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IN THIS ISSUE C IM MAGAZINE

MAY | MAI2014

Can aboriginal mining companies realize their dreams?by Eavan Moore

24 “Comply or explain”Canada, and particularly its mining industry,are laggards when it comes to havingwomen on boards and in seniormanagement positions. With new proposeddisclosure rules, the Ontario SecuritiesCommission is putting the pressure oncompanies to change thatby Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

73 New conveyor designsstand out in a traditionalfield Miners may prefer tried and true conveying systems, but new designs forniche operations offer novel approaches for bulk material handling by Eavan Moore

77 Perseverance pays off for CamecoEnormous technical challenges and a seriesof setbacks did not deter the team workingto make the Cigar Lake mine a realityby Ian Ewing

cover story

May 2014 | 5

62 ONLAND

THE

8 Editor’s letter 10 President’s notes

tools of the trade 12 The best in new technology

compiled by Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

news 14 Industry at a glance 28 A new state-owned French

mining company to explore forminerals in francophone Africaand in South America by Tom DiNardo

30 Richer oil sands emissions datamay lead to tougher EIArequirements by Graham Lanktree

columns 32 Women in leadership: good for

mining and good for business by Ryan Montpellier and Courtnay Hughes

36 Local procurement throughlocal content helps manage risk by Monica Ospina

40 Getting beyond the headlines in B.C. by Gavin Dirom

44 A two-envelope approach toprocurement by Mauro Chiesa

upfront 48 Times are tough for the nuclear

sector but recovery is inevitableby Brenda Bouw

52 Patterson Lake South is anincredible find for Fissionby Virginia Heffernan

56 Today’s uranium industry needsto self promoteby Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

58 Chuck Edwards talks mini-nukes, China, the mediaand, yes, uraniumby Peter Braul

84 Where do renewables belong inmining’s energy mix?

cim community 85 CIM news from Canada and

beyondcompiled by Herb Mathisen

travel 88 Stepnogorsk, Kazakhstan

by Dinah Zeldin

mining lore 98 Kathleen Rice: Trailblazing

the Manitoba wildsby Jen Glanville

91 Technical abstracts 95 Innovation showcase 96 Product files

& Professional directory

contenufrancophone

6 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 3

28

48

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

81

page couverture68 Vivre des

ressources de laterreLes compagnies minièresautochtones peuvent-ellesréaliser leurs rêves ?par Eavan Moore

10 Mot du président

81 La persévérance est rentablepour CamecoMalgré un énorme défitechnique et une série de reverssubis, l'équipe a concrétisé lamine de Cigar Lake sans sedécouragerpar Ian Ewing

91 Résumés techniques

Des conduits de ventilation recyclés chez GoldCorpC’est au site Eleonore que Mécanicad a réalisé cette prouesse. Au cours des dernières années, GoldCorp a util-

isé un grand nombre de conduits Mécanivent® de 72’’ dia. pour ventiler 4km de ses galeries de départ et en avait encore plusieurs en inventaire. Et elle souhaitait continuer d’installer des Mécanivent® de 60’’ dia. dans les galeries secondaires.

Pour protéger l’environnement et réduire les coûts d’acquisition des conduits de ventilation, Mécanicad a proposé d’essayer de recycler les conduits de 72’’ pour en faire des 60’’. GoldCorp a fait transporter les conduits de plus grand diamètre à l’ usine de Mécanicad qui les a utilisés pour fabriquer des Mécanivent® de 60’’ qu’elle a ré-ex-pédiés au site de la mine Eleonore.

Ainsi, GoldCorp est gagnante sur toute la ligne : Elle a respecté l’environnement en évitant l’enfouissement des grands conduits, elle a réduit les coûts de ses nouveaux conduits de 30% et elle a permis à Mécanicad de recycler 95% de la matière première.

Mécanicad est une compagnie dédiée à l’innovation technologique en utilisant les plastiques dans de multiples applications et, principalement, dans les conduits de ventilation des mines souterraines.

Recycled ventilation pipes for GoldCorpThe Eleonore mine is the site where Mecanicad achieved that feat. Over the last couple of years, GoldCorp has

used a great number of 72’’ dia. Mecanivent® pipes to ventilate its 4km ramp and had still a fair number of pipes on inventory. And the miner wanted to carry on with 60’’dia. Mecanivent® in its levels and sub-levels.

In order to protect the environment while reducing the cost of these products, Mecanicad o�ered to try and re-cycle the 72’’ dia. pipes into 60’’ dia. ones. GoldCorp returned the wider diameter pipes to Mecanicad’s plant where 60’’ dia. Mecanivent® were fabricated out of the 72’’ ones and shipped back to Eleonore mine site.

It was a winning situation for GoldCorp: The miner has shown respect of environment, avoiding to bury large diameter pipes, the cost of smaller pipes was reduced by 30% and she allowed Mecanicad to recycle 95% of basic raw material.

Mecanicad is a company dedicated to technical innovation , using plastic material for many applications, chie�y to ventilating underground mines.

3:47 PM

007-007 Ad_Mechanicad.qxp_. 2014-04-24 10:43 AM Page 1

Based on the marketing material collectedon my desk, the apparent trend in themining sector is for total solutions, but

with this issue of CIM Magazine we offer unan-swered questions. This is inevitable when try-ing to scope out the distance between wherethe industry is and where many aspire for it tobe. How can the uranium industry help peo-ple appreciate the incredible potential themineral has to supply the world’s growingenergy needs? What will it take to introducemore diverse leadership into the upper strataof mining company management and boardsof directors? How can Canada’s indigenouspeople take a more active role in mineral

development and redefine their status in this country? Eavan Moore explores that last theme in our cover story, “On the land”

(p. 62). Moore, a long-time contributor to the magazine, reached out to anumber of proponents of indigenous ownership of exploration and miningprojects to investigate the existing and potential models for this, and thehurdles that will have to be overcome to make such approaches to resourcedevelopment happen.

One apparent obstacle took shape as this feature story was circulatingamong the editorial team. In mid-April, the federal government revealedthat a number of bands audited under the First Nations FinancialTransparency Act had misspent federal funds. The random audits of bandfinances are intended to inspire more transparency and accountabilityamong First Nation governments, all of which will soon be required topublish their annual financial statements.

Because politics are politics, the motives for a policy that has the effect ofembarrassing First Nations leaders are likely not completely pure, but trans-parency is good. The public always benefits from knowing where its moneyhas been spent or misspent, whether by senators or by band councils.

Ideally, the increased scrutiny will result in the recognition of leaderswho have good governance practices, and give them more leverage as theywork to improve their lot. First Nations want to play an active role in gen-erating wealth from the natural resources they have a claim to, and all sideswould benefit if that ambition were shared. So, how do we get to that point?

I hope the questions raised in this article will provide fuel for discussion atthe upcoming CIM Convention in Vancouver, and for those of you who willnot be able to make it, we would love to hear your thoughts. Send us a note.

Each year at this time, CIM’s National Office hits its top gear as weorganize the countless meetings, complete the extra publications, polishthe many awards, and tackle the IT and logistical challenges that CIM’sflagship event presents. Beyond these walls, there is an army of volunteersthat is also working to make this conference and expo the best they can be.Thanks to you all for the work you have done and congratulations on theevent you have created.

See you in Vancouver.

Ryan Bergen, [email protected]

@Ryan_CIM_Mag8 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 9, No. 3

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

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

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

Web content editor Maria Olaguera, [email protected]

Editorial intern Tom DiNardo, [email protected]

Contributors Brenda Bouw, Mauro Chiesa, Gavin Dirom, Ian Ewing,Alexander Filion, Jen Glanville, Virginia Heffernan, Courtnay Hughes,Patrick Kane, Graham Lanktree, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, RyanMontpellier, Eavan Moore, Monica Ospina, Anna Reitman, Dinah Zeldin

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

Translations André Moreau, SDL, Mark Stout

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

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

Subscriptions Included in CIM membership ($174.00); Non-members (Canada),$270.00/yr (PE, MB, SK, AB, NT, NU, YT add $11.00 GST, BC add$26.40 HST, ON, NB, NL add $28.60 HST, QC add $32.95 GST +PST, NS add $33.00 HST) Non-Members USA and International:US$290.00/year. Single copies, $25.00.

This issue’s coverDarrell Beaulieu photographed by Patrick Kane

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

Copyright©2014. All rights reserved.

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

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

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Open to discussion

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president’s notes | mot du président

L’avenir de l’exploitation minière au CanadaRécemment, le gouvernement Harper a déclaré son appui à l’industrie minière canadienne et au dévelop-

pement des ressources naturelles du pays, qu’il considère comme des composants clés de son plan de crois-sance économique. Le gouvernement a dit comprendre que la création de richesses par l’intermédiaire d’unemise en valeur des minéraux fera croître l’économie; fournira des emplois de qualité pour la générationactuelle et les générations suivantes; améliorera la qualité de la vie dans les collectivités autochtones rurales;et stimulera le développement du grand nord canadien grâce à des projets d’infrastructure qui donnerontaccès à des régions éloignées.

Et pourtant, les actions du gouvernement fédéral sont ambiguës. Le Cercle de feu, qui consiste essentiellement en une toute nouvelle province minière comprenant poten-

tiellement de multiples mines de calibre mondial qui fourniraient plusieurs minéraux métallifères différents,dépérit présentement faute d’accès terrestre. Des travaux routiers d’envergure, peut-être financés conjointe-ment par des sources publiques et privées, ont le pouvoir de déclencher un développement comme le che-min de fer transnational l’a fait il y a plus de 100 ans. Le projet créerait plusieurs nouveaux avantages, dont desemplois immédiats dans le secteur de la construction, des collectivités nordiques mieux connectées et mieuxdesservies, et la possibilité de découvrir encore davantage de richesses minérales.

Mais où est l’initiative du gouvernement fédéral ?En Colombie-Britannique, une nouvelle mine de cuivre-or aux avantages immédiats et à long terme évi-

dents a obtenu l’aval de la province, puis on a modifié les plans d’exploitation à la demande du fédéral. Maisles demandes de permis se sont tout de même heurtées au refus du gouvernement fédéral, en grande partieà cause des protestations vigoureuses des collectivités autochtones locales et malgré le fait que les autres col-lectivités appuyaient largement le projet. Au même moment, le fédéral fait une promotion dynamique de l’ex-ploitation des gisements de sables bitumineux et appuie l’infrastructure et les pipelines dans plusieursdirections, malgré la vague d’objections et l’opposition des résidents locaux.

Ces gestes équivoques soulèvent des questions : À qui reviennent les décisions sur l’utilisation des terresde la Couronne ? Le Canada est-il vraiment ouvert au monde des affaires ? Et si oui, l’exploitation minière fait-elle réellement partie du plan économique du gouvernement fédéral ou sera-t-elle entravée par des considé-rations politiques ?

Robert SchaferCIM PresidentPrésident de l’ICM


The federal government’s fork in the roadRecently, the Harper government declared its support for the Canadian mining industry and

the development of Canadian natural resources as a key component of its plan for economicgrowth. The government has said it recognizes that wealth creation through responsible mineraldevelopment will grow the economy, provide quality employment for current and future genera-tions, improve the quality of life in rural aboriginal communities, and stimulate the developmentof Canada’s vast North through infrastructure projects that will provide access to remote regions.

Yet the actions of the federal government create ambiguity. The Ring of Fire, which is essentially an entirely new mining province with potential for mul-

tiple world-class mines that would provide many different mineral commodities, is currentlylanguishing for lack of land-based access. A major roadwork, perhaps co-sponsored by publicand private sources, has the power to spark development as the transnational railway did overa century ago. Many new advantages would be created, including immediate construction jobs,better connected and serviced northern communities, and the opportunity to discover muchmore mineral wealth.

But where is the federal government initiative?In British Columbia, a new gold-copper mine with obvious immediate and long-term bene-

fits was approved by the province, following a modification of operational plans to accommo-date requests at the federal level. Yet the permit applications were still turned back by thefederal government, largely due to vocal dissent by local aboriginal communities, despite thefact that there was broad support from other communities. This comes at the same time as astrong federal promotion of oil sands development and support for infrastructure and transportpipelines in various directions, against a current of local protests and opposition.

These ambiguous actions raise questions: Who holds decision-making primacy when itcomes to utilization of Crown lands? Is Canada really open for business? If it is, is mining trulypart of the federal government’s business plan, or are politics going to get in the way?

◢ New lean-burn gas-fuelledgenerators

Power generation remains one of the biggest expensesfor miners, and the ability for mines to quickly switch tolower-cost natural gas can present significant savings.That is where Cummins Power Generation’s new lean-burn gas-fuelled generator sets come in. With powerratings that range from 315 kilowatt electrical to twomegawatt electrical, and with low emissions that meet themost stringent air quality regulations without after-treatment devices in the exhaust stream, these robustand high-efficiency generation sets are capable ofrunning on both natural gas and alternative gaseous fuels including diesel. “As natural gas becomes available,they’re able to go with it and take advantage of its lower operating cost,” says Tony Blaubaum, South Pacific generalmanager for energy solutions business.


TOOLS OFTHE TRADE

◢ Mineral identification at yourfingertips

Traditional mineral analysis instruments can becumbersome to use. “Geologists need three hands tooperate the cabling and multiple devices involved,”says Chris Sherry, senior marketing manager atPANalytical Boulder Inc. The company, formerlyknown as Analytical Spectral Devices (ASD),develops material analysis and near-infrared (NIR)analytical instrumentation. Sherry and his colleaguesrecently launched the ASD TerraSpec Halo mineralidentifier: a handheld device, weighing only twokilograms, that employs NIR spectrometry to identifyminerals. “When you pull the trigger, it shines ahalogen light on a surface, which interacts with thechemistry,” he says. A sensor captures the reflectedlight and matches results to the correspondingmineral identification found in the device’s built-inlibrary, comprising roughly 125 minerals fromvarious catalogues, which are always updatable viathe Internet. “All you have to do is put the instrumentagainst the rock, click the trigger and in a fewseconds you get a mineral result on the screen,” saysSherry. The device also includes a global positioningsystem unit.

Compiled by Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

◢ Efficiency in the labA few years back, Cleveland Vibrator Company, adesigner and manufacturer of vibratory products, set outto solve a common problem with laboratory sieveshakers used for sample particle size analysis: screenclogging and inefficient throughput. The result of thiswork is the Model HK Dual Drive Laboratory SieveShaker, which has two rotary electric vibrators thatgenerate much more force and energy than theelectromagnetic vibration used in standard lab shakers.Additionally, the screen moves linearly and circularly,increasing the throughput efficiency and speed because“it gives the material being sieved much more motionacross the surface of the screen,” says Jeff Hochadel,sales manager for vibratory screening and sieving.Available in eight-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch and 18-inchdiameter sieve frame sizes, the unit can accommodateup to eight sieves and comes with the option of anultrasonic sieving system. “That allows for ultrasonicenergy to be applied to the screen surface, which helpseliminate clogging of the sieve,” says Hochadel.

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Fortis is a Saskatoon-based company that provides mining, engineering and manufacturing services to the mining and construction industries.

The company has a global focus and o�ers contracting, subcontracting and consulting services to a wide range of customers. Fortis is able to provide services that meet or exceed the

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802, 57th Street East, Saskatoon, SK S7K 5Z1 Phone: (306) 242-4427 Fax: (306) 242-3713

www.fortiscorporation.com

Fortis is a Saskatoon-based company that provides mining, engineering and manufacturing


news

New majority government promisesstability for Quebec’smining industry

The Liberal Party of Quebec’sresounding victory in April’s electionmay finally bring some stability to theQuebec mining industry. Miners hadbeen on shaky ground since the Sep-tember 2012 election of a minorityParti-Québécois (PQ) government,which had campaigned on recoupingmore revenues from the sector andlater worked hard to push throughmining reforms. After a failed attemptin May 2013, the government passed anew, albeit watered-down, mining actthat added permitting requirements,lowered environmental assessmenttriggering thresholds and gave morepower to municipalities to opposemining developments.

This past March, then-PQ-leaderPauline Marois called a snap election,seeking a majority government, butwas soundly defeated by the Liberals,which instead took a majority in theNational Assembly. “Obviously, amajority government will ensure atleast some stability in policy over thenext four years,” said Quebec Min-eral Exploration Association chair-man Philippe Cloutier, adding thiscertainty should quell investor anxi-eties. “Investors don’t like to knowthat they’re investing money and thegovernment’s going to pull a 180 on them.”

Newly elected Premier PhilippeCouillard spoke to the importance ofmining and exploration during thecampaign, said Cloutier, adding heannounced some commitments dur-ing the election that could benefitQuebec’s mining industry. “One ofhis main proposals is to come backwith what is a Plan Nord Plus, andinvest in infrastructure, which is agood thing for companies,” Cloutierexplained. Couillard also stated hisintentions to start a small businessministry, which Cloutier said couldhelp many of the service providerson which the industry depends.

– Herb Mathisen

Less than one year after purchasing the Pinto Valley copper mine in Arizona from BHP Billiton, Capstone MiningCorp. has extended the mine’s life by eight years.

Courtesy of C

apston

e Mining

beyond 2026 through the continuedconversion of mineral resources toreserves. To do so though, the tailingsfacility would need to be larger, andthis is the limiting factor to any furtherexpansion, she explained. – H.M.

CSA adopts existingshareholder exemption

Listed companies on Canada’spublic markets can now raise moneyfrom existing shareholders thanks tonew exemptions approved in Marchby the Canadian Securities Adminis-trators (CSA).

Under the new rules, an existingshareholder in a company can investan additional $15,000 per year topurchase shares directly from thecompany without having to pay bro-kerage fees. Representatives of themineral industry had advocated forhigher limits, particularly for indi-viduals holding more than $15,000worth of stock already, but therestrictions are not expected to pres-ent a major barrier, said Nadim Kara,senior program director at theProspectors and Developers Associa-tion of Canada. “By allowing retailinvestors to participate in privateplacements, regulators are increasingthe investor base in the exempt mar-ket and really facilitating capital-rais-ing,” Kara said.

Capstone extends PintoValley mine life

Vancouver-based Capstone MiningCorp. has extended the mine life of itsPinto Valley copper mine, 125 kilome-tres east of Phoenix, Arizona, by eightyears to 2026.

Management had a hunch that itcould bolster reserves when it pur-chased the mine from BHP Billiton inOctober 2013 and immediately startedwork on a prefeasibility study. “BHP hada lot of the data already available as theywere embarking on something similarfor the mine,” said Cindy Burnett, vice-president of investor relations. “Wewere able to take advantage of much ofthat work, and started gathering it evenbefore the sale was finalized.”

Under the new plan, production willincrease from 22.6 million tonnes thisyear to 42.3 million tonnes per year in2016 through to 2019, at which timeproduction will gradually decreaseuntil the end of operations in 2026.Capstone will continue to mine out ofthe same pit, but it will have to move itsexplosives facilities and some power-lines and pipelines in the next twoyears in order to accommodate the newphase. The company will spend US$48million on new drills, shovels and haultrucks to meet the production increase.

Burnett said Capstone managementis aiming to extend the mine life

© 2014 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Yellow,” the “Power Edge” trade dress as well as corporate and product dentity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

Wherever there’s mining, we’re there. It’s our commitment to the industry and a commitment to our customers. We promise to be the valued partner you

need — providing the machines, technologies and solutions to help you achieve long-term success, and working alongside you to help you operate safely,

sustainably, productively and profitably — wherever you are in the world.

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WE’RE THEREWE’RE THEREWE’RE THERE

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news

ending June 18. Newfoundland isexpected to take up Ontario’s finalizedregulation. – Anna Reitman

World Bank to releasegeological map coveringAfrican continent

The World Bank is planning tolaunch the African Mineral GeoscienceInitiative (AMGI), dubbed the BillionDollar map, this summer to level theplaying field between African countriesand mining companies negotiatingland concessions. This project aims tocompile geological data on mineralprospectivity in Africa in a public geo-graphic information system (GIS)available online.

Right now, geodata mapping inAfrica is piecemeal, done in a country-by-country fashion, making it difficult

to compare information. “In the firstphase of the project, we will compile,collate and analyze the data availablefrom geological surveys funded by theEuropean Union, the United NationsDevelopment Programme and theWorld Bank, among others,” said Paulode Sa, sector manager of the oil, gasand mining unit of the World Bank’sSustainable Energy Department. “Oncethis is complete, we will advance to theintegration of airborne geophysics,geochemistry, available drilling dataand field work.” African countries willopt into the project, and the WorldBank will conduct surveys regionally,without considering borders in volun-teer countries.

