process.

The environmental groups and FirstNations that launched the case havehailed the decision as an historic vic-tory, but the government contends thatthe ruling unduly limits its controlover the land.

In 2011 the Peel Watershed Plan-ning Commission recommended that80 per cent of the region should beprotected from development. The gov-ernment released a modified plan in2014, limiting the protected area toaround 30 per cent.

“We’re appealing this decisionbecause we believe publicly electedgovernments must have the final sayabout what happens on public land,”said Scott Kent, Yukon minister ofenergy, mines and resources. “Even

though these commissions areappointed by our governments andFirst Nations governments, they’re stillonly making recommendations.”

Unsurprisingly, the appeal has ruf-fled feathers in the opposing camp. “Itsends a very clear message that thisgovernment is unwilling to work withFirst Nations in terms of land manage-ment and land claim implementation,”Norman Snowshoe, Gwich’in TribalCouncil vice-president, told the CBC.

The council was the intervener in thecase against the government.

At roughly 67,500 square kilome-tres, the Peel Watershed covers anarea nearly the size of NewBrunswick, and holds significant min-eral potential. While still relativelyunderexplored, the government esti-mates that about $46 million wasspent on exploration between 2002and 2009. There are currently 8,940mineral claims in the region. – C.B.

news

erratum

We all know KGHM’s Sierra Gorda mine in Chile will be big, but producing 10per cent of the world’s copper supply (as we reported it would in our December2014/January 2015 feature) is beyond the reach of even the largest projects.Sierra Gorda will, in fact, supply about one per cent of the world’s copper and10 per cent of Molybdenum demand during its first five years of operation.

We regret the error.

Stop by our Booth 6403N and get more information!


Plan Nord central topresentations at QuébecMines

Northern development was frontand centre at Québec Mines, held inQuebec City last November. Speakersat the plenary session recognized thepotential of the reignited Plan Nord and emphasized responsible development.

Pierre Corbeil, mayor of Val d’Or,discussed the importance of involvingthe local workforce and suppliers inthe development of the north. “It’snecessary to build the north on thefoundations already in place,” hestated.

Ugo Lapointe, co-founder of“Pour que le Québec ait meilleuremine!” said there are already somegood examples of sustainable devel-opment in the north including Glen-core’s Raglan mine, Iamgold’s Niobecmine and the Arianne Phosphate Lac

à Paul project. However, he main-tained that no project is perfect andthere is still much work to be done:“[We must make] balanced strategicchoices for the north, reinforce envi-ronmental protection, respect therights of aboriginal citizens, and max-imize the collective implications forus and future generations.”

In the spirit of responsible devel-opment, Quebec Minister of Energyand Natural Resources Pierre Arcandannounced the government wouldbegin consultations with communitiesaffected by the Plan Nord in thespring. “When you install yourself inthe territory to extract resources thatbelong to Québécois, it’s necessary todo it with the approval of Québécois,”he said.

Quebec was not the only jurisdic-tion discussed, as CIM executivedirector Jean Vavrek chaired the ses-sion on sustainable development inFrench West Africa on the last day of

the conference. Past Quebec premierJean Charest delivered the keynoteaddress in which he discussed thepotential for economic growth in Que-bec and Africa.

The session also included a paneldiscussion on local purchasing andeconomic development in Africa withIbrahima Basse, finance director atthe Senegal Chamber of Mines; Chris-tine Logbo-Kossi, the executive direc-tor of the Côte d’Ivoire Chamber ofMines; Laetitia Gadegbeku, tradecommissioner from the CanadianEmbassy in the Côte d’Ivoire; andAdama Soro, trade commissionerfrom the Canadian Embassy in Burk-ina Faso.

CIM organized the incoming WestAfrican delegation to Québec Mines2014 with financial support fromCanada’s Department of ForeignAffairs, Trade and Developmentthrough its Global Opportunities forAssociations program. – Tom DiNardo

Movin’ on upMovin’ on upCompiled by Katelyn Spidle

Hugh Stuart was appointed president and CEO of OrcaGold Inc. and he obtained a seat on the board, the com-pany announced in December. After earning his B.Sc.and M.Sc. in England, Stuart spent 25 years workinginternationally in mineral exploration. He was explo-ration manager at AngloGold Ashanti’s Geita Gold proj-ect in Tanzania and vice-president of exploration for RedBack Mining Inc. before founding Orca Gold Inc. andserving it as vice-president of exploration.

North American Nickel Inc. recently named Keith Morrison as CEO of the company. With his 30 years’international experience in the resources sector, thecompany hopes to benefit from Morrison’s diverse back-ground. Until recently, he served Security Devices Inter-national as non-executive chairman, and MarengoMining Ltd. as independent director. Morrison co-founded two successful Canadian-based groups: Quantec, which specializes in deep sub-surface imagingtechnology, and QGX, a public exploration company.


news

An “enhanced” corpo-rate social responsibility(CSR) strategy for Cana-dian extractive sectorcompanies operatingabroad has imposed newconsequences for thosethat do not followaccepted guidelines anddispute resolution proto-cols. It has also expandedthe role of Canada’sextractive sector CSRcounsellor. Though par-ticipation continues to bevoluntary, there are bene-fits to following along.

The strategy, intro-duced in November byInternational Trade Min-ister Ed Fast and madeeffective immediately,offers “enhanced economic diplomacy,”such as letters of support from the Gov-ernment of Canada and access to gov-ernment trade missions, to companiesthat follow CSR best practices and takepart in the CSR counsellor’s dispute res-olution process. Non-participants couldface the revocation of those benefits andpossible damage to their reputations.

Keeping companies up to parCanada’s “enhanced” CSR strategy for mining companies abroad

“Canadian companies are worldleaders in the extractive sector, andthe vast majority of them operate in away that reflects Canadian values,”said Fast. “The prospect of withdraw-ing economic diplomacy services ismeant to encourage participation indispute resolution mechanisms if theneed arises.”

The enhanced strategywas the product of consulta-tions with mining compa-nies, civil societyor ga ni zations and otherstakeholders across the coun-try. Its release coincided withthat of the new CanadianExtractive Sector Strategy,which builds on Canada’sResponsible Resource Devel-opment plan. According toFast, the Canadian ExtractiveSector Strategy emphasizes“trade and investment agree-ments in priority markets.” Italso promises extractive sector-specific training totrade commissioners andembeds trade commissionersin industry associations likethe Mining Association of

Canada (MAC) and the Petroleum Services Association of Canada.

By expanding the role of the CSRCounsellor office, explained Fast, agreater focus is placed on encouragingmining companies to adopt interna-tional CSR guidelines through informa-tion sessions and round tablediscussions at Canadian diplomatic

International Trade Minister Ed Fast introduced in November an enhanced corporate socialresponsibility strategy for Canadian extractive sector companies operating abroad.

Cour

tesy

of F

orei

gn A

ffairs

, Tra

de a

nd D

evel

opm

ent C

anad

a

E N H A N C I N G C A N A D I A N G E R M A N ST R AT E G I C PA RT N E R S H I PS

VISIT US AT:

MARCH 3, 2015

PRESENTATION ROOM: 206B OR BOOTH: 853

CANADIAN GERMAN CENTRE FORMINING & MINERAL RESOURCES

Promoting bilateral business opportunities in the resources sectorProviding individualized consulting services for German and Canadian companiesProviding market information and offering first-hand contactsOrganizing bilateral industry events for networking opportunities

W W W . C A N A D I A N - G E R M A N - M I N I N G . C O M

RULMECA MADE BY RULMECA.

We strongly believe in continually challenging the status-quo. All of us at Rulmeca are driven to find new and better ways to extend conveyor life and decrease down times.We believe all conveyors can and should run much safer and quieter than they do today.

www.rulmeca.ca

Moving ahead.


Fast said. Marketa Evans, the previousCSR counsellor, worked with NGOs andcommunities abroad to educate themabout her ability to assist with conflicts.It is expected that her replacement willdo the same, although the position ofCSR counsellor has yet to be filled.

If a community or local NGO identi-fies a conflict and files a formal com-plaint, but the company declines toparticipate in the CSR counsellor’s orNCP’s review processes, the govern-ment’s economic diplomacy can bewithheld at the counsellor’s discretion.This information would subsequentlybe made public.

“It’s the reputational issue that Ithink would be of critical importance tomany companies,” said KevinO’Callaghan, co-chair of Fasken Mar-tineau’s CSR Law Practice Group. Headded that the repercussions are basedpurely on participation, rather than ajudgment on the effectiveness of a com-pany’s CSR policies.

missions abroad, as well as preventingconflict between companies and localcommunities. Fast went on to say thatits non-judicial review process wouldassist companies and the communitiesthey operate in with “early and informaldispute resolution efforts.”

If a community makes a formalcomplaint to the CSR counsellor, saidFast, the review process will still beavailable, but its decisions are notlegally binding. Complaints that thecounsellor is unable to resolve, orwhich require a “multi-disciplinaryapproach or formal mediation,” will beforwarded to Canada’s National ContactPoint (NCP) for the Organization forEconomic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Communities or groups that want tosubmit complaints can write letters orsend e-mails to either the CSR counsel-lor or NCP. The CSR counsellor and staffon trade missions abroad “will also playa role in identifying potential conflicts,”

“We’ve seen over the last couple ofyears some good examples of wherethese mechanisms have provided realvalue,” said Ben Chalmers, MAC’s vice-president of sustainable development.“[Our members] felt that the reputa-tional cost for not participating wasgrowing, and so they thought that it wasimportant to strengthen these mecha-nisms and establish consequences forthose that choose not to participate.”

The enhanced strategy furtherendorsed two new CSR guidelines: theOECD’s Due Diligence Guidance forResponsible Supply Chains of Mineralsfrom Conflict-Affected and High-RiskAreas, and the United Nations’ Guid-ing Principles on Business and HumanRights. Fast added that it offers “flexi-bility for the government to developand share additional CSR guidelinesthat are found to be of practical use bythe industry,” including ones devel-oped by associations such as MAC andPDAC. – K.R.


news

Last December the Mining Associa-tion of Canada (MAC) recognized theperformance of Glencore’s SudburyIntegrated Nickel Operations (INO) insix key areas with the Toward Sustain-able Mining (TSM) Leadership Award.

“With this award, we celebrate thededicated employees of Glencore’sSudbury INO for being a role model toother mining operations in Canada,”said Pierre Gratton, MAC’s presidentand CEO, in a press release.

The TSM Leadership Awardacknowledges mine sites that havescored at least level “A” across six keyperformance areas, called “protocols”:aboriginal and community engage-ment; safety and health; crisis manage-ment planning; tailings management;biodiversity conservation manage-

ment; and energy use and greenhousegas (GHG) emissions management.There are indicators within each proto-col to further evaluate performance inthese areas, which MAC grades using afive-point scale, ranging from “C” to“AAA.”

“Level A is what we define as goodpractice, and that’s the goal of the asso-ciation and its members,” said BenChalmers, vice-president of sustainabledevelopment at MAC. “That basicallymeans that you have a fully function-ing management system in that area,and that’s no small feat.”

Level “AA” is awarded for the integra-tion of protocol into management deci-sions and business functions while level“AAA” is for excellence and leadership.“There are certain criteria at each of

those five levels for each of the indicatorsthat must be met in order to achieve thatlevel,” he explained. Self-reported resultsare periodically verified by independentconsultancies approved by MAC.

MAC was especially impressed bySudbury INO’s energy use and GHGemissions management, awarding it alevel “AAA” across all indicators in thisprotocol. In 2010 Glencore developedand implemented energy managementplans at the facility to monitor andcontrol energy consumption. SudburyINO also implemented ventilation ondemand at Nickel Rim South andupgraded the compressor at its smelter.

In the area of safety and health, Sud-bury INO reduced its injury rate byabout 60 per cent in 2013. “This awardrepresents our concerted efforts on a

A decade of progressMAC releases results from 10th annual TSM Progress Report

Lycopodium brings 22 years of global experience to the mining, mineral processing, infrastructure, renewables and process industries. We have particular expertise in precious and base metals, iron ore and industrial minerals.

Through our established team of professionals and o ces in Canada, Australia, South Africa and Philippines we have successfully carried out major projects across 50 countries, often in diverse environments.

We provide engineering and management services from scoping studies through all stages of feasibility studies and project execution for brown eld and green eld projects.


Canada + 800 [email protected]

Complex geology, remote sites and technical issues are some of the engineering challenges faced in mining projects. Add to that obtaining the required social, environmental and regulatory approvals, and your project can experience unexpected schedule and budget overruns. Integrating your engineering and environmental studies can result in a more robust design and can streamline the planning process, avoiding unnecessary delays and costly rework.

Visit Golder during this winter’s SME Annual Conference - Booth #1403, or PDAC Convention - Booth #342, to learn about the integrated mining solutions we offer for every stage of your mining project.

FROM EXPLORATION TO CLOSURE.JUST ASK GOLDER.

number of important fronts includingthe advancement of our safety culture tomuch higher levels,” said Glencore vice-president Marc Boissonneault in a pressrelease. “To see that we have also beenrecognized for our performancein five other key areas in oursustainable development frame-work is also quite an honour.”

Last year marked a decadesince MAC launched its TSMLeadership Awards, first con-ceived in 1999 in the wake of anumber of issues linked eitherdirectly or indirectly to Cana-dian mining companies, suchas the 1998 Los Frailes tailingsdam breach in Spain. “It wasalso a realization that we werestarting to have challenges get-ting permits and continuing tooperate because of theseissues,” said Chalmers.

MAC’s board of directorsofficially launched the TSM

program in 2004. Reporting began in2005, though results were unverified.Then, in 2006, MAC began usingindependent reviewers to verifyresults from the 15 companies

involved in the initiative at the time.In 2013, 63 facilities across 23 com-panies participated.

In the last 10 years of reporting,Chalmers said one of the biggest

Cour

tesy

of M

AC


news

improvements has occurredin the community engage-ment protocol. In 2006 anaverage of about 50 per centof mines met at least level “A”good practice, with resultsvarying a bit from one indica-tor to another. Today, MACreports that the number offacilities reporting at leastlevel “A” in some indicatorsin this area is up to 90 percent, with others just belowthat.

Chalmers said he believesthat the TSM initiative hascontributed to improvementsin this area, giving the indus-try a tool to measureprogress.

Another area of significantimprovement is in tailings manage-ment, although it has not been asteady increase. Chalmers said that forthe first three or four years of the ini-tiative, the percentage of minesreporting at least good practice fortailings remained stagnant at around50 per cent. So MAC’s board and thecommunity of interest advisory panelraised their concerns to the associa-tion, which in turn undertook effortsin awareness building and trainingaround management systemguides.

“Almost immediately webegan to see big increasesyear over year,” saidChalmers. Now three out offive indicators hover around90 per cent level “A” achieve-ment, with the two remainingat around 80 per cent.

Other protocols see com-panies making less consistentgains. This year, for instance,MAC recorded level “A”achievement as high as 86per cent for energy use andGHG emissions managementin one indicator (energy useand GHG emissions report-ing systems) but as low as 37per cent in another (energyand GHG emissions perform-ance targets). Chalmers said

one of the reasons for this is thatMAC originally included the protocolwhen energy use and GHG emissionsmanagement was an emerging topicin anticipation of regulations thatnever materialized.

In the biodiversity protocol, theprogress report recorded that roughlyhalf of facilities attained at least a level“A” in each of the three indicators.Chalmers attributes this to biodiver-sity only being added to the program

two years ago. “[These numbers]reflect an area where we see an oppor-tunity to do a lot of work and makesome improvements,” he said.

Chalmers noted that the weakernumbers demonstrate the program’sintegrity as a mechanism to understandwhere company resources are being allo-cated. “I think this shows the strengthand credibility of TSM,” said Chalmers.“It’s not easy to achieve high levels ofachievement across the board.” – T.D.

Cour

tesy

of M

ACCo

urte

sy o

f MAC


Survey reveals aboriginal view of mining

The results of a survey assess-ing aboriginal Canadians’ per-ceptions of the mining industrywere released last November.Being the first of its kind, thesurvey will serve as a tool to helpcompanies gain social licence fortheir projects by identifying con-cerns and priorities for indige-nous communities. PRAssociates commissioned thesurvey following the ruling bythe Supreme Court of Canadalast June that granted theTsilquot’in First Nation title overits traditional territory.

According to 500 randomlyselected respondents living inremote communities, the overallperception of the industry isunfavourable (49 per cent).

PR Associates surveyed aboriginal Canadians in remote communities around the country to shed light on their perceptionof the mining industry.

Cour

tesy

of P

R As

soci

ates

MIN MIN MIN MIN MIN MIN MIN

YYYYYYYNING INDUSTRNING INDUSTRNING INDUSTRNING INDUSTRNING INDUSTRNING INDUSTRNING INDUSTR

YYYYYYY

is a leader in Established in

Detaile Design

.yy. the mining industr”s Inc.rieournier Indust“FFournier Indust n 1960

ed Engineering

nierindustries.com.fourww423-4241418 hone:

5BH 26a Gdana) CcebeuQs (enid Mroftetsec Wanetnor. Fdvl7 B8

me, On Budget

Ins abrication FFabrication g

sorrsyeey Conv ve>

anksProcess T Tanks>

anks Leach T Tanks >

Projectsy urnkeey T Turnke stallation g g

wwwPh

ehT73

im On T Time, On BudgetCustom Equipment>

Chutes>

Grizzly>

ksorrks Platew>

Ore Bins>

s


Indigenous communities in Alberta and Quebec represent the mostunfavourable opinions (59 per cent and56 per cent, respectively), while sup-port is highest in the Northwest Territo-ries (57 per cent favourable). Mostrespondents (61 per cent) had notchanged their opinions of the industryin the past three years, but of the 31 percent who had, 23 per cent reported thattheir perception worsened.

Respondents indicated that theindustry’s top priorities should be col-laborating with aboriginal communi-ties (50 per cent) and decreasingenvironmental impact (55 per cent).Nearly three-quarters of respondentssaid they believed that mining compa-nies provide opportunities for Canadi-ans, but only 42 per cent stated thatthese opportunities are extended toaboriginals in general.

Findings remained relatively consis-tent by demographic characteristics inindigenous communities, and aborigi-nals currently or formerly employed inthe industry hold similar views tothose outside it.

Natural Resource Canada estimatesthere are about 1,200 aboriginal com-munities within 200 kilometres ofroughly 180 producing mines andmore than 2,500 exploration sites inCanada. Mining companies are thelargest private sector employers of aboriginals. – Katelyn Spidle

Lundin reachescommercial production at Eagle mine

Lundin Mining announced itachieved commercial production at itsEagle nickel-copper mine in Michiganin late November, about two monthsafter launching operations at the mine.

Located in the Upper Peninsula ofthe U.S. state, commercial productionfor the US$400-million project hadpreviously been slated for the firstquarter of 2015.

“The team at Eagle mine has donean excellent job in accelerating theramp up and delivering commercialoperations ahead of expectations,” said

Paul Conibear, president and CEO ofLundin, in a release. “The Eagle minewill be significant to the earnings andcash flow of Lundin Mining, and amajor employer and economic contrib-utor in northern Michigan.”

According to John Miniotis, seniormanager of corporate development

news

and investor relations, the under-ground mine has a target throughput of2,000 tonnes per day with Probableand Proven Reserves of 5.16 milliontonnes.

The mine generated a throughputof 1,536 tonnes per day in Octoberand 1,865 tonnes per day in Novem-

Aerial view of Eagle mine

Cour

tesy

of L

undi

n M

inin

g

September 1 Re

.heapleachsolutions.comwww

April 1 ancouvV

.minewatersolutions.comwww

June ancouvV

.mineclosure2015.comwww

ConferenceMfoMineIn

CHECK OUT OUR UPCOMING CONFER

3-16, 2015vadaeno, Ne

2-15, 2015, Canadaerv

e 1-3, 2015, Canadaerv

Mine.com

RENCES


ber. It also improved nickel recoveryto 85 per cent from 79 per cent in thesame period. – S.F.

Advancements andoptimization at SMP 2014

The 2014 Orebody Modelling andStrategic Mine Planning conferencebrought 264 international delegates toPerth, Australia in November for pre-sentations around the conference’stheme, “Integrated mineral investmentand supply chain optimization.”

The conference boasted roughly 30presentations on topics related to tech-nological advancements and globaloptimization. These stimulated fruitfuldiscussions on how the sector is adapt-ing to uncertain geological and marketconditions, according to symposiumchair Roussos Dimitrakopoulos.

On the final afternoon of the con-ference, Dimitrakopoulos led a paneldiscussion on the present and futurechallenges in strategic mine planning

optimization. These, he said, fall intothree main categories: integratingresearch and developments withcommercialization, fixing the linkbetween short-term and long-termplanning, and promoting the transferof knowledge.

Jeff Whittle, technical director ofWhittle Consulting, was this years’honorary guest. He said he wasimpressed with the overall interest inthe conference. “It is not uncommon inlong conferences for there to be a sig-nificant drop-off in attendance near theend,” he remarked. “However for SMP2014, […] the audience was largelyintact right to the end.”

The three-day conference wasorganized by the Australasian Instituteof Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM),the Society for Mining, Metallurgy andExploration (SME), and the SouthAfrican Institute of Mining and Metal-lurgy (SAIMM). Major sponsorsincluded AngloGold Ashanti, BHP Bil-liton, De Beers, Dassault Systèmes,

Minemax, Newmont Mining, Schnei-der Electric, Springer and Vale. – K.S.

Canada promotesaboriginal involvement in Plan Nord

In November Canada’s Minister ofAboriginal Affairs and Northern Devel-opment, Bernard Valcourt, announceda $7.3 million investment to supportaboriginal participation in theprovince’s Plan Nord through the TrueNorth Treasure Initiative – LabradorTrough. The funds will be used toimplement strategies that ensure abo-riginal communities profit from naturalresource development in the LabradorTrough.

The program has three objectives:develop aboriginal human capital,strengthen aboriginal entrepreneurshipand enhance the value of aboriginalassets. The plan is to maximize job cre-ation in target communities by creating


labour profiles that identify their particular capacities andneeds. The initiative will also establish a directory for localaboriginal businesses.

“Our government is continuing to support First Nationsand Inuit so that they can take advantage of economic devel-opment opportunities flowing from the exploitation of ournatural resources,” Valcourt said. “We are proud to havelaunched an initiative that encourages aboriginal communi-ties located near the Labrador Trough to participate fully inmining industry development in this region.”

The announcement came during the opening ceremony ofthe True North Treasure Initiative – Labrador Trough, anevent organized as part of the 35th Québec Mines conferencein Quebec City. – K.S.

PDAC recognizes industry leadersThe Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada

(PDAC) is set to honour six industry leaders at its annualconvention this spring. PDAC 2015 Awards Evening will beheld March 2, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.PDAC’s awards committee chose the awards recipients on therecommendation of its board of directors.

David Palmer, president and CEO of Probe Mines Ltd.,will receive the Bill Dennis Award for a Canadian mineraldiscovery or prospecting success: the Borden Gold Project,located near Chapleau, Ontario.

The Viola R. MacMillan Award for company or minedevelopment is going to Matt Manson, president and CEOof Stornoway Diamond Corporation, in honour of his lead-ing role in the ongoing development of Stornoway’s Renardproject, located in north-central Quebec.

The Ivanhoe Mines Kamoa Discovery Team will becollectively awarded the Thayer Lindsley Award for inter-national mineral discoveries, in honour of their discoveryof the Kamoa copper deposit in the Democratic Republicof Congo.

Noront Resources Ltd. will receive the Environmental &Social Responsibility Award for its expanded communityengagement program and other social initiatives in northernOntario. Noront has partnered with Matawa’s KiikenomagaKikenjigewen Employment and Training Services and withConfederation College to create the Ring of Fire AboriginalTraining Alliance.

The Skookum Jim Award for aboriginal achievement inthe mineral industry will go to Sam Bosum, who has beeninstrumental in improving relations between the Oujé-Bougoumou Cree Nation and the mineral industry near Chi-bougamau, Quebec.

Bill Pearson will receive the Distinguished Service Award,in recognition of his illustrious career and longstanding ded-ication to the industry in which he worked for more than 40years. Pearson convened the first meeting of the Committeefor the Professional Registration of Geoscientists of Ontario in1989. He has also served as president of the Association ofGeoscientists of Ontario and founding president of the Asso-ciation of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario. – C.B.

CIM DELIVERSPROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENTOPPORTUNITIES

IF KNOWLEDGE IS POWER,CIM EMPOWERS YOU!

CIM’s professional development opportunities are our members’ roadmap to knowledge.

PUBLICATIONS & TECHNICAL RESOURCESReceive 118 years of industry knowledge with over 4,500 technical papers, 10,600 archived documents and get access to OneMine.org − the world’s most comprehensive collection of industry research.

TECHNICAL SOCIETIES With 10 distinct technical societies, benefi t from specialized conferences, courses and discuss specifi c issues that face your industry.

COURSESAdd to your credentials with Leading in Mining and Edumine courses or McGill Seminar series, which off er real-time development skills from industry experts.

EVENTS Identify potential partners through CIM regional and international events. With 41 local and international active branches, the networking possibilities are endless.

IT’S ALL MINE AT | CIM.ORG

nickel, zinc, gold, Brent crude oil and iron ore set at 100 in2002.The index rose to 400 by 2013: a 300 per cent gain. Theprice of copper alone rose from around 75 cents per pound inthe early 2000s to more than $3 per pound in 2013. For per-haps the first time, the price of almost all commodities – pre-cious and base – jumped, driven by the huge growth of newindustrial powers, namely Brazil, Russia, India, and, mostnotably, China. As the price of metals and commodities rose,the mining industry saw great opportunities to develop proj-ects. Many deposits were well known but had been held backfor a number of years by low commodity prices. Countlessnew projects received approval to proceed within a shortperiod, and what had been a buyer’s market suddenly becamea seller’s market for suppliers to the mining industry. This wascompounded by a desire to shorten delivery times and theincreased cost of the metals used to manufacture the equip-ment. The quoted prices for equipment increased dramatically,doubling or even tripling, particularly for the large items suchas grinding mills and haul trucks.

Engineering costs rose in parallel with equipment costsfrom 2002 to 2013. This was a big change from previous

decades when engineering companies frequent - ly engaged in fierce pricing competition to stayin business. In several cases the salaries of alllevels of engineering staff grew by at least 100per cent. In addition, project execution becamefar more risk averse, and it is now commonpractice in mining jurisdictions to require astep-by-step approach through several levels ofstudy: scoping, prefeasibility and feasibility. Fur-thermore, these studies must now incorporatemore information such as detailed chapters oncommunity relations, EIAs and health and safetyconsiderations. To further compound and com-plicate matters, technical studies need to be car-ried out in close liaison with the EIA, which isusually executed by a separate company. All ofthis adds to upfront capital costs and requiresmore time.

During the second half of the 20th century, capital costs ofmining projects were relatively stable, increasing aboutthree to five per cent per annum, basically following the

consumer price index. However, from 2002 to 2013, theindustry saw project capital cost increases at an average ofabout 20 per cent per year. Similar project capital costincreases were reported widely across the globe, and in severalcases more than doubled or even tripled during that time.Capital costs at Barrick’s Pascua Lama gold project in Chileincreased to more than $8 billion in 2013 from $3 billion in2009. In the same period, costs at Anglo American’s Minas Rioiron ore project in Brazil rose to $8 billion from $2.7 billion.This led to a general nervousness for investors thinking aboutfinancing projects from 2013-on. But is that nervousness jus-tified, or can the price escalation be rationalized?

Commodity price increases were a prime contributor toescalation, along with rising costs of equipment, engineering,construction, labour, community relations and environmentalimpact assessments (EIAs). To understand how dramatic thecommodity price increases have been, consider an index com-prising a basket of commodities including copper, aluminum,

Understanding project capital cost escalation of the 21st century

BY KENNETH G. THOMAS, JOHN A. WELLS AND LETICIA CONCA


F I N A N C E

Commodity price index from 1960 to the present


that set off cost escalation. Many companies are now evaluat-ing all of their projects frequently to prioritize and ensure onlythose with acceptable risk and suitable economics, as evalu-ated by their net present value and internal rate of return, goforward. At the same time, exploration budgets and operatingefficiency are being examined to conserve cash. Fortunately,commodity prices and accordingly capital costs appear to havelevelled off since 2013, which will hopefully stabilize the min-ing industry in the coming years. CIM

Construction companies also found their resources too lit-tle to work on the many projects as demand outpaced supply.Generally, construction contractors are asked to supply con-crete, structural steel, piping and electrical cable. The escalat-ing cost of commodities accordingly caused construction coststo increase.

Labour became an issue when the mining industry was facedwith many new projects and several cost-related impactsoccurred. The engineering and construction companies, as wellas the mining companies, promoted employees who, in manycases, did not have enough project, technical or managerialexpertise. Furthermore, salaries and benefits rose rapidly,reflected by signing bonuses added to contracts to attract per-sonnel. At the same time, to try to control labour costs, peoplewere moved into mining projects from other industries, creatingan inexperienced workforce. This resulted in project scheduleoverruns and re-work costs from shoddy workmanship.

The increase in almost all commodity prices led to anunprecedented boom in exploration, studies, projects andtakeovers. Operating companies, reacting to the high prices,raced to get new projects off the drawing board and into pro-duction. This created an imbalance in the supply and demandfor equipment, engineering, labour and associated services

columns

Ken Thomas is president of project development and metallurgy at KenThomas & Associates Inc. and is board director with Continental Gold,Candente Gold and Avalon Rare Metals. He has served as senior VP of projectsat Kinross Gold Corporation, global managing director and board director atHatch, COO at Crystallex International Corporation, and senior VP of technicalservices at Barrick Gold Corporation.

John Wells is an independent consulting metallurgist, based in Vernon, B.C.,and Santiago, Chile, as well as an associate metallurgical consultant toAlquimia Engineers of Santiago. He held increasingly senior positions withoperating companies around the world, including director of metallurgicaldevelopment with Barrick Gold.

Maria Leticia Conca has more than 38 years of professional experience inmining project development. She has been a CEO, operations manager andboard member and has served as specialist engineer, chief of discipline, headof projects and as a consultant. She currently works as a professor and chair ofmetallurgical plants projects at the Universidad de Chile’s department ofmining engineering.

11015Booth

Advanc

ced Separa

ation Techn

Formerly Canadian Process Technology

nologies

Vibratory FeedersMetal DetectorsSuspended MagnetsTrunnion Magnets

Magnetic Mill LinersWHIMS(LIMS & MIMS)Wet Drum Separators

contaminants and industrial minerals. Products include:separators, to concentrate magnetic ores or remove metallicEriez offers low, medium and high intensity magnetic

Test-Work & ServicesSlurry DistributorsFlotation Test EquipmentMini-Pilot Plants &

Gas Sparging Systems& Coarse Flotation CellsFlotation Column Systems

oil sands, phosphate and potash. Systems include:applications in base metals, gold, industrial minerals, coal andinstalled worldwide for cleaning, roughing and scavengingand expertise that has included over 1,000 flotation column systemsThe Eriez Flotation Division provides specialty flotation equipment

education and counselling on alcohol and drug abuse couldreduce absenteeism.

Administrators who are eager to score political points mayalso influence program choices. Ribbon-cutting events, such asthe opening of schools, hospitals or roads, can make a bigimpression on voters but do not always bring the best returnon capital outlay. A less glamorous, cheaper option – liketeacher training or safe sex education – could potentially havea far greater positive effect, although it may have a less tangibleimpact on the company’s reputation in the short term. Thoseresponsible for allocating social investment budgets thereforeneed to exert a stronger influence over the organizationsinvolved in prioritizing programs by engaging earlier withlocal economic development forums and other groups andresisting demands for vanity projects.

It is equally important to play a long game, avoiding quickwins in favour of deeper partnerships with the community,local businesses, NGOs and government. Businesses shouldencourage and empower local people to participate and takeownership of the program, with a clear exit and handoverstrategy. Patience is important, as some benefits can take yearsto materialize. An early-years education program will not leadto overnight change, but it could eventually increase the liter-acy rate, in turn generating higher employment rates andreducing poverty.

Finally, it is essential to communicate the concept and theresults of shared value to the local community, board, projectpartners, investors and stakeholders. All parties want to seehow achievements are improving the local economy and environment.

Treating social investment like any other commercial initia-tive allows companies to demonstrate the return for every dol-lar spent by identifying underperforming programs, andreinforcing relationships with community stakeholders andpartner organizations. Such discipline can help them combinecash and employees’ skills to tackle some of the biggest chal-lenges facing the world, secure a social licence to operate, andenhance their performance. CIM

M ining companies around the world invest large sums ofmoney into social initiatives like infrastructure, educa-tion and training, health care, and sports and recre-

ation. However, the current approach to social investmentdoes not maximize the return for the company or the commu-nity they are trying to serve. Companies therefore need torethink their approach to social investment at every stage ofthe process.

