cim magazine june/july 2009

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June/July • juin/juillet 2009 www.cim.org

CONTENTSCIM MAGAZINE | JUNE/JULY 2009 | JUIN/JUILLET 2009

NEWS11 Leading from the tailing end Iron Ore Company

of Canada wins sustainability award for its innovative tailings management measures by R. Bergen

12 Taking the pulse of the mining industry Aninternational survey of resources sector leaders finds themood guardedly optimistic by M. Kerawala

13 Centre for Welding and Joining to open inthe fall The University of Alberta announces the creationof a new research and teaching centre by M. Eisner

14 Say it for mining, say it on camera The winnersof the So You Think You Know Mining contest speak oftheir inspirations and ideas by M. Kerawala

15 Agreement announced Centerra Gold reaches anunderstanding with the government of Kyrgyzstan by P. Diekmeyer

16 Meeting of a multiplicity of minds Leadersfrom the mining and finance sectors meet to bridge thegap of understanding between their worlds by M. Paduada

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4 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 4, No. 4

UPFRONT18 A cartographer with a difference Robots,

LIDAR and gyroscopes come together in the next generation of mine mapping solutions by P. Caulfield

20 Leaving no rock unturned PDAC workshopexposes geoscientists-in-training to a broad spectrum ofreal-life challenges by B. Dalglish

22 From the mine site to Mars and back Thepossibilities at the interface of mining and space exploration are virtually limitless by M. Paduada

24 No smoke for this fire Clean-burning incineratorsare helping minimize the impact of waste disposal at minesites by M. Eisner

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FEATURED MINEMINE EN VEDETTE

36 Big and getting bigger Taseko Mines ramps up the expansion of its Gibraltarproject on time and on budget by D. Zlotnikov

41 De plus en plus gros Taseko Mines intensifie l’expansion de son projetGibraltar en respectant l’échéancier et le budget

SUPPLY CHAINLA CHAÎNE D’APPROVISIONNEMENT

26 It’s time to talk about the relationship Future growth willdepend on strengthening bonds alongthe supply chain now by R. Bergen

31 Uptime Close coordination andstreamlining can reduce maintenancecosts and minimize downtime by J. Reyes-

Picknell

34 Parlons de la relation La futurecroissance sera fonction du resserre-ment des liens tout le long de la chaîned’approvisionnement dès maintenant 26

Preliminary program of the 2009

Conference of Metallurgists

COLUMNS43 Eye on Business by B.D Sells & C. Higgins

44 HR Outlook by M. Sturk

45 Supply Side by J. Baird

46 MAC Economic Commentary by P. Stothart

48 Innovation by M. Scoble

49 Student Life by S.D. Craggs

50 Safety by R. Bergen

51 Mining Lore by R. Bergen

82 Voices by D. Allan

CIM NEWS54 On the comeback Trail CIM Trail Branch

hosts its kick-off meeting by K. Heale

55 CIM Montreal Branch gets energizedCIM Distinguished Lecturer Gord Winkel speaks oninnovation by R. Pillo

55 La Section Montréal connaît un renou-veau d’énergie L’éminent conférencier del’ICM Gord Winkel parle sur l’innovation

56 Standardizing standards CIM DistinguishedLecturer Clifford Stanley is passionate about raisingthe bar by R. Pillo

57 Where everybody knows your nameCIM’s Newfoundland Branch is among its mostactive and friendly by R. Pillo

58 A force of nature A conversation with CIMpast president René Dufour by R. Pillo

60 CIM Conference and Exhibition 2009 Around-up of key events at this year’s conferenceand trade show by M. Kerawala

65 COM 2009 The Conference of Metallurgists preliminary program

HISTORY70 Butte, Montana (Part 3) by R.J. Cathro

73 The Canadian gold rush by F. Habashi

TECHNICAL SECTION75 This month’s contents

IN EVERY ISSUE6 Editor’s Message8 President’s Notes / Mot du président

10 Letters53 Welcoming new members54 Obituaries59 Calendar81 Professional Directory

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June/July 2009 | 5

When we developed the 2009 magazine lineup a year ago, we anticipatedthat the the editorial for this “supply chain” issue would centre on howsuppliers and operators were managing the unprecedented demand. Of

course, a very different story has emerged, but one whose significance may be evenmore far-reaching.

It’s a fact of life that sometimes it takes a “rough patch” to sufficiently clear ourvision to enable a closer look at where we’ve been and where we want to go. In thefeature article, “It’s time to talk about the relationship” (no, it’s not an excerpt froman episode of Dr. Phil), writer Ryan Bergen discovered how suppliers are takingadvantage of this slowdown to reevaluate how they do business, and especially howthey interact with customers. The revised business practices and stronger relation-ships being developed today will undoubtedly be welcome when the solidity of thesupply chain is once again tested by the increased demand that is widely forecast.

There have also been some changes here at CIM Magazine. First, we welcomeMichael Allan, the new CIM president, whose inaugural letter on the theme of renewalcan be found on page eight. We also recently launched a digital, easy-to-use flip ver-sion of CIM Magazine, available online at cim.dgtlpub.com. Finally, I am thrilled to betaking on the role of editor-in-chief. The past eighteen months that I served as senioreditor have been incredibly exciting and rewarding, enhanced by the opportunity towork with such a talented and dedicated editorial team and national office staff.

Foremost, I would like to thank Heather for her guidance, trust and enthusiastic open-ness to new ideas. She leaves very big shoes to fill, indeed. It was under her stewardshipthat the vision for CIM Magazine’s transformation from the CIM Bulletin began some yearsago. The magazine’s current success serves as a testament to her talent and foresight.

I look forward to the journey that lies ahead and would like to remind you that animportant part of the evolution of the magazine comes from the feedback — be itpositive or otherwise — that we receive from you. So please be encouraged to weigh-in on your thoughts and opinions.

Angela GordonEditor-in-chief

Iam excited to welcome Angela Gordon as the neweditor-in-chief of CIM Magazine. She brings awealth of experience and editorial excellence to

our team, as you’ve witnessed over the past year asshe drove new-content developments and improve-ments to the overall quality of the magazine. Pleasedon’t hesitate to contact Angela with your thoughtsand ideas as she focuses on future innovations to con-tinue the evolvement of our flagship publication.

I’d also like to thank everyone — all our outstand-ing volunteers, partners and, most of all, the CIMmembership for the past few exciting years I’ve

enjoyed. I’ve worked with CIM for 13 years now, and it’s been my greatest learningexperience, not to mention a fantastic environment to be a part of. Through CIM I’vemet fabulous people — mentors, colleagues and friends. At the end of this month,I’m moving on to a new stage in my career, but I absolutely hope to continue mylong-standing relationship with CIM. A special thanks to the amazing staff who areat the centre of CIM’s continued success. I feel lucky to have been a part of the team.

I came to CIM without an inkling of what the minerals industry represents. I’mmoving on with the greatest appreciation for this industry and the folks who con-tinue to set the bar so high, making mining a standard for others to live up to.

Heather Ednie

Editor-in-chiefAngela Gordon [email protected] EditorsNews, Upfront and Features:Angela Gordon [email protected] and CIM News:Joan Tomiuk [email protected] and Technical Section:Minaz Kerawala [email protected] Editor Joan TomiukPublisher CIM

Contributors Dan Allan, Jon Baird, Ryan Bergen,Louise Blais-Leroux, R.J. Cathro, Peter Caulfield,Simon David Craggs, Brenda Dalglish, PeterDiekmeyer, Marlene Eisner, Fathi Habashi, Kris Heale,Chuck Higgins, Mike Paduada, Robbie Pillo, JamesReyes-Picknell, Malcolm Scoble, Berkley D. Sells, PaulStothart, Melanie Sturk, Dan Zlotnikov

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This month’s cover“Application know-how”Photograph courtesy of Sandvik

Layout and design by Clò Communications.

Copyright©2009. 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 inany discussion appearing in its publications.

Printed in Canada


“Change is the only constant.”

~ Ancient proverb


president’s notesThis opportunity to communicate regularly with members

gives me great pleasure, as I begin my term as CIM presi-dent. My predecessor, Jim Gowans has set the bar very highand I would like to acknowledge his hard work and dedica-tion. Jim headed CIM during a year in which he also served as president of the Mining Association of Canada —a workload I do not envy.

Throughout my 35-year career, I have been active inCIM at the branch and national levels. My last involvementwith CIM Council, however, goes back almost 10 years.Last year, re-acquainting myself with the Council, I wasstruck by the extent of its rejuvenation over the pastdecade. During that time, CIM’s leadership in educatingthe general public about our industry has been commend-able. For instance, this year, the Mining in Society initiativeat the CIM Conference and Exhibition in Toronto attracteda record 6,725 students.

For me, CIM has always been about knowledge sharingand networking. Whenever I needed help with solving a prob-lem or simply doing my job better, I counted on connections Ihad made through CIM. Our work in providing standardresource and reserve definitions that are used by the coun-try’s securities regulators is an example of the ongoing tech-nical contributions CIM makes to the industry at large.

However, we still have some chal-lenges to confront in the coming year.Foremost, we need to recruit more ofthe younger industry members. To dothis, we must demonstrate the valueinherent in belonging to CIM.Although the benefits are obvious tomany of us, judging from my conver-sations with younger colleagues, I amconvinced that some work remains tobe done in this regard. I was tremen-dously encouraged by a recent visitto CIM’s Trail Branch, which is being reactivated after years ofdormancy and where the younger generation is well represented on the executive.

These promising signs of renewal could not be moretimely. By tapping into the CIM network, let us all worktogether to convey the benefits of belonging to this incredibleorganization.

Michael J. AllanCIM President

Je me réjouis beaucoup à l’idée de pouvoir communiquerde manière régulière avec les membres de l’ICM, alors que jecommence mon mandat de président de l’ICM. Monprédécesseur, Jim Gowans, a placé la barre très haute; jevoudrais profiter de cette tribune pour reconnaître son travailacharné et son engagement. Il a été à la tête de l’ICM durantune année alors qu’il était aussi président de l’Associationminière du Canada; il avait donc une charge de travail que jen’envie pas.

Tout au cours de ma carrière de 35 ans, j’ai été actif ausein de l’ICM, tant à l’échelle nationale qu’à celle des sections.Ma plus récente implication avec le Conseil de l’ICM remontetoutefois à près d’une dizaine d’années. L’an dernier, en renou-velant mes contacts avec le Conseil, j’ai été surpris de l’am-pleur du rajeunissement au cours de la dernière décennie.Durant cette période, le leadership de l’ICM à éduquer le grandpublic sur notre industrie a été digne de mention. Par exemple,cette année, l’activité Les mines dans la société, dans le cadredu Congrès et Salon commercial à Toronto, a attiré un nombrerecord de 6 725 étudiants.

En ce qui me concerne, l’ICM a toujours représenté lepartage de connaissances et le réseautage. Lorsque j’ai besoind’aide pour solutionner un problème ou simplement pouraméliorer mon travail, je peux compter sur des contacts étab-

lis par l’entremise de l’ICM. Notre travail à fournir des défi-nitions normalisées pour les ressources et les réserves, util-isées par les organismes de réglementation du commercedes valeurs mobilières du pays, est un bon exemple descontributions techniques que l’ICM fournit à l’industrie engénéral.

Toutefois, nous avons encore des défis à relever dans laprochaine année. Nous devons aussi recruter encore plusde jeunes membres provenant de l’industrie. Pour ce faire,nous devons démontrer la valeur intrinsèque d’appartenir àl’ICM. Bien que les avantages soient évidents pour plusieursd’entre nous, à en juger par mes conversations avec descollègues plus jeunes, je suis convaincu qu’il reste du tra-vail à effectuer à cet égard. J’ai été très encouragé par marécente visite à la Section de Trail. Cette section est en voiede réactivation après plusieurs années d’inactivité et lajeune génération est bien représentée au sein de l’exécutif.

Ces signes prometteurs de renouveau ne pourraient pasarriver à un meilleur moment. Branchons-nous au réseaude l’ICM et travaillons tous ensemble à véhiculer les avan-tages d’appartenir à cet organisme incroyable.

Michael J. AllanPrésident de l’ICM

A time of renewal

Un temps de renouveau

lettersClose connectionsReflections from a CIM Fifty-Year Club member

The following letter was sent to CIM by Maurice Hinton, recent recipient of his Fifty-Year Club pin.

In it he expresses what being a member of CIM means to him.

After first attending a CIM field trip at Aguathuna, Newfoundland, in 1959, Iwas so impressed by the group that I became a member and still remain one tothis day. There is more than just a little personal satisfaction in becoming a mem-ber of the CIM Fifty-Year Club. The Institute is 111 years old this year and is goingstrong. It represents this wonderfully fascinating, multi-faceted, essential, ancientand very necessary element of human existence. The products of this industry arelargely taken for granted by huge segments of society. Often, the industry is reviledas a bunch of careless polluters of the natural environment, running roughshodover any and all that happen to be opposed to mining activity. Nothing could befarther from the truth!

By and large, the folks who populate the mining industry are very aware oftheir surroundings and are as sensitive to the wonders of nature as all other nat-uralists. In short, we love the wonders of nature. That said, there have been somemembers of the industry who have not been the good stewards of the environ-ment that the majority are. However, they are the exception, not the rule.

My own experience in the mining industry ranges from exploration to devel-opment to production and in most jurisdictions in this vast country of Canada,with the exception of P.E.I., Nova Scotia and Yukon. Most of these were withsmaller operations, but in all cases except one, the operators were responsible cor-porate citizens who were acutely aware of their responsibility to the society theywould impact and the nature of the countryside they were about to alter. This ofcourse minimized the so-called “footprint,” which is always a priority. The realityof cyclical commodity demand was always taken into consideration as well.Methods for mitigating this phenomenon have been and will continue to be partof the evolution of responsible prosecution of the industry.

As far as CIM is concerned, I believe it is part of the industry’s evolution. CIMhas so profoundly affected my own career that the human contacts made throughit are as lasting as those of family connections. Long may it continue.

Maurice Hinton, FCIMEdmonton, Alberta

CIM

Maurice and Mona Hinton at the CIM Awards Gala

Reclamation efforts reward the diligent and the patient.Payoff for such projects can take years, often generations, asnative plants and animals slowly recolonize rehabilitatedareas. By these standards, results of the innovation at IronOre Company of Canada’s (IOC) operation in westernLabrador have been swift. Last spring, the water of WabushLake was a rusted red, coloured by the fine iron-stainedquartz tailings created by the ore processing; this year it isblue. The tailings treatment plant put into service last fallrestored the lake to its traditional hue in short order.

It is apt, then, that IOC should receive the CIM/SyncrudeAward for Excellence in Sustainable Development for 2008.The award honours those whose work successfully com-bines and balances economic and social development as wellas environmental protection. The nominations are vetted byCIM and handed over to a selection committee comprised ofmembers uninvolved in the nomination process. While theaward recognized a specific achievement, those involved inIOC’s reclamation efforts value it as something other thanapplause for their dramatic final act.

“It feels good, because it is the recognition of a long jour-ney,” said Patrick Lauziere, IOC’s manager of environmentand sustainable development. “We’ve been investing a lot ofenergy and capital in that project. It’s the result of 10 yearsof research and development with the involvement ofresearchers, consultants, engineering firms and biologists.”

Over the last decade, IOC has been addressing the prob-lem of advancing tailings, by gradually reshaping the 540-

hectare area affected by what is now nearly 50years of ore production, transforming parcels ofland into diverse and productive habitats. IOC’searth movers have sculpted hills, lagoons andislands across the area. The tailings were primedwith hay and manure to support vegetation. Aftera couple of years, when the soil was ready, trac-tors sowed seeds to encourage plant life and min-imize dust lift-off.

Knowledge of what would and would notgrow was hard won, commented Lauziere. Aspart of the closure management process, trialsand errors on test plots began in the 1990s. Thelessons from these trials were then applied to theproject. The formalized tailings managementprocess began in 1999 with public consultationand the input of various stakeholders and gov-ernmental bodies in response to revised metalmining effluent regulations.

IOC devised a plan to use the topography ofthe lake along with a flocculation process to curtail theeffects of suspended tailings. The tailings discharge was con-solidated at one point and a polymer was mixed with theeffluent, allowing it to coagulate and sink to the bottom of anaturally occurring trench in Wabush Lake. Lauziere saidthe combination of the trench and the flocculant formed a“virtual dyke” that will contain the tailings produced overthe rest of the approximately 30-year projected mine life.

Environmental modelling of the project’s future outcomescontinues with help from Laval University and the Universityof Illinois. Along with the development of the flocculationproject, various habitat rehabilitation schemes were started.Nesting boxes for goldeneye ducks and osprey platformshave been installed to encourage biodiversity. A fish laddernow connects Wabush Lake to other lakes upstream.

Even before the flocculation plant was set to work, thereclamation project earned recognition for its restoration ofwaterfowl and migratory bird habitat. Perhaps a moreimpressive testament to IOC’s diligence in restoring the areais the humble project Lauziere terms “small mammal reloca-tion.” In and around the operation that turns out up to 18million tons of iron ore each year, mice are trapped andturned out into the newly established grasslands.

While the results may not be visible from space — asis the lake — it is an equally vital example of the workbeing done.

www.ironore.ca

CIM

Leading from the tailing endIron Ore Company of Canada earns sustainable development award

By Ryan Bergen

IOC introduced the wetlands education and awareness program to the grade four class of theLabrador City Elementary school.

news

June/July 2009 | 11

news


Much is said about the impact ofthe current economic downturn andthe expectation or hope that theslump will not be sustained. However,until recently, assessments of eco-nomic conditions within the miningindustry remained largely informaland even vague. To put things on afirmer footing and to generate action-able data, the Toronto-based BedfordConsulting Group recently conducteda scientific survey of mining industryexecutives around the world.

Bedford, a leading mining industryexecutive search and recruitment firm,surveyed 130 “C-level” executives(CEOs, COOs, etc.) from small andlarge mining companies in Canada,the United States, Latin America,Europe, Russia, North Africa, theMiddle East, India, the Asia Pacificregion and Australia. Findings fromthe survey are broadly encouraging.

Despite depressed prices andscarce credit, 47 per cent of therespondents expressed optimismabout 2009. Even the less optimistic,who account for 45 per cent of therespondents, expect to see better con-ditions no later than the fourth quar-ter of 2010. Only nine per cent antic-ipate a deep recession likely to lastwell beyond 2010. Eighty-four percent of respondents expect the goldsector to lead the recovery.

The survey identified four factorsimpeding the industry’s recovery.They are: lack of available credit (84per cent); declining metals markets(83 per cent); commodities volatility(81 per cent); and paucity of invest-ment financing (72 per cent).Enhanced credit flow and new infra-structure projects were identified asthe top potential stimulants by 89 and54 per cent of the respondents,respectively.

Given current economic realities,92 per cent anticipate capital projectdelays and 72 per cent expect shut-downs. Consolidation among juniorsand major asset sales are foreseen by59 and 43 per cent, respectively.

Retaining employees (25 per cent),developing leadership (54 per cent)and partnering with educational insti-tutions (64 per cent) were listedamong favoured recovery tactics. Thegood news is that most respondentsexpect to see resurgence in the jobmarket for middle and entry-levelskilled professionals.

Some of the trends the surveyturned up were illuminative. “Thesmaller, developing companies arefaced with financing challenges,whereas the larger companies aremore focused on managing their bal-ance sheets and reducing costs,”reported Russ Buckland, managingpartner, Bedford Group. Anotherthing he noticed was that “the moodis shifting from the pessimism andconcern of last year. Now, people arestarting to feel more optimistic.”

Buckland’s take-away from the sur-vey is both positive and pre-emptive.“Compared to other industries, likethe manufacturing sector in Ontario,the mining sector is more optimistic.Miners are, by nature, optimistic

AchievementsRescan Environmental Services Ltd. was selected as one of Canada’sGreenest Employers by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers project,who each year list organizations that “are more flexible, waste less and attractsimilar-minded employees and clients, making them more likely to succeedwhen resources become scarce.” Rescan made the list this year because of itsGreen Rebate Program that provides a 25 per cent reimbursement on selectenvironmentally friendly purchases. The company also provides employeeswith a rebate to supplement those offered provincially and federally towardspurchasing a hybrid vehicle.

people. Our clients are already begin-ning to think about planning for therebound, trying to address challengeslike skills shortages,” he reported,adding that companies need to planfor better times right now.

Armed with the data, Bucklandsaid, “We have responded to all theparticipants. We will hold a roundtable in camera meeting with the participating companies here inToronto.” By bringing senior executivestogether, Buckland added, Bedfordintends to “provide them with anopportunity to share their ideas. Thatwill be our initial followup.”

Buckland did have some advice forthe industry. “As things begin to moveforward, companies need to thinkmore innovatively about their recruit-ment strategies,” he said. “For exam-ple there is a very well-trained talentpool in India,” adding that it was oneof the reasons why Indian executiveswere surveyed. “Our government isgoing to have to do a better job ofreducing barriers to the quick entry ofprofessionals into the country to fulfildemand. We are going to need peopleall the way from drillers to technicalpeople to senior leaders. There is noquestion in my mind.”

www.bedfordgroup.com

CIM

Taking the pulse of the mining industryA Bedford Group survey finds cautious optimism among industry leaders around the world

By Minaz Kerawala

news

Dr. Patricio F. Mendez has beennamed the Weldco/Industry chair atthe newly created Canadian Centrefor Welding and Joining, set to openin the fall at the University ofAlberta’s faculty of engineering’schemical and materials engineeringdepartment. Mendez will also serve asthe centre’s director.

“This program will involve facultyin all five engineering departments atthe University,” said Mendez. “Elevencompanies are part of the endowmentfor the chaired welding position. Weare developing a curriculum for a focuson welding at the BS and MS/MEnglevel and should be teaching one ortwo welding courses per semester.Among our areas of interest are weld-ing technologies for heavy equipmentused in mining operations.”

Research conducted at the centrewill focus on productivity, weldabil-ity, automation and performance.Other studies will include newprocesses, materials and technolo-gies; difficult-to-weld materials suchas aged and embrittled alloys; andnon-destructive testing, corrosionand fracture.

Alongside collaborative researchand dissemination of knowledge, thecentre will also place emphasis on theeducation and training of weldingengineers and area experts. Engagingindustry partners, students, educa-tors, and welding practitionersthrough lecture, seminar, or sympo-sium opportunities will furtherenhance collaboration between thecentre and its stakeholders.

One challenge facing the directorsof the new centre will be to determinein which fields of welding to initiallyspecialize. “It’s all about trying to find where the needs are,” saidMendez, referring both to the needs of the students attempting to further

Centre for Welding and Joining to open in the fallUniversity of Alberta names chair of new centre

By Marlene Eisner

their educations and the needs of thewelding industry at large that will be putting these graduates to work. “Weaim at revolutionizing welding at theapplication level. This involves newtechnologies, as well as quality, pro-ductivity, cost, safety and environ-mental improvements in existingtechnologies.”

Lead sponsor, Weldco Companiescommented that the new centre, whichwill be the first and only one in Canada,is a good idea whose time has come.“When I heard about it, I felt it wassomething we were overdue for in thisprovince and the country as a whole,”said Doug Schindel, president ofWeldco. “It’s a plus not only for miningbut for all industries that use welding.”

MINING THE NORTHIntegrity - Innovation - Performance

Peter Kiewit Sons Co.4333 Grande-AlleeBoisbriand (Quebec) J7H 1M7450 435-5756 450 435-6764 faxkiewit.ca

Integrity - Innovation - PerformanceIntegrity - Innovation - Performance

Schindel said that the field ofwelding that has not changed signifi-cantly in the last 25 years, and allindustries, including mining, willbenefit from improved performanceand productivity as more researchinto the field produces enhancedautomation and cleaner methods forwelding.

“We’re not nearly as efficient as wecould be with our welding operations,”he commented, “and the research andinformation coming out of the centrewill go a long way to improving ourproductivity, from ensuring a betterenvironment to discovering more prac-tical applications.”

www.ualberta.ca

CIM

June/July 2009 | 13

Seeking to get young people interested in themining industry, the Ontario Mining Association(OMA) conducted a high school video contestcalled So You Think You Know Mining (SYTYKM).Participants were asked to represent the benefitsof mining through short, two- to three-minute films. In addition to getting themto think of the industry’s social, eco-nomic and technological benefits, thecontest aimed to help contestantsdevelop script-writing, editing, direc-tion and production skills.

The popular contest culminated ina grand awards ceremony at CIM’sMining in Society show on May 10,2009. The top prize of $5,000 for theBest Overall Video was bagged by17-year-old Keith Laplume of St. Peter’s SecondarySchool, Barrie, Ontario. Laplume, who proudly identifieshimself as, “a veteran of many video contests,” is nostranger to award-winning film production. “I won anOntario-wide Workplace Safety and Insurance Boardvideo contest last year, and placed second in an anti-smoking video contest for my local health unit. This pastDecember, a short-film I made won me awards for BestDirector and Best Picture in my school’s film festival,”Laplume reported.

Laplume’s entry, A Rock Solid Look at Mining, starredhis siblings, John and Sharon, and was made with thehelp of his friend Timothy. Featuring the sortof edgy music, dramatic titling and fast cutsthat are the staple of big-budget actionmovies, the video was also edited byLaplume. Recalling the production process,Laplume said, “My entire video was accom-plished using my camcorder and home com-puter. With free open source video software,more people than ever can create stunningvisuals. This is not to say that creating low-budget productions is easy, but rather toacknowledge that with some hard work andimagination, one can accomplish one’svision.”

In keeping with the tradition of all award-winning filmmakers, the young visionaryadded, “I would like to acknowledge theefforts of my associate producer, TimothyArmstrong, and the acting skills of my brother

news


Say it for mining, say it on cameraCreativity and vision are feted at the SYTYKM contest awards

By Minaz Kerawala

John and my sister Sharon. Furthermore, I owethanks to my parents for tolerating the crazy pro-ductions I put together and for being accommodat-ing enough to let me build sets in their backyard,garage and even their living room.”