The primary aim of this initiative isto help African countries when they sitdown with mining companies to nego-tiate land concessions. Due to a lack ofgeological knowledge of the mineral

He points to statistics showing thatan alarming number of juniors are fac-ing desperation financing in the min-ing sector. In 2013, the number offinancings in Canada was down 17 percent, and the value of financings wasdown more than 50 per cent. Many ofthese financings were for very smallamounts – 12 per cent of financings onthe TSX Venture Exchange were for$100,000 or less and 52 per cent of allfinancings in 2013 were for less than$500,000. More than 50 per cent ofthe financings last year were priced at$0.10 per share or less versus 13 percent in 2010.

The only jurisdictions not includedin the CSA’s prospectus exemption areOntario and Newfoundland. TheOntario Securities Commissionrecently presented its own existingshareholder exemption proposal,which is now in a comment period

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resources available within their bor-ders, African governments are sellingtheir mineral assets at too deep a dis-count, according to the World Bank.The Democratic Republic of Congo, forexample, lost out on at least US$1.36billion between 2010 and 2012 byunderpricing mining assets sold to for-eign companies, as outlined in the2013 Africa Progress Panel report. TheWorld Bank also hopes to attract for-eign investment by making geologicalinformation readily available.

To complete the map, the WorldBank needs to raise $1 billion – as theproject’s name suggests – for which it islooking to countries, private sectormining companies and even technol-ogy enterprises as donors. “We havealready secured 50 per cent of thefunding needed for the first phase ofthe program, with $40 million com-mitted from various donor countries,”said de Sa. The Billion Dollar mapproject will start in southeast Africaand is expected to take roughly 10years to develop. - Tom DiNardo

China loses WTO battleover REE exports

On March 26, the World TradeOrganization (WTO) found that China’sexport duties and restrictions on rareearth elements (REE), tungsten andmolybdenum contravened trade agree-ments it had previously signed, andordered the country to bring its policiesin line with its WTO obligations.

Back in 2010, China imposed taxesand quotas that limited the amount ofrare earths for export. The country,which produces more than 90 per centof the world's REEs, also put restric-tions on the enterprises allowed toexport rare earths.

The United States filed a complaintin March 2012, insisting that China’sREE export practices violated previ-ously signed agreements including var-ious articles of the WTO’s GeneralAgreement on Tariffs and Trade. Dur-ing the panel hearing, China argued“that the restrictions [were] related tothe conservation of its exhaustible nat-ural resources,” and were in place to

protect the environment by preventingover-mining, according to the WTOreport. The complainants, which alsoincluded the European Union andJapan, insisted “the restrictions [were]designed to provide Chinese industriesthat produce downstream goods withprotected access to the subject materi-als,” the report outlined. Not surpris-ingly, on April 17, China announced itsintention to appeal the decision. – H.M.

OSC proposes equitycrowdfunding rules

Ontario’s securities regulatorreleased equity crowdfunding guide-lines in its latest proposals to helpCanadian companies raise venture cap-ital from a greater pool of eligibleinvestors. Currently companies in theprovince are not permitted to equitycrowdfund from non-accreditedinvestors.

A swath of measures from theOntario Securities Commission (OSC)detail issuer requirements and otherguidelines in the interest of investorprotection. Under the current pro-posal, a company would be limited toraising $1.5 million per year throughcrowdfunding, and investment limitsinclude a maximum of $2,500 in a sin-gle investment and not more than$10,000 in a calendar year. Crowd-funding portals will also be required toregister as dealers with the OSC, per-form background screenings on com-pany directors and block potentially

fraudulent issuers to offer further pro-tection to investors.

“The mining sector will greatly ben-efit,” said Oscar Jofre, chief technologyofficer of the equity crowdfundingmining portal Klondike Strike and co-chair of the Equity CrowdfundingAlliance of Canada. “Regulators arealso allowing private and public-listedissuers to participate, which is veryunique to Canada.”

“Exempt market dealers are [still]needed and the fees the portals will becharging are no different from whenmining companies seek capital throughprospectus or private placement,” Jofresaid. “This guideline will be moretransparent and beneficial to everyoneinvesting in the mining sector.” – A.R.

Mining Family Mattershelps mining families cope

Families of miners often deal withparticular challenges like the isolationof living in small mining towns or theloneliness of having a parent whoworks at a fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) opera-tion. To help Canadian mining familiescope with the many stresses that comefrom having one or both parents work-ing away from home for extended peri-ods of time, Australian organizationMining Family Matters (MiningFM)launched a Working Away survivalguide at this year’s PDAC. This 32-pageresource guide, available in both Eng-lish and French, explains to readerswhat to expect when they first work

news

The 100-tonne lower main frame of theRaptor 2000 rock crusher, the largestpiece of Copper Mountain’s $40-mil-lion secondary processing unit, is low-ered into place in late March. The newunit, which the operation hopes will becompleted this summer, will pushthroughput from 32,000 tonnes perday (tpd) at the British Columbia cop-per mine to at least 35,000 tpd andpotentially 40,000 tpd. – H.M.

Putting the parts in place

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away, and provides advice on parentingand discipline, sex and relationships,overcoming loneliness and helpingchildren cope.

Alicia Ranford created MiningFM inFebruary 2010 while she and her chil-dren were dealing with her husband’sFIFO schedule in Australia. Four yearslater, she and fellow co-founder LainieAnderson decided to launch Canadian-specific content after receiving anincreasing number of enquiries fromcompanies and families in NorthAmerica. “We focused on Canada ini-tially because of the similarities in theissues facing mining families, particu-larly those working around FIFO ros-ters,” said Anderson.

MiningFM also provides a freeonline resource for Canadian familiesin the mining and oil and gas indus-tries. The website features columns bypsychologist Angie Willcocks and con-tributions from Canadian workers toprovide a personal perspective onissues in mining families. Additionallyit offers career advice and resources tothose considering work in Canada.

Anderson says the reaction fromCanadians has been fantastic so far,especially from corporations. “It’s greatthat family well-being and emotionalresilience are so clearly on the radar forso many Canadian mining companies.”

– T.D.

First Nations and Ontariosign Ring of Fireagreement

The Ontario government and nineFirst Nations in the province’s Ring ofFire region took an important steptoward developing the mineral-richarea in late March by signing aRegional Framework Agreement.

The agreement between nineMatawa-member communities andOntario defines the role of FirstNations in future Ring of Fire negotia-tions. “The agreement will help ensurethat Matawa-member communities areactive participants in important discus-sions around enhanced environmentalassessment processes and regional

long-term monitoring, social and eco-nomic supports, regional infrastructureplanning, and resource revenue shar-ing,” said Julia Bennett, a ministry ofnorthern development and minesspokesperson.

The agreement followed an earlyFebruary announcement by MichaelGravelle, Ontario minister of northerndevelopment and mines, that Deloittewould act as a neutral third party forRing of Fire partners to create aregional development corporation. Itwould partner First Nations withindustry, as well as the provincial andfederal governments with the aim ofaligning the interests of all parties andspur the construction of infrastructurein the region – one of the biggest

setbacks thus far for developing proj-ects in the Ring of Fire. Deloitte hasbegun discussions with partners andwill continue to work to create a legalframework and outline the governanceof the corporation. – T.D.

Property File givesexploration companiesmore resources in B.C.

A free mineral exploration databasehit an impressive milestone this spring.Property File, an online informationtrove of long-archived and recentlydonated files and reports from largecompanies, independent prospectorsand exploration geologists, surpassed50,000 documents at the PDAC Con-vention in early March.

The project, funded and hosted bythe provincial government, startedwhen the British Columbia GeologicalSurvey (BCGS) decided to put thepaper mineral occurrence documentsfiled away in its archives online. “Thesefiles were only available in Victoria, inthe library, by appointment and undersupervision because they were storedin the locked part of the library,” saidNicole Barlow, owner of Purple Rock,the company hired to catalogue andupload the material. “It wasn’t veryaccessible, but it was useful informa-tion and something that you couldn’tfind anywhere else.”

Now these documents, along with agrowing number of donated files –ranging from prospectuses and drillcore records from Falconbridge, PlacerDome, Chevron and other companiesthat have left the region, to hand-drawn maps and field trip guidebooksfrom geologists – are being added tothe searchable system. “It’s capturingeverything that would otherwise belost,” she said. “That’s kind of the mainobjective of Property File: to have acollection of completely unique docu-ments.”

With exploration money tight, Bar-low said this is another resource thatjunior companies can use to help zero-in on mineral occurrences, as it pro-vides an additional layer onto the

The new gold standardWith gold slumping late last yearand yo-yoing again in 2014, goldminers readjusted their reserveswith more conservative gold pricesin mind. Here are the reserve pric-ings some of the big players haveset versus their 2012 standard: (fig-ures in US $/ounce) - T.D.

SOURCES: Company financials

$1,100 (from $1,500)

$1,200(unchanged from 2013)

$1,250*

(from $1,700)*not for all operations

$1,250 (from $1,400)

$1,350 (from $1,600)

$1,300 (from $1,400)


BCGS mapping interface, which tiestogether all the province’s mineralinformation. “It’s completely free,” shesaid. “You can overlay all the data-bases, the assessment reports, the min-eral occurrence files and create yourown map.”

Property File contains informationand research not available in anyother public resource. Barlow addedone Property File document theycame across noted “great values ofgold and silver” with a full propertyevaluation, including location data,assays, and trenching information,but there were no previous assessmentreports on BCGS maps for the prop-

erty. “You could almost put an ‘X’ onthe map of where this high mineraloccurrence was,” she said, adding thatno claims have currently been stakedat that location. – H.M.

Goldcorp establishesDalhousie miningprofessorship

With warnings of looming labourshortages in the mining industry, Van-couver-based Goldcorp donated$300,000 to Dalhousie University’smineral resource engineering programin April. This money will establish the

Goldcorp Professorship in MineralEngineering, to be held by DonaldJones, senior professor in Dalhousie’smineral resource engineering program.Part of Jones’ role will be to developand design curricula.

In recent years, enrolment in Dal-housie’s mineral resource engineeringprogram has spiked from around 20students per year to 40, which has puta greater strain on the university’s fac-ulty and resources. Goldcorp’s annualdonation of $100,000 over three yearswill help alleviate some of those issues.This year’s portion has already gonetoward the hiring of two professors,the most immediate need for the uni-versity.

The professorship extends thealready good relationship betweenGoldcorp and Dalhousie. Dalhousiestudents often work at Goldcorp forco-op terms and Goldcorp has a his-tory of hiring students from the Hali-fax university’s mineral resourceengineering program. “They’re pleasedwith the quality of graduates,” saidDalhousie’s faculty of engineeringdean, Joshua Leon. “We see it as a bigvote of confidence.”

“There is a looming skilled-labourshortage in the mining industry,” saidBrent Bergeron, senior vice-presidentof Goldcorp, in a press release. “Weare working to increase the number ofnew graduates entering this field andwe’re confident that Dalhousie canexpand on its current track record ofgraduating top-notch mining engi-neers.” – T.D.

news

A map of British Columbia showing the distribution of Property File documents across the province.

Courtesy of P

urple Ro

ck

moving on up

McEwen Mining welcomes Nathan Stubina

In March, Nathan Stubina joined McEwen Mining as vice-president of technology.Previously, Stubina worked at Byron Capital Markets where he served as a preciousand base metals analyst. During his time there, he led research initiatives in the min-ing and metallurgical areas. Prior to his role at Byron Capital, Stubina worked for Bar-rick Gold, Falconbridge Limited and Noranda Inc. He holds a PhD in metallurgy andmaterials science from the University of Toronto and is a member of the Associationof Professional Engineers of Ontario. Stubina is the current VP international of CIMand a past-president of the Metallurgy and Materials Society of CIM.

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The Ontario Securities Commission(OSC) is considering new reportingrules aimed at increasing the number ofwomen on boards and in senior man-agement in companies listed on theToronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Theproposal includes seven recommenda-tions based on a “comply or explain”approach. This would require compa-nies to disclose the consideration givento the representation of women in exec-utive and board positions when makingappointments, or else explain why theywere not disclosing this information.The proposal falls short of calling formandatory quotas and would not applyfor venture exchange companies.

Women currently make up a littlemore than 10 per cent of board mem-bers on companies listed on the TSX.That number is even lower in the min-ing industry. Women accounted for only1.4 per cent of CEOs, 5.3 per cent ofdirectors on boards, and 12.3 per centof senior officers in mining companies,according to a 2012 report called Creat-ing Gender Inclusive Leadership in theMining Industry, compiled by the Centrefor Women in Politics and Public Lead-

“Comply or explain”Ontario’s securities regulator looks to increase women in leadership positions

By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

ership with support from XstrataNickel. Moreover, PricewaterhouseCoopers’s (PwC) Mining for Talent reportfound that 43 per cent of S&P/TSXcomposite index mining companies hadall-male boards.

Last spring, the Ontario governmentasked OSC to undertake a review andpublic consultation process looking atdisclosure requirements for genderdiversity among directors and execu-tives and to provide recommendationsby fall 2013. In doing so, Ontario joinedthe growing list of jurisdictions world-wide including the United Kingdom,France, Norway, Germany, and Aus-tralia that have taken similar steps. JoAnne Matear, OSC manager of corpo-rate finance, said in coming up with itsproposed amendments, OSC looked atrequirements in other jurisdictions,while also conducting surveys, and con-sulting academic research and otherempirical studies.

The OSC’s resulting consultationpaper was published last July. In addi-tion to the reporting of numbers, therecommended changes to the disclosurerules would require companies to reveal

whether they have director term limits,whether there are policies related tofemale board inclusion, as well as toaccount for whether, and how, potentialfemale directors and executive officershave been identified and evaluated. “Wewent with the ‘comply or explain’ dis-closure approach because we do thinkthat it allows issuers flexibility to adoptpolicies and practices tailored to theirparticular circumstances and that isconsistent with our corporate gover-nance disclosure approach in general,”said Matear. “We did not propose quo-tas in the consultation paper but we didreceive comments back from stakehold-ers regarding that and there was verylimited support for going that route.”

Back in the early 2000s, when Nor-way first began discussing the possibil-ity of introducing quotas, there was alsolittle support for it in the country. But by2006, Norway had introduced a 40 percent quota with drastic sanctions fornon-compliers that included the risk ofthe company being dissolved. Thenumber of women on boards jumpedalmost overnight to more than 36 percent. But more than 100 publicly listed

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companies went private, with two-thirds admitting they did so in part toavoid the quota. Despite the increase inthe number of women on boards, in2013 there was still not a single femaleCEO among the 25 biggest companieson the Oslo stock exchange and therewas only one woman as chief financialofficer.

One of the arguments for the “com-ply or explain” approach over enforcedquotas is that the process itself raisesawareness within companies that leadsto a more genuine embracing of diver-sity. “I think the single most importantcontributing factor this rule will have isthat it forces this discussion onto theboardroom agenda. You can’t ignore it,”said Stan Magidson, CEO of the Instituteof Corporate Directors, during a roundtable discussion about the rules lastOctober. “You have to put out a publicdisclosure document to say this will beon the agenda, what is our approach todiversity. Companies will actually haveto sit down and decide whether they’regoing to embrace diversity.”

Australia introduced “comply orexplain” rules for publicly traded com-panies in January 2011, and it only tooktwo years for the number of companieswith diversity policies to skyrocket to90 per cent. “But there wasn’t the signif-icant jump in the percentage of boardseats held by women,” said Pamela Jef-fery, founder of WXN, the Women’sExecutive Network. Having learnedfrom the Australian example, WXN isrecommending the inclusion of targetsand would like to see more measurableobjectives defined in the OSC rules.“We’d like to see more numbers aroundthe process of identifying women,” saidJeffery. “How many were interviewed inputting together the short list? Did themining company hire a search firm toassist them with the process? We’d liketo see more specificity around theprocess revealed to get more to what wethink is the core issue.”

There is a growing body of researchthat points to the financial rewards of adiverse board. For instance, PwC’s Miningfor Talent study found that, of the top 500mining companies ranked by marketcapitalization, the 18 mining companiesthat had at least 25 per cent representa-tion of women on their boards had 49 percent higher average net profit marginsthan the average net profit of those 500companies in 2011. “The reality is share-holders are more aware of the businesscase for diversity in executive leadershipteams and on boards, and those share-holders are going to be increasinglyexpecting companies to make sure theyare leveraging that advantage,” said Mon-ica Banting, senior manager of PwC’saudit and assurance group and a leaderwith Shine, the company’s miningwomen’s executive network.

Clare Beckton, executive director ofthe Centre for Women in Politics andPublic Leadership, who headed the Cre-ating Gender Inclusive Leadership report,said having a board comprised of mem-bers with similar perspectives and expe-riences is a huge problem fororganizations. “If you have and con-tinue to bring in people who are similar,which is what currently happens withboards and senior executive teams, thenyou get into ‘same-think’ and that getsyou into trouble, particularly in a rap-

idly changing society where you havevery complex challenges,” she said.“You need that complexity of thinkingthat diversity brings.”

That core issue is the perception thatthere are not enough women executivesqualified to be board members, particu-larly in the mining and energy sectors.“Mining has been a very challenging cul-ture for women and I think the way theindustry markets its work has often notbeen very appealing to women,” saidBeckton. “It’s very difficult to be an earlyadaptor if you come into an organizationand there are no role models at the top.I’ve said to a number of leaders in themining sector, you need to look morebroadly. You don’t need someone whohas expertise in a mine to be a VP ofoperations. If you look outside of theindustry, you can bring in new ideas andapproaches. We see that in every organ-ization. When you bring in people fromdifferent areas, it injects new ideas.”

The public comments period closedon April 16 and OSC executive directorMaureen Jensen said the commissionwill analyze the feedback it receivesbefore making its final proposal. Therules, she added, will have to beapproved by both the commission andthe Ontario finance minister. “We’relooking to have it all in place for nextyear’s (April) proxy season,” she said. CIM

BY INDUSTRY BY EXCHANGE

THERE’S WORK TO DO

Average % of women on boards of top 100 companies (by market cap):

Average % of women on boards of top100 companies (by market cap)in mining sector:

Consumer goods 17.35Consumer services 16.36Financial services 14.08Telecommunications 13.35Technology 11.43Oil and gas 8.29Mining 7.59

South Africa (JSE) 21.05Australia (ASX) 11.97USA (NYSE) 7.34Hong Kong (SEHK) 6.02Canada (TSX/TSXv) 5.24United Kingdom (LSE/AIM) 4.27

Source: PwC Mining for Talent 2014

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The mining industry within Francehas been dormant for decades and itsglobal portfolio is modest, but the Frenchgovernment is determined to change that.In late February, French Industry Minis-ter Arnaud Montebourg announced therepublic would create the CompagnieNationale des Mines de France (CMF) aspart of a plan to grow the country’s min-ing sector. CMF will act as a de facto jun-ior mining company, exploring fornon-energetic minerals largely outside ofFrance in francophone Africa, SouthAmerica, and Central Asia. It is the firstnew state-owned company created by theFrench government since 1993.

A source close to the minister, whospoke on the condition of anonymity,said the decision to create CMF wasspurred by demand from foreign coun-tries, mainly in Africa and Asia, forFrench aid in exploring and developingtheir natural resources. Rather thandeal with private junior and majorcompanies, these countries indicated apreference to work government-to-government on such exploration proj-ects, the source said.

France sets its sights abroadNew state-owned French mining company to explore for minerals in francophone Africa and in South America

by Tom DiNardo

There is also currently a heightenedsensitivity to the geopolitics of metals,said Jean-Claude Guillaneau, director ofgeoresources at France’s Bureau of Geo-logical and Mining Research (BRGM).

“China is producing 95 per cent of therare earths and they use [them] toattract industrial development,” he said.“To secure our industry, we need to havesome long-term control of the metal

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A French geological mapping team works along the Nyanga River in Gabon.

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availability at least on some strategic and critical metals,” heexplained, adding other countries like Japan have similarpublicly owned mining companies.

At the same time, the French government hopes thatcreating CMF will diversify its mining industry. Right now,there are two major French mining companies: Areva, auranium specialist, and Eramet, which deals mainly withnickel and magnesium. The French government ownsstakes in both companies. “CMF in fact is an idea of a diver-sified operator in France that we don’t have,” said Guil-laneau. “Our ministry of industry thinks that it would beuseful to have a more diversified organization [to develop]at the international scale.” BRGM, a shareholder in CMF,has extensive global metallurgic knowledge, especially inAfrica, noted Guillaneau. For example, between 2005 and2010, BRGM headed an international consortium toexplore and inventory minerals in Gabon, a former Frenchcolony in West Africa. With their guidance, CMF will targetspecific countries with valuable resources to negotiateparameters for exploration and mining rights if mineralsare found.

Once resources are discovered, the plan is to have privatecompanies bid on the projects. CMF would aim to own aminority stake in each exploiting society. Because of its role asa sleeping partner in the exploitation stage, CMF would nottry to bring smelting or refining operations to France, said theministry of industry source.