In 2014 KPMG surveyed 10 metals, mining and engi-neering companies with combined social investments ofUS$1.2 billion. Just four of them published a detailed socialinvestment strategy, suggesting that these companies maynot have clearly defined their objectives when they investedin these initiatives. Without a detailed business plan at thebeginning of the process to clearly define goals, money is atrisk of disappearing into a black hole marked “charitablecontributions.” Furthermore, our report analyzed a total of52 different types of programs across the group surveyed.The wide variety indicates that these companies may havespread their efforts too thin rather than focusing on a fewpriorities that can really make a difference. More moneyand more beneficiaries do not necessarily translate intogreater impact.

Once programs have begun, they tend to suffer from ill-defined key performance indicators and a lack of professionalperformance management. Rewards are often linked to activityrather than outcomes; project teams can thus lose sight of thetrue goals of a project. Resources that flow into the actual pro-gram tend to be scarce, with little, if any, being directed towardtargeted and value-added monitoring.

Inadequate data reporting on the progress of the project isanother issue. Project management best practice suggests thataround five per cent of the total budget should be spent ontracking and reporting results. However, only one of the com-panies surveyed reported any quantified outcomes resultingfrom its initiatives.

When considering options for social programs, the startingpoint should not be the monetary investment in the projectbut rather the goal to be achieved. Clearly define the problemyou are trying to solve and the change you wish to see. Begin-ning at the board level, the strategy has to be aligned with localdevelopment plans as well as wider business goals. Companiesshould invest in programs designed to produce the maximumbenefit for the target groups and the mining organization. Forexample, investment in local farm sourcing can cut the cost offood, leading to a healthier, more energetic workforce, while

Ensuring social investments in mining creates value

for local citizens and companiesBY ROHITESH DHAWAN


Rohitesh Dhawan is KPMG’s global mining leader for climate change andsustainability. He is co-located between KPMG’s offices in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica, and London, England, and has spent time in mining company headoffices and in the field working on issues related to strategy, socialperformance, environmental sustainability and governance. He holds amaster’s degree in economics from the University of Oxford and is a fellow ofthe inaugural class of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI). Rohiteshwas named one of the Mail & Guardian’s 40 Climate Change Leaders in SouthAfrica and the South African Rising Star in the Professional Services category.

C S R


columns

would provide the degree of detail necessary to enable com-munities to use the data most effectively.

Canada’s commitment to transparency is timely. The pastdecade has witnessed a dramatic increase in resource develop-ment, particularly in the developing world. In Africa, Canadianmining investment grew to $31.6 billion in 2011 from $6 bil-lion in 2005. Turning mounting resource revenues into soliddevelopment outcomes is not just important, it is essential.

For governments worldwide, mining investment holds asignificant promise of change. It provides much-needed rev-enue to fund infrastructure and social investments, createsopportunities to establish broad-based economic growth, andgenerates jobs. There is immense opportunity for mininginvestment to achieve these goals when you consider that rev-enues from natural resources account for at least 20 per centof total government revenues in 41 countries globally, includ-ing 21 low- and lower-middle income countries, according tothe International Monetary Fund. Yet in many cases, the eco-nomic potential of natural resource abundance is being squan-dered by government mismanagement.

Although not a silver bullet in ending all instances of cor-ruption, the transparency legislation is an important steptowards it. Corruption can exist when citizens, elected offi-cials, and municipal and state governments are in the darkabout the natural resource revenues received by their nationalgovernments from mining activity. This environment breedscorruption, mismanagement and sometimes conflict.

The Canadian mining industry has committed to trans-parency not only because it is the right thing to do, butbecause companies have recognized that it is an integral partof upholding the industry’s reputation as a responsible actor.Moreover, companies will benefit by clearly demonstrating theeconomic contributions of their projects and from the stabilitythat is generated when citizens are truly benefitting from theirnatural resource wealth.

But Canada needs to get the new act right in order for it towork for all parties involved, especially companies filing theirreports and the citizens using that information to hold theirgovernments accountable for the management of revenuesfrom the mining sector.

The global nature of the mining industry demands a globaleffort. As such, equivalency and project-level reporting willplay an important role in integrating individual countries’efforts as well as providing a consistent view of results forthose who will benefit most from the information. CIM

C anada recently stepped up its game in the fight againstcorruption in resource-rich countries that produce min-erals but may not share the resulting wealth with their

citizens. In late October, the federal government introduced the

Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act, which bringsCanada in line with other jurisdictions like the United Statesand the European Union. As host to the largest number of pub-licly traded mining companies, Canada has a role to play inassuring mining activity creates positive economic outcomesfor the citizens of host countries where the industry operates.This is why the Canadian mining industry pushed for such ameasure and was pleased to see the legislation come to fruition.

For the past two years, Canada’s largest mining associations– the Mining Association of Canada and the Prospectors andDevelopers Association of Canada – have worked with PublishWhat You Pay-Canada and the Natural Resources GovernanceInstitute as part of the Resource Revenue Transparency Work-ing Group (RRTWG). They jointly developed recommenda-tions for Canada to adopt such legislation. The majority of thebill aligns well with RRTWG recommendations, but there aresome concerns with certain aspects of the act. The most promi-nent concern for industry relates to equivalency: the practice ofallowing companies to submit a report to a Canadian regulatorthat was prepared and filed in another jurisdiction, such as inthe United States, so long as they are deemed equivalent.

When it comes to curbing corruption, knowledge is power.Through the legislation, mining companies will be required todisclose payments made to host governments, resulting in acredible source of data that citizens can use to hold their gov-ernments accountable. The goal is to ensure local communitiesare fully benefitting from the extractive activities taking placein their region. The legislation will fall short of its aims, how-ever, if the data is not easy to understand.

As currently written, the act does not provide enoughassurance that equivalency will be incorporated. The RRTWGfelt strongly that equivalency must be a core principal ofCanada’s transparency regime. It would not only help ease thereporting burden for mining companies, but it would alsoensure that reporting is consistent across various countries.This would be a direct benefit for those consuming the data,including citizens, investors and other stakeholders, as itwould make it easy for them to compare information fromcompanies that are required to report in multiple jurisdictions.Similar to the concern over equivalency, the act also fails toprovide enough assurance that reporting will be required atthe project level. This is problematic as project-level reporting

Canada joins global transparency movement

with new legislationBY PIERRE GRATTON

L E G I S L AT I O N

Pierre Gratton is president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC).


Bolstered by 60 years of experience in iron ore ship-ping, the Port of Sept-Îles took advantage of the lastcommodity boom to convince various public andprivate partners to embark on an ambitious project:

the building of a brand-new multiuser wharf with a 50-million-tonne capacity. Upon completion this summer, theport’s total capacity will reach 90 million tonnes, making itthe largest ore-shipping port in North America and the sec-ond largest commodity port in Canada, after Vancouver.

During a September site visit, the air on the opposite sideof the 10-kilometre-wide Bay of Sept-Îles was so still that itwas difficult to imagine the most important harbour projectin Canada was being built nearby. When approaching Pointe-Noire though, on the west end of the bay, the gigantic L-shaped pier, which extends 600 metres into the bay beforeconnecting to a 400-metre-long wharf, dominates the land-scape. “There is a reason why the very first iron ore compa-nies chose the Bay of Sept-Îles to ship their ore, in the 1940sand 1950s,” says Port CEO Pierre Gagnon. “They realizedthat it had the capacity to support all of the inland potential.”

Two state-of-the-art Sandvik conveyor belts overhang-ing the structure will each soon carry no less than 8,000tonnes of ore per hour to their respective loaders. Thewharf will have the capacity to receive one ship on eachside and to load them simultaneously with any kind of ore.

“Our infrastructure was designed with the flexibility to loaddirect shipping ore, fines or pellets,” says Gagnon. Finally,the Port has plans for a storage area with about 50 milliontonnes of capacity within two kilometres of the wharf.

Unlike the other piers in the bay, the multiuser wharf isdeep enough to welcome 400-tonne Chinamax-standardships, which previously had to weigh anchor and wait forsmaller ships to come and load them – a costly operation.“Shipping costs could go down by 20 to 40 per cent depend-ing on the size of the vessels,” says Gagnon. Sept-Îles will bejust the fourth wharf in the world with the ability to loadChinamax ships.

In order to ensure it was up to the construction challenge,the Port had to reach out to foreign expertise. “Our consult-ant gathered experts from Brazil and Australia around thetable who already handle iron ore,” says Gagnon. “We had todesign a world-class infrastructure from scratch.”

A unique financial packageIn the wake of the spectacular rise in iron ore prices in

the 2000s, dozens of projects were set up in the LabradorTrough, prompting the government of Quebec to launchits Plan Nord in 2011. The existing shipping infrastructuredid not have enough capacity for up-and-coming compa-nies to secure access to the global market. “Between 2005

SeachangeSept-Îles headed forthe big leagues withnew portBy Pierrick Blin andAntoine Dion-Ortega

Vale

rian

Maz

atau

d

When the new wharf is completedthis summer, the Port of Sept-Îles

will have a total capacity of 90million tonnes per year.

upfrontLO G I S T I C S

and 2008 alone, eight companies reached out to us askingfor an increase in capacity,” says Gagnon.

The growing pressure from the private sector convincedthe Port to apply for federal funding. The initial down pay-ment needed to launch the project amounted to 25 percent of the estimated $220 million total capital cost. “Itwould have been too bad to see the federal governmentdeprived of billions in investment just because the neededinfrastructures were not in place when companies werewilling to invest,” says Russel Tremblay, communicationand marketing director at Economic Development Sept-Îles.

However, the public sector would not take on all of thecapital cost, while no mining company had enoughplanned output to justify the investment by itself. In theend, the federal government and the Port each took on 25per cent of the capital cost, while five private partnersjoined in and assumed the remaining 50 per cent – each oftheir contributions being proportional to their output – fora total private financing of $110 million. These five com-panies thus got a foothold in the port, securing a totalshipping capacity of 43 million tonnes per year. Amongthese, Alderon Iron Ore has eight million tonnes, New Mil-lenium Iron 15 million tonnes, Champion Iron 10 milliontonnes, and Labrador Iron Mines and Tata Steel five mil-lion tonnes. Since the total shipping capacity of 50 milliontonnes may expand to 60, the remaining capacity couldeither be offered to additional partners, or be sold on thespot market.

By contributing to the financing, these private users willbenefit from competitive rates. “Our port is guaranteed,”explains Tayfun Eldem, CEO at Alderon. “We have con-tributed $20.5 million towards construction, as a buy-inpayment. We will recover our initial capital injection whenwe start shipping because we will be getting a discount likethe other users.”

A thorn in the sideEven though there is harmony between the seven part-

ners, the same cannot be said of their relationship withCliffs Natural Resources, the company next door. In orderto ship ore through the port on Pointe-Noire, mining com-panies will need access to some of the neighbouring landscurrently owned by Cliffs. However, the Port of Sept-Îlesand Cliffs still have not agreed on the sale of these lands,and a lawsuit was filed by Cliffs against the Port in 2013,though nothing has come of it yet.

Parallel to the suit, the Port of Sept-Îles made a requestto the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) last springto make Cliffs’ railway in Pointe-Noire a “common carrier”similar to the Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway,which the Iron Ore Company of Canada must share withother companies operating in the Labrador Trough. Cliffs’railway is the only connection between Pointe-Noire andthe broader rail network. The Port’s request was dismissedby the CTA last October.

Both disputes have slowed down the financing of someof the projects in the Labrador Trough, which rely on hav-ing access to the port, according to Tremblay. “The wholeQuebec economy is affected by this litigation,” he says.“No other region in the province is expecting billions ininvestment.” There is confidence, though, that a resolutionis within reach. The government of Quebec intervened inJune and is currently looking at a number of possible sce-narios. Cliffs’ recent decision to close its Bloom Lake mineand its plan to sell off its Canadian assets could speedthings up, Tremblay points out. “We are expecting transac-tions in the near future,” he says, hinting that Cliffs’ rail-way could change ownership if it were to sell its WabushMines assets.

These legal hurdles do not prevent Gagnon from look-ing towards the future with optimism. “Depending on howthe iron ore market evolves, the wharf might well be just afirst phase,” he says. If Adriana Iron Ore, which is advanc-ing the large Otelnuk Lake project, joins the partners infunding the second phase, it would see the main wharfexpanded into a large T. “We already have plans and spec-ifications to copy-paste another 100-million-tonne wharf,”says Gagnon. “There is still room in the bay and it can sup-port all of the potential in the Trough, both in Quebec andLabrador.” CIM


up.ca ogrrossgrimmsssimwww.

119001-5644--8777-- 1

ST

V LVV LIVICIVILVI IC VVCI

MMMMMM

TTRRRRTRTRSSS RSUSUDDDINININ S RRRTRSUS RSUUSDDININ U TRSUDIN

ALI

I GGNININGMINMINII GINNINGMINMINININMIN

LLLAIAAIAARRIALLAIAR ARIAR

V LILV LIV LCCIVILIIVICIC VIVICI

RRREEWEEWWWEPOOO RO REEEEWWEOPOO RPO EWWO


Acombination of rising power costs, the need to mineharder rock, and a lack of additional capacity in thecountry’s major hydro facility prompted Iamgold toinstall a five-megawatt (MW) solar plant at its Rosebel

open pit mine in Suriname last year. Since Rosebel started commercial production in 2004, its

power needs have increased 400 per cent as the mill wasexpanded and the rock being mined has become harder.Energy consumption at the mine peaked last year at 32 MW,up from 8 MW when it opened. “There’s more processingrequired to handle the harder rock, [and] additional crushingand grinding equipment has been installed, as well as athroughput increase,” says Ronald Halas, Iamgold’s vice-president, commercial for South America. “There are moretonnes per day going through the process plant, and they’reharder tonnes.”

Although the company was able to negotiate with the Suri-namese government to lower the cost of power to 14 cents perkilowatt-hour, down from 20, it began looking at alternativeenergy options in 2013 to help lighten its use of the country’shydro grid. After reviewing studies, Iamgold deemed solar thebest economical and environmental solution. “It’s a proventechnology,” Halas says. “We were quite confident that itwould work.”

The solar plant comprises more than 16,000 panels, whichwere set up on an old airstrip at the Rosebel site. During peakhours, the plant produces the full 5 MW, and the mine uses itall. With peak and non-peak production averaged out, thefacility’s output is the equivalent of the mine receiving 1 MWof solar energy, 24 hours a day. “All the energy that’s producedby the solar plant is used instantaneously,” he says.

The solar plant is connected to Suriname’s 161 kilovolt (kV)national power grid, through the Rosebel mine’s internal

12.4 kV grid. But because Rosebel consumes all of the powerproduced by the solar plant, in the end it does not add anypower to the national grid.

Piecing it togetherIamgold staff made the decision to go ahead with the plant

in August 2013. During the third and fourth quarters of thatyear, the company’s in-house engineering-construction groupoversaw detailed engineering work done on solar panels byWTEC, a Florida-based renewable energy company.

In December the company put up a call for bids for thepanels, cables, aluminum frames known as racking, and con-crete ballasts necessary for the plant. ET Solar was selected tosupply the panels, and World Technology Corp. the alu-minum racking, while the cables were procured from variousU.S. sources and the ballasts were manufactured locally.Iamgold chose four local contractors out of more than adozen bidders to complete the civil and electrical work onthe site.

Iamgold initially expected the solar plant to costbetween $12 and $14 million. The final tally fell just underthe lower end of its estimate. Halas says one of the reasonsfor that was the bidding process. “Going out for competitivebids for a number of contractors, it ended up that ourlabour costs for this type of work in Suriname were cheaperthan expected,” he explains. “As well, the market for panelswas quite good, and some of our purchases cost less thanwe budgeted for.”

The supplies for the plant were delivered to the site by April,all arriving by ship. Rosebel’s site is connected to the port, justless than 100 kilometres (km) away, by a good-quality sealedasphalt road, except for the last 10 km, making the trip rela-tively seamless. “We’ve been operating in the country for years

Sunny days aheadHow Iamgold built a 5-MW solar plant in SurinameBy Kelsey Rolfe

Cour

tesy

of I

amgo

ld

Rosebel’s solar plant is on anold airstrip and is made up of

more than 16,000 panels.

people of Suriname can take advantage of in the future,” Halassays. The company has partnered with the country’s ministryof natural resources, university, high schools, and nationalpower company to provide tours of the plant so people inSuriname can learn more about the benefits of solar energy.

Halas says he is optimistic that Rosebel’s project will inspireothers similar to it: “What I like to think is that this is not theonly, but the first of many five-megawatt or large-scale solarplants in Suriname.” CIM


and we understand the logistics,” Halas points out. “It was quitestraightforward to get items from the port to our site.”

The plant’s construction took a workforce of about 120Surinamese three months, ending in July. The local labourforce is something Halas says Iamgold benefitted from in mul-tiple ways. “We had only a handful of expatriates to managethe local workforce, but the people of Suriname are veryskilled,” he says.

The location of the plant was also a boon for the company:the old airstrip it now sits on had alreadybeen cleared and levelled years ago, so thesite only required minor levelling andgrading to prepare it for the panels. “Wehad to fix up the gravel and level it a bitbetter, but we did not have to go in and,say, cut down eight hectares of scrub,”Halas says.

A forklift was used to install 1,960concrete ballasts in surveyed locations,chosen to ensure the panels were alignedand properly spaced. The aluminumracking, which holds the panels in place,was assembled on site and attached to theballasts.

The panels themselves, measuringroughly one metre by two metres, arrivedat the site individually packaged. Thelocal contractors attached the 16,300loose panels to the assembled aluminumracking system using bolted connections.Contractors also excavated trenches sothat electrical wires would not be a trip-ping hazard after the project was finished,and completely filled them after the plantwas assembled.

Since Rosebel started drawing energyfrom the solar plant in August, Halas saysthe system has outperformed engineers’predictions by delivering between fiveand 10 per cent more power thanexpected. Solar energy now representsabout three per cent of Rosebel’s totalenergy draw. Halas estimates Iamgold issaving around $5,000 per day in energycosts by using the plant.

A long-term investmentThe Surinamese government, which

Halas says is “pro-renewables, and lookingat increasing the total renewable energy inthe country,” has been supportive of theinitiative. Like Iamgold, it sees the plant asa legacy project for the country.

“Whenever we decide that we’re goingto stop mining gold, the solar panels willstay in the country as something that the



A turn forthe betterRotating containers cutdown on concentrate dustemissions duringtransportBy Eavan Moore

Rotabox containers canbe used at ports that do

not have shiploaders.

Cour

tesy

of Q

ube

Base metal miners in Australia have found that using lid-ded containers instead of ship loaders decreases dustemissions and adds logistical flexibility at a compara-ble cost. The Rotabox system, provided by Australian

logistics firm Qube, encloses the concentrate on site and onlyreleases it when it is tipped into a ship’s bulk hold.

Qube started the project in 2010 after finding there was nogood solution for transporting iron oxide for one of its miningclients. Every available method involved conveyor belts, shiploaders or open stockpiles that produced flyaway dust well inexcess of environmental regulations.

The company therefore decided to adapt an existing tech-nology for its own use and dubbed it the Rotabox. Accordingto Antony Perkins, director of project development at Qube,the concept of a rotating frame that could upend a shippingcontainer was first used at a coal mine in South Africa around1970. However, that design weighed 28 tonnes.

“Our intent was to find a very lightweight frame,” saysPerkins. The first Qube design had a six-tonne frame and a2.4-tonne container, with a payload of 24 tonnes – lightenough to be used with a ship’s crane. Maximum payload hassince increased to 35 tonnes. Qube also integrated a lid-lifterthat opens and closes the container while it is in the hold, trap-ping any fugitive dust that might otherwise escape when thecontainer is pulled out. The containers have rolled edges andother features to reduce wear and avoid “carryback” whenproduct piles up in the corners and fails to empty out.

At the mine site, the concentrate is loaded into 20-foot-longshipping containers on trucks within an enclosed shed. Theheight of the containers varies by customer. The containers areweighed and tracked via radio-frequency identification (RFID)tag without re-opening or transferring their contents. Whenthey arrive at port, the containers can be stacked in an open

storage area until the ship is ready to load. A crane operatoruses either the ship’s crane or a shore crane to lower the con-tainer in the rotating frame, lift the container’s lid, upend itscontents into the hold, and close the lid. The empty containeris hauled back for reuse.

SandfireWhen Sandfire Resources evaluated available logistics

services for its DeGrussa copper-gold mine, Rotabox helpedQube stand out. “We were really the second company in Aus-tralia to adopt this method for loading ships,” says GrahamEdgson, general manager commercial at Sandfire. “WhatQube brought to the table is full-service provision.” Alongwith this relatively new technology, Qube offered a servicecontract that followed the copper concentrate from site toport to ship.

While nominally more expensive than other options,Rotabox has been keeping Sandfire’s concentrate dust undercontrol for the past three years. It has also provided flexibility,because it does not require a large storage shed and can beused at any available berth, rather than waiting for a shiploader to become free. When Port Hedland temporarily closeddown its ship-loading facility to improve its environmentalperformance, Qube switched to a second port in Geraldtonand avoided a five-week delay.

Independence GroupQube adopted Rotabox out of necessity and continued to

use it with new mines in their feasibility stages. After that, “Itreally took on a life of its own,” says Perkins.

Another miner, Independence Group, converted toRotabox to deal with problems at the Geraldton Port, where ithad been using a different contractor to haul concentrate from


its Jaguar copper-zinc-silver mine before loading it out ofQube’s shed. The aging, uncovered conveyors at Geraldtonhad previously spilled concentrate at transfer points and hadbeen prone to breakdowns. Cleanup cost $2-3 per tonne ofconcentrate. “All that combined – the cost of loading, the reli-ability of loading, the environmental concerns – triggered areview of how we load out,” says Brett Hartmann, generalmanager of operations at Independence Group. Qube beganhandling Jaguar’s concentrate two years ago, after giving Hart-mann a quote that was slightly moreexpensive than the existing system.

“For myself, it’s very stress free,” saysHartmann. “I can call the guys at Qube andsay that we want to load a certain amountof tonnage or certain containers onto a ves-sel. It’s picked up out of the storage, every-thing is RFID tagged, so they can pick outthe specific containers that we want. Theyput it on the back of a truck, drive it downto the wharf and load it onto the ship, andI have never had any concerns.”

It reduces stress for Qube as well.“Certainly, the environmental authorityhere in Australia is very pro-Rotabox,”says Perkins. “When we start any newcontract, they come with their dust mon-itors and all that sort of thing to makesure that they are comfortable with thelevel of dust that emanates, and we’ve hadno problems. There is the option to putmisting spray around the rim of the hold,which helps suppress the dust, but todate, we’ve never had to.”

The trade-off is the loading speed; amodern conveyor system can do 1,000tonnes per hour while Rotabox does 350or less. Still, now in the fifth iteration ofits technology, Qube has made changesfor the sake of efficiency: boosting thehydraulics to improve rotating speed,modifying the control systems to makethem easier to use and maintain, andspecifically adding the ability to plug intoQube’s harbour mobile crane so that thecrane driver can use the company’s joy-stick rather than having a separate remotecontrol, which is required when using aship’s crane. Onshore cranes tend to bemore efficient.

Marketing to CanadaQube has a total of 14 Australian cus-

tomers, only some of which are usingRotabox as part of their service contract.Perkins says the company is looking atexpanding to other markets: “We’ve been


talking to potential customers in Vancouver to use this typeof system in those ports.”

The system is best suited to users with shipments of up to18,000 tonnes at a time. Larger shipments, according toPerkins, would mean an enormous number of containerswould need to stay on hand.

Perkins could see splitting off the hardware from the serviceand licensing it independently: “We have a definite interest inmarketing it and selling the technology.” CIM


Patrick Dick was 25 when he first arrived in Myanmar,following a one-year stint in Baghdad during the Iran-Iraq war in 1983. It was a rare opportunity for theyoung Swiss to live in the country and do logistics

work for a German multinational. At the time, Myanmar (thenBurma) was one of the world’s most isolated countries, and adifficult environment for foreigners meant Dick could stay foronly one year. However, with the gradual lifting of Myanmar’sso-called “bamboo curtain,” made possible by a series of polit-ical and economic reforms over the last three years, he canonce again work in the country. Dick has been based inBangkok for the past 26 years, most of which he has spent asowner and managing director of The Freight Co. In 2004 healso founded the Global Project Logistics Network, a profes-sional network of logistics companies. Over the course of hismany years working in Southeast Asia, Dick has gained invalu-able insight into several countries including Myanmar, Viet-nam, Laos, and Thailand.

CIM: Can you tell me about the origins of your company?Dick: The Freight Co. got started in 1996 in Bangkok. It grewout of frustrations that my fellow Swiss and I endured in theearly 1990s while doing logistics work for different multina-tionals. Countless mergers and takeovers, managementchanges, and overnight changes in company policies gavemany of us the idea to start out on our own. We began in Viet-nam in 2004 and launched our operation in Myanmar in2013. Up to now the vast majority of our business has been inThailand. Vietnam was good in the early years but is now stag-nating. We see a lot of potential in Myanmar.

CIM: Why is that?Dick: Myanmar is known to be the richest country in naturalresources in Southeast Asia. It is rich in minerals includingmetal ores, petroleum and natural gas, and also has significantdeposits of precious and semi-precious stones. Deposits of sil-ver, lead, zinc, copper and gold can be found as well. Myan-mar also has abundant reserves of limestone, which is animportant factor for the expected construction boom.

CIM: What kind of projects have you been working on in themining sector?Dick: I have worked mostly on gold and copper projects. Themining business in Indochina and Thailand is not huge.Presently I’m working on two projects in Myanmar. One is amanganese ore mine and the other is to set up the logistics foran aggregate mine. This will be a 10-year project and the vol-ume predictions are quite high. I think the growth of the min-ing business in Indochina will remain slow, except maybe forLaos. For Myanmar, I see a big future but there is an old min-ing law dating back to 1994 that needs to be reformed. Mostforeign investors are holding out for this as they think thatchanges to the expectation of signature bonuses and the termsof production-sharing contracts are necessary to make invest-ment attractive in this sector.

CIM: What type of mining companies are you working with? Dick: The companies are primarily small- and medium-sizedprivately owned companies, as the multinationals are moreconservative concerning Myanmar. The products vary anddepend on what the investors can get their hands on. Asian

Enormouspotential,slow gainsLogistical challengesabound in Myanmar’semerging mining sectorBy Chris Balcom

Cour

tesy

of T

he F

reig

ht C

ompa

ny


entrepreneurs don’t like to spend time preparing; they oftenjust follow a hunch and give it a go. At the moment the oper-ations are small in comparison to mining in other parts of theworld. They are shipping mostly within the region as far asaggregate and manganese ore is concerned, as shipping costsdo not allow for the commodity to be transported far. It is dif-ferent though for high-value cargo such as copper.

CIM: What are the major logistics challenges for mining inMyanmar? Dick: Infrastructure. About 98 per cent of Myanmar’s infra-structure goes back to British rule, which lasted from the early19th century until just after the Second World War. Hardlyanything has been regularly maintained or renovated sincethen. Transport of goods on Myanmar’s road network is a realchallenge. In many cases we have to combine the transport onthe road with an earlier leg on a river, which poses plenty ofother difficulties. Especially challenging and important is theAyeyarwady River, which connects the mineral-rich north tothe southern ports. Once the rainy season is over, the river’sdraught reduces quickly, and only the lower part of the rivercan be used to transport large equipment. The west monsoonfrequently interrupts deliveries from June to August, and canhave a severe impact on mines in the south, especially nearthe coastline.

CIM: How do you address these issues?Dick: Planning is the most important factor. We need to surveythe transport route for virtually every project, and we need toassess what equipment we need to bring along. Once you leaveYangon there is hardly any equipment available, so forgettinga small crane can become quite expensive.

CIM: How is it working with the government and localbureaucracy? Dick: There are plenty of challenges, mostly because the sys-tems are still largely based on the British days. By creatingnew government entities over the years they have producedmany offices that overlap one another. This has been under-going a gradual restructuring with the opening up of thecountry. The government is trying to keep up and they areconstantly pushed by the outside world to do more, faster. Ithink the government has done a respectable job consideringthe huge scope of reform and the amount of resources theyhave. The local people are quite helpful but most things needmuch more time in Myanmar than in the rest of the world.My formula for calculating driving time is that it’s on averagethree times more than in the developed world. The same canbe applied for anything to do with government. But there areother times where things can be 10 times faster. For example:Where in the world can one get an appointment with a vice-minister in a couple of days?

CIM: How have the ongoing reforms affected your work?Dick: Not much has changed in the three years since the “open-ing.” Right now several contractors are connecting most of

Myanmar to the telecommunications network. This will bevery helpful for us as a lot of our work is in remote areas withno access to telephone or the Internet, which is also limpingbadly behind. For us the most important issues are ports, air-ports, roads, bridges and rivers. I can’t see any improvement interms of roads and bridges yet, and in the few areas where theyare upgrading the roads it is mostly done manually. Seeing aroad roller in Myanmar is like seeing a Jumbo Jet on FifthAvenue. The sole highway built in recent years is only for pri-vate cars. Trucks have to use the old national road with a singlelane in each direction. As far as I know there is a study under-way on how to improve navigation on the Ayeyarwady River,but it may take quite some time to complete such a study, notto mention starting any work on it.

CIM: What advice would you give to those curious aboutworking in Myanmar?Dick: I would certainly advise going to Myanmar and gettingan impression of the country and the people. Both are won-derful and leave a long-lasting impression. Of course, anyinvestment in an emerging market needs a close look andrisks need to be weighed up. But most success stories in Asiaare because someone had a hunch. Even with a bit of riskinvolved, with some hard, dedicated work you can make it inthis part of the world. CIM


OF MININGTHE BUSINESS

sionals mesofoday mining prT

e, ideas that had been wherelsed those in ants ConsultCIM. e lik

gan es orenceronfend co attor ty seldom had opportunities tes. Theplac

e e livionals oncsesofing prMin

TAALU E I N C O N S U TTUE IN CONSUL L LTING LTING LTINGALVVVALVALVAL

ound and change jobs e arv mo

ork.o wen tvo n tried and promfrideas them ought brdays estitutsional insesofized by pr

o visit other mines ortunities tedong periods in isolator led f

Chairman / PrincipalARTHYCcPETER MTINGTING

e bringing something ty arws that theshoonsul al cervs of seescThe suc

ees. But d yoact emplontrthan ce or that rant. Fveelemain ro rt

e maencerefop in-house relvdet a y the besoo emplfirms aim t

y than the client cy and efficientlquicklvide s oe ideas, and prativvinno

ation within the client’ommuniccogy technolor tonduit fthan a c

onss coday’and social media. To eeping up te ky, whilegularlr

sionals mesofoday, mining prT

try that o the indus omething tobeound the glting firms ar

y?or monealue fer vy off do theet morosants consulteason c

derechniques in orerial and t atoe, and tt peoples and bright

gnitlusnoone. Can do al client ceems moroblo pr solutions t

opelvganization, des or ent’o helpe ty hav. Theeransf tr

eo be more tants havsultough on-line journalse thr dat

ound and change jobs e arv mo

Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne or Panants in Vonsultour caonsultcamc@pmcon

ee teel frormation finfor, with bases on thrsect

o oud te pre arAt AMC w

e.orthwhilalued and wis v

erth. elbourne or Po, Maidenhead, ontorer, Touvnc

all one of or comnts.cer McCarthyetPact me, onto c

e or morontinents. Fee c threso be a part of the mining servic

omants.consultcamc

Drilling on Qingaaq Mountain in Greenland, with Aappalaartoq Mountain in the background.

Coop

er Q

uinn


“I think it’s fair to say this kind of exploration is, literally,the future of the industry,” says Eric Coffin, editor of theHard Rock Analyst newsletter in Vancouver. “Mining eventu-ally grinds to a halt if someone isn’t out there making newdiscoveries.”

The trend appears to be having an impact on discoveryrates in the gold sector already, says Mark Ferguson, a seniorindustry analyst for SNL Mining and Metals. Major gold dis-coveries (greater than two million ounces) dropped 30 percent in 2000-09 compared to the previous decade, whichboasted 124 gold discoveries. Explorers have since definedonly seven more major discoveries, but it remains to be seenexactly how many additional new deposits will surpass thetwo-million-oz threshold once companies have had sufficienttime (and funds) to properly assess their resource potential.

Conditions for grassroots exploration continue to deterio-rate. Traditionally, this type of generative exploration has beenthe domain of junior companies. They are responsible for 86per cent of the recent discoveries made in Canada, accordingto Richard Schodde, an Australian mineral economist atMinEx Consulting.

But that sector is under siege from a triple whammy of ris-ing costs, longer times between discovery and production,

and declining investor interest. As a result, the junior sector’sshare of the non-ferrous global exploration budget droppedto 32 per cent in 2014 from a high of 55 per cent in 2007,says SNL, despite overall budgets of $10 to 11 billion beingroughly the same.