The $2,500 award for Best Directing went toBrad Jennings of Holy Cross Catholic Secondary

School, Strathroy, Ontario. A chip off the oldblock, Jennings said, “I have always

liked video work. It’s a passion ofmine. My dad’s in the business too;he’s a cameraman.” Jennings’ entry,Let’s Talk Mining, would certainlydo his dad proud. Conceived, pro-duced, directed and edited entirely

by Jennings, the video, inspired bythe Rick Mercer Report, offers a

news report-style overview of the many benefits of mining.Jennings thanked his teachers Mr. Mrnik and Mr. Bawa fortheir support and encouragement.

Three other $2,500 awards were given for Best OriginalScreenplay, Best Original Score and Best Comedy. Theywere won by Meaghan Butler of the South SecondarySchool, London; DJ Nichol of H.B. Secondary School,London; and Jeremy Kozelj of St. Paul Secondary School,Mississauga, respectively.

To view the winning videos visit http://www.oma.on.ca/contest/ Inspiration.aspx

CIM

Keith Laplume with the trusty camcorder that won him $5,000

Best director Brad Jennings strikes a pose.

news

June/July 2009 | 15

Centerra Gold put to rest close to ayear’s worth of uncertainly late lastMay when it announced that it hadreached agreement with the Kyrgyzgovernment regarding outstandingissues related to the massive KumtorProject. The new deal, which includesprovisions related to taxation, theexpansion of the company’s existingconcession area and the level of theKyrgyz government’s stake in the over-all project, replaces an earlier arrange-ment, which the Kyrgyz parliamentrefused to ratify.

According to Centerra Gold execu-tives, among the agreement’s key ben-efits was the certainty that it providedregarding conditions under which

Agreement announced Centerra deal sets stage for further development in Kyrgyzstan

By Peter Diekmeyer

existing operations as well as futureexploration and development wouldtake place.

“There is significant potential forreserve expansion at the site,”Stephen Lang, the company’s presi-dent and COO told a group ofMontreal investors, a few days afterthe agreement was announced.“However the lack of a conclusivesettlement was slowing thingsdown.”

According to Lang, one feature ofthe new deal that sets it apart frommany similar agreements is the scaleof moneys that will be channelledback into the local economy. Thenew simplified 14 per cent tax rate,

which will be levied on total minerevenues, includes a one per centmonthly contribution to the localIssyk-Kul Oblast Development Fund.“Adjoining communities often getleft out in these types of develop-ments,” said Lang. “So this agree-ment is somewhat unique in thatregard.”

The Kumtor Project, one of theworld’s largest gold developments, hasbeen producing close to 600,000ounces per year since 1997. However,the fact that a finalized frameworkagreement was only recently con-cluded and ratified signals the impor-tance of effective government relationsby gold developers. CIM

Vancouver-based Rusoro Mining appointed RomanAmosov to the position of COO and Dmitry Ushakovto the position of vice president corporate develop-ment. Amosov, a mining engineer, has extensive expe-rience in project management, technical auditing,operations, fleet maintenance, and environmentalimpact and feasibility studies at various gold projectsin Latin America and the former Soviet Union.Ushakov is the director general of Interros HoldingCompany, a major Russian private investment com-pany which operates throughout Russia, Europe,Asia, and North America and that has significantholdings in Norilsk Nickel and Polyus Gold. He hasalso chaired the board of Sidanco Oil.

Marie Inkster has been appointed to the position of CFOat Lundin Mining Corporation. Inkster, who joinedLundin as vice president, finance in September 2008, is achartered accountant who spent five years in publicaccounting with Deloitte. She also spent five years atLionOre Mining International, serving as the company’svice president, controller at the time of its acquisition byNorilsk Nickel in 2007. In her new role, Inkster will relyon her experience in public and private equity and debtfundraising, corporate transactions and public companyreporting.

Moving on up

news

An impressive assembly ofhigh-profile leaders from the fieldsof mining, banking, law and busi-ness came together recently at the2009 CIM Conference andExhibition in Toronto to addressthe challenges and opportunitiesposed by the current economicenvironment. The Mining Financeand Management Day — a first forthe conference — consisted of afull-day series of presentationsheld on the last day of the techni-cal program.

“The session was driven by theinherent interest in bridging theinformation gap that has beensilently growing between techni-cal and financial professionals inboth the mining and fiscal sec-tors,” explained Thomas Rannelli, senior mining engineer,BMO Capital Markets and 2009 CIM conference chair.”The necessity for dialogue has become even more appar-ent during these challenging economic times. The sessionwas designed to bring forward real opinions and candiddialogue, with meaningful mentorship by our respectiveindustry leaders as the underlining objective.”

Overall, the day served up an interesting and balancedmix of market data, observations, predictions and advice.

By the numbersAs was to be expected, attendees were interested in the

numbers, both historic and projected. And they were notdisappointed as the bankers came well-equipped with data.Gavin Graham, director of investments, BMO AssetManagement, compared the current economic state to pre-vious economic cycles, highlighting conditions around allthe bear markets since the Great Depression. “We’ve actu-ally had the worst bear market since the Great Depression,”observed Graham, “but that’s as bad as it gets…unless, ofcourse, it’s Great Depression two. Now we’re up 35 per cent,which is the mean immediate return after a bear market. Inthe 12 months following a bear market, you get substantialpositive double-digit returns. If you lose that much, you’regoing to at least get a pretty decent rebound.”

For more current data, Elizabeth Wademan, directorequity capital markets, mining, BMO Capital Markets, indi-cated that the VIX (Volatility Index) on the Chicago Board

Options Exchange is off its peak butstill quite a bit above historicranges. Accordingly, she postulatedthat we should continue to see near-term volatility in the market, char-acterized occasionally by large ral-lies and declines. On forecasts,Wademan said, “I don’t have a crys-tal ball, but I do have an economicsdepartment.” She shared their cur-rent outlook, cautioning that it wassubject to change. “We’re seeingfour to five quarters of contraction,with recovery emerging in late 2009and 2010 in Canada and the U.S.respectively.”

For those attendees with a vora-cious appetite for numbers, DavidDavidson, a partner at ParadigmCapital Inc., provided a wealth of

data that outlined the trends and outlook for metals and min-erals. “We will likely go through some summer volatility anda downturn in metal prices,” predicted Davidson.“Nevertheless, I think the stage is set for a spectacular fall andspring 2010 for all commodities.” However, he foresees thatsome commodities will see more upward movement than oth-ers. “Some are capped because there is production that hasbeen built out,” he explained. “Nickel is a good example. Onthe copper side, we didn’t build all these big $4 billion dollarprojects in Panama and Chile. So, I think the future lookspretty promising for copper.”

Dealing with uncertaintyAmid the abundance of numbers, statistics and graphs

conveying the details of things we’ve seen and things tocome, several broader themes emerged: dealing with uncer-tainty, turning challenges into opportunities and reasons forbeing optimistic.

Kim Goheen, senior vice president and CFO, CamecoCorporation, had some sage advice for dealing with uncer-tainty. He commented that Cameco’s prudent approach toprojects, ventures and acquisitions — once criticized as beingoverly conservative — had left the company well-positionedto act smartly on the opportunities that have arisen as assetprices have fallen. “Our solid revenue base, our strong cus-tomer relationships and our excellent uranium reserves arebuilt for the long term and have recognized value even in thetough economic market,” he said. Goheen explained that the


Meeting of a multiplicity of mindsMining Management Finance Day brings together financial and mining elite

By Mike Paduada

Gavin Graham

key is to know your risk tolerance and act accordingly. “My risk tolerance maybe relatively low compared to others, but I’m okay with that, and so are Cameco’sinvestors,” he said. “We won’t overextend. But, if the right deal is there, we alsowon’t be afraid to raise new money, however much it takes.”

Banks are also understandably concerned about managing uncertainty intheir debt financing activities, attested David Konarek, managing director andindustry head, corporate banking, global mining with Scotia Capital. Konarekcommented that lending remains constrained, though most of the issues are gen-eral market issues and not specifically mining-related. The implications for themining industry, as he indicated through a mock financing example, are thatloan sizes have decreased, the terms of loans tend to be shorter, pricing overLIBOR (London Interbank Offer Rate: an interest rate benchmark) has increased,and the syndication and underwriting terms have changed.

Opportunity knockingThough uncertainty may make some uncomfortable, several of the pre-

senters highlighted that it is possible to change uncertainties into opportu-nities, with the right approach.

It is precisely because of this uncertain market environment that particularmerger and acquisition opportunities exist, as Cam Mingay, senior securities partner at Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP described in his presentation. According to Mingay, companies with the mettle for long-termhorizons have some great buying opportunities. He cited a recent statment bya spokesperson for Petro China, the world’s second largest company by mar-ket value. “China has been taking advantage of low commodity prices for suchindustry essentials as copper, iron and oil to bolster reservers,” quoted Mingay.

Mingay also indicated that shareholder activism is on the rise as institutionalinvestors are realizing that shareholder activism can unlock value and is lessexpensive than acquiring the shares of a company to gain control. This marketenvironment also offers them the perfect opportunity to express their displeas-ure at underperforming management teams. Emboldened shareholders andboards of directors also have an opportunity to reshape their executive manage-ment teams, corporate governance practices and compensation practices.

Michael Hlinka, a business commentator on CBC Radio, advised boards tobetter align their compensation timelines and option vesting schedules withthat of the company’s actual performance, adding that they should do properdue diligence when selecting top executives.

Reasons for optimismManaging uncertain times with bold confidence is certainly much easier

said than done. Luckily, the presenters provided optimistic information andviews to help carry the mining industry through the current storm. Grahamdrew attention to the yield curve to show that the economy should be mov-ing up. He spoke positively about continued long-run demand for commodi-ties in China and India. Tom King, a partner in the Toronto office of KPMGLLP, described how countries like Mongolia and Tanzania are seeking tostructure their tax regimes to attract mining companies and develop the sus-tainable sharing of economic wealth.

In spite of economic woes, the fact-filled and insightful day appeared toleave attendees feeling satisfied. The interactive panel forum drew copiousquestions and comments from the crowd, who, like the panel, were repre-sentative of a wide variety of disciplines. If two heads are better than one,then hopefully, a meeting of a multiplicity of minds can serve as the first stepto a greater mutual understanding of the important intersection of theworlds of finance and mining. CIM

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Theodolites, altimeters and even GPS instrumentsmay soon disappear from mine surveyors’ kits. Ifthe latest innovation by a research and developmentcompany in Sudbury, Ontario, gains ground, the

traditional ways of surveying and mapping could well berendered “old school.”

Penguin Automated Systems Inc. has developed a topo-graphic mapping system that uses the latest robotic tech-nology to create three-dimensional maps of undergroundmine tunnels and transfer the data to engineering CAD sys-tems. RoboMap, as the system is called, not only does allthis, but also does it more accurately and quickly than con-ventional methods.

According to Greg Baiden, chief technical officer ofPenguin Automated Systems Inc., “RoboMap is a signifi-cant advance in tunnel profiling technology that can meas-ure tunnel surface roughness, tunnel roadbed quality, ven-tilation systems and tunnel ground support quality.”

How RoboMap worksThe RoboMap system consists of a battery-operated

robot that is run by an operator using a hand-held wirelessremote. RoboMap combines gyroscopes and LIDAR (LightDetection and Ranging — an optical remote sensing tech-nology) to gather sectional scans of mining tunnels, as wellas position and altitude data.

A cartographer with a differenceA Sudbury-based company develops a robotic system to create 3D maps of mine tunnels

The data collected byRoboMap is stored in on-board hard drives and trans-ferred to an engineeringoffice via memory storagesystems, or directly, by wire-less networks. They can beexported to all popular for-mats for display in viewersand CAD systems.

With a self-containedinertial navigation system,RoboMap is self-powered andcan run for over ten hours ona single charge from themains or a vehicle battery. Itslaser scanner has an eight-metre range and can perform180 scans per second, with180 samples in each sectionalscan. It can scan tunnels upto 16 metres wide and eightmetres high. RoboMap also

provides such post-processing features as volume approxi-mation and point-to-point distance calculation. In additionto surveying mine tunnels, it can also map other under-ground passages, such as sewer tunnels and access strips.

“RoboMap can be used anywhere that a GPS (globalpositioning system) doesn’t work,” Baiden said, adding, “AGPS signal can’t be transmitted through rock, brick, con-crete or glass. LIDAR, working in sync with gyroscopes, isa fundamentally different technology.” According toBaiden, RoboMap is the first known application to usegyroscopes and LIDAR together.

Tomorrow’s technology today at North MineDespite its futuristic-sounding moniker, RoboMap has

already been used successfully at Vale Inco’s North Minenickel operation in Sudbury, Ontario. Colin Flett, formerVale Inco senior evaluation engineer, said that the technol-ogy was used several years ago “to verify or to make proac-tive changes to maximize results.”

Investigating the North Mine in 2003, Flett’s team dis-covered that a survey station near a shaft had been shotincorrectly 15 years previously. “By the time we drove outthe 3,000 feet and started tying in to other levels, we knewwe were about seven feet off,” he said. “The RoboMap sys-tem found the error and we were quickly able to see wherethe error had occurred and where the survey differed from


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RoboMap was used at Vale Inco’s North Mine

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the RoboMap results. We went back to the records and sawthat a calculation error had in fact been made.”

RoboMap also ferreted out another calculation error atthe North Mine. “A drift from the mine was supposed tomeet another from the South Mine, thereby joining the twomines,” Flett recalled. “But about 500 feet from the pointwhere they were projected to meet, RoboMap predictedthat they would miss each other by six feet laterally.”Subsequent surveying of the two mines confirmed the lat-eral error that RoboMap had detected.

Experience has certainly made Flett a believer inRoboMap. “Anything that allows a more accurate surveywill inevitably reduce rework for the operator,” he said.“With surveys by RoboMap, you won’t have the problemwith drifts that don’t meet and that then require slash-and-trim work to make them join up.”

In the pre-RoboMap past, when it was discovered that amine level was not in the correct location, level-to-level drillholes required a degree of reverse engineering to allow forthe discrepancy. “It was only after a number of unsuccessfulattempts that a correction was made,” Flett explained.

Another reason for his advocacy of RoboMap relates tothe fact that check surveys over a long distance in high traf-fic areas are difficult to organize. “This is particularly thecase in a 24/7 environment where production would beaffected,” added Flett.

The future of robotic miningBaiden got the idea for RoboMap

while thinking about creating the min-ing equivalent of an automobile assem-bly line utilizing robots. “For roboticmining to work, the robots need toknow all the features of the tunnel inwhich they’re operating,” he explained.

Although there are relatively fewexamples of robotic mining, Baidenexpects there will be many more in thefuture. “It’s hard to predict when —anywhere between five and 30 yearsfrom now,” he said.

Teleoperation, the technologybehind RoboMap, entails the ability toremotely operate robotic machines byvirtually putting people inside themachine. Teleoperation requires a sys-tem that incorporates a robotic con-troller on the machine, a high-capacitybroadband, wired and wireless net-works, and a teleoperation workstation.

The teleoperator workstation andthe robotic machine are on a high-capacity network, which gives the oper-ator access to all machine data. In addi-tion to machine information, the tele-

June/July 2009 | 19

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operator can access real-time video and audio feedback;engineering, maintenance and cost-control data; and statusreports on other robotic machines on the network.

“Mining, construction, underwater and on-surfaceequipment can all be teleoperated,” Baiden explained,adding that additional segments of the work cycle will beautomated through artificial intelligence systems as tech-nology advances. “As more advanced systems are adopted,the human-machine interface in the work cycle will bereduced, which will lead to additional productivity gainsand cost savings,” he added. In addition to Vale Inco, RioTinto and LKAB are currently using teleoperation tech-nologies in some aspects of their operation.

Why Sudbury?Located in the 40,000 square-foot Penguin Research

Centre, the company has 20 employees, all of whom workin research and development. “Being located in Sudburygives us a big advantage,” said Baiden. “There are a lot ofmines in the area and, therefore, plenty of opportunities totest our products.”

Sudbury — which many believe to be Canada’s miningcapital — might just hold that title for another reason, asit holds yet another important key that could revolutionizethe future of mining across the globe.

www.penguinasi.com

CIM

Call it exploration’s version of the classic “three Rs”of education. The three most talked about topics atthis year’s third annual Prospectors and DevelopersAssociation of Canada’s annual Student-Industry

Mining Exploration Workshop (S-IMEW) were: the eco-nomics of resource cycles and their impact on geologygraduates hunting for jobs; the environmental impact ofthe mining industry, especially in Sudbury where theeffects of decades of nickel smelting have been reversedover the last 25 years; and the entrepreneurial desirealready taking hold of a few students to eventually formtheir own companies.

It was these “three Es” that engaged the 24 top geosciencestudents selected to take part in the third annual installment

of the hands-on workshop that took place recentlyin Sudbury, Ontario.

The intense, two-week workshop began withan introduction to the wide variety of careersopen to geoscientists and an explanation of ven-ture capital financing available to the entrepre-neurially inclined. It then touched on such top-ics as exploration-grid and government-stylemapping, exploration geophysics, geochemistry,core drilling and logging, as well as data handlingand management. A junior exploration geologistemployed by S-IMEW’s patron sponsor, BarrickGold Corp. in Chile, also took part in the program.

Walking the talkStudents were taken on a series of exciting field

trips, first in the Sudbury area, to Xstrata Nickel’ssmelter complex, two of FNX Mining CompanyInc.’s mines, the Sudbury Basin and its historicO’Donnell ore roasting beds, as well as the CobaltMining Museum. Travelling to Quebec, the groupwent on underground tours of Agnico-Eagle’sGoldex and LaRonde gold mines near Val-d’Or,and took a detailed geological tour of the world-renowned Noranda region.

In all, more than 40 industry leaders spoke tothe group including Keith Barron, co-founder ofAurelian Resources Inc., a junior exploration com-pany that discovered a large gold deposit inEcuador and was bought out by Kinross GoldCorp. for $1 billion last year. Barron described thesetbacks and challenges he faced in his careerbefore the discovery in Ecuador.

Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist Harrison“Jack” Schmitt’s closing keynote address looked to

the future of space exploration and discussed the potentialfor mining helium-3 from the moon for use as an energysource.

Matt Moss, a 22-year-old student from the BritishColumbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver, who willgraduate with a Mining Technician Certificate, took atwo-week break from a course project of designing anopen-pit mine to take part in the workshop. “It’s beenreally good and the speakers have been fantastic — wayover and above what I expected,” said Moss. “It’s a chanceto see how they apply what I’ve learned in school. It’s alsobeen good to talk with the other students to find out whattheir schools are teaching. For example, I’m unfamiliarwith geophysics — I haven’t taken any courses — so

Back in the classroom for some hands-on work


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Leaving no rock unturnedPDAC workshop provides practical training to future geologists

I really got a lot out of the geophysics day; I would haveliked more.”

During the workshop, students were told that in thefuture, exploration will need to go deeper underground tofind new deposits and as a result, during their careers geol-ogists and geophysicists will need to work more closelythan they have in the past.

Preparing for the futureThe workshop was designed to maximize the students’

exposure to a rich range of experiences, said Felix Lee, co-chair of PDAC’s human resources development committee,who helped S-IMEW founder and committee co-chairScott Jobin-Bevans co-ordinate the 2009 event. “PDAC isthe voice of the exploration community in Canada, and thecommittee’s objective is to maintain a strong and robustindustry here,” said Lee. “Right now, one of our chief man-dates is to prepare for the labour shortage that we expectto face in the next few years.” Forecasts suggest thatbetween 60,000 to 90,000 people will be retiring or leavingthe industry in the coming years. “

S-IMEW was designed around the components of themineral exploration cycle,” said Jobin-Bevans, who headsseveral companies involved in mineral exploration andgeological consulting. “But it goes beyond the technicaland academic aspects of the industry. Our goal is to pro-vide the students with networking opportunities and tohelp develop their skills so they are better prepared as theystart their careers.”

As part of his four-year B.Sc. in earth sciences at theUniversity of Waterloo, 24-year-old Jon Rigg took severalcourses in geophysics and will be pursuing a M.Sc. ingeology. Rigg is not immediately concerned about jobprospects because he has a summer job with theGeological Survey of Canada (GSC), mapping on theMelville Peninsula in Nunavut. But the cyclical nature ofthe industry is on his mind. “To be honest, I don’t thinkall my classmates understand this; I didn’t really appreci-ate it until I started working,” he said.

Speakers like Barron and Brian Bengert, senior geo-physicist with Vale Inco in Sudbury, who described howthey handled the boom-bust nature of the industry duringtheir careers, were particularly inspiring, Rigg said, addingthat he would like to get even more information about eco-nomics and finance. “We don’t get much of that at school,”he said. “But, let’s face it, that’s what’s going to put food onour tables.”

Karen Grey, a 26-year-old with a year to go before shegains her B.Sc. (Hons) in geology from the University ofNew Brunswick in Fredericton, was one of the six womenin the group. Grey was thinking about practicalities, too.“Cycles mean you have to be careful with your money,” shelaughed. Exploration appeals to her more than research or teaching, she said, because she prefers to be active and outdoors rather than in an office. “In exploration, the

conditions can be really tough,” Grey added. “When Ithink about it, I think ‘Ah, I don’t know if I could do that.’But after it’s over, you’re so glad you did it. That’s what Ilike. I like the challenge and I want to keep learning.”

It seems that these students might add another ‘E’ totheir list: exploration.

A call for nominations for the fourth annual S-IMEW, whichwill be held in May, 2010 in Sudbury, will be sent out this fall.For more information, visit www.pdac.ca.

CIM

Moving on upFirst Quantum Minerals Ltd. has appointed Paul M.Brunner to the board of directors as a non-executive inde-pendent director. Brunner, formerly president and CEO ofBoart Longyear Company (USA), has had a 21-year careerat that company. He has been in several senior manage-ment positions including managing director, BoartLongyear Ltd. (South Africa); regional director, BoartLongyear Limitada (Chile/Peru); and president, BoartCanada Ltd.

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A student tries out geophysics equipment

The Mining in Space technical session at the recentCIM Conference and Exhibition held in Torontoserved as a landing pad for NASA and the CanadianSpace Agency (CSA). Their mission: to boldly do

what no one has done before — establish a permanent out-post on the moon. Recognizing that human expansion hasalways relied on access to natural resources, the space agen-cies have been actively exploring mining industry partner-ships with the objective of developing the first generation oflunar resource technologies and capabilities. Presenters fromCSA, NASA and the mining industry explained the need formining in space, shared what has been achieved so far

(including technology spin-offs), and describedhow the mining industry can help overcome thechallenges that lie ahead.

ISRU key to reducing costsThe idea of space mining — or, in situ resource

utilization (ISRU) — is significant because, as Dr.Jackie Quinn of NASA explained, “it’s all aboutmass and the cost to get there.” The cost to movematerial to earth orbit is in the order of tens ofthousands of dollars per kilogram. Moving mate-rial to the moon may cost substantially more.

“We look at consumables as our first step,”explained Jerry Sanders of NASA in his presenta-tion. The immense cost of transporting consum-ables, such as oxygen and water, to the moon canbe saved if they can instead be produced on thelunar surface. “If I can make it there, then I canbring more science equipment or rovers,” he wenton to say. The ability to recover and producematerials on the moon and on Mars will reducethe cost, freight mass and risks of sustainedhuman activities in space.

Due to such wide-ranging benefits, space agen-cies have spent the last several years pursuingISRU technologies. Collaboration is a key part ofdeveloping that technology well, according toSanders. “This is something nobody has everdone in space,” he said. “Even though we’rebuilding the hardware as we speak, there is still alot to learn. That’s the reason why I’m at this con-ference. There are hundreds of years of experiencein mining here. Even though our hardware lookslike toys compared to what I’ve seen at the booths,there are a lot of lessons learned that can go bothways. The bottom line is spin-in and spin-off.”

Technology spin-offsTechnology spin-offs were discussed in the presentation

by Jim Richard, president of Electric Vehicle Controllers(EVC). Based in Val Caron, Ontario, EVC specializes indrives for underground battery locomotives. As a mining-related company, EVC has seen how ISRU contracts can leadto technologies with terrestrial applications. Through sev-eral space agency contracts, EVC and the Sudbury-basedNorthern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT) havebeen involved in the development of drilling technology forpotential lunar and Martian use. The all-electric dry drillingtechnology, which caters to ISRU requirements, has


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Mobility platform on display at CIM’s Mining in Society show

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From the mine site to Mars and backTechnical session highlights what the mining and space exploration sectors offer one another

commercial applications on earth in a hydrogeology drill.Also, their drilling technology relies on specialized diamonddrill bit designs, developed by Winnipeg-based Dimatech,that have already been adapted for commercial use in the oiland gas industry.

Richard also described spin-off applications from an earlyprototype of a mobility chassis being developed for ISRUapplications. The low-profile, all-electric design is intendedto traverse rough terrain and can accommodate changeablepayloads, such as a plough or drill. The ISRU prototype,which was on display at the NORCAT Mining in Societybooth, drew a lot of questions about potential mining appli-cations. “We now consider this to be a production unit,” saidRichard. “We were originally supposed to build three underour contract. That grew to five. With the inquiries we’vehad, we’re up to eleven. And that’s not counting what we’vetalked about this week.”

Cross-border collaborationsIn addition to direct technology spin-offs, ISRU activities

have yielded valuable test data, many lessons about conduct-ing field tests and promising indications that technology col-laborations across borders and with multiple organizationsconstitute the right approach.

Quinn gave an overview of field tests conducted inNovember on the volcanic terrain of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea.Her presentation included an explanation of the hydro-gen reduction chemistry for oxygen extraction employedin the two production plant projects and the oneprospecting rover project. The excavation, transport,loading and processing mechanisms used for the produc-tion plants, and the drilling and crushing mechanisms onthe prospecting project bear more similarities to miningtechnology than they do to traditional aerospace technol-ogy. Each project completed several successful tests,yielding valuable information that will improve futuredesigns and bring the technology one step closer tospace-readiness.