France hopes that – 15 years down the road – CMF willhave 15 to 20 minority shareholdings in different countriesaround the world mining a variety of mineral resources. Thecountry expects to invest between $380 to $600 million inCMF, a majority of which will come from the GovernmentShareholding Agency which invests and manages the state’sholdings in firms.

For now, shareholders and the ministry of industry areworking on a business plan for CMF with the hopes of cre-ating the company by the summer. CMF will most likelylaunch a project in French Guiana soon after. According toGuillaneau, CMF is aiming to start at least four explorationprojects in its first year.

France also has plans to revive its domestic miningindustry, as many of the country’s mining operations havebeen abandoned for close to 20 years. To attract investors toexplore and mine France’s natural resources, Montebourghas amended the French mining code to make it easier forfirms to apply for and receive permits within France. So far,the initiative is working; three companies have receivedexploration permits in the past six months. However, CMFwill not focus any of its energy on exploration in France forthe moment. CIM

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A new study has found that chemicalemissions from oil sands tailings pondsare much higher than official estimatesreported in environmental impactassessments (EIA). This discovery addsto the growing focus on environmentalreporting methods in the oil sands.

The study, authored by Abha Para-julee and Frank Wania at the Universityof Toronto, and published in Februaryin the Proceedings of the National Acad-emy of Sciences, discovered that indirectsources of emissions to air were greatlyunderestimated. The report identifiesthe evaporation of tailings ponds thatstore residual fluids from oil sandsextraction as important emitters of poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) –including carcinogens phenanthrene,pyrene, and benzo(a)pyrene.

The authors of the study argue thisdiscrepancy requires a major overhaulof the “methodology used to estimatePAH emissions from different sources inenvironmental impact assessments.”Modelling of tailings pond evaporationis not currently required for EIAsbecause the National Pollutant ReleaseInventory (NPRI) indicates they are“contained within managed disposalsites and are not being released directlyinto the environment.”

This claim is obviously under dis-pute with these new results, which havereportedly caused a stir at the JointCanada-Alberta Implementation Planfor Oil Sands Monitoring (JOSM) pro-gram. “We have heard from governmentscientists working with the programwho say the work has generated a lot ofattention and interest amongst their col-leagues and superiors,” said Parajulee, aPhD candidate who spent much of thelast year in the Athabasca oil sandsregion collecting samples and conduct-ing the study.

The study began as a term project fora modelling course, with Parajulee look-ing to see how PAHs travelled throughthe environment. “We had no idea we

Getting the whole pictureRicher oil sands emissions data may lead to tougher EIA requirements

by Graham Lanktree

would come to the findings that wedid,” she said. “Things started to getmore interesting when we found thatthe modelled concentrations didn’tquite match up to measured concentra-tions, and so we decided to see whatwould happen if we tried to account forthe huge numbers [of PAHs] reported as‘disposal’ to tailings areas in the NPRI.”

To flesh out a clearer picture of thetotal emissions being released, Parajuleeused a multimedia fate model, knownas the Coastal Zone Model for PersistentOrganic Pollutants (CoZMo-POP)which accounts for and offers a morecomplex and holistic view of chemicalinteractions in the environment. Devel-oped by Wania and his colleagues over15 years, and driven by JOSM and Para-julee’s samples from the soil, water, airand foliage of the Athabasca region, themodel uses algorithms to detail thetransport of chemicals between ele-ments of the environment, such as thesurface of the tailings pond and the airwith which it is in contact.

The results showed a discrepancy of“two to three orders of magnitude”between Parajulee’s measured PAH lev-els and estimates in official EIA sources.“It is on some level understandable thatthese models are not used so much,”said Parajulee, indicating the time ittook to complete her study would addextra work to the EIA process.

Nevertheless, environmental impactassessments for Teck’s Frontier OilSands mine project in 2011, the ShellJackpine mine in 2012, and the ShellPierre River mine in 2013 included sim-ilar models “to evaluate the contributionof atmospheric deposition to snowmeltand assess the fate of PAHs from thesnowmelt in the aquatic system usingdifferent development scenarios,”according to Nikki Booth, a spokesper-son for Alberta Environment and Sus-tainable Resource Development(ESRD). At the moment, requirementsfor companies to use the CoZMo-POPmodel are project-dependent. “Theactual process for determining the

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Environment Canada scientists take snow samples from the Athabasca River in Alberta. Models that detail thetransport of chemicals in the environment have evolved and provide a clearer indication of the total emissionsbeing released from oil sands operations.

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May 2014 | 31

appropriate model may be specific to itsapplication and is determined on a case-by-case basis,” she said.

Some oil sands operations havebegun additional work to better under-stand PAH emissions from tailingsponds. “Some mining companies areperforming fugitive emissions surveys,under the direction of the Alberta gov-ernment, to try and monitor the actuallevel of these emissions from tailingsponds,” said Andrew Read, a chemicalengineer and technical and policy ana-lyst at the Pembina Institute. He said thefrequency of these tests increased in2013. Since this is a new area of researchthough, Read explained, there is no indi-cation at this point how or when thedata collected will consistently informthe decision-making of Alberta and fed-eral government regulators.

“There are major efforts underwaythrough JOSM to develop improvedmodels, a better understanding of path-ways, and a better understanding of thelimits of existing data,” said GeraldineAnderson, a Canadian Association ofPetroleum Producers spokesperson,without addressing the specific impactof Parajulee’s study.

At the moment, environmentalassessment requirements are in flux.“The modelling approaches used in therecent EIAs are still under develop-ment,” said Booth, “and will be validatedusing ESRD’s recent snowpack surveysconducted in the oil sands area.”

As methods to estimate emissionsfrom tailings pond evaporation becomeavailable or are improved, “companiesare expected to use these methods incompleting their [pollutant inventory]reports,” said Environment Canadaspokesperson Mark Johnson. Fundingis now flowing from EnvironmentCanada for more modelling work fromthe University of Toronto to follow upon its recent findings, he added.

Parajulee is readying her next proj-ect. Using multimedia fate models, she

will assess PAH exposure to the out-of-province population working in the oilsands and to the region’s aboriginal

communities. “These models,” she said,“could probably be used more oftenthan they are.” CIM

news

he results are in: having women on boards and in seniorleadership roles is good for business. Specifically, stud-ies conducted by Catalyst, PwC, Credit Suisse, and the

Conference Board of Canada have indicated that organiza-tions with women at the board table had greater returns onequity, returns on investment, returns on sales, and shareperformance, and were better with risk management andattracting top talent. And the list goes on. Further, Catalystfound that organizations with three or more women boardmembers also showed better financial performance thanorganizations with only one woman on their board.

Despite all of the advantages correlated with genderdiverse leadership, women continue to be significantlyunder-represented. Of the top 100 companies (ranked bymarket cap) listed on the TSX/TSXv, women hold only 10per cent of board positions and of the Canadian mining com-panies found on this list, women hold only five per cent of


Women in leadership: good for mining and good for business

BY RYAN MONTPELLIER AND COURTNAY HUGHES

H R O U T L O O K

board seats. The Mining Industry Human Resources Coun-cil’s (MiHR) research shows that the number of women in theCanadian mining sector has increased from 10 per cent in1996 to 16 per cent today, but more research is needed todetermine what percentage of women hold leadership roles.Although the proportional increase of women may under-whelm, the number of women in the sector has actuallyincreased by 60 per cent, indicating that momentum isbuilding. Case in point, for the first time, a woman, ZoeYujnovich, was elected chair of the Mining Association ofCanada. At the same time, Women in Mining Canada contin-ues to grow, and between May and June of this year, a seriesof CEO round tables across Canada will examine how togrow the number of women in the industry.

But why is the mining sector still lagging behind othersectors like oil and gas? One answer may be that the sectoras a whole has not grasped the magnitude of the challenge it

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faces: a lack of women in leadership roles, a gendered wagegap, and the need to eliminate assumptions about women’sabilities are all barriers to advancement. Yet one of the mostinsidious barriers holding back greater gender diversity is theexclusionary workplace culture, often referred to as mining’s“male-dominated culture.”

Although overt acts of gender discrimination are lessprevalent in mining work environments today, implicit biasesdo persist. These biases often result in differing opportunitiesoffered to men and women throughout their careers, andwomen find themselves passed over for career advancingwork assignments. Women have reported they were notoffered field work simply because they have children or werethought to be planning to have children, as it is assumed thatfield and operational roles conflict with a mother’s parentingresponsibilities. This creates a secondary career path forwomen, as field experience is seen as essential in the devel-


opment of many senior roles. Exclusionary workplace cul-ture can also be reinforced outside of the workplace, aswomen often report being objectified at industry events, andshut out of after-work activities like fishing trips and golfoutings, where informal mentoring and career-building net-works are often established.

Ideally, employers would choose to work ongreater gender inclusion and advancementbefore it becomes mandatory. The recent pro-posed amendment by the Ontario SecuritiesCommission would require TSX-listed issuersto disclose annually the number of women ontheir boards and in executive officer positions,

and increase the transparency of selection practices. Ifapproved, this amendment presents an opportunity for min-ing organizations that have diversified their leadership toleverage this differentiation. For organizations that have notaddressed gender diversity, this proposed amendment is astrong indicator that the issue of increasing the number ofwomen engaged in the industry is firmly in the spotlight.

However, the amendment has been met with mixed opin-ions. For employers, the proposed amendment wouldincrease their administrative and reporting burden. Forsome, the amendment is not strong enough as it does notinclude representation quotas, and therefore may not enticeorganizations to undertake activities that result in any signif-icant change. Equally, women want to obtain leadership rolesbased on their skills and experience, not because of externalpressure, perceived or otherwise, that would come from suchreporting.

If you are an employer committed to building a genderdiversity strategy, where do you start? From MiHR’s previousexperience with industry partners, organizations that havedeveloped a gender diversity strategy have had the mostimpact when they set and align clear objectives with businessand HR priorities. Organizations can benefit from ensuringtheir diversity goals are measurable, tracking progressthrough solid metrics, as well as collaborating with others inthe industry. Using this approach, we have seen one miningorganization boost the number of women executives by twoin 18 months, and women’s representation in specific man-agement categories by three per cent – surpassing the orga-nization’s initial diversity goal.

By challenging current practices within our organizations,developing a strategy and working collaboratively, the Cana-dian mining industry will benefit from greater gender diverseleadership as it becomes more competitive and sociallyresponsible. CIM

Ryan Montpellier, executive director of MiHR, is a recognized expert andsought-after speaker on HR issues impacting the Canadian mining sectortoday. Courtnay Hughes, research analyst with MiHR, leads strategic HRmanagement research initiatives in workforce planning, education-industrypartnerships, and workforce diversity.

“Although overt acts of gender discriminationare less prevalent in mining work environmentstoday, implicit biases do persist.”

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local vendors without regard to their place of origin. A mine’smanagement might make a point of buying from local mer-chants, but the products might all be imported from distantplaces, bringing little benefit to the local economy. In theseinstances, beneficiaries are often just a few individuals withinthe community who have access to the capital and creditrequired to set up a shop. These situations can even causesocial conflict because the mine builds relations with only asmall group in the community, expanding the gap between therich and poor, especially if the surge in demand for goods soldat the local market inflates prices.

Procurement through local content creates value for com-munity residents, initiates and nourishes collaborationthrough local businesses, while contributing to a company’sability to obtain a social licence to operate. This approach hasthe advantage of incubating business as compared to many ini-tiatives around local entrepreneurship that have failed due toa philanthropic approach to economic development.

Some of the most serious and hard-to-measure risks min-ing companies face, particularly in the developing world,have nothing to do with geology or commodity prices.

Rather, they involve risks to their social licence to operate.News of local opposition to a project, involving roadblocksand protests, can go global quickly. Influential bloggers andeven tweeting celebrities can instantly turn public opinion andfinancial sources against a project.

Many mining companies overlook two of the most effec-tive, cost-efficient and sustainable ways to build communitysupport: local procurement and local content. This meansbuying goods or services on the basis of origin of the physicalproducts and where the value was added. It could involve buy-ing produce from local farmers, having the mine’s foodservicedone by local caterers, and contracting construction work orroad maintenance to locally owned companies.

Local procurement and content are distinct from localsourcing or local buying, which means sourcing products from

Local procurement through local content helps manage risk

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Through our Local Community Procurement Program(LCPP), we have found that a sound local content strategyalways starts with a professional and strategic engagementprocess. This begins by looking for opportunities based on thesocio-economic conditions of the communities surroundingthe mining operation, alongside the operational and technicalconditions of the project. It also considers expanding the localbusiness’ service into markets outside of mining. This is thereal power of the local content approach: when the mine’s sup-pliers can take the management and technical skills they havedeveloped with the mine as a customer, improve operationalproductivity and expand into other markets. This localemployment, innovation and social inclusion can lead to newbusinesses and sustainable living for communities even afterthe mine shuts down.

Kinross Gold in Ecuador adopted this model, bringing pos-itive results for the company and local communities. The socio-economic conditions in the remote communities, which hadhigh levels of illiteracy, defined what type of suppliers werelikely to succeed under the circumstances. From Kinross’s side,the project’s local demands were minimal due to the complexityof technologies needed and the low-skill labour available in theregion. Kinross’s program was adapted to both the communityand the company’s needs, creating food suppliers and roadmaintenance units for the mine. Although Kinross is no longeroperating in Ecuador, these productive units are still activetoday and provide their services to the government, schoolsand local hospitals. The extended benefits of local contentproved to be an opportunity for the community and the bestlegacy Kinross left for the residents of Los Encuentros, whohave openly expressed their gratitude for the program.

Local content strategies demand collaboration and commit-ment from both the mine and the community as they take timeto fully develop, but the community relations benefits startimmediately as local people are given the chance to take concretesteps that they can see will lead to sustainable opportunities. Jun-ior miners, working in the first stages of mineral exploration,have the greatest advantage to add value to their businesses bydeveloping a network of local suppliers. If the company is soldto a mid-cap or major player, the value of positive, non-con-flicted community relations is greatly recognized by the acquirer,as it has a network of local business partners trained to work withthe mine. The benefits for operations start from customization,monitoring of the quality of goods and services, on-time delivery,control of expedite orders and immediate response.

In many places, private businesses, like mining companies,have the ability to reach communities forgotten by their very owngovernments, bring opportunities for sustainable developmentand along with them a more durable social licence to operate. CIM


Monica Ospina, founder and director of the social economic developmentconsultancy firm O Trade (otrade.ca) has an MA in diplomatic studies from theUniversity of Westminster and studied at London School of Economics andHarvard University. The Local Community Procurement Program (LCPP) wasrecognized by the World Bank among the Top 15 Innovations of theProcurement Innovation Challenge 2012.

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With virtually no access to venture capital, the strength,resiliency and experience of the prospecting, mineralexploration and development industry in British

Columbia was put to the test last year. However, the industryis well acquainted with the cyclical natureof the business, and many AME BC mem-bers have taken this opportunity to pre-pare for the next upswing in the markets.

Despite some of the doom and gloomheadlines, things are looking up when putinto a proper perspective. AlthoughBritish Columbia’s exploration expenditures were estimated tobe down to $476 million in 2013, from the record high of $680million in 2012, it is still the second-highest number on record.In fact, B.C. attracted more than 20 per cent of the explorationspending in Canada in 2013 compared to just six per cent in2001. On top of that, we expect to see continued strongdemand from Asia for our copper, gold and steel- making coal.

Getting beyond the headlines in B.C.

BY GAVIN DIROM

J U R I S D I C T I O N S

At the moment, most of the expenditures – around 98 percent – are occurring at advanced coal and copper-gold projects,and not in grassroots exploration projects. Yet to discover rareand valuable new deposits, which may eventually lead to the

opening of new major projects like Thompson Creek’s $1.5-billion Mt. Milligan mine that opened last year, sustainedinvestment in grassroots exploration is required. The goodnews is that British Columbia is still highly prospective giventhat the province has tremendous mineral and coal develop-ment potential, is vastly underexplored, and has proven infra-structure and expertise in mine construction and production.

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Moreover, the provincial government is committed to sup-porting the industry. The tax regime in British Columbia, forinstance, remains among the most competitive in North Amer-ica. Our industry benefits from incentives such as the MiningExploration Tax Credit and the Mining Flow-Through ShareCredit. And as announced by Premier Christy Clark at AMEBC’s Roundup 2014 conference, the B.C. mining flow-throughshare tax credit will be extended to December 31, 2014. Wealso applaud the provincial government’s decision in 2013 toexempt some low-impact exploration activities from requiringa Mines Act permit amendment. The efforts to improve the per-mitting process, particularly the move to multi-year and multi-area-based exploration permits, have also been well receivedby the industry.

Building positive relationships with First Nations is alsoimportant to successful exploration and development. Today,British Columbia is a model for how industry, government andFirst Nations are working together to address challenges, cre-ate business ventures and sign economic development agree-ments that provide significant benefits to all parties. AME BCrecently showcased the province’s leadership at our Roundup2014 conference, which attracted more than 6,600 partici-pants from 37 countries. We released AME BC’s AboriginalEngagement Guidebook, a critical reference for mineral explorersaiming to develop the province’s mineral wealth in cooperationwith First Nations. We also hosted First Nation and industryleaders in the Gathering Place Aboriginal Pavilion and held anenlightening engagement forum.

In late February, Canada’s Environment Minister LeonaAglukkaq announced the federal government’s decision not toproceed with the approval of the New Prosperity copper-goldmine project near Williams Lake. AME BC is disappointedwith this outcome, and we expressed our concern that not allof the facts and science regarding the proposed tailings storagefacility were taken into consideration. AME BC reaffirms thatenvironmental assessment decisions should be science-based,and we look forward to a re-evaluation of the process and sci-entific facts related to this matter.

But this decision does not reflect the exploration and devel-opment industry in the province as a whole. We are fortunatein B.C. to have a government that supports the advancementof the industry. The roughly 300 exploration and 30 miningprojects in more than 50 communities across B.C. are proof ofthat, as are the almost 1,000 exploration and junior miningcompanies headquartered throughout the province.

The industry will be further buoyed in 2014 by the openingof B.C.’s next major copper-gold mine, Red Chris, owned byImperial Metals. The 287-kilovolt Northwest TransmissionLine, which will serve Red Chris and other future mines in thenorthwest, will significantly reduce the region’s reliance ondiesel-generated power. As market conditions improve, BritishColumbia is in a strong position to attract further investmentin exploration and development. CIM


Gavin C. Dirom is the president and CEO of AME BC, which will host Roundup2015, January 26-29, 2015, at Canada Place in Vancouver Convention Centre East.

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contracts. Some potential bidders stay out of the process ifthey feel others have bought the deal, thus defeating thecompetitive process. By announcing the two-envelopeprocess well in advance, a mining company adds a degree oflegitimacy and transparency that should attract a broaderresponse and lower prices. Though relatively simple, theoverall process requires forethought and planning to evokethe broadest response on both the technical requirementsand financial considerations. The bidder sees lost procure-ment bids as a costly process, so transparency and objectivityare essential for justifying the pursuit.

The first step one must take is to complete an expressionof interest call. This is basically the broad delineation of thebuyer’s eventual needs. Equipment procurement is relativelystraightforward, but acquiring an engineering, procurementand construction management (EPCM) role is much more

Shareholders today are looking for lower risk and higherdividend yields and do not appreciate hearing of costoverruns. Currently we are in a buyers’ market, and to

make the most of it, the mining company must stick to a pro-curement strategy that better shares the risk with suppliersand controls costs.

An effective way to achieve this dual objective is through a“two-envelope” approach, where suppliers bidding on a con-tract are required to submit technical bids separately from finan-cial bids. On the bid-opening day, the technical envelopes areopened first to ensure that only bids that satisfy all the desiredtechnical specifications are considered. Then the financial termscorresponding only to the clean technical bids are opened toguarantee that the buyer can compare “apples to apples.”

Too often, bidders offer perks like hockey tickets, vaca-tions, addenda or modifications in order to secure supply

A two-envelope approach for improving procurement

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complex. It may help if the buyer outlines the eventual two-envelope process so as to reduce the perceived process risk.

Once the buying company sees the responses to theexpression of interest, it can then define the required qualifi-cations. Again, while simpler for off-the-shelf equipment, theissues are more complex if one is looking for an EPCM. Insuch cases, the capacities required and the risk matrixbecome more complex, and any early feedback becomesinvaluable. The buyer should also stipulate the remainingprocess with clarity and then follow with a question-and-answer session to obtain clarifications from potential bidders.The buyer should then announce the bidders that have metthe criteria.

At this point, the buyer can put out its call for bids and/orproposals with detailed technical and financial specifications.It should also include a process memorandum that lays outthe remaining two-envelope process in detail. For complexprojects, the process is as important as the product beingprocured, as the transaction costs incurred by all bidders arenot small. An opaque process is difficult to price and there-fore easy to avoid.