Despite the challenges, Coffin – who has survived severalindustry cycles – says he believes that as long as there ismoney to be made from significant discoveries, there will bea market (however volatile) to fund exploration. And juniorstend to be “incredibly resilient,” says Schodde. Of 100 juniorexplorers listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)that he tracked in July 2004, 66 were still active 10 years later,despite the recent financing rout.

The industry will soon appreciate that reserves are runningout, making grassroots exploration an absolute necessity, saysBrent Cook, editor of Exploration Insights. “What we need isfor the industry to recognize that we don’t have enough economic deposits to fill demand and replace production,” heexplains. “That is going to happen and when it does, you’llsee more realization that we need grassroots exploration andthoughtful, intelligent geologists who can conceptualize adeposit and, more importantly, be able to recognize when theconcept doesn’t work.”

Generation in jeopardyBy Virginia Heffernan

The proportion of exploration dollars allocated to grassroots projects - workon land where no previous resource has been identified - has reached anall-time low. The reasons for the decline are complex but the consequencesare obvious: the mega-deposits the industry relies on for future productionare unlikely to be found under the current model.


CIM Magazine asked Coffin, Cook and John Kaiser editor of Kaiser Research Online to provide their three favourite grassroots exploration plays. Here is what they came up with. (* denotes that the analyst owns shares in the company)

Location: Gorbea Belt, north central ChileOwner/Analyst: Mirasol/Brent Cook & Eric Coffin*Target: Porphyry Cu and epithermal Au-AgCash: $23M as of Oct. 30, 2014Mirasol’s exploration team has outlined large areas ofalteration with widespread gold and silver values. Coffin saysseveral zones should be drill-ready by the end of the summerin the Southern Hemisphere. “They’ve identified a wholeprovince that shows good potential,” Cook concurs.

Location: Golden Triangle, northwest B.C. Owner/Analyst: Colorado Resources/Eric CoffinTarget: High-grade Au veins Cash: $3M as of Oct. 31, 2014The KSP property covers 30,000 hectares about 15 km alongstrike from the past-producing Snip gold mine. “There are acouple of strong porphyry targets on KSP but the very high-grade veins in the Inel, Kyber Pass, Big Rock and Pins areasare more interesting to me,” says Coffin. “Work done in 2014by both Colorado Resources and government mappershighlighted large deformation zones that may be controls tomineralization.”


Location: northwest BotswanaCompany/Analyst: Tsodilo Resources/John Kaiser*Target: Zambian copper belt-style depositsCash: $192K as of Sept. 30, 2014First Quantum Minerals has an option to earn up to a 70 percent interest in Tsodilo’s ground within a 40-kilometre-longsedimentary belt in northwestern Botswana. So far, the majorhas spent $14 million to build a geological model of potentialmineralization – an extension of the copper-rich Lufilian Arc- at depth under Kalahari sand cover. This year, the major willtry to intersect the dream target: an ore body containing 5-10million tonnes of copper that mirrors the Zambian copper beltdeposits with grades of at least two per cent copper. “If thisworks, it will become a case study as to what it takes to makeworld-class discoveries today,” says Kaiser.

Location: Biga district, northwest TurkeyOwner/Analyst: Pilot Gold/Brent Cook*Target: Au-rich epithermal and porphyry systemsCash: $23.4M as of Sept. 30, 2014Pilot Gold (40 per cent) and Teck Resources (60 per cent) haveestablished Indicated Resources of 23 Mt grading 1.34 g/t goldequivalent at the main KCD target on the TV Tower project. Butmore recent drilling on nearby targets has retuned some of thehighest-grade gold, silver and copper intervals ever reported innorthwestern Turkey. The area of interest is a four-km-long silicacap with multiple gold-oxide targets, associated supergene copperzones and copper-gold porphyry systems. “I love big systems andthey are into a major volcanic alteration system here,” says Cook.

Map image is the intellectual property of Esri and is used herein under license.Copyright © 2014 Esri and its licensors.

All rights reserved.


Location: Nevada basinsCompany/Analyst: Nevada Exploration/John Kaiser*Target: Carlin-type sediment hosted Au depositsCash: $26K as of Oct. 31, 2014Nevada Exploration has generated two grassroots prospectsin the gravel-covered areas of northern Nevada usinghydrogeochemistry as a targeting tool. The company believesthat the future of gold mining in Nevada, where most of theeconomic gold mineralization outcropping at surface has beenfound, lies under the difficult-to-explore basin component ofthe basin-and-range topography. “But Nevada Exploration hasneither money nor partners, so the plays it has generated arein danger of simply disappearing,” says Kaiser.

Location: Highland Valley porphyry district, southern B.C.Company/Analyst: Amarc Resources/John KaiserTarget: Cu-Mo-Ag porphyryCash: $1.9M as of Sept. 30, 2014Kaiser says Cu-Mo-Ag results from a recent nine-hole program showthe Ike project has good potential to host a Highland Valley-scalecopper porphyry system. Executive chairman Bob Dickinson recentlyloaned Amarc $1 million so that the Hunter-Dickinson explorationvehicle could continue exploration on Ike without needing to financeat a sub-$0.10 stock price. “Amarc is a testimonial to the absence ofa market audience for exploration junior results,” says Kaiser.


Location: Timok magmatic complex, eastern SerbiaOwner/Analyst: Reservoir Minerals/Brent Cook*Deposit Type: High sulphidation epithermal and porphyryCu-Au Cash: $40M as of Dec. 31, 2014Cook says he considers the Timok Cu-Au discovery to be the bestof its kind in recent years and believes similar mineralization willbe found on Reservoir ’s ground surrounding the flagship project.Fully funded on Timok by joint venture partner Freeport-McMoRanExploration, Reservoir has ample cash to fund grassrootsexploration on its 100-per-cent-owned properties in the area.

Location: Tireo belt, Dominican RepublicOwner/Analyst: Precipitate Gold/Eric Coffin* (Caveat:Coffin is a founder and significant shareholder)Target: Intermediate sulphidation epithermal Au and VMSCash: $825K as of Nov. 30, 2014Drill testing induced polarization anomalies at the Ginger Ridgezone on the Juan de Herrera property has uncovered a potentialvolcanic massive sulphide zone with gold-rich intervals,including a five-metre section grading 13.8 g/t gold within 18metres grading 4.5 g/t gold. The company followed up withmagnetic and induced polarization surveys along a 600-metrecorridor extending northwest from the discovery. “Ginger Ridgehas been improved every time more work has been done, whichis a hallmark of a good exploration target,” says Coffin.

Map image is the intellectual property of Esri and is used herein under license.Copyright © 2014 Esri and its licensors.

All rights reserved.


To understand how these projects might succeed, it isinstructive to take a closer look at what is causing thedecline in grassroots exploration and what can be doneto reverse the trend.

What is behind higher cost?Rising exploration costs stem partly from higher labour

expenses, equipment expenses and land access costs in recentyears. But the main factor is much more fundamental: the economic deposits that once outcropped at surface in politicallystable jurisdictions have for the most part been found.

“We have to look through barren rocks, so what used to be acouple of rock chip samples becomes a drill that is a lot moreexpensive,” says Cook. “And once you do make the discoveryyou have to drill it out and face regulatory, political and socialissues. So a legitimate discovery today takes on average 10 to 20years to get into production.”

Investors are waking up to these mounting risks and aban-doning the sector. PDAC says companies in 2014 raised just $2of equity capital for every $100 that was raised in 2007. Theresult is that the majority of juniors listed on the TSX-V have lessthan $200,000 cash remaining, according to research by Kaiser.The situation is almost as dire in Australia. About 52 per cent ofthe junior explorers listed on the ASX have less than $1 millionin cash, according to Schodde.

A lot of responsibility to shoulderKaiser says he considers the capital markets for exploration

and mine development to be “broken” and “obsolete.” Amongother initiatives, he is calling on Canadian securities regulatorsto allow all investors, not just the few who qualify as accreditedinvestors (i.e. high net worth individuals), to buy shares in juniormining companies.

But much of the responsibility for the decline in grassrootsexploration lies with the exploration community itself, arguesWade Hodges, president of Nevada Exploration and former vice-president of exploration for Battle Mountain Gold. “There is moremoney than ever in the history of the planet and it all cravesbeing put to useful work that has a future. The challenge is forthe exploration geologist to provide that money with much bettertools and filters to work with,” he says. “Investors have gottensmarter, and the exploration community needs to get back infront of investors to lead the way forward.”

A significant discovery could be the catalyst for a revival ingrassroots exploration, Hodges says, but it would require eitherthe unlikely combination of a lot of luck and capital or the devel-opment of a new technology that can effectively see through cover.

Schodde says he agrees with this and notes the incredible stim-ulus generated in Canada from giant grassroots discoveries like Ekati

Coop

er Q

uinn

A drill tower is transported atthe Storø gold project near

Nuuk, Greenland.


and Diavik in the Northwest Territories and Voisey’s Bay inLabrador. He says he is confident that this will happen again.

If the equity market remains lukewarm, Cook says hebelieves senior companies will pick up some of the slack.“We’ll see more major companies buying into and fundingjunior explorers. The junior then has someone behind theproject who is able to recognize what a legitimate discoverylooks like in the early stages.”

But the decline in generative exploration is not limited tothe junior sector. Senior companies also tend to cut back onexploration when commodity prices drop or profit marginserode, as they have recently. For the past couple of years, pro-ducers have eschewed early-stage projects in favour ofbrownfield projects around their mines that are a less capital-intensive and less risky means of replacing and addingreserves, SNL’s Ferguson says.

The consequence is the erosion of the reserve base neededto sustain mining. In Canada, metal reserves other than goldhave been declining steadily for the past 30 years. Now, formany metals, current reserves are less than half what theywere in 1980, according to Natural Resources Canada. Goldreserves have gone up, but Schodde points out that a substan-tial amount is in low-grade porphyry systems that may not be economic.

A little help goes a long wayIn response to the crisis, PDAC is calling on the federal

government to increase the tax credit given to investors who

put money into mineral exploration to 30 per cent from 15per cent for three years in order to stimulate exploration.

“The mineral exploration tax credit (METC) is a critical fis-cal policy lever that can be used to attract investors back tothe exploration industry, particularly to support early-stage,grassroots exploration activity in Canada,” says PDAC presi-dent Rod Thomas. “Bold action from government led to theinitial innovative creation of the METC. We’re looking for sim-ilar bold action today.”

Some Canadian provinces and territories are listening.Yukon expanded its Mining Exploration Program to $1.4 mil-lion in 2014, including earmarking up to $15,000 forprospectors. The Manitoba government doubled a similarincentive program to $3 million.

Innovation also has a crucial role to play. The CanadianMining Innovation Council, for instance, is looking for waysto better the odds of finding buried ore by identifying subtleindicators or footprints in the rocks surrounding known orebodies that can guide exploration. Some companies are usingmodern processing power to find viable targets in historicaldata, or to see under cover using sophisticated 3D geophysicalmodelling.

“We have to focus on new technology and creative think-ing,” says Hodges, who has had a difficult time selling his ideaof using groundwater sampling to find buried gold targets inNevada. “I realized in the late 1990s how difficult it wasbecoming for exploration, mostly for technical reasons. Thetools we had developed had been used and the low-hangingfruit had been found.” CIM

Published in CIM Magazine, February 2015 issue, Vol. 10, No. 1, pages 42-49.Reprinted with permission of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleumwww.cim.org

� � � � ��


spawned changes to the mine plan: Baffinland has indefinitelypostponed its original $4-billion vision of a rail line carrying18 million tonnes of ore yearly.

Instead, Mary River’s $750-million early revenue phaseinvolves stockpiling and shipping 3.5 million tonnes of ore peryear using the July-October open water season in Milne Inlet onthe northern shore of the island. At an average grade of 67 per

W ith Measured and Indicated Resources of more than350 million tonnes of high-grade iron ore, Mary Riverwas a challenge worth accepting. In 2010 steel giant

ArcelorMittal battled private equity firms for a majority stakein Baffinland Iron Mines. In the wake of the downturn in com-modity prices, ArcelorMittal reduced its share to 50 per centbut continued to serve as operator. The downturn also

In September Baffinland Iron Mines officially began operations at the northernmost-producing mine in Canada: the Mary River site on North Baffin Island, in the QikiqtaniRegion of Nunavut. Getting to that point required a team of experienced Arcticoperators to develop working solutions for the region’s extreme winter cold.

BY | EAVAN MOORE

All i

mag

es c

ourt

esy

of B

affin

land

Iron

Min

es

While the frigid temperatures at the project demand many adaptations, the ore, at anaverage grade of 67 per cent iron, requires little upgrading before shipping.

We probably have in the area

of $10 million [...] of components

sitting on our mine site that would

not be a requirement if we were in

a southern location with year-

round access. – R. Hampton


project profile | M A R Y R I V E R


M A R Y R I V E R | project profile

ton, vice-president and project director at Baffinland. “We havehad some of the construction contractors who were involvedin Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank come to our job. We’ve hadpeople from Ekati and Diavik, from Voisey’s Bay in Labrador,from Raglan and other mining locations. Myself, I was at boththe Diavik build and at the Voisey’s Bay build, so these types ofconditions and logistically challenging Arctic projects were notnew to me or many others in the chain.”

In the course of working on other projects, these experi-enced members of the Baffinland team had learned to rely onoff-site prefabrication. This allowed them to minimize thework that would have to occur in the more challenging condi-tions on site. Buildings were all prefabricated or panelized andshipped to site for final assembly, including all building foun-dations, which were pre-cast as concrete blocks and shippedto site to avoid dealing with pouring concrete at -30 C, theaverage winter temperature at Mary River.

Contractors did a substantial amount of the constructionwork, but Hampton says the majority of the earthworks wereperformed by Baffinland-hired operators. “Given that we are amining company, our business is moving earth, if you will, inthe form of ore,” he points out. “With the mining fleet at site,we had our own equipment available to us.”

That allowed the company to bring in its permanent work-force earlier than it might have otherwise, providing an oppor-tunity for these workers to become fully trained and

cent iron, the ore requires little processing before it is shipped.It is drilled and blasted at Deposit 1 – the first of nine knowndeposits – using explosives produced at an on-site plant. Theore is hauled to a mobile crushing plant, the products of whichare stored in separate stockpiles for lumps and fines.

By July both types of ore will be trucked to Milne Port,where stockpile infrastructure and a shiploading dock are cur-rently under construction. A two-tower radial ship loader andreclaim conveyor system will load chartered vessels, and theships will travel through Baffin Bay en route to the openAtlantic.

Experienced teamsMary River is neither the first Arctic mine constructed in

Canada nor the most northerly one, considering that thePolaris mine was on Little Cornwallis Island. So the projectbenefited from an array of existing expertise.

“In the team that we assembled, most of us had worked onthose other projects in Canada’s North,” says Ronald Hamp-

Photos opposite page: (top) Mary River’s Deposit 1, seen from the sky withthe camp in the background, has an anticipated life of 21 years; (centre) The projectis 500 km north of the Arctic Circle, on the northern end of Baffin Island. The depositwas first discovered in 1962, but iron ore prices were too low to make economicsense; (bottom) Large equipment can only be delivered to the site during thesummer shipping season that generally spans from late July to October.

Seven hundred permanent fly-in/fly-out workers will rotate through the mine’s camp.

comfortable on site when mining commenced. Most of thepeople mining in September had already spent the last six tonine months upgrading the road and preparing the outdoorsurfaces for construction and storage. They worked largely ona two-week rotation, flying in from the five closest communi-ties to the mine, from the territorial capital of Iqaluit, and fromKitchener-Waterloo, in Ontario.

The entire 700-strong permanent workforce comes fromCanada, and between 200 and 250 are residents of the localcommunities. According to Erik Madsen, vice-president ofsustainable development, health, safety and environment,local communities gave generously of their knowledge. Forexample, traditional knowledge helped Baffinland mitigate theimpact shipping has on sea ice travel routes used by the Inuitas well as choose its future shipping route through NorthernFoxe Basin, skirting areas important to marine wildlife.

In addition, says Madsen, “Traditional and local knowledgeabout caribou abundance trends and distribution was essentialto the project’s effects assessment and mitigation planning.Our surveys told us very little about caribou ecology in theregion. While there were signs of caribou presence, we foundvery few. Knowledge from elders and current hunters sharedwith us helped us characterize the 60-to-70-year populationtrends, likely recovery patterns, and interesting insights aboutcaribou adaptive behaviours.”

Keeping equipment warmAt Mary River, shutting off equipment during downtimes

and letting it cool is not an option. “On any piece of equip-


The Mary River camp in late August 2014


ment, the engine and any fluids will all have trouble at lowtemperatures,” says Hampton. “Heavy equipment is veryhard to get going again at those temperatures. So if we don’thave a heated area to warm these vehicles to start them again,generally they’ll operate or run at idle temperatures for mostof the cold weather season.”

Keeping equipment warm was a little tough in the fall andwinter of 2013. All materials and equipment had come in onthe summer sea lift, including the majority of the prefabricatedbuildings. Maintenance had to take place alongside the instal-lation of buildings and the operating of equipment, often out-doors or in rudimentary fabric structures. Hamptonacknowledges it was “a trying season.” Even with experience,Hampton says the team underestimated the difficulty in get-ting the right hydraulic fluid and lines for these conditions.But this year, he says, “It’s a different situation, in that we haveour maintenance facilities, the buildings, up and fully opera-tional. So we are in a much better situation to face the coldweather this year than we were last year.”

The Mary River maintenance crew has had time to assessthe needs of its equipment, and the extensive use of cold-weather modifications has kept machinery running. Miningequipment is fitted with Espar heaters integrated into theengine’s coolant and hydraulic fluid systems. This keeps thefluids in a liquid state, distributes warmth through the vehi-cle’s heat exchanger, and warms up the engine using residualheat in the cooling water. Petro Canada all-season lubricant isused to keep gears moving smoothly. The smaller supportequipment uses Wabasto coolant and hydraulic heaters and


M A R Y R I V E R | project profile

Too big to be flown in, haul truck tires are among the items the mine must keep a large supply of on site to avoid work stoppages.



www.dmcmining.com

191 Creditview Road, Suite 400, Vaughan, Ontario, Canada L4L 9T1Tel: 905-780-1980

488 East 6400 South, Suite 250, Murray, Utah, USA 84107Tel: 801-975-1979

THE ROAD TO ZERO HARM LEADS TO LOWER COST AND AVOIDS

SCHEDULE DELAYS. WHY TAKE A CHANCE.

BRING US TO YOUR NEXT PROJECT.

MANY CLAIM TO BE CAPABLE BUT DMC MINING SERVICES DOES IT SAFELY.

Contract mining

Shaft sinking

Raise boring and raise excavation

Mine construction and infrastructure

Mine development and rehabilitation

Head frames and hoisting plants

Ground freezing and grouting programs

Engineering design and feasibility studies

Property development through equity investment, partnerships or joint ventures

Rayco Chemical aviation hydraulic fluid. A wind shelteraround the machinery house shields it from blasting cold, andtrace heating elements along air and water lines protect theproduction drills.

LogisticsCollapsing a year’s worth of need into one summer sealift

requires careful planning. If critical supplies run out, it costsabout $100,000 to charter a 737 combi aircraft fromKitchener - Waterloo. “I’d venture to say that it’s 10 times thecost of sea freighting something in,” says Hampton.

Some items cannot fly at all – like the tires on a Caterpillar777 haul truck. “Tires like those just don’t fit into an aircraft,”says Hampton. “Hence, we make sure that we have a contin-gent of tires over and above the normal planned wear cycles.This is because, for our particular mine site, for example, wehave four 777 haul trucks and we rely upon those for ourmining effort. Running out of tires prior to the next sealifthas the potential to shut down the entire operation. We prob-ably have in the area of $10-million of those types of compo-nents sitting on our mine site that would not be arequirement if we were in a southern location with year-round access.”

With the help of suppliers, Baffinland estimates what it willlikely consume in the full year, and it then adds about a 15 to

20 per cent overstock in case of emergency. Lower-cost, buthigh-volume or high-weight components tend to be over-stocked; smaller components may not be stocked as gener-ously because they can be flown in if there is need. “No matterhow much planning we’ve done, we have found ourselveswhere we’ve had to fly elements in,” admits Hampton.

Solid achievementsThe cold does not always hinder the work at Mary River,

and at least once it has proved helpful. Last winter an exist-ing airstrip needed to be upgraded to allow jets into the site.During the several months it was out of service, the com-pany constructed an airstrip on one of the frozen lakes. “Wewere landing 737 jet aircrafts on the lake,” commentsHampton. The required thickness for landing on ice was 54inches. At the end of the season, he says, the ice wasapproaching 80 inches.

And all of this – trials, successes, construction and opera-tion – was achieved with a strong safety record. Hamptonnotes that Baffinland reached two milestones last September.First, the company had transformed itself from an explorer, toa developer and finally to a mine operator. The other mile-stone: three years without any lost-time injuries. “How wellwe’ve developed the safety culture at our site is something weare all quite proud of,” he says. CIM


Canada is one of the frontrunnersin the civilian use of drones, alsoknown as unmanned air vehicles

(UAVs), thanks to Transport Canada.The agency has been gradually openingthe skies to them – unlike the U.S. Fed-eral Aviation Administration, which stillbans their use except by governmentalagencies and university researchers.

The drones being used in miningtoday are typically small; they fit in asuitcase and most weigh less than twokilograms. They come in various for-mats, looking like toy airplanes, helicop-ters or sci-fi spacecrafts. Because theycan fly much lower to the ground andfar more slowly than airplanes or heli-copters, drones can capture detailed sur-face images. At their most basic, they areequipped with a digital camera, takinghundreds of close-up photographs thatthe drone manufacturer’s software

converts into high-resolution 3D imagery.A large array of sensors is available and can be exchanged on the UAV depending on the type

of analysis required. “For exploration, you can use a combination of multispectral sensors to doinvestigative surficial geology mapping including detailed topography and formation identifi-cation,” says Jean-Francois Dionne, UAV technical survey specialist at UKKO, which sells sense-Fly – Swiss-made professional UAVs. “Applications are endless in environmental impactmanagement. You can use a thermal sensor and fly when the temperature of ground water iswarmer than the terrain. You’ll see precisely the locations of discharge zones to the surface andbe better informed for an impact study or a remediation plan. As time goes on, sensors willminiaturize and we’ll be able to add hyperspectral imaging that will make it possible to evenlocate specific minerals. We’re not there, but almost.”

ExplorationTimmins-based Kevin Cool, who has been surveying and prospecting for two decades,

started offering drone services to his clients about a year ago. In the first eight months afterlaunching his new company, UAV Timmins, he performed some 60 flights. “I’m pretty muchdoing this full-time now,” he says.

While most of his work has been for established mining companies like Rio Tinto, Coolsees drones changing the industry for smaller and independent prospectors as well. “Whatdrone technology has done is make aerial photos affordable even to the individual prospector,”

Sky’s the limitBy Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

The market for drones in the mining industry is relatively small today. Few mineoperators own or use them. But the potential for this nascent technology in surveyingand planning is enormous, and drone manufacturers are confident that demand willsoon explode for their cost-effective eyes in the sky.

Cour

tesy

of G

roun

dTru

th E

xplo

ratio

n

Drone use in themining industry isexpected to take offin the coming years.


says Cool. “I can fly a mining claim for a prospector for $400whereas hiring a helicopter is $1,500 per hour.”

The cameras on Cool’s drones can photograph images ofobjects as small as five centimetres, such as vegetation, whichcan help prospectors identify soil type. They can also capturehistorical information on the property, including past worklike bush grids, old mineshafts, or recent activities that mightnot even be recorded yet on Google Earth, be it logging or FirstNations activities. “Not only do you see detail, you’re also get-ting precise coordinates” from a GPS tracker within the drone,explains Cool. “So you can then send guys on the ground witha GPS to locate a particular feature.”

Yukon-based GroundTruth Exploration acquired its firstdrone in 2012 specifically to produce high-resolutionimagery. With 600 flights now under its belt, the companyhas discovered many other applications for the new technology.

“The drone also produces very detailed and precise high-resolution elevation models, especially for remote places,” saysGroundTruth president Isaac Fage. “It far exceeds NationalTopographic Database elevation models. Once you start focus-ing on a more discrete area in the range of say a couple ofsquare kilometres, an elevation model based on the NationalTopographic data is no longer accurate, as it’s quite coarse sothere’s not a lot of detail. If you’re doing things like putting

subsurface geophysics in a 3D model with drill holes, you getdrill holes sticking out in space in the model. You can’t builda good picture if you don’t have detailed topographic data tobegin with. A typical ground resolution is between four to 10centimetres per pixel in a drone elevation model, whereas withthe freely available one, the best you can do is 30 metres perpixel.”

Mine planningAs a senior manager of mine planning for Imerys, an

industrial mineral production and processing company,David Marek manages various mine sites around NorthAmerica. One of them is Imerys’ phlogopite mica mine inSuzor Township, Quebec, 300 kilometres north of Montreal,which is only mined about every three years. Last summerhappened to be one such year, so Marek needed to survey theproperty. When he heard of Cool’s new drone business, hewas curious about the technology and invited the surveyorup to do a trial run. “It was so low cost I thought it was wortha try,” he says.

Imerys brought in a team with a GPS to verify Cool’s results.“He produced a photomosaic of the whole mine site and, at thesame time, he generated a contour plan for the whole opera-tion,” says Marek. “He was done in a day so it took him longerto get to the site than to generate the survey.”

Digging deep to find the solutions that matter.

www.conspec-controls.ca • 1-877-526-6773

For over 45 years, CONSPEC Controls has been designing, developing andmanufacturing ventilation management, gas detection, process control equipment and systems. And we continue to do so with innovations that notonly perform, they outperform in some of the harshest conditions on Earth -mining environments. Our ultimate goal: the protection of workers while operating environment and ventilation controls efficiently to ensure maximum safety, productivity and favourable cost containment.


technologyA I R BORNE S URVEY I NG

Cool’s second job forImerys involved calcu-lating the volumes ofstockpiles at its Tim-mins mine – anotherincreasingly popularuse of drones.“This would havebeen previouslydone by a sur-veyor, so it takes alot of time and the

safety is problematic,” says Sebastien Long, sales manager atCanadian drone operator Flyterra. “Everything needs to bestopped when the surveyor is doing the work but when we goin no one has to stop their work. A typical job for us is lessthan an hour whereas a surveyor might take at least half a dayto do the same.”

For years, Quebec-based Polycor used satellite and aerialimages for planning its roughly 30 quarries that produce awide selection of natural stone products. In 2013, however,Eric Mayer, the company’s director of operations, decided togive drones a shot. He hired Long.

“A drone is not just much lower cost, it’s also far more accu-rate,” he says. “It helped me measure as close as one inch. SoI can plan far more accurately using its 3D image. A largequarry is so large that you can’t see the entire area. But thedrone image gives us the ability to have the entire quarry infront of us in 3D while we’re in my office, making it possiblefor us to make the best decisions.”

Not surprisingly, Dionne says mining companies interestedin purchasing their own UAV – which can cost between$25,000 and $120,000 – generally want to use it for mine plan-ning. “I have one client that wants to fly a UAV at least twice aweek to measure and compare stockpile volumes. I also have

other units going upnorth to open pitmines to be usedeither on a quarterly

or monthly basis just to make sure their planning is on timeand their blasting makes sense,” he says. “Owning the equip-ment gives you the control over your data collection schedules;you fly when you need it, which is a huge advantage.”

Flying the droneThe small drones used for the mining industry run on

rechargeable lithium-ion polymer batteries. Depending on thesize of the drone, they can last from 20 minutes to four ormore hours in the air. Before a flight, drones are programmedfor each route and then hand-thrown into the air to fly andland autonomously. While flying, they are monitored from theground by an operator via a laptop who can communicatewith them and bring them back at any time if they get intotrouble.

“When you plan a drone survey, you want to be in thecentre of the area so you don’t spend the 40 minutes goingto and from a launch site,” says Fage, adding drones can’t beused to cover vast areas. “Our drone can produce up to 40square kilometres of highly detailed imagery per day. Wehave eight batteries, so the drone goes out for 40 minutes,comes back, we change the battery and send it out again.That’s how we image a large area, by throwing it up againand again. We also take a portable charger and by the timewe’ve used the last battery, the first one is charged, so it’snever an issue.”

Change is in the airTransport Canada does have regulations on drones, which

it is loosening over time. Under the current rules, drone oper-ators need to be trained in Canadian Aviation Regulations rulesand require the equivalent of a private pilot’s licence. “Themanufacturer may or may not provide the training,” saysDionne. “In our case we provide a day for the UAV unit andsoftware plus two days with a certified flight instructor (CFI)to cover the minimal requirements for UAV pilots operating[drones] less than 25 kilograms. We ensure future pilots areoperating comfortably within the rules set out by TransportCanada.”

Without applying for an exemption,Transport Canada does not allow dronesto be flown within nine km of an airport,heliport or aerodrome. It also forbidsoperators from flying UAVs more than90 metres above the ground or out of theline of sight of the user. At the end ofDecember, Transport Canada relaxedsome regulations for drones weighingless than 2.1 kilograms by cutting itsrequirement for a Special Flight Opera-tions Certificate and detailed informa-tion for each flight.

Besides regulations, the only othersignificant restriction drones face is theweather. High winds pose a problem forlighter UAVs, but they can typically fly

Most drones used inthe mining industrytoday are small enoughto fit in a suitcase andweigh less than twokilograms.Co

urte

sy o

f UKK

O Ca

nada

Before flight, operators program thedrone’s route and then hand-throw it in theair. While the drone is in the air, the usercan monitor it via a laptop.

Cour

tesy

of G

roun

dTru

th E

xplo

ratio

n

presenting a seminar on drone surveys at one of his company’sconferences, hoping his American colleagues will lobby tohave drone use allowed in their country. CIM

in winds up to about 45 km per hourand temperatures above minus 15 orminus 20 degrees Celsius. “Most daysthe weather is not a problem,” says Long.

Into the futureAs drones become more prevalent in

the mining industry, innovative newuses for them are inevitable. Fage sayshe believes, for example, that becausedrone imagery is so detailed it could beused as a trust-building tool when deal-ing with environmental or First Nationsgroups by creating time-stamped 3Dimages of the land pre-developmentright through to post-development.

Whether companies hire a drone con-sultant or purchase their own equip-ment, drones seem to be one of those rare products where costsavings and higher quality information go hand in hand. Yetthey are still one of the best kept secrets in the industry.

“I work for a pretty large company and have been in thebusiness for more than 30 years and until July, I had neverheard about using drones for mining,” says Marek, who iseager to spread the word. This coming March, he will be

Operators can equip drones with digital cameras that take hundreds ofclose-up photographs that the drone manufacturer’s software then

converts into high-resolution 3D imagery.

Cour

tesy

of

Grou

ndTr

uth

Expl

orat

ion


CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

New Dimensions | Nouvelles dimensions

MAY 10–13, 2015 | PALAIS DES CONGRÈS DE MONTRÉAL | 10 AU 13 MAI 2015

Preliminary ProgramProgramme préliminaire

Jon Benjam

in Photography

“New Dimensions” is the theme that will drive topics of discussion at the upcoming 2015 CIMConvention taking place in Montreal from May 10 to 13, 2015. In addition to a rigorous technical

program, mining will be examined through the lens of employment, innovation, leadership,management, and more. More than 6,000 mining industry professionals are expected to take in theevents at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal.

CIM’s commitment to engage and give a voice to the full range of technical, business and corporatesocial responsibility players in this industry makes it a catalyst in a landscape where innovation is thefruit of cross-disciplinary collaboration. By 2020 the mining industry will require more than 140,000 newworkers. Many of these jobs will be skilled positions offering real career advancement for qualifiedworkers from all walks of life. Fostering effective discussions now will help us ensure that traditionallyunder-represented communities such as aboriginals, women and immigrants can take advantage ofthe opportunities.

The Technical Program will feature wide-ranging topics including an examination of innovation in themining industry, issues in mining and ethics, environmental paradigms, 3D modelling for resourceestimation, geochemistry, the business case, and engineering challenges around planetary mining.With the CIM International portfolio growing strategically, the West Africa stream will be of interest toall in attendance, as well.

The Expo! will be celebrating its 32nd anniversary. Sold out again this year, it will host nearly 500exhibiting companies, featuring the latest in mining equipment, tools, technologies and services. TheExpo! is Canada’s mining marketplace.

M4S, CIM’s education outreach initiative, will help increase visitors’ knowledge of the mining cycle.Teachers, students and the general public are always surprised at how mining impacts their daily lives.

Peppered throughout the three days will be a cornucopia of receptions, events and social programs,providing valuable networking opportunities and the chance to experience what makes Montreal one ofNorth America’s most intriguing cities.

We would also like to thank the committed cohort of volunteers who make the CIM Conventionpossible.