Michel Doyon of CSA described that mobility data —including performance, traction and power consumptionmeasurements — gathered during the November tests wereused in the design of the prototype mobility chassis. In addi-tion to advancing technologies, space agencies gain valuableexperience about using the mining-derived technology inthe field. Doyon explained further that the CSA is “puttingsignificant effort not only to develop technology, but also togain operational expertise.” Mining know-how will provideadvantages that will help CSA secure a core role in interna-tional space exploration activities.

The presenters also made it clear that there are still moreconnections to the mining industry in the work that liesahead. CSA-sponsored work on ISRU mobility platformswill rely on vision systems and autonomous operation systems that may have direct applications in mining. Siteselection, site verification, geological mapping and site

preparation are other activities with potential mining con-nections. Doyon said that CSA-facilitated collaborationbetween various industries will “allow us to reduce risk andmake smart decisions about CSA’s future participation inspace exploration missions.”

NASA also has a long, complementary list of areas forISRU technology development, and they have some ideaswhere the mining industry might be able to help. “We’renow looking at size-sorting the lunar material to enable thebest reactions and at the same time beneficiate it to concen-trate the iron oxide,” said Sanders. In the coming technol-ogy development cycles, Sanders foresees mineral process-ing expertise as another valuable connection.

The ambitions of space exploration may seem large andoverwhelming, but there is a wide opportunity for mining-related companies to engage. “Space agencies are fundingtechnology development,” explained Richard. “Small- tomedium-sized companies are participating in this develop-ment.” Richard attributed EVC’s success in its ISRU tech-nology efforts to the adaptability and quick responsivenessthat a lot of smaller companies have. “The technologytransfer is occurring, and the smaller companies are theones that are benefiting,” he said.

Indeed, the collaborative efforts between the space agen-cies and Canadian mining industry might just hold animportant key to longevity and prosperity for all. CIM

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Giving BackProviding Shell-ter

Shell Canada Ltd. has announced a donation of$650,000 to the Calgary Homeless Foundation, to supportits efforts to alleviate the effects of and bring to an end thepersistent problem of homelessness in Calgary. Sincecounting began in 1992, homelessness has grown by1,000 per cent in the city. Every night, more than 4,000Calgarians are homeless. Over 15,000 people experiencehomelessness each year and more than 500 sleep “rough.”

Shell Canada’s contribution will help the CalgaryHomeless Foundation defray its immediate expenseand free it up to continue working on its comprehen-sive 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness. The underly-ing principle of the Plan is “Housing First,” a provenapproach that seeks to move people off the streets intopermanent housing.

Acknowledging the significance of the Shell Canadadonation, Tim Richter, president and CEO of the CalgaryHomeless Foundation said, “Shell Canada’s support is akey component of the Foundation’s ability to implementCalgary’s 10-Year Plan. It allows us to operate our own‘home’ so we can focus on helping others find housing,providing supportive housing and preventing our vul-nerable neighbours from becoming homeless.”

One of the greatest challenges at a mining site is wastemanagement. Everything from motor oils and pack-ing materials to table scraps needs to be eliminatedin the most cost-effective, eco-friendly manner. At

remote or northerly sites, the problem becomes furtherexacerbated. With landfills and burn barrels becoming unac-ceptable, companies are increasingly searching for alterna-tive solutions.

A proactive approachSabina Silver Corp.’s Hackett River silver-zinc project is

located in Nunavut, approximately 480 kilometres northeastof Yellowknife. Currently in advanced exploration, the com-pany has completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment(Wardrop, 2006) and is working towards a pre-feasibilitystudy with AMEC.

Between 25 and 30 people live at the site from March toearly October. The camp’s refuse is typical of many miningsites — general waste (food scraps, packaging, humanwaste, etc.), drilling waste (greases, lubricants, etc.), usedhydrocarbons (motor oil, water-contaminated fuels, etc.),and wood/paper waste. While much of this is reused or recy-cled and flown to Yellowknife, the rest is incinerated.

Until last year, the site had an older, small-sized inciner-ator but Scott Burgess, Hackett River operations manager,said that following a conversation with EnvironmentCanada, Sabina decided to purchase a bigger, newer dual-stage, forced air model.

No smoke for this fireClean-burning incinerators are helping mine

“An Environment Canada represen-tative in Yellowknife asked us what wewere doing for garbage incineration,”Burgess recalled. “Because we werelooking to replace our old incinerator,we thought we might as well get a big-ger one now that would meet morestringent air quality emission stan-dards. Basically, we wanted to be proac-tive in reducing our environmentalfootprint.” After speaking to othercamps in Nunavut that had similarlysized operations, Sabina chose EcoWaste Solutions.

An interesting challengeChoosing the right incinerator was

the easy part of the equation. Getting itup to the camp and installing it was adifferent matter. The harsh climate andremoteness created interesting chal-lenges that were met with creative

solutions. “The installation took about two weeks,”explained Burgess. “We had one of the technicians from EcoWaste come up to help us right from the start so that wewould install it correctly.”

Because of aircraft payload restrictions, the incinerator hadto be disassembled for shipping and then put back togetheragain on site. Once the parts were trucked from southernOntario to Yellowknife, six flights were required to deliverthem to an ice-strip on the lake adjacent to the camp. Theywere assembled on the ice, and then Great Slave Helicopterspicked them up with a medium lift helicopter and broughtthem another three hundred metres to the camp.

“The pieces were very sizable, so a larger helicopter thanwe already had on site had to be brought in from Yellowknifeto lift and swing them into place,” Burgess said. Often, inmore accessible locations, these incinerators are housedwithin a rail container somewhere on site. In this case, therewas no way to get a container in, so Burgess said they had tobuilt a shed around the unit where it is now located.

A clean burnJean Lucas, business development director at Eco Waste

Solutions, said her company has been creating clean-burn-ing incinerators since 1994. At that time, their R&D depart-ment was looking to improve upon incineration in remoteareas. They delivered their first unit to the Canadian militarybase at Alert — the northernmost, permanently inhabitedplace in the world.


upfrontS U S T A I N A B I L I T Y b y M a r l e n e E i s n e r

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“They had been using a landfill but had decided that itwas an inappropriate way of dealing with waste in that climate,” recounted Lucas. “The landfill had also become anattractant to local wildlife, such as Arctic fox. An incineratorwas the only solution that made sense. Since that time theDepartment of National Defence has completely removedthe landfill and restored the land.”

Now, 15 years later, remote mining sites are planningahead. During the construction phase of a project, there areoften up to 1,000 people on site, which means waste can pileup quickly. The permafrost in northerly locations does notlend itself to the normal decomposition that typically occursin a landfill over time and it is not safe to keep garbage aroundfor too long, because the threat of attracting predatory animalsis all too real. Additionally, landfills also represent a perma-nent alteration of the landscape in an ecologically sensitivearea. These are some of the reasons why the industry is start-ing to think long-term, said Lucas.

“Mines are now saying ‘let’s just take care of waste as it’sgenerated; let’s get rid of it on site,” she explained. “Thispractice fits with the newer thinking of dealing with envi-ronmental issues during the mine life rather than waitinguntil the operations have closed to begin site rehabilitation.Our method of incineration is quite different from the oldburn barrels, which would generate a lot of smoke.”

In addition to burning more cleanly, the new incineratorscan also handle a wide range of items, including mainte-nance shop waste, vehicle and equipment oil, antifreezes,glycol, food waste, regular domestic garbage and sewagesludge. With the Eco Waste Solutions incinerator, the smokefrom burning garbage in the first chamber goes into a sec-ondary chamber, where high temperatures and the insertionof air hold the gases. “We use 1,000 degrees Celsius in thatsecond chamber and retain the gases for two seconds,”

June/July 2009 | 25

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explained Lucas. “By the time they go out from the stack, allthe hydrocarbon bonds are broken down into water vapourand carbon dioxide. If you would look at the stack from out-side, the exhaust gasses would be completely clear.”

Still working out the kinksThere have been a few minor challenges with the incinera-

tor since it was installed at Hackett River in 2008, said Burgess,although he added that there have been no significant mainte-nance issues. However, with extreme winter cold conditionswhere temperatures regularly go as low as 40 and 50 degreesbelow zero, “nothing runs very well,” he acknowledged.Because of that, Eco Waste Solutions recommended taking theprocessor out from the electronic board to be stored in awarmer environment in Yellowknife. “We had to put it back inafter taking it out, and it had to be reprogrammed,” explainedBurgess. “We live and learn; next year we’ll know a bit more.”

Cleaner, fresher airIt has been almost a year since the new incinerator was

installed and everyone at the camp sees a noticeableimprovement in air quality. “The incinerator works well,”said Burgess, adding that the larger incinerator is used forthe majority of burnable site waste, while the smaller one isused occasionally for lesser loads, primarily cardboard. “Thevolume of waste ash we must ship out has been noticeablyreduced, and we all detect how much cleaner this unitburns; there’s no black smoke over the camp. We also see adifference in the air quality.”

The changes that accompany these higher standards arebecoming more noticeable; as well, the industry continuesto make bold efforts to achieve a cleaner future.

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CIM

The mining industry can be quite a fickle beast. Toits credit, it is certainly tough. For anything tosurvive and thrive as long as it has, it must be.And it can undoubtedly be tenacious. In whatseems like a flash, it can heave itself up and go

on a hungry tear, pulling hard at the supply chain, testingthe solidity of its links. Then, seemingly as quickly as it setoff, it lowers its head and retreats — or seems to.

Few of the suppliers or purchasers who must face thetemperamental demands of the industry can be too sur-prised by the recent market extremes, but that does notmean that they have not been tested by them. The latestcharge overextended many, stretching lead times for thedelivery of vital equipment and support services to recordlengths. The corresponding slowdown has shifted thefocus inward to challenges such as managing costs and

Future growth will depend on strengthening bonds along the supply chain nowby Ryan Bergen

reorganizing and refining business practices. It has alsogiven those along the supply chain an opportunity to takea step back to evaluate the recent frenzy with a critical eye,and to consider the future.

Riding the highs and lowsThe cyclical nature of the mining industry may be a

constant, but each surge and slump has its own character— and its winners and losers. According to Marc Duchaine,Vale Inco’s head of strategic procurement for NorthAmerica, the enormous proportions of the current cycleare central to defining it. “To me, this low is similar to theprevious high,” said Duchaine. “During the boom, therewere many new players and the demand became trulyglobal. And I think it is the same with this downturn; it toois global — there are no areas that are being spared


the supply chain

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by it — so the effects are evenworse.”

Bruce Knight, president ofSMS Equipment — the enter-prise that was born last yearfrom the consolidation ofConeco, Federal Equipment andTranswest Mining Systems —has ridden a few waves over hiscareer. The marketplace, heagreed, has gotten bigger, andthe new scale creates new chal-lenges. “I believe one of the keydifferences between the currentdownturn and the one back inthe early to mid-1980s is that atleast then, if you had good usedor rebuilt equipment, you couldsell it offshore to what at thetime were referred to as ThirdWorld countries,” said Knight.“Today, many of those countriesare running state-of-the-artfleets. They’re utilizing newequipment and not as muchused or ‘tired iron,’ so the abilityto move that equipment to someof those areas is a lot tougher.Many of those underdevelopedcountries are now direct com-petitors with the Canadian min-ing companies.”

Still, there is cause for opti-mism, suggested Guff Muench,president, Western Canada forengine and power system manu-facturer and distributorCummins. “The big difference Ithink right now is that interestrates are really low,” observedMuench. “So for those of us whogambled on inventory, we are notbeing punished the way we werein previous recessions. If you had a lot of inventory, you gotkilled by your carrying costs. Businesses that are carryingextra inventory now are luckier.”

It takes twoThe frantic pace of the mining industry over the last few

years certainly goosed profits, but it also stirred up costs,supply shortages and other growing pains. Muenchacknowledged that he did not like the trend he saw devel-oping during the boom. “It was common to have to disap-point customers with long lead times when things weregoing crazy, and that’s certainly not the support model thatmost of us realize is appropriate for mining,” he said. “Weshould never say ‘no.’ Most of us along the supply chain

agree that the only way to sustain a similar run in the futureis taking this downtime to lay the right foundation.”

From the procurement perspective, this linkage is inte-gral operationally. “One thing that became very obviousfor us through the past boom is that suppliers with whomwe had long and strong relationships were there for usand were able to guarantee our demand requirementsduring that period,” said Duchaine. “That really pointed outto us the benefits of long-term relationships with our sup-pliers. It took focus away from the ‘one-purchase-at-a-time, looking-for-the-lowest-price’ approach to more ofan all inclusive partnership with the supplier. It is not onlythe price; it is also the service and how they work with usto plan for demand.”

June/July 2009 | 27

“During the boom, there were many new players and the demand became truly global. And I think it is the same with this downturn; it too is global — there are no areas that are beingspared by it — so the effectsare even worse.”

~ M. Duchaine

the supply chain

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Duchaine said Vale Inco is working hard to securepartnerships with suppliers so that they will be betterpositioned to get the necessary parts and equipment dur-ing the next upswing. “The danger, looking forward, is in

over-economizing,” he warned. “These are tough timesand we are all trying to preserve cash as much as possi-ble, but there is always a risk that if we start focusingagain too much on cutting down on expenses, it will be

counterproductive in the relation-ships with our suppliers.”

Kevin Tomaszewski, director ofglobal product marketing for BoartLongyear, said that they have recentlystreamlined their product line andmarketing approach. “We’re focusinga lot more on the area of spares,” saidTomaszewski. “We asked our cus-tomers what parts wear out over timeand responded by developing kits thatcontain all the spare parts needed fora specific job or purpose that cus-tomers can purchase.” He said thatthe company has also dedicated aproduct manager strictly to spareparts as well as redeveloped inventorylocations that allow faster responsesto parts demands.

The road aheadThough nobody can be sure how

long the recovery will take, buyers andsuppliers share the conviction thatrenewed growth is certain. With thelong-term view in mind, the smartguys, argued Muench, are going tokeep making sure they have all thesupport activities in place. “Having the


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right people and concentrating on training is harder in arecession, but you have to keep focusing on your supportfunctions,” he said.

Throughout this downturn, Knight said, SMS is takingthe opportunity to continue to bridge the manpower gap.“We are still hiring trades peoplebecause throughout the boom wenever did catch up, since we kept ourentry level requirements quite high,” heexplained. Not only is there a deeperlabour pool from which to draw now, butthe recruitment process is more effi-cient, he observed. “When you are hiringpeople in a down cycle there is anadded emphasis both on how you wantcandidates to perform and what theirexpectations are of you as a company,”he explained. “When you are in boomcycles you don’t necessarily pay asmuch attention to some of that, and incertain cases you end up oversized —too many people for jobs needing to getdone.”

Duchaine agreed that the manpowerchallenge will not go away, adding: “themining industry in Canada is going tosee a wave of retirement over the nextfew years, and with that always comesthe risk of losing the knowledge thatthose people have acquired over theyears.”

At the same time, Tomaszewskipointed out that the equipment itself is

June/July 2009 | 29

the supply chain

also getting smarter. At Boart Longyear,drilling products are being developed withcomprehensive electronics. The new genera-tion, he said, will tell operators how deep theyare drilling, at what rate, as well as measurethe down time. “It will give people the abilityto collect that information, send it off toheadquarters and be able to do the analysisto determine how productive they were — orwere not — per day,” he added.

And innovation is not only being directedinto the products themselves, insistedDuchaine. “I think that technology is percolat-ing throughout the supply chain,” he said. “It isnot just the equipment that will become moresophisticated but also that the suppliers willdemonstrate greater sophistication in theirdealings with buyers, and integrate enter-prise resource planning systems so that thewhole supply chain is improved.

“The demand for commodities will return,”predicted Tomaszewski. “Infrastructure willcontinue to develop and economic growth isinevitable. We expect that the demand for

gold, copper, base metals, aggregates and natural gas willcontinue to cycle back — it is just a matter of time.”

In the meantime, those who aim to keep their place inthe supply chain must maintain a supple but firm grip ontheir link until the next run begins. CIM

Best Practices Mining Projects

The IPA Institute a division of IPA Inc. will hold a 2-day seminar in Toronto, Canada on August 25-26, 2009 to share best practices demonstrated to improve both mine extraction projects and minerals process facilities projects.The practices discussed have been shown to lower costs by 10 percent.

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supply chain

Maintenance can easily consume up to 50 per centof operational costs in mining. That money is usu-ally split almost 50/50 between labour and mate-

rials. Proactive maintenance approaches to managing fail-ures can dramatically reduce these costs and savings of upto 20 per cent (10 per cent of operational costs in total)can be achieved. Such savings come with increased oper-ational availability, improved safety performance andreduced environmental risk from spills and excessive emis-sions. Combined, these benefits result in reduced businessrisk and can portray operations in a much more favourablelight with money markets, lenders and insurers. Getting itright in maintenance delivers on all these benefits like noother aspect of your business can even hope to do.

Breakdowns in operating equipment can often be pre-vented or predicted. How many problems are detectedearly through condition monitoring programs and/or onlineperformance monitoring but go uncorrected because ofpoor followup? How many are actually caught in time? Forexample, safety policy requires the haul truck parkingbrake be set every time the truck is stationary for loading,dumping, etc. With online monitoring, real-time datashowed that one operator only set it twice — for washroombreaks. His behaviour was addressed and potential safetyproblems averted. How many problems are ignoredbecause the available data are limited?

In a Wyoming coal mine, a shovel experienced repeatedlubrication alarms. Operators, with access to limited data,restarted after each fault and continued to do so until thehoist gear box failed. The proper level of monitoring by theright people could have averted $3.6 to $6 million per inci-dent.1 These examples illustrate what can be achieved witha well-designed program. And that program must be exe-cuted well or it won’t deliver the results.

Maintenance and the supply chainby James Reyes-Picknell

1 Examples provided by Matrikon of customers using its Mobile EquipmentMonitor solution.

2 Uptime – Strategies for Excellence in Maintenance Management, 1st ed.1995 and 2nd ed. 2006, by John D. Campell and James Reyes-Picknell,Productivity Press, NY.

Condition monitoring analyst, Bob Cornejo of Minera Yanacocha suggesting changes to the condition-based maintenance process.


supply chain

operating equipment withinacceptable limits) by operators.

Asset reliability is all aboutdoing the right work (effective-ness) while work management isabout doing it the right way (effi-ciency). Work managementensures that repairs and preven-tive work are carried out at opti-mum cost. It results in enhancedoperational availability throughreduced repair times. However,work management cannot deliver,especially in the repair scenario,without effective materials man-agement and — this is the partmany maintenance managersmiss — vice versa.

Since work and materials areoften managed by separate func-tional departments, there is a sys-temic, built-in challenge to thistwo-way management process.The goals, specific objectives andperformance measures used in

these two departments are often poorly aligned.Maintenance often focuses on availability while materialslook at costs. But you can’t improve in either area withoutsome up-front spending and sustained cooperation.

Some companies have seen fit to put them both underthe same leader. Yet, that seldom works because of therequirement of completely different skills and knowledge.Maintenance managers know equipment and what ittakes to keep it running. Materials managers know howbest to manage inventories of parts and deliver them toend users (e.g. maintainers) in a timely manner. But onlyrarely do we find someone who understands both disci-plines. Often, the two managers will also have conflictingperformance measures. Maintenance wants high partsavailability to achieve rapid repair times and lower itsmean time to repair, while at the same time, materialsmanagement wants to minimize inventory holdings tokeep costs down. Striking that balance while meeting bothperformance criteria is a challenge. Complex materialsmanagement algorithms are there to help, but the mathe-matical knowledge required to use them is often beyondthe level of training that most materials managers have.Attaining the balance in performance measures andresults is another key Uptime element.

Here is a simplified depiction of how the key Uptimeelements are interdependent. The other Uptime elements— strategy, people, performance measures, systems,processes and teamwork — will determine how well thishappens and what results you get.

The supply chain delivers materials. Work cannot beexecuted efficiently or completed if mechanics arestarved of materials. Cannibalization, on-site manufacture

The Uptime pyramid of excellence

Pyramid of excellenceThe book Uptime — Strategies for Excellence in

Maintenance Management,2 was originally created as anoverview framework for non-maintenance managers.However, it quickly became very popular among mainte-nance managers the world over. Uptime’s “pyramid ofexcellence” framework depicts 10 elements required forexcellence in maintenance including: strategy, people,materials management, performance management, basiccare, work management, management and support sys-tems, process, assets and teams.

That pyramid has been copied and re-cast as concen-tric circles, ladders, ball bearings, other pyramid con-structs and building blocks. Regardless of how the 10elements are depicted, what remains critical to their func-tioning is that they are inter-dependent. They are notmere “steps” in a single process; they work together. Howthey work together is what varies from operation to oper-ation.

Two of the 10 elements — work management and assetreliability — deliver direct benefits. However, because theydo not work in isolation, they cannot be the sole focus ofan improvement program.

Asset reliability delivers most of the operational avail-ability benefit through improved reliability, and cannot beachieved without a high level of compliance to a well-designed and constantly optimized failure management(reliability) program. Such programs require less work (andhence cost) to implement than traditional programs basedon following manufacturers’ recommendations and runningequipment hard and fast to failure. The reliability programonly works if it is executed through effective work manage-ment practices and the exercise of basic care (like

Image courtesy of Conscious Asset Management

June/July 2009 | 33

supply chain

practices and carried out initial Uptime training in mid-2007, developed mega-processes for work manage-ment and other Uptime elements. Later that year, theyworked on execution and audited their progress in mid-2008. They continued optimizing those processes into2009 and will, later in the year, extend Uptime training to abroader range of their people.

Making it work takes time and dedication to the sus-tainability of the process and results. The timeline couldprobably be accelerated or even slowed down in othermines with different corporate cultures. It depends onthe people involved. Leadership is all about recognizingthose differences when embarking on this journey ofchoosing excellence. CIM

of parts, hot-shot deliveries andcall-outs all speak to the lack ofcooperation between work and materials management.Maintenance often shoots itselfin the foot by failing to returnrepairable items for restoration,failing to return unused parts,stashing parts in their own cabi-nets, directly buying parts fromlocal suppliers, using purchasingcards, failing to specify materialsfor planned work and engagingin various other poor practices.

Materials management failswhen it does not stock the rightmaterials or doesn’t have themready for planned work execution,has too much of the wrong mate-rials or fails to supply in a timelymanner.

Asset Reliability falls short ifthe failure management pro-gram is ill-defined. Without iden-tifying the right work, supervi-sors and planners who managethe work are making bestguesses that are often incorrect.Even if work is well planned andmaterials processes are fol-lowed, it will not work if thewrong work is being done. It will devolve into breakdownmaintenance chaos and maintainers, in their efforts todeliver the best they can, will bypass the processes. Thisnegative spiral just gets worse.

Follow the leaderWhat is missing in most cases is not the knowledge of

what to do — many have read Uptime. It is up to the man-agement to resolve and commit to sustaining it all. Thereare no “best practices” or “silver bullet” solutions. Uptimerequires discipline and leadership. As I say in Uptime,“people will follow the way that they are led.” Leadersmust be proactive in their thinking and actions. Reactingto the panic du jour instead of responding rationally willresult in reactive behaviour in maintenance thatundermines the best efforts of asset reliabilityand materials management to support the deliv-ery of operational availability, low costs, safetyand environmental performance. Respondingproactively requires knowledge of how theUptime elements inter-relate, the desire toimprove, the will to execute and the leadership toset the right example.

Minera Yanacocha and many other mines areworking diligently to implement Uptime. Theybegan in late 2006 with a review of their

About the author

James Reyes-Picknell is founder and president ofConscious Asset Management, a global asset andmaintenance management consulting firm. Heworks with capital-intensive companies onoperational excellence to achieve low costs, safetyand environmental performance while improvingoperational availability. Based in Canada, Jamesteaches his methods and advises clients on itsimplementation around the world.

Work Management

Asset Reliability

OperationalAvailability +

Low Costs

MaterialsManagementBasic Care

Efficient Execution

Efficient Execution

Effectiveness of work program

Reduced Failures

Define Activities

Execute Materials Cooperation

Image courtesy of Conscious Asset Management

L’industrie minière peut être assez volage, mais il fautreconnaître qu’elle est vraiment forte pour avoirsurvécu et prospéré comme elle l’a fait. Elle est aussitenace, elle peut mettre à rude épreuve la chaîne d’ap-provisionnement et ses liens.

Les fournisseurs ou les acheteurs, qui doivent faire faceaux demandes de l’industrie, ne peuvent être trop surprisdes récents extrêmes des marchés; mais cela ne signifiepas qu’ils n’ont pas été durement éprouvés. Les dernierssoubresauts des marchés ont dépassé les capacités deplusieurs, repoussant les délais de livraison d’équipementsessentiels ou de soutien technique à des niveaux sansprécédant. Le ralentissement correspondant a forcé l’intro-spection vers des défis tels que la gestion des coûts et laréorganisation des pratiques commerciales. Tout au longde la chaîne d’approvisionnement, les gens ont eu l’occa-sion d’évaluer la plus récente frénésie avec un oeil critiqueet d’analyser l’avenir.

Naviguer entre les hauts et les basLa nature cyclique de l’industrie minière peut être quali-

fiée de constante, mais chaque haut et chaque bas pos-sède son propre caractère, ses gagnants et ses perdants.