There are a number of components regarding the requestfor bids/proposal stage. They can include bidders’ confer-ences, where all comments and questions on the specifica-tions are addressed, and answers are distributed to everyone.In a changing market, the feedback may suggest altering thespecifications or the risk matrix itself. If the technical or bid-process alterations are numerous, the buyer can host a finalbidders’ conference to make sure that all issues have beenanswered and distributed. In a situation where staple financ-ing is requested from the bidders, the financiers may alsowish to attend to ensure that all terms and conditions arefully understood.

As part of the request for the bids/proposals phase, thebuyer should also clarify its transaction closing process,the role of bid-performance bonds, and its appellateprocess for any bidder that feels it was not treated orreviewed fairly. Should there be funding issues includingstaple financing from the winning bidder, ample timeshould be granted as the closing requirements tend to bemore complex. This too is appreciated in today’s market, assupplier financing is often in debt form and can offer lever-age for the equity markets.

In summary, the two-envelope process assures fair treat-ment to all bidders and thus offers feedback from the broad-est response base possible on the technical specifications. Itthen evokes the best price for those technical specifications.Both of these objectives should allow the CFO and the proj-ect manager greater funding leeway in meeting any project’sbudget objective. CIM


Mauro Chiesa has 33 years of experience in financing and advising extractiveand infrastructure projects including multinational banks in New York, theWorld Bank Group in Washington, D.C., and EDC in Ottawa. He will be chairinga session at CIM 2014's Management and Finance Day.

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Cameco has recently backed offof production targets for 2018.

Uranium marketin a tightsqueezeRecovery inevitable but speednot guaranteedBy Brenda Bouw

Other companies are also downsizing their productionplans. For instance, Paladin Energy says it is suspending pro-duction at its Kayalakera mine in Malawi, citing depressed ura-nium prices since 2011.

Fission Uranium Corp. is concentrating efforts on findingthe resource, working towards production when prices even-tually recover. “We are trying to put as much money in theground as we can to really explore our property,” says chair-man and CEO Dev Randhawa. “We feel it’s not time to sell yet,when prices are at a seven-year low. Do you sell your housewhen real estate prices are at the bottom?”

Fission increased its winter drilling program by 150 percent in 2013–14.

At Denison Mines Corp., president and CEO RonHochstein says the focus is also on exploration in the mineral-rich Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. “We are trying toincrease shareholder value with the drill bit,” he says.

Will cooler heads prevail?With the entire sector at the beck and call of uranium prices,

all eyes are on a trend that may slowly be changing. The Japanesegovernment has signaled an interest in rebuilding its nuclear pro-gram, including restarting its 48 reactors; the country’s cabinetapproved a new Basic Energy Plan last month that includesnuclear power as a key part of its energy mix for the next 20 years.

That stance has been one of the hallmarks of the govern-ment of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which came into power inDecember 2012. The previous government had vowed tophase out atomic power plants across the country, which reliedon nuclear-generated power for about 30 per cent of its powersupply before March 2011.

“While the [Japanese] public remains divided on nuclearpower, it seems clear that it will remain part of the mix,” David

It has been a rough few years for the mining industry overall,but one commodity has been hit harder than most, and dueto different circumstances. Uranium prices – alongsidecompanies that explore, develop and produce the ingredi-

ent used to fuel nuclear power reactors – have been pum-melled as a result of the earthquake and tsunami that knockedout cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerstation in 2011. Explosions and radiation leaks ensued. It wasthe worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

Japan shut down all of its reactors in the wake of the tragedy,as questions about safety put its entire nuclear program indoubt. Other countries with nuclear power plants also grewskeptical. Germany immediately closed eight reactors followingFukushima, vowing to abandon nuclear energy altogether.

For the market, the fallout happened almost overnight, andprices have yet to recover. In fact, the spot price of uranium hasdeclined steadily over the past three years. The price of ura-nium fell from US$70 per pound just prior to the Fukushimadisaster to around US$35 in later 2013 and early 2014.

Majors restrained but explorers see opportunity“We knew it was going to be negative [after Fukushima],

but we didn’t know how long it would last,” says Tim Gitzel,president and CEO of Saskatchewan-based Cameco Corp., theworld’s largest publicly traded uranium company. “I think weunderestimated that.”

While his long-term outlook is positive, in the near termGitzel says the industry is “still in a bit of a foggy period.”

Cameco recently backed off of a 2018 production target of36 million pounds per year set in late October 2012, whichitself was cut from a previous target of 40 million pounds peryear. The company has not set a new target, and produced23.6 million pounds last year.

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Talbot, an analyst at Dundee Capital Markets, wrote in a recentnote to clients, calling Japan’s reactor restarts the “fundamentalrequirement for a rebound in uranium prices.”

But demand from Japan, while important, will not cure thesector’s woes completely, Talbot’s note points out: “It has moreto do with psychology of the investor and the other 90 percent of the world’s utilities that have been sitting on theirhands and not contracting uranium over the past year.”

It will take time for reactors to come back online and forthe market to adjust, but uranium companies are already see-ing some confidence creeping back into the sector. Theirlong-suffering share prices started to move higher in recentweeks as analysts begin to bump up their price targets frommulti-year lows.

Slow changes will drive growthMuch of the potential new production hinges on progress

in Japan, but that is a slow process. Bank of America MerrillLynch analyst Oscar Cabrera points out that Japan’s NuclearRegulatory Agency is doing safety inspections on 17 of its 48nuclear reactors. It has been 10 months since the first 12 appli-cations to restart reactors were submitted to the agency, andthat is just the first step, he wrote recently. Both the federal andlocal governments also need to give approval. Once that is

done, the reactors can restart, which Cabrera says is a “key cat-alyst” for a boost in uranium prices.

Beyond Japan, though, there is hope as China, India, SouthKorea, and Russia have continued their aggressive build-out ofnuclear power plants despite the Fukushima crisis. China in par-ticular is looking at nuclear as a reliable source of clean energyamid a growing pollution problem. According to the WorldNuclear Association, China has 20 nuclear power reactors inoperation and 28 under construction with big plans to buildmore. While it still relies on foreign supplies of uranium to fuel itsnuclear program, including a long-term deal it has with Cameco,China has a goal to be self-sufficient not just in nuclear powerplant capacity, but also in the production of fuel for those plants.

India is also forging ahead with its own nuclear program witha goal to supply 25 per cent of its electricity from nuclear power by2050 in order to meet the demand of its ballooning population.

It is that increase in demand from a number of countriesthat has producers like Cameco believing in better days ahead.Cameco is forecasting an increase in global nuclear plants from433 today (representing 394 gigawatts) to 526 (or about 514gigawatts) by 2023. Global demand, at about 170 millionpounds, is already outpacing supply at about 160 millionpounds. “The supply-demand fundamentals look very goodfor the industry,” says Gitzel. CIM

Production has begun at the world’s second-largest high-grade uranium orebody at Cigar Lake mine.

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Patterson Lake South isconsidered the most important

uranium discovery in theAthabasca basin in several years.

“A new style of discovery”Technological innovation and old-school prospectingbrought Fission to Patterson Lake SouthBy Virginia Heffernan

Though limited to near surface exploration, the Fission/SPIinvention is more sensitive because the aircraft flies at the opti-mal height and speed to detect localized radioactivity. Power-ful data processing capabilities within the fuselage map theresulting data, identifying and flagging high-priority points inreal time.

“There’s a bit of nuclear science, combined with physics,electronics and software development involved,” said KajHedin, founder and president of SPI. “It’s a complex method,”one he is reluctant to elaborate on because the patent is stillpending.

Retro philosophyNew technology aside, the exploration program conceived

by the former joint venture partners (Fission acquired Alphafor $185 million last year) was in some ways a throwback toan era when prospecting played a key role in finding newdeposits.

At the time of the discovery, the reigning dogma in theAthabasca camp was that all of the shallow deposits had beenfound. It was believed that most of the remaining potential wasin the east, and that any new discoveries would be deep andwell within the margins of the basin: a 100,000-square-kilo-metre sandstone-capped area that supplies about 20 per centof the world’s uranium.

But McElroy and his team knew that the favourable base-ment geology extends beyond the edges of the basin and wereunwilling to accept that just because none of the majors werelooking there was nothing to find. They became increasinglyintrigued by an area on the southwestern margin of the basinthat lay along a major structural corridor of faults and conduc-tors associated with the Cluff Lake and Shea Creek uraniummines. At Patterson Lake, the trend was coincident with the

An invention called the “System and Method for Aer-ial Surveying or Mapping of Radioactive Deposits,”clearly delineated a uranium-rich boulder field onthe Patterson Lake South (PLS) project in October

2009. Devised by Fission Uranium and partner SpecialProjects Inc. (SPI), the technology is an adaptation of tradi-tional airborne radiometric techniques and designed toidentify radioactive boulders. This anomaly would eventu-ally lead joint venture partners Fission (then FissionEnergy) and Alpha Minerals (then ESO uranium) to a high-grade bedrock source that is considered the most importanturanium discovery in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin inseveral years.

“We’d already used the technology to pick up known boul-ders on our other properties on the east side of the basin andcould see individual anomalies with pinpoint accuracy,” saidFission’s president and COO Ross McElroy, from Hong Kong,where he was attending the Mines and Money conference. “Sowe thought the technique would be a good approach at PLSbecause the mineralization model suggested that anything thatwe might have should come to surface.”

Fission and Calgary-based SPI have applied for a patent onthe technique, which McElroy said is “the difference betweenlooking through wax paper and a wineglass,” when comparedwith similar systems.

Traditional airborne techniques to explore for radioactiveminerals generally involve flying a fixed-wing aircraftequipped with large detectors at relatively high altitudes andspeeds. They do not pick up localized discrete occurrencessuch as boulders because the footprint of measurement is solarge and the background-to-boulder signature ratio too low.Older systems also lack the navigation and data acquisitiontools needed to pinpoint radioactivity.

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Clearwater domain, a major geophysically identified featurethat may be associated with uranium in the basin.

Acting on a hunch that the area could contain near-surfaceuranium mineralization, Fission staked a few claims south ofthe basin margin, partly because of the prospective geologyand also because a road through the property provided easyaccess for exploration.

At the same time, Alpha Minerals was honing in on thearea, staking claims after finding a CanOXY (now Nexen)report from the 1970s in the Saskatchewan assessment filesthat cited radioactive anomalies near Patterson Lake. The twocompanies combined their land holdings under a 50:50 jointventure in 2008.

From Ekati to AthabascaHaving merged their claims, the partners needed a way to

identify drill targets. McElroy and Ray Ashley, Fission’s vice-president of exploration, had met Hedin when they worked inthe diamond exploration camps of the Northwest Territories:McElroy and Ashley for BHP Billiton at Ekati, and Hedin as aconsultant developing high-resolution magnetic surveys forkimberlite exploration. “He just seemed to be a step ahead ofeveryone in creating new tools,” McElroy recalled.

So McElroy and Ashley turned to Hedin, who haddesigned, with funding from diamond legend Stewart Blusson,

an airborne radiometric system for geological mapping in theThelon Basin in Nunavut. The three worked together to fine-tune a system that would be applicable to PLS, which had littleoutcrop but was expected to have some kind of surface expres-sion based on known geology and structure. “The earlydeposits around the edge of the basin were found by prospect-ing back from high-grade boulders discovered by radiometricsurveys to a source location,” said McElroy, who recently wonPDAC’s Bill Dennis Award for the PLS discovery.

“The Thelon Basin work gave us the funding to improve thesystem, but until we started flying with Fission, we really hadno method to collect enough data to understand what weneeded to find uranium,” said Hedin, who said the surveys heflew over the Athabasca basin were key to refining the method-ology to find uranium-bearing boulders.

After analyzing the results of the 2009 radiometric survey,flown in conjunction with magnetics, the partners’ first prior-ity was to secure all the anomalous ground. That proved chal-lenging because the area was reserved for coal developmentand off-limits to staking for mineral exploration, requiring theprovincial government to make an exception to the rule.

Subsequent mapping and surface sampling following up onthe airborne radiometric anomalies eventually led to pinpoint-ing the location of the buried boulder field in June 2011 on thenewly staked ground. Detailed ground geophysics, ice direction

May 2014 | 53

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analysis and drilling helped the partners zero in on thebedrock source and in November 2012, hole 22 hit mineral-ization grading more than one per cent U3O8 over 8.5 metres,just 3.8 kilometres up-ice of the boulder field.

Radon plumes another clueThe partners later turned their attention to the east, where

geophysics showed the fault zone continuing underneath Pat-terson Lake. They determined that the best way to detect hotzones along the fault would be to sample radon gas comingfrom the lake bed in winter, when there would be less waterturbulence. Sure enough, several radon plumes were foundbubbling up at discrete locations along a two-kilometre

stretch, providing shallow drill targets that yielded more high-grade uranium.

In late March, Fission announced its best intersection yet:a 53.5-metre zone of off-scale radioactivity within 146metres of mineralization. The company also drilled the holein a gap between two mineralized pods, merging them intoone large deposit and further confirming the continuity ofthe mineralization.

This winter’s program of at least 85 holes, designed todemonstrate continuity between several different pods andexpand the deposit to the east, wrapped up in mid-April. Fis-sion hopes to gather enough drill results this year to producean NI 43-101 compliant estimate of resources, while continu-ing to test the remaining discrete electromagnetic conductorson the rest of the property, of which there are more than 100.

McElroy says he is immensely proud of his team, whichincludes Paul Ramaekers and Roger Thomas. Both are expertsin glacial terrain and Athabasca basin geology that played a keyrole in determining the ice direction at PLS.

“Nobody paid any attention or thought there was anypotential there,” says McElroy. “PLS is not just a discovery, it’sa new style of discovery in a new area, so significant that ithas turned the exploration models in the Athabasca basinupside down.” CIM

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Sean Willy, left, has visited communities inCanada, the USA and Australia in his role

as director of corporate responsibility.

The cheeringsquadHow important is hyping nuclearenergy for uranium miners?By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

energy through public education and advocacy. “Almost all ofthe uranium produced goes to nuclear energy,” says Jennetta.“If you allow the charges and accusations [of radiation andindustry dangers and abuses] to continue, all you do is erodeany future support for nuclear energy. There’s a disconnectamong some in the uranium mining industry, and thatincludes the financial sector that covers uranium. They thinkthey’re not in the nuclear industry but the fact of the matter isthey are. And if you don’t fight for nuclear energy, your busi-ness is going to go broke.”

The reality is that during the Second World War, andthroughout the nuclear weapons arms race, governmentsand mining companies ravaged aboriginal land to extracturanium quickly, often with low-paid aboriginal miners.With short-term thinking and little consideration for theenvironment or health of the workers and communities, thelegacy left behind was not just devastated land and a verifiedhigh incidence of lung cancer among the miners, but also apervasive and persistent distrust and fear of uranium. Thatlegacy is not yesterday’s news. In the Navajo Nation alone,there are 500 abandoned uranium mines still needing recla-mation, although recently the Navajo Nation and theObama administration reached an agreement that will allo-cate $1 billion to address about 10 per cent of those aban-doned mines.

“The cleanup has gone ridiculously slowly and the ura-nium industry in the country has not been out in front of it,leading the charge for more funding, criticizing the U.S. Envi-ronmental Protection Agency for how slow the cleanup isgoing,” says Jennetta. She cites mass media success storiessuch as the 2013 documentary film Pandora’s Promise, whichtakes a pro-nuclear stance, as being particularly effective ineducating the public.

The problem for Cameco Corporation, and every otheruranium producer, is not how little most people knowabout radiation, but how much they think they know.A 2012 survey conducted for the Canadian Nuclear

Association found that less than half of Canadians who claimto be “very familiar” with radiation could correctly answer twotrue-or-false questions about it. It is a useful lesson for theentire uranium industry; one that some are acting on, and oth-ers – at their peril – are not.

Radiation anxieties can reach phobic proportions. Shortlyafter the Fukushima meltdown, fear of radiation crossing thePacific Ocean led to a sudden surge in U.S. sales of Geigercounters, an instrument that measures ionizing radiation lev-els, even though scientists did not expect radioactive materi-als to cross the ocean until 2014, at which time it would beso diluted as to pose no risk. The Geiger does not distinguishbetween different radioactive materials and the varyingdegrees of health risks associated with each, nor the fact thationizing radiation is pervasive in nature including in our ownbodies. In December 2013, a website posted a video pro-duced by “Dave” of a Geiger counter sounding the high radi-ation alarm on a northern California beach. The video, called“Fukushima radiation hits San Francisco?” went viral, trig-gering an investigation by the California Department of Pub-lic Health, which found the high radiation was due tonaturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). Therecorded levels were about the same as those produced by agranite countertop.

Legacy issues plague contemporary businessAndrea Jennetta, publisher of the U.S.-based Fuel Cycle

Week, a nuclear industry newsletter, believes the uraniumindustry has to tackle the misconceptions and fears of nuclear

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More than one way to build awarenessCameco has operations in the U.S., Canada, and Australia,

all of which have large aboriginal populations, and Sean Willy,director of corporate responsibility, has an experienced view ofhow industry ought to engage communities. “Look at the Ringof Fire and the Northern Gateway Pipeline project, without thesupport of the aboriginal communities, nothing moves,” saysWilly. “In northern Saskatchewan, we were granted renewed10-year licences in 2013 because of the health and safetyrecord at our sites, and all of our communities came out tosupport us,” he explains. “We can’t sway everyone’s mind. Ithink you have to be transparent with the people you workwith and get out early into the communities. It’s important forthem to understand where our product is going.”

For 25 years, Cameco’s focus has been on building rela-tionships and trust locally, around its operations. InSaskatchewan, Cameco developed its relationship-buildingmethodology, mostly with aboriginal populations, since ura-nium in Canada, the United States, and Australia is typicallynear or within aboriginal communities. Cameco has strength-ened trust over years by investing in and engaging with abo-riginal communities through training, business andcommunity development and communication, not to men-tion responsible mining. Today, it is the largest industrialemployer of aboriginal people in Canada, with 750 FirstNation employees working directly for the company and justas many First Nations contractors. “We put a lot of effort intolooking at how to take the technical andhighly regulatory world of uranium min-ing and make it straightforward and eas-ier to understand,” says Willy.

Cameco developed educational mate-rial for aboriginal people in and aroundits sites including an online resourcecalled Uranium 101, which is also acces-sible to the general public on the Internet.“We’ve made things tactile and visual. Wewant a traditional knowledge tie-in sothey can understand the scientific natureof it, because when they understand thepractical side of it, then the communitieswant to learn more from the academicside,” says Willy. “A lot of companies takethis journey of corporate social responsi-bility and look at it strictly as a philan-thropy mechanism. Others look at it as arisk mitigation mechanism. Camecoreally sees it as a value-add that comes inbig time with uranium developmentaround the world.”

Nothing beats firsthand knowledgeWhen Cameco acquired major explo-

ration projects in Western Australia in2008, it began working with the Univer-sity of Western Australia to develop edu-

cational material in the indigenous language of the local Martupeople. Willy flew to Australia and met with the local commu-nities. “They first learned about [the uranium industry] intheir own language,” he says.

But they were still skeptical, so Cameco flew 16 Martu eld-ers up to northern Saskatchewan including Noeletta Lee. “Itwas not what I was expecting at all,” she says. “We saw first-hand how they rehabilitate after mining. It was so green, withso many trees and new growth. In the desert, the main thingwe worry about is water. We know water is used to processuranium and we were worried this could affect our water sup-ply. We were able to see how the water is recycled and safelyput back into the river system.

“It was the trip of a lifetime. We got to see every stage of themining process, from mining to processing and rehabilitation.We sat down and talked to the First Nation elders and askedthem questions about mining and how it affected their coun-try. They live like us. There is a mine, yet people still hunt andgather and live their traditional lives. They have been miningfor 20 years and we were able to learn a lot from them.”

Cameco’s approach requires patience and time, especially inthe United States, where the relationship between aboriginalpeople, government and industry has decades’ worth of built-up distrust. “It’s critical for Cameco to be a leader in this,” saysWilly. “We worry if others go and explore for uranium withoutthe communication and education and respect for the aborigi-nal communities, it will potentially close doors for all of us.” CIM

May 2014 | 57

The Department of Materials Engineering at the University of British Columbia seeks an outstanding individual for a grant tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level in the field of Extractive Metallurgy with an emphasis on hydrometallurgy. The starting date of the position will be September 2014, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The Industrial Research Chair in Hydrometallurgy was founded in 1988 and is currently funded by 17 Canadian and international companies. The successful candidate for this competition will be expected to complement UBC’s existing strength in hydrometallurgy and extractive metallurgy and will develop an internationally recognized, externally funded research program. As part of the Chair program, the candidate will be expected to teach short courses at sponsor sites, develop industrial research proposals and programs and generally support the activities of the Chair. The candidate will be expected to teach undergraduate and graduate level courses and to supervise graduate students at the Masters and Ph.D. level.