We look forward to seeing you all in Montreal.

62 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 10, No. 1 CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

Welcome to ~ Bienvenue à

Hani Mitri Sean WallerConvention CIM President General Chair 2014–15

Orlando G. Cerocchi

February/Février 2015 | 63CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

ORGANIZING COMMITTEECOMITÉ ORGANISATEUR

CIM President |Président de l’ICMSean WallerCIM Executive Director |Directeur exécutif de l’ICMJean VavrekConvention General Chair |Président général du congrèsHani MitriPlenary Chair |Président de la séanceJean VavrekSponsorship |CommanditesSean Waller, Jean Vavrek, Hani Mitri, Virginia Flood,Garth KirkhamTechnical Program |Programme techniqueHani MitriTechnical Program Track Chairs |Présidents des thèmes techniquesInnovation – Present and Future |Innovation, présent et avenirEngin OzberkMaintenance Engineering/Underground Mining |Ingénierie de maintenance/Exploitation minièresouterraineMartin Provencher, Mustafa Kumral, Agus Sasmito,Donna Beneteau, Eric HintonEnvironmental Paradigms |Tendances environnementalesDavid Forrester West Africa |Afrique de l’OuestOumar Toguyeni, Jean VavrekOperational Excellence/Explosives and Blasting |Excellence opérationnelle/Explosifs et dynamitageJ. Winston FordeGeology |GéologieJason Dunning, Serge PerreaultWomen in Mining |Les femmes en exploitation minièreHeather Ednie, Angelina MehtaEthics in Mining |Éthique dans l’industrie minièreWesley CraggManagement & Finance Day |Journée gestion et financeLawrence D. Smith, Jane SpoonerIron Ore Symposium |Symposium sur le minerai de ferGuy Saucier, Serge Perreault, Daniel GagnonPlanetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium(PTMSS) |Symposium sur les sciences minièresplanétaires et terrestresSherry SchmidtStudent Program |Programme étudiantMustafa KumralWorkshops |AteliersJeffrey CassoffM4S ShowDanny Bernard, Lucie Vincent (M4S Coordinator) The Expo! & CIM Job Fair |L’Expo! et la foire de l’emploi de l’ICMMartin Bell (Sales and Trade Show Manager), Nadia Bakka (Trade Show & Marketing Coordinator) Convention Coordinator |Coordonnatrice de congrèsChantal MurphyRegistration & Customer Care Coordinator |Coordonnatrice des inscriptions et du serviceCarol LeeTechnical Content Coordinator |Coordonnatrice de contenu techniqueJanet SandorDirector of Conventions and Trade Shows |Directrice des congrès et salons commerciaux Lise Bujold

C’est sur le thème « Nouvelles dimensions » que s’orienteront lesdiscussions lors du congrès de l’ICM 2015, qui se tiendra du 10 au 13 mai

prochain à Montréal. En plus d’un programme technique rigoureux, le congrèsétudiera l’exploitation minière du point de vue de l’emploi, de l’innovation, duleadership, de la gestion et bien plus encore. Plus de 6 000 professionnels del’industrie sont attendus à ces événements qui auront lieu au Palais des congrèsde Montréal.

L’engagement de l’ICM à impliquer et à donner la parole à tout un éventaild’acteurs des sphères technique, économique et de la responsabilité socialedes entreprises (RSE) dans l’industrie minière en fait un catalyseur dans uncontexte où l’innovation est le fruit de la collaboration interdisciplinaire.

D’ici 2020, l’industrie minière aura besoin de plus de 140 000 nouveauxtravailleurs. Nombre de ces emplois concerneront des postes de hautespécialisation qui offriront de véritables perspectives d’avancementprofessionnel aux travailleurs qualifiés de tous les milieux. Les discussionsassureront aux communautés généralement sous-représentées telles que lesautochtones, les femmes et les immigrants qu’elles puissent égalementprofiter de ces avantages.

Le programme technique comprendra des thèmes variés, notamment unexamen de l’innovation dans l’industrie minière, des questions relatives àl’exploitation minière et l’éthique, les paradigmes environnementaux, lamodélisation en 3D pour l’estimation des ressources, la géochimie, lesarguments commerciaux et les enjeux techniques entourant l’exploitationminière à l’échelle planétaire. Le portefeuille international de l’ICM sedéveloppe de manière stratégique, aussi le thème consacré à l’Afrique de l’ouestprésentera un grand intérêt pour tous les participants.

L’Expo! célèbrera son 32e anniversaire. Cet événement, qui affiche complet cetteannée encore, accueillera près de 500 sociétés exposantes qui présenteront lestous derniers équipements, outils, technologies et services du secteur. L’Expo !est le marché canadien de l’exploitation minière.

Le salon M4S, l’initiative de l’ICM dédiée à l’éducation du public, contribuera àapprofondir les connaissances qu’ont les visiteurs du cycle minier. Lesenseignants, les étudiants et le grand public sont souvent surpris de l’impactde l’exploitation minière sur leur vie quotidienne.

Tout au long de ces trois jours se tiendront une série de réceptions,d’événements et de programmes sociaux qui donneront aux participants lapossibilité d’établir des contacts et de comprendre ce qui fait de Montréal l’unedes villes les plus surprenantes d’Amérique du Nord.

Nous souhaitons également remercier la cohorte engagée de volontaires quirendent possible l’organisation de ce congrès de l’ICM.

Nous sommes impatients de tous vous voir à Montréal.

Hani Mitri Sean WallerPrésident général Président de l’ICM du congrès 2014–2015

Jon

Benj

amin

Pho

togr

aphy

Jon

Benj

amin

Pho

togr

aphy

OVERVIEW OF RESOURCES ESTIMATIONFROM DATA COLLECTION TO MODELVALIDATIONA significant risk to proper valuation of a mining project isassociated with data collection, geological interpretationand resource estimation methodology. This workshoppresents a thorough overview of resource estimation fromdata collection to estimated resource model validation. Wewill discuss the sources of uncertainty and risk in mineraldeposit modelling and how to mitigate them with goodgovernance and quality management. The resourceestimation steps are then covered one at a time, from datacollection and importance of good QA/QC to estimationmethods such as nearest neighbour, inverse distance tosome power, and ordinary kriging; precision of estimation;estimated model validation; and classification.

Facilitator: Georges Verly, PhD, P.Eng., Chief Geostatistician, Amec FosterWheeler | Time: 8:00-16:30

ANTI-CORRUPTION TOOLS & RESOURCES FORCORPORATE RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSCorruption was a key topic at the G8 summit in June 2013.With recent amendments to the Corruption of ForeignPublic Officials Act (CFPOA), convictions under CFPOA, and

WORKSHOPS | ATELIERS


Workshops are given in English.Les ateliers sont présentés en anglais.

SUNDAY, MAY 10 | DIMANCHE LE 10 MAI

NEW GUIDANCE TO THE NEW RULES UNDERNI 43-101The new rules under NI 43-101 took effect on June 30,2011, and since then the Canadian Securities Regulatorshave published a series of staff notices on how the miningindustry is adopting these rules. Unfortunately, many non-compliant technical reports have been filed since the newrules took effect, particularly for technical reportsprepared on advanced mineral projects. We will review thecommon issues of non-compliance identified by theCanadian Securities Commission and provide suggestionson how to prepare mining technical disclosure documentsin compliance with current Canadian and U.S. miningdisclosure standards. Examples of retracted and clarifieddisclosure will be used to illustrate specific complianceissues.

Facilitators: Greg Gosson, Technical Director of Geology & Compliance,AMEC; Stella Searston, Principal Geologist, Amec Foster Wheeler | Time:8:00-16:30

New Dimensions = New Opportunities

SEE WHO’S EXHIBITING: CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

THE CIM MINING MARKETPLACEMontréal, QC | May 10-12, 2015

Look for The Expo! Guide in the March issue of CIM Magazine!

EXPLOREWHAT OVER

500 EXHIBITORSHAVE TO OFFER.


CONGRÈS ICM 2015 CIM CONVENTION

CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

impending regulations on revenue transparency in theextractive industry, it continues to resonate with theCanadian government. We will examine the tools availableto foster a corporate culture of responsibility and ethicalbusiness practices. Looking at the experience andmaterials developed by Transparency International (TI) andrecent convictions under the CFPOA, expert facilitators andpresenters will review anti-corruption global events relatedto the extractive industry and explain strategies andpractices that companies can implement to ensurecompliance, even in high-risk locations.

Facilitators: Joseph Ringwald, President and CEO, Selwyn Resources;Peter Dent, Partner, Deloitte Forensic; Martin Mueller, Chief ComplianceCounsel, Nexen Inc. | Time: 8:00-16:30

SAFE MINE BACKFILL OPERATING PRACTICESBased on a 2010 study by the Robert M. BuchanDepartment of Mining, Queen’s University and WorkplaceSafety North (WSN), this workshop will introduce the latestadvances in the preparation, transportation and placementof backfill in operating mines, and present an overview ofsafe backfilling practices at mining operations. Elevenmines responded to a detailed questionnaire concerningtheir backfill practices; the researchers conducted sitevisits at all participating mines. The study included bothhydraulic (slurry) and paste fill operations, withapproximately two-thirds of these operations being devotedto paste applications. WSN and Queen’s Universitysubsequently prepared a 56-page manual and video on SafeBackfill Operating Practices.

The workshop will also discuss the findings of a secondcomprehensive survey, directed at backfill economics,conducted by Queen’s University in 2014.

Facilitators: Dr. Euler De Souza, Associate Professor, Robert BuchanDepartment of Mining, Queen’s University; Dr. James Archibald,Professor, Robert Buchan Department of Mining,Queen’s University; and Luc Beauchamp, SeniorGround Control Specialist, Workplace Safety North |Time: 8:30-16:30

STATE OF PRACTICE IN TAILINGSMANAGEMENTThe 1994 failure of the Omai tailings dam inGuyana prompted the Canadian miningindustry to question whether that event couldhappen in Canada. It began working with theMining Association of Canada (MAC) and theCanadian Dam Safety Association (CDSA). By1997, the CDSA updated its dam safetyguidelines to include tailings. Moredocumentation and updates followed fromMAC. In 2014 the Canadian Dam Association(formerly CDSA) introduced a technicalbulletin related to dam safety guidelines onmining dams. In light of the Mount Polleyincident, this workshop will focus on lessonsto be learned with respect to the technical,

legal, social and management aspects of tailings facilities inCanada. The workshop will identify the challenges and roadblockswith tailings basin site, design, construction, operation and closurefrom regulatory, corporate social responsibility, site operationallevel, consultancy, and First Nations and community perspectives.Speakers will be asked to identify lessons learned, gaps andtechnical and management approaches to identify opportunitiesfor improvement. Active participation and open discussion amongthe panel and the workshop attendees will be encouraged.

Facilitator: Rick Siwik, President, Siwik Consulting Inc. | Reporter: Jack Caldwell, Robertson Geoconsultants Inc. | Speakers: Heather Narynski,Senior Geotechnical Inspector, Ministry of Energy and Mines, British Columbia;Peter Brady, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault; Rick Meyers, Vice-President, Technicaland Northern Affairs, Mining Association of Canada; Andy Small, M.Sc. P.Eng.,AMEC Environment and Infrastructure; Janice Zinck, Manager, Green MiningResearch-Environment and Processing, Natural Resources Canada; Serge Delisle, Program Leader, Energy, Mining and Environment, NationalResources Council; Alan Young, Director, Materials Efficiency Research Group(MERG); Michael Davies, Vice-President, Teck Resources Limited; and P. JerryAsp, Vice-President, Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association | Time: 8:30-16:30

MINING 101 – AN INTRODUCTION TO MININGAND MINERAL PROCESSINGMining 101 is an introduction to mining and mineral processingusing basic concepts and many relevant and current examples.It consists of five parts:

• The activities of a mining company• Geological concepts• Mineral resources estimation and reporting• Open pit and underground mining• Mineral processing

Facilitator: George McIsaac, Geology & Mining Evaluation Consulting, G-MEC | Time: 8:30-12:30

The 2015 CIM Convention in Montreal is the ultimateprofessional networking opportunity. Student registrationgives you the same access as a full delegate package,complete technical program; CIM Plenary; free onlineaccess to the papers and presentations after theconference; The Expo!; CIM Job Fair; CIM OpeningReception; Monday lunch at the Expo!; CIM Student-Industry Luncheon on Tuesday; and Joy Global Gala.

Le Congrès de l’ICM Montréal 2015 sera l’occasion idéalede tisser des liens avec vos pairs et les professionnels devotre milieu, de même qu’avec les dirigeants de l’industrieminière. L’inscription à titre d’étudiant comprend l’accès àtoutes les activités offertes aux congressistes : programmetechnique complet ; accès complet et gratuit à tous lesarticles et à toutes les présentations après le congrès ;l’Expo! ; foire de l’emploi de l’ICM ; séance plénière del’ICM ; réception inaugurale de l’ICM ; lunch du lundi àl’Expo! ; lunch-réseautage Étudiants-Industrie, le mardi ;gala Joy Global

MONDAY, MAY 11 & TUESDAY, MAY 12 |LE LUNDI 11 MAI ET LE MARDI 12 MAI

STUDENT POSTER COMPETITION |CONCOURS D’AFFICHES D’ÉTUDIANTSShowcase your talents to leading mining industryprofessionals. Put your best foot forward and submit anabstract online, before March 8, 2015, on topics rangingfrom geology and mining to processing and sustainability.And there is more!

Proposez votre curriculum vitae en ligne avant le 8 mars 2015et profitez de cette occasion parfaite pour mettre en valeur vostalents auprès des professionnels et dirigeants de l’industrieminière sur un large éventail de sujets, de la géologie et desmines au traitement et à la durabilité.

10:00-17:00 | At the Expo! | À l’Expo!

STUDENT PROGRAM | PROGRAMME ÉTUDIANT


TUESDAY, MAY 12 | LE MARDI 12 MAI

MOCK INTERVIEW SESSION |PRATIQUES D’ENTREVUEThis session is designed to help you improve your interviewskills. Learn how to anticipate and answer difficult questions,improve your communication skills and manage stress.

Cette activité vise à vous préparer à répondre aux questionsdifficiles d’entrevues, à contourner les pièges, à améliorervos aptitudes à communiquer et à gérer votre stress.

8:00-10:00 | By appointment | Sur rendez-vous : [email protected]

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS | TABLES RONDESThe CIM Round Table Event is the ideal place for students andgraduates to engage with industry leaders from a broad rangeof sectors in a more intimate setting. Here is your chance toask the questions that matter … and get some answers.

Cette activité est le lieu idéal pour les étudiants et diplôméssouhaitant discuter avec des leaders de l’industrie de sujetsvariés dans un environnement plus intime. Voici l’occasionde poser des questions clés…et obtenir des réponses.

10:00-12:00 | Salon 512E

STUDENT-INDUSTRY LUNCHEON |LUNCH ÉTUDIANTS-INDUSTRIEThe Student-Industry Luncheon seats students next tomining professionals, affording you the opportunity to makethat all-important contact that can propel your career.Practice your networking skills by engaging with futureemployers and potential mentors in this select andprofessional networking environment.

Prizes will be awarded to poster competition winners.

Le lunch Étudiants-Industrie est l’occasion parfaite pour lesétudiants de rencontrer les chefs de file de l’industrie etd’établir des contacts indispensables. Soyez présents, faites-vous remarquer !

Les prix seront remis aux gagnants du concours d’affiches.12:00-14:00 | Salon 511F

Jon Benjam

in Photography


Now in its 10th year, CIM’s educational outreach initiative,the M4S show, is expected to draw in more than 4,000students, teachers and members of the general public overthree days. M4S features eight interactive pavilions thatexplore a wide range of activities representing the fullmining cycle: from exploration, mining and processing toproduct fabrication, safety, sustainability and education,and space and deep sea mining. M4S demonstrates theimportance of the mining industry in our daily lives andshowcases some of the exciting career opportunities. Withan estimated 140,000 jobs to fill in the mining and mineralssector by the year 2020, educating and training the futureworkforce about the variety of professions related to thesector has become more important than ever. M4S is madepossible through the collaboration, participation andgenerous support of numerous industry, academic andgovernment exhibitors, sponsors and volunteers.

www.m4society.orgLucie Vincent, M4S Coordinator | Coordonnatrice M4S :

[email protected]

Dans sa 10e année d’existence, le très acclamé salon M4Sreflète la totalité des activités minières dans le secteursdes mines, minéraux, métaux et matériaux. Prêt àaccueillir près de 4 000 étudiants et leurs enseignants, lesalon M4S proposera une multitude d’activités interactivesportant sur l’exploration et l’exploitation minière – tant surterre que dans l’espace et les fonds marins, latransformation, la fabrication de produits, ledéveloppement durable et l’éducation. Avec plus de 140 000postes à pourvoir avant l’an 2020, informer et éduquer lagénération des potentiels joueurs du monde minier dedemain est au centre de nos priorités. Le salon M4S estréalisable grâce aux efforts collectifs déployés parl’industrie, les exposants du secteur, du monde del’éducation et du gouvernement. L’Institut, sescommanditaires et ses bénévoles vous invitent à visiterM4S, à le promouvoir et vous impliquer !

Ayant pour mission de sensibiliser le public sur l’impact del’exploitation minière dans la vie de tous les jours, ce salonpromet une immersion pour les néophytes dans l’universméconnu des mines.

CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

MINING, MINERALS, METALS AND MATERIALS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM |

LE SALON ÉDUCATIF SUR LES MINES, MINÉRAUX, MÉTAUX ET MATÉRIAUX

Monday to Wednesday, May 11 to 13 | Du lundi au mercredi, du 11 au 13 mai | 9:00-16:00 | Hall 210D

Jon Benjam

in Photography

For the first time, other CIM societies have joined forceswith CIM’s Surface Mining and Underground Miningsocieties in sponsoring the Opening Ceremony andWelcome Reception that brings all convention participantstogether to benefit from meeting the welcoming speakers,enjoying the entertainment and mingling with a drink inhand. Gifts are up for grabs so be sure to bring extrabusiness cards to enter the draws. These and othersocieties already form solid bases of technical programcontent. Come celebrate the industry with these volunteers,all committed to your area of expertise and cause!

SUNDAY, MAY 10 | LE DIMANCHE 10 MAI

OPENING CEREMONY AND WELCOME RECEPTION |CÉRÉMONIE D’OUVERTURE ET RÉCEPTION DE BIENVENUE

Les sociétés de l’ICM volent la vedette ! Pour la premièrefois, d’autres sociétés de l’ICM ont rejoint les sociétésd’exploitation minière à ciel ouvert et d’exploitation minièresouterraine pour promouvoir la cérémonie d’ouverture etla réception de bienvenue du congrès. Tous les participantsauront l’occasion d’y rencontrer les intervenantsprononçant le discours de bienvenue et de se mêler auxautres invités tout en dégustant un verre.

Venez célébrer avec ces bénévoles, tous dévoués à votrespécialité minière et votre cause.

16:00-20:00 | Ceremony in Viger Hall Foyer prior to reception at the Expo!| Cérémonie dans le foyer Viger avec la réception à l’Expo! | Included inthe registration fee | Inclus dans l’inscription

A myriad of social activities has been planned to maximizeyour networking opportunities and make your conventionmemorable. Reserve your tickets early!

Un éventail d’activités sociales a été prévu afin demaximiser vos occasions de réseautage et de rendrevotre congrès inoubliable. Réservez vos billets tôt !


SOCIAL PROGRAM | PROGRAMME SOCIAL

Jon Benjam

in Photography

Jon Benjam

in Photography

Jon Benjam

in Photography

Jon Benjam

in Photography

Jon Benjam

in Photography

Jon Benjam

in Photography

RES-SMR Rock Engineering Society Société de Mécanique des Roches



MONDAY, MAY 11 & TUESDAY, MAY 12 |LE LUNDI 11 MAI ET LE MARDI 12 MAI

NETWORKING AT THE EXPO! | RÉSEAUTAGE À L’EXPO!Lunch and cocktail receptions at the Expo! will take placefrom 12:00 to 14:00 and 15:30 to 17:00. Lunch and one drinkticket per day are included with each delegate registration.

Les lunchs et réceptions auront lieu à l’Expo! de 12 h à 14h et de 15 h 30 à 17 h. Un billet de lunch et un billet donnantdroit à une consommation durant la réception sont incluspar jour par délégué inscrit.

MONDAY, MAY 11 | LE LUNDI 11 MAI

CIM AWARDS GALA | GALA DE L’ICMThe CIM Awards Gala celebrates the leaders of theCanadian mining industry. This evening, co-hosted by ErinCebula of Entertainment Tonight Canada West Coast andNatasha Gargiulo of ET Canada, features a sumptuousdinner, and the stand-up comedy of Canada’s one and onlySugar Sammy – the phenomenal sugar and spicesensation. You’re gonna rire!

Le Gala de l’ICM fête les grands chefs de file d’hier etd’aujourd’hui de l’industrie minière canadienne. À lademande générale, Erin Cebula, la correspondanted’Entertainment Tonight Canada (ETC) pour la côte Ouest,et la co-animatrice Natasha Gargiulo, correspondanted’ETC pour la côte Est, sont de retour pour faire ce qu’ellesfont le mieux – animer votre soirée ! Commedivertissement cette année, nous vous offrons lebonhomme qui sent les épices…le sensationnel, le seul etunique Sugar Sammy. You’re gonna rire !

Reception | Réception: 18:00; Gala: 19:00 | Salon 710 | $175

Gala Sponsor Reception | Réception Sponsor

TUESDAY, MAY 12 | MARDI LE 12 MAI

WOMEN IN MINING RECEPTION | RÉCEPTIONDES FEMMES EN EXPLOITATION MINIÈREWomen in Mining Montréal is partnering with the 2015 CIMConvention to host the Women in Mining & VIP Reception.Enjoy a cocktail and get to know a diverse group of industryprofessionals who gather to promote and celebrate theimportant leadership roles women are increasingly playingin our industry.

Tenu conjointement avec la réception VIP, cerassemblement fournira une excellente occasion deréseautage pour les femmes dans l’industrie, et nos invitésVIP. Joignez-vous à vos pairs de partout au Canada poursouligner les rôles clés et de plus en plus importants quejouent les femmes dans notre industrie.

17:00-19:00 | Salon 511B | $35

VIP RECEPTION | RÉCEPTION VIPSenior industry leaders and contributors and invited guestswill gather for a high-powered networking session wheretheir contribution to the industry is the underlying theme.Held in conjunction with the Women in Mining reception,this event is a unique opportunity to connect with decision-makers from across Canada.

Tenu conjointement avec la Réception des femmes enexploitation minière, ce rassemblement est une excellenteoccasion de réseautage pour les invités VIP de l’ICM et legroupe des Femmes en exploitation minière et leurs invités.Connectez avec les principaux décideurs de partout àtravers le Canada et laissez l’ICM exprimer sareconnaissance pour votre précieuse contribution.

17:00-19:00 | Salon 511B | By invitation

CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

KNOWLEDGE BREAKFAST |PETIT DÉJEUNER DE CONNAISSANCESMonday, May 11 | Le lundi 11 mai | 7:30-8:30 | Salon 512E | $40

LEADERSHIP IS THE NEW SAFETY Not so long ago we talked about safety, but measuredand rewarded production took precedence. Over timesafety became an important best practice benchmark.We now talk about leadership, but less than one-thirdof organizations feel they have effective leadershipprograms. For our Knowledge Breakfast, Rosie Steeves,President of Executive Works, discusses how leadershipis not merely a “feel-good” metric but a significantcontributor to the bottom line.

LE LEADERSHIP RIME AVEC SÉCURITÉ Il n’y a pas si longtemps, nous parlions de sécurité, sansmesure de qualité, mais en récompensant la production.Au fil du temps, la sécurité est devenue une référenceimportante. On parle désormais de leadership, maismoins d’un tiers des organisations estiment qu’elles ontdes programmes de leadership efficaces. Lors de ce petitdéjeuner de connaissances, Rosie Steeves, présidented’Executive Works, expliquera comment le leadershipn’est pas seulement une mesure de satisfaction, maisun contributeur important aux objectifs de sécurité.


SPECIAL SESSION | SESSION SPÉCIALE

Extractive Sector Multi-StakeholderDialogue SessionCIM’s Environmental & Social Responsibility Society,in collaboration with the Centre for Excellence in CSR,launched the Extractive Sector Multi-StakeholderDialogue Series in Toronto at the 2013 CIMConvention. Dialogue sessions followed in Montreal atthe World Mining Congress in August 2013, in QuebecCity at Québec Mines in November 2013, and inVancouver at the 2014 CIM Convention.

To ensure diversity, registered participants areassigned to specific round tables where they willengage in facilitated round table discussions underthe Chatham House Rule and in an informal “worldcafé” format. They will engage in a first dialogue onmutual values to build a constructive basis. A seconddialogue will focus on key concerns and challengesfacing the extractive sector and all stakeholders.Facilitators assigned to each table will then shareresults with the group.

Dialogue multipartite du secteurextractif La Société de responsabilité sociale etenvironnementale de l’ICM, en collaboration avec leCentre d’excellence en responsabilité sociale desentreprises, a inauguré le dialogue multipartite dusecteur extractif lors du Congrès de l’ICM 2013 àToronto. Des dialogues ont suivi à Montréal dans lecadre du Congrès minier mondial au mois d’août 2013,à Québec dans le cadre de Québec Mines au mois denovembre 2013 et au Congrès annuel de l’ICM 2014 àVancouver.

Afin d’assurer une diversité à chaque table, lesparticipants inscrits seront assignés aux différentestables. Ils tiendront d’abord un dialogue portant surles valeurs communes afin d’établir les bases d’unvéritable dialogue selon la règle de Chatham House.Par la suite, chaque table discutera d’un enjeuspécifique du secteur de l’extraction. Un modérateursera désigné à chaque table et recueillera lesrésultats des discussions de sa table et les feraconnaître à l’ensemble des participants.

Wednesday, May 13 | Le mercredi 13 mai | 8:30-12:00 | Salon 514BFree (registrations accepted until May 1) | Gratuit (date limite d’inscription : 1er mai)

JOY GLOBAL GALA | GALA JOY GLOBALGet ready for an evening of non-stop entertainment. TheJoy Global Gala features live music, delectable finger foodsand refreshments. This event closes the social programwith a bang – literally!

Ouvert à tous les congressistes, le Gala Joy Globals’annonce comme l’événement festif de l’année dans ledomaine minier : piste de danse, musiciens sur place,savoureux buffet et ambiance de fête jusqu’au petit matin.C’est à ne pas manquer !

20:00-24:00 | Salon 710 | Included in the delegate and exhibitorregistrations | Inclus dans les frais d’inscription des congressistes

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13 | LE MERCREDI 13 MAI

MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE DAY & CLOSING LUNCH | JOURNÉE GESTION ET FINANCES ET LUNCH DE CLÔTUREThe Closing Lunch is a project of the Management andFinancing Day. CIM and the Management and EconomicsSociety are pleased to present the most up-to-date viewson strategic issues around cost and financing in the miningindustry. In addition, attendees will have the pleasure ofhearing keynote speaker Richard Ross, Inmet Chair at theSchulich School of Business and Program Director for theGlobal Mining Management MBA.

Le lunch de clôture fait partie intégrante de la Journéegestion et finances. L’ICM et la société de la gestion et del’économie minérale sont fiers de présenter les données etles visions les plus actuelles portant sur les coûts et lesquestions stratégiques dans l’industrie minière. De plus,les participants auront le plaisir d’assister à la présentationde Richard Ross, président d’Inmet, Schulich School ofBusiness et directeur du programme Global MiningManagement MBA.

12:00-14:00 | Salon 511B | Day program and Lunch / Programme de lajournée et lunch: $375 | Lunch only for registered convention delegates /Lunch pour délégués du congrès: $75

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

“Connect” on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cimconvention

Twitter: @AnnualCIM, #CIMTL15

“Like” us on Facebook:www.facebook.com/CIMConvention


The CIM Expo!, Canada’s premier mining show, featuresnearly 500 companies showcasing the latest in miningequipment, tools, technology and products.

Do you have an interesting story to share, or an innovativeproduct or service that you want the industry to knowabout? Stop by the CIM Magazine Lounge to chat with oneof our editors or a member of our advertising sales team.Lunch and cocktail receptions will be held in the Expo! onMonday and Tuesday, May 11 and 12, at 12:00 to 14:00 and15:30 to 17:00. Lunch and one drink ticket are included withdelegate registration.

Check out our exhibitors’ list online and in the preliminaryExpo! Guide in the March/April issue of CIM Magazine.

THE EXPO!...CANADA’S MINING MARKETPLACE | L’EXPO! ... LE CARREFOUR DES AFFAIRES

CIM JOB FAIR |SALON DE L’EMPLOI

Monday, May 11 and Tuesday, May 12 | Le lundi 11 mai et le mardi 12 mai

Whether you are just starting your career or looking tomake a change, representatives from nine national andinternational companies looking to hire will be available fordiscussions. Come prepared with your resumés and makesure you stand out to them.

Vous commencez votre carrière ou souhaitez la réorienter ?Des représentants de neuf entreprises qui prévoientembaucher accepteront votre curriculum vitae. Soyezpréparé et démarquez-vous parmi les candidats présents.

Exhibitors | ExposantsBrunel • Cameco Corporation • Detour Gold • Goldcorp •Suncor Energy Inc. • Syncrude Canada Ltd. • TeckResources Ltd. • The Mosaic Company

Près de 500 entreprises présenteront leurs produits,équipements, outils, technologies et services les plusactuels destinés au secteur minier. Vous avez une histoireintéressante à partager, ou un produit ou service innovantque vous voulez faire connaître à l’industrie ? Arrêtez-vousau stand du CIM Magazine à l’exposition et discutez avecun de nos rédacteurs ou représentants publicitaires. Leslunchs et les réceptions auront lieu à l’Expo! le lundi 11 maiet le mardi 12 mai, de 12 h à 14 h et de 15 h 30 à 17 h. Unbillet de lunch et un billet donnant droit à uneconsommation durant la réception sont inclus par jour pardélégué inscrit.

Consultez la liste de nos exposants en ligne et le guidepréliminaire de l’Expo! dans le prochain numéro du CIMMagazine.

CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

Jon Benjam

in Photography

Jon Benjam

in Photography

CITY TOUR OF MONTREAL |TOUR DE LA VILLE DE MONTRÉALThis exciting tour will introduce you to various parts of thecity that make Montreal the Paris of North America. You willhave the chance to see how culturally diverse Montreal is,as well as visit landmarks and new developments that arethe key to making Montreal such a unique and wonderfulcity. See Montreal’s Underground City, the Plateau Mont-Royal, one of the top four “hippest” neighbourhoods inNorth America, and take in the view from the top of MountRoyal. Includes transportation, guide, taxes and gratuities.

Découvrez les secteurs de la ville qui la rendent si uniquegrâce à son héritage biculturel et son mélange d’ancien etde moderne dans le cadre de ce grand tour d’horizon de laville. Visitez le Plateau Mont-Royal, ce quartier trèspopulaire auprès de la clientèle huppée, avec ses escaliersen spirales, ses corniches ornementées et son architecturedistincte. Ce tour inclut un arrêt au sommet du parc Mont-Royal pour admirer le panorama sur la ville et comprendle transport par autobus, un guide, les taxes et le service.

Sunday, May 10 / Le dimanche 10 mai | 9:00-12:00 | Departure / Départ:Palais des congrès de Montréal | $60

FLAVOURS AND AROMAS OF OLD MONTREAL |SAVEURS ET ARÔMES DU VIEUX-MONTRÉALThis walk will make you discover the culinary, cultural andhistorical charms of the oldest district of Montreal. Innarrow, cobblestone streets, housed in buildings datingback to the 18th and 19th centuries, some of our finest foodboutiques open their doors and invite you in to taste theirdelicacies. Understand how nuns, our aboriginal population

GUEST PROGRAM | PROGRAMME DES INVITÉS

and Expo ’67 influenced what we eat. Includes foodie guide,tastings, taxes and gratuities.

Cette balade vous fait découvrir de façon délicieuse lescharmes culinaires, culturels et historiques du plusancien quartier de Montréal. Au détour des rues étroites,on vous entraîne à l’intérieur de boutiques pour dégusterdes créations culinaires, en compagnie d’un guide quivous nourrit de ses commentaires historiques etgastronomiques tout au long de votre parcours. On vousentretiendra entre autres de l’influence de la cultureamérindienne sur notre façon de manger, de l’histoire desreligieuses et des bonnes manières, de l’Expo 67 et sesexplosions de saveurs. La balade inclut un guide à pied,dégustations, les taxes et le service.