Selon Marc Duchaine, directeur des achats stratégiques,Vale Inco, l’amplitude énorme du présent cycle le définit.« À mon point de vue, ce creux est semblable à la crêteprécédente. Au cours de l’expansion, de nombreux nou-veaux joueurs ont joint les rangs et la demande est de-venue vraiment mondiale. Je crois qu’il en est de mêmeavec la récession : elle est trop mondiale, aucun secteurn’est épargné. »

Bruce Knight, président de SMS Equipment — une entre-prise issue de la fusion de Coneco, de Federal Equipment etde Transwest Mining Systems — en au vu d’autres. « Lesmarchés sont plus gros, créant de nouveaux défis. Je croisque l’une des principales différences entre la baisse actuelleet celle des années 1980 est que si vous aviez de bonséquipements remis à neuf vous pouviez les vendre aux paysdu Tiers Monde. De nos jours, ces pays ont des flottes à lafine pointe de la technologie et ils sont même des compéti-teurs de compagnies minières canadiennes. »

Guff Muench, président de Cummins, Ouest du Canada,est optimiste. « La grande différence est que les taux d’in-térêt sont très bas. Antérieurement, les frais d’entreposageétaient prohibitifs mais maintenant les entreprises qui ontde gros inventaires ont plus de veine. »

La future croissance sera fonction du resserrement des lienstout le long de la chaîne d’approvisionnement dès maintenant


la chaîne d’approvisionnement

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la chaîne d’approvisionnement

Un partenariatLa cadence frénétique des dernières années a certes

accru les profits mais elle a aussi augmenté les coûts etréduit les offres. M. Muench reconnaît qu’il n’aimait pas latendance qu’il percevait. « Il était courant de devoir décevoirdes clients. Nous ne devrions jamais avoir à dire ‘non’. Nouscroyons qu’il faut maintenant établir de bonnes fondations. »

« Une chose est devenue très évidente durant les bonstemps; les fournisseurs avec lesquels nous avons debonnes et solides relations étaient là pour nous et pou-vaient garantir nos demandes », dit M. Duchaine. « Cela arenforcé les avantages de relations de partenariat à longterme avec nos fournisseurs; ce n’était pas l’affaire d’unefois, à la recherche du plus bas prix. »

M. Duchaine dit que Vale Inco travaille fort à établir despartenariats avec les fournisseurs afin que la compagnie soitmieux placée pour obtenir les pièces et les équipements lorsde la reprise économique. « Le danger est de tropéconomiser, nous voulons tous épargner mais si nouscoupons trop, la relation avec les fournisseurs en souffrira. »

Kevin Tomaszewski, un directeur demarketing chez Boart Longyear, dit que lacompagnie a rationalisé sa ligne de pro-duits et son approche marketing. « Nousmettons la priorité sur les pièces derechange. Nous voulons savoir ce quicasse. Nous avons monté des ensemblesde pièces pour des tâches spécifiques. Lacompagnie a maintenant un gérant unique-ment pour les pièces de rechange et nousavons encore plus de points d’inventaireafin de répondre plus rapidement auxdemandes de pièces. »

Bien que personne ne sache combien detemps durera la crise, les acheteurs et lesfournisseurs sont convaincus d’une crois-sance renouvelée. Selon M. Muench, lesgens futés s’assureront à long terme quetoutes les activités de soutien sont en place.« Il est plus difficile de mettre l’accent sur laformation durant une récession, mais vousdevez cibler le soutien », dit-il.

D’après M. Knight, durant tout ce déclin,SMS a saisi l’occasion de combler lemanque de personnel. « Nous embauchonsencore des gens. Durant les bonnes années,nous n’arrivions à en embaucher assez enraison de nos exigences de recrutement »,explique-t-il. « Il y a non seulement plus decandidats mais aussi le processus derecrutement est plus efficace. »

M. Duchaine ajoute : « Nous verrons souspeu de nombreuses retraites, entraînant unrisque de perdre les connaissances acquisesau cours des années. »

M. Tomaszewski souligne à son tour queles équipements deviennent de plus en plus intelligents.Chez Boart Longyear, les produits de forage sont munis desystèmes électroniques complets. La nouvelle générationd’équipements indiquera aux opérateurs la profondeur et letaux de forage ainsi que les temps morts. L’informationpourra être analysée afin de déterminer la productivité pourune période donnée.

« Je crois que la technologie s’infiltre à travers toute lachaîne d’approvisionnement », insiste M. Duchaine. « Lesfournisseurs seront aussi plus sophistiqués dans leurs rap-ports avec les acheteurs; de plus, ils intégreront des sys-tèmes de planification des ressources afin d’améliorertoute la chaîne d’approvisionnement. »

M. Tomaszewski prédit : « L’infrastructure continuera àse développer et la croissance économique est inévitable.Nous savons que le cycle de demande pour le fer, les agré-gats et le gaz naturel reviendra – ce n’est qu’une questionde temps. »

En attendant, ceux qui veulent garder leur place dans lachaîne d’approvisionnement doivent garder un lien fortmais souple avec leurs contacts. ICM

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An aerial view of the Gibraltar operation


featured mine

WWhile mine operators haven’t had an easy time in the last fewyears, it has been doubly difficult for those looking to expandtheir properties. The commodity price spike created longdelays in the supply chain and pushed up costs of everything

from protective clothing to major equipment. Then, just asthe suppliers were beginning to catch up, the world economydid an about-face, leaving many operators to wonder howthey would to pay for the investment they’d just completed.

Big and getting bigger

Taseko Mines ramps up the expansion of itsGibraltar project on time and on budget

by | Dan Zlotnikov

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June/July 2009 | 37

featured mine

Despite the pitfalls of the times, Taseko Mines is on theverge of completing a massive expansion at their Gibraltaroperation, a copper-molybdenum surface mine located insouth-central British Columbia, about four hours north ofKamloops. Even more significantly, according to companypresident and CEO Russell Hallbauer, the first phase of theexpansion was completed on time and on budget. Nearingcompletion, the second phase of the expansion is expected todo the same.

In part, said Hallbauer, Taseko’s success in completing theexpansion can be attributed to good timing — the expansionwas initiated at the very beginning of the price spike, so bythe time supplier shortages truly made themselves felt,Tasekohad already locked in its contracts and prices, and had ampletime to get the necessary components into place. But thegood fortune was helped by quick action. In March 2006,when the company’s executives saw copper prices gettingstronger, they got the expansion plans approved by theirboard of directors and went to work.

By May of the same year, Taseko had contracted withFarnell-Thompson, a Montreal-based engineering firm, to pro-vide the new semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill. The 34-foot mill would be more efficient and larger than the old rod

ball mills at the mine, and would allow Gibraltar to almostdouble its grinding capacity, with a matching increase inrecovered copper.

“The old mill ran to a maximum of 36,000 tons per daywhen it had really soft ore, but realistic capacity was about28,000 to 30,000,” Hallbauer said of the increase. The newmill, with the right ore, can process as much as 60,000 tons per day.

Driving down operation costsThe next part of the upgrade involved replacing the 96

original Denver 600H flotation cells (dating back to the1970s) with ten Outotec 160-cubic-metre cells. The new cellsallowed the mine to keep driving down its operating costs,Hallbauer explained, and not just because of the greater effi-ciency of the larger, more modern equipment. Simply goingfrom 96 cells to ten would eliminate a great number of partssuch as pumps and motors. The decrease in required mainte-nance and repairs is a clear advantage for Taseko.

The replacement itself was an engineering challenge,Hallbauer said, because the mine continued to operatethroughout the expansion. This meant installing a new cell tomaintain capacity, shutting down and ripping out one bank of

featured mine


1 2

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old cells, installing the new ones and bringing them online,and then repeating the process with the next set, until all ofthe new cells were in place and running. “Imagine renovatingyour kitchen while your family is in the house, cooking dinnerand using the fridge,” Hallbauer explained.

With the concentrator part of the expansion bearing a $76million price tag, Taseko had plenty of motivation to try andextend the mine life. The company undertook two extensivedrilling programs starting in 2007, said Hallbauer. The resultswere very promising, upgrading the reserves from 149 milliontons, first to 200 million and then to nearly 500 million.Today, according to Hallbauer, the expected mine life standsat 25 years, based on a throughput of 55,000 tons per day, thenew SAG mill’s optimal capacity.

As the plan progressed, Hallbauer recalled, it started toevolve. At the end of the first phase, with copper prices stilllooking strong, the company made the decision to alsoupgrade the mining fleet. The modernization included threenew Komatsu and four Terex 240-ton trucks, and a P&H 4100shovel. An older, P&H 2300 shovel is due to be replaced witha Bucyrus 495 in the near future. These upgrades were putinto place with the mine’s entire, 25-year lifespan in mind,said Hallbauer.

“All the old equipment will eventually be gone,” he said.“You have to get new equipment every once in a while. Sincewe’re a lower grade operation, we want to make sure we’redown on the cost curve, and the only way to make sure ofthat is via modern equipment.” But there will also be animmediate payback on the investment, Hallbauer added, inlowered operating costs. This is an important consideration intoday’s world of decreased demand and depressed prices, apoint which was brought home for Taseko in 2008.

Phase III on holdThe first two expansion phases and the equipment

upgrades cost Taseko $250 million. Phase III, which wouldhave taken the mine up to 85,000 tons per day and added

June/July 2009 | 39

featured mine

Photos, opposite page: 1. The newly commissioned 34-footSAG mill has a grinding capacity of 60,000 tons per day; 2. Anaerial view of the Gibraltar concentrator; 3. Over 100,000tons of waste rock and ore are removed from the granite piteach day; 4. Gibraltar's modernized and expanded flotationcircuit; 5. Gibraltar's new P&H mining shovel.All photos courtesy of Taseko Mines.

a new molybdenum recovery circuit at the cost ofanother $350 million, was approved in May of last year.Much like the first two stages, Hallbauer said, most of thecost would have been met by Taseko’s internally gener-ated cash flow. A May 13, 2008 news release announcedthat only 30 per cent of the expansion costs would beraised through the debt markets.

“But that cash flow was predicated on three-dollar-a-pound copper,” Hallbauer explained, “and when copperwent down to $1.70 and continued down to $1.20 and wecouldn’t access the credit markets, it was a perfect storm interms of our ability to not just continue with our capitalprojects, but also to ensure our operating costs were suchthat we could pay off all the money we’d spent and keep allour suppliers paid.”

Most of the first two stages of construction were per-formed by Taseko employees, Hallbauer said. To meet theneeds of the expansion, the company went from 330employees at Gibraltar to 470. “We were training people upand getting organized and that was one problem, when ourcost structure got ahead of us,” he added. “That’s one of thereasons we unfortunately had to have some layoffs. Whenthe price of copper retreated, we didn’t have the cash flowto move ahead with some of our expansion initiatives.” Thecompany has now returned to its pre-expansion workernumbers at Gibraltar.

Hallbauer did not dismiss the possibility of revisitingthe expansion plans at some future point, but said thatthe company would first need to see evidence of sus-tained high copper prices. At the moment, the marketsseem to hold little chance of that, and Taseko is focusingon optimizing its existing facilities and bringing them topeak performance.

Prosperity in the futureIn terms of new expansions, Hallbauer added, Taseko is

looking towards its Prosperity gold-copper property.Currently awaiting environmental permitting, Prosperitymay begin construction in the spring of next year. Taseko iscurrently looking for partners to help fund the project, whichpromises to be one of the largest gold mines in Canada.

“People don’t realize that Gibraltar is the secondlargest copper mine in Canada, with the longest lastingreserves of any open-pit mine in the country,” Hallbauerpointed out. “Our total metal production isn’t that greatbecause our head grade is significantly lower than that ofmany others. But the size of the physical structure, i.e.55,000 tons per day through the concentrator makes it abig mine.” But then again, big seems to be the order of theday at Taseko.

www.tasekomines.com

CIM

featured mine


June/July 2009 | 41

mine en vedette

BBien que les exploitants miniers n’aient pas eu la vie facile aucours des dernières années, c’était doublement difficile pourceux qui voulaient agrandir leurs propriétés. La hausse des prix avait créé de longs délais dans la chaîne d’approvisionnement et fait grimper tous les coûts, deséquipements de protection jusqu’aux gros équipements.Ensuite, juste comme les fournisseurs commençaient àrattraper la demande, l’économie mondiale a fait une volte-face. Les exploitants se demandaient alors comment payer lesplus récents investissements.

La compagnie Taseko Mines est cependant à compléterune grande expansion du projet Gibraltar, une mine de cuivre-

molybdène à ciel ouvert située en Colombie-Britannique. Plusimportant encore, selon le président-directeur général RussellHallbauer, la première phase de l’expansion a été complétée àtemps et en respectant le budget et il devrait en être demême pour la seconde phase.

Selon M. Hallbauer, le succès de Taseko à compléterl’expansion est de l’avoir effectuée au bon moment :l’expansion a commencé au tout début de la hausse des prix.Lorsque les pénuries d’approvisionnements se sontvéritablement fait sentir, les contrats avaient déjà étéaccordés. La bonne fortune a été aidée par une action rapide.En mars 2006, lorsque les dirigeants de la compagnie ont vu

De plus en plus grosAgrandissement de la plus grosse mine

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la montée des prix du cuivre, ils ont fait approuver les plansd’expansion et se sont mis à l’œuvre.

À la fin de mai de la même année, Taseko avait accordé lecontrat de construction d’une installation de broyage semi-autogène. L’installation de 24 pieds serait plus efficace quel’ancien broyeur à barres et à boulets et permettrait àGibraltar de presque doubler sa capacité de broyage,accompagné d’une augmentation correspondante enrécupération de cuivre. « Avec un bon minerai, le moulinpourra traiter jusqu’à 60 000 tonnes par jour », dit M.Hallbauer.

Abaisser le coût des opérationsLa prochaine étape de la modernisation consistait à

remplacer les 96 cellules de flottation, datant des années1970, par 10 cellules Outotec de 150 m3, permettantd’abaisser encore plus les coûts d’exploitation. Le nombremoindre de cellules entraîne aussi moins de pompes et moinsde maintenance.

Le remplacement constituait en lui-même tout un défid’ingénierie car la production continuait tout au cours del’expansion. « C’est un peu comme renouveler la cuisine d’unemaison pendant que la famille continue à utiliser leréfrigérateur et à cuisiner les repas », dit M. Hallbauer.

Avec un coût de 76 millions de dollars pour leconcentrateur, Taseko était bien motivé pour prolonger la viede la mine. La compagnie a entrepris deux vastes programmesde forage en 2007; les résultats ont été très prometteurs,augmentant les réserves de 149 à 200 millions de tonnes, puisà 500 millions de tonnes. Selon M. Hallbauer, la durée de viede la mine est de 25 ans, basé sur une capacité de traitementde 55 000 tonnes par jour.

À la fin de la première phase et de bons prix pour le cuivre,la compagnie a aussi décidé de renouveler les véhicules desurface. « Les vieux équipements partiront éventuellement »,

dit Hallbauer. « Notre minerai est à faible teneur, nous devonsnous assurer que nous sommes dans le bas de la courbe descoûts et la seule façon de ce faire est d’avoir des équipementsmodernes. Les coûts moindres d’exploitation se traduirontaussi par un retour immédiat sur l’investissement. »

La Phase III en attenteLa première phase d’expansion et les mises à jour des

équipements ont coûté 250 millions de dollars. La Phase III,d’un coût de 350 millions de dollars, aurait augmenté lacapacité de la mine à 85 000 tonnes par jour et ajouté unnouveau circuit de récupération du molybdène. Cette phaseavait été approuvée l’an dernier; un communiqué daté du 13mai 2008 annonçait que seulement 30 pour cent des coûtsaurait été financé par les marchés de la dette.

« Cependant ces estimés étaient basés sur un prix ducuivre de 3 $/lb », explique M. Hallbauer. « Lorsque le prix ducuivre a chuté à 1,70 $, puis à 1,20 $, nous n’avions plus accèsaux marchés du crédit. Il était devenu difficile non seulementde continuer nos projets d’immobilisations mais aussi des’assurer de payer nos dépenses et nos fournisseurs. »

Les deux premières phases de construction ont étéeffectuées par des employés de Taseko. La compagnie aaugmenté le nombre de ses employés de 330 à 470 à la mineGibraltar. « Nous étions à former des gens lorsque la structuredes coûts nous a dépassés. Avec la chute du prix du cuivre,nous n’avions plus les liquidités pour poursuivre nos projetsd’expansion et nous avons dû effectuer des mises à pied.

M. Hallbauer n’écarte pas la possibilité de revoir les plansd’expansion dans le futur; mais il dit que la compagnie devravoir des preuves d’un prix élevé soutenu pour le cuivre. Dansle moment, les marchés ne semblent pas prêts à cela et Tasekocible plutôt l’optimisation des installations existantes afind’avoir un rendement maximum.

En ce qui concerne de nouvelles expansions, M. Hallbauerajoute que Taseko regarde du côté de sa propriété minièrecuivre-or Prosperity. Actuellement en attente des permisenvironnementaux, Prosperity pourrait commencer laconstruction au printemps 2010. Taseko rechercheactuellement des partenaires pour aider à financer le projet,lequel promet de devenir l’une des plus grosses mines d’or auCanada.

« Les gens ne réalisent pas que la mine Gibraltar est la plusgrosse mine de cuivre au Canada, avec les réserves les plusdurables de toutes les mines à ciel ouvert au pays », signale M.Hallbauer. « Notre production totale de métal n’est pasextraordinaire parce que notre teneur d’alimentation est plusbasse que celle de nombreuses autres mines. Cependant, notrestructure physique, soit un débit de 55 000 tonnes par jour auconcentrateur, fait que nous sommes une grosse mine. »

« Gros » semble être le mot d’ordre de la compagnieTaseko. ICM


mine en vedette

Cellules de flottation à GibraltarPh

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eye on business

Confronted by a hostile takeoverbid, target companies often employvarious defensive tactics against thebidder. Some better known tacticshave colourful names (e.g. “TheNancy Reagan Defence” when the tar-get company’s board recommendsthat shareholders “just say no”).

In countering an unusual hostiletakeover bid launched by RusoroMining Ltd., Gold Reserve Inc.needed an extraordinary remedy: acourt-ordered injunction against thebid ordered by an Ontario judge. Thedefendant, Endeavour InternationalFinancial Corporation, was alsoenjoined from having any involve-ment with the hostile takeover bid.This case was described in theMarch/April 2009 issue of CIMMagazine (p. 14). On April 6, 2009,another Ontario judge refused to per-mit the defendants to appeal theinjunction order.

Background to the bidEndeavour had acted as Gold

Reserve’s financial advisor for four years,until shortly after Rusoro launched itshostile bid, and were granted access tosignificant Gold Reserve confidentialinformation. Agreements betweenEndeavour and Gold Reserve containedcovenants preventing Endeavour fromknowingly acting against Gold Reserve’sinterests in a material way, as well as arequirement that Endeavour informGold Reserve of any potential conflict ofinterest.

Rusoro engaged Endeavour to actas its financial advisor in 2007, and inAugust 2008, it made a friendly offerto acquire the shares of Gold Reserve— an offer that was declined. OnDecember 15, 2008, Rusoro launcheda hostile takeover bid for GoldReserves’ shares. Gold Reserveregarded the bid as being tainted byEndeavour’s possession of GoldReserve confidential information and

Court blocks hostile takeover bidThe risks of misuse of confidential technical informationz Berkley D. Sells and Chuck Higgins

began proceedings against Endeavourand Rusoro in December 2008, seek-ing injunctive relief and damages.

The injunctionOn February 10, 2009, Mr. Justice

Cumming noted that: “The practice ofthe mining industry reportedly is thatconfidential information is not pro-vided to any third party in the absenceof a confidentiality agreement. If it isanticipated that the recipient of theconfidential information might be in aposition to make an offer to acquirethe shares of the mining company,then the confidentiality agreementtypically also contains additional so-called ‘standstill’ provisions, that is,the company receiving the confiden-tial information will not acquire theshares of the disclosing company for aspecified period of time.”

The judge noted that the samepeople at Endeavour advised bothGold Reserve and Rusoro. He foundthat: “There is a serious issue estab-lished that Endeavour breached theexpress contractual terms of theSecond Advisory Agreement and itsimplicit duties of loyalty and main-taining confidence as a professionaladvisor to its client…by acting asexpert financial advisor to Rusoro’shostile takeover bid…A person inEndeavour’s position must avoid con-flicting interests and must not actagainst the interests of the personconfiding in him by utilizing confi-dential information without theinformed consent of that person.Rusoro is arguably liable as a know-ing and willing recipient of theseservices in breach of Endeavour’sduties to Gold Reserve.”

Justice Cumming also held thatfiduciary obligations (including thatof loyalty) can arise even without a confidentiality agreement and can exist in professional advisory relationships.

Lessons learnedIn seeking permission to appeal

Justice Cumming’s decision,Endeavour stated that it regards thedecision as having far-reaching impli-cations including: (a) for all advisorsin receipt of confidential information;and (b) with respect to what meas-ures should be put in place before anadvisor acts for a client’s competitor.

The Gold Reserve litigation cer-tainly provides an important lessonfor professional advisors regardinghow to handle confidential informa-tion and the risks associated withfailing to take all appropriate steps toprotect such information. It also pro-vides not merely an example of whenthe courts will intervene to stop ahostile bid from proceeding but alsovaluable guidance as to the factorsthat companies and their professionaladvisors should consider when estab-lishing the scope of services and theirrespective duties to each other.

The complete decision of the Courton the injunction motion can be seenat www.goldreserveinc.com. CIM

About the authors Berkley Sells (left)is a partner in the Toronto litigationdepartment of Fasken MartineauDuMoulin LLP. He practices civil litigationwith a focus on commercial disputes andmatters involving injunctions and otherextraordinary relief.

Chuck Higgins is a member of the globalmining group at Fasken Martineau. Heprovides advice to Canadian andinternational mining and energycompanies and investment dealers.

June/July 2009 | 43

HR outlook

Despite the current industry lull,shortages of skilled mining profession-als are expected to persist in themedium to long term. This is becauseof the large number of baby boomersretiring and individuals leaving min-ing to work in other sectors that willhave to be replaced. Through itslabour market forecasting work, theMining Industry Human ResourcesCouncil continues to forecast the needfor great numbers of skilled workersacross Canada over the next decade.

“The recent economic downturn hasmerely lowered projections of the num-ber of skilled workers the mining indus-try will need to replace,” said RyanMontpellier, executive director, MiHR.“But we’re asking employers to keepmoving at full steam on inclusion initia-tives; the shortage still stands in the tensof thousands and we collectively need tostart working on a solution now.”

As commodity prices recover overthe next few years, mining companieswill be under renewed pressure torecruit and retain individuals with theappropriate skill sets and motivation towork in the industry. MiHR is collabo-rating with the industry to develop andexecute hiring programs to attract anon-traditional workforce, includingCanadian youth, women, visibleminorities and Aboriginal people toparticipate in this high-paying sector.

Aboriginal men and women are ide-ally positioned not only to take advan-tage of these career opportunities, butalso to assume a leading role in theindustry. Many Aboriginal communi-ties are located within close proximityto current mines and exploration sitesacross Canada.

Overcoming barriers to employmentThe mining industry — together

with Aboriginal groups, governmentdepartments and community

colleges — is working to helpAboriginal men and women obtain theskills necessary to pursue careers inthe mining sector. In this regard, theindustry has recently released tworesources geared towards inclusion —the “Mining Industry HumanResources Guide for AboriginalCommunities” and “MasteringAboriginal Inclusion in Mining.”

Creating inclusive workplacesMastering Aboriginal Inclusion in

Mining is a rigorous management tooldeveloped to educate and equip min-ing companies with the knowledgenecessary to recruit, retain andadvance more Aboriginal workers.

“Mining is one of the largestemployers of Aboriginal Peoples inCanada and well positioned to be theindustry leader that will help advanceinclusion in Canada,” said KellyLendsay, president and CEO,Aboriginal Human Resource Council(AHRC).

Mastering Aboriginal Inclusion(MAI) is a world-renowned programstrategy developed by AHRC,Canada’s leading innovator inAboriginal recruitment, retention andadvancement. It is comprised of refer-ence modules, workshops and in-company training and assessmenttools, and is designed to help trans-form organizations to beinclusive. MAI in Miningis the first customizedseries of Aboriginalinclusion resources forthe mining sector devel-oped in partnership withMiHR. The resourcemodules and MAI inmining workshops helpcompanies becomeemployers of choice forAboriginal talent.


Match-making: Aboriginal Peoples and the mining sectorTake advantage of the possibilitiesz Melanie Sturk

About the author

Melanie Sturk, director, Attraction,Retention, and Transition at theMining Industry HumanResources Council, is responsiblefor the initiatives that encouragenew workers, particularly thosefrom underrepresented groups, toengage in mining careers andthat support the industry withenhancing workplace diversity.

The workshops and in-companytraining are available through theAHRC website (www.aboriginalhr.ca).

Engaging communitiesThe Mining Industry Human

Resources Guide for AboriginalCommunities provides students, teach-ers, career counsellors and leaders inAboriginal communities with detailedinformation on the numerous careeropportunities available in Canada’smining industry, as well as the trainingand education opportunities associatedwith those jobs. Divided into four sec-tions that cover the main areas of min-ing — exploration, development, oper-ations and site rehabilitation — theguide describes the activities, opportu-nities and training programs related toall occupations in the mining industry.The guide is also available online atwww.aboriginalmining.ca.

Making the matchIndustry, communities and individ-

uals benefit when employment isavailable locally. Connecting workersto jobs in their communities justmakes sense. We invite you to makeuse of these resources to facilitate theinclusion of Aboriginal Peoples in themining industry.

www.mihr.ca

CIM

supply side

June/July 2009 | 45

In the recent past, Canada’s eco-nomic performance was the envy ofthe world. We paid down debt despitecutting taxes, unemployment waslow, and we had impressive trade andcurrent account surpluses.Hidden in this, however,was the changing nature ofour economic base, some-thing that will likely con-tinue in the next expansion,with implications forCanada’s currency, eco-nomic volatility andregional disparities.

Over the few monthsleading up to December 2008, ourgoods trade deficit crashed frommonthly surpluses in the $5 billionrange to a deficit. In January, we regis-tered another nine per cent fall inexports (led by a large decline in auto-motive products), imports fell 7.9 percent, and the monthly trade deficitwidened to $993 million. In March2009, Canadian exports fell butimports were off even more, resultingin an increase in the trade balance to apositive $1.1 billion. Until December,Canada had run trade surpluses for 33consecutive years.

Certainly the speed of the declinerelates to the current severe globalrecession. However, past recessionshave not caused as large a swing inCanada’s trade position. Whileresource prices have fallen recently,the Bank of Canada’s commodityprice index, when measured inCanadian dollars to line up with thetrade data, is still at lofty levels rela-tive to its level during the 1998Asian crisis or the 2001 U.S. reces-sion — periods in which Canadamaintained a trade surplus.