The candidate will hold a Ph.D. degree or equivalent in Metallurgical or Materials Engineering or a closely related field and will be expected to register as a Professional Engineer in British Columbia. Further information on the department is available at www.mtrl.ubc.ca, and information on the employment environment in the Faculty of Applied Science is available at www.apsc.ubc.ca/careers.

Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a statement (1-2 pages) of technical and teaching interests and accomplishments, and names and addresses (e-mail included) of four referees. Applications must be submitted online at www.hr.ubc.ca/careers-postings/faculty.php.

The initial closing date for applications is May 31st, 2014 but applications will be accepted until a suitable candidate is found. All Canadian, permanent residents and international candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. UBC hires on the basis of merit and is committed to employment equity. All qualified persons are encouraged to apply. UBC is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from visible minority group members, women, Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIADepartment of Materials Engineering Industrial Research Chair in Hydrometallurgy– Assistant Professor Position


There is a little bit of Chuck Edwards in every uraniumfacility operating in Saskatchewan today. For the last40 years, he has helped design and build many of themost successful uranium operations on the planet,

including the Cigar Lake mine, which began shipping ore inMarch. To say he has had an influence is an understatement,yet despite the heft of his CV, which includes a term as CIMpresident and the CIM Distinguished Service Medal, Edwards’persona might be even more impressive than his professionalaccomplishments. The force of his personality and his partic-ular sense of style are formidable and as an outspoken sup-porter of nuclear energy through thick and thin, Edwards hasa flair that can make anyone an optimist when it comes to theindustry’s future.

CIM: What do you think are the most significant things tohappen in the uranium sector lately?Edwards: Well, there are several exciting uranium explo-ration projects in the Athabasca Basin. And there’s Camecogetting Cigar Lake into operation (see p. 77). The deposit isvery challenging and the mining method is unique. So thefact that they have got it up and running is a creditableachievement.

CIM: What about in processing? Regulators have beenconsidering reducing the amount of ammonia that is allowedinto the environment. What would change for uraniumoperations in Saskatchewan, if that was the case?Edwards: Uranium mills that use ammonia are going to be chal-lenged because they do have ammonia emissions. The provenother option, instead of using ammonia for solvent extractionstripping and precipitation, is to use sulphuric acid for strip-ping, and hydrogen peroxide for precipitation. Such mills don’tuse ammonia at all, so they’re not affected by the new ammoniaregulations. The trend generally is away from ammonia and tomaking a peroxide precipitation product because the process isammonia-free. Ammonia mills may find ways to bring theammonia down; that’s one option. The other option is to retro-fit them and shift to the acid strip process, which is doable.That’s what was done at Cameco’s Rabbit Lake mill.

CIM: There are lots of mines trying to save energy nowadays,but I think it would surprise people to hear that the AthabascaBasin uranium mines face potential power shortages. Howserious is this situation now?Edwards: Unfortunately, up in northern Saskatchewan, youwouldn’t say that the uranium operations are really on a grid,

Nuclear powerhouseMetallurgist Chuck Edwards on the changing world of uraniumBy Peter Braul

upfrontU R AN I UM

16 MW, so my suggestion was to put in a 20-MW mini-nuke,use the power you need on site from that, and feed the rest ofthe power into that I2P line, which would help stabilize it.

All the uranium mines and mills are licensed facilities, asare nuclear power plants. And they’re all licensed by thesame people: the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Itwould be easier to get clearance to put a little nuclear powerplant on one of these sites than in it would, say, in your ormy backyard.

CIM: I saw a presentation recently that made the case thatpolitics is really nuclear energy’s only problem. What do youthink of that argument?Edwards: It’s not politics. The major hurdle for the uraniumindustry is public perception (see p. 56). And public percep-tion of everything nuclear and everything atomic is fearful. It’sunfortunate that the first use of atomic energy was bombs andnot power.

There are different types of radiation and different things areradioactive in different ways, and exposure produces differentoutcomes, so it’s complex. And most people don’t understandit. A while back, there were some activists here in Saskatoonwho wanted the city council to declare Saskatoon a radioactiv-ity-free zone, which of course is impossible. I mean the riverhere has uranium in it. Most rivers do. All the oceans do.

The major problem for the uranium industry and nuclearpower is that most people don’t understand radioactivity but

because a grid assumes the power can flow to you over mul-tiple routes. They have one line called the I2P line, and it ispretty much at its maximum power now. It is possible toupgrade it by twinning the line or that kind of thing, andSaskPower has an upgrade in progress. But the other problemis that the line is not highly reliable in the summer becausethere are a lot of lightning strikes. Because it’s on the CanadianShield and the rock below the power line is not electricallyconductive, the line cannot be grounded and so shielded fromthe lightning strikes (unlike lines built in southernSaskatchewan). So the lightning strikes knock it out, and thathappens, on average, between 40 and 50 times every summer.

But all the operations cooperate, and there is one site thatbasically has the weather station. If it looks like a lightningstorm is building up in Alberta, they will send out a warning,and people will start up the gensets. It’s an interesting situation.

CIM: For the industry to grow, mines will need more stablepower – what about nuclear? It would seem fitting for auranium-producing region.Edwards: Firms in Russia, Argentina, Japan, the United States,and Canada have designs for or are operating little pocket gen-erators, or small nuclear reactors. I had a proposal some timeback that one of the operations in northern Saskatchewan putin one of these.

A mine or a mill on its own will need about 10 megawattsof power. A mine and mill combined will need maybe 15 or

May 2014 | 59


are frightened by it because they can’t see it, they can’t taste it,they can’t hear it, they can’t smell it, and they can’t feel it.

CIM: How has public sentiment changed over the time thatyou’ve been working in the business?Edwards: The fact that nuclear power is as green as windpower and solar power has been a boost. I mean, that’s whyChina and India are building reactors about as fast as they can:because they realize if they keep burning only coal theiralready poor air quality will only get worse, and so will dam-age to their citizens’ health.

CIM: What lessons do you think the industry has learned aboutdealing with the public?Edwards: You can’t manage the information. You can provideinformation, but most of the mass media have difficulty inter-preting and passing on technical information.

CIM: How does it make you feel that this perspective holds somuch sway?Edwards: I think that it’s getting better. I mean once upon atime, back in the day, there was huge opposition inSaskatchewan to uranium and to uranium mining and milling.

The opposition to the uranium mining and milling has van-ished and the support in Saskatchewan is fairly high. Interest-

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ingly enough, the further you go away from the mines and themills, the less support there is. There is less support for theuranium industry in Regina than there is in Saskatoon, simplybecause I think the people further from the operations don’tsee the benefit as much.

CIM: So education is really important, which leads me to askyou about the young engineers you mentor. Does the fact thatyou work in uranium make it harder to find good recruits?Edwards: I have never seen anybody in our industry thinkthat the difficulty in hiring people is because it’s uranium.One of the problems we have out here is that the Prairieprovinces, especially Saskatchewan, are seen in Vancouverand Toronto as a bit of a backwater. And so, we have troubleattracting people to Saskatoon. Once you get them here, it’s“Wow! This is great.”

I’ve been around long enough that some of the people thatI first met as students are now mill superintendents and minemanagers and VPs. I don’t take credit for that happening, butI get a huge happiness out of it.

Saskatoon has changed, too. Thirty years ago, it was still inmany ways a small prairie town, quite conservative and mildlysocialist. If you were doing well, many people believed youwere stealing from somebody else. That attitude is gone. Beingsuccessful here now is a good idea, it’s not frowned upon. CIM

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Mining andFirst Nations

have not alwaysgotten along, but what if they

were one and the same?

By Eavan Moore

ONLAND

THE

But when a violent land-use standoffbetween the Mohawk and the army inOka, Quebec in 1990 led mining exec-utives to fear they would lose the abilityto mine in Canada, the nightmarevisions shared by his colleagues leftMatthews skeptical. He quit his job, gotup to speed on treaty and land claimissues, and founded an organization toinform and aid aboriginal groups askingthe same question he had always had:“Why aren’t more communitiesinvolved in mining when mines are intheir backyards?”

Since founding the Canadian Abo-riginal Minerals Association (CAMA)and serving as its president for the last22 years, Matthews says the conversa-tion has changed. Most obviously, thefears of 1990 have turned into aware-ness among mining companies thatgenuinely successful mining projectsdepend on community cooperation.But a handful of aboriginal groups haveturned that notion on its head. Whyshould First Nations, Inuit, or Métisgroups not build their own mines?

Self-sufficiency The Dene Nations of the Northwest

Territories (N.W.T.) have become thelatest to act on that vision and are themost ambitious so far. In 2013, Denen-

For a long time, Hans Matthews did not connect hismining career to his background as a member of theWahnapitae First Nation. A childhood mineral enthusiastwho dug “gold” out of the road at age seven, he had risento vice-president of a mining company without thinkingmuch about aboriginal land issues.

deh Investments Limited Partnershipformed an exploration and miningcompany and bought up brownfieldmineral properties in the N.W.T. withthe intent of developing and operatinga metal mine.

The decision to explore arose frombroad discussions amongst Dene inN.W.T. communities about their visionfor economic development in a regiondriven by the mining industry. DarrellBeaulieu, president and CEO at Denen-deh Investments, tells the story of anelderly woman from the YellowknivesDene who showed a prospector a lumpof gold in 1932 and kicked off thedevelopment of the Giant mine.Beaulieu himself got his start in theexploration business. Since then, hisfocus on economic development as aformer Yellowknives Dene First Nationchief and Dene business leader hasoften involved mining in some form oranother.

But over those years, Beaulieu says,“The Dene have not really fully partici-pated in the way that they wanted to.”Economic self-sufficiency is their newvision: Through exploring, developingand directly benefiting from theirresources, the Dene can diversify theireconomies and sustain existing aborig-inal-owned mine services businesses,more than 60 of which have sprung upin the N.W.T. in the last decade. As faras Beaulieu knows, they would be thefirst aboriginal owners of a metal min-ing company in Canada.

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Hans Matthews founded the Canadian AboriginalMinerals Association and has been its president for22 years.

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As resident owners, they also wantto show potential investors a competi-tive edge. “We live here, we’re basedhere, we operate here,” Beaulieuexplains, “whereas people in the pasthave seen mining companies come from

other jurisdictions not really knowingthe lay of the land.”

The Denendeh Exploration and Min-ing Company, or DEMCo, bought fourbrownfield mining properties in theCamsell River mining area near GreatBear Lake in 2013. The Terra mine isthe most exciting property, with a pasthistory of silver production. There isalso potential for other minerals in thetotal assembly of leases, which includesthe former Smallwood, Northrim, andNorex mines. The claimholder of Norexwas a lone prospector, geologist andmining engineer who optioned it toDEMCo and asked to be a director ofthe company.

DEMCo is now focused on compil-ing existing exploration data and usingthat information to create three-dimen-sional models. Denendeh Investmentshas raised close to the $1 millionneeded to carry the project through thisphase. After the models are complete,DEMCo will hit the mining conventionsin Yellowknife, Vancouver, and Torontoand begin in earnest to seek out a jointventure partner, whether from Canadaor overseas.

Project proponents, not beneficiaries

With a vision, good managementand a strong funding base, DEMCo

Opposite page: Darrell Beaulieu is CEO of DenendehInvestments, which was established to create long-termeconomic self-sufficiency for the Dene through businessventures.

could generate far more income as aproject proponent than impact andbenefit agreements would provide. “Ithink First Nations are starting to realizethat that’s where the real substantialincome is made,” says Merle Alexander,

a partner at Gowlings, who practisesaboriginal resource law, “and that theyhave to start looking at their own terri-tory and identifying areas where theycould find it acceptable for there to bemining development and then tryingthemselves to start staking claims.”

Aboriginal-run mining operationsare out there. Many First Nations rungravel pits, which have low start-upcosts, ranging up to $1 million. A fewaboriginal groups have run industrialminerals operations producinggraphite, garnet or marble, which cancost several million dollars to develop.Matthews and CAMA helped aLabrador Inuit company start up twolabradorite quarries. A Sudbury-areagarnet mine owned by members of theMohawk Nation and located on Wah-napitae land has been running for about10 years. In 2013, Mohawk Garnetreceived $4.3 million from the North-ern Ontario Heritage Fund to expandits processing plant.

But despite the potential, Alexandersays the topic of becoming a projectproponent seldom surfaces in his con-versations with clients. While there arenumerous reasons why more FirstNations have not started up their ownmines, they generally come down tomoney. “To be a mine operator youhave to have a lot of cash, and so thatexcludes a lot of people, not just FirstNations,” points out Glenn Nolan,vice- president, aboriginal affairs atNoront Resources and former chief ofthe Missanabie Cree. But First Nations

have it particularly hard, as theirincome sources put tight limits onwhat they can actually do.

“Most communities get probably 90per cent of their money from govern-ment revenues,” says Matthews. “Maybethe other 10 per cent comes from theirown economic development ventures.”Government cash contributions are measured within short timeframes fromone year to several years, limiting theirusefulness on major infrastructure projects.

“Other orders of government do notfunction on such short financial hori-zons,” says Harold Calla, co-founderand executive chair of the First NationsFinancial Management Board (FNFMB)and member of the Squamish Nation inBritish Columbia. “Most governmentswill finance their infrastructure assetsover the life of the asset. We’re beingexpected to pay for them in 12 months.It’s just not realistic in the world wehave today.”

More important than cash is the abil-ity to obtain loans. Here, too, aboriginalgovernments are at a disadvantage.Rarely does a First Nation have thefinancial track record to reassurelenders; it is also difficult to get a loanwithout collateral, which is the case forFirst Nations whose assets are onreserve land. Those assets cannot be putup as collateral, because the lender hasno right of seizure and no ability to sellto another party.

And finally, there are multiple typesof expertise involved in starting a mine.Most communities, although they mayhave residents and businesses that haveworked at and for mines, do not haveexperience when it comes to managingone. Making major financial calls ingeneral, says Calla, exceeds most com-munities’ capacity and expertise. “TheIndian Act froze us in time,” he says.“We were not allowed to engage in theeconomic mainstream. And we’ve beenthat way for 300 years. All of a sudden,in the last 20 years, we’ve beenunfrozen, but we’ve not had those 300years to evolve.”

That’s why the First Nations FinanceAuthority exists. The non-profit wasincorporated in 1995 to provide alter-

May 2014 | 65

“We live here, we’re based here,

we operate here.”– D. Beaulieu


nate financing sources. This year it willissue about $350 million in loans. “It’salmost like a credit union or a co-op,”explains Calla. “You get a bunch of FirstNations who come together, they get acredit rating, and they go directly to thecapital markets, and they borrowmoney under the Finance Authoritywho issues bonds, and we lend thatmoney to the First Nation. What we’recreating in this process is a wholesaleaccess to capital that is not subject tosome risk-management policy of amajor financial institution. And accessto capital is probably the single mostimportant thing that First Nations asgovernments can use to support achiev-ing their goals and aspirations.”

For ambitious projects, however,First Nations could use more help, andCalla suggests that aboriginal groupsaccept a significant minority stake as agood stepping stone. It does not havethe same profit potential, but it guaran-tees a portion of the wealth while skirt-ing risk.

When First Nations who lived alongproposed liquefied natural gas (LNG)corridors in British Columbia expressedan interest in buying a share of the proj-ects, FNFMB did the math on an exam-ple LNG project and came up with afinancing proposal: Why shouldn’t thefederal government of Canada backstoploans to First Nations seeking to invest?

“An equity participation in a $37-bil-lion project is beyond the financialcapacity of any single or group of FirstNations likely in this country,” saysCalla. “And so as part of the duty toconsult and accommodate, what wehave suggested is that Canada shouldconsider, under terms that it woulddeem appropriate, bringing to the tablea federal loan guarantee program, sothat the private sector and First Nationswould know that an equity ask by FirstNations was possible.”

The FNFMB’s proposal, released inOctober, showed the value chain of anillustrative gas pipeline, intending thateveryone should know precisely whatthe numbers would look like for a FirstNation interested in equity participa-tion. (A few gas companies have alreadyoffered First Nations about a third of the

equity in a project.) Assuming that a$37-billion project is financed on a60:40 debt-to-equity split, a one-thirdequity interest would cost $4.5 billion.

“So you can imagine how the jawsdropped, when we tabled that report,”says Calla. The initial response from the

feds and First Nations? “That’s a bignumber, Harold.”

It is a big number, and it is roughlythe figure that proponents of a newmetal mine would be looking at. ForFirst Nations or for anyone, the asso-ciated risk is tremendous. “You know,there’s a great romantic notion – andI say that deliberately – about whatbeing in business means,” Calla says.“In my opinion, we don’t understandthe concepts of risk. We just think it’sall going to be like Indian Affairsfunding: the cheque’s just going toshow up.

“I will tell you,” he continues, “thatin the early 1990s, I was very muchactive in an attempt by the SquamishNation to purchase a regional shoppingcentre on our lands in West Vancouver,B.C. We came second, and I was reallydisappointed. But I can say today,‘Thank God we didn’t win.’” Callawheezes a laugh. “Because they’veinvested twice what they paid for it tomodernize it.”

The path to ownershipHow can aboriginal groups earn a

significant stake in a multibillion-dollarproject with limited funds? The FNFMB

proposes that First Nations acquiretheir option when the private sectorbrings the project online, so that costoverruns and delays do not hit themhard before any revenue has materialized.

One way to do this is to divert theproceeds from their revenue sharingagreement into buying shares. Anotherway, used by the Naskapi Nation ofKawawachikamach in northern Que-bec, is to negotiate a carried interest tobe paid back when the project startsproducing. The Naskapis were origi-nally approached by an iron companylooking for investors on the LabMagproject, and they agreed to use theirtreaty settlement funds to pay for envi-ronmental baseline studies in exchangefor a 16.5 per cent stake in the project.When New Millennium Iron Corp.bought out the owners, it negotiated anadditional 3.5 per cent stake and a0.333 per cent gross overriding royaltyon future production with theNaskapis. The First Nation will payback its share of development costs, butonly when the mine starts reporting aprofit. By then, a jointventure partnerwill have come on board, so theNaskapis will be paying for a fraction ofa fraction of the cost if the project getsoff the ground.

The right partnership can eventuallytake a community to 100 per cent own-ership without upfront risk. In a transi-tional ownership model, the group canpartner with an owner, generate moneyfrom the project, and then use it to gainfull control – on the condition that theproduct go to a specific buyer. This hasbeen used in the forestry industry andin the case of the Labrador Inuitlabradorite quarries.

A growing number of firms are offer-ing small equity shares to aboriginalcommunities without cash changinghands. Avalon Rare Metals hopes todevelop its Nechalacho rare earth proj-ect in the N.W.T. under a limited part-nership with 10 per cent aboriginalownership, shared equally among threeFirst Nations. Avalon President andCEO Don Bubar believes there is inher-ent value in treaty rights and traditionaluse of the land; providing equity is a

“That’s a BIG

number, Harold.”

– H. Calla

May 2014 | 67

way of recognizing that value, showingrespect to the community, and providingan asset that can be leveraged for fur-ther investment.

But he also sees this model as aninterim stage: “In the future, mostmineral exploration development innorthern Canada will be led by abo-riginal businesses. The whole industryneeds this to happen, because most ofthe mines of tomorrow will be foundin the North and in areas where abo-riginal communities are the only com-munities.”

A South African example

To see the most lucrative example todate of an indigenous government run-ning its own mining venture, Canadianscan look to South Africa. The experi-ence of the Royal Bafokeng Nation(RBN) shows how a group with strongland claims and vision can reap long-term rewards from its mineral wealth.

In the late 19th century, the Bafokengbegan buying up the titles to land withinthe roughly 1,200 square kilometres theyhad occupied for 500 years, foreseeingthat private landownership would pro-vide a measure of community protectionunder colonial European law. Bafokengmen went to work on farms and dia-mond mines to earn the purchase funds.In 1925, this foresight paid off whenplatinum was discovered on Bafokengland. With ownership established, RBNwas able to lease mineral rights to plat-inum companies and eventually negoti-ate royalties from platinum mining, mostnotably with Impala Platinum. It usedthe money to improve infrastructure andservices for its community.

Tara Polzer Ngwato, who holds thetitle of executive of research andknowledge management within theRoyal Bafokeng Administration, studiesthe history and impacts of the nation’swork. “Retaining land ownership and

securing income from mineral exploita-tion was not an easy or obviousprocess, but one requiring a long legalstruggle against both the South Africanstate and against Impala,” she com-ments. Polzer Ngwato believes thatmines must “abandon the idea of astate-management-labour trifectawhere ‘social licence’ is understoodmerely as the cost of keeping commu-nities happy.” In the Bafokeng’s experi-ence, she says, the shift to sustainabilityhappened when they moved “frombeing recipients of benefits to becom-ing owners and managers.”