Sunday, May 10 / Le dimanche 10 mai | 13:30-16:00 | Departure / Départ:Palais des congrès de Montréal | $70

GRÉVIN MUSEUM AND LUNCH AT LA GUILDECULINAIRE | MUSÉE GRÉVIN ET DÉJEUNER ÀLA GUILDE CULINAIREImitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Grévin Museum,mirroring Madame Tussaud’s™, opened in 2013 anddisplays more than 120 wax figures of personalities whohave made their mark on Canadian, Quebec and Frenchhistories. You will be amazed by the resemblance of someof the famous people you will “meet.” Bring your camera.A three-course lunch at La Guilde Culinaire, a well-knownculinary school, will follow. Be ready to get involved withthe cooking! Includes transportation, guide, admissionfees, a three-course luncheon, a glass of wine, taxes andgratuities.


Zoe Koulouris

Credit : ©

Michel Tremblay

Credit : ©

MTTQ / Linda Turgeon

Credit : ©

Tourisme Montréal, Pierre-Luc Dufour


L’art du vrai-semblant, c’est ce que vous offre le muséeGrévin avec plus de 120 personnalités reproduites en cire.Ce musée inauguré en 2013 est la toute dernièreattraction à Montréal à vous présenter des personnalitésqui ont marqué l’histoire du Canada, du Québec et de laFrance. Vous serez surpris par la ressemblance decertaines personnes très connues que vous« rencontrerez. » N’oubliez pas votre caméra pour prendredes photos mémorables. Suivra un déjeuner trois servicesà La Guilde Culinaire, une école de cuisine réputée deMontréal où vous serez appelé à mettre la main à la pâte.Comprenant : transport, guide, admission aux activités,repas trois services, verre de vin, taxes et service.

Monday, May 11 / Le lundi 11 mai | 9:30-15:30 | Departure / Départ:Palais des congrès de Montréal | $180

A DAY IN THE COUNTRY & TRADITIONALSUGAR SHACK | JOURNÉE CHAMPÊTRE ETCABANE À SUCRE TRADITIONNELLEOur day will start with a visit to the magnificent 200 yearold Tresler House in Dorion, a listed building. Near thelake, its landscaping creates a natural, traditional settingand the interior design and sumptuous furnishingsremain true to an ancestral tradition.

Lunch will be at a traditional sugar shack. In Quebec, thesugaring-off party is a hearty, typically French Canadiancelebration. An event that dates back to pioneer days, itcelebrates the end of a hard winter and maple syrup. Thehosts have recreated the bygone days, with rural buildingsmade of authentic barn timbers and outfitted withfieldstone ovens. This establishment was singled out bythe New York Times food editors for its typical decor andthe quality of its sugar time feast. Experience Québécoisfolklore at its best! Includes transportation, guide,admission fees, traditional meal and glass of Caribou,taxes and gratuities.

Notre journée débutera avec la visite de la magnifiqueMaison Tresler (200 ans) située à Dorion et classéemonument historique de par son histoire et sonarchitecture remarquable. Sise sur le bord du lac desDeux Montagnes, son aménagement paysager naturel,son style canadien-français et sa superficie, sa décorationintérieure et ses meubles somptueux sont exceptionnels.

Par la suite, nous déjeunerons dans une cabane à sucretraditionnelle, située à Rigaud, en pleine forêt. Le repassera composé de mets typiques québécois servis lors denos sorties à la cabane à sucre, tradition canadienne-française qui date du temps des pionniers qui célébraientla fin du dur hiver. Vos hôtes ont reconstitué l’authenticitéd’un site rural typique. Cet établissement a été cité par leNew York Times pour son décor et sa nourriture. Vivez lefolklore québécois à son meilleur ! Comprenant :transport, admission aux activités, mets traditionnels,verre de caribou, taxes et service.

Tuesday, May 12 / Le mardi 12 mai | 9:00-15:00 | Departure / Départ:Palais des congrès de Montréal | $135

CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

FREE FOR CONVENTIONDELEGATES | GRATUIT POUR LES DÉLÉGUES DU CONGRÈS Full-paying delegates to the CIM Convention benefit from all ofthe following:

Reduced fee for all convention workshopsDelegate tote bag including all convention materialsAccess to the technical presentations including:• Ethics in Mining Symposium• Iron Ore Symposium• PTMSS Symposium• Management & Finance Day (lunch is extra)Access to all technical program proceedings post-conventionAccess to the International Society of Rock MechanicsCongress (ISRM) for $150Access to The Expo! and Job FairAccess to WiFi in all public spaces of the conventionInternet access stations in The Expo!Mobile device charging stationFinger foods and refreshments at The Expo! during the openingreceptionRefreshments at the Expo! during Monday and Tuesday cocktailreceptionsLunch at The Expo! on Monday and TuesdayVisiting privileges for the M4S show on Mining, Minerals, Metalsand MaterialsAccess to the Joy Global Gala

Les délégués du congrès de l’ICM bénéficient des avantagessuivants :

Tarif préférentiel sur tous les ateliers pendant le congrèsUn fourre-tout par délégué incluant toute la documentationdu congrèsAccès aux séances techniques incluant :• Symposium sur l’éthique dans l’industrie minière• Symposium sur le minerai de fer• Symposium sur la science minière planétaire et terrestre

(PTMSS)• Journée gestion et finances de l’industrie minérale (lunch

en sus)Accès au congrès International Society of Rock Mechanics(ISRM) pour 150 $Accès à toutes les présentations techniques du congrès surwww.cim.orgAccès à l’Expo!Accès WiFi dans les aires publiques du congrès Accès à Internet dans la salle de l’Expo!Station de charge pour mobiles au foyerHors-d’oeuvre et consommations dans la salle de l’Expo! lorsde la soirée inauguraleConsommations dans la salle de l’Expo! lors des cocktails dulundi et du mardiDeux lunchs dans la salle de l’Expo! le lundi et le mardiAccès au salon public M4S sur les mines, les minéraux, lesmétaux et les matériauxAccès au Gala Joy Global

TECHNICAL PROGRAMMONDAY, MAY 11 | LE LUNDI 11 MAI



AM

AM

PM

PM

INNOVATION – PRESENT

AND FUTUREINNOVATION –

PRÉSENT ET AVENIR

MAINTENANCEENGINEERING/

UNDERGROUND MININGL’INGÉNIERIE DEMAINTENANCE /L’EXPLOITATION

MINIÈRE SOUTERRAINE

ENVIRONMENTALPARADIGMSTENDANCESENVIRONNE -MENTALES

WEST AFRICA/MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE DAY

L’AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST/ LA JOURNÉE GESTION

ET FINANCE

“NEW DIMENSIONS” PLENARY – MODERATOR: JEAN LAPIERRE

Paradigm Shift: Towards Zero Waste

in Mining(Forum)

Faire évoluer les mentalités :Vers l’élimination

complète des déchets dans le secteur minier

Deep Mine Cooling

Refroidissement de l’air dans

les mines profondes

ESRS Plenary – Responsible MiningSéance plénière de la SERS –

Exploitation minièreresponsable

Genomics (Mining)La génomique

(Exploitation minière)

Plenary – Does the Canadian Mining Industry

Care for Innovation?Séance plénière – L’industrie minière

canadienne se préoccupe-t-elle de l’innovation?

Predictive Maintenance L’entretien préventif

Permitting La délivrance des permis

Mining Projects in West Africa, Part 1

Projets miniers en Afrique de l’Ouest, Première partie

Collaboration forInnovation: RDI

(Forum)La collaboration pourl'innovation : RDI

Merits of Early Maintenance Les avantages de l’entretien préventif

Best Practices in Tailings ManagementPratiques exemplaires de gestion des résidus

miniers

Mining Projects in West Africa, Part 2 Projets miniers

en Afrique de l’Ouest, Deuxième partie

Standards and Guidelines:Building Blocks for InnovationNormes et lignes directrices :Les éléments constitutifs

pour l'innovation

Energy Management inUnderground Mines La gestion de l’énergie

dans les mines souterraines

Management of Water and TailingsLa gestion de l’eau

et des résidus

Mining Investmentsin West Africa (Panel)

Les investissements miniers en Afrique de l’Ouest (Groupe de discussion)

Innovative Education(Forum)

L'éducation novatrice

Mine Safety, Part 1 Sécurité dans les mines,

1ère partie Multi-StakeholderDialogue

Dialogue avec lesmultiples parties

prenantes

What are the Hidden Costs?Quels sont les coûts cachés?

Innovation: Present and Future

(forum)Innovation : Présent et avenir

Mine Safety, Part 2Sécurité dans les mines,

2ième partie

Strategic Cost IssuesLes enjeux stratégiques de la gestion des coûts

The Business Side of CSRL’aspect commercial

de la RSE

Panel Discussion Groupe de discussion

Closing RemarksDiscours de clôture

MES and ESRS ReceptionRéception de la SERS et l’ERSM

AN

AG

EMEN

T A

ND

FIN

AN

CE D

AY

| J

OU

RN

ÉE G

ESTI

ON

ET

FIN

AN

CES

PRELIMINARY TECHNICAL PROGRAMGRILLE DU PROGRAMME TECHNIQUE

PM

AM

VISIT CONVENTION.CIM.ORG REGULARLY FOR TECHNICAL PROGRAM UPDATES. V

PROGRAMME TECHNIQUEOPERATIONALEXCELLENCE/EXPLOSIVES

AND BLASTINGL’ EXCELLENCE

OPÉRATIONNELLE/LES EXPLOSIFS ET LE DYNAMITAGE

GEOLOGY & BEST PRACTICES

GÉOLOGIEET LES PRACTIQUES

EXEMPLAIRES

WOMEN IN MINING/ ETHICS IN MINING

SYMPOSIUM LES FEMMES EN

EXPLOITATION MINIÈREET SYMPOSIUM SURL’ÉTHIQUE DANS

L’INDUSTRIE MINIÈRE

IRON ORESYMPOSIUM

SYMPOSIUM SURLE MINERAI DE FER

PLANETARY ANDTERRESTRIAL MININGSCIENCES SYMPOSIUM

(PTMSS)SYMPOSIUM SUR LESSCIENCES MINIÈRESPLANÉTAIRES ETTERRESTRES

PLÉNIÈRE “NOUVELLES DIMENSIONS”– MODÉRATEUR: JEAN LAPIERRE

AEM – OperationalExcellence

AEM - L’excellenceopérationnelle

From Core Shack to Database: Data Collection

& Management of Exploration Projects

Du carottage aux bases de données : la collecte des données et la gestion des projets d’exploration

Women on Boards Le rôle des femmes dans les conseils d’administration

Review ofIron Resources L’analyse des

ressources ferreuses

Opening Remarks, Keynotes and Scholarship

Allocution, discours et bourses d’études

Explosives and Blasting –GroundbreakingAdvancements Les explosifs

et le dynamitage –Percées novatrices

Target Generation Initiatives: GIS and Geospatial Data Integration for Targeting

on Exploration ProjectsInitiatives de génération de données : SIG et

intégration des donnéesgéospatiales visant à cibler des projets d’exploration

Ethics of Risk Assessment

Éthique de l’évaluation des risques

New Project Developments

Nouveaux projets de développement

Legal and Policy Aspects juridiques

et politiques

Mines of the Future Les mines de l’avenir

Innovations in Geochemistry and QA/QC

Les innovations géochimiques – AQ/CQ

Company-Community Agreements and FPIC

Accords entre les entreprises et les communautés et le

consentement libre, préalable et éclairé (CPLE)

Mining Operations Opérationsminières

Commercial Space Mining L’exploitation minière del’espace commercial

Genomics (Environmental)La génomique

(Environnementale)

Geological 3D Modeling for Resources

and Reserve Estimation La modélisation de la

géologie en 3D et l’estimationdes ressources et des réserves minérales

Issues in Mining and Ethics

Les enjeux de l’industrie minière et de l’éthique

Concentration and Pelletizing of Iron Ore

Concentration etbouletage

du minerai de fer

Mission Concepts Les concepts des missions

Leading Organizational Change in Turbulent

TimesDiriger les changementsorganisationnels dansdes temps tumultueux

Engineering Management Practices

Les pratiques de gestion

en ingénierie

Women as Executives Les femmes dans

des rôles de direction

Environment and SustainableDevelopment

L’environnement et le développement

durable

Resource Prospecting La prospection des ressources

Asset Life CycleManagement

Le cycle de vie des actifs

Best PracticesLes practiques exemplaires

Women in Science and Technology

Le rôle des femmes dans lesSciences et les technologies

Plenary Session Séance plénière

Mining/Drilling/Excavation

Exploitation minière/Forage/Excavation

Innovation in Processing and

Pelletizing of Iron Ore L’innovation dans

le traitement et le bouletage du minerai

Processing Traitement des minerais

V VISITEZ CONVENTION.CIM.ORG POUR DES MISES À JOUR RÉGULIÈRES DU PROGRAMME TECHNIQUE

Jon Benjam

in Photography

Jon Benjam

in Photography

Jon Benjam

in Photography

New dimensions | Nouvelles dimensionsThe Plenary Session of the 2015CIM Convention is intended tobring focus to and initiate adialogue around the conferencetheme of “New Dimensions.”Leaders from all aspects ofmining and some fromunexpected tangential sectors arebrought together in thesethought-provoking discussions.Moderator Jean Lapierre is abilingual Quebec media

personality known for his outspokenness, independentthinking, and intimate knowledge of politics. He is completelyplugged into what is happening at the federal, provincial andmunicipal levels of government.

La séance plénière du congrès annuel de l’ICM vise à polariserl’attention et à orienter le dialogue sur le thème spécifique de laconférence « Nouvelles dimensions. » Il est impératif pour lecongrès ICM 2015 de mobiliser des leaders d’opinion pour legroup d’experts qui sont parvenus à joindre diverses partiesprenantes afin de partager les dimensions émergentes del’exploitation minière ou de les attirer vers ce secteur d’activité.Modérateur Jean Lapierre est une personnalité québécoisereconnue et appréciée du public pour son franc-parler, sesexpressions savoureuses, son indépendance d’esprit et saconnaissance intime des rouages politiques. Orateur recherchéet homme de terrain, Jean Lapierre entretient un réseau decontacts inégalé à travers le Canada. Accroc au BlackBerry, ilreste branché sur le pouls de tout ce qui se passe autant enpolitique fédérale, provinciale que municipale.

Note : La séance plénière offrira la traduction simultanée del’anglais au français.

CONFIRMED PANELISTS | PANÉLISTES CONFIRMÉS

JEAN ROBITAILLE Senior Vice-President, BusinessStrategy & Technical Services | 1er Vice-président,stratégies d’affaires et services techniques, Agnico EagleMines Limited

GREG LILLEYMAN Group Executive, Technology andInnovation | Coordonnateur en chef, Technology etInnovation, Rio Tinto

ANDREW SCOTT Senior Director, Mining InformationTechnology and Automation | Directeur principal,technologie de l’information et automatisation, Barrick Gold

KRISTAN STRAUB Vice-President | Vice-président,Glencore, Mine Raglan


PLENARY | PLÉNIÈREMONDAY MAY 11 | LE LUNDI 11 MAI | 9:00-11:30

TECHNICAL PROGRAM | PROGRAMME TECHNIQUE

IRON ORE SYMPOSIUM |SYMPOSIUM SUR LE MINERAI DE FERCIM and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy andExploration (SME), Minnesota Section, are proud to hostthe Fifth North American Iron Ore Symposium. Underthe honorary chairmanship of Dean Journeaux,Executive Vice-Chairman of New Millennium IronCorporation, this symposium will offer topicaldiscussions and networking opportunities. Access to theFifth North American Iron Ore Symposium is includedin the delegate registration fee of the CIM Convention.A special registration fee of $450 is available to anyonewho wishes to attend the Symposium only.

L’ICM et la Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration(SME), section Minnesota, sont fiers d’accueillir le5e Symposium nord-américain sur le minerai de fer. Sousla présidence d’honneur de Dean Journeaux, vice-président dirigeant de New Millennium Iron Corporation,ce symposium permettra à des professionnels departiciper à des forums de discussion sur des sujetsd’actualité. Il offrira également une occasion unique deréseautage pour rencontrer des acteurs clés, discuterd’enjeux cruciaux et obtenir des conseils techniques pourceux qui travaillent sur le terrain.

MONDAY, MAY 11 | LE LUNDI 11 MAI

14:00–16:05REVIEW OF IRON RESOURCESChairs: Serge Perreault, Senior Project Manager, SOQUEM;and Peter Clevenstine, Manager, Minnesota Department ofNatural Resources

What happened in recent years in the iron ore market?What are the different iron ore projects (mines, projectsin development and exploration) in North America andabroad?

Included for convention delegates OR registration to theSymposium only, $450 Inclus dans les frais d’inscription d’un délégué OU l’optionde s’inscrire au Symposium seulement pour 450 $

Jon

Benj

amin

Pho

togr

aphy

Cour

tesy

of S

erge

Per

reau

lt



CONVENTION.CIM.ORG


8:30–10:10NEW PROJECT DEVELOPMENTSChairs: Guy Saucier, Vice-President, Mining, Roche ltée; andDonald Fosnacht, Director, Center for Applied Research andTechnology Development, Natural Resources Research Institute,University of Minnesota Duluth

New projects are in development in North America andabroad. What are the challenges for keeping developmenton track and bringing projects into production?

10:30–12:10 MINING OPERATIONSChairs: Daniel Gagnon, General Manager Mining Group, Met-Chem Canada; and Duane Kokkinen, Vice-President, BarrEngineering

Highlights of the different iron ore mining operations inNorth America and abroad.

14:00–16:05 CONCENTRATION AND PELLETIZING OF IRON OREChairs: Michel Garant, Director, Ferrous Sector, COREM; andRichard Kiesel, Director, Coleraine Minerals Research Lab, NaturalResources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth

Challenges and new developments are the heart ofbeneficiation and pelletizing of iron ore. Knowledge,research and development, as well as practical experience,will be shared.

17:00–19:00IRON ORE HAPPY HOURA gathering event to share your knowledge, increase yournetwork and make friends from all over North America andabroad.


8:30–10:10 ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTChairs: Simon Thibault, Project Manager, Mining Environment,Roche ltée; and Dennis Murr, Senior Metallurgical Specialist, BarrEngineering Co.

Theoretical and practical information on the mainenvironmental aspects pertaining to permitting,development and closure of iron ore mine projects in NorthAmerica and abroad will be presented.

10:30–12:10 PLENARY SESSIONChairs: Daniel Gagnon, General Manager Mining Group, Met-Chem Canada; and Peter Clevenstine, Manager, MinnesotaDepartment of Natural Resources

This plenary session will feature an outstanding panel ofexperts from various fields of expertise to discuss thechallenges of developing new projects.

14:00–16:05INNOVATION IN PROCESSING AND PELLETIZING IRON ORE Chairs: Stéphanie Gourde, Director of Operations, Pôle Centre,Roche ltée; and Richard Kiesel, Director, Coleraine MineralsResearch Lab, Natural Resources Research Institute, University ofMinnesota Duluth

Innovation in processing and pelletizing iron ore leads tocost reduction and better performance.

This session will focus on the challenges and opportunitiesassociated with innovation in order to keep the NorthernHemisphere iron ore industry competitive worldwide.

CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

SHARE YOUR STATE OF MINE Join the global CIM Conventiononline community!

#CIMTL15

New Dimensions


WEDNESDAY MAY 13 | LE MERCREDI 13 MAI

The Seventh Annual Management & Finance Day, organizedby the CIM Management and Economics Society (MES), willfeature expert speakers sharing their experiences andinsights around key topics driving the industry.

La 7e édition de la Journée gestion et finances est organiséepar la Société de la gestion et de l’économie minérale de l’ICM.La société a développé un programme présentant des expertset des conférenciers dynamiques qui partageront leursexpériences et leurs perceptions sur des sujets-clés qui fontrouler l’industrie.

MANAGEMENT & FINANCE DAY | JOURNÉE GESTION ET FINANCES

Luncheon speaker: Richard A. Ross, C.P.A.

Ross has 35 years of progressiveexperience in the mining industry.Until the end of 2009 he had beenChairman and CEO of Inmet MiningCorporation for 10 years. For thedecade prior to that he held anumber of financial executive roleswithin Inmet including Executive

Vice-President and CFO. Ross now devotes his time, energyand passion for the mining industry to the development anddirection of the Global Mining Management MBA Programat York University’s Schulich School of Business.

Conférencier invité au lunch : Richard A. Ross, CPA

M. Ross possède 35 ans d’expérience dans le secteurminier. Jusqu’à la fin de 2009, il était président du conseilet chef de la direction d’Inmet Mining Corporation, postesqu’il a occupés pendant dix ans. Au cours de la décennieprécédente, il a occupé un certain nombre de postes decadre financier au sein d’Inmet, dont ceux de premier vice-président et de chef de la direction financière. M. Rossconsacre à présent son temps, son énergie et sa passionau secteur minier afin d’élaborer et d’orienter leprogramme de MBA en Global Mining Management de laSchulich School of Business de l’Université York.

8:20 | OPENING REMARKS: THINKING OUTSIDE OFTHE BOX

8:30–10:00 | WHAT ARE THE HIDDEN COSTS?Chair: Jessie Liu-Ernsting, Student, York University

Don’t be fooled by project delays – you might have more todo with it than you think! Jason Mewis, Engcomp

Operating costs – are we in the dark? Leon Binedell, PwC

Corruption – Loss of opportunitiesMilos Barutciski, Bennett Jones

10:30–12:00 | STRATEGIC COST ISSUESChair: Ben Burkholder, Senior Consultant, Strategy & Operations,KPMG LLP

Sourcing personnel for the next upturnChris Stafford, CJ Stafford Associates

Managing water, managing riskEmily Moore, Hatch

Rising cost of mine closure – it’s the water and a lot moreTerry Braun, SRK

12:00–13:30 | MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE DAY & CIM CLOSING LUNCH

13:45–15:15 | THE BUSINESS SIDE OF CSRChair: to be confirmed

Presentations of ESRS Dialogue Results

15:30–16:45 | PANEL DISCUSSIONModerator: Richard Ross, Inmet Chair and Program Director,Schulich School of Business, York University

16:45 | CLOSING RECEPTION

Included for convention delegates OR one-dayprogram including lunch, $375. Inclus dans les frais d’inscription d’un délégué OUl’option d’une journée incluant le lunch à 375 $

Assurance | Accounting | Tax | Advisory

Jon Benjam

in Photography

Jon Benjam

in Photography



AIR TRAVELINFORMATION |TRANSPORT AÉRIENWe have appointed Air Canada as the official airlinefor the 2015 CIM Convention & Expo! For onlinereservations, go to www.aircanada.com and enterthe convention code GPDH7FF1 in the searchengine.

Nous avons choisi Air Canada comme transporteurofficiel pour le congrès de l’ICM 2015. Pour lesréservations en ligne, allez à www.aircanada.comet entrez le code de congrès GPDH7FF1 dans lemoteur de recherche.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATION |HÉBERGEMENTConference Direct is the official housing bureau forthe CIM Convention. The online one-stopreservation central makes it seamless for you toreserve your room at the group rate. Space islimited so reserve early! Visit convention.cim.org,click on the Montreal drop down menu, then onHotel Reservations and proceed. Details on piracyhousing agencies, group reservations and wait listsare available on that web page.

Conference Direct est le seul service officiel deréservation d’hôtel pour notre congrès. Ce servicecentralisé vous permettra de réserver votrechambre au tarif de groupe. Les chambres sontlimitées, réservez tôt ! Reportez-vous à notre pageHébergement et réservations à convention.cim.org,sous l’onglet Montréal. Des détails relatifs auxagences de réservations, de réservations degroupes et de listes d’attente sont publiés sur cettepage Web.

CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

REGISTRATION | INSCRIPTIONRegistration to the CIM Convention includes access to the Ethics inMining Symposium, Iron Ore Symposium, TPMSS Symposium andManagement & Finance Day.

L’inscription au congrès de l’ICM comprend l’accès au Symposium surl’éthique dans l’industrie minière, le Symposium sur le minerai de fer etle Symposium TPMSS ainsi qu’à la Journée gestion et finances.

CIM NATIONAL MEMBERS BEFORE AS OF

MEMBRES NATIONAUX DE L’ICM APRIL 3 APRIL 3

AVANT À PARTIR DU LE 3 AVRIL 3 AVRIL

Business class Delegate (access to VIP lounge) $860 $980Délégué Classe affaires (accès au salon VIP)

Delegate | Délégué $730 $860Presenter and session chair $665 $785Conférencier et président de sessionStudent, unemployed, retired $85 $110Étudiant, personne sans emploi et retraitéeLife member | Membre à vie $275 $275

NON-CIM MEMBERS BEFORE AS OF(fee includes one-year membership to CIM) APRIL 3 APRIL 3NON-MEMBRES DE L’ICM AVANT À PARTIR DU(Les frais incluent une année d’adhésion à l’ICM) LE 3 AVRIL 3 AVRIL

Business class Delegate (access to VIP lounge) $1 065 $1 185Classe affaires (accès au salon VIP)

Delegate | Délégué $935 $1,065Presenter and session chair $820 $940Conférencier et président de sessionStudent | Étudiant $85 $110Unemployed, retired $185 $210Personne sans emploi et retraitée

OTHER CATEGORIESAUTRES CATÉGORIES

PTMSS Delegate | Délégué $750 $750TPMSS Presenter | Conférencier $650 $650Iron Ore Symposium only $450 $450Symposium sur le minerai de fer seulementManagement & Finance Day only $375 $375Journée gestion et finances seulementVisitor to The Expo! only $40 $40Visiteur à l’Expo! seulementVIP visitor to The Expo! only Free FreeVisiteur VIP de l’Expo! seulement Gratuit GratuitExhibitor staff, first six Free Freeregistrants by 100 sq. ft. Personnel exposant Gratuit Gratuit

One-day pass, guest registration and more information availableonline. Forfait d’un jour, inscription des invités et plus d’information sontdisponibles en ligne.

Professionals are increasingly joining business socialmedia networks to grow their own networks, position theirbrand and promote their value online. Learning whichchannel to join and how to tap into its potential can becrucial to growing your business, reaching new marketsand getting instant feedback from customers andstakeholders.

App sponsored by SMS Equipment Inc.

MINING SOCIAL MEDIA MINES ET MÉDIAS SOCIAUX

De plus en plus, les professionnels del’industrie utilisent les réseaux sociauxd’affaires afin d’accroître leurs contacts, depositionner leurs marques et de promouvoir leurs valeursen ligne. Savoir quels réseaux joindre et comment puiserdans son potentiel peut être crucial pour la croissance devotre entreprise, pour joindre de nouveaux marchés et pourobtenir une rétroaction instantanée des clients et desparties prenantes.

Application commandité par SMS Equipment Inc.

www.facebook.com/CIMConventionCommunicate, ask us questions, checkout our photos and connect with theglobal mining community! Communiquez, posez-nous vosquestions, visionnez nos photos etconnectez avec la communautéminière mondiale!

@AnnualCIMThe CIM Conventionhashtag is #CIMTL15. Le mot-clic officiel duCongrès de l’ICM 2015sera #CIMTL15.

www.linkedin.com/in/cimconventionJoin our growing globalmining professional network.Joignez notre réseaucroissant d’experts del’industrie minière mondiale.

Join the Convention conversation! Prenez part à la conversation du congrès !

The mobile app will be available in April.L’application mobile sera disponible en avril.


Saturday, May 9 8:00-10:00 CIM Executive Meeting 10:00-16:00 CIM Council Meeting 13:00-17:00 Registration

Sunday, May 10 7:30-13:00 Leadership Congress for CIM Officers 8:00-17:00 Workshops 8:00-20:00 Registration 8:00-20:00 International Delegations Activities 9:00-12:00 Guest Program: City Tour of Montreal 13:00-14:00 CIM Annual General Meeting 13:30-16:00 Guest Program:

Flavours and Aromas of Old Montreal 15:00-20:00 Business Class Lounge 15:00-20:00 Presenters’ Preparation Room 16:00-20:00 Opening Ceremony and Welcome Reception

Monday, May 11 7:00-8:30 Breakfast for Monday’s Presenters

and Session Chairs 7:30-8:30 Knowledge Breakfast:

Leadership is the New Safety 7:30-9:00 CEO and Plenary Speakers’ Breakfast 7:30-17:00 Registration 7:30-17:00 Presenters’ Preparation Room 7:30-17:00 Business Class Lounge 8:00-17:00 International Delegations Activities 9:00-11:30 Plenary Session: New Dimensions 9:00-16:00 M4S – the show on Mining, Minerals,

Metals and Materials 9:30-15:30 Guest Program: Grévin Museum

and Lunch at La Guilde Culinaire 10:00-17:00 The Expo! / CIM Job Fair /

Student Poster Program 12:00-14:00 Lunch at the Expo! 14:00-16:05 Technical Program

• Innovation – Present and Future• Maintenance Engineering/

Underground Mining• Environmental Paradigms• Operational Excellence• Geology• Women in Mining• Iron Ore Symposium• Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences

Symposium 15:30-17:00 Networking Cocktail Reception at the Expo! 18:00-19:00 CIM Awards Gala Reception 19:00-23:00 CIM Awards Gala

DAILY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

CONVENTION.CIM.ORG

Tuesday, May 12 7:00-8:30 Breakfast for Tuesday’s Presenters and

Session Chairs 7:30-17:00 Registration 7:30-17:00 Presenters’ Preparation Room 7:30-17:00 Business Class Lounge 8:00-12:00 Student Program:

Mock Interview Session and Round Tables 8:00-17:00 International Delegation Lounge 8:30-16:05 Technical Program

• Innovation – Present and Future• Maintenance Engineering/Underground Mining• Environmental Paradigms• West Africa• Operational Excellence/Explosives and Blasting• Geology• Ethics in Mining Symposium• Iron Ore Symposium• Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences

Symposium 9:00-16:00 M4S – the show on Mining, Minerals,

Metals and Materials 9:00-15:00 Guest program: A Day in the Country

& Traditional Sugar Shack 10:00-17:00 The Expo! / CIM Job Fair /Student Poster

Program 12:00-14:00 Lunch at The Expo! 12:00-14:00 Student-Industry Luncheon 15:30-17:00 Networking Cocktail Reception at The Expo! 16:30-19:00 Iron Ore Symposium, Cocktail Reception 17:00-19:00 Women in Mining and VIP Reception 20:00-00:00 Joy Global Gala

Wednesday, May 13 7:00-8:30 Breakfast for Wednesday’s Presenters

and Session Chairs 7:30-14:00 Registration 7:30-14:00 Presenters’ Preparation Room 7:30-14:00 Business Class Lounge 8:30-12:00 Special Session: Extractive Sector

Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue 8:30-12:10 Technical Program

• Innovation – Present and Future• Maintenance Engineering/Underground Mining• Operational Excellence• Best Practices• Women in Mining• Iron Ore Symposium• Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences

Symposium• Management & Finance Day

9:00-16:00 M4S – the show on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Materials

12:00-13:30 Management & Finance Day & Closing Lunch

13:45-16:45 Technical Program: Management & Finance Day 14:00-16:05 Technical Program

• Iron Ore Symposium• Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences

Symposium 16:45-18:00 Management & Finance Day Meet

& Greet Reception

Le samedi 9 mai 8 h-10 h Réunion de la direction de l’ICM 10 h-16 h Réunion du conseil d’administration de l’ICM 13 h-17 h Inscription

Le dimanche 10 mai 7 h 30-13 h Congrès sur le leadership des membres

de la direction de l’ICM 8 h-17 h Ateliers 8 h-20 h Inscription 8 h-20 h Activités de la délégation internationale 9 h-12 h Programme des invités :

Tour de ville de Montréal 13 h-14 h Assemblée générale annuelle de l’ICM 13 h 30-16 h Programme des invités :

Saveurs et arômes du Vieux-Montréal 15 h-20 h Salon VIP pour délégués Classe affaires 15 h-20 h Salle de préparation des conférenciers 16 h-20 h Cérémonie d’ouverture et réception de bienvenue

Le lundi 11 mai 7 h-8 h 30 Déjeuner des conférenciers et présidents

de sessions du lundi7 h 30-8 h 30 Déjeuner-Connaissances :

Leadership rime avec sécurité 7 h 30-9 h Déjeuner des chefs de direction

et conférenciers de la séance plénière 7 h 30-17 h Inscription 7 h 30-17 h Salle de préparation des conférenciers 7 h 30-17 h Salon VIP pour délégués Classe Affaires 8 h-17 h Activités de la délégation internationale 9 h-11 h 30 Scéance plénière : Nouvelles dimensions 9 h-16 h M4S-Salon sur les mines, minéraux,

métaux et matériaux9 h 30-15 h 30 Programme des invités : Musée Grévin

et déjeuner à La Guilde Culinaire 10 h-17 h L’Expo! / Foire de l’emploi de l’ICM /

Affiches des étudiants 12 h-14 h Lunch à l’Expo! 14 h-16 h 05 Programme technique

• Tendances environnementales• Innovation - Présent et avenir• Femmes en exploitation minière• Excellence opérationnelle• Ingénierie, entretien et exploitation minière

souterraine• Géologie• Symposium sur le minerai de fer• Science minière planétaire et terrestre

15 h 30-17 h Réception et réseautage à l’Expo! 18 h-19 h Réception précèdant le gala 19 h-23 h Gala et remise de prix de l’ICM

HORAIRE QUOTIDIEN DES ACTIVITÉS


Le mardi 12 mai 7 h-8 h 30 Déjeuner des conférenciers et présidents

de sessions du mardi 7 h 30-17 h Inscription 7 h 30-17 h Salle de préparation des conférenciers 7 h 30-17 h Salon VIP pour délégués Classe affaires 8 h-12 h Programme pour étudiants:

Pratiques d’entrevue et tables rondes 8 h-17 h Activités de la délégation internationale8 h 30-16 h 05 Programme technique :

• Tendances environnementales• Innovation - Présent et avenir• Afrique de l’Ouest• Ingénierie, entretien et exploitation minière

souterraine• Explosifs et méthodes• Géologie• Symposium sur le minerai de fer• Symposium mines et éthique• Science minière planétaire et terrestre

9 h-16 h M4S-Salon sur les mines, minéraux, métaux et matériaux

9 h-15 h Programme des invités : Journée champêtre et cabane à sucre

10 h-17 h L’Expo! / Foire de l’emploi de l’ICM / Affiches des étudiants

12 h-14 h Lunch à l’Expo! 12 h-14 h Lunch-réseautage étudiants et industrie 15 h 30-17 h Réception et réseautage à l’Expo! 16 h 30-19 h Réception des participants

du Symposium sur le minerai de fer 17 h-19 h Réception Les femmes et les mines

et réception VIP 20 h-00 h Gala Joy Global

Le mercredi 13 mai 7 h-8 h 30 Déjeuner des conférenciers et présidents

de sessions du mercredi 7 h 30-14 h Inscription 7 h 30-14 h Salle de préparation des conférenciers 7 h 30-14 h Salon VIP pour délégués Classe affaires 8 h 30-12 h Session spéciale : Dialogue multipartite

du secteur extractif8 h 30-12 h 10 Programme technique

• Innovation - Présent et avenir• Femmes dans l’exploitation minière• Excellence opérationnelle• Les practiques exemplaires• Ingénierie, entretien et exploitation minière

souterraine• Symposium sur le minerai de fer• Science minière planétaire et terrestre• Journée gestion finances de l’industrie minière

9 h-16 h M4S-Salon sur les mines, minéraux, métaux et matériaux

12 h-13 h 30 Lunch de clôture et de la Journée gestion et finances

13 h 45-16 h 45 Programme technique : • Journée gestion et finances

14 h-16 h 05 Programme technique :• Symposium sur le minerai de fer• Science minière planétaire et terrestre (PTMSS)

16 h 45–18 h Réception pour les participants à la Journée gestion et finances

standards update


Mining standards, as important asthey are to the industry, vary signifi-cantly between different jurisdictionsaround the world. In an attempt tocollect and consolidate this informa-tion, the Global Mining Standards andGuidelines Group (GMSG) has spentthe last two years cataloguing industrystandards and best practices on itsglobal standards repository and creat-ing guidelines where there are nonethrough working groups.Tim Skinner, GMSG’s founding and

past chair, said he doubts the reposi-tory contains all of the mining stan-dards in the world, but it currentlylists several hundred. The group ini-tially put a concentrated effort intofinding standards but now updates thedatabase as it comes across more.“It’s a place to go because there are

so many different standards aroundthe globe, and I don’t think there isany one central library of them,” Skin-ner said. “So it’s trying to provide ahelpful facility for people to find whatthe existing standards may be.”The group also connects people

who have come across common indus-try issues they hope to resolve and cre-ates working groups to address thechallenges, and possibly establish a setof guidelines or best practices.“It’s kind of an industry facilitator,

to bring the necessary stakeholdersaround the table to get some effortsgoing on common issues,” said Skin-ner. GMSG also occasionally contractsconsultants to help the group developguidelines.The working groups usually have

conference calls once a month orevery two months and use an onlinecollaboration site to work on projectsand review guidelines. GMSG alsosets up meetings at conferencesaround the world including the CIMConvention and the SME AnnualConference.