A decade ago, a number of sec-tors contributed to our trade sur-plus, including automobiles, railcars, ships and furniture. By 2008,these were all in deficit, and trade

deficits in other products like cloth-ing had widened materially. So,while the annual trade surplus wasstill very impressive last year, itrested solely on the ability of huge

revenues from energy, minerals,metals and other commodities tocover the costs of importing justabout everything else.

Predictions are that a weak cur-rency will not save our manufactur-ing sector. Even though recently ourdollar is off 20 per cent compared tothe U.S. dollar, it will likely recoveronce commodity prices rise again.Always correlated to commodityprices, the new, higher dependencyon resources will cause our currencyto rise ever more quickly oncedemand for commodities returns.

Commodity prices are cyclical.This recession will not create anynew supply for metals or oil.Indeed, reduced exploration anddevelopment spending will depletesupply projections for the first fewyears of the next eco-nomic recovery. So, weshould rejoice in the factthat we are owners ofsuch valuable resourcesand plan our economyaccordingly.

A March 7, 2009 articleby Diane Francis in theNational Post begins bystating “Canada’s beststimulus package wouldbe to launch a Marshall

Plan for mining by buildingunpaved roads and other infrastruc-ture to open up the country’s vast,unexplored and untapped mineralwealth in its interior and

the North.” Infrastructureunlocks resources, becauseit makes them more eco-nomic to exploit. The sin-gle greatest discovery inCanadian mining history isthe nickel deposits in theSudbury Basin. Had theCanadian Pacific Railwaybeen routed differently, thisdevelopment would at least

have been delayed, if ever made.Francis concludes: “Canada must

exploit its natural competitive advan-tages in order to retain living stan-dards… Canada will never be a manu-facturing powerhouse, a Silicon ValleyNorth, another New York financialcapital or a biotech giant.”

Imagine the benefit to Canada’smining suppliers if governmentdecided that rather than bailing outfailures, it was going to put in placenew strategies to back winners likeour mining industry! There is noother sector that Canada dominatesinternationally more than it does theexploration and mining sector. Weshould plan to make more out of thisadvantage.

www.camese.org

CIM

A page for and about the supply side of the Canadian mining industry

Canada’s economic base isnarrowing towards natural resourcesz Jon Baird

About the author

Jon Baird, managing director of CAMESE and president of PDAC, is interested incollective approaches toenhancing the Canadian brand in the world of mining.

We should rejoicein the fact that we are owners

of such valuable resources and plan our economy accordingly.

MAC economic commentary

MAC’s president, Gord Peeling,has occupied the national associa-tion’s corner office for almost adozen years. During this period,the chairmanship has movedthrough Walter Segsworth ofWestmin, John Carrington ofBarrick, Jim Carter of Syncrude,Guy Dufresne of Quebec CartierMines, Richard Ross of Inmet,Peter Jones of HudBay Minerals,and Jim Gowans of De BeersCanada. Drawing on years ofexperience both as a senior gov-ernment official and in industry,his knowledge of the Canadianmining industry and surroundingpublic policy is encyclopedic. Itook the opportunity recently totalk with Gord about a range ofissues faced by the Canadianindustry.

Stothart: The industry alwaysseems to face an array of interest-ing challenges relating to theeconomy and the environment, aswell as the social sphere. What doyou see as the key issues facingthe industry today?Peeling: Surviving the recession-ary period is the key issue atpresent. In our industry, there isnot a whole lot that the govern-ment can do on this front. Themineral price rebound, when itcomes, will be global and willbe driven by developments inChina, then the United States,Europe and elsewhere.Government stimulus spending,particularly investment in infrastruc-ture, will help. In Canada, we needinfrastructure investment both toimprove access to resources andaccess to markets. Beyond toughingout the recession, industry needs toremain cognizant of where its futureworkforce will come from. This willbe an increasingly important chal-

lenge over the coming decade. Fortheir part, governments must improvethe project review and permittingprocesses. At the federal level, thereremains a need for timelines and moreefficient oversight of each depart-ment’s responsibility, as well as better harmonization with provincialprocesses.

Stothart: Towards Sustainable Mining(TSM) is an important branding initia-tive for MAC and for the broader indus-try. How can it stay relevant to theindustry of tomorrow?Peeling: TSM is a living tool; it is con-stantly evolving and its progress isdriven by the active engagement ofthe Community of Interest AdvisoryPanel and company managementcommittees. Guidance protocols arenow being developed in areas relat-ing to mine closure, biodiversity andAboriginal relations. TSM remainsthe only management tool in theglobal mining industry that is facil-ity-based — it helps to drive per-formance improvements at the mineand smelter level. This is an impor-tant advantage. Before the end of

2009, members will have somedecisions to make with respectto TSM’s applicability to ourCanadian members’ interna-tional operations.

Stothart: Companies, includingmany MAC members, are presentlyin a “batten down the hatches”mode of operation. How do you seeprices evolving over the comingyear? Is there light at the end of thetunnel?Peeling: The cyclical nature ofour industry presents uniquechallenges. In an ideal world,companies would invest in adownturn when costs are loweras it takes many years to moveresource projects through thepermitting and construction

stages. Unfortunately the financialsector woes and depth of the globalrecession make this a very difficultchallenge that only companies withexcellent projects and adequatecash reserves can meet. I believethere is light at the end of this tun-nel. Industry has had a difficult2008 fourth quarter and first quar-


Industry issues and prioritiesA discussion with Gord Peelingz Paul Stothart

“In Canada,we need infrastructure

investmentboth to improve

access to resourcesand

access to markets.”— G. Peeling

MAC economic commentary

ter of 2009. Prices are weak, yes, though not at histori-cal lows. However, volumes are also soft, reflecting theglobal recession, and it is the combination of weakprices and low volumes that is causing liquidity chal-lenges for industry. My view is that the global demandsituation is taking a pause from what remains a longer-term period of growth. This will be seen throughincreased consumer demand from China. Modestgrowth in the United States and Europe in 2010, andsharper recoveries in 2011, will also contribute toimproved conditions for our industry.

Stothart: The government recently released its positionpaper on the international corporate social responsibilityissue. Was MAC pleased with the government response? Arethere any hidden pitfalls awaiting companies in this area?Peeling: We are pleased that the government has finallyresponded, as this particular issue has dragged on for overtwo years. The response reflects much of what the stake-holders sought but takes a different approach with respectto the roundtable recommendation of an ombudsmanfunction. Certainly the international sphere will remain animportant focus of non-government organizations in the

June/July 2009 | 47

About the author

Paul Stothart is vice president,economic affairs of the MiningAssociation of Canada. He isresponsible for advancing theindustry’s interests regardingfederal tax, trade, investment,transport and energy issues.

years to come. NGOs will monitor the performance ofglobal mining and exploration companies and they will cri-tique how this performance is affecting the environmentand human rights in foreign countries. As I mentionedearlier, we will have some decisions to make regarding theappropriate role that TSM should play alongside the rangeof international social-license tools that have emerged inrecent years.

www.mining.ca

CIM

innovation

When it boils down to it, enterpriseis all about people. We are increasinglyrecognizing the critical contribution oftalented people to our mining commu-nity. This is reflected in the emergenceof the term Highly Qualified People(HQP) within the strategic vision of theCanada Mining Innovation Council(CMIC). HQP are those upon whosetechnical, business and social skills theoperational integrity and leadership ofthe Canadian mining industry is depen-dant. Their skills, competence andmotivation result from a combination ofeducational and training experiences,ranging from secondary through tertiaryeducation; employment training andexperience; and lifelong learning.Consultations within the mining com-munity during the evolution of CMICmade it apparent that HQP wereviewed as being fundamental to grow-ing and maintaining an outstandinginnovation culture.

The key to developing our humanresources was recognized to lie in thepursuit of education, training andresearch activities oriented to serve themining industry. Close collaborationbetween industry, government, aca-demic and societal groups was consid-ered critical to fostering innovation, aneed that CMIC is well-oriented andequipped to meet. It was thus naturalto form a working group within CMICfocused on HQP-related research, ini-tiatives and strategies.

The HQP working group willaddress various disciplinary sectorswithin the Canadian mining industry,from exploration through mining todownstream processes, with a currentstrategy of five initiatives.

Early actions towards an effectivecounter-cyclical HQP strategy

In the past, in response to marketdownturns, mining companies tendedto shed HQP and permanently lostthat talent while mining school enrol-

ments often suffered decline. This his-torical record needs to be recognizedand broken through an effectivecounter-cyclical strategy to ensure thatCanada’s mining HQP base (includingwithin the mineral exploration sector)is not eroded by the current economicdownturn, and to maintain studentconfidence and interest in mining-related education and the industry.

Improved industry-academiaengagement

Greater value can be drawn fromexisting institutional structures, espe-cially from industry advisory commit-tees at centres of mining educationacross Canada. During 2009, theworking group is organizing events athigh-profile venues (like the CIMConference and Exhibition), to bringindustry, government and miningschool representatives together toaddress the need for improved engage-ment and collaboration.

Fostering co-operative mining education

Well-designed co-op education pro-grams are proven to enrich the post-secondary educational experience. Inaddition to positive educational out-comes for students, they can bringimportant short- and long-term bene-fits to the industry. Beginning in mid-2009, the HQP working group willwork to increase and broaden industryparticipation in co-op programs.

Strengthening the HQPresearch base

Adequate investment inpeople is fundamental tostrengthening Canada’smining HQP base in R&D.There are obvious synergiesto build with the researchbeing planned by otherCMIC working groups.During 2009, the HQP


Highly Qualified PeopleA key resource to drive innovation in miningz Malcolm Scoble

About the author

Malcolm Scoble holds the RobertE. Hallbauer Chair in Mining andSustainability in the Norman B.Keevil Institute of MiningEngineering at the UBC. He is amember of the board of directorsof MiHR and of the CanadaMining Innovation Council.

working group will work with theseother groups to develop a coherent andintegrated CMIC strategy for new fund-ing for targeted mining research fromexisting federal, provincial and territorialgovernment programs. The objective isto expand support for research that willensure the development of future HQPin key specialist areas.

Mapping the mining HQP baseThe CMIC HQP working group is

collaborating with the Mining IndustryHuman Resources Council (MiHR) onresearch that will map Canada’s miningHQP stocks and flows today and intothe future and identify best practices inHQP attraction, retention and develop-ment. Unfortunately, we currently havelittle knowledge and understanding ofwhat shapes peoples’ career paths intoand within mining. The determiningfactors may be motivation, expecta-tions, skills, training, professionaldevelopment, career navigation andexperiences.

These five initiatives by CMIC’sHQP Working Group represent aunique effort to understand the natureof our highly qualified people. Theywill address the recruitment, reten-tion, education and professional devel-opment of this key human resourcewith the ultimate aim of fostering theoptimum technical, business andsocial qualities required to drive inno-vation excellence in next-generationCanadian mining.

www.cmic-ccim.org

CIM

student life

June/July 2009 | 49

Fired-up talentIndustry has much to gain from supporting research at Canadian campusesz Simon David Craggs

The economic downturn over thepast year has resulted in hard timesfor the mining industry. As a result offewer job opportunities, many areturning to academia to weather thestorm. However, government spend-ing cuts to science programs at uni-versities, particularly on the EastCoast, have resulted in NSERC grantsbeing reviewed and often cancelledfor many projects already in progress.With government spending on thewane, there could not be a moreimportant time for industry involve-ment with university programs.

My experience working on gov-ernment- and industry-sponsoredprojects has generally been very posi-tive, and the support offered by thesponsor of my ongoing PhD project,Alexco Resource Corp., has beenexceptional. However, for many stu-dents, this unfortunately is notalways the case.

While doing research for a consor-tium of oil companies, I was warnedoff working in the mining industry bya colleague who said that mineralexploration companies are narrow-minded and don’t care about the big-ger regional story behind ore bodyformation. He said that when the oiland gas companies have a bit of sparecash they invest in new technologiesand techniques to better define theirtargets. The mining industry, on theother hand, he claimed, invests inbigger machines to dig the mountainout more quickly.

Clearly, my colleague’s commentwas made with tongue placed firmlyin cheek, and it is not a statement thatI entirely agree with. However, themining industry would do well totake a leaf out of the oil and gasindustry’s book.

The advantage of strong industryinvolvement in university programs isclear — while undergraduate andgraduate students are by no meansthe finished article, their enthusiasmto learn could not be stronger. Assuch, for a relatively small outlay peryear, companies can play an activerole in the development of potentialemployees. In addition, the miningindustry should not automaticallydismiss research that is at first glancepurely academic. Cutting-edge tech-nologies often arise from seeminglyinnocuous projects that have noapparent direct impact on the indus-try. While industry partners com-monly look for an answer to a specificproblem, sponsorship of a project willoften result in additional informationthat will add to the understanding oftheir prospect.

Alexco Resource Corp. was look-ing for a structural geologist tounderstand fracture geometry andhow it interacts with mineralizationat its Keno Hill Ag-Pb-Zn mine in theYukon. They have been very support-

ive of my efforts to understand thetiming and regional controls on orebody formation. The company appre-ciates that the key to the discovery ofadditional ore bodies lies in under-standing the structural controls onore body formation. The answer tothis question will form part of mythesis, but in addition, Alexco willgain insight into the regional tecton-ics and geo/thermochronology of thedistrict. While this may appear to beunnecessary for the company, it isessentially free information, and themore information one has about aregion, the more accurately one cantarget new areas for exploration.

While the industry as a wholedoes appear to be changing andsponsorship is improving, the use ofstructural geology techniques as ameans to better defining ore bodiesand targets is still sadly underused.As a structural geologist I have aclear bias and it would be remiss ofme to suggest that structural geol-ogy is the be-all and end-all of min-ing geology. However, it is impera-tive that mining companies use anamalgamation of geochemistry,mapping and stratigraphy, structuraland engineering geology, and otherbranches of geosciences to refinetheir targets and ultimately savemoney. Investment in industry-spe-cific university projects at all levelscan only help with this. CIM

Simon in the Bellekeno underground works at AlexcoResource Corp’s Keno Hill mine, Yukon

About the author Simon Craggs is a first-year PhD student in structuralgeology at the University of NewBrunswick. He graduated with a BSc(Hons) from the University of Leeds (UK)and an M.Sc. from UNB. He has alsoworked for the Fault Dynamics ResearchGroup at Royal Holloway University ofLondon and is the current president ofthe Geological Association of GraduateStudents at UNB.

safety

PotashCorp’s operation in Sussex,New Brunswick, has developed aknack for even numbers: 2004, 2006,and with the nice round figure of zero(the number of reportable injuries), itcan also claim that it is the best of2008. Last month, at the CIMConference and Exhibition inToronto, the mine was awarded theJohn T. Ryan Trophy in the selectmine category, in recognition of itsunmatched safety record.

The shaft mine, about 70 kilome-tres northeast of Saint John, runs 24hours a day, seven days a week, andturns out 800,000 tonnes of potashand another 600,000 tonnes of salteach year. There was not a singlereportable injury among its over 400permanent and contract workforcelast year.

“Everyone takes a great deal ofpride in that award,” said MarkFracchia, general manager of theSussex operation. About six yearsago, they put a behavioural safety

process in place at the mine to com-plement the existing safety programs.Since then, the operation has estab-lished itself as a national leader insafety.

The process succeeds because it isnot based on hindsight, explainedFracchia. “A mechanic may observetwo or three other mechanics who areconducting preventive maintenance onone of the mining machines. He’ll lookto see whether they are working safely,using the right equipment, and usingthe equipment properly; he’ll note thaton the observation card and then offerfeedback. If he notices someone doingan at-risk behaviour, he will try to get acommitment from that individual towork safely.” In addition, said Fracchia,“a facilitator gathers data and isolatestrends that could result in an injury.Then we come up with action plans totry to remedy these before somebodygets hurt.”

The peer observation systemmeans that the safety behaviours of

each employee are observed aboutonce a month. Workers, however,are not constantly looking over theirshoulders, said Fracchia. “It’s a no-name, no-blame process.” The rein-forcement between employees ispositive, he explained. “They’vetaken ownership of safety and don’tjust rely on the safety professionalsat the site.”

The Sussex mine is not unionized.Fracchia credits the fraternity thatextends beyond the workplace as asafety cornerstone. “We have anexperienced workforce — the averageage is 49. And people look out foreach other. Most of the employeeshave been here since the start of theoperation. They’ve grown up witheach other.”

Despite the absence of reportableinjuries last year, Fracchia insisted thatthere are still opportunities forimprovement. The committee thatoversees the John T. Ryan awardprocess defines reportable injuries asones that send a worker home or to thehospital, but also any that compel anemployee, though he remains at work,to abandon his usual duties for somelighter or modified task. At the Sussexoperation, even a trip to a first-aid sta-tion for a bandage is recorded, saidFracchia. With these criteria in place,he said, the mine had 2.11 reportableinjuries per 200,000 work hours in2008. “We are doing great. I don’t wantto diminish our accomplishments, butour goal is to continually get better.”

The peer-oriented safety process atthe Sussex mine was one of the firstto be implemented in PotashCorp’sCanadian operations, and it has sincebeen adopted by the other potashdivisions within the company. It hasalso been implemented at the com-pany’s nitrogen and phosphate opera-tions in the United States.

www.potashcorp.com

CIM


Employee Jack Parlee (left) reviews an observation with a fellow worker Steve Otis.

They also serve who stand and watchA culture of vigilance and respect secures safety awardz Ryan Bergen

The latest bout of gold fever hadalready broken when the NewYork Times reporter stepped

onto the steamship Roanoke as itarrived in Seattle, loaded with minersand gold from the Klondike. ByAugust 1898, the good claims onBonanza and Eldorado creeks nearDawson City had long since beentaken, the fastest money already madeand the extravagant stories told.“Klondikers disappointed, fewreturning adventurers bring backgold dust on the Roanoke,” the storyin the Times declared.

At the bottom of the article was thenugget of a story, not enough to claimthe front page. Among the catalogueof returning heroes and their spoilswere the names of Stick Jim andTagish Charley. They, along withGeorge Carmack, “the discoverer ofthe Klondike,” stepped off the

steamer with $35,000 each. The com-mon number was the only hint thatthe lives and stories of these threemen were bound together not only bygold but blood.

Close encountersWhen George Carmack met the

Tagish men Keish and Káa Goox in1886, the 25-year old was just scrap-ing by. The sweetheart he’d left theyear before in California had thrownhim over for another. Limited workprospects in Juneau, Alaska, meant hecouldn’t survive, let alone save up fora season of prospecting. So Carmackheaded up Taiya Inlet to Dyea, thegateway to the Chilkoot Pass, to huntand fish and maybe find a job for thesummer as a guide.

Keish (also known as Stick orSkookum Jim) and his nephew KáaGoox (or Tagish Charley) had come

to the village to trade their furs after awinter of hunting and trapping. Inthe summer, they packed suppliesover the pass for ambitious prospec-tors in search of the next big strike.

Keish had earned the Chinook tag“Skookum” for his legendary strength— he could scramble up the bouldersof the pass with 150 pounds of sup-plies. All three spent the summermaking the 100-kilometre round-tripto the first waterway leading to theYukon River, earning ten dollars forevery 100 pounds they hauled.

Why the men became friends isn’tclear. Carmack’s job as a packer — atrade almost exclusive to natives —set him apart from his “sourdough”peers. The two Tagish men may haveconnected with Carmack becausethey were outsiders themselves. Notall natives in the area wanted to giveup their claim to the traditional trad-

George, Charley and JimThe unlikely friendship behind the Klondike Gold Rushz Ryan Bergen

Keish aka Skookum Jim aka James Mason

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George Carmack Káa Goox aka Tagish Charley aka Dawson Charley

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ing route that more and more non-natives were using each year. Aspackers for the foreigners, Keish andKáa Goox were eroding that claim.Carmack did not speak Tagish. Withone another, they spoke a mix ofEnglish and a Chinook dialect thatwas the language of trade.Nevertheless, they hit it off, and whenthe season was over, Keish and KáaGoox invited Carmack to spend thewinter with them in their village nearCarcross, Yukon.

All in the familyDespite being far removed from

home, Carmack faithfully corre-sponded with his sister in California,

their big strike, Carmack, Keish andKáa Goox crossed paths with himtwice. He, in fact, was the one whosuggested they prospect where theydid. He also managed to insult theTagish men on both occasions. Onesuch racial slight was only a couple ofdays old when the three washed acoveted “five-dollar pan” on RabbitCreek. There they staked the firstclaims along the waterway theyrechristened Bonanza Creek. Thenews of their strike in 1896 travelledaround the world and set the “lastgreat gold rush” in motion. ThoughHenderson was prospecting a fewmiles away, none of the men could beroused to tell him. CIM

although he was not always faithful tothe truth. He did not mention that he,by Tagish standards, had married oneof Keish’s sisters. When she died soonafter of influenza he married heryounger sister, as was the custom.Shaaw Tláa became Mrs. KateCarmack and lived and workedbeside her common-law husband inhis prospecting and trading venturesalong the Yukon River. News of hisdaughter Graphie’s birth did notreach home either.

Not all prospectors had such even-handed relations with the FirstNations. The most infamous andunfortunate bigot was RobertHenderson. In the days leading up to

cim newsAbbasy, Farzaan, QuebecAlberts, Edward, AlbertaAli, Farouq, AlbertaAnctil, Lucienne, QuebecAnton, Tony, AlbertaArchambault, Martin, QuebecArgent, Paul, British ColumbiaArtus, Andrew, OntarioAsad, Mohammad Waqar Ali, PakistanAwoh, Akué Sylvette, QuebecAzam, Shahid, SaskatchewanBalfour, Mark, AustraliaBard, Daniel G., New BrunswickBaribeau, Christine, QuebecBerger, Jean, QuebecBlanchard, René, New BrunswickBlevings, Scott, British ColumbiaBodika, Didier, QuebecBoily, Sylvain, QuebecBois d'Enghien, Victor, OntarioBouchard, David, QuebecBoudreault-Tremblay, Stéphanie, QuebecBoulé, Vital, QuebecBreault, Kévin, QuebecBrissenden, Annemarie, OntarioBrown, Cameron, SaskatchewanButcher, Bruce, AustraliaCameron, Michel, QuebecChen, Techien, AlbertaChowdhury, Mohsen, British ColumbiaCleland, Noel, AlbertaColeman, Timothy, British ColumbiaCopley, Chris, British ColumbiaDainoff, Iolanda Daniela, RomaniaDave, Niraj, OntarioDelisle, André, QuebecDeschamps, Thomas, QuebecDoyon, Valerie, OntarioDullaghan, Kevin, OntarioDzakpata, Isaac, SaskatchewanElkow, Kenneth, AlbertaEngwayu, Jophat, British ColumbiaGagnon, Claudie, QuebecGaudet, Philippe, QuebecGaudreault, Fabien, QuebecGotts, Brian D., SaskatchewanGroskopk, Glenn, SaskachewanGroulx, Patricia, British ColumbiaGunnewiek, Lowy, OntarioHaghighat, Parnian, AlbertaHakkou, Rachid, MoroccoHelinski, Matt, AustraliaHicklin, Roberta, British ColumbiaHill, Michael, OntarioHines, P.F. (Trish), AlbertaHo, Philip, AlbertaHolmes, Michael, USAHotar, Diana, Alberta

Hustad, Theresa, AlbertaIslam, Shafiqul, OntarioJespersen, Paul, AlbertaJudd, Chris, OntarioKhatwa, Mohamed Abou, ManitobaKlassen, Darren, SaskatchewanKongolo, Mukendi, FranceKostiw, Darren, AlbertaKovacevic, Aleksandar, OntarioKwasniewski, Ryan, AlbertaLaarman, Jordan, OntarioLandry, François, QuebecLang, Robert, AlbertaLauwereins, Daniel A., USALiddiard, Andrew, QuebecLivingston, Colin, AlbertaLock, Alan, OntarioLorrimer, Lesley, OntarioLortie, Sylvain, QuebecMacameau, Ghislain, QuebecMaier, Gerald, AlbertaMarteniuk, Jay, OntarioMartin, Gareth P., British ColumbiaMathiba, Moagabo, USAMatteau, Isabelle, QuebecMbonimpa, Mamert, QuebecMcKenzie, Mary, OntarioMcLellan, Patrick, AlbertaMcNalley, Staci, AlbertaMelville, Ross, AlbertaMiree, Heather, OntarioMunden, Edward John, OntarioNash, Gary, AlbertaNolet, Isabelle, South AfricaOblasser, Angela, Chile

CIM welcomes new members

June/July 2009 | 53

O'Neil Bouvier, Yves, QuebecOrr, Bryan, AlbertaOsiowy, Kimber, ManitobaOuattara, Drissa, QuebecOuellet, Daniel, QuebecPilotto, Dino, SaskatchewanPolson, Brayden, OntarioReddy, Vijaykumar, AlbertaReyes, Manuel, ChileSawyer, James, USASilverberg, Shane, OntarioSinclair, Coleman, YukonSmith, Michael A., OntarioSnow, Gary, Newfoundland and LabradorStraw, Charles, British ColumbiaStraw, David, British ColumbiaStrobl, Rudy, AlbertaThompson, Gregory, OntarioThornton, Steve, AlbertaTrachsel, Amelia, ManitobaVerburg, Evan, OntarioVincent, Eric, QuebecWelch, Phil, AlbertaWestendorf, Michael, British ColumbiaYalcin, Sevil, OntarioZago, Matthew, Ontario

Corporate MembersAusenco Minerals CanadaDomik Exploration Ltd.National Mine Service of CanadaResource Engineering & MaintenanceTex Tex Canada

cim news


A look back in time20 YEARS AGO…

• In his inaugural observations, CIM PresidentJohn Laffin set before each member the goal ofrecruiting one new CIM member in the year,with the objective of strengthening the organiza-tion not just in terms of numbers, but also interms of reach and relevance.

• Robert Parsons, a partner at Price Waterhouse,Toronto, conducted an analysis of the taxationpolicies announced in the Budget, rapping thegovernment’s knuckles for increasing theincome tax burden while continuing toincrease spending.