RBN benefited from post-ApartheidBlack Economic Empowerment regula-tions requiring companies to have a cer-tain percentage of ownership byhistorically disadvantaged people,which ushered in the opportunity totranslate royalties into stock holdingagreements. That brought a 13 per centshare of in Impala Platinum; it alsofacilitated a joint venture with AngloAmerican Platinum that is now 57-per-cent-owned by RBN. Polzer Ngwatonotes that it was RBN’s initiative andhard work that got the ball rolling onthe Anglo American joint venture.

The platinum boom from 1996 to2008 fattened the community’s assetbase to figures in the billions. Theseassets are held entirely in a trust and areinvested in a diversified equity portfolioby RBN’s own investment company toreduce the overall dependence on themining commodities cycle. RBN hasused the dividends from these invest-ments to upgrade the public infrastruc-ture of its 150,000-person communitywith roads, water lines, schools andclinics. In the last decade, street lightshave replaced nighttime darkness. Theinfrastructure in the RBN community isnow markedly better than other com-munities in the platinum belt.

Nevertheless, Polzer Ngwato pointsout, the wealth of the community can-not be confused with the wealth of its

members. Unemployment remainshigh, and some question RBN’s policyof major long-term investments asopposed to more direct relief. But thecommunity can boast a 2013 socialexpenditure budget of about $75 mil-lion, and it can look forward to thelong-term sustainability of its existence.RBN is deliberately planning for thetime when platinum resources run out.

EvolutionIn Darrell Beaulieu’s view, the time to

become owners is now, when the indus-try downturn has put cut-rate proper-ties on the market. But DEMCo is likelyto remain a rarity. From their positionsat FNFMB and CAMA – organizationsintended to help Aboriginal Peoples gettheir financial houses in order and sharewhat they know about the miningindustry, respectively – Calla andMatthews can see that there is a longway to go.

Building a sustainable future will bemuch easier if mining companies andgovernments make it a priority. “Gov-ernments, both federal and provincial,need to stop looking at First Nations asa risk management issue,” says Calla,“and to start looking at us as partnersthat need to be supported, need to havethe resources, the same kind of resourc-ing that the federal government haswhen it’s making its decisions.”

What is the role for mining compa-nies looking to support active commu-nity involvement? Matthews has ananswer. “I’m telling mining companiesthat when we started 20 years ago,everyone talked about aboriginal par-ticipation in mining. It’s no longer abo-riginal participation in mining, it’smining company participation in theaboriginal community, and that’s thekey. And that’s how communities aregoing to learn about the industry, notby being on the workbench sitting inthe mine.” CIM

“The whole industry needs this to happen…”– D. Bubar


à Oka, au Québec, en 1990, au sujet del’utilisation des terres, qui opposait l’Ar-mée et les Mohawks, certains dirigeantsde compagnies minières craignaientqu’il ne serait plus possible de faire del’extraction minière au Canada.Matthews trouvait peu crédibles cesvisions cauchemardesques de ses col-lègues. Il a démissionné, a étudié lesquestions liées aux traités et aux reven-dications territoriales et a fondé unorganisme qui aiderait les groupes

Pendant longtemps, Hans Matthewsne faisait pas de lien entre sa carrièredans l’industrie minière et ses antécé-dents dans la Première nation des Wah-napitae. À l’époque de son enfance, ilétait un amateur de minéraux et, à septans, il déterrait de « l’or » du chemin.

Plus tard, il a atteint le poste de vice-président d’une compagnie minièresans trop réfléchir aux questions derevendications territoriales autochtones.Lors d’un affrontement violent survenu

Le secteur minier et les communautés des Premières nations ne se sont pas toujours bien entendus.Mais s’il y avait convergence entre leurs intérêts ?

par Eavan Moore

autochtones à mieux connaître laréponse à une question qui l’avait tou-jours préoccupé : Comment se fait-ilque des communautés plus nombreusesne participent pas à l’extraction minièrelorsque des mines se trouvent dans leurpropre arrière-cour ?

Depuis qu’il a fondé l’Associationcanadienne des intérêts autochtones del’industrie minérale (Canadian Aborigi-nal Minerals Association – CAMA) etqu’il en a été le président depuis 22 ans,Matthews trouve que le sujet de la con-versation a changé. De toute évidence,les craintes de 1990 se sont transfor-mées. Les sociétés minières ont pris con-science qu’un véritable succès de projetsminiers nécessite la coopération de lacommunauté. Cependant, quelquesgroupes autochtones ont pris cette idée

VIVRE DES Al

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RESSOURCESDE LA TERRE

premiers propriétaires autochtonesd’une mine métallifère au Canada.

En tant que propriétaires résidants,ils veulent aussi présenter aux investis-seurs potentiels un avantage concurren-tiel. Beaulieu explique : « Nous vivonsici, nous sommes établis ici, nous tra-vaillons ici, alors que, dans le passé, lesgens voyaient des sociétés minières venirici d’ailleurs, sans vraiment connaître lesréalités d’ici. »

En 2013, la Denendeh Explorationand Mining Company, ou DEMCo, a faitl’achat de quatre zones minières désaf-fectées dans la région minière de la riv-ière Camsell, près du Grand lac del’Ours. La mine Terra est la plus promet-teuse, ayant des antécédents de produc-tion d’argent. Il y a aussi du potentielpour d’autres minéraux dans l’ensembledes concessions minières, qui comprendles anciennes mines de Smallwood,Northrim et Norex. Le titulaire d’un con-cesson d’exploration de Norex était unprospecteur solitaire, géologue etingénieur des mines, qui a donné uneoption à DEMCo et a demandé d’endevenir un administrateur.

DEMCo met maintenant l’accent surla compilation de données d’explorationexistantes pour en faire des modèlestridimensionnels. Denendeh Invest-ments a recueilli près de un million dedollars nécessaires pour franchir cetteétape du projet. Une fois les modèlesachevés, DEMCo se rendra aux congrèsde Yellowknife, Vancouver et Toronto etse mettra sérieusement à chercher unpartenaire en coentreprise au Canada ouà l’étranger.

Des promoteurs de projets, plutôt que des bénéficiaires

Avec une vision, une bonne gestion etune base de financement solide, DEMCopourrait générer bien plus de revenus entant que promoteur de projet que nepourraient procurer des ententes sur lesrépercussions et les avantages. « À monavis, les Premières nations commencentmaintenant à se rendre compte que c’estainsi que se réalisent les grands béné-fices », selon Merle Alexander, associé ausein du cabinet Gowlings et spécialiste

par l’autre bout. Pourquoi les Premièresnations, les Inuits ou les groupes métisne construiraient-ils pas leurs propresmines ?

L’autosuffisanceLa Nation dénée des Territoires du

Nord-Ouest (T.N.-O.) est la dernière endate à donner suite à cette vision et serévèle la plus ambitieuse jusqu’àprésent. En 2013, Denendeh Invest-ments, société en commandite, a crééune entreprise d’exploration et d’ex-ploitation minière et a acheté des sitesdésaffectés de biens miniers dans lesT.N.-O. dans l’intention de développeret d’exploiter une mine métallifère.

La décision d’explorer a découlé d’unlarge débat parmi les Dénés dans les col-lectivités des T.N.-O.

au sujet de leur vision du développe-ment économique dans une régiondirigée par l’industrie minière.

Darrell Beaulieu, président et chefdes opérations de Denendeh Invest-ments, raconte l’histoire d’une femmeâgée des Dénés Yellowknives qui montreà un prospecteur, en 1932, un grosmorceau d’or, ce qui donne le coupd’envoi à l’aménagement de la mineGiant. Beaulieu lui-même a fait sesdébuts dans les activités d’exploration.Depuis lors, cet ancien chef de la Pre-mière nation des Dénés Yellowknives ethomme d’affaires Déné a mis l’accent surle développement économique, souventdans un contexte minier.

Toutefois, au fil de ces années,Beaulieu dit : « Les Dénés n’ont pas par-ticipé pleinement comme ils l’auraientvoulu. » Ils ont une nouvelle visiond’autonomie économique : par l’explo-ration, le développement minier et lesretombées positives de leurs ressources,les Dénés seront en mesure de diversifierleur économie et de soutenir les entre-prises de services miniers qui appartien-nent actuellement à des autochtones,dont plus de 60 ont vu le jour dans lesT.N.-O. depuis dix ans. À sa connais-sance, Beaulieu croit qu’ils seraient les

(Page précédente) Hans Matthews est le fondateur dela Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association, où ilsiège comme président depuis 22 ans.

du droit des autochtones et desressources. « Elles doivent se pencher surleur propre territoire et cerner des zonesqui pourraient admettre une exploitationminière acceptable et puis essayer elles-mêmes de jalonner des concessions d’ex-ploration. »

Il existe des opérations minièresdirigées par des autochtones. Plusieursgroupes des Premières nationsexploitent des carrières de gravier quiont de faibles coûts de démarrage, allantjusqu’à un million de dollars. Quelquesgroupes autochtones ont dirigé desopérations de minéraux industriels quiproduisent du graphite, du grenat ou dumarbre, ce qui peut coûter quelquesmillions à aménager. Matthews etCAMA ont aidé une entreprise inuite duLabrador à lancer deux carrières delabradorite. Depuis environ dix ans dansla région de Sudbury, on exploite unemine de grenat qui appartient à desmembres de la Nation mohawk et quiest située sur des terres des Wahnapitae.En 2013, Mohawk Garnet a reçu 4,3millions de dollars du Fonds du patri-moine du Nord de l’Ontario pouragrandir son usine de traitement.

Toutefois, malgré le potentiel,Alexander fait remarquer qu’il entendrarement ses clients aborder le sujet dedevenir promoteurs de projet. Bienqu’il existe de nombreuses raisons quiexpliquent pourquoi les Premièresnations n’ont pas été plus nombreusesà lancer leurs propres mines, cela serésume en général en questions d’ar-gent. « Pour devenir exploitant minier,il faut posséder beaucoup de liquid-ités, ce qui exclut bien des gens, et passeulement des Premières nations »,selon Glenn Nolan, vice-président,affaires autochtones chez NorontResources et ancien chef de la Pre-mière nation crie Missanabie. Cepen-dant, c’est particulièrement difficilepour les Premières nations puisqueleurs sources de revenus limitent cequ’elles peuvent réellement faire.

Selon Matthews, « La plupart descommunautés touchent probablement90 % de leurs revenus du Gouverne-ment. Les 10 % qui restent viennentpeut-être de leurs propres initiatives dedéveloppement économique. » La con-

May 2014 | 69

tribution au comptant versée par leGouvernement s’étale sur une périodecourte, allant de un an à quelquesannées, ce qui en limite l’utilité dans lesgrands projets d’infrastructure.

« D’autres ordres de gouvernementn’ont pas des horizons financiers aussicourts », selon Harold Calla, cofonda-teur et président exécutif du Conseil degestion financière des Premières nations(CGFPN) et membre de la Premièrenation de Squamish en Colombie-Bri-tannique. « La plupart des gouverne-ments financent leurs actifs liés àl’infrastructure sur la durée de vie de cesactifs. On nous demande de les payersur une période de douze mois. Ce n’estpas un objectif réaliste dans notremonde contemporain. »

Ce qui compte encore plus que l’ar-gent liquide, c’est la possibilité d’obtenirdes prêts. Là aussi, les gouvernementsautochtones sont désavantagés. Une Pre-mière nation a rarement un dossier d’an-técédents financiers qui puisse rassurerles prêteurs. Il est difficile aussi d’obtenirun prêt en l’absence de garanties, ce quipose un problème pour les Premièresnations dont l’actif se trouve sur des ter-res de réserve. Ce genre d’actif ne peutpas être fourni en nantissement car leprêteur n’aura aucun droit de saisie et nepourra pas vendre à un tiers.

Finalement, la mise en service d’unemine exige des types multiples de com-pétences. Bien qu’il y ait parfois des rési-dants et des entreprises qui ont uneexpérience du travail minier, la plupartdes collectivités ne possèdent pas d’ex-périence pertinente quand il s’agit degérer une mine. En règle générale, pren-dre de grandes décisions financièresdépasse les capacités et les compétencesde la plupart des communautés, selonCalla. Il dit que « La Loi sur les Indiensnous a empêchés d’évoluer au fil dutemps. Il ne nous était pas permis de par-ticiper à l’économie générale. Et c’étaitainsi pendant 300 ans. Et tout à coup,depuis vingt ans, nous avons pu bougermais sans bénéficier d’expériences accu-mulées pendant ces trois siècles. »

Voilà pourquoi il existe l’Administra-tion financière des premières nations.Cette organisation à but non lucratifremonte à 1995 et a pour mandat de

fournir des sources de financement derechange. En 2005, elle est placée sousl’autorité de la Loi sur la gestion finan-cière des premières nations. Cette loi afourni à des groupes signataires desmécanismes de fiscalité foncière et a missur pied un certain nombre d’institutionsd’appui, notamment le CGFPN de Calla.

Calla explique : L’Administrationfinancière des premières nations,« C’est presque comme une caisse pop-ulaire ou une coop. » Sous la directionde Premières nations, elle rassembledes Premières nations qui ont adhéréen tant que membres emprunteurs.L’institution obtient une cote de créditet émet des obligations sur les marchésdes capitaux et, par la suite, prête del’argent à des Premières nations indi-viduelles. Cette année, elle émettra env-iron 350 millions de dollarsd’emprunts. Calla précise : « Par ceprocessus, nous créons un accès degros au capital, sans être soumis àquelque politique de gestion desrisques de grandes institutions finan-cières. En somme, pour les Premièresnations qui gouvernent, l’accès auxcapitaux est probablement le facteur leplus important pour atteindre leursobjectifs et réaliser leurs aspirations. »

Cependant, pour les projets d’enver-gure, les Premières nations auraientbesoin d’une aide plus importante. Callasuggère que les groupes autochtonesacceptent une participation minoritairenon négligeable, ce qui serait un bontremplin. Bien que cela n’ait pas lemême potentiel de profit, cela garantitune part des bénéfices tout en diminu-ant le risque.

Lorsque des Premières nations quihabitaient le long de corridors proposéspour des pipelines de gaz naturel liqué-fié (GNL) en Colombie-Britannique ontmanifesté leur intérêt pour acheter unepart des projets, le CGFPN a fait des cal-culs sur un projet-type de GNL et atrouvé une proposition de

Financement : pourquoi le gouverne-ment fédéral canadien ne pourrait-il pasgarantir des prêts aux Premières nationsqui voudraient investir ?

« Une participation au capital dansun projet de 37 milliards de dollarsdépasse la capacité financière d’une Pre-

mière nation ou de tout groupe de Premières nations susceptible de se for-mer au Canada », selon Calla. « Par con-séquent, d’après nous, une partie del’obligation légale de consulter et d’ac-commoder serait que le Canada envisagedes modalités appropriées pour soumet-tre un programme fédéral de garantiesde prêts. Ainsi, le secteur privé et lesPremières nations sauraient qu’il est pos-sible d’octroyer à une Première nationune participation au capital. »

Le rapport du CGFPN publié en octo-bre affiche, en guise d’exemple, la chaînede valeur d’un gazoduc, dans l’intentionque tout le monde sache précisément àquoi ressembleraient les chiffres d’uneparticipation au capital par une Premièrenation. Quelques sociétés gazières ontdéjà offert à des Premières nations envi-ron un tiers des capitaux propres d’unprojet. En supposant qu’un projet de 37milliards de dollars se finance selon unratio emprunts/capitaux propres de 60-40, une participation jusqu’à concur-rence d’un tiers coûterait 4,5 milliards dedollars.

Selon Calla : « Alors, vous pourrezbien imaginer comment ce rapport a faittomber les mâchoires. » Comment lesautorités fédérales et les Premièresnations ont-elles réagi dans un premiertemps ? « Harold, ça représente un mon-tant faramineux. »

Oui, c’est une somme faramineuse etc’est à peu près ce montant que devrontenvisager les promoteurs d’une nouvellemine métallifère. Pour les Premièresnations ou quiconque, les niveaux derisques associés sont énormes. SelonCalla : « Écoutez, il y a des gens quirêvent en couleurs – je le dis délibéré-ment – des gens qui se font des idéesfausses au sujet d’être en affaires. Selonmoi, nous comprenons mal le conceptde risque. Nous sommes portés à croireque le commerce ressemble aux rapportsavec les Affaires indiennes, que le chèquede financement est dans le courrier. Ilillustre son propos : « Laissez-moi vousdire que vers le début des années 1990,


(Page suivante) Darrell Beaulieu est le PDG de DenendehInvestments Inc., un cabinet qui a été établi pourappuyer une autonomie économique durable pour lepeople déné par la création d’entreprises commerciales.

j’ai participé très activement à une tenta-tive par la Première nation de Squamishd’acheter un centre commercial régionalsitué sur nos terres dans West Vancouver,en Colombie-Britannique. Nous sommesarrivés en deuxième position, ce qui m’abien déçu. Mais, aujourd’hui, je peuxdire que c’était un coup de chance pournous, heureusement. » Calla éclate derire. « Nos concurrents ont dû dépenserle double du prix d’achat pour mod-erniser leurs installations. »

La voie menant vers lapropriété

Vu leurs fonds restreints, commentles groupes autochtones pourront-ils setailler une place importante dans unprojet qui vaut plusieurs milliards dedollars ? Le CGFPN propose que les Pre-mières nations acquièrent leur optionquand le projet du secteur privé entre enservice. De cette façon, elles ne serontpas durement touchées par des retardsdans la réalisation et des dépassementsde coûts avant que des revenus ne sematérialisent.

Une des manières de le faire consisteà affecter les recettes issues de leur

entente de répartition à l’achat d’actions.Une deuxième façon : imiter l’exemplede la Nation naskapi de Kawawachika-mach, du Nord de Québec, qui a négociédes intérêts reportés qui seront rem-boursés quand le projet commencera àproduire. À l’origine, une compagnie deminerai de fer a abordé les Naskapispour trouver des investisseurs dans leprojet de LabMag. Les Naskapis se sontmis d’accord pour utiliser leurs fonds derèglement de traité pour payer desétudes initiales sur l’environnement. Encontrepartie, les Naskapis ont acquis uneprise de participation de 16,5 % dans leprojet. Lorsque New Millenium IronCorp. a racheté les parts des proprié-taires en place, elle a négocié avec lesNaskapis un supplément de 3,5 % de laprise de participation et une redevancedérogatoire brute de 0,333 % de la pro-duction future. La Première nation rem-boursera sa part des frais dedéveloppement, mais seulement quandla mine commencera à enregistrer desbénéfices. D’ici là, un partenaire decoentreprise se sera joint au projet. Parconséquent, les Naskapis ne paierontqu’une fraction d’une fraction du coût sile projet devient une réalité.

Un bon partenariat peut par la suiteamener la communauté à un taux depropriété de 100 %, et cela sans s’ex-poser au risque initial. Dans un modèlede propriété transitoire, le groupepourra s’associer avec un propriétaire,faire fructifier de l’argent du projet etpuis s’en servir pour s’assurer le contrôletotal – à la condition que le produit soitvendu à un acheteur particulier. Cettestratégie a servi dans l’industrieforestière et dans les carrières delabradorite des Inuits au Labrador.

Un nombre croissant de sociétésoffrent maintenant une petite part d’ac-tions à des communautés autochtonessans que de l’argent ne change de mains.Par exemple, Avalon Rare Metals espèredévelopper son projet Nechalacho deterres rares dans les T.N.-O. au moyend’une société en commandite avec 10 %de propriété autochtone que separtageront également trois Premièresnations. Don Bubar, président et chef dela direction d’Avalon, croit en la valeurintrinsèque des droits issus de traités eten l’utilisation traditionnelle des terres.Offrir une prise de participation est unmoyen d’apprécier cette valeur, de fairepreuve de respect pour la communauté

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et de fournir un actif qui pourra multi-plier des investissements supplémen-taires.

Toutefois, Bubar voit aussi dans cemodèle une étape intermédiaire : « Àl’avenir, ce seront des entreprisesautochtones qui mèneront l’essentiel del’exploration et de la mise en valeur duminerai dans le Nord du Canada. Toutel’industrie en a besoin puisque la plupartdes mines de demain seront situées dansle Nord et dans des régions où les seulescommunautés seront des communautésautochtones. »

Un exemple sud-africainPour trouver l’exemple le plus

lucratif jusqu’à présent d’un gouverne-ment autochtone qui mène un projetminier qui lui appartient, examinonsl’Afrique du Sud. L’expérience vécue parla Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN) montrecomment un groupe ayant de fortesrevendications territoriales et une visiond’avenir peut tirer profit à long terme deses richesses minérales.