An industry in syncGlobal Mining Standards and Guidelines Group works to collect guidelines for mining

By Kelsey Rolfe

GMSG worked with the CanadianStandards Association (CSA) to getCanada on TC 82 as an official votingmember. As of November 2014,GMSG is a liaison organization to ISOTC 82, meaning it provides a bridgebetween the mining industry and theISO technical committee. It also helped form the Canadian

Mirror Committee for ISO TC 82 Min-ing, a requirement for countries withvoting member status. The mirrorcommittee has representatives fromCanada’s mining industry, includingowner-operators, suppliers and regula-tors, among others, who participate inISO working groups on mining standards. “We continue to look for interested

participants and experts for our mirrorcommittee, who are willing to partici-pate in the actual standards develop-ment as reviewers, contributors andorganizers,” said Skinner, who is alsothe mirror committee’s current chair.“We have our first version of the mir-ror committee established, but we dolook for greater participation becausethere are a number of topics in itsscope that are of great interest toCanada.”If you would like to get involved

with GMSG, send an email toHeather Ednie, managing director, [email protected]. CIM

In 2013 GMSG played a role insecuring Canada’s membership to theInternational Standards Organization’s(ISO) recently restarted technical com-mittee for mining (TC 82).“There were a number of topics in

the scope of the ISO’s technical com-mittee on mining that were a greatinterest to Canada, so we felt Canadashould be a voting member on thatcommittee,” Skinner said.

Current areas of interest for GMSG

working groups:

Integrated operations

•Industrial comminution

efficiency

•Data usage and access

•Onboard technology and

connectivity

•Situational awareness

•Underground mining

•Operational safety andrisk management

Learn more about GMSG’s global standards repository at

www.globalminingstandards.org

87 Lettre de l’éditeur

87 Mot du président

88 Les actualités en bref

94 Tenir le cap Sept-Îles rejoint les ligues majeures avec son nouveau quai Par Pierrick Blin et Antoine Dion-Ortega

article de fond96 Génération en danger

Sous-estimation des risques liés aux gisements futurs avant qu’ils ne soient découvertsPar Virginia Heffernan

profil de projet104 Brise-glace

Le nord de l’île de Baffin, au Nunavut, est le site dela mine en production la plus nordique du Canada –Mary River – actuellement en exploitation grâce à une équipe ayant de l’expérience en matièred’exploitation dans l’Arctique Par Eavan Moore

108 Résumés techniques

SECTIONfrancophone

La version française intégraledu CIM Magazine estdisponible en ligne :

magazine.CIM.org/fr-CA Travaux d’exploration préliminaire dans les montagnes du nord de l’Alaska

Coop

er Q

uinn

� � � � ��

lettre de l’éditeur mot du president

Nous sommes enplein cœur del’hiver et, en ce

moment, personne neressent plus la biseglaciale que les petitessociétés minières, surtoutcelles qui n’ont plus le luxede maintenir le chauffagedans leurs locaux.Toutefois, les prospecteurssont des gens résistants,habitués à s’habiller enpelures d’oignon, qui sont

remarquablement résilients en dépit des marchés qui font deleur mieux pour les exclure.

À CIM Magazine, nous voyons bien les grands titres selon les-quels les investisseurs de Bay Street considèrent que l’explorationest trop risquée, qu’il vaut mieux investir dans des onces ou destonnes sûres et que les dépenses sont devenues ingérables. Bienque cela puisse être vrai dans certains cas, dans son article intitulé« L’exploration de propriétés vierges » (p. 96), Virginia Heffernanexamine la façon dont les prospecteurs continuent, malgré tousles obstacles, à mettre en valeur des cibles intéressantes. En dépitde tous les risques qu’elle implique, l’exploration de propriétésvierges est essentielle à l’industrie, et les gens qui s’adonnent à cetype d’activité méritent d’être crédités beaucoup plus généreu-sement qu’ils ne le sont – littéralement.

Il y a de bonnes chances pour que vous lisiez ce numéroconsacré à l’exploration durant le congrès de l’ACPE ou justeavant. Si vous êtes sur place, n’hésitez pas à venir nous saluer austand de l’ICM (no 215) et à nous dire ce que vous pensez denotre éditorial. Nous sommes toujours intéressés à entendre lesnouvelles idées des gens œuvrant sur le terrain.

Quand vous aurez ce numéro entre les mains, Ryan Bergen, lerédacteur en chef, actuellement en congé de paternité, sera deretour, échangeant avec nos collaborateurs. Sa benjamine, quiprofite de sa présence pendant que je profite de son bureau, aurapresque trois mois. Combien de cycles de prix des matières pre-mières se succéderont au cours de sa vie? Quelles répercussionsauront-ils sur elle? Quels enseignements tirés de cette périodedifficile pouvons-nous transmettre à la prochaine génération deprospecteurs? Et comment ferons-nous pour protéger la flammedu vent froid qui souffle à l’extérieur?

Peter Braul, Chef de rubrique

[email protected]

@Peter_CIM_Mag

J’ai commencé à travailler dansl’industrie des minéraux dans lecadre de stages d’été dans le

secteur de l’exploration des zones deroches dures alors que je fréquentaisl’Université de la Colombie-Britannique pour préparer undiplôme en géologie. Lorsque j’aiobtenu mon diplôme en 1980, l’in-dustrie pétrolière était en plein essoret, comme beaucoup d’autres géo-logues fraîchement diplômés, je suisparti à Calgary pour entamer unecarrière dans l’exploration pétrolière.Finalement, mon cheminement de carrière m’a amené vers la conceptionet l’exploitation de projets miniers. Aujourd’hui, je travaille avec une petitesociété minière et je participe de nouveau à des activités d’explorationminérale. Ayant connu tous les aspects de l’industrie minière, à mon avis,l’exploration en est le plus passionnant – la découverte d’un nouvel affleu-rement minéralisé, le forage d’une intersection bien minéralisée, ou ladécouverte de pétrole! Les sociétés d’exploration et les géologues duCanada travaillent aux quatre coins du globe à la recherche de gisementsde minerai et de pétrole, motivés au moins en partie par cet enthousiasme.

On a dit à plusieurs reprises, mais il convient de le répéter, que l’explo-ration est l’avenir de notre industrie. Pourtant, le grand public sous-estimesouvent l’importance de découvrir de futures sources d’approvisionne-ment en mineraux pour répondre à la demande. Pour compliquer leschoses, depuis un an ou deux, les sources conventionnelles de finance-ment des projets d’exploration et de mise en valeur se sont pratiquementtaries, et ceux qui détiennent des capitaux les déploient avec parcimonie,poussant quantité de sociétés d’exploration à réduire, ou même à cessercomplètement, leurs activités.

Ces ralentissements ne sont pas nouveaux, mais ils sont préjudiciables,car la découverte de minéraux, si critique pour les approvisionnementsfuturs, est retardée. En outre, pendant ces ralentissements, la rechercheuniversitaire et technologique ralentit aussi, les jeunes ne sont pas encou-ragés à intégrer l’industrie et certains anciens la quittent pour ne plusrevenir.

Il n’existe pas de solutions faciles ; nous devons attendre que les méca-nismes de l’offre et de la demande agissent. Comme nous l’avons constatéauparavant, ils feront grimper le prix des minéraux, peut-être fortement, etl’exploration deviendra une fois encore un secteur majeur. En gardant celaà l’esprit, il est intéressant d’envisager une participation à deux importantsévénements – le Congrès de l’Association canadienne des prospecteurs etentrepreneurs (ACPE) à Toronto, en mars, puis en mai, le Congrès annuel del’ICM à Montréal. Le programme préliminaire de ce dernier se trouve dansce numéro et comme vous pourrez le voir, les meilleurs de notre industriey seront représentés – venez y assister!

Sean WallerPrésident de l’ICM

En hibernation Tout commence par l’exploration!


Les actualités en bref


Diavik se développe

Le développement d’une quatrièmecheminée kimberlitique à la mine dediamants Diavik devrait s’amorcer cetteannée dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest. Diavik a annoncé en novembredernier que son exploitant Rio Tintoavait approuvé la construction de cettecheminée supplémentaire.

Le développement de cette dernièrecheminée, baptisée A21, faisait partie duplan initial de la mine et devrait coûter350 millions $ US sur quatre ans ; la pro-duction devrait commencer vers la fin del’année 2018. Pour la mine à ciel ouvert,il faudra construire une digue d’enroche-ment autour du corps minéralisé.

« C’est une excellente nouvelle pourDiavik », déclarait le président MarcCameron, « mais aussi pour les com-munautés locales dans lesquelles nousévoluons et pour lesquelles nous nousengageons à offrir des avantages socio-économiques qui perdureront bien au-delà de la durée de vie de la mine. »

Le projet A21 sera situé au sud del’exploitation existante de Diavik à Lacde Gras, environ 300 kilomètres aunord-est de Yellowknife.

« L’A21 était le premier filon dekimberlite découvert pendant l’explo-ration au milieu des années 1990 »,expliquait Doug Ashbury, porte-parolede Rio Tinto. « C’était la première che-minée que l’on a trouvée, et la dernièreque l’on a développée. »

D’après Alan Davies, administrateurgénéral des minéraux et des diamantschez Rio Tinto, « notre décision d’in-vestir dans le projet A21 à Diavikreflète notre grande confiance dans lesecteur diamantifère et notre capacité àfaire concurrence aux autres sociétésde ce secteur. »

Diavik fera le point sur ses réservesde minerai au cours du premier tri-mestre 2015. Le plan actuel d’exploita-tion de la mine prévoit un arrêt desactivités en 2023. – Sahar Fatima

Les activités sontprovisoirementsuspendues à la mineEndako

Fin décembre, la société ThompsonCreek Metals a décidé de suspendre lesactivités à sa mine de molybdène

Endako dans le nord de la Colombie-Britannique (C.-B.).

La société expliquait que le déclincontinu du marché du molybdène étaitla raison de cet arrêt provisoire.Thompson Creek détient une partici-pation de 75 % dans la mine, et le par-tenaire de cette entreprise communeSojitz Mining Resources Inc. détient les25 % restant.

Thompson Creek ne sait pas encorequand reprendront les activités ni dansquelle mesure le marché doit rebondir.« Les prix devront être plus élevés quenos coûts, et devront être durables »,expliquait Pamela Solly, directrice dubureau de la responsabilité organisa-tionnelle et des relations avec les inves-tisseurs chez Thompson Creek. Elleajoutait que la société suit de près lesconditions de marché. À la mi-décembre, le prix du molybdène achuté à légèrement plus de9 $ US/livre, alors que les coûts d’ex-traction de Thompson Creek s’élevaiten moyenne à 10,45 $ US/livre durantle premier trimestre 2014.

Environ la moitié des 84 salariés dela mine ont été licenciés, et les activitésont été suspendues pour une duréeindéterminée pour les 263 employés àsalaire horaire. – Chris Balcom

La WIM reçoit des fondspour former un comitéconsultatif dédié à l’égalitéentre les sexes

L’organisation Women in Mining(WIM) Canada a reçu 250 000 $ de lapart du gouvernement fédéral ennovembre dernier pour financer unenouvelle initiative visant à renforcer laparticipation des femmes dans l’indus-trie minière.

Ce financement a permis de créerun comité consultatif dédié à l’égalitéentre les sexes constitué de 12 sociétésminières et organisations dont l’ICM,Rio Tinto, Teck Resources, Vale,

Vue aérienne de la mine de diamants Diavik

Grac

ieus

eté

de la

min

e de

dia

man

ts D

iavi

k


Barrick Gold et le Conseil des res-sources humaines de l’industrieminière (RHiM). La première réuniondu comité s’est tenue en novembre der-nier. Ce comité se réunira deux fois paran au cours des trois prochaines annéesafin de développer un plan d’actionnational pour l’organisation Women inMining.

« L’objectif de ce projet est d’em-baucher 50 femmes [parmi les socié-tés minières membres du comité] d’icila fin de ces trois années pour despostes de direction et ceux nécessitantde hautes qualifications », expliquaitla présidente de WIM Canada TabethaStirrett. Cette initiative pourraitnotamment porter sur la promotiondes femmes des niveaux administratifsaux postes de direction. Elle ajoutaitqu’elle ne savait pas encore exacte-ment comment cet objectif seraitatteint.

D’après Mme Stirrett, le comitédéveloppera le plan d’action nationaldurant les deux premières années, puisla troisième, les sociétés élaborerontdes plans d’action individuels en fonc-tion des communautés dans lesquelleselles mènent leurs activités.

Le comité a également embauchéune conseillère du réseau Women ofInfluence afin qu’elle suggère lesmeilleures pratiques de formation àl’intention de tous les employés dessociétés minières membres du comitéquant à la façon dont la diversité dessexes peut contribuer aux perfor-mances d’une société.

D’après WIM Canada, les femmesreprésentent actuellement 14 % de lamain-d’œuvre du secteur minier cana-dien et 12,3 % occupent des postes àhaute responsabilité. – Kelsey Rolfe

Saskatchewan Polytechnicaccueille le nouveaucentre CMI

L’International Minerals InnovationInstitute (IMII) et Saskatchewan Poly-technic s’associent pour appuyer l’in-dustrie minière de la province. Grâce àun don de 500 000 $ de l’IMII annoncéà la mi-novembre, Saskatchewan

Polytechnic abrite désormais le Centrefor Minerals Innovation (CMI).

Ce centre sert à coordonner les pro-grammes de formation répondant auxbesoins du secteur des minéraux. Ilcollaborera avec les partenaires de l’in-dustrie et les collèges régionaux de laprovince pour offrir des cours compre-nant des programmes d’études norma-lisés approuvés par le CMI. Les fondsvisent à soutenir le centre au cours desdeux prochaines années. En revanche,le CMI ne dépendra pas de l’IMII pourun financement à long terme.

« [L’industrie minière] représenteune grande part de notre économie », adéclaré Cristal Glass-Painchaud, nou-velle directrice du centre. « La pro-vince, Polytechnic et les partenaires del’industrie ont reconnu le besoin d’of-frir davantage de formations spéciali-sées et de services d’éducation destinésdirectement à ce secteur. » Les initia-tives actuelles du CMI comprennentune formation sur la sécurité normali-sée à l’échelle de la province, proposantplus de cours en gestion des affaires eten leadership, et la mise sur pied d’unprogramme de « transition vers le sec-teur minier. » Mme Glass-Painchaud aprécisé que le CMI offrira égalementune formation sur simulateur et exa-mine les besoins de l’industrie à cetégard. La plupart de ces nouveauxcours seront offerts en avril 2015.

Engin Özberk, directeur général etconseiller technique principal à l’IMII,a expliqué que cette collaborations’inscrit dans un effort plus vaste poursoutenir l’industrie minière de la Sas-katchewan. Au cours de la dernièreannée, l’IMII – financé conjointementpar l’industrie et le gouvernement – afinancé neuf autres projets visant àfavoriser l’éducation, la formation et larecherche dans le secteur minier de laSaskatchewan. L’IMII s’est récemmentengagé à verser 786 000 $ pour unprojet conjoint de l’Université de laSaskatchewan et de SaskatchewanPolytechnic dans la recherche sur laculture et les pratiques exemplaires enmatière de sécurité dans l’industrie.

« [Le CMI et l’IMII] sont très inté-ressés par la recherche appliquée », aaffirmé M. Özberk. « Nous souhaitons

trouver de nouvelles façons de faire leschoses qui servent régulièrement à l’industrie. » – C.B.

Le gouvernement duYukon interjette appel dela décision au sujet dubassin hydrographique dela rivière Peel

Le gouvernement du Yukon inter-jette appel du récent jugement rendupar la Cour suprême des Territoires duNord-Ouest en ce qui concerne le bas-sin hydrographique de la rivière Peel.Le 2 décembre dernier, le juge RonVeale a statué que le gouvernementdevait reprendre les consultations avecles Premières Nations, étant donné queson plan d’aménagement régional vio-lait l’esprit des ententes existantes rela-tivement au processus de planification.

Les groupes environnementaux etles Premières Nations qui ont portécette cause en justice ont salué cettedécision comme une victoire histo-rique, mais le gouvernement soutientque ce jugement limite de façon indueson contrôle sur le territoire.

En 2011, la Commission d’aména-gement du bassin hydrographique dela rivière Peel a recommandé que 80 %de la région soit mise à l’abri de projetsd’expansion. En 2014, le gouverne-ment a publié un plan d’aménagementmodifié, limitant la zone protégée àenviron 30 % du territoire.

« Nous interjetons appel de cettedécision, car nous croyons que les gou-vernements élus publiquement doiventavoir le dernier mot sur ce qui se passesur les terres de la Couronne », adéclaré Scott Kent, ministre de l’Éner-gie, des Mines et des Ressources duYukon. « Même si ces commissionssont nommées par nos gouvernementset par ceux des Premières Nations, ellesne font tout de même que des recom-mandations. »

De toute évidence, cet appel en ahérissé quelques-uns dans le campopposé. « Cela envoie un message nonéquivoque, à savoir que ce gouverne-ment ne veut pas collaborer avec lesPremières Nations en matière de

les actualités en bref


gestion des terres et d’application desrevendications territoriales », a affirméNorman Snowshoe, vice-président duconseil tribal Gwich’in, à l’occasiond’une entrevue accordée à la CBC. Leconseil était l’intervenant dans la causecontre le gouvernement.

D’une superficie d’environ 67 500kilomètres carrés, le bassin hydrogra-phique de la rivière Peel couvre unerégion dont la taille correspond à peuprès à celle du Nouveau-Brunswick etqui présente un potentiel minéralconsidérable. Bien que ce territoire soitencore relativement inexploré, le gou-vernement estime qu’environ 46 M$ont été consacrés à l’exploration entre2002 et 2009. On compte actuelle-ment 8 940 concessions minéralesdans la région. – C.B.

Le Plan Nord au cœur desprésentations au CongrèsQuébec Mines

Le développement du Nord cana-dien était à l’avant-plan du CongrèsQuébec Mines qui s’est tenu ennovembre, à Québec. Les orateurs de laséance plénière ont souligné le poten-tiel de la relance du Plan Nord et ontmis l’accent sur le développement res-ponsable.

Le maire de Val d’Or, Pierre Corbeil,a parlé de l’importance de faire partici-per la main-d’œuvre et les fournisseursde la région au développement duNord. « Il est nécessaire de bâtir leNord sur les fondations déjà enplace », a-t-il déclaré.

Ugo Lapointe, cofondateur de lacoalition « Pour que le Québec aitmeilleure mine! » a mentionné qu’ilexistait déjà de bons exemples de déve-loppement durable dans le Nord parmilesquels la mine Raglan de Glencore, lamine Niobec d’Iamgold et le projetArianne Phosphate. Toutefois, il ainsisté sur le fait qu’aucun projet n’estparfait et qu’il reste encore beaucoupde travail à faire. « [Nous devons faire]des choix stratégiques équilibrés pourle Nord, renforcer les mesures de pro-tection de l’environnement, respecterles droits des Autochtones et optimiser

les incidences collectives pour nous etpour les générations futures. »

Dans un souci de développementresponsable, le ministre québécois del’Énergie et des Ressources naturelles,Pierre Arcand, a annoncé que le gou-vernement lancerait ce printemps desconsultations auprès des communau-tés touchées par le Plan Nord. « Quandvous vous installez sur le territoirepour extraire des ressources apparte-nant aux Québécois, il est nécessairede le faire avec l’approbation des Qué-bécois », a-t-il dit.

Le Québec n’a pas été la seulerégion au cœur des discussions. Eneffet, le dernier jour du Congrès, ledirecteur exécutif de l’ICM, JeanVavrek, a présidé la séance sur le déve-loppement durable en Afrique franco-phone de l’Ouest. L’ancien premierministre du Québec, Jean Charest, aprononcé un discours sur la croissanceéconomique potentielle du Québec etde l’Afrique.

La séance comprenait également undébat sur les achats locaux et sur ledéveloppement économique en Afriqueavec Ibrahima Basse, directeur financierà la Chambre des mines du Sénégal,

Christine Logbo-Kossi, directrice géné-rale de la Chambre des mines de laCôte d’Ivoire, Laetitia Gadegbeku, délé-guée commerciale à l’ambassade duCanada en Côte d’Ivoire, et AdamaSoro, délégué commercial à l’ambas-sade du Canada au Burkina Faso.

L’ICM a organisé la venue de ladélégation d’Afrique de l’Ouest auCongrès Québec Mines 2014 avec lesoutien financier du ministère cana-dien des Affaires internationales, duCommerce et du Développement, parl’entremise de son programmeOpportunités mondiales pour lesassociations. – Tom DiNardo

Une étude révèle l’opiniondes autochtones surl’exploitation minière

Les résultats d’une étude évaluantl’image qu’ont les autochtones de l’in-dustrie minière ont été publiés ennovembre dernier. Cette étude, la pre-mière en son genre, servira d’outil pouraider les sociétés à obtenir les permissociaux d’exploitation nécessaires à laréalisation de leurs projets en identifiant

PR Associates a réalisé un sondage auprès des autochtones Canadiens qui vivent dans les communautéséloignées du pays afin de comprendre leurs perceptions de l’industrie minière.

Grac

ieus

eté

de P

R As

soci

ates


les inquiétudes des communautésautochtones ainsi que leurs priorités.La société PR Associates a lancé cetteétude suite à la décision rendue par laCour suprême du Canada en juin der-nier accordant à la Première NationTsilhqot’in un titre ancestral autoch-tone sur son territoire traditionnel.

D’après une enquête aléatoire réali-sée auprès de 500 personnes vivantdans des communautés isolées,l’image globale qu’ont ces dernières del’industrie minière n’est pas favorable(49 %). Ce sont les communautésautochtones de l’Alberta et du Québecqui se montrent les plus défavorablesà l’industrie (59 % et 56 % respective-ment), et cette dernière reçoit sonplus grand soutien de la part des Ter-ritoires du Nord-Ouest (favorables à57 %). La plupart des personnes inter-rogées (61 %) n’ont pas changé d’avisquant à l’industrie minière ces troisdernières années, mais sur les 31 %qui ont changé d’avis, 23 % ontdéclaré que leurs opinions s’étaientdégradées.

Comme le faisaient remarquer cespersonnes interrogées, les grandespriorités de l’industrie devraient êtrede collaborer avec les communautésautochtones (50 %) et de réduire leurimpact sur l’environnement (55 %).Près de trois quarts des personnesinterrogées ont indiqué que les sociétésminières devraient, selon elles, offrirdes possibilités aux Canadiens, mais42 % seulement ont déclaré que cespossibilités étaient en général égale-ment offertes aux autochtones.

Les résultats étaient relativementuniformes en termes de caractéris-tiques démographiques dans les com-munautés traditionnelles, et lesautochtones actuellement employéspar l’industrie minière ou l’ayant étédans le passé avaient une opinion sem-blable à ceux non concernés par l’industrie.

D’après Ressources naturellesCanada, on recense environ 1 200communautés autochtones vivant dansun rayon de 200 kilomètres de quelque180 mines en exploitation et plus de2 500 sites d’exploration au Canada.Les sociétés minières sont les plus

grands employeurs d’autochtones dansle secteur privé. – Katelyn Spidle

Lundin atteint la phase deproduction commerciale àla mine Eagle

Lundin Mining vient d’annoncerqu’elle avait atteint en novembre der-nier la phase de production commer-ciale à sa mine de cuivre et nickel Eagledans le Michigan, environ deux moisaprès avoir commencé les activités à la mine.

Situé dans la péninsule supérieuredu Michigan, ce projet d’une valeur de

400 millions $ US avait initialementprévu le début de sa production com-merciale pour le premier trimestre2015.

« L’équipe de la mine Eagle a fait del’excellent travail ; elle est parvenue àaccélérer la mise en œuvre et à assurerl’exploitation commerciale bien plustôt que prévu », déclarait dans un com-muniqué de presse Paul Conibear, pré-sident et directeur général de Lundin.« La mine Eagle aura une grandeinfluence sur les profits et les flux netsde trésorerie de Lundin Mining, et seraun employeur majeur et grand contri-buteur économique pour le nord duMichigan. »

les actualités en bref

Vue aérienne de la mine Eagle

Grac

ieus

eté

de L

undi

n M

inin

g

autochtones de tirer parti du dévelop-pement des ressources naturelles dansla fosse du Labrador.

Le programme vise trois objectifs :développer le capital humain autoch-tone, renforcer l’entrepreneuriatautochtone et augmenter la valeur desactifs autochtones. Le plan prévoitmaximiser la création d’emplois dansdes collectivités ciblées en créant desprofils de la main-d’œuvre qui détermi-nent ses capacités et ses besoins parti-culiers. Dans le cadre de cette initiative,un répertoire des entreprises autoch-tones locales sera également créé.

« Notre gouvernement continued’appuyer les Premières Nations et lesInuit pour qu’ils tirent profit des possibi-lités de développement économiquedécoulant de l’exploitation de nos res-sources naturelles », a déclaré le ministreValcourt. « Nous sommes fiers d’avoirmis sur pied une initiative qui encourageles collectivités autochtones situées prèsde la fosse du Labrador à participer plei-nement au développement de l’industrieminière dans cette région. »

L’annonce a été faite au cours de lacérémonie de lancement de l’Initiative

Trésor du Nord – Fosse du Labrador,un événement organisé dans le cadredu 35e Congrès Québec Mines, àQuébec. – K.S.

Progrès et optimisation àla conférence SMP 2014

La conférence de 2014 OrebodyModelling and Strategic Mine Planning(planification stratégique dans le sec-teur minier et modélisation des corpsminéralisés) a réuni 264 déléguésinternationaux à Perth, en Australie, ennovembre dernier. La conférence avaitpour thème : « Integrated mineralinvestment and supply chain optimiza-tion » (investissement intégré dans lesecteur minier et optimisation de lachaîne d’approvisionnement).

La conférence comprenait quelque30 exposés sur des sujets liés aux pro-grès technologiques et à l’optimisationmondiale. Ces présentations ontdonné lieu à des discussions fruc-tueuses sur la manière dont le secteurs’adapte aux conditions géologiques etcommerciales incertaines, selon Rous-sos Dimitrakopoulos, président dusymposium.

Lors du dernier après-midi de laconférence, M. Dimitrakopoulos adirigé un groupe de discussion portantsur les défis actuels et futurs de l’opti-misation de la planification du secteurminier. Ces défis se divisent en troiscatégories : intégrer la recherche et ledéveloppement à la commercialisation,établir un lien entre la planification àcourt et à long terme et promouvoir letransfert des connaissances.

Jeff Whittle, que M. Dimitrakopou-los décrit comme étant le « pionnier dela mise en pratique de l’optimisationdans le secteur minier » était l’invitéd’honneur cette année. M. Whittle aété impressionné par l’intérêt généralqu’a suscité cette conférence. « Il arrivesouvent, vers la fin de longues confé-rences, de constater une baisse de laparticipation », a-t-il fait remarquer.« Toutefois, pour ce qui est de la SPM2014 […], l’assistance est restée prati-quement la même du début à la fin. »

La conférence de trois jours a étéorganisée par l’Australasian Institute of


Orca Gold Inc. a annoncé en décembre dernier la nomination de Hugh Stuartà titre de président et chef de la direction. M. Stuart est également membredu conseil d’administration. Après avoir obtenu un baccalauréat et unemaîtrise en sciences, au Royaume-Uni, M. Stuart a œuvré pendant 25 ansdans le secteur de l’exploration minérale à l’échelle internationale. Il a étédirecteur de l’exploration dans le cadre du projet aurifère Geita d’AngloGoldAshanti en Tanzanie et vice-président de l’exploration au sein de Red BackMining Inc., avant de fonder Orca Gold Inc. et d’y occuper le poste de vice-président de l’exploration.

North American Nickel Inc. a récemment nommé Keith Morrison au postede chef de la direction. Compte tenu de ses 30 ans d’expérience dans lesecteur des ressources à l’échelle internationale, la société souhaite tirer partide la formation diversifiée de M. Morrison. Jusqu’à tout récemment, il étaitprésident non-exécutif de Security Devices International, et administrateurindépendant au sein de Marengo Mining Ltd. M. Morrison a cofondé deuxentreprises canadiennes prospères : Quantec, spécialisée en technologied’imagerie en subsurface profonde ; et QGX, société d’exploration ouverte.

NOMINATIONSNOMINATIONSCompilé par Katelyn Spidle

D’après John Miniotis, dirigeant del’expansion de l’entreprise et des rela-tions avec les investisseurs, la capacitéciblée de cette mine souterraine est de2 000 tonnes par jour, avec desréserves probables et prouvées de 5,16millions de tonnes.

La capacité de la mine était de 1 536tonnes par jour en octobre, et de 1 865tonnes par jour en novembre. La récu-pération de nickel est également passéede 79 % à 85 % à la même période. – S.F.