• The historical metallurgy article by D.G.E.Kerfoot traced the history of the development ofthe Sherritt ammonia pressure leach process.

• The advance program for the COM 1989 confer-ence contained a brief but comprehensive andengaging write-up on the history of Halifax,Canada’s oldest English city. The site of COM 1989,Halifax was described as “the largest in Canada eastof Quebec” and “no stranger to romance.”

The above were taken from the June 1989 issue ofCIM Bulletin.

Obituaries CIM expresses its sincere condolences to the families and friends

of the following members:

Earl David Dodson became a member of CIM in 1970 and attainedlife member status in 1999. He passed away in March.

Ian L. Jennings passed away recently. He joined CIM in 1939 andbecame a life member in 1978.

Chuck Newmarch, a life member of CIM, passed away lastDecember.

John William Patterson joined CIM in 1950 and became a lifemember in 1986. He passed away earlier this year.

Loss of CIM’s first female memberCIM is saddened by the passing of Pauline Moyd on April 10,

2009. Born in 1916 in Brooklyn, New York, Pauline acquireddegrees in geology from Barnard and Bryn Mawr colleges. After mar-rying fellow geologist Louis Moyd in 1939, she partnered with him,working as a consultant until 1965. In 1966, Pauline joined theGeological Survey of Canada, where she worked until her retirementin 1981. She joined CIM in 1954, becoming CIM’s first female mem-ber, and did much to raise awareness about the limitless potentialand the barriers to the entry of women in mining. One of her mostsignificant achievements was as the Organizing Secretary of the 24thInternational Geological Congress in Montreal in 1972 that broughttogether some 5,000 geologists from 115 countries. In 2004, Paulinewas elected to the CIM Fifty-Year Club. She will forever have a spe-cial place in our history.

due to Michael Allan and Jim Popowich for taking the time to travelto the event to express their support. The branch executive is look-ing forward to hosting CIM past president Jim Gowans in June. CIM

On the comeback TrailCIM Trail Branch hosts successful kick-off event

By Kris Heale

On April 8, the CIM Trail Branch hosted its firstmeeting at the Italo Canadese Lodge after severalquiescent years. CIM Distinguished LecturerCarlos Díaz presented his enlightening and enter-taining lecture on the “Evolution of CopperSmelting Practices in the last Four Decades” to 41attendees from metallurgical, mechanical and elec-trical disciplines, ranging from students to retirees.The presentation stimulated a lively discussion oncurrent and future trends in non-ferrous smelting.

Judging by the enthusiasm of the participantsand their feedback, the event was a success. Themeeting was graciously supported by localemployers AMEC and Teck Metals. The branch’snew executive would like to express their thanksto the event sponsors as well as the CIM nationaloffice for guidance and support and for theDistinguished Lecturers program. Thanks are also

Left to right: Jessica Huza, Andrea Murland, Carlos Díaz, Marvin Neufeld, Michael Allan, RobertaSpence, Jim Popowich, Tony Heim, Lawrence Chow and Kris Heale

cim news

CIM Montreal Branch gets energizedCIM Distinguished Lecturer Gord Winkel delivers on innovation

By Robbie Pillo

On March 17, CIM Montreal Branch hosted CIMDistinguished Lecturer Gord Winkel at the McGillUniversity Faculty Club. His engaging presentation, “TheInnovative Imperative,” explored the history and trends ininnovative mining practices and achievements. The inter-active “true or false” session took the audience on a fact-finding mission and addressed society’s expectations fromthe mining industry. Both students and industry represen-tatives were captivated as Winkel discussed the impor-tance of implementing a culture of innovation throughresponsible leadership.

Nurturing a vibrant environment that engages talentedpeople to drive innovative products and processes that cre-ate extraordinary value will strengthen a mining companyand propel it forward, Winkel averred. Principled leadersmake employees feel like they are at the very heart of things— everyone feels that he or she is making a difference to thesuccess of the organization. When people feel that they mat-ter, it gives their work meaning. Innovation leadership is animperative towards a successful mining business.

As a member of the Kearl Oils Sands Project Managementteam for Imperial Oil/Exxon Mobil, Winkel manages theintegration of associated technologies, while developingexperience with Exxon Mobil’s global management systems.

He also is chair of the Canada Mining Innovation Council,which seeks to establish Canada as a global leader in the mining industry through leading-edge research andinnovation.

Winkel left an indelible mark on the crowd and inspiredinnovative thinking in those who might one day lead the global mining business towards higher standards andcutting-edge developments. CIM

Le 17 mars dernier, la Section Montréal de l’ICM a reçul’éminent conférencier Gord Winkel au McGill UniversityFaculty Club. Sa présentation The Innovative Imperative explo-rait l’historique et les tendances dans les pratiques minièresinnovatrices et les réussites. Sa session interactive de « vrai oufaux » a mené l’auditoire à rechercher des faits et a traité desattentes de la société envers l’industrie minière. Les étudiantset les représentants de l’industrie étaient captivés alors que M.Winkel discutait de l’importance de la mise en œuvre d’uneculture d’innovation par un leadership responsable.

Le fait de soigner un environnement de travaildynamique qui encourage des gens de talent à développerdes produits et des processus novateurs qui créent de lavaleur exceptionnelle renforcera une compagnie minière et la fera progresser, a stipulé M. Winkel. Des chefs respon-sables font ressentir aux employés qu’ils sont au cœur de l’action. Tous et chacun croient qu’il ou elle peut faire une

La Section Montréal connaît un renouveau d’énergieL’éminent conférencier de l’ICM Gord Winkel innove

différence au succès de l’organisation. Lorsque les gensressentent qu’ils sont importants, cela donne un sens à leurtravail. Le leadership innovateur est un impératif pour réus-sir dans le domaine minier.

En tant que membre de l’équipe de direction du projetdes sables bitumineux Kearl d’Imperial Oil/Exxon Mobil, M. Winkel gère l’intégration de technologies connexes touten acquérant de l’expérience avec les systèmes de gestiond’Exxon Mobil. Il est aussi président du Conseil canadien del’innovation minière, lequel organisme cherche à positionnerle Canada en tant que leader mondial dans l’industrie grâceà de la recherche et de l’innovation des plus pointues.

M. Winkel a eu un effet indélébile sur l’auditoire et il ainspiré ceux qui pourraient un jour être les chefs desgrandes mines mondiales à penser de manière novatrice afind’amener leurs compagnies vers des standards élevés et desdéveloppements d’avant-garde. ICM

June/July 2009 | 55

Gord Winkel (left) and CIM Montreal Branch Chair Richard Simon

cim news

The concept of standards is asold as human endeavour itself,reflected by the fact that it hasbeen addressed in our earliestwritings. Standards are vital tothe life of any culture and busi-ness operation.

In his lecture “QualityAssessment and Control inMining and Mineral Exploration:A Modern Day How-to,” CIMDistinguished Lecturer CliffordStanley addresses the need for

consensus in establishing standards for quality control inmining and mineral exploration.

Standards for educationAfter receiving his bachelor’s degree in earth sciences

in 1980 at Darthmouth College, Stanley went to work forAnaconda Minerals, travelling across Canada, the UnitedStates and Mexico as a geochemist. After three years atAnaconda, the vast opportunities open to geochemists inCanada at that time led Stanley to the University ofBritish Columbia (UBC) where he completed his master’sdegree in geochemical exploration in 1984 and his PhDin mathematical geology in 1988. He then moved on to apost-doctoral fellowship in mathematical petrology atthe University of Calgary and spent the following twoyears as a research associate in applied geochemistry atQueen’s University. He returned to UBC as an adjunctprofessor in the Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU),managing two major consortium projects in economicgeology and exploration geochemistry. In 1999, Stanleyjoined Acadia University, where he currently serves asprofessor in the Department of Earth and EnvironmentalScience teaching mineralogy, geochemistry, geophysicsand economic geology.

Standards for standardizationIn the course of his research and part-time professional

consulting, Stanley realized that geoscientists faced manychallenges in their work due to misconceptions and misap-plications. Reflection led him to conclude one thing thatseemed to be lacking was a clear set of defining standards.

This realization became a call to action to which Stanleyreacted. “I initiated research in quality control because Inoticed that it was not being handled in a proper form, and

Standardizing standardsCIM Distinguished Lecturer Clifford Stanley is passionate about raising the bar

By Robbie Pillo

there were many improvements to be made,” recalledStanley. He added that overall lack of training in quality con-trol has led to confusion and a lack of consensus.Standardizing practices and training employees in qualitycontrol resolves this confusion and can give mining compa-nies exploring for minerals a clear path forward.

Standard for giving backStanley’s love for learning and teaching goes beyond the

confines of his classroom. As an active member of his localRotary Club, Stanley has many duties: vocational servicedirector, member of the board of directors and ticket-masterof their principle fundraising event, a rubber duck race. Aschair of the scholarship committee, he works to support theeducation of local high school students. Stanley considersone of humankind’s greatest gifts to be the ability to learn,and to keep learning new things. It is a value to which heholds true, saying with a twinkle in eyes, “Don’t kid yourself,I never left school.” Undoubtedly, it is this love of learningthat motivates Stanley to share his lessons with othersthrough CIM’s Distinguished Lecturer Program. CIM


Sponsored by:

cim news

technical pro-gram featuringindustry, govern-ment andAboriginal lead-ers discussing thelatest in humanresources, explo-ration, miningprojects andadvances in min-eral processing.In addition, pre-conference short

courses will offer valuable insights togeologists and prospectors. Guests willbe treated to local customs like the tra-ditional Newfoundland Kitchen Partyand the Curling Bonspiel.

Lasting commitmentIt was on February 12 and 13, 1953,

that the Newfoundland group held itsfirst meeting at Frost’s Restaurant in St.John’s. Braving difficult travel condi-tions, delegates from all over the thenfour-year-old province flocked to St.John’s to hear Premier Joey Smallwood’sopening presentation.

Branch status was granted to thegroup by CIM National in 1954 and itsnew executive organized the first offi-cial annual meeting on the first week-end of November that year. The branchhas organized meetings every year,without missing a beat, ever since.

For over 30 years, the MinesBranch of the Government ofNewfoundland and Labrador’sDepartment of Natural Resources hasbeen involved with the conference,organizing a full day of pre-conferenceposter sessions and presentations oncurrent research and prospectinginformation. “Both organizations ben-efitted greatly from this partnership.The conference has gained more expo-sure and expanded its sessions to

Anyone who has travelled toNewfoundland and Labrador can attestthat the climate and terrain on “TheRock” can be downright unforgiving.Its people, on the other hand, arefamously hospitable. The CIMNewfoundland Branch in St. John’s, forexample, is home to the most generous,spirited and welcoming CIMers. Thebranch won the prestigious Mel BartleyAward this year.

Lasting opportunitiesThe branch’s annual meeting,

famed for its down-home hospitality,is part of the Minerals ResourcesReview, an important industry eventthat has drawn delegates andexhibitors for over 50 years.“Delegates appreciate the unpreten-tious atmosphere,” said LawsonDickson, a member of the organizingcommittee. “It’s like coming home.”

Minerals Resources Review has longbeen Newfoundland’s preeminent min-ing and mineral exploration conferenceand tradeshow. In recent years, it hasalso become the largest mining show inAtlantic Canada, attracting over 600delegates in 2008 alone. This year, theconference will be held at at the DeltaSt. John’s Hotel, from November 5 to 7,2009. It is shaping up to be anotherimpressive event, with a three-day

Where everybody knows your nameOne of CIM’s most active branches is also one of its friendliest and warmest

By Robbie Pillo

provide targeted value and informa-tion, encompassing all the various ele-ments of the industry,” said NormMercer, Mines Branch representativeon the organizing committee. In recentyears, the Mines Branch and the CIMNewfoundland Branch have combinedtheir efforts and rebranded the meet-ing into what is now known as theMinerals Resources Review.

Lasting impressionsProviding support for the next gen-

eration of industry professionals is akey priority for the NewfoundlandBranch. Each year, it awards up to$5,000 in scholarships and bursariesto local college and university stu-dents. The branch also donates toother organizations like the AlexanderMurray Geology Club at MemorialUniversity and the Matty MitchellProspectors Resource Room. Securingstudent involvement has not been difficult because, as Dickson said,“students are eager to get involved.”This year, the branch has partneredwith the Geological Survey ofNewfoundland and Labrador to pur-chase, prepare and distribute new rockand mineral teaching kits to theprovince’s schools.

In 2008, the branch tracked downits last surviving founding member,Edward M. (Obbie) Martin, who hadjust turned 101. A small reception washeld in his honour at his convalescenthome where, in front of family andfriends, he received an HonoraryMembership, the branch’s highesthonour. As Dickson observed, “Younever really leave the branch.” Gettingto a place that is sometimes referred toas the “edge of the earth” is in factquite easy; it’s leaving that is hard. TheCIM Newfoundland Branch and itspeople stay with you long after youleave them. CIM

June/July 2009 | 57

CIM Newfoundland Branch members with Olympic Curling champion Brad Gushue atthe Curling Bonspiel.

cim news

In recognition of a lifetime of contribution to the resourcesindustry, CIM past president René Dufour was recently hon-oured with the Vale Inco Medal, one of CIM’s most prestigiousawards. His eloquent acceptance speech reflected his commit-ment to the industry and its development. Dufour’s passionfor knowledge-sharing and professional development hasdriven his many achievements. At 78, he is an indomitableforce, still pushing the industry to achieving ever higher lev-els of distinction. Dufour, whose legacy is a source of inspira-tion for future generations, spoke to CIM of his life and times.Here are excerpts from the conversation.

CIM: How did you feel about wining the Vale Inco Medal?Dufour: I could not believe it! It is awarded to very industriouspeople and I am honoured to be considered one of them. Thismedal holds additional significance for me. I was invitedtwice by the Ouro Preto School of Mines of Brazil to conducta two-week intensive course on open-pit mining for theschool’s professors and students. The course was repeated forpracticing engineers, many who were from Vale Inco.

CIM: How did you get involved with mining?Dufour: I am the second child in a family of 17 from theSaguenay region of Quebec. My family did not have moneyand the Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife offered a$750 bursary — an enormous amount at that time — tothose who opted for mining engineering. It was an easy decision to make.

CIM: What is your greatest professional achievement?Dufour: In 1988, I was head of the Mining EngineeringDepartment at École Polytechnique de Montréal and CIMpresident. The department learned that both thePolytechnique and McGill University, the only two universi-ties offering mining engineering in Montreal in French andEnglish, respectively, might have their mining programs sus-pended. Something had to be done. A joint Polytechnique-McGill bilingual co-op program was created, which allowedstudents from one university to spend a semester at theother and benefit from learning a new culture and language.As part of the program, students were employed for threework terms, gaining a head-start in meeting the needs of theindustry. We also worked hard to raise $1.2 million to sup-port two professors’ salaries at each institution.

In addition, in 1970 I received the CIM Past Presidents’Memorial Medal. It is awarded to a person, under 45 yearsof age, who sets an outstanding example to students.Students are this industry’s future. I believe we need to pro-vide the opportunities for them to succeed.

CIM: You have done so much for mining industry and the commu-nity? What keeps you going?Dufour: I really appreciate the work I have done with CIM. Ihave met so many fantastic and talented people. It’s in mynature to want to do more, to know more. Even though I amretired, I still spend most of my evenings looking over filesand reading up on the latest news — not just about the min-ing industry — I am never tired of learning something new.

CIM: In 1972, you and four other members founded the CanadianMining and Metallurgical Foundation (CMMF), over which youpresided from 1991-97. What is its role today? Dufour: CMMF supports education, innovation and trainingto promote and sustain a thriving industry through knowledge-sharing and professional development. It investsin initiatives that reverse the current trend of disaffectiontowards our industry.

CIM: You are a pretty busy man. How do you do it all?Dufour: My wife Cécile has been my greastest supporter. Shehas been right there with me, helping out wherever shecould. I could not have done it alone. Cécile is the queenand the soul of our family. She has raised our four wonder-ful children, three of whom are now engineers and thefourth obtained a PhD in philosophy at the Université Paris-Sorbonne in France. CIM


Left to right: Parviz Farsangi, executive vice president and COO, Vale Inco Ltd.; RenéDufour; and Jim Gowans, CIM past president

A force of natureA conversation with CIM past president René Dufour,winner of the Vale Inco Medal

By Robbie Pillo

calendarCIM EVENTS

Crowsnest Branch Annual Golf Tournament and CIM Scholarship FundraiserJune 25Fernie, British ColumbiaContact: Chris RyanEmail: [email protected]

Trail Branch MeetingPresentation by Jim Gowans

June 25Contact: Marvin Neufeld Email: [email protected]

Red Lake Branch MeetingPresenter: Ian Russell, Rubicon Minerals

June 18Red Lake, OntarioContact: Mollie IsaacTel.: 807.735.2077Email: [email protected]

North Central BC Branch Annual General MeetingJune 25-26Prince George, British ColumbiaContact: Greg RasmussenEmail: [email protected]

Red Lake Branch Annual Golf TournamentRed Lake Golf and Country Club

July 18Balmertown, OntarioContact: Mollie IsaacTel.: 807.735.2077Email: [email protected]

The Sudbury Branch Rudolph KneerMemorial Golf Tournament

Lively Golf and Country ClubAugust 8Lively, OntarioContact: George DarlingTel.: 705.691.1812Email: [email protected]

Conference of Metallurgists, COM 2009Conférence des metallurgists, COM 2009

August 23-25Sudbury, OntarioContact: Brigitte FarahTel: 514-939-2710, ext. 1329Email: [email protected]: www.metsoc.org

AROUND THE WORLD2009 Canadian MiningLaw & Finance Conference

June 15-16Vancouver, British ColumbiaContact: Linda McLachlanTel.: 416.367.3467Email : [email protected] Website: www.mininglaw.ca

IFRS: Key Concerns for theOil and Gas Industry

June 16-17Calgary, AlbertaContact: Ron TaylorEmail: [email protected]: www.infonex.ca

Physical Separation ‘09June 16-17Falmouth, United KingdomContact: Barry WillisEmail: [email protected]: www.min-eng.com/physicalseparation09/

Materials Characterisation 2009June 17-19New Forest, United KingdomContact: Rachel SwinburnEmail: [email protected]: www.wessex.ac.uk

Central Asia Mining Congress 2009June 22-24Almaty, Kazakhstan Contact: Winnie KohEmail: [email protected]: www.terrapinn.com/2009/camining

ELECTROCOR 2009June 24-26Bologna, ItalyContact: Irene MorenoEmail: [email protected]: www.wessex.ac.uk

EMC 2009 June 28-July 1Innsbrooke, AustriaContact: Meetings departmentEmail: [email protected]

June/July 2009 | 59

Friends / Amis

Mining in Society / Les mines dans la société

Group of CompaniesPartnerships and Joint Ventures

Gold /Or

Diamond / Diamant

Premier

Silver / Argent

Copper / Cuivre

June/July 2009 | 63

Syncrude Award for Excellence inSustainable DevelopmentPrix Syncrude pour l’excellence en développement durableIron Ore Company of Canada Montréal, QCTaking Flight AwardPrix en plein essorNicholas CallaghanSteve DubykMel W. Bartley AwardPrix Mel W. BartleyNewfoundland Branch St. John’s, NLSpecial RecognitionReconnaissance spécialeThe Men of the DeepsCIM Distinguished LecturersÉminents conférenciers de l’ICMGeorge J. Kipouros, Halifax, NSKelly Lendsay, Saskatoon, SKEngin Özberk, Saskatoon, SKSteven Scott, Toronto, ONDon Thompson, Fort McMurray, ABCIM Fellowships / Confrérie de l’ICMMichael Agnew, Hudson, QCMahesh Chaturvedi, Winnipeg, MBAlan Davidson, Halifax, NSRanbir Dhaliwal, Kamloops, BCDavid B. Dreisinger, Vancouver, BCFrank Kruzich, Montreal, QCRobert MacDonald, Sydney, NSIan M. Masters, Fort Saskatchewan, ABSamuel K. McEwan, Fredericton, NBJ.R. Robert Pronovost, North Bay, ONLeo Robert, Fort McMurray, ABMahi Sahoo, Ottawa, ONMichael Sudbury, Oakville, ONDistrict Distinguished Service AwardsPrix de district pour services remarquablesDistrict 1 – Paul K. Smith, Halifax, NSDistrict 2 – Marie Fortin, Québec, QCDistrict 5 – Gordon Morris Edmonton, ABDistrict 6 – John Norman Vancouver, BC

John T. Ryan TrophiesTrophée John T. RyanMetal MinesMines des métauxVale Inco. Copper Cliff North MineCopper Cliff, ON Select MinesMines sélect PotashCorp, New Brunswick DivisionSussex, NBCoal MinesMines de charbonSherritt Coal, Sheerness MineHanna, ABFifty-Year ClubClub des cinquante ansDonald (Sandy) Allen, Peach Tree City,GA, USADavid H. Anderson, Orillia, ONGeorge F. Archibald, Victoria, BCEddy N. Berdusco, Wawa, ONJ.K.B. Booth, Mississauga, ONRobert J. Cathro, Chemainus, BCGlenn R. Clark, Cobourg, ONDonald A. Coughlin, Brampton, ONWilliam H. Eatock, Surrey, BCPaul A. Filteau, Québec, QCArthur R. Fraser, Sechelt, BCRobert S. Grindley, Mississauga, ONMaurice Hinton, Edmonton, ABTor Jensen, North York, ONJohn W. Jewitt, Spokane WA, USAKenneth R. Kay, Barrie, ONWilliam Knight, Windsor, NLNick R. Krpan, Calgary, ABW. Ralph Lewis, Vancouver, BCJames W. MacLeod, Vancouver, BCJohn G. Mayman, Stella, ONDonald M. Morrison, Bayswater, NBIrwin S. Parrish, Arvada, CO, USANorman R. Paterson, Toronto, ONBenno J.G. Patsch, Walnut Creek, CA,USAGeorge E. Rodger, Coquitlam, BCThomas W. Shaw, West Vancouver, BCGeorge Stenning, Barrie, ONJ. Olaf, Sund, Glenn Innes, NSW,AustraliaJ. Gilham Tankard, Glenn Innes NSW,Australia

2008-2009 CIM Award Winners / Gagnants des prix d’excellence de l’ICMCIM Distinguished Service MedalMédaille pour services remarquables de l’ICMSamantha Espley, Sudbury, ONVale Inco MedalMédaille Vale IncoRené Dufour, Montreal, QCSelwyn G. Blaylock MedalMédaille Selwyn G. BlaylockAlastair J. Sinclair, Vancouver, BCMembers Award / Prix des membresFrancis P. Yungwirth, Timmins, ONOrder of Sancta BarbaraOrdre de Sancta BarbaraSheila Stenzel, Vancouver, BCPast Presidents’ Memorial MedalMédaille des anciens présidentsEira Thomas, Vancouver, BCA.O. Dufresne AwardPrix A.O. DufresneJames J. McDougall Richmond, BCCoal Award / Prix du charbonKen Chekerda Fort McMurray, ABRobert Elver Mineral EconomicsAwardPrix d’économie des minéraux Robert ElverKeith N. Spence and William E. Roscoe, Toronto, ONMcParland Memorial AwardPrix commémoratif McParlandPeter M. Tiley, Hamilton, ONJulian Boldy Memorial AwardPrix commémoratif Julian BoldyDavid R. Lentz, Fredricton, NBBarlow Memorial MedalMédaille commémorative BarlowJulie A. Hunt, Hobart, AustraliaTim Baker, Adelaide, AustraliaDerek J. Thorkelson, Burnaby, BCMetal Mining Society AwardPrix de la Société de l’exploitation minière et des métauxRoy Slack, North Bay, ON

Visit Sudbury — the mining capital of Canada!

As chair of COM2009, it is my pleasure to invite you toSudbury this August. This year’s Conference ofMetallurgists, held in conjunction with Nickel & Cobalt2009, will take place at Laurentian University in Sudbury,Ontario, from August 23 to 26, 2009. The conference willbe a unique opportunity to explore technological, scien-tific and strategic trends. Among the numerous atten-dees, there will be industry executives, representativesfrom universities and research institutes, design engi-neers, human resource professionals, plant operators,and environmental experts from all over the world. The

technical program will highlight: mineral processing and applied mineralogy(UBC-McGill-UA Mineral Processing Symposium in honour of Professor JimFinch), sessions on hydrometallurgical or pyrometallurgical processing of Ni-Co-PGM materials, process control applications, materials, the environment, andmanagement issues. We have lined up an exceptional selection of plenary andkeynote speakers that include Samuel Marcuson of Vale Inco, John Redstone ofVMD Desjardins, and our guest speaker, veteran diplomat Stephen Lewis.

We are hosting several high-quality technical short courses as well as threeindustrial tours, a poster session and a student-Industry mixer. Spouses areinvited to attend day trips around Sudbury and Manitoulin Island.

See you at COM 2009. This will be a truly memorable event!

Nathan M. StubinaBarrick Gold CorporationCOM2009 Conference Chair

www.metsoc.org/com2009

AMEC Americas

BESTECH

Canada Kalprotect Inc.

Cansolv Technologies Inc.

Dowa Metals and MiningCo. Ltd.

FEI

GECAMIN Ltd.

Honeywell Inc.

Loesche GmbH

Limpact InternationalLtd.

METALEX

Nickelhütte Aue

OLI Systems, Inc.

Outotec Canada Ltd.

Qualitest InternationalInc.

WorleyParsons Canada

Xstrata Process Support

Metals 2009 Trade Show

Sponsored by WorleyParsons, the Metals 2009 Trade Show will be heldon August 24 and 25. It will feature exhibits by:

Conference of Metallurgists

RegistrationSave $100!

Register online by June 30, 2009

Organizing committee

Conference ChairNathan Stubina, Barrick Gold Corporation

Technical Program ChairRon Schonewille, Xstrata Nickel

TMS EPD ChairRob Stephens, Teck Cominco Metals Ltd.

TMS RepresentativeAdrian Deneys, Praxair, Inc.