À la fin du XIXe siècle, les Bafokengsse sont mis à acheter des titres de pro-priété des terres à l’intérieur desquelques 1 200 kilomètres carrés de ter-ritoire qu’ils avaient occupés depuis cinqcents ans. Ils prévoyaient qu’une pro-priété privée de la terre offrirait une cer-taine protection à leur communautésous le droit colonial européen. Leshommes Bafokengs allaient travailler surdes fermes et dans des mines à diamantspour gagner le prix d’achat des terres.En 1925, leur prévoyance a rapportéquand on a découvert la présence deplatine dans les terres des Bafokengs.Leur propriété étant établie, la RBN étaiten mesure d’accorder des droits miniersà des compagnies de production de pla-tine et, par la suite, de négocier des rede-vances minières, notamment avecImpala Platinum. Cet argent a servi àaméliorer l’infrastructure et les servicesdans la communauté.

Tara Polzer Ngwato, cadre respons-able de la recherche et de la gestion dusavoir dans la Royal Bafokeng Adminis-tration, étudie l’histoire et les con-séquences des travaux de la Nation.« Demeurer propriétaires des terres et

tirer des revenus d’une exploitation deminerai n’étaient ni faciles ni évidents ;cela a nécessité un long combatjuridique contre l’État sud-africain ainsique contre Impala. » Elle croit que lessociétés minières doivent : « renoncer àl’idée d’une relation triangulaire rentableÉtat-patronat-travailleurs, d’un ‘pactesocial’ qui ne représente que le coût d’a-paisement des communautés. Selon l’ex-périence connue par les Bafokengs, latransition vers la pérennité s’est produitequand les Bafokengs sont passés dustatut de bénéficiaires des retombées àcelui de propriétaires et de gestion-naires. »

La RBN a tiré avantage des règle-ments visant à faire accéder les Noirs aupouvoir économique après l’apartheid.Les entreprises étaient tenues d’avoir uncertain pourcentage de propriété appar-tenant à des groupes historiquementdésavantagés, ce qui a ouvert la porte àla possibilité de transformer des rede-vances en des accords d’actionnariat.Cela a mené à une propriété de 13 % desactions d’Impala Platinum. Cela a aussifavorisé une coentreprise avec AngloAmerican Platinum qui appartient main-tenant jusqu’à concurrence de 57 % à laRBN. Polzer Ngwato fait remarquer quec’était l’initiative et le travail acharné dela RBN qui ont fait avancer la coentre-prise avec Anglo American.

L’essor de la platine entre 1996 et2008 a fait grimper à quelques milliardsla base des actifs de la communauté. Cesactifs sont détenus entièrement enfiducie et sont investis dans des porte-feuilles d’actions diversifiées par unesociété d’investissement qui appartient àla RBN. Cela réduit la dépendance glob-ale à l’égard du cycle des produitsminiers. La RBN a employé le rendementde ses actions pour parachever l’infra-structure publique de sa communauté de150 000 personnes : routes, conduitesd’eau, écoles, cliniques. Au cours de ladernière décennie, l’obscurité nocturnea cédé la place à un éclairage des rues. Lacommunauté de la RBN possède main-tenant une infrastructure nettementmeilleure que celle d’autres commu-nautés dans la zone de platine.

Cependant, Polzer Ngwato signaleque l’on ne doit pas confondre la

richesse de la communauté avec celle deses membres. Le chômage reste élevé etcertains remettent en cause la politiqueRBN de grands investissements à longterme, par opposition à une aide plusdirecte. Toutefois, la communauté peutse vanter d’avoir un budget de dépensessociales en 2013 d’environ 75 millionsde dollars et elle peut s’attendre à êtreviable à long terme. La RBN envisagedélibérément une époque marquée parl’épuisement des ressources de platine.

ÉvolutionD’après Darrell Beaulieu, le temps est

maintenant venu de devenir proprié-taires, pendant que le ralentissement del’industrie fait vendre des propriétés aurabais. Mais DEMCo pourrait biendemeurer un phénomène rare. LeCGFPN et CAMA ont le mandat d’aiderles peuples autochtones à mettre de l’or-dre dans leur situation financière et departager leurs connaissances de l’indus-trie minière. Calla et Matthews voientqu’il reste beaucoup de chemin à par-courir.

Il sera bien plus facile de bâtir unavenir durable si les compagniesminières et les gouvernements en fontune priorité. Selon Calla : « Les gou-vernements, tant fédéral que provinci-aux, doivent cesser de voir dans lesPremières nations un problème de ges-tion des risques ; ils doivent commencerà voir en nous des partenaires à appuyer,des partenaires qui ont besoin deressources à un niveau analogue à celuidu Gouvernement fédéral quand il faitdes choix. »

Quel rôle reviendra aux compagniesminières qui cherchent à soutenir unengagement communautaire actif ?Matthews donne une réponse : « Je disaux compagnies minières qu’à nosdébuts, il y a vingt ans, tout le mondeparlait de la participation autochtonedans le secteur minier. De nos jours,c’est périmé. Parlons plutôt de la partic-ipation des sociétés minières dans lescommunautés autochtones. Je penseque cela est fondamental. C’est ainsi queles communautés apprendront au sujetde l’industrie, plutôt qu’en travaillant àl’intérieur des mines. » ICM

When it comes to satisfy-ing his customers’ topneeds, Derek Lawrence,

sales manager of B.I.D. Bulk Mate-rial Handling Systems, says mod-ern belt conveyor technology ismost in demand. “A lot of times,their primary concerns are capitalcost and delivery. Since they’veproven reliable, conventional sys-tems are often chosen,” saysLawrence.

In the last 20 years, informationtechnology has had an enormousinfluence on basic conveyor systemdesign, according to Steve Davis,technical director for materialshandling at Worley ParsonsCanada. Computing power andmodelling software, and a betterunderstanding of material proper-ties has allowed engineers, forinstance, to design more precise,lighter weight, cost-effective con-veyor systems for higher capacities.

These same advances have also provided designs that better handle practicalproblems like controlling material flow onto belts or minimizing dust cre-ation and material spillage.

“Transfer chutes have improved phenomenally in the last 20 years,”explains Davis. “Our ability to manage material and airflow in chutes, alongwith improved wear resistance and belt cleaning, and better skirt systemsallows us to have a series of conveyors in line and be able to more or lessguarantee that the transfer between those conveyors is going to work out 100per cent of the time.”

May 2014 | 73

Going placesNew conveyor designs stand out in a traditional fieldBy Eavan Moore

When miners look to assemble a conveyor system, the majority tend to stick withthe tried and true. For projects that need to move major tonnages, conveyor systemsare being pushed to new dimensions, getting bigger and more powerful. But foroperations cursed with steep and demanding terrain, and for miners seeking moreefficient transportation, some new design developments could challenge traditionalsystems.

technologyC C CONVEY I NG

Jamalco, a joint venture betweenAlcoa and the Jamaican government,uses Doppelmayr’s RopeCon systemto move bauxite ore up steep terrainat its Mount Oliphant mine.

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Heavyweight beltsMore recently, the mining megaprojects under

development have been catalysts for new capabilitiesin conveyor components. Higher production levelsand higher waste-to-ore ratios put more demands onconveyor systems, says Patrick Dronsky, manager ofthe material handling department at AMEC. A con-veyor at one of the biggest mines under developmentmight move 20,000 tonnes per hour. That has driventhe adoption of more powerful drives, stronger beltsand bigger overall systems.

Gearless conveyor drives become economicallycompetitive with conventional conveyor drives (withgearboxes) at about 2.5 megawatts (MW). A few largeSouth American mines have ordered gearless drivesfor their new conveyor systems. Glencore installedtwo 3.8-MW Siemens gearless drives on a 6.5-kilo-metre conveyor at its Antapaccay copper mine inPeru. Conventional drives could do the same job, butgenerally with higher cost and more maintenancerequirements. By eliminating the gearbox and con-necting a synchronous motor directly to the drivepulley, gearless drives add efficiency.

Drives don’t do all the heavy lifting: as systemsramp up capacity, the belt needs to be stronger, too.Davis says companies like ContiTech and Veyancehave developed belts with strength ratings ofST10,000. At that strength, one belt could potentiallyhandle a load that might previously have requiredthree separate flights of lower strength belts. “This is signifi-cant because each transfer and drive costs money to install andto operate, so if one long belt can be used instead of threeshorter belts in a line, money will be saved all around,”explains Davis. Until a few years ago, the strongest belt avail-able was rated and proven at ST7,800.

While the larger conveyors address the question of capacity,they run up against traditional limitations. For instance, eventhe biggest conveyor belts cannot carry run-of-mine sizing of ametre or more. That could be a problem if more mines turn toin-pit conveying, as Davis suspects they will. Conveyors alsorequire cleared land along their route and only moderately steepslopes. Providing solutions to these niches though could beaccomplished by a couple of new designs that break the mould.

Rail-Veyor: rethinking the mineRail-Veyor represents a fundamentally different option for

bulk material handling. It is an all-electric troughed light railsystem that integrates with, or replaces, trucks and conveyorswith a continuous haulage system. Rail-Veyor can handledevelopment debris or run-of-mine ore, emits no diesel partic-ulates and has less rolling resistance than electric conveyor sys-tems. According to Pat Fantin, vice-president, technical, thesystem’s operating costs are 20 per cent lower than conveyersand it also has fewer wearable moving parts.

The system can transport larger lump unsized ore and italso addresses the problems associated with transfer points.

“Once the Rail-Veyor system isloaded, there are no transferpoints and it can run continu-ously to the final destination,”says Fantin.

Its first Canadian installation,serving a near surface ore body atVale’s Copper Cliff operation, pro-vided a test of how the technology can be integrated into a re-engineered mining process. After finding the system doubledits development-advance rate, Vale now has plans to install itin two more mines in Brazil. Rail-Veyor compares its systemsto a Lego set, with components that combine to create cus-tomizable solutions. Using the experience gained during theVale project, Rail-Veyor has changed some components tomake a lighter and modular system that can be more easilymanufactured and installed.

Rail-Veyor has intrigued operators and garnered pressaround the world since it debuted, but still has only a handfulof installations. “Using a Rail-Veyor system can fundamentallychange the mining process,” says Fantin, adding that it canlower operating and capital costs when “mine planners inte-grate the system into their initial mine design.”

Often Rail-Veyor gets called in too late in the process. Wellinto building an underground mine in Africa that relied onconveyors and trucks, one client proposed transferring orefrom truck, to ore pass, to Rail-Veyor. When a contact from

Ontario-based Rail-Veyor, aversatile, all-electric light rail

system, has provedsuccessful at Vale’s CopperCliff operation. The minernow has plans to install

similar systems at some ofits Brazilian operations.

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Vale suggested that the company put in a spur to send the traindirectly to the level being mined, the client’s eyes lit up withthe possibility, says Fantin, although it was recognized as toolate to do so.

That is not to say the technology only suits new mines. TheVale experience in the Sudbury basin showed that an operat-ing mine looking to transition to Rail-Veyor can do it by iden-tifying the right transition point – when the long-term benefitsoutweigh new equipment costs, or when the mine naturallyprogresses to a new ore zone.

RopeCon: steep hills, low costsFor mines operating on hillier terrain, or that are removing

ore from a pit of suitable geometry, rope-based conveyors canpick up the slack. Doppelmayr’s RopeCon, for one, suspendsits load from a structural rope system.

RopeCon’s polyamide wheels run along continuous steeltrack ropes, bearing a conveyor belt with corrugated sidewallsfor up to 20 kilometres. An inspection trolley runs overheadon a third set of ropes. “It effortlessly spans valleys and obsta-cles, thus enabling direct, short routes between two points,”says Stefanie Reis, part of the international sales team at Dop-pelmayr. “Being an elevated system, it also minimizes spacerequirements along the line.”

BeMo Tunnelling GmbH successfully used the firstRopeCon on a civil works site in Tyrol, Austria, from 2002 to2004. To get from the tunnel to the dump site, muck had tocross a road, a creek, and a railway line. A conventional con-veyor belt would have been expensive and difficult to install,since support stanchions would need to be widely placed.RopeCon, on the other hand, only requires one support stan-chion every 250 metres. The cost of using haul trucks wouldhave been comparable, but BeMo opted for RopeCon becauseit seemed faster and more reliable, particularly during winter.The installed system was capable of conveying about 600tonnes per hour. Maintenance – mainly regular greasing – tookonly a couple of hours out of the day for the one maintenanceperson on site.

The RopeCon system has also seen some uptake in the min-ing industry. Jamalco, a joint venture of Alcoa and the

Jamaican government, went withRopeCon at its Mount Oliphantbauxite operation. The system,with its 6.8-kilometre long Con-tiTech belt, runs 3.4 kilometres tothe St. Jago loading station. Bothoverland trucking and conven-tional conveyors were considered,but RopeCon had a smaller envi-ronmental footprint. The addi-tional benefit has been savings inenergy costs – US$1.5 million inthe first four years alone. On itsbauxite-loaded descent, RopeCon generates about 1,200 kilo-watts of braking energy per hour, which goes back into theoperation and is also fed into the Jamaican grid.

However, the system remains unique among Alcoa’s opera-tions, as none of its other mines have the same steep terrain asMount Oliphant. Another mining customer uses RopeCon inPapua New Guinea, but overall the market for suspended con-veyors has been slow. The total cost of installation and opera-tion for RopeCon becomes competitive with other conveyingsystems when the terrain gets rough or difficult, or when a lowfootprint is beneficial for environmental reasons or for crossingwater and infrastructure. It is “a very well-engineered system,and I think that is reflected in the cost,” says WorleyParsons’sDavis. A similar cable system, Metso’s MRC Cable Belt con-veyor, designed for long distance applications, has beenaround for more than 50 years.

Rail and rope systems also do not represent the sum total ofinnovation; other models just have not gained traction. B.I.D.’sLawrence says air-supported belt conveyors and enclosed pipebelt conveyors have also been developed, but have no takersamong his customers. Rulmeca motorized pulley drives,which enclose drive parts in a compact, sealed space, have alsoexperienced limited success despite their advantages.

Users often prefer the components they have previouslyused and know to be reliable at low cost to newer, less familiarideas. But for the users with specific problems or the willing-ness to test out new innovations, solutions are out there. CIM

Top left: When shopping forbulk material handlingsystems, miners still

generally opt for traditionalconveyor solutions, says

B.I.D. Bulk Material HandlingSystems sales manager,

Derek Lawrence. A railcar-loading conveyor at Cliffs’s

Bloom Lake iron oreoperation.

Top right: A shiploaderconveyor system at Cliffs’s

Pointe-Noire terminal inSept-Îles, Quebec.

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May 2014 | 77

The project certainly had its doubters outside the company,especially after the mine completely flooded for a second timeduring construction. Although the ore body was highly cov-eted – it was the largest undeveloped high-grade uraniumdeposit known in the world – the difficult geology was alsounparalleled. The deposit, with proven and probable reservesof 217 million pounds of U3O8 at an average grade of 18 percent, sits in a clay halo in a water-saturated sandstone area ofthe Athabasca Basin that rests on basement rock that is also notparticularly competent.

T he mine, operated and 50 per-cent-owned by Cameco,was originally slated to open in 2007 at a cost of $450million. (Areva, which owns and operates McClean Lake,

also has a 37 per cent stake in Cigar Lake.) Setbacks, largelyrelated to water inflows in one of the most challenging geolo-gies ever mined, had repeatedly pushed construction timelinesback and propelled costs skyward, to more than $2.6 billion.

But through it all, Cameco personnel say they believed inthe project, and especially in their team’s ability to persevereand conquer the technical difficulties. “The challenges werealways there,” says Bob Steane, senior vice-president and chiefoperating officer of Cameco, “but we became better at under-standing and assessing the challenges. We never reached apoint where we thought this isn’t going to succeed.”

PERSEVERANCEAfter nearly a decade, several setbacks and more than $2 billion of investment, theCigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan has finally begun production.The first truckload of concentrated ore slurry rolled out to the nearby McClean Lakemill for processing into saleable yellowcake on a clear, cold day in March.

BY | IAN EWING

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PAYS OFF FOR CAMECO

Above: When the mine achieves full production, the mining team expects to have twojet boring machines mining the deposit at one time, while two more are either

undergoing maintenance, being relocated or working on backfilling.


project profile | C I G A R L A K E

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the worst-case scenario. Four permanent Flowserve dewater-ing pumps are supplemented by five contingency dewateringpumps and four Baker Hughes submersible borehole pumps,for a nominal total of 2,300 cubic metres per hour. “We have

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C I G A R L A K E| project profile

Jet boringEven before the inflows, Cameco was pioneer-ing innovative techniques to deal with theunique geological conditions and high grade oreat Cigar Lake. The company developed and isnow using a non-entry method of mining calledjet boring.

From access drifts beneath the frozen ore body,a pilot hole is drilled upwards into the ore. Ahigh-pressure nozzle is inserted into the pilotshaft, and the shaft is sealed. Water jets fromthe nozzle at 15,000 psi and carves a cavity inthe ore body. As the jet circulates around thecavity, rocks breaks off and act as an autoge-nous mill, grinding the ore further and growingthe cavity to an average four to five metres indiameter.

The broken ore flows out of the cavity throughsteel pipes as slurry. It is pumped to run-of-mine storage and processing equipment, whichincludes 1,000 cubic metres of ore storage,mills, and a 13-metre diameter thickener, allconstructed 480 metres underground with con-trols to protect workers from radiation from thehigh-grade ore. After grinding and thickening,the slurry is pumped to the surface to betrucked to Areva’s McClean Lake mill.

The cavity, meanwhile, is back-filled with high-strength concrete, to provide structural stabilityand to allow mining of adjacent cavities andmaximize recovery.

On the heels of the first major inflow in 2006, the companyspent two years sealing the inflow source and then dewateringthe mine for recovery, making sure to lower the water levelslowly and deliberately to avoid a sudden depressurization.But then in August 2008, with little warning and before themine was completely pumped out, Cigar Lake catastrophicallyflooded again. “There was another inflow – from where, wedidn’t know,” recalls Steane. “All we knew was that our minewas full again, but it didn’t come from where we had justsealed.” The sudden inflow submerged and ruined much ofthe underground infrastructure in place at the time – roughly20 per cent of the final facilities – including electrical equip-ment, wiring, and freeze systems.

“I had just stepped off a plane in Kazakhstan and (then-COO, now CEO and president) Tim Gitzel phoned to tell mewhat was happening,” recalls Steane. “That was a discouragingmoment. But the key word is that it was a moment. After that,it was, ‘OK, what do we do now?’ And the team buckleddown.”

Assurance of successDriving the project team, which numbered about 50

employees in 2008, was a philosophy that Steane repeats reg-ularly during our conversation. “Starting in 2007, we hadadopted an ‘assurance of success’ view,” he says. The philoso-phy embraces the importance of contingency planning in sucha difficult project. The team analyzed all the actions theyplanned to take, assessed the potential consequences, anddeveloped mitigation strategies for negative possibilities. Afterthe inflow in 2008, the team was compelled to expand thescope of its contingency planning. Where the company hadpreviously identified higher-risk areas and implemented watermanagement strategies accordingly, the new attitude expectedthe potential for water everywhere in the mine with equal like-lihood. That meant an entirely new approach to water man-agement. Gone were the bulkhead doors in high-risk areasthat formed the core of the old strategy. If water could comefrom anywhere in this geological setting, it had to be activelymanaged, not just reacted to.

The result was a water management strategy and infra-structure including pumps, pipes and treatment capacity thatwould handle any possible in-flow without flooding themine. This allows for water remediation from in the mine,without having to retreat to surface again. Based on modelledpeak inflows, backed by actual data from the 2006 inflow,Cameco was able to design its systems to match and exceed

Opposite page: 1. Bob Steane (senior vice-president and chief operating officer),Tim Gitzel (president and chief executive officer), and Gary Chad (senior vice-president and chief legal officer) celebrate the first ore shipment from the Cigar Lakemine in March; 2. The jet boring mining method does not require equipmentoperators to work near the ore being mined; 3. The Cigar Lake deposit was firstdiscovered in 1981. Construction on what CEO Tim Gitzel describes as “among themost technically challenging mining projects in the world,” began in 2005; 4. Themine will employ around 600 people when it reaches full production; 5. The ore fromthe Cigar Lake mine will be processed at Areva Resources’ McClean Lake mill, 70 kilometres to the northeast of the mine. All images courtesy of Cameco Corp.