Le Canada encourage laparticipation desAutochtones au Plan Nord

En novembre, le ministre fédéraldes Affaires autochtones et du dévelop-pement du Nord canadien, BernardValcourt, a annoncé un investissementde 7,3 M$ visant à soutenir la partici-pation des Autochtones au Plan Norddu Québec grâce à l’Initiative Trésor duNord – Fosse du Labrador. Les fondsserviront à mettre en œuvre des straté-gies devant permettre aux collectivités


Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), la Society for Mining,Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) et le South African Instituteof Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM). Parmi les principauxcommanditaires, mentionnons AngloGold Ashanti, BHPBilliton, De Beers, Dassault Systèmes, Minemax, NewmontMining, Schneider Electric, Springer et Vale. – K.S.

La PDAC met à l’honneur les chefs de filede l’industrie

L’Association canadienne des prospecteurs et entrepre-neurs (PDAC) récompensera six chefs de file de l’industrie àl’occasion de son congrès annuel qui se tiendra le mois pro-chain. La soirée de remise des prix du congrès 2015 de laPDAC aura lieu le 2 mars prochain à l’hôtel Fairmont RoyalYork à Toronto. Le comité de remise des prix de la PDAC asélectionné les récipiendaires de ces prix sur les recomman-dations de son conseil d’administration.

David Palmer, président et directeur général de ProbeMines Ltd., recevra le prix Bill Dennis pour une découvertecanadienne ou une réussite en prospection pour son projetBorden Gold situé près de Chapleau, en Ontario.

Le prix Viola R. MacMillan pour le développementd’une société ou d’une mine sera décerné à Matt Manson,président et directeur général de Stornoway Diamond Cor-poration pour son rôle important dans le développementcontinu du projet Renard de Stornoway, situé dans lecentre nord du Québec.

Le prix Thayer Lindsley pour les découvertes minéralesinternationales sera collectivement attribué à l’équipe dedécouverte du gisement Kamoa d’Ivanhoe Mines, enl’honneur de sa découverte du gisement de cuivre Kamoa enRépublique démocratique du Congo.

Noront Resources Ltd. recevra le prix pour la responsa-bilité sociale et environnementale pour son programme d’en-gagement important envers les communautés et ses autresinitiatives sociales dans le nord de l’Ontario. Noront a faitéquipe avec les services d’emploi et de formation profession-nelle Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen de Matawa et avec le Confe-deration College pour créer l’alliance de formation desautochtones de la région du Cercle de feu.

Le prix Skookum Jim pour les réalisations des autoch-tones dans l’industrie des minéraux sera décerné à SamBosum, qui a joué un rôle majeur dans l’amélioration desrelations entre la nation Crie Oujé-Bougoumou et l’industriedes minéraux près de Chibougamau, au Québec.

Bill Pearson recevra, quant à lui, le prix pour lescontributions remarquables en reconnaissance de sa car-rière illustre et de son dévouement de longue date à l’in-dustrie, dans laquelle il a travaillé pendant plus de 40 ans.En 1989, M. Pearson avait organisé la première réuniondu comité pour l’immatriculation professionnelle desgéoscientifiques de l’Ontario. Il était également présidentde l’association des géoscientifiques de l’Ontario et prési-dent fondateur de l’association des géoscientifiques professionnels de l’Ontario. – C.B.

L’ICM ASSUREDES OCCASIONS DE DÉVELOPPEMENT PROFESSIONNEL

L’ICM VOUS DONNE DES CONNAISSANCES POUR PARVENIR AU SUCCÈS!

L’ICM encourage le développement professionnel de ses membres

PUBLICATIONS ET RESSOURCES TECHNIQUESBénéfi ciez de 118 années de connaissances du secteur minier, avec plus de 4 500 papiers techniques, 10 600 documents archivés et accédez à OneMine.org - le référentiel de recherche de l’industrie minière le plus complet au monde.

SOCIÉTÉS TECHNIQUES Discutez les enjeux qui touchent l’industrie et accédez à des conférences et cours spécialisés organisés par nos 10 sociétés techniques.

COURSAméliorez vos qualifi cations professionnelles et perfectionnez vos compétences en temps réel auprès des experts de l’industrie.

ÉVÈNEMENTS Identifi ez des partenaires potentiels en participant à des événements locaux et internationaux de l’ICM. Avec plus de 41 sections locales et internationales, les possibilités sont illimitées.

IT’S ALL MINE AT | CIM.ORG


Fort de 60 années d’expérience dans le transbordementde minerai de fer, le port de Sept-Îles a profité du der-nier boom des matières premières pour convaincredivers partenaires publics et privés de se lancer dans

un projet ambitieux : la construction d’un tout nouveau quaimulti-utilisateur d’une capacité de 50 millions de tonnes.Une fois les travaux terminés à l’été 2015, la capacité totaledu port atteindra 90 millions de tonnes, ce qui en fera leplus grand port minéralier en Amérique du Nord et ledeuxième port de matières premières en importance auCanada, après Vancouver.

Au cours d’une visite du site en septembre dernier, sur lesrives de la Baie de Sept-Îles d’une longueur de 10 km, l’eauétait si calme qu’on ne se doutait guère que le plus importantprojet portuaire du Canada était en voie d’être achevé. Ens’approchant de Pointe-Noire, à l’extrémité ouest de la baie,on peut maintenant distinguer la gigantesque jetée en formede L qui s’avance sur 600 mètres, puis bifurque sur 400mètres, dominant ainsi le paysage. « Ce n’est pas par hasardsi les premières entreprises de minerai de fer ont choisi la Baiede Sept-Îles pour expédier le minerai, dans les années 1940 et1950 », a expliqué Pierre Gagnon, président-directeur généraldu Port de Sept-Îles. « Elles ont constaté qu’il avait la capacitéde soutenir tout le potentiel de l’arrière-pays. »

Les deux convoyeurs Sandvik à la fine pointe de la tech-nologie qui surplombent la structure transporteront bientôtchacun pas moins de 8 000 tonnes de minerai à l’heure versleur chargeur respectif. Le quai aura la capacité d’accueillirun navire sur chacun de ses côtés et de les charger simulta-nément de n’importe quel type de minerai. « Notre infra-structure a été conçue pour avoir cette souplesse, permettantle transbordement de minerai expédié sans traitement préa-lable, de fines ou de boulettes », a déclaré M. Gagnon. Enfin,une aire de stockage de 50 millions de tonnes de capacité àmoins de deux kilomètres du quai est prévue dans le port.

Contrairement aux autres quais de la baie, le quai multi-utilisateur est assez profond pour accueillir les vaisseauxChinamax de 400 tonnes, qui devaient jusqu’à maintenants’ancrer au large et attendre que de plus petits navires vien-nent les charger – une opération coûteuse. « Les frais d’ex-pédition pourront diminuer de 20 % à 40 % selon la tailledes navires », a jouté M. Gagnon. Sept-Îles deviendra le qua-trième quai au monde ayant la capacité de charger lesnavires Chinamax.

Afin de s’assurer de relever ce défi de construction, leport a dû faire appel à de l’expertise étrangère. « Nos consul-tants ont rassemblé des spécialistes du Brésil et de l’Australiequi manutentionnent déjà du minerai de fer », a expliqué

Tenir le capSept-Îles rejoint les ligues majeuresavec son nouveauquai Par Pierrick Blinet Antoine Dion-Ortega

Vale

rian

Maz

atau

d

Lorsque le nouveau quai seraterminé cet été, la capacité totale

du Port de Sept-Îles sera de 90 millions de tonnes par an.

logistiques

M. Gagnon. « Il fallait être enmesure de concevoir une infra-structure de classe mondiale àpartir de zéro. »

Une enveloppe financièreunique

Dans le sillage de la haussespectaculaire des prix du mine-rai de fer observée dans lesannées 2000, des dizaines deprojets ont vu le jour dans lafosse du Labrador, incitant legouvernement du Québec àlancer son Plan Nord en 2011.Les infrastructures de transbor-dement existantes n’avaientalors pas la capacité suffisantepour répondre aux besoins desfutures entreprises et assurerleur accès au marché. « Entre2005 et 2008 seulement, huitsociétés ont fait appel à nouspour demander une augmenta-tion de la capacité du port », aaffirmé M. Gagnon.

Cette pression croissante dusecteur privé a convaincu leport de demander un finance-

ment fédéral. La mise de fonds nécessaire pour lancer le pro-jet s’élevait à 25 % du coût total en capital, estimé à 220 M$.« Il aurait été dommage que le gouvernement fédéral se prived’investissements de plusieurs milliards de dollars, simple-ment parce que les infrastructures n’étaient pas en place,alors que des entreprises étaient prêtes à investir », a soulignéRussel Tremblay, directeur des communications et marketingà Développement économique Sept-Îles.

Cependant, il n’était pas question pour le secteur publicd’assumer seul l’ensemble des coûts en capital et aucune desentreprises n’avait une production prévue assez importantepour justifier un tel investissement par elle-même. En fin decompte, le gouvernement fédéral et le port ont assumé cha-cun 25 % du coût en capital, tandis que cinq partenaires pri-vés se sont joints à eux et ont financé les 50 % restants –chacune de leur contribution étant proportionnelle à leur pro-duction –pour un total de 110 M$ en financement privé. Cescinq entreprises ont ainsi mis un pied dans le port, s’assurantd’une capacité totale de transbordement de 43 millions detonnes par an. Parmi elles, mentionnons Alderon Iron Oreavec huit millions de tonnes, New Millenium Iron avec 15millions de tonnes, Champion Iron avec 10 millions detonnes et Labrador Iron Mines et Tata Steel qui ont chacunecinq millions de tonnes. Comme la capacité totale du quai de50 millions de tonnes pourrait augmenter à 60 millions detonnes, la marge restante pourra être offerte à de nouveauxpartenaires ou servir à la vente sur le marché au comptant.

En contribuant au financement, les utilisateurs privés béné-ficieront de tarifs concurrentiels. « Notre port est garanti », aexpliqué Tayfun Eldem, chef de la direction d’Alderon. « Nousavons versé 20,5 M$ pour la construction à titre de paiementinitial. Nous allons récupérer cette injection de capitauxlorsque nous commencerons nos livraisons, car nous allonsrecevoir un rabais, comme les autres utilisateurs. »

Une source d’irritationSi l’harmonie règne entre les sept partenaires, on ne peut

pas en dire autant de leurs relations avec Cliffs NaturalResources, société voisine du quai. Pour expédier le mineraipar le port de Pointe-Noire, les sociétés minières devrontavoir accès à certaines des terres voisines actuellement déte-nues par Cliffs. Toutefois, le Port de Sept-Îles et Cliffs ne sesont toujours pas entendus sur la vente de ces terres et unepoursuite a été déposée par Cliffs contre le port en 2013,laquelle n’est pas encore réglée.

Parallèlement à la poursuite, le Port de Sept-Îles a fait unedemande à l’Office des transports du Canada (l’« Office ») auprintemps dernier pour faire du chemin de fer de Cliffs àPointe-Noire un « transporteur commun » similaire à la Que-bec North Shore & Labrador Railway, que l’Iron Ore Com-pany of Canada doit partager avec d’autres entreprisesexerçant des activités dans la fosse du Labrador. Le cheminde fer de Cliffs est le seul lien ferroviaire entre Pointe-Noireet le reste du réseau ferroviaire. La demande du port a étérejetée par l’Office en octobre dernier.

Les deux conflits ont ralenti le financement de certainsprojets dans la fosse du Labrador, qui dépendent d’un accèsau port, selon M. Tremblay. « Toute l’économie du Québecest affectée par ce litige », a-t-il poursuivi. « Aucune autrerégion au Québec ne prévoit des investissements de mil-liards de dollars. » Cependant, on est convaincu que larésolution du conflit est à portée de main. Le gouvernementdu Québec est intervenu en juin dernier et se pencheactuellement sur un certain nombre de scénarios possibles.La récente décision de Cliffs de fermer sa mine du lacBloom et son plan de vendre ses actifs canadiens pourraientaccélérer les choses, a souligné M. Gagnon. « Nous nousattendons à des transactions dans un avenir proche, » a-t-ilajouté, laissant entendre que le chemin de fer de Cliffspourrait changer de propriétaire si ses actifs de la mineWabush étaient vendus.

Ces obstacles juridiques n’empêchent pas M. Gagnon deregarder vers l’avenir avec optimisme. « Selon l’évolution dumarché du minerai de fer, le quai pourrait bien n’être qu’unepremière phase », selon lui. Si Adriana Iron Ore, qui déve-loppe le grand projet du lac Otelnuk, se joint aux parte-naires en finançant la deuxième phase, le quai principalpourrait être agrandi pour former un grand T. « De plus,nous avons déjà les plans et devis pour construire un autrequai identique de 100 millions de tonnes », a affirméM. Gagnon. « Il y a encore de l’espace dans la baie et ellepeut donc soutenir tout le potentiel qu’offre la fosse, autantau Québec qu’au Labrador. » ICM


Forage sur le mont Qingaaq au Groenland, avec enarrière-plan le mont Aappalaartoq

Coop

er Quinn


« À mon avis, il n’est pas exagéré de dire que ce type d’ex-ploration représente, littéralement, l’avenir de l’industrie »,affirme Eric Coffin, rédacteur du bulletin d’information HardRock Analyst (HRA), de Vancouver. « Les activités minièresfinissent par s’arrêter en l’absence de nouvelles découvertes. »

La tendance semble déjà se répercuter sur les taux dedécouvertes enregistrés dans le secteur aurifère, affirmeMark Ferguson, analyste principal du secteur pour SNL Min-ing and Metals. Les découvertes d’or majeures (plus de 2 mil-lions d’onces) effectuées de 2004 à 2009 ont chuté de 30 %par rapport à la décennie précédente, au cours de laquelle pasmoins de 124 découvertes d’or avaient été faites. Depuis, lesexplorateurs n’ont défini que sept autres importantes décou-vertes, mais il reste à connaître combien exactement de nou-veaux gisements additionnels surpasseront le seuil des deuxmillions d’onces une fois que les sociétés auront suffisammentde temps (et de fonds) pour évaluer de façon appropriée leursressources potentielles.

Les conditions associées à l’exploration de propriétésvierges continuent de se détériorer. Traditionnellement, cesont les petites sociétés minières qui se lancent dans ce typede travaux de prospection générative. Elles sont responsablesde 86 % des découvertes récentes au Canada, estimeRichard Schodde, spécialiste en économie minérale australienà MinEx Consulting.

Or, ce secteur est dans la tourmente en raison d’un funestetrio de facteurs, à savoir des coûts en hausse, des délais

prolongés entre la découverte et la production et un désin-téressement de la part des investisseurs. En conséquence, lapart du budget global d’exploration de métaux non ferreuxdu secteur des petites sociétés minières a reculé à 32 % en2014, alors qu’elle culminait à 55 % en 2007, observe SNL,en dépit de budgets globaux sensiblement similaires, entre 10et 11 milliards de dollars.

Malgré les défis, M. Coffin – qui a traversé plusieurs cyclessectoriels – croit que tant qu’il y aura de l’argent à tirer desdécouvertes d’envergure, il y aura un marché (aussi volatilsoit-il) pour financer l’exploration. D’ailleurs, les petitessociétés minières tendent à être « incroyablement résilientes »,fait valoir M. Schodde. Sur les 100 petites sociétés d’explo-ration cotées à l’Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) qu’il asuivies en juillet 2004, 66 sont toujours actives dix annéesplus tard, et ce, en dépit de la récente déroute financière.

L’industrie se rendra bientôt compte que les réserves s’a-menuisent, faisant de l’exploration de propriétés vierges unenécessité absolue, estime Brent Cook, rédacteur d’ExplorationInsights. « Il faut que l’industrie reconnaisse que le nombreactuel de gisements rentables ne suffit pas à satisfaire à lademande ni à remplacer la production », dit-il. « Elle va finirpar l’admettre et à ce moment, on prendra davantage con-science de l’importance de l’exploration de propriétés viergeset du travail de géologues doués et consciencieux, capables deconceptualiser un gisement et surtout, capables de reconnaîtreles éventuelles failles du concept. »

Génération en dangerPar Virginia Heffernan

La proportion de dollars affectés aux projets d’exploration de propriétésvierges – des terres où aucune ressource n’a été repérée auparavant – a atteint un creux historique. Les raisons de ce déclin sont complexes, maisles conséquences sont évidentes : il y a peu de chances que le modèleactuel fournisse les méga gisements dont dépend l’industrie pour laproduction future.


CIM Magazine a demandé à MM. Coffin, Cook et Kaiser quelles étaient les trois zones d’exploration vierges qu’ils privilégient. Voici ce qu’ils nous ont répondu. (*indique que l’analyste détient des parts dans la société)

Emplacement : ceinture de Gorbea, centre-nord du ChiliPropriétaire/analyste : Mirasol/Brent Cook et Eric Coffin*Cible : cuivre porphyrique et or-argent épithermalTrésorerie : 23 M$ au 30 octobre 2014L’équipe d’exploration de Mirasol a délimité d’importantes zonesd’altération présentant des valeurs d’or et d’argent étendues. SelonM. Coffin, plusieurs zones devraient pouvoir être forées d’ici la fin del’été dans l’hémisphère Sud. « Une province au complet a été désignéecomme offrant un bon potentiel », a confirmé M. Cook.

Emplacement : Golden Triangle, nord-ouest de laColombie-Britannique Propriétaire/analyste : Colorado Resources/EricCoffinCible : Filons aurifères à teneur élevée Trésorerie : 3 M$ au 31 octobre 2014La propriété KSP couvre une superficie de 30 000 hectares surenviron 15 km parallèlement à la direction de l’ancienne mineaurifère Snip. « Quelques cibles porphyriques importantesexistent sur la propriété KSP, mais les filons à teneur très élevéedans les zones d’Inel, du Kyber Pass, de Big Rock et de Pinsm’intéressent particulièrement », précise M. Coffin. « Lestravaux exécutés en 2014 par Colorado Resources et par lescartographes du gouvernement ont fait ressortir d’importanteszones de déformation susceptibles de contrôler laminéralisation. »


Emplacement : nord-ouest du BotswanaSociété/analyste : Tsodilo Resources/John Kaiser*Cible : gisements semblables à ceux de la ceinturecuprifère de la ZambieTrésorerie : 192 000 $ au 30 septembre 2014First Quantum Minerals détient une option lui permettantd’acquérir une participation maximale de 70 % dans lapropriété de Tsodilo à l’intérieur d’une ceinture sédimentaired’une longueur de 40 km au nord-ouest du Botswana. À cejour, la grande société minière a dépensé 14 millions de dollarspour mettre au point un modèle géologique de laminéralisation potentielle – un prolongement de l’Arc lufiliencuprifère – en profondeur, sous le désert du Kalahari. Cetteannée, la grande société minière tentera d’entrecroiser la ciblerêvée : un corps minéralisé renfermant entre 5 et 10 millionsde tonnes de cuivre, semblable aux gisements de la ceinturecuprifère de Zambie dont les teneurs en cuivre sont d’au moins2 %. « Si le projet réussit, il deviendra un exemple concret dece qui est requis pour effectuer des découvertes de classemondiale aujourd’hui », affirme M. Kaiser.

Emplacement : district de Biga, nord-ouest de la TurquiePropriétaire/analyste : Pilot Gold/Brent Cook*Cible : Systèmes épithermaux et porphyriques aurifèresTrésorerie : 23,4 M$ au 30 septembre 2014Pilot Gold (40 %) et Teck Resources (60 %) ont établi desressources indiquées de 23 tonnes métriques titrant 1,34 g/td’équivalent or à la cible KCD (Kucukdag) principale dans leprojet TV Tower. Toutefois, des forages plus récents sur descibles à proximité ont révélé des intervalles d’or, d’argent etde cuivre dont les teneurs sont parmi les plus élevées jamaisenregistrées dans le nord-ouest de la Turquie. La zone d’intérêtest un chapeau siliceux de quatre km de long et renfermant demultiples cibles d’oxyde d’or, de zones de cuivre supergèneassociées et de systèmes porphyriques cupro-aurifères.« J’adore les gros systèmes et ici, ils se trouvent dans unsystème majeur d’altération volcanique », explique M. Cook.

Les cartes sont la propriété intellectuelle d'Esri et sont utilisées dans le documentprésent sous licence. Droits d'auteur

© 2014 Esri et ses donneurs de licence.Tous droits réservés.


Emplacement : bassins du Nevada Société/analyste : Nevada Exploration/John Kaiser*Cible : gisements aurifères de type Carlin encaissé dansdes roches sédimentairesTrésorerie : 26 000 $ au 31 octobre 2014Nevada Exploration a généré deux zones productives possiblesdans des propriétés vierges des zones graveleuses dans lenord du Nevada en utilisant l’hydrogéochimie comme outil deciblage. La société croit que l’avenir de l’exploitation aurifèreau Nevada, où la majeure partie de la minéralisation aurifèred’affleurement rentable a été découverte, réside sous lacomposante « bassins » du relief en bassins et montagnesdifficile à explorer. « Toutefois, Nevada Exploration n’a pasd’argent ni de partenaires, alors les zones qu’elle a généréesrisquent de disparaître tout bonnement », souligne M. Kaiser.

Emplacement : district porphyrique Highland Valley, sud de la C.-B.Société/analyste : Amarc Resources/John KaiserCible : gisement porphyrique de cuivre-molybdène-argent Trésorerie : 1,9 M$ au 30 septembre 2014M. Kaiser affirme que les résultats des teneurs en Cu-Mo-Ag obtenus dans lecadre d’un récent programme de neuf trous indiquent que le projet Ike a debonnes chances de contenir un système porphyrique de cuivre comparable àcelui de Highland Valley. Le président exécutif Bob Dickinson a récemment prêté1 million de dollars à Amarc afin que le véhicule d’exploration Hunter-Dickinsonpuisse poursuivre l’exploration d’Ike sans avoir à baisser le prix de l’action sous0,10 $. « Amarc témoigne de l’absence d’intérêt sur le marché à l’égard desrésultats des petites sociétés minières d’exploration », constate M. Kaiser.


Emplacement : complexe magmatique Timok, est de la SerbiePropriétaire/analyste : Reservoir Minerals/Brent Cook*Type de gisement : cupro-aurifère épithermal etporphyrique à fort degré de sulfuration Trésorerie : 40 M$ au 31 décembre 2014M. Cook estime que la découverte de Cu-Au dans le complexe Timokest la meilleure des récentes années et croit qu’une minéralisationsimilaire sera découverte sur la propriété de Reservoir avoisinant leprojet vedette. Le projet Timok étant entièrement financé par Freeport-McMoRan Exploration, partenaire en coentreprise, Reservoir disposede suffisamment de trésorerie pour financer l’exploration despropriétés vierges qu’elle détient en exclusivité dans la région.

Emplacement : ceinture de Tireo, République dominicainePropriétaire/analyste : Precipitate Gold/Eric Coffin* (Mise en garde :M. Coffin est un fondateur et un actionnaire important)Cible : or épithermal à sulfuration intermédiaire et sulfure massif volcanogèneTrésorerie : 825 000 $ au 30 novembre 2014Des essais de forage d’anomalies à polarisation provoquée dans la zone Ginger Ridgesur la propriété Juan de Herrera ont permis de découvrir une zone potentielle desulfure massif volcanogène présentant des intervalles aurifères, dont une sectionde cinq mètres titrant 13,8 g/t d’or à l’intérieur de 18 mètres titrant 4,5 g/t d’or. Lasociété a enchaîné avec des sondages à polarisation provoquée et magnétiques lelong d’un corridor de 600 mètres se prolongeant au nord-ouest de la découverte.« La zone Ginger Ridge a été améliorée chaque fois que des travaux y ont étéeffectués, ce qui est le signe d’une bonne cible d’exploration », affirme M. Coffin.

Les cartes sont la propriété intellectuelle d'Esri et sont utiliséesdans le document présent sous licence. Droits d'auteur

© 2014 Esri et ses donneurs de licence.Tous droits réservés.


Qu’est-ce qui cause la hausse des coûts?La hausse des coûts d’exploration est en partie imputable

à l’augmentation des coûts de main-d’œuvre, des dépensesd’équipement et des coûts d’accès au territoire des dernièresannées. Cependant, le facteur principal est beaucoup plus fon-damental : les gisements rentables qui affleuraient autrefois àla surface de territoires stables sur le plan politique ont, pourla plupart, déjà été découverts.

« Nous devons explorer des morts-terrains ; nous devonsdonc procéder à des forages beaucoup plus coûteux, alorsqu’auparavant, nous pouvions nous contenter de préleverquelques échantillons de roche », explique M. Cook. « Quiplus est, quand il y a une découverte, il faut effectuer des for-ages et tenir compte de toutes les questions réglementaires,politiques et sociales. Par conséquent, une découverte effectuéeen bonne et due forme aujourd’hui peut nécessiter de 10 à20 ans en moyenne avant d’amorcer la phase de production. »

Les investisseurs commencent à prendre conscience de cesrisques grandissants et à abandonner le secteur. Selon l’Asso-ciation canadienne des prospecteurs et entrepreneurs (ACPE),en 2014, les entreprises n’ont amassé que 2 $ de capitaux pro-pres pour chaque tranche de 100 $ amassée en 2007. Résultat :la majorité des petites sociétés minières inscrites à la Bourse decroissance TSX ne disposent plus que d’une trésorerieinférieure à 200 000 $, d’après les recherches menées parJohn Kaiser, rédacteur de Kaiser Research Online. La situationest presque aussi sombre en Australie. Environ 52 pour centdes petites sociétés d’exploration inscrites à l’ASX disposent demoins de 1 million de dollars de trésorerie, selon M. Schodde.

Afin de favoriser la réussite de projets tels que ceux décrits précédemment, il est utile d’examiner de plusprès les causes du déclin dans le domaine de l’exploration de propriétés vierges et quelles mesures peuventêtre prises pour renverser cette tendance.

Une lourde responsabilité à assumerSelon M. Kaiser, le modèle des marchés des capitaux asso-

ciés à l’exploration et au développement minier est « brisé »et « dépassé. » Il propose quelques initiatives, invitant notam-ment les organismes de réglementation canadiens à permettreà tous les investisseurs, et non seulement aux quelquesinvestisseurs accrédités (c.-à-d. les particuliers fortunés), d’a-cheter des actions de petites sociétés minières.

Cependant, une grande part de responsabilité du déclindes projets d’exploration de propriétés vierges est imputableà la communauté d’exploration comme telle, soutientWade Hodges, président de Nevada Exploration et ancienvice-président, Exploration, de Battle Mountain Gold.« Jamais auparavant n’y a-t-il eu autant de richesse sur laplanète et tout cet argent n’attend que d’être investi dans desprojets utiles porteurs d’avenir. Le défi pour les géologuesd’exploration consiste à y associer des outils et des filtresbeaucoup plus performants », dit-il. « Les investisseurs sontdevenus plus futés, et la communauté d’exploration doitmobiliser l’attention des investisseurs pour leur montrer lavoie à suivre. »

Une découverte de taille pourrait réussir à relancer l’explo-ration de propriétés vierges, croit M. Hodges, mais cela néces-siterait un alignement très favorable des astres et de capitaux,ce qui est improbable, ou encore la mise au point d’une nou-velle technologie permettant de voir à travers la couverture.

M. Schodde est d’accord et attire l’attention sur l’incroyableenthousiasme généré au Canada par des découvertes sur despropriétés vierges comme Ekati et Diavik, dans les T.N.-O., et

Survol du fleuve Yukon pour l’explorationdans le district de White Gold

Coop

er Quinn


à la baie Voisey’s, au Labrador. Il estpersuadé que cela se produira denouveau.

Si le marché des capitauxdemeure peu enthousiaste, M. Cookcroit que les grandes entreprisesprendront la relève en partie. « Nousverrons davantage de grandes entre-prises investir dans de petites sociétésd’exploration et les financer. Ainsi,ces petites sociétés pourront s’enremettre à quelqu’un qui saurareconnaître une découverte en bonneet due forme dès les étapes prélimi-naires. »

Or, le déclin touchant les travauxde prospection générative ne se lim-ite pas au secteur des petites sociétésminières. Les grandes sociétés ontégalement tendance à réduire lenombre de projets d’explorationquand les prix des matières pre-mières chutent ou que les marges deprofit diminuent, comme elles l’ontfait récemment. Depuis quelquesannées, les producteurs ont délaisséles projets à un stade précoce enfaveur de projets à proximité de leursmines existantes ; ce type de projetest une façon moins capitalistique etmoins risquée de remplacer et d’ajouter des réserves, expliqueM. Ferguson, de SNL.

En conséquence, on assiste à l’érosion de la base de réservesrequise pour soutenir l’industrie minière. Au Canada, lesréserves de métaux autres qu’aurifères déclinent de façon con-tinue depuis 30 ans. Pour l’heure, dans le cas de nombreuxmétaux, les réserves actuelles représentent moins de la moitiéde leurs volumes de 1980, selon Ressources naturellesCanada. Les réserves d’or ont augmenté, mais comme le faitremarquer M. Schodde, une quantité considérable se trouvedans des systèmes porphyriques à faible teneur dont l’ex-ploitation pourrait s’avérer non rentable.

Un petit coup de pouce pour des effetssubstantiels

Face à la crise et pour stimuler l’exploration, l’ACPEdemande au gouvernement fédéral de hausser le crédit d’im-pôt accordé aux investisseurs dans le secteur de l’explorationminérale, en le faisant passer de 15 pour cent à 30 pour centpour trois ans.

« Le crédit d’impôt pour l’exploration minière (CIEM) estun moyen fiscal critique qui peut servir à attirer de nouveaules investisseurs vers l’industrie de l’exploration, notammentpour appuyer les activités d’exploration de propriétés viergesà un stade précoce au Canada », déclare le président del’ACPE, Rod Thomas. « C’est à la suite d’une mesure auda-

cieuse et innovante du gouvernement qu’est né le CIEM. Nousaurions besoin d’une initiative audacieuse de ce genreaujourd’hui. »

Certains territoires et provinces du Canada sont passés àl’action. Le Yukon a bonifié son Mining Exploration Program(YMEP), le faisant passer à 1,4 million de dollars en 2014, etprévoyant jusqu’à 15 000 $ pour les prospecteurs. Le gou-vernement du Manitoba a doublé un programme incitatif sim-ilaire, le portant à 3 millions de dollars.

L’innovation a également un rôle prépondérant à jouer. LeConseil canadien de l’innovation minière (CCIM), par exem-ple, cherche des façons d’améliorer les chances de trouver desminerais enfouis en repérant des indicateurs subtils, ou desempreintes, dans les roches entourant les corps minéralisésconnus et pouvant orienter les travaux d’exploration. Cer-taines entreprises se servent de la puissance de traitementmoderne pour repérer des cibles viables dans des données his-toriques, ou encore pour voir à travers la couverture à l’aidede systèmes de modélisation géophysiques 3D de pointe.

« Nous devons mettre l’accent sur les nouvelles technolo-gies et la pensée créatrice », estime M. Hodges, qui a eu biendu mal à faire passer son idée quant au bien-fondé de recourirà l’échantillonnage d’eaux souterraines pour repérer des ciblesaurifères enfouies au Nevada. « J’ai pris conscience, à la findes années 1990, à quel point la situation devenait difficilepour l’exploration, surtout pour des raisons techniques. Lesoutils que nous avions mis au point avaient été utilisés, et lesdécouvertes les plus faciles avaient été faites. » ICM

Exploration le long du corridor aurifèreTireo à la République dominicaine

Avec l'aimab

le cou

rtoisie de

Precipitate Gold Co

rp.


réduit sa part à 50 %, mais est resté l’actionnaire principal. Leralentissement économique a également engendré des change-ments au niveau du plan de la mine ; Baffinland a en effetretardé, pour une durée indéterminée, sa vision initiale d’unevaleur de 4 milliards $ qui consistait à transporter par voie fer-roviaire 18 millions de tonnes de minerai par an.

Au lieu de cela, la phase initiale de revenus de 750 mil-lions $ du projet Mary River implique de stocker et d’expédier

Avec des ressources mesurées et indiquées de plus de 350millions de tonnes de minerai de fer à haute teneur, leprojet Mary River valait la peine de surmonter toutes les

difficultés associées à sa mise en œuvre. En 2010, le géant dumarché de l’acier ArcelorMittal a affronté des sociétés d’inves-tissement en capital pour obtenir une participation majoritairedans la société Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (Baffinland).Suite à la baisse des prix des marchandises, ArcelorMittal a

Au mois de septembre dernier, la société Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation aofficiellement commencé ses activités à la mine en exploitation Mary River, située surla côte nord de l’île de Baffin, dans la région Qikiqtani du Nunavut, à l’extrême norddu Canada. Pour ce faire, une équipe d’exploitants chevronnés de la région del’Arctique a dû déployer des solutions viables permettant de résister à l’hiverextrêmement froid dans la région.