Sponsorship ChairMichael King, Metallurgical Society of CIM

Short Course / Student Activities ChairEduard Guerra, Laurentian University

Industrial Tours ChairJeff Chenier, Xstrata Nickel

Companions ChairMaureen Stubina, Metallurgical Society of CIM

Proceedings ChairSina Kashani-Nejad, Hatch

Poster Session ChairMansoor Barati, University of Toronto

Trade Show ChairDave Tisdale, Xstrata Nickel

Publicity ChairMarcus R. Coffin

CMP RepresentativeDominic Fragomeni, Xstrata Process Support

MetSoc StaffBrigitte Farah, manager,meetings and administrationRonona Saunders, publications, marketing,and webAnne Brunet, administration assistant


Plenary sessionEntitled “When the bottom line isn’t enough,” the plenarysession will be led by keynote speaker, Canadian diplomatStephen Lewis. Lewis kicks off this event with a fresh per-spective on global issues and a frontal challenge to themyths of globalization. Drawing upon his extensive politicaland international experience, Lewis will explore the role ofleadership in promoting a different set of economic andsocial priorities for the 21st century. The plenary will alsoinclude an address by Sam Marcuson, vice president, tech-nology, Vale Inco, and John Redstone, market analyst atVMD Desjardins.

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MetSoc Section MeetingsThe various sections of MetSoc will hold theirannual meeting during lunch on Tuesday, August25, in the various technical rooms. The meetingswill offer a free box sandwich lunch. These meet-ings are an invitation to all who are interested injoining these groups and the society.

See the complete technical program with abstracts inserted with this issue of CIM Magazine.

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Technical Program

o Hydrometallurgy of Nickel and Cobalt

Symposium including the Processing ofValuable By-products Containing Materials —39th Annual Hydrometallurgy Meeting

o Advances in the Processing of Nickel,

Cobalt and PGMs Using PyrometallurgicalTechniques

o 7th UBC-McGill-UA Biennial International

Symposium on the Fundamentals of MineralProcessing in honour of Professor JamesFinch

o Upgrading of Laterites (Part of

Hydrometallurgy and Pyrometallurgy)

o Management in Metallurgy — Current

Management Human Resources Issues

o Materials Development and Performance of

Sulphur Capture Plants

o Process Control Applications in Mining and

Metallurgical Plants

o Applied Mineralogy — Flowsheet Design and

Plant Optimization

o Green Technologies for the Mining and

Metallurgical Industries

June/July 2009 | 67

Pyrometallurgy Short Course: Pyrometallurgy of NickelTopics covered by this course will include:• Overview of nickel• Nickel metallurgy in perspective• Sulphide nickel• Laterite nickel• Ferronickel refining• Modern process control • Sustainable development issues – environmental and energy• New nickel smelting technologies

Process Control in Mining and Metallurgy Short CourseThis two-day short course covers a broad range of availableprocess control technologies for the mineral and metal process-ing industries. The course is divided into four sections, with eachsection focused on specific topics which include:• Process control fundamentals• Model predictive control• Robust control and H∞• Multivariate PCA/PLS

Geometallurgy and Applied Mineralogy Short CourseHeld at the Xstrata Nickel Room, Xstrata Process Support, this two-day course includes the following topics:• Principles of applied mineralogy and geometallurgy• Introduction to geometallurgy• Process mineralogy data presentation and deliverables• Use of geostatistics in geometallurgy• Ore body characterization I & II• Quantitative mineralogy and mineral processing• Mineral processing and metallurgy of precious metal minerals• Practical aspects of image analysis and quantitative

mineralogy• An overview and comparison of modern commercially

available image analysers• Sample preparation methods for image analysis• New methods for mineral separation: electric-pulse

disaggregation (EFD) and hydroseparation (HS)• Geometallurgy at Xstrata Process Support

Short coursesThe conference will be preceded by five excellent short coursesplanned by acknowledged experts. You are not required to be aconference delegate to attend the short courses. Each of thecourses costs $700 ($350 for students). Full details are availableon the conference website, www.metsoc.org/com2009. For moreinformation contact Eduard Guerra, short course chair([email protected]).

Hydrometallurgy Short Course: Nickel and CobaltHydrometallurgyThis 1.5-day course, to be held from August 22-23, will includethe following presentations:• Ni sulphides and mattes • Ni oxides and silicates – laterites • Purification processes• Co hydrometallurgy • Environmental issues and workplace hygiene • Ni/Co recovery processes • Pyrohydrolysis

Mineral Processing Short Course: Advances in Flotation TechnologyWhile it is designed for a wide audience, this course will be par-ticularly useful as a reference for practicing flotation engineers.The topics to be delivered as part of the flotation symposiumorganized in honour of Professor Jim Finch during COM2009 arelisted on the conference website. Professor Finch will deliver alecture as part of this course. Each introductory lecture will befollowed by a discussion on the latest developments in the fieldusing practical examples.

The companion program offers two tours, both in the Sudburyregion. Both tours will leave from Laurentian University. Furtherdetails, including departure times, will be posted on the confer-ence website . The capacity for both tours is 35 people.

Manitoulin Island TourMonday, August 24Price: $100This day tour will take participants to Manitoulin Island (1.5hours from Sudbury). There will be several stops of culturalinterest such as Birch Island First Nation, Little Current,Monument Hill, Wikwemikong Museum and others. There willalso be a stop for lunch and shopping.

Sudbury City TourTuesday, August 25Price: $75The day will begin with a visit to Science North, northernOntario’s most popular tourist attraction. This will be followedby lunch at The Lake House Restaurant, where a welcoming pinelodge décor, warm hospitality and a picturesque view of LakeRamsey complement the mouth-watering menu. Next, the groupwill take a one-hour tour of Lake Ramsey aboard the Cortina, a70-seat cruise boat. Finally, the group will visit the Art Gallery ofSudbury. Housed in the stately mansion of the legendary timberbaron, William Joseph Bell, the gallery has old-world architec-tural appeal that perfectly complements its collection of localhistory and contemporary works of art.

Companion program

Register online at www.metsoc.org/com2009

Special eventsExtractive DinnerPrice: $50The MetSoc Non-ferrous Pyro-metallurgy and the Hydrometallurgysections invite you to dinner onMonday evening. Sponsored byWorleyParsons, the evening will fea-ture a special presentation byWilliam Davenport of the Universityof Arizona on “Travels in Search ofNi, Co and Pt Group Metals.”

Dinner in Honour of Professor Jim FinchPrice: $60This dinner will take place at IncoCavern and is sponsored by BarrickGold Corporation and Teck Ltd. TheInco Cavern is situated at Science Northin Sudbury. The room was created byblasting the bedrock of the CanadianShield.

William Davenport

Social programTo make COM2009 as enjoyable an experience as it is educa-tive, we have a full social program that affords delegatesopportunities to meet, mingle, relax and have fun.

Opening ReceptionAll delegates are invited to attend the Opening Receptionsponsored by HATCH on the evening of Sunday, August 23. Thereception will be held at Dynamic Earth, a Science North geol-ogy and mining centre in Sudbury that is also home of thefamous Big Nickel.

MetSoc Awards BanquetOn Tuesday, August 25, the society will honour its outstandingmembers by presenting the society awards.

Historical Metallurgy Box LunchThe Historical Metallurgy Committee of MetSoc will host a freebox lunch on Wednesday, August 26, featuring guest speakersLarry M. Southwick and Joe Fyfe. Southwick’s presentation,“On the importance of reporting failures or one reason why westudy historical metallurgy,” will shed light on the methods andobjectives of the sub-discipline of historical metallurgy. Fyfewill delve into the past of our host city with his presentationentitled “The History of Sudbury.”


Proceedings

Proceedings of the major symposia will be available forsale at the conference bookstore during the meeting.Orders can be pre-paid online through the conference registration web pages.

Students, make a career-building moveCOM2009 offers students unmatchable opportunities toshowcase their work, enhance their learning, make connec-tions, get to know the industry and leave a lasting impressionon potential future employers.

Enter the Poster Competition to present your work before anaugust audience of industry and academic professionals. Inaddition to their recognition, you could win one of two $500cash prizes. Posters can be submitted online atwww.com2009abstracts.ca/registration until July 1, 2009.

Build your network at the Student-Industry Mixer. OnMonday evening, August 24, representatives from industryand students will meet informally at the “mixer” sponsoredby Barrick Gold Corporation. The names of the winners of thePoster Competition and door prizes will be announced.

Volunteer and get noticed while you gain valuable organiza-tional experience. Volunteering at COM2009 will look goodon your CV and will give you behind-the-scenes access to thetechnical sessions.

Connect over power lunches at the Section Meetings. Pickyour area of interest and attend the open lunch meeting ofthe relevant section. It’s a great way to make contacts.

Stretch your shoestring student budget by availing ofFinancial Assistance. CIM student members can benefit fromlimited travel assistance. Some discounted accommodation isalso available for students. Contact MetSoc for details.

Industrial tours — visit the mining capital of CanadaIndustrial tours, being opportunities to see the latestdevelopments in operation in situ, are always a popularcomponent of COM. Because tour places are limited, youare advised to book early to avoid disappointment. Thisyear, there will be three tours, two of which will be inSudbury, the mining capital of Canada.

Port Colborne Refinery TourWednesday, August 26 to Thursday, August 27Price: $450On this tour, delegates will visit the refinery, which pro-duces a platinum-group metals concentrate and cobaltmetal. The operation also serves as a nickel packagingand distribution centre. Delegates will also have theopportunity to visit and have a tasting in one of Ontario’sfamous Niagara region wineries. The tour, which departs from Laurentian University,includes coach transportation to Port Colborne fromSudbury, a cold dinner on Wednesday, breakfast andlunch on Thursday, and one overnight hotel room onWednesday night.

Sudbury Mills TourThursday, August 27 toPrice: $50This one-day tour will focus on Sudbury area milling tech-nology. Delegates will visit the Xstrata Strathcona milland the Vale Inco Clarabelle mill. The tour includes trans-portation and lunch.

Sudbury Smelters and Refinery TourThursday, August 27 to Friday, August 28Price: $100This one and a half day tourwill give delegates the oppor-tunity to see two differentsmelting technologies in oper-ation (at Xstrata and ValeInco) and the refinery at ValeInco. The tour includes trans-portation and lunch onThursday. It does not includeovernight hotel accommoda-tion on Thursday.

SponsorsMetSoc would like to thank all its sponsors for

supporting COM2009.

Organized by

Co-organized by

Our Financial SponsorsPlatinum

Nickel

Special Events

Non-financial supporting societies

June/July 2009 | 69

Knowledge of the Butte deposit has advanced dramatically since Meyer et al.(1968) summarized almost a century of geological study, exploration and mining ofthe copper-rich polymetallic mineralization (the ‘classic’ Butte ore body). That datecorresponds, more or less, with a transition from traditional studies of the youngeststage of mineralization to new types of research on the deeper porphyry zone, and thedeposit as a whole. That includes modern tools, such as fluid inclusions, geochronol-ogy and geochemistry that were used to determine the genesis of the deposit.

The Butte ore body, one of the world’s great base-metal deposits, comprises a hugecopper-dominated, polymetallic system of vein-faults that have been superimposedon a deeper copper-molybdenum porphyry system. It is hosted by the medium- tocoarse-grained Butte quartz monzonite stock, which lies within the southern end ofthe late Cretaceous Boulder batholith, dated at about 76 Ma (but with some parts asold as 80 Ma). The batholith intruded Cretaceous andesite and rhyolite of theElkhorn Mountains Volcanics, Proterozoic sedimentary rocks of the Belt Supergroupand Archaean crystalline basement.

The youngest of the two distinct stages of mineralization, called the Main Stagebecause it is closest to surface and was mined first, consists of large, through-going,Cordilleran-style vein-faults containing base metal lodes comprised mainly of cop-

per, zinc, lead, silver and arsenic sulphides. The earliercopper-molybdenum event, called the Pre-Main-Stage,has a spatial overlap with the Main Stage, which sug-gests that the two are related, although the genetic rela-tionship remains unresolved. Mine exposures and deepdrilling have revealed that the porphyry mineralizationoccurs as two internally zoned domes, named theAnaconda to the west and the Pittsmont to the east,each about two kilometres in diameter. The top of theAnaconda dome, molybdenite mineralization wasencountered near the 2800 level (about 900 metresbelow surface). In the eastern part of the deposit, thenorth-striking, moderately west-dipping, post-oreContinental fault offsets the Pittsmont dome and hasdropped the west side downward by about 1.25 kilo-metres. The vertical range of the pre-faulted Buttedeposit that has been sampled and studied wasexpanded to approximately 2.6 kilometres by means of

a deep drill hole on the eastern side of the fault. That provided an exceptional oppor-tunity to study the physical and chemical processes of this magmatic-hydrothermalsystem, and has suggested that Butte is one of the deepest porphyry copper-molyb-denum deposits known. Fluid inclusion phase relationships indicate that it formedat a depth of five to nine kilometres.

The two domes are defined by zones of abundant magnetite-chalcopyrite-bearingveins and by molybdenum grade contours, and are separated by a bulb-shaped zoneof intense pyritic veining and pervasive grey sericite alteration up to 1.2 kilometreswide. They are concentrically zoned with widely overlapping shells of alteration bor-dering centimetre-scale stockwork veins. The deep drill holes in the Pittsmont domerevealed an inner stockwork of barren quartz veins with minor molybdenite and thinsericite-biotite-potassium-feldspar alteration envelopes containing up to about twoper cent copper as chalcopyrite. These envelopes contrast sharply, mineralogically

history“Secondary sulphide enrichment was first

recognized at Ducktown, Tennessee, but it

was at Butte that the theories of secondary

enrichment first took definite form.”

~Emmons, 1933

*Except where noted, the post-1968 information con-tained in this paper has been derived from Rusk et al.(2008). For more historical summaries, the reader isreferred to Lindgren (1913), Emmons (1933), Graton(1947), and Bateman (1955). John Dilles providedimportant guidance and editing, while John Dilles andMark Mauthner contributed invaluable references.

Butte, Montana (Part 3)*By R.J. “Bob” Cathro, Chemainus, British Columbia

Regional geological setting of the Butte district (from Rusk et al., 2008)


economic geology

June/July 2009 | 71

and chemically, with the later sericitic and argillic alterationenvelopes around Main Stage veins. The highest molybdenumgrades occur in an area characterized by quartz-dominatedveins containing a few per cent molybdenum with no alter-ation. They occur upward and outward from the barrenquartz stockwork, but below the bulk of the chalcopyrite-magnetite mineralization. Early dark micaceous alterationpasses upwards into a 300 metre-thick shell of abundantquartz-chalcopyrite-magnetite-pyrite veins with potassium-feldspar, chlorite, quartz, and green sericite alterationenvelopes. In the outermost zone, veins contain pyrite, spha-lerite, galena, rhodochrosite, chalcopyrite and epidote inpotassium-feldspar-bearing propylitic alteration.

Geochronology has disclosed that mineralization beganwith the intrusion of the quartz porphyry dykes at about66 Ma. The porphyry dykes are closely associated with thePre-Main-Stage porphyry copper-molybdenum ores in thePittsmont and Anaconda domes, dated at about 64 to 66 Mabased on the age of molybdenite. The economic phaseended with the Main Stage veins at about 62 to 64 Ma(Dilles et al., 2004).

Meyer et al. (1968) described how the major east-west-striking Anaconda system of veins, the earliest in the district,generally followed the direction of the quartz porphyry dykes.They were the major producers in the western third of the dis-trict, and also in the eastern third where the ‘horsetail’ zonesbreak off from them. TheAnaconda system strikes aboutN65ºE at the west end butcurves to the southeast at theeast end, while dips are steeplyto the north in the upper levelsbut southerly below the 2800level. The western portion con-sists of five major veins and 12to 15 smaller veins, which areright-slip with minor normalmovement, plus numeroussplits and bifurcations.Individual oreshoots were up tohundreds of metres long andover 650 metres deep. The cen-tral portion consists of gianttensional veins similar to thewestern portion. The horsetailarea consists of about six dis-tinct subzones composed ofboth rich veins and low-grademineralization disseminated inquartz monzonite. The upperpart was later re-mined fromsurface in the Berkeley pit.Anaconda oreshoots averagedseven to 10 metres in thicknessand reached up to 30 metres at

changes of strike and junctions of veins. They hosted the orig-inal chalcocite “bonanza” veins and the great rhodocrosite orebodies at the Emma mine. The spacing of the veins was irreg-ular, ranging from less than 100 metres to more than a kilo-metre apart.

The modern interpretation of the relationship between theAnaconda system and the younger system of Blue(Northwest) veins is that the two sets occupy a conjugate setof strike-slip faults that formed at the same time and in thesame stress field, that they were moving successively, andthat they show mutually cross-cutting relationships whenthey intersect. The Anaconda veins are mainly right-slipwhereas the Blue veins are mainly left-slip. The 1968 inter-pretation, on the other hand, was that the Anaconda veinswere offset by the southwest-dipping veins of the Blue set,with mainly horizontal displacement of up to 100 metres.

The horsetail veins have the same orientation as the Blueveins. The Blue veins were mined along eight kilometres ofstrike length and to depths of 1,375 metres. They often con-tained thick fault gouge and crushed walls. For some reason,few of the Blue veins were economic at surface. Although theywere not as wide or consistently mineralized as the Anacondaveins, the Blue veins contributed a substantial portion of thetotal Main Stage production because they were more abun-dant (20 to 40 major veins) and more closely spaced (50 to135 metres apart). The largest Blue vein oreshoots were from

325 to 800 metres long, 200 to600 metres deep and 1.5 to 6.5metres thick, and the system alsocontained hundreds of smalleroreshoots with vertical and hori-zontal dimensions of 60 to 100metres. Some of the richest andmost persistent occurred betweenthe 3400 and 4800 levels in thewestern portion of the deposit.

The Steward (Northeast) sys-tem comprises northeast-strikingnormal veins and is the youngeststrongly mineralized set. Theydisplay left-lateral movement likethe Blue system, dip steeply southand displace the two earlier sys-tems with offsets of up to about100 metres. Mineralization wassimilar to that in the two earliersystems but occurred in relativelyminor quantities. It was moreabundant in the eastern part of thedeposit, particularly between the1000 and 2500 levels of the No.16 vein in the Rarus and Leonardmines. In addition to the threemineralized vein systems, theButte deposit was also cut by four

Plan of the vein pattern on part of the 2800 level, showing the echelon patternof the E-striking Anaconda series, the NW-striking Blue series, and the NE-striking Steward series (from Meyer et al., 1968).

economic geology


younger barren vein sets and two phases of rhyolite dykes,which are about three to 15 metres thick with vertical dips. Inthe words of Bateman (1955, p. 492), “Since each later systemfaults the earlier, the result is a complex parquetry of vein orfault segments, cleverly resolved by Reno Sales and his staff.”

It isn’t a surprise that the huge and complex sulphide sys-tem at Butte is a mineralogical treasure trove. Jenkins &Lorengo (2001) have provided a list of 130 currently validminerals (81 hypogene and 49 supergene) that have beenidentified from there, including many rare varieties. In addi-tion, Butte is famous for impressive crystal specimens thathave been recovered from vugs.

The main ore minerals were:• Copper — chalcocite, enargite, covellite, cuprite, bornite,

and chalcopyrite, plus numerous, less-common, copper-rich sulphosalts

• Zinc — sphalerite • Silver – acanthite, native silver, electrum, and many silver-

rich sulfosalts;• Manganese – rhodocrosite and rhodonite• Lead — galena• Molbybdenum – molybdenite.

Both primary and secondary chalcocite are present.Colusite is the only mineral for which Butte is the type area.It is usually associated with enargite and was initially thoughtto be a member of the sphalerite family. Among the moreunusual species found at Butte are the tungsten mineralshubnerite and wulfenite.

Viewed broadly, the mineralization in the big veins isarranged in crudely concentric zones of zinc and manganesearound a central zone of copper, although the distributionpattern of copper-iron-sulphur minerals in the larger veins ofthe copper zone is not symmetrical with respect to the metalzones. The mineral zones are generally coincident with zon-ing of the hydrothermal alteration. Outside the core zone ofpervasive sericite alteration, concentric sericite and argillicalteration envelopes up to a few metres wide encase everyvein or veinlet containing Main Stage mineralization outwardto the margins of the deposit. A fringe of chalcopyrite-borniteoccurs all around the copper front. However, within the cop-per zone, pyrite-chalcocite-digenite assemblages are preva-lent near its eastern edge from the 3800 level to the surface,whereas chalcopyrite is dominant in deeper parts of the largeAnaconda veins in the western part of the copper zone,where it grades upward into bornite-chalcocite ores and east-ward into the high-sulphur pyrite-chalcocite-covellite assem-blages of the Leonard mine. The general zonation of pyriticores from the central to peripheral zones is chalcocite-covel-lite to chalcocite-bornite to bornite-chalcopyrite-rich to chal-copyrite-sphalerite±galena to sphalerite-galena ±chalcopyrite(high silver) to rhodochrosite (pyrite-poor).

The earliest production consisted of supergene native sil-ver and smaller amounts of silver-rich sulphosalts such asacanthite, stephanite and pyrargyrite. It came from quartzveins with carbonate gangue and some sphalerite and pyrite

along the northern, western and southwestern margins.Silver soon became a by-product although Butte became thesecond largest silver producer in the United States.

Hypogene mineralization is characterized by abundantpyrite, both within the veins and in the wall rocks as an alter-ation of biotite. Oxidation is generally complete down to about100 metres and was found down some fractures to depths ofover 300 metres. The Leonard and Tramway veins and theupper levels of the Anaconda vein were the best copper produc-ers from rich oreshoots of chalcocite-enargite mineralization.Covellite was present to the deepest levels of the Leonard vein.

Nearly all the important manganese production camefrom a rhodochrosite zone up to 35 metres wide on theEmma-Travona vein, the most southerly vein of theAnaconda system. Most of the remainder was mined from thenorthern group of Anaconda veins, principally the Rainbow,where rhodonite was also present. The Emma vein was alsoa prolific source of good rhodochrosite specimens. CIM

ReferencesBateman, A.M. (1955). Economic mineral deposits (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Dilles, J.H., Stein, H.J., Martin, M.W., & Rusk, B.G. (2004). Re-Os and U-Pb ages for theButte copper district, Montana [abs.]: IAVCEI Meeting, Púcon, Chile, available at http://iav-cei2004.free.cl/abstract_aprobation.asp.

Emmons, W.H. (1933). Recent progress in studies of supergene enrichment. In F.L.Ransome (Ed.), Ore deposits of the western states — Historical review of geology asrelated to western mining (p. 407). New York: The American Institute of Mining andMetallurgical Engineers.

Graton, L.C. (1947). Seventy-five years of progress in mining geology. In A.B. Parsons (Ed.),Seventy-five years of progress in the mineral industry: 1871-1946. New York: TheAmerican Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers.

Jenkins, R.E., & Lorengo, J.A. (2001). Butte, Montana: Minerals, mines and history. TheMineralogical Record, 32 (1), 5-69.

Lindgren, W. (1913). Mineral deposits. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.

Meyer, C., Shea, E.P., Goddard, C.C. Jr., & the staff of the Anaconda Company. (1968). Oredeposits of Butte, Montana. In J.D. Ridge (Ed.), Ore deposits of the United States: 1933-1967: the Graton-Sales Volume. New York: The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical,and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

Rusk, B.G., Reed, M.H., & Dilles, J.H. (2008). Fluid inclusion evidence for magmatic-hydrothermal fluid evolution in the porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit at Butte,Montana. Economic Geology, 103, 307-344.

Plan view showing the position of the Main Stage veins, the two porphyry domeshosting the Pre-Main Stage mineralization (Anaconda and Pittsmont), the Berkeley andContinental pits, the Continental fault, and the location of the 10 deep drill holes (fromRusk et al., 2008).

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IntroductionGold has a special place among metals. The oldest metal

exploited by man, it plays an important role in world eco-nomics. It has caused wars and unprecedented mass migra-tions, and has been responsible for creating many large cities.As a highly prized metal, it has inspired myths, fascinatedalchemists, enriched the vaults of banks, graced orientalbazaars and adorned the most imposing religious and cere-monial buildings. It is little wonder that prospectors andadventurers rush to the scene as soon as news or rumours ofa gold discovery break out.

Since the first gold rush in California in 1848, othersoccured in Australia, New Zealand and other countries,which culminated in 1929 with the Great Depression. Golddiscoveries resulted in the mass movement of gold miners inNorth America and South Africa, but not in other countries.In Imperial Russia, for example, local authorities, fearingchaos among the serf populace, prevented mass migrationand social disturbance when gold was discovered in 1813. InAustralia, the authorities did not want to let the largely con-vict population know about the presence of gold in NewSouth Wales for fear of creating an uncontrolled gold rush. InSouth Africa, on the other hand, gold discovery resulted inthe fierce Boer War between Dutch settlers and the Britishfrom 1899 to 1902. South Africa also had a diamond rush in1869 near the Orange River.

Alcohol, isolation, and struggles over access to goldmade for high rates of homicide and other forms of vio-lence. While the promise of easy riches drew manymigrants, the reality was often not what they had hopedfor. Miners worked long hours in remote places, generallyliving in miserable accommodations and paying exorbitantprices for food, shelter, and clothing. Gold deposits acces-sible to manual digging were quickly exhausted. All thatremained were buried veins that could be exploited only bycapital-rich ventures employing hydraulic equipment andother expensive machinery. Few miners remained inde-pendent prospectors, with most becoming employees oflarge mining companies. Most of the gold rush fortuneswere made by marketing supplies to the miners. For exam-ple, Levi Strauss became very wealthy supplying minerswith the robust trousers that came to be known as jeans.The Californian newspaper magnates of the Hearst familymade their fortune from reporting the news. For others,the gold rush was a disaster.

Gold rushes were responsible for the development ofAlaska and the Canadian North, the creation of new citiesand the founding of schools of mines in several regionswhere gold was found.