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deployed small robotic submarines – remotely operated vehi-cles (ROV) – to operate in the cold, dark water. The ROVsused ultrasonic technology that gave the operators the visionto see underwater and guide them through the undergroundworkings. Sensitive flow, pH and temperature detectors werefitted to the ROVs, providing information that ultimatelypointed toward the source of the inflow. The inflow sourcecontained water that was a bit cooler and lower in pH than the

static water in the mine. After locatingthe leak, a six-by-two-inch hole in theceiling of a drift, the ROVs became thehands of the operators, moving debristo clear a space in the drift. Finally, anROV carried a large inflatable bag downinto the drift. The bag was carefullyplaced, then inflated with concrete, per-manently sealing the drift and allowingdewatering to commence.

Culture of determinationIt takes a certain kind of person to

keep coming back to tackle tremendouschallenges in the face of repeated setbacks and complications.The team at Cigar Lake, which included many Saskatchewan-based engineers and geologists, met the ongoing problemswith gusto. “These are the types of people that would do thatgood of a job wherever they were working,” Steane saysproudly. “They are committed, dedicated people.”

“The project was very difficult – that was recognized veryearly,” he adds. “I think Cigar Lake started to attract those peo-ple who really like a challenge.”

Aside from finally getting the second-largest uraniumdeposit in the world into production, the takeaways forCameco are numerous. Planning, thoughtfulness and prepara-tion are certainly valued more than they were before the firstinflow in 2006. But some things cannot be planned for. “Les-son A is never give up,” says Steane. The upshot, in his mind,is that with the right attitude and preparation and, mostimportantly, with determination, even the most challengingprojects are possible.

“It doesn’t scare us off,” Steane says. “It maybe causes us tothink carefully, but we’re not going to shy away from the non-routine.”

For the general manager at Cigar Lake, the first produc-tion milestone is only the beginning. Lowen is already look-ing ahead, thinking about the thousands of truckloads still tocome. For him, and the 600 other members of the Cigar Lakeproduction team, the next challenge is to make sure the minecan be operated reliably enough to get up to the full produc-tion volume of 18 million pounds annually by 2018. “I’mabsolutely confident that we’re going to get there,” Lowensays. Then, as if to exemplify the determination and flexibil-ity so often demonstrated on the project, he adds, “It’s justgoing to take a lot of hard work and adjustment as we goalong.” CIM

a lot of redundant contingency water pumping capacity,” saysSteve Lowen, the general manager of Cigar Lake. The teamalso initiated a more robust probe and grout program,together with more detailed geological mapping ahead of anydevelopment.

Cigar Lake also adopted and expanded a ground freezingprogram to support ore mining. “Ground freezing was actuallyone of the original strategies here,” says Lowen. “It was in factthe only way we could mine the orebody.

“What’s unique to Cigar is thatinstead of using freezing as simply awall to prevent water inflow, we’reusing it to bulk-freeze the entire orebody. That’s both to prevent waterinflow, but also to create enoughstructural stability in the ore bodyarea so that we can use our jet-boringsystem effectively,” says Lowen [seesidebar, “Jet boring”]. The surfacefreeze active zone, which is continu-ally expanding for future require-ments, currently measures an immense 120m x 80m x 60m,totalling 576,000 cubic metres of frozen ore, clay, and sand-stone.

Flexibility and innovationThe third prong of Cameco’s post-inflow approach was

changing how they worked with the local geology by adjustingtheir ground support methods. Previously, the company hadused a rigid system of cross-cut supports and high-strengthconcrete segments when developing in the challenging geolog-ical environment under the ore zone. The natural movementof the ground, however, was putting stress on the rigid seg-ments faster than expected, thus shortening the expected lifeof the developments. They then decided to change the groundsupport system to one that was more flexible. This meantadopting the New Austrian Tunnelling method, which uses aquick application of shotcrete, and installation of flexibleground support and lattice girders that can adjust to the move-ment of the ground, while still ensuring stability for the tun-nel. “We knew that ground squeezing and flexing were foreverand a day going to be part of the Cigar Lake operation,” Steaneexplains. “The new system provided the necessary groundsupport, but as things changed and moved, we could deal withit and remediate it.”

That flexibility may as well be a metaphor for how the teamapproached all the project’s challenges after the 2008 inflow.Under the guiding principle of “assurance of success” – andwith nearly $7.6 billion worth of uranium (at the April spotprice of US$35/lb) to motivate them – the Cigar Lake teamtook ideas and innovations from anywhere they could toensure successful construction.

To locate the second leak, for example, the team improvedon a method they had used after the first inflow. They


project profile | C I G A R L A K E

“Instead of using freezing as simply a wall to prevent water inflow,

we’re using it to bulk-freezethe entire ore body.”

– S. Lowen

May 2014 | 81

C I G A R L A K E | profil de projet

intérêt de 37 pour cent dans Cigar Lake) Les reculs, large-ment liés aux infiltrations d’eau dans un des sitesgéologiques miniers les plus exigeants ont constammentrepoussé les échéances de construction et gonflé les coûtsjusqu’à 2,6 milliards de dollars.

Mais tout au long de ce processus, le personnel de Camecodit avoir toujours cru au projet et particulièrement aux capac-ités de son équipe pour faire preuve de persévérance et sur-monter les difficultés techniques. « Les défis ont toujours étéprésents », affirme Bob Steane, vice-président directeur etdirecteur de l’exploitation de Cameco, « mais nous sommes

Après plus de deux décennies et deux milliards de dollarsde reculs, la mine d’uranium de Cigar Lake au nord de laSaskatchewan a finalement commencé sa phase d’ex-

ploitation. Le premier chargement de boue de forage concen-trée a quitté l’usine de concentration de McClean Lake pourêtre transformé en concentré d’oxyde jaune d’uranium par unebelle journée froide de mars.

La mine, exploitée par la société Cameco qui en est pro-priétaire à 50 pour cent, devait initialement ouvrir sesportes en 2007 au coût de 450 millions de dollars. (Areva,propriétaire et exploitant de McClean Lake, détient un

LA PERSÉVÉRANCE ESTRENTABLE POUR CAMECO

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Le minerai de la mine de CigarLake sera traité à l’usine McCleanLake d’Areva Resources, située à

70 km au nord-est de la mine.

Assurance de succèsDiriger l’équipe du projet, qui comptait environ 50

employés en 2008, était une philosophie souvent répétée parSteane durant notre conversation. « Dès 2007, nous avonsadopté une philosophie nommée Assurance de succès »,affirme-t-il. Cette philosophie souligne l’importance de laplanification des mesures d’urgence dans le cadre d’un projetsi difficile. L’équipe a analysé toutes les mesures qu’elleentendait utiliser, a évalué les conséquences potentielles, etmis au point des stratégies de mitigation pour les probabilitésnégatives. Après l’inondation en 2008, l’équipe fut appelée àaugmenter l’étendue de la planification des mesures d’urgence.Ce que l’entreprise avait identifié comme des zones à risqueélevé et où des stratégies de gestion de l’eau avaient été misesen oeuvre, la nouvelle attitude tenait compte du potentiel del’eau à la grandeur de la mine avec les mêmes risques encou-rus. Cela signifiait une toute nouvelle approche en matière degestion de l’eau. Fini les portes à cloison dans les zones àrisque élevé qui formaient le coeur de l’ancienne stratégie. Sil’eau pouvait s’infiltrer par n’importe où dans cet environ-nement géologique, elle devait être gérée activement, plutôtque de laisser l’équipe simplement réagir à la situation.

Le résultat aboutit à la mise en oeuvre du programme decongélation du sol le plus complet qui soit dans l’industrie.Deux usines de réfrigération alimentent de la saumure froide à-30°C à cinq pompes Goulds, lesquelles font circuler lasaumure dans des tuyaux de 4 po de diamètre à des pro-fondeurs de plus de 450 mètres, congelant d’immenses sec-tions de sol en aval et autour des galeries d’accès.

« [la congélation du sol] était l’une des stratégies initialesenvisagées dans ce cas-ci », dit le directeur général de CigarLake, Steve Lowen. « Il s’agissait en effet de la seule façon d’ac-céder au gisement minier. » À la suite des inondations cata-strophiques toutefois, le programme de congélation d’origine aété élargi de façon significative.

devenus meilleurs pour comprendre et mieux évaluer les défis.Nous n’avons jamais senti que nous n’allions pas réussir. »

Le projet avait certainement ses détracteurs à l’extérieur del’entreprise, particulièrement lorsque la mine a été complète-ment inondée une deuxième fois lors de sa construction. Bienque le corps minéralisé était hautement convoité – il s’agissaitdu gisement d’uranium de haute qualité le plus connu et lemoins exploité au monde – avec une configuration géologiquedifficile sans pareil. Le gisement, avec des réserves confirméeset probables de plus de 217 millions de livres de U3O8 d’unequalité moyenne de 18 pour cent, repose sous une couched’argile dans une zone de grès saturée d’eau du bassind’Athabasca qui repose sur un sous-sol rocheux qui n’est pasparticulièrement approprié.

À la suite de la première infiltration d’eau majeure en 2006,l’entreprise avait passé plus de deux ans à assécher la minepour la récupérer, tout en s’assurant d’abaisser lentement etdélibérément le niveau d’eau de sorte à éviter une dépressuri-sation trop soudaine. Puis, presque sans avertissement, en août2008, la mine de Cigar Lake fut inondée à nouveau. « Il y eutune autre infiltration d’eau – d’où provenait-elle? Nous ne lesavons pas », raconte Steane. « Tout ce que nous savons c’estque notre mine est de nouveau remplie, et que l’eau neprovient pas de l’endroit que nous avions colmaté. » L’infiltra-tion d’eau soudaine a submergé et ruiné une grande partie del’infrastructure souterraine déjà en place – environ 20 pourcent des installations finales – incluant le matériel électrique,le câblage et les systèmes de congélation.

« Je venais tout juste de descendre de l’avion au Kazakhstanlorsque Tim Gitzel (alors chef de l’exploitation, maintenantPDG et président) a téléphoné pour me mettre au courant dela situation », raconte Steane. « Ce fut un momentdécourageant. Mais le mot clé, c’est qu’il ne s’agissait que d’unmoment. Après coup, tous se demandaient : qu’allons-nousfaire maintenant? Et l’équipe s’est remise au travail. »


profil de projet | C I G A R L A K E

La découverte initiale du gisement Cigar Lake remonte à 1981. En 2005, la construction commence dans ce que Tim Gitzel, PDG, appelle “l’un des projets miniers les plustechniquement difficiles du monde”

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mière infiltration. Ils ont adapté un petit sous-marin robotisé –un véhicule commandé à distance ou (ROV) – pouvant fonc-tionner dans l’eau froide et sombre. Un thermomètre haute-ment sensible fixé au véhicule commandé à distance a permisde fournir aux opérateurs des « yeux » sous l’eau et de lesguider vers la source de l’entrée d’eau, qui se trouvait une frac-tion de degré plus froide que le reste de l’eau dans la mine.Après avoir localisé la fuite (un trou de deux pouces par sixpouces au plafond d’une galerie d’accès), le véhicule a servi demains aux opérateurs, leur permettant de déplacer des débrispour dégager un espace dans le passage. Finalement, levéhicule a pu transporter et introduire un énorme sac gon-flable dans le passage. Le sac a été soigneusement installé, puisgonflé avec du béton, permettant ainsi de colmater le passageen permanence et de commencer le pompage de l’eau.

Culture de déterminationIl faut un certain type d’individu pour persister et relever

d’immenses défis après plusieurs reculs et complications.L’équipe du projet de Cigar Lake, qui comprenait plusieursingénieurs et géologues de Saskatchewan, a relevé le défi avecbeaucoup de conviction. « Ces gens sont du type quioffriraient un rendement supérieur peu importe où ils travail-lent », de retorquer Steane avec fierté. « Ce sont des personnesengagées et dévouées. »

« Le projet était très difficile – cette situation a été recon-nue très tôt dans le processus », ajoute-t-il. « Je crois que leprojet a commencé a attirer les gens qui aiment vraiment cegenre de défi. »

En plus d’exploiter le deuxième plus gros gisement d’u-ranium au monde, les avantages pour Cameco sont nom-breux. La planification, l’attention et la préparation sontdavantage mis en valeur que lors de la première inondationen 2006. Or, certaines choses ne peuvent être planifiées.Selon Steane : « La première leçon consiste à ne jamais aban-donner. » Selon ce dernier, avec une attitude appropriée etune bonne préparation, mais particulièrement avec de ladétermination, même les projets les plus exigeants devien-nent possibles à concrétiser.

« Rien ne nous effraie », affirme Steane. « Peut-être que celanous force à faire preuve de plus de prudence, mais nous n’al-lons pas reculer devant cette situation inhabituelle. »

Pour le directeur général à Cigar Lake, la première étape del’exploitation n’est que le début. « Je ne sais pas si celareprésente un soulagement », affirme Lowen avec perspicac-ité. Il planifie déjà à long terme, en pensant aux milliers dechargements à venir. Pour lui et les 600 autres membres del’équipe de production de Cigar Lake, le prochain défi est des’assurer que la mine peut être exploitée suffisamment pouratteindre son plein volume de production de 18 millions delivres annuellement d’ici 2018. « Je suis convaincu que nousallons atteindre notre objectif », affirme Lowen. Puis, pour,pour donner un exemple de détermination et de flexibilité sisouvent démontré lors du projet, ajoute-t-il : « Il faudra beau-coup de travail et d’adaptation, au fur et à mesure que nousprogresserons. » ICM

May 2014 | 83

C I G A R L A K E | profil de projet

« Ce qui est unique à Cigar Lake, c’est qu’au lieu d’utiliserla technique de congélation pour empêcher l’eau de pénétrer,nous l’utilisons également pour congeler entièrement le gise-ment minier. À la fois pour empêcher l’infiltration de l’eau,mais également pour créer suffisamment de stabilité struc-turale dans le sol pour nous permettre d’utiliser efficacementnotre système de forage à érosion. » [Voir l’encadré – texte ci-dessous.] La zone active de congélation de la surface, qui s’a-grandit continuellement pour satisfaire aux exigence futuresmesure plus de 120 m x 80 m x 60 m, totalisant 576 000mètres cubes de minerai, d’argile et de grès congelés.

Une capacité de pompage accrue vient compléter l’ensem-ble du processus de congélation. Bien qu’ils auraient préférétravailler à partir de modèles théoriques, les deux inondationsà Cigar Lake, et une autre en 2003 à leur mine soeur deMcArthur Lake ont permis aux dirigeants de Cameco derecueillir des données sur la magnitude du volume des entréesd’eau auxquelles ils pouvaient s’attendre. Cela a permis à l’en-treprise de mettre au point des systèmes pour gérer de tellessituations et même de dépasser les exigences dans le pire descas. Quatre pompes d’épuisement permanentes Flowservesont appuyées par cinq pompes d’épuisement d’urgence etquatre pompes de forage Baker Hughes, pour un total nominalde 2 300 mètres cubes par heure. « Nous avons une grandecapacité de pompage d’eau d’urgence », de dire Lowen.

Flexibilité et innovationLe troisième volet de l’approche post-inondation de

Cameco venait modifier la méthode de travail utilisée avec lagéologie locale. Précédemment, l’entreprise utilisait un sys-tème très rigide de supports croisés et de segments en béton.Toutefois, le sol exerçait une pression sur les supportsrigides, ne faisant qu’aggraver la situation. En plus de démé-nager les installations 15 mètres plus profond dans le sous-sol rocheux, ils décidèrent d’opter pour un système desupport de sol plus flexible. Cela signifiait l’adoption d’uneméthode de creusement autrichienne qui utilise des seg-ments de support de sol et des arcs mobiles bougeant defaçon contrôlée lorsque le sol devient compact, tout en assur-ant la stabilité du tunnel. « Nous savions que le compactageet le fléchissement du sol étaient permanents et qu’ils feraientpartie un jour des opérations à Cigar Lake », explique Steane.« Le nouveau système procurait tout le support de sol néces-saire, mais à mesure que la situation évoluait, nous pouvionsnous y adapter et y remédier. Cette flexibilité pouvait toutaussi bien être une métaphore servant à illustrer l’approchede l’équipe face à tous les défis depuis l’infiltration d’eau de2008. En se guidant sur le principe de « l’assurance du suc-cès » – et avec près de 7,6 milliards de dollars d’uranium(selon les prix les plus récents du marché) pour les motiver– l’équipe de Cigar Lake accepta les idées et les innovationsvenant de partout pour tenter de récupérer la mine et assurerune construction réussie.

Pour localiser la deuxième fuite, par exemple, l’équipe estparvenue à améliorer une méthode déjà utilisée après la pre-

May 2014 | 85

MAC to present inaugural awards at the 2014 CIM Convention

For the last decade, the Mining Association of Canada(MAC) has shone the spotlight on some of the country’s bestmining operations as part of its Towards Sustainable Mining(TSM) initiative. This year, MAC will hand out two brand newawards to celebrate outstanding achievements in the areas ofcommunity engagement and environmental excellence.

“We decided to create the awards to recognize and cele-brate the good work that is taking place in the industry,” said

Pierre Gratton, MAC president and CEO. “Many of ourmember companies are working hard to implement innova-tive projects and initiatives that raise the bar for the rest ofthe industry. We also want the awards to be an incentive forcompanies. We were really impressed by the quantity ofnominations received this year as well as the quality of theinitiatives.” Winners will be announced at this year’s CIMConvention on May 12.

Finalists for the TSM Community Engagement Award

Glencore Canada: For its efforts to attract and advance Inuittalent at its Raglan mine in northern Quebec Building on previousinitiatives, Glencore created a new program in 2013 called RIDE(Rapid Inuit Development and Employment) to encourage internalmobility for Inuit employees and to work with educational institutionsto offer Inuit students scholarships and job opportunities.

Iamgold Corporation: For kick-starting a successful villagemarket gardening program in communities around itsEssakane mine in Burkina Faso Residents in the region rely heav-ily on livestock breeding and gold mining to make a living. To developalternative revenue sources, while also improving food security andcombating poverty in the desert-like region, Iamgold has workedwith community groups since 2009 to initiate market gardening withgreat success.

Rio Tinto/Iron Ore Company of Canada: For helping to managegrowth in the Labrador City, Newfoundland region When miningactivity picks up, towns go through growing pains, with housing,infrastructure and social services shortages as typical symptoms.Since 2006, the Iron Ore Company of Canada has taken a proactiveapproach to resolving these issues by establishing a communityadvisory panel and regional task force that work towards ensuringappropriate housing, health and emergency services, communityinfrastructure, and training opportunities for residents in the region.

Vale: For initiating economic development and diversifica-tion planning in Thompson, Manitoba For more than 50 years,the city has been a regional service hub to northern Manitoba,but with Vale reducing its operations by 2015, the company ishelping Thompson plan for its future. In 2011, Vale proactivelyfunded and co-launched the Thompson Economic DiversificationWorking Group, which developed action plans for economicdevelopment and diversification collaboratively with involvementfrom aboriginal communities, government and community organ-izations.

Finalists for the TSM Environmental Excellence Award

Dominion Diamond Corporation and Rio Tinto: For grizzlybear monitoring in the Northwest Territories Dominion Dia-mond Corporation’s Ekati mine and Rio Tinto’s Diavik mine estab-lished the Grizzly Bear DNA program in the Northwest Territoriesin 2012. The large-scale study encompasses a 16,000-kilometrearea around the two operations and will help determine if mine-related activities influence the relative abundance and distribu-tion of grizzly bears over time through DNA analysis from hairsamples.

Iamgold Corporation: For launching a reforestation program inthe region surrounding its Essakane mine in Burkina Faso Com-munities around the mine depend on trees for firewood, food and tra-ditional medicine. With trees having to be removed to construct themine, Iamgold launched a reforestation program in 2009 to compen-sate for the loss to local biodiversity, aiming to plant 100,000 livingtrees by the time it ceases operations. Iamgold has trained localwomen in nursery techniques and they have planted 200,000 treesso far.

Syncrude Canada: For restoring wetlands in northern AlbertaSyncrude Canada: For restoring wetlands in northern Alberta Inspiredby the fen wetlands of northern Alberta Syncrude created an interdis-ciplinary team of experts to begin the Sandhill Fen Research Water-shed initiative in 2007 to reclaim a tailings structure. The watershed,completed in 2012, was developed on 52 hectares of land on a por-tion of what was once a 60-metre deep mine. This project is young,but results are encouraging: peat studies show it is possible to trans-plant live peat and grow it in a newly constructed area; many nativeplants have taken root on their own.

Vale: For water monitoring programs near its Voisey Bay oper-ation in Newfoundland and Labrador Vale’s Voisey’s Bay opera-tion in Newfoundland and Labrador, in partnership with the provincialgovernment, set an industry best practice through the Real TimeWater Quality (RTWQ) Monitoring Partnership – a program that pro-vides near real-time water quality information of various streamsnear the mine and mill. Community members use the information toenhance traditional knowledge as the water stage, flow measure-ments and water temperature can help predict the migration pat-terns of Arctic char. CIM