PAR | EAVAN MOORE

Le gisement Mary River a été découvert en 1962,mais les prix du minerai de fer étaient alors

trop bas pour que le projet de l’Extrême-Arctiquesoit justifié sur le plan économique.

Tout

es le

s im

ages

ave

c l’a

imab

le c

ourt

oisi

e de

Baf

finla

nd Ir

on M

ines


M A R Y R I V E R | profil de projet

Meadowbank de Mines Agnico Eagle se sont joints à nous,notamment des personnes des mines d’Ekati et de Diavik, dela baie de Voisey dans la province de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador,de Raglan et d’autres sites miniers. Quant à moi, je me trouvaissur les lieux de construction de Diavik et de la baie de Voisey,aussi ce genre de conditions et de projets dans l’Arctique, trèscomplexes du point de vue logistique, n’avait rien de nouveaupour moi ni pour beaucoup d’autres dans la chaîne. »

Dans le cadre de leur contribution à d’autres projets, cesmembres chevronnés de l’équipe de Baffinland s’étaient habi-tués à ce que la préfabrication ait lieu en dehors du site. Cecileur permettait de minimiser les travaux qui auraient dû êtreexécutés dans des conditions plus austères sur le site. Les bâti-ments étaient tous préfabriqués ou construits par panneauxpuis expédiés sur le site pour l’assemblage final, notammentles fondations des bâtiments qui étaient précoulées sous formede blocs de béton et expédiées sur le site afin d’éviter d’avoir àcouler du béton par des températures hivernales moyennes de-30° C à Mary River.

Les entrepreneurs ont effectué une grande partie des tra-vaux de construction, mais comme l’explique M. Hampton, lamajorité des travaux de terrassement ont été exécutés par desexploitants embauchés par Baffinland. « Nous sommes unesociété minière, aussi notre travail consiste à déplacer la terre,si l’on peut dire, sous forme de minerai », fait-il remarquer.« Notre flotte minière étant sur place, nous disposions de notrepropre équipement. »

Ceci a permis à la société de faire venir sur place plus tôtque prévu son propre effectif permanent, donnant ainsi la pos-

3,5 millions de tonnes de minerai par an durant la saison deseaux libres, entre juillet et octobre, par le bras de mer Milnesur les côtes nord de l’île. Le minerai, qui affiche une teneur enfer de 67 %, requiert peu de traitement avant son expédition.Son forage et sautage ont lieu au gisement 1, le premier desneuf gisements connus, à l’aide d’explosifs fabriqués dans uneusine sur le site. Le minerai est transporté vers une usine debroyage mobile, et les produits en résultant (du minerai enmorceaux et des fines) sont stockés dans des réserves dis-tinctes.

D’ici le mois de juillet, ces deux types de minerai seronttransportés par camion vers le port de Milne, où une infra-structure dédiée aux réserves et un quai de chargement denavire sont actuellement en construction. Un chargeur radialde navires à deux tours et un convoyeur de réception charge-ront les navires affrétés, lesquels passeront par la baie Baffinavant de partir vers l’Atlantique.

Des équipes chevronnéesSi l’on considère la mine Polaris sur la petite île Cornwal-

lis, le projet Mary River n’est ni la première mine construitedans la région Arctique au Canada ni celle se trouvant le plusau nord du pays. Le projet a donc bénéficié de l’expertiseexistante.

« Dans l’équipe que nous avons formée, la plupart d’entrenous avions déjà travaillé sur d’autres projets menés dans lenord du Canada », explique Ronald Hampton, vice-présidentet directeur de projet chez Baffinland. « Certains des entrepre-neurs en construction qui avaient contribué au projet

700 ouvriers permanents, beaucoup venant des communautésde la région, effectueront des rotations dans le camp minier.


profil de projet | M A R Y R I V E R

aidé à caractériser les tendances démographiques de 60 à 70ans ainsi que les schémas probables de reconstitution despopulations, et elles nous ont fourni des informations intéres-santes quant aux comportements d’adaptation des caribous. »

Garder l’équipement au chaudSur le site du projet Mary River, l’arrêt et le refroidisse-

ment de l’équipement pendant les temps d’immobilisationn’est pas envisageable. « Sur tous nos équipements, lemoteur et les fluides auront du mal à s’adapter aux bassestempératures », explique M. Hampton. « Les équipementslourds sont très difficiles à redémarrer à de telles tempéra-tures. Ainsi, si l’on ne dispose pas de zones chauffées où l’onpeut mettre ces véhicules à l’abri et les faire redémarrer, ilfaudra généralement les faire marcher au ralenti pour unebonne partie de la saison froide. »

Garder l’équipement au chaud n’a pas été une minceaffaire pendant l’automne et l’hiver 2013. Tous les matériauxet les équipements, dont la majorité des bâtiments préfabri-qués, étaient arrivés sur le site en été par les ponts maritimes.La maintenance devait avoir lieu en même temps que l’instal-lation des bâtiments et la mise en service de l’équipement,souvent en extérieur ou dans des structures de gros œuvrerudimentaires. M. Hampton reconnaît que cette saison a été« éprouvante. » Malgré son expérience, il explique quel’équipe avait sous-estimé la difficulté de trouver des fluideset conduites hydrauliques adaptés à ces conditions. Maiscette année, poursuit-il, « la situation est différente en ce quenos infrastructures pour la maintenance ainsi que nos

sibilité à ces travailleurs de bien se former et de se sentir tota-lement à l’aise sur le site lorsque les activités minières ont com-mencé. La plupart des personnes exploitant la mine enseptembre avaient déjà passé les six à neuf derniers mois àréhabiliter la route et à préparer les surfaces extérieures pourfaciliter la construction et le stockage. Elles travaillaient prin-cipalement sur un mode de rotation de deux semaines, arri-vant à la mine par avion des cinq communautés les plusproches, notamment d’Iqaluit, la capitale du Nunavut, et deKitchener-Waterloo, en Ontario.

Fort de 700 employés, l’effectif permanent du projet vientdu Canada, dont 200 à 250 personnes sont originaires descommunautés locales et ont généreusement partagé leursconnaissances, indique Erik Madsen, vice-président du déve-loppement durable, de la santé, de la sécurité et de l’environ-nement de Baffinland. Les connaissances traditionnelles, parexemple, ont aidé la société à réduire l’impact des activitésmaritimes sur les routes de glace de mer empruntées par lesInuits et à choisir une future voie de transport par la partienord du bassin de Foxe, contournant ainsi des régions impor-tantes en termes de faune marine.

En outre, explique M. Madsen, « les connaissances tradi-tionnelles et locales concernant les tendances d’abondance descaribous et leur répartition étaient essentielles à l’évaluationdes effets et la planification des mesures d’atténuation du pro-jet. Nos études ne nous ont pas énormément renseignés surl’écologie des caribous dans la région. Malgré les signes détec-tant leur présence, on en voyait très peu. Les connaissancesqu’ont partagé avec nous les aînés et les chasseurs nous ont

Le projet est situé à 500 km au nord du cercle polaire arctique, à l’extrémité nord de l’île de Baffin.


M A R Y R I V E R | profil de projet

dans un avion », ajoute-t-il.« Aussi, nous devons nous assurerque nous disposons d’un contin-gent suffisant de pneus, plusimportant que ce dont nousaurions besoin dans un contextede cycles d’usure normaux. Eneffet, pour ce site minier spécifiquepar exemple, nous disposons dequatre tombereaux de modèle 777,et nos travaux miniers en dépen-dent. Si nous venons à manquer depneus avant le prochain transportprévu par pont maritime, nouspourrions être obligés d’arrêter lesactivités. Le type d’équipementque nous stockons sur le siteminier avoisine les 10 millions $,ce qui ne serait pas nécessaire si lesite minier se trouvait dans unerégion plus au sud où l’accès estpossible tout au long de l’année. »

Avec l’aide des fournisseurs, Baf-finland estime les besoins de l’ex-

ploitation sur une année, et ajoute une marge de 15 à 20 %supplémentaire dans le stock en cas d’urgence. Les compo-santes à bas prix mais volumineuses ou lourdes sont surstoc-kées, contrairement aux plus petites pièces car elles peuventêtre facilement transportées par avion si besoin est. « Malgrénos efforts de planification, nous nous sommes parfois retrou-vés en situation où nous avons dû faire venir des pièces paravion », reconnaît M. Hampton.

Des ACQUIS solidesLe froid n’est pas toujours un inconvénient pour les activi-

tés du projet Mary River ; il s’est même parfois révélé utile. L’hi-ver dernier en effet, il a fallu réhabiliter une banded’atterrissage pour permettre aux avions à réaction de se posersur le site. Pendant plusieurs mois durant lesquels la banded’atterrissage était hors service, la société en a construit une surl’un des lacs gelés. « Des avions à réaction 737 se posaient surle lac », explique M. Hampton. L’épaisseur de glace nécessairepour qu’un avion puisse y atterrir sans danger est de 54pouces. À la fin de la saison, explique-t-il, l’épaisseur de laglace avoisinait les 80 pouces.

Les enjeux, les accomplissements, la construction et lesactivités ont tous été atteints en respectant des normes desécurité extrêmement élevées. M. Hampton fait remarquerque Baffinland a réalisé deux étapes primordiales en sep-tembre dernier. Tout d’abord, elle est passée du statut desociété d’exploration à celui de développement pourensuite atteindre celui d’exploitant minier. Ensuite, durantses trois années d’activité, elle n’a enregistré aucun accidentayant entraîné des arrêts de travail. « Nous sommes trèsfiers de la culture de sécurité que nous avons instaurée surnotre site. » ICM

bâtiments sont totalement opérationnels. Par rapport à l’an-née dernière, nous sommes donc bien mieux préparés pouraffronter le froid. »

L’équipe de maintenance du projet Mary River a eu le tempsd’évaluer les besoins de son équipement, et le recours aux nom-breuses modifications nécessaires par temps froid a permis auxmachines de rester opérationnelles. Le matériel d’exploitationminière est équipé de chauffages Espar intégrés dans les sys-tèmes de refroidissement et de fluide hydraulique du moteur,ce qui permet au fluide de conserver sa forme liquide, de dis-tribuer la chaleur dans tout l’échangeur de chaleur du véhiculeet de réchauffer le moteur à l’aide de la chaleur résiduelle dansl’eau de refroidissement. Les lubrifiants Petro-Canada utili-sables par tous temps permettent aux engrenages de fonction-ner sans encombre. Pour l’équipement connexe plus petit,l’équipe utilise des chauffages à eau et hydrauliques Webastoainsi que des fluides hydrauliques Rayco Chemical pour l’avia-tion. Un abri à vent a également été construit pour protéger lesmachines du froid glacial, et des éléments de chauffage à l’étatde traces ont été installés le long des conduits d’air et d’eaupour protéger les forages destinés au développement.

LogistiqueTransporter l’équivalent d’une année de travail sur un pont

maritime d’été requiert une planification bien pensée. Si le sitevient à manquer d’équipements indispensables, le réapprovi-sionnement par un avion mixte 737 de Kitchener-Waterloocoûtera environ 100 000 $. « C’est environ 10 fois plus cherque le transport par voie maritime », indique M. Hampton.

En outre, certaines pièces, comme les pneus d’un tombe-reau de modèle 777 de Caterpillar, ne peuvent être transpor-tées par avion. « Des pneus de cette taille ne rentrent pas

Le minerai, d’une teneur moyenne de 67 % de fer, ne nécessite aucun pré-raffinage avant l’expédition.

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1.To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org

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

CIM journal


Introduction to the stirred milling of nickel laterites for upgrading nickelL. Tong and B. Klein, Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; M. Zanin, W. Skinner, K. Quast, and J. Addai-Mensah, Ian Wark Research Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; and D. Robinson, Minerals Down Under National Research Flagship, CSIRO Process Science and Engineering, Waterford,Western Australia, Australia

ABSTRACT The stirred milling of nickel laterites offers pos-sibilities for improving liberation and selective sizereduction of soft nickel-bearing minerals in laterites. Batchgrinding tests were performed in a Netzsch™ LME4 stirredmill on siliceous goethitic, goethitic, and saprolitic nickellaterites. Tests on the −2,000 µm sample displayed theeffects of selective comminution. The −38 µm product ofgrinding the −2,000/+38 µm feed confirmed the effects ofselective grinding and nickel upgrading. Size classification

RÉSUMÉ le broyage par billes de latérites comportant du nickeloffre des possibilités d’amélioration de la libération et de la réduc-tion sélective de la taille des minéraux nickélifères tendres dans leslatérites. Des essais de broyage en vrac ont été effectués dans unbroyeur à billes NetzschMD LME4 sur des latérites nickélifères àgoethite siliceuse, à goethite et saprolitiques. Des essais surl’échantillon �2000 µ�m présentaient des effets d’une comminu-tion sélective. Le produit �38 µm de l’alimentation �2000/+38 µmconfirme les effets d’un broyage sélectif et du rehaussement de la

Time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram of caustic calcined magnesiaK. Ebrahimi-Nasrabadi, Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran; M. Barati, Department ofMaterials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and P. W. Scott, Camborne School of Mines, University ofExeter, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT The conversion of cryptocrystalline magnesiteto caustic magnesia was studied experimentally at temper-atures of 400–1,200°C and for calcination times of up to8 h. A differential thermal analysis–thermal gravimetricanalysis showed that decomposition begins at tempera-tures as low as 340°C and is completed at 600°C. Specificsurface area, iodine adsorption number, crystallite size,and loss on ignition were measured to characterize theproduct quality. It was found that high-quality caustic cal-cined magnesia can be produced in a narrow temperature(600–650°C) and time range (1–4 h).

RÉSUMÉ La conversion de magnésite cryptocristalline en magné-sie caustique a été étudiée de manière expérimentale à destempératures de 400 à 1200 °C et pour des temps de calcinationatteignant 8 heures. Une analyse thermique différentielle – ana-lyse thermique gravimétrique montre que la décompositioncommence à des températures aussi basses que 340 °C et qu’elleest complète à 600 °C. La surface spécifique, l’indice d’adsorptionde l’iode, la taille des cristaux et la perte au feu ont été mesurésafin de caractériser la qualité du produit. Il a été trouvé qu’unemagnésie caustique calcinée de grande qualité peut être produitedans un petit écart de température (600 à 650 °C) et dans unepériode de temps variant entre 1 et 4 heures.

Effect of low-intensity magnetic fields on constructed wetland mesocosms treating chromium wastewaterA. Rodriguez-Prado, Independent Consultant, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

ABSTRACT Magnetic fields affect the growth of cultured cellsand plants; however, limited information exists about theireffects on vegetation performing environmental remedia-tion. Constructed wetland mesocosms treating hexavalentchromium (Cr(VI)) wastewater exposed to low-intensitymagnetic fields (60 Hz, 56.5 × 10−6 Tesla) produced 100%more biomass than the unexposed control. Nonetheless,they removed only 43 ± 27% of Cr(VI), compared to 60 ±21% for the control. A Cr(VI) reduction expression wasdeveloped as a function of the magnetic field. The designand operation of constructed wetlands to treat miningwastewater can be corrected for magnetic field effects.

RÉSUMÉ Les champs magnétiques affectent la croissance des cel-lules et des plantes cultivées ; toutefois, il existe peu d’informationquant à leurs effets sur la végétation utilisée à des fins d’assainis-sement environnementale. Les mésocosmes des marais artificielstraitant des eaux usées, contenant du chrome hexavalent (Cr(VI)),exposés à des champs magnétiques de faible intensité (60 Hz, 56,5× 10�6 Tesla) ont produit 100 % plus de biomasse que le contrôlenon exposé. Néanmoins, ils n’ont enlevé que 43 ± 27 % du Cr(VI),comparativement à 60 ± 21 % pour le contrôle. Une expression deréduction du Cr(VI) a été développée en tant que fonction duchamp magnétique. La conception et l’exploitation de marais arti-ficiels pour traiter les eaux usées des mines peuvent être adaptéespour tenir compte des effets des champs magnétiques.


CIM journal

followed by stirred milling is recommended for nickelupgrading. The energy requirement in the stirred millingwas also investigated.

teneur en nickel. Pour améliorer la teneur en nickel, il est recom-mandé de classifier le minerai en fonction de sa granulométrie,puis d’effectuer un broyage à billes. L’énergie requise pour lebroyage à billes a aussi été étudié.


Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1.To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org

Escalating social risk around mining: Why does it matter and what can be done?M. D. Evans, Office of the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor, Government of Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT The mining industry has a significant opportu-nity to capitalize on past learnings to build better socialrelationships. The industry’s relationship with society iscritical and under pressure. Rising levels of public opposi-tion and social conflict are already having material impactson operations around the world. The industry has anopportunity to shape the future direction of this socialengagement, build public trust, and proactively respond toa material risk to operations, but first it needs to betterunderstand the nature of the challenges and the urgency ofaddressing them.

RÉSUMÉ L’industrie minière a actuellement une excellente occa-sion de tirer profit de ses expériences antérieures pour établir demeilleures relations sociales. Les relations entre l’industrie et lasociété sont critiques et elles subissent de grandes pressions. L’es-calade de l’opposition par le public et les conflits sociaux ont déjàdes impacts physiques sur les opérations partout à travers lemonde. L’industrie a l’occasion de façonner la future direction deson engagement social, d’accroître la confiance du public et derépondre de manière proactive à un risque matériel aux exploita-tions, mais elle doit tout d’abord mieux comprendre la nature desdéfis et l’urgence de les traiter.

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CMQ, Vol. 52, No. 4.To subscribe – www.cmq-online.ca


canadian metallurgical quarterly

Wear resistance of coke-crushing hammersF. Zupanic̆, University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Smetanova ulica, Maribor, Slovenia

ABSTRACT This work investigated several methods forimproving the wear resistance of the 42CrMo4 tool steelused for coke-crushing hammers. The methods embracedheat treatment for obtaining different combinations ofstrength and ductility of the bulk steel, and surface-engi-neering processes comprising TiN thin-film depositionusing magnetron-sputtering, nitriding and WC/Ni welddeposit surfaced by gas metal arc (GMA) method. Thewear-resistance was tested under industrial conditions.Oil quenching and tempering significantly increased thewear resistance in comparison to the as-received condi-tion. Conversely, nitriding and TiN-hard coating did notshow any significant improvement. WC/Ni weld depositprovided the best protection against wear, which wascaused predominantly by hard abrasive particles presentin the coke.

RÉSUMÉ Ce travail a examiné quelques méthodes d’améliorationde la résistance à l’usure de l’acier à outils 42CrMo4, utilisé pour lesmarteaux de broyage de coke. Les méthodes incluaient le traite-ment thermique pour l’obtention de combinaisons diverses derésistance et de ductilité de l’acier en vrac, ainsi que les procédésd’ingénierie des surfaces comprenant le dépôt de couche mincede TiN par pulvérisation au magnétron, la nitruration ainsi que lesurfaçage par dépôt de soudure de WC/Ni par la méthode de sou-dure à l’arc sous gaz (GMA). On a évalué la résistance à l’usure enconditions industrielles. La trempe à l’huile avec revenu augmen-tait significativement la résistance à l’usure par rapport au métalbrut d’usinage. Inversement, la nitruration, et le revêtement dur deTiN n’ont pas montré d’amélioration importante. Le dépôt de sou-dure de WC/Ni fournissait la meilleure protection contre l’usure, quiétait principalement causée par les particules abrasives dures pré-sentes dans le coke.

L'Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) etl'Institut canadien des mines, de la métallurgie et du pétrole (ICM)

vous invitent à Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada, du 14 au 17 juin 2015,à l'occasion du Symposium 2015 sur l'environnement et les mines.

Le Symposium est le résultat d'une collaboration entre l’Institut de rechercheen mines et environnement (IRME) UQAT-Polytechnique, l'Unité de recherche et de serviceen technologie minérale (URSTM), et de nombreux acteurs des gouvernements et desentreprises minières.Les objectifs du Symposium visent à partager les connaissances les plus récentes et à discuterdes expériences pratiques afin de « trouver des solutions pour concilier rentabilité et protectionde l’environnement ».

DIMANCHE 14 JUIN : COURS INTENSIFS

LUNDI ET MARDI 15 ET 16 JUIN : PROGRAMME TECHNIQUE PORTANT SUR :

Rejets miniers • Remblais souterrains • Roches stériles • Prédiction de la qualité des eaux

• Traitement des eaux • Restauration des sites• Réglementation/société

• Innovation (nouvelles tendances)Traduction simultanée :

Français-Anglais / Anglais-Français

MERCREDI 17 JUIN : VISITES DE SITES

Suivez les publications de l’ICM pour plus de détails et visitez notre site WEB à :

ROUYN-NORANDA2015.CIM.ORG

RÉSERVEZ CES DATES

Pour plus d’information, contactez : Nadia Bakka (ICM) : 514-939-2710, 1333, [email protected]

SUR L’ENVIRONNEMENT ET LES MINESMINES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

SYMPOSIUM 2015 • ROUYN-NORANDA


innovation showcase | professional directory | ad index

35 A.L. Sims & Son Ltd. 41 AMC Consultants 18 AMEC Foster Wheeler 60 American Peat Technology 3 Breaker Technology Ltd. 21 Canadian German Chamber of Industry

and Commerce Inc. OBC Cementation 58 Conspec Controls 56 DMC Mining Services 49 DRA Taggart 31 Eriez Manufacturing Co. 4 FWS 24 Golder Associates Ltd. 15 Herrenknecht Tunnelling Systems 7 Hitachi Mining 9 HLS Hard-Line Solutions 16 Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Ltd. 19 International Precious Metals Institute 55 Klohn Crippen Berger 20 Knight Piesold 26 Les Industries Fournier Inc. 54 Luff Industries 23 Lycopodium IFC Metso Minerals 28 Mintec, Inc. 37 Rousseau Metal Inc. 22 Rulmeca Canada Limited IBC SSAB 49 SRK Consulting 39 Valard Construction 17 Wajax Industries

111 Innovation showcase Belledune Port Authority

111 Professional directory KBL Environmental

ADVERTISERS

HOW DOES YOUR ENERGY RANK?

The price of power has major investment repercussions.

•PROJECT

CONSTRUCTIONBig builds are critical to get right.

•

FLOTATIONAdvances in flotation

are bubbling to the surface.

IN THE NEXT ISSUE

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

www.portofbelledune.ca

Phone: 855 354 5263 [email protected]

LOCATIONS:

www.kblenv.com


TRAVEL

ValleduparBy Katelyn Spidle

Expect a good dose of protein with each meal;Colombians are big meat eaters. Adventuroustravellers might try the regional dish “hormigasculonas” (roasted ants), which are consideredboth nutritious and aphrodisiacal. Valledupar’scuisine has a noticeable Caribbean influence; acommon side dish consists of coconut rice andbeans.

Lunch is typically the biggest meal in Colombia,but breakfast is taken seriously as well. It is agood thing Compae Chipuco serves both. Enjoya traditional meal under the shade of a mangotree in a courtyard patio, nestled only a half-block from the Plaza Alfonso Lopez.

It is also possible to take a break from the localfare, as there are several international and fusionrestaurants in Valledupar. Carb-lovers will behappy to discover an array of quality Italianrestaurants like Ferrini Pizza, which offers agenerous number of menu options.

WHERE TO DINE

well. The Sonesta alsoboasts a restaurant,pool, fitness centreand bar, and a stayincludes free Internet,parking and breakfast.

Travellers looking toget out and about inValledupar wouldenjoy the TativanHotel. Centrally lo -cated and secure, Tati-van is affordable ($77per night) and has a

spectacular view ofthe Santa Marta andPerijá mountainranges. The PlazaAlfonso Lopez, one ofValledupar’s twoshopping malls, iswithin walking dis-tance. Instead of eat-ing at the hotelrest aurant, exploreCarrera 9 and Calle16, where a numberof restaurants can befound.

Colombians prefer their coffees small, weakand black. Colombian coffee is called tinto and

is typically drunk in the afternoon.

TIP

Known for its helpfulstaff, excellent foodand luxurious ameni-ties, the SonestaHotel is a top choiceamong business trav-ellers. Guests canexpect to pay about$130 per night for aregular room with aking-sized bed,although suites, fam-ily-style and kitch-e n e t t e - e q u i p p e drooms are available as

Named after a legendary Chimila leader, Valledupar is an historic northeastern Colom-bian city of 440,000 people. It quickly became a centre for import and distributionafter being founded by the Spanish in 1550. Today, Valledupar is a business hub for

the biggest coal mines in the country, owned by Cerrejón (equal parts BHP Billiton, AngloAmerican and Glencore) and U.S.-based Drummond.

GETTINGAROUND

WHERE TO STAY

Until recently, taxisand buses ownedby private and gov-ernment entitiesoperated on sharedroutes throughoutValledupar. As aresponse to an esca-lating number ofauto rickshawsoperating illegallyin the urban centre,the governmentimplemented theMassive StrategicTransportation Sys-tem in 2014. Thenew system featuresmodern buses andrevamped routes.

The tourism industry is booming, despite perceptions that Colombia – former home of the notoriousdrug lord Pablo Escobar – is a dangerous place to travel. Safety has drastically increased since then-

president Álvaro Uribe passed the Justice and Peace law in 2006.

TIP

Tane

nhau

s

Joaq

uin

Ram

irez


HOW TO FIT IN

Valledupar’s culture isinfluenced by theEuropean colonistswho settled in thearea, African slaveswho built the city, andindigenous mountaintribes like the Ika,Wiwa, Kogi andKankuamo. Local tourcompany Paseo Val-lenato offers a wideselection of activities,

helping travellers cul-tivate a deeper under-standing of regionalculture and history.

The region is home toa unique musical tra-dition called val-lenato, which isplayed on the indige-nous guacharaca,African tambora andEuropean accordion.

During the last weekof April the city comesalive for the VallenatoLegend Festival thatcelebrates vallenatomusic with a series ofcontests and awardsand has been heldannually since 1968.

Spend a sunny after-noon swimming inthe Río Guatapurí,

snacking on greenmango with salt andsipping Old Parrwhiskey – a localfavourite – in the Bal-neario Hurtado, justnorth of Valledupar.Guests looking for alittle peace and quietshould avoid holidaysand Sundays, whenlocals flock to thearea.

Colombians valuestrong handshakes,eye contact and smalltalk. Before discussingbusiness, build trustby asking about fam-ily and health. Theregion is not popularamong foreigntourists so it will beimportant to learnbasic Spanish beforetravelling to Valledu-

par. Consider havinga translator availableto you.

Meals are a formalaffair. Always use cut-lery – even for fruit –and do not begin eat-ing before the hostsays “¡Buen prove-cho!” Try everythingon your plate, butremember it’s polite

to leave a littlebehind.

Be aware that family iscentral to social life,and that 90 per centof Colombians areRoman Catholic.

Most Latin American countries have their ownaguardiente, meaning “fiery water.” The

Colombian version is made from fermentedsugar cane, is flavoured with anise seed and

contains roughly 29 per cent alcohol.

TIP

WHERE TO EXPLORE

There are many airlines that serve Bogotá,including Air France, American Airlines,Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and AirCanada. To get to Valledupar, however, trav-ellers must fly with Colombia’s national air-line, Avianca. Foreigners are subject to anexit tax of US$33.

HOW TO GET THERE

The oral history of Valledupar is still

very much alive, and locals are excellent

storytellers. Many myths and

legends have been well preserved along with a strong cultural

identity.

TIP

HOW TO PAYThe Colombianpeso is the officialcurrency, andexchanging foreignmoney can easily beaccomplished at acurrency exchange,bank or hotel. It isrecommended thatvisitors avoid for-eign exchange deal-ers on the street;they may offer bet-ter rates but the riskof robbery andcounterfeit is high.The most commonforeign currency isthe U.S. dollar,which is also the offi-cial reference rate forforeign exchange.Debit cards arewidely accepted atlarger stores andhotels, while mostplaces take majorcredit cards.

Joaq

uin

Ram

irez

Joaq

uin

Ram

irez

Joaq

uin

Ram

irez

Joaq

uin

Ram

irez

As Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesadaentered the territory of the Muisca people, he foundhimself surrounded by the thing he had been searching

for: gold. He saw gold jewellery, gold chimes hanging fromdoorways, and gold objects in the temples. Quesada wasleading an expedition to find the legendary El Dorado, a landof untold golden riches hiddensomewhere in the New World. Couldhe have finally arrived?

Tales had been growing among theSpanish since 1531 of an indigenousruler who, as part of a religious cere-mony, would cover himself in golddust and dive into a sacred lake, wash-ing it off. The ruler was known amongthe Spanish as El Rey Dorado, or thegolden king. To the Spanish it seemedan extravagant display of wealth, andlocating his kingdom of gold – whichthe Spanish dubbed El Dorado –quickly became a national obsession.

Quesada joined the Spanish con-quest of the Americas in 1535 as chiefmagistrate of the colony of SantaMarta, on the north coast of present-day Colombia. The following year hewas ordered by the governor of SantaMarta to lead a massive expeditioninto the interior of the continent insearch of El Dorado.

Quesada’s expedition got off to arocky start. He led 200 soldiers plus anumber of native porters and blackslaves by foot, with another 600 troops travelling up the Magdalena River on a fleet of supply ships. The land party wasrocked by disease and attacks by wild animals and hostilelocals. When the exhausted troops made it to the rendezvouspoint on the river, the ships were nowhere to be found, havingbeen delayed by storms. While they waited, the men survivedby eating what they could, including reptiles and boiledleather. When the ships finally arrived, Quesada set out tobrave the jungle again. They reached the lands of the MuiscaConfederation at the foothills of the Andes the following January, down to just 166 men.

Unbeknownst to Quesada, he had found the source ofthe legend of El Dorado. The ceremonies held by a Muiscaruler in nearby Lake Guatavita had inspired the myth,though the actual kingdom no longer matched the larger-than-life tales. Still, Quesada was impressed with their


apparent wealth. At the time, the Muisca were divided byinternal rivalries. Quesada took advantage of this and,despite the diminished state of his troops, attacked andconquered them. He declared a new Spanish colony, even-tually known by the local name, Bogotá.

Quesada immediately tried to locate the source of theMuisca gold. To him, the localsseemed ignorant of its value, but tothe Muisca, gold was simply a beauti-ful metal that had spiritual signifi-cance and little else. They were aprosperous people, though theirwealth lay in their fertile valleys and intheir salt mining and emeralds, whichthey traded for gold. There were noMuisca gold mines, much to Quesada’s chagrin.

By 1539, two other expeditions hadreached Bogotá: a conquistador fromEcuador and a German conquerorfrom Venezuela. Although Quesadahad already de clared the land forSpain, he had not yet officially sentword to the Spanish king, and the twoother men wanted to claim the land.Rather than fight for it, Quesada con-vinced the men to travel to Spain to letthe king settle the matter. The threeleft together, but none of them weregranted the land in the end; the kinginstead gave it to the son of the gover-nor of Santa Marta.

The dejected Quesada remainedin Spain for a number of years before returning to the Spanish colonies in 1550, this time as marshal of Bogotá. In1569 he took another stab at El Dorado, organizing a mas-sive expedition from Bogotá to the south and east. It was anear-repeat of his first attempt and another monumentalfailure. This time he left with 500 men and returned afterthree years with only 28. The loss had been horrificallyexpensive, and Quesada retired deeply in debt.

While Quesada’s expeditions were only two of themany launched to find the kingdom of gold, it was per-haps the extravagance of Quesada’s failures that made hisexploits most memorable. He is thought to have inspiredMiguel de Cervante’s Don Quixote, published 26 years afterhis death. Ironically, Quesada’s expeditions into Muiscaterritory may have brought him closer to El Dorado thanthose of anyone else. CIM

The broken promise of El DoradoBy Correy Baldwin

Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada led twoexpeditions in the 1500s to find the legendary kingdom of El Dorado.

Cour

tesy

of W

ikim

edia

Com

mon

s

40 YEARS OF WEAR AND STILL LOVING ITIn the 1970s, producing bendable wear plates was a mission impossible in the minds of most steel producers. Some people at the Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB thought differently and decided to attack the issue head on.

After a fair amount of trial and error, they succeeded in producing Hardox with a unique combination of hardness and toughness. Since its introduction in 1974, the Hardox range has constantly grown thinner, thicker, harder and tougher.

Originally intended as a wear plate, Hardox became tough enough to double as a load-carrying part in applications such as containers, dump bodies and buckets. It allows for the design of structures that are wear resistant and lightweight at the same time, saving both money and the environment.

Don’t just take our word for it. Ask any user and you will learn how Hardox delivers extreme performance for their extreme challenges—day after day and year after year.

www.hardox.com

SSAB Montréal, QC T +1 514 364 1752

Toronto, ON T +1 416 527 0309

Calgary, AB T +1 403 869 5601

Vancouver, BC T +1 604 526 3700 [email protected]

Come and see us at the

CIM Convention 2015 in

booth #416!

GOLD WINNER

cim magazine february 2015

Documents