British ColumbiaThe Fraser Canyon Gold Rush occurred in 1858 after

gold was discovered on the Thompson River in BritishColumbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. Newsof the discovery reached California when the governor of theColony of Vancouver Island sent a shipment of ore to themint in San Francisco for assaying. Within a month, 30,000men descended upon Victoria, which until that time onlyhad a population of about 500. By the fall, however, thou-sands who had failed to stake claims, or were unable tobecause of the summer’s high water on the river, returned toSan Francisco. Tens of thousands of prospectors, mostlyAmerican, arrived in British Columbia and disrupted theestablished balance between the Hudson’s Bay Company’sfur traders and Aboriginal peoples. The influx of prospectorsincluded large numbers of Chinese, Britons, EnglishCanadians and Maritimers, French Canadians, Germans,and others.

During the fall of1858, tensions increasedbetween miners and theNlaka'pamux FirstNations people, leadingto the Fraser CanyonWar. By 1860, however,gold was depleted in theregion and many of theminers had either

returned to the United States or dispersed further into theBritish Columbia wilderness in search of unstaked riches.This diaspora led other gold rushes at Rock Creek, theSimilkameen, Wild Horse Creek and the Big Bend of theColumbia River. In 1958, a Canadian commemorative stampdepicting a gold panner was issued to mark the 100thanniversary of the creation of British Columbia as a CrownColony, which stemmed from the discovery of placer golddeposits in the Fraser River valley.

Northwest TerritoriesIn 1984, Canada issued a stamp on the occasion of 50th

anniversary of the founding of the City of Yellowknife whengold was discovered there in the Northwest Territories. Thestamp shows the head frame of a gold mine, a characteristicfeature of the city, rising out of a prospector’s pan. The wordYellowknife, however, does not derive from gold. In 1770,when the British fur trader Samuel Hearne (1745-1792) wasexploring the Great Slave Lake area, he encountered a tribeof Indians who used copper-bladed knives. He called them

The Canadian gold rushBy Fathi Habashi, Department of Mining, Metallurgical, and Materials Engineering, Laval University

Stamp commemorating the role of the goldrush in the creation of British Columbia

the Copper Indians,although fur traders soonbegan to refer to them asYellowknives.

When World War IIbroke out, a number of resi-dents left to join the armedforces. Houses were shut-tered and cafés closed.Nevertheless, the signifi-cance of an area rich in ura-nium was soon realized andsettlement was slowlyrevived. In 1944, a new gold

discovery revitalized the town and the population grew. In1967, Yellowknife was proclaimed the capital of theNorthwest Territories. The 1984 stamp was issued just priorto the annual Caribou Carnival, a festival featuring igloo-building contests, log-sawing races and Indian wrestlingmatches.

Klondike The toponym “Klondike” is a corruption of the Indian

word for the Trondiuck River, which means abundant fish.On August 16, 1896, a party led by Skookum Jim Mason, amember of the Tagish First Nations, discovered rich placergold deposits at Bonanza (Rabbit) Creek in the Yukon. Newsof the discovery spread to other mining camps in the YukonRiver Valley and to the United States in July 1897. The firstrush of prospectors set off the Klondike stampede. The Panicof 1893 was the first great depression, and it was the atten-dant unemployment in the United States that forced peopleto undertake such an adventure.

In 1898, the population of the Klondike reached 40,000.Most prospectors landed at Skagway or the adjacent town ofDyea, both located at the head of the Lynn Canal in Alaska.They then travelled the Chilkoot Trail and crossed theChilkoot Pass, or hiked up to the White Pass into the Yukonto proceed to Lake Lindeman or Lake Bennett, the headwa-ters of the Yukon River. Here, some 40 to 56 kilometres fromwhere they landed, prospectors built rafts and boats thatwould take them the final 800 kilometres to the gold fieldsnear Dawson City, capital of the Klondike.

Stampeders had to carry a year’s supply of goods over thepasses to be allowed to enter Canada. At the top of the passes,they encountered the post of Canada’s North West MountedPolice (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) that wasput in place to avert shortages like those that had occurred inthe previous winters in Dawson City. Charlie Chaplin’spoignant silent comedy, The Gold Rush (1925), set in theKlondike, tells the story of a lone prospector who, in themiddle of the gold rush, searches the tundra for gold. Findingmore than gold, he discovers love and adventure that foreverchange the lives of the people he meets.

The Klondike gold rush was commemorated in 1996 byCanadian stamps and a $100 gold coin. The title of one ofthe stamps, Bonanza, refers to Rabbit Creek, a Klondike Rivertributary that became known as Bonanza Creek when placergold was discovered there. The United States also issued astamp commemorating the Klondike gold rush in 1998.

The Gold Rush was celebrated in Edmonton, Alberta,with Klondike Days, an annual summer fair. Despite its dis-tance from Dawson City and the Klondike River, Edmontonbecame known as a “Gateway to the North” for gold prospec-tors. It was in the city that many would collect the necessarygoods for trekking up north in search of wealth. In addition,the gold rush proved to be one of most famous eras in thehistory of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The Klondike Gold Rush Museum in Seattle, WashingtonThe museum is designed to connect the international dots

that trail out from the gateway of Seattle, where so many ofthe get-rich dreams began. It retraces the prospectors’ pathfollowing the Inside Passage through Canadian waters toSkagway, Alaska, then over Chilkoot or White Pass to theupper reaches of the north-flowing Yukon River, and down towhere the Klondike River joined it at Dawson City. Many ofthe adventurers got stuck in the winter ice. Others wereturned back by the Canadian Mounties. Yet others lost theirsupplies to the rivers or the tricks of fellow prospectors. Ofthe 100,000 or so who headed north during the three-yearKlondike rush, just 40,000 reached the Klondike River. Ofthose, only 20,000 worked a claim or prospected in hopes ofmaking one. Of these, just 300 found their way out with anymore than $15,000. CIM

Stamp marking the 50th anniversary ofthe founding of Yellowknife

Stamps commemorating the Klondike gold rush

Suggested ReadingsHabashi, F. (2009). Gold: History, metallurgy, culture. Quebec City: Métallurgie ExtractiveQuébec.

Habashi, F., Hendricker, D.G., & Gignac, C. (1999). Mining and metallurgy on postagestamps. Quebec City: Métallurgie Extractive Québec.

Habashi, F. (2003). Schools of mines: The beginnings of mining and metallurgicaleducation. Quebec City: Métallurgie Extractive Québec.

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INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE

CIM Bulletin abstracts76 Shear strength assessment of a footwall slab

using uinite element modellingby N. Bahrani and D. Tannant

77 Guide de conception pour des sautages confinés à grande échelle de relaxation des contraintes dans des piliers de minespar P. Andrieux et J. Hadjigeorgiou

78 Design guide for large-scale confined destress blasts in underground mine pillarsby P. Andrieux and J. Hadjigeorgiou

79 Canadian Metallurgy QuarterlyVolume 48, Number 1

Peer reviewed by leaders in their fields

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Complete CIM Bulletin papers are posted in theonline Technical Paper Library

www.cim.org

Shear strength assessment of a footwall slabusing finite element modelling

N. Bahrani, Geomechanics Research Centre, MIRARCO, LaurentianUniversity, Sudbury, OntarioD. Tannant, School of Engineering, University of British Columbia,Okanagan, British Columbia

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Photogrammetry surveys were used to document a foot-wall slab failure that occurred at a surface coal mine locatedon the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Photographstaken before and after the failure provided the pre- and post-failure geometry of the slope and the failed slab. Using photo-grammetry-derived digital terrain models, the measured sur-face area of the slabs involved in the failure was approxi-mately 11,140 m2. The average thickness of the slab thatfailed was 5.4 m, giving a volume for the failed slabs ofapproximately 60,150 m3. At the time of the failure, the coalseams above the pit floor had been removed and the remain-ing slope had been supported with rock bolts.

2D finite element models were constructed using slopeprofiles. The purpose of this study was to use the models toassess the effect of stress relief unloading and stress redis-tribution due to mining. The models contained 69 elastic-perfectly plastic joint elements that represented the beddingsurface upon which the slab slid. The in situ stresses, rockproperties and the bedding surface shear strength and stiff-ness properties are discussed. Numerical analyses were con-ducted for models that had no rock bolts (unsupported) orcontained rock bolts that were activated as the mining pro-gressed (supported). The process of mining out a valley andexposing a highwall was modelled by a sequence of 11excavation stages. The modelling results were used to inves-tigate the effect of stress redistribution around the deepen-ing pit and stress relief unloading on the distributions ofshear stresses and displacements along of the bedding sur-face, as well as the slab stability at different mining stages.The joint elements were assigned a cohesion of 100 kPa andfriction angle of 25º.

The measured displacements at a prism that was locatedon the slab were similar to those predicted by the model. Asexpected, elastic valley rebound occurred in the model, butshear stress and shear displacement reversals along the slipsurface were also observed. The rebound caused by theunloading process and the stress redistribution due to pitexcavation first resulted in upward slab sliding, followed by a

reversal in the sense of the shear stresses acting along thebedding surface as the pit was deepened. The rebound of theslab due to the unloading process and the stress redistribu-tion caused the shear stresses acting along the bedding sur-face to exceed the shear strength, and all joint elementsyielded. However, because the slab was only partially exposedat this stage of mining, the slab could not experience largedisplacements. The slab was still constrained by the pit floorand yielded in a quasi-static manner. The yielding of the elas-tic-perfectly plastic joint elements when the slab was onlypartially exposed by mining highlights the importance ofpotential shear strength degradation of bedding surfacescaused by the stress redistribution and unloading andrebound processes. A limit equilibrium analysis for the finalexcavation geometry or a numerical analysis that does notmodel the full sequence of staged excavations will miss thispotentially important aspect and may generate incorrect andnon-conservative assessments of the slope stability.

The modelling results provide new insight into shearstrength degradation that occurs when the pit floorapproaches and then passes a specific point in the highwall.The cohesion was reduced in steps until the finite elementmodel did not converge at the final excavation stage whenthe slab was fully undercut. The required cohesion toachieve a factor of safety of unity (non-convergence state inthe finite element analysis) is about 25 kPa for a frictionangle of 25º. This may suggest that the strength degrada-tion processes reduced the cohesive strength by a factor offour, assuming the in situ cohesive strength before miningstarted was 100 kPa.

Photograph of footwall failure taken July 21, 2006 (distance between prisms

14 and 18 is 18.9 m).

Guide de conception pour des sautages confinésà grande échelle de relaxation des contraintesdans des piliers de mines

P. Andrieux, Consultation Itasca Canada, Sudbury, OntarioJ. Hadjigeorgiou, Lassonde Mineral Engineering ProgramUniversity of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

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Certains des plus grands défis associés au minage àgrande profondeur ou sous de hauts ratios d’extraction sontreliés aux forts niveaux de contrainte de terrain qui résultentde ces situations, ces contraintes pouvant éventuellementconduire à la rupture et à l’effondrement du massif rocheuxautour des excavations. Ces effondrements, lorsquesoudains et violents, peuvent avoir de graves conséquenceset représentent probablement le plus haut degré de risquegéomécanique, en termes d’exposition du personnel sousterre, de production erratique et imprévisible, de besoins enreconditionnement, de pertes possibles de réserves et decoûts globaux de minage.

Il existe un certain nombre de mesures proactives etréactives qui peuvent être envisagées pour atténuer et mit-iger les problèmes de terrain associés aux conditions dehautes contraintes en général et de ruptures violentes enparticulier. Certaines mesures sont essentiellement proac-tives et destinées à contrôler les conditions pouvant mener àune rupture violente du massif rocheux. Parmi cesapproches proactives, un changement de méthode deminage peut être envisagé (par exemple, vers une approchesans pilier, permettant d’éliminer les zones dans lesquellesles contraintes de terrain pourraient se concentrer). Uneautre alternative serait une méthode d’extraction où leminage est entièrement mené depuis l’extérieur des zonesminéralisées, de manière à ne pas exposer le personnel à desconditions potentiellement dangereuses. L’élaboration deséquences d’extraction destinées à gérer les contraintes deterrain pour empêcher qu’elles ne se concentrent dans desrégions à risque se classe également dans la catégorie desmesures proactives. Cette approche consiste essentielle-ment à modifier l’évolution des contraintes à un endroitdonné afin de réduire autant que possible la contrainte prin-cipale majeure, tout en permettant à la contrainte principalemineure de se dissiper progressivement. L’abattage d’unbloc de terrain dans le seul but d’altérer la distribution localedes contraintes et de mettre en relaxation une autre région,celle-ci dans le plan de minage mais initialement soumise àde hautes contraintes de terrain, constitue également uneautre approche proactive envisageable.

D’autres mesures sont principalement réactives, parmilesquelles on compte les tirs à grande échelle de relaxationdes contraintes dans des piliers de mines (ces piliers étantgénéralement déjà sous de hautes contraintes ou devantl’être). D’une manière générale, un tir de relâchement descontraintes peut être défini comme tout sautage impliquant ladétonation d’explosifs fortement confinés (sans face libre)dans le but d’altérer les contraintes de terrain dans unerégion donnée et dans lequel le matériel dynamité est laisséen place. D’une manière plus précise, un tir à grande échellede relaxation des contraintes dans un pilier de mine a pourobjectif d’infliger de lourds dommages au pilier visé et causerl’éjection d’un volume significatif de matériel rocheux —cette éjection résulte en une convergence des murs du pilierqui, à son tour, cause un relâchement des contraintes locales.De fortes quantités d’explosifs sont typiquement utiliséesdans cette situation afin de causer les dommages voulus.

Cet article se concentre sur la conception de cessautages à grande échelle de relaxation des contraintes dansdes piliers de mines souterraines. Plus précisément, cet arti-cle décrit une nouvelle méthodologie qui quantifie leschances de succès d’un tel sautage, pour un massif rocheuxet un régime de contraintes donnés. La méthode est baséesur un nouveau paramètre nommé « Indice de relâchement »,qui considère huit paramètres géomécaniques et de forage-sautage qui contrôlent ultimement le procédé. Ces huitparamètres sont la rigidité, la fragilité et le degré de fractura-tion du massif rocheux, sa proximité à la rupture, l’orientationet la largeur du sautage, l’énergie explosive unitaire qu’il con-tient et le degré de confinement des charges. La rétroanalysed’études de cas bien documentées a démontré que l’ap-proche peut indiquer de manière fiable si une situation don-née de hautes contraintes de terrain est susceptible d’êtreaméliorée par un tir de relâchement confiné à grande échelleet si le design proposé est adéquat pour atteindre ce but.

* Cet article est disponible en français seulement

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Design guide for large-scale confined destressblasts in underground mine pillars

P. Andrieux, Itasca Consulting Group, Canada, Sudbury, OntarioJ. Hadjigeorgiou, Lassonde Mineral Engineering Program,University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

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Some of the major challenges of mining at great depthsor under high extraction ratios are related to the high levelsof ground stress brought about by these situations. Thesehigh-stress levels can, in turn, lead to the rupture and collapseof the rock mass surrounding the mining excavations. Thesecollapses, when sudden and violent, can have severe conse-quences and probably represent the highest degree of geo-mechanical risk in terms of underground personnel exposure,erratic and unpredictable production, ground rehabilitationrequirements, possible reserve losses and increased overallmining costs.

A number of proactive and reactive measures can betaken to attenuate and mitigate the ground problems associ-ated with high stresses, in general, and with violent failure, inparticular. Certain measures are essentially proactive anddesigned to control the conditions that could lead to a violentfailure of the rock mass. Among the proactive approaches, themining method can be changed (for example, using a pillar-less procedure to eliminate zones where the ground stressescould concentrate). Another method would be a non-entryapproach, with extraction guided from outside the mineral-ized zones, so as to not expose personnel to potentially dan-gerous conditions. Another proactive measure would be tomodify the mining sequence to manage stresses so they arenot concentrated in risk areas. This approach mainly consistsin modifying the stress regime at a given location to reducethe major principle stress while allowing the minor principalstress to progressively dissipate. Another proactive approachcould be to blast a rock mass for the specific purpose of mod-ifying the local stress distribution and to destress anotherarea, which is in the mining plan but which is subject to highground stresses.

Other measures are mainly reactive. Among them arelarge-scale destress blasts in mine pillars (these pillars aregenerally under high stress, or will be). In general, destressblasting can be defined as any blasting involving the use ofvery confined explosive charges (without free faces) to reducethe ground stresses in a particular area and in which theblasted material is left in place. More specifically, a large-scaledestress blast in a mine pillar aims to heavily damage the pil-lar to dislodge a significant quantity of material. This ejectionresults in some convergence of the pillar walls, which, in turnresults in local destressing. Great quantities of explosives aretypically used in this situation in order to cause the planneddamage.

This paper focuses on the design of these large-scaleconfined destress blasts in underground mine pillars.Specifically, it describes a new methodology that quantifiesthe likelihood of success of such a blast for a given rock masscondition and stresses regime. The method is based on a newparameter called “Destressability Index,” which takes intoaccount eight geomechanical parameters and the drilling andblasting that ultimately control the process. These eightparameters are: the stiffness of the rock mass; its brittleness;the degree of its fracturing; its proximity to the failure; the ori-entation of the destress blast; its width; the unit explosiveenergy contained in the rock mass; and the confinement levelof the explosive charges. Back-analyses of well-documentedcases has shown that the approach can ascertain whether agiven situation of high stress can be improved by means of alarge-scale confined destress blast, and if the proposed blastdesign is appropriate to achieve this goal.

* This article is available in French only.

Functionalized Metal and Semiconductor Nanoparticle Doped Liquid Crystals — ModifyingOptical and Electro-Optical PropertiesT. Hegmann, H. Qi, B. Kinkead, V.M. Marx, H. Girgis, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba;and P.A. Heiney, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

To take advantage of the characteristic size and shape-dependent properties of nanoscale particles for liq-uid crystal applications, we produced numerous different liquid crystal mixtures doped with small quantities ofspecially designed, functionalized metal nanoparticles (i.e., Au and Ag) and semiconductor quantum dots (hereCdTe) and studied the optical (texture, alignment, defect formation, luminescence) and electro-optic propertiesof the resulting liquid crystal suspensions. Depending on experimental parameters such as nanoparticle function-alization and concentration, cell surface treatment, cooling rate, as well as an applied electric field, the nanopar-ticles differing in surface functionality, size and core material give rise to diverse effects in different nematic andsmectic liquid crystal hosts.

Nanomaterials for Hydrogen Storage Produced by Ball MillingR.A. Varin, T. Czujko, Z.S. Wronski, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario; and Z. Zaranski,Military University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland

Three methods of hydrogen desorption temperature reduction and desorption kinetics improvement ofnanostructured hydrides processed by mechanical (ball) milling are discussed. The first method is based on asimultaneous particle size refinement of MgH2 hydride and the formation of an unstable γ-MgH2 phase. The sec-ond method utilizes catalytic effects of nanometric Ni (n-Ni) additives. The third method is based on the com-positing of nanohydride mixtures such as NaBH4+MgH2 and MgH2+LiAlH4 where the first hydride in a pair hashigher decomposition temperature than the second one. The low decomposition temperature hydride results inthe destabilization of the high temperature constituent hydride.

Growth of Nanocrystalline Diamond Thin Films on Titanium Silicon Carbide Using DifferentChemical Vapour Deposition ProcessesS.L. Yang and Q. Yang, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Diamond deposition on Ti3SiC2, a newly developed metallic ceramic material, was studied using microwaveplasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (MPCVD) and hot filament chemical vapour deposition (HFCVD)in hydrogen and methane gas mixtures under different conditions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomicforce microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy and synchrotron near edge extended X-ray absorption fine struc-ture spectroscopy (NEXAFS) were used to characterize the synthesized films. Results show that high diamondnucleation density has been achieved on Ti3SiC2, thus nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) thin films can be feasiblysynthesized on Ti3SiC2 under typical microcrystalline diamond growth conditions.

Canadian Metallurgical QuarterlyVolume 48–Number 1, January 2009

cmq abstracts

June/July 2009 | 79


Formation of Nanostructures and Solid Solubility Extension in Cryomilled Al-Cu and Al-Si PowdersR. Vintila, J. Milligan, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec; R.A.L. Drew, Concordia University,Montreal, Quebec; and M. Brochu, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec

Nanostructured Al-2024 alloy and Al-12%Si were successfully synthesized via a cryogenic milling process.Equiaxed nanograins of 46 nm and a lattice strain of 0.2% were obtained after 18 hours of milling for the Al-Cu system and grain sizes of 46 nm with a lattice strain of 0.09% were obtained after only 4 hours milling timefor the Al-Si system, as measured from the X-ray patterns. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characteriza-tion was also employed to evaluate the grain size in both systems. For the Al-Cu system, a bimodal grain sizedistribution (as measured from dark field (DF) TEM images) constituted of nanometric and ultrafine grains wasobtained after eight hours of milling. This bimodal behaviour changes with milling time and after 12 hours resultsin a unimodal distribution with more than 50% of the grains between 20-40 nm. Also, additional milling time(16 hours) narrows the distribution; and approximately 80% of the grains reach the 20-40 nm range. At thisstage, the size of the grains was also verified via direct thickness measurements of selected area diffraction (SAD)rings. The solid solubility extension (SSE) of Cu in Al, as estimated from Vegard’s law, in the final stage of milling(18 hours) reached a value of 0.41 atm%. For the Al-Si system the mechanism of particle evolution undergoessimilar stages as in the Al-Cu system only in much shorter times such as after only two hours of milling the pow-ders have completed the plastic deformation and reached the flattening phase. This was followed by fracturing,reaching an equiaxed morphology after only four hours of milling. At this stage the SSE of Si in the Al matrix wasfound to be 1.72 atm%.

Mineralogy and Initial Chlorination of Water Granulated High Titania SlagP.N. Bungu, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa, and P.C. Pistorius, Carnegie Mellon University,Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

Water granulation of high titania slag causes oxidation of some of the trivalent titanium in the slag to thetetravalent form; in smaller granules, some iron is also oxidized to ferric. Oxidation changes the phase constitu-tion of the slag, with more rutile present (containing some iron oxide in solution). The chlorination rate (in a mix-ture of nitrogen, chlorine and carbon monoxide at 980 °C in a fluidized bed reactor) is similar for the granulatedand conventionally-produced (block-route) slags, except in the case of the smaller, more oxidized granules, wherechlorination of the ferric-containing phase is slower. The temperature increase during chlorination (exothermic-ity) is smaller for the granulated slags, in line with prior oxidation of trivalent titanium to the tetravalent formduring granulation.

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CMQ, Vol. 48, No.1.Subscribe–www.cmq-online.ca

cmq abstracts

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voices from industry


Ithink we can all learn a few things from theevents leading up to our current economicsituation. Many of us who have been in the

mining business and seen a few of thesecycles throughout our careers mayindeed wonder why we were not betterprepared for the “inevitable.” Inhindsight, it seems odd, for example,that we would have considered nickelbeing priced at $22 a pound as a normalor sustainable condition. Yet we did.

In order to learn from our past, asan industry, we must remember howthings were just a few short monthsago with the seemingly insurmountabledemand for mining equipment. From2004 until about the fall of 2008, themining industry was booming.Commodities were at all-time highsand our equipment, services and partswere needed like never before. We werefaced with unprecedented growth andexpansion in our industry and werebasically just trying to keep up with

orders. As we focused on efforts to satisfy thesurging demand, we slowly lost touch with”reality” and missed some of the now evidentwarning signs indicating that such conditionswould not last forever. The exuberance of thegreat times overtook us all, and sometimes soundfundamentals were suspended in favour ofacting quickly.

The recent dramatic demand decline and itsimpact on organizations have proven to be the tipof an iceberg. We now clearly understand that thedownturn is no short-term blip. Its impact on thesupply chain is being felt across the entire supplierbase. Until recently, we ran after skilled labour andbuilt more capacities. Now, we are now faced withthe unpleasant task of downsizing plants,equipment and people. To further exacerbate theproblem, many manufacturers are also left withfinished inventory as a result of evaporateddemand and cancelled orders. Moreover, this is

inventory that was produced using inputs thathave been among the costliest on record.

As grim as this situation is, the understandingat Sandvik is that opportunities still exist. Ourcustomers are wrestling with similar issues ofcontracting demand and higher costs ofproduction. This is an excellent opportunity for usand other suppliers to show customers that we arenot just here to “take the order,” but are alsoprepared to work with them to weather thisdifficult period. Now is the time to demonstrateour capabilities meaningfully.

Like all sensible suppliers, at Sandvik the goalis to emerge from this downturn by staying true toourselves and helping our customers run theirbusinesses better and more cost effectively.Through acquisitions over the past several years,we have assembled a wealth of expertise that weplan to share with our customers. Whether it iswith new technology or improved applicationknowledge, our products will continue to be builtwith the intention of keeping miners’ costs down.

So how do we move forward and prepare forthe future of supply chain management? First ofall, we need to be more flexible. We need to learnto focus on what we do best and find alternateways to meet demand in areas that, despite beingattractive, are outside our core competence.

Secondly, it is important that we recalibrateour expectations of volume and demand and havemore reasonable expectations of growth for ourbusinesses. You cannot expect to growexponentially every year and just have your supplychain automatically meet that demand. Demandmust be properly forecasted and managed with along-term sustainable view.

Lastly, we must understand that no one is anisland. We are all linked in one way or another —customers are suppliers and suppliers are alsocustomers. What happens in one part of the chainultimately has an impact on the rest of the links.But none of these musings are particularly new.Perhaps the best lesson of all has been that historyis indeed a great teacher. CIM

Lessons learnedHow the current economic downturn affected supply chainmanagement and what can we learn from itby Dan Allan, president, Sandvik Mining and Construction, USA and Canada region

See Rock.Think Sandvik.

At Sandvik Mining and Construction, we know rock. That’s why so many of our clients turn to us to help them maximize the safety, effi ciency and productivity of their mining operations. You see, with over 100 years of mining expertise Sandvik not only offers one of the widest selections of equipment and services available to the mining industry, we also offer the expert people and service to back them up.

© 2008 Sandvik Mining and Construction

www.sandvik.com • [email protected] • 800.826.7625

Neil MillerMaintenance and Performance Contracts Manager

cim magazine june/july 2009

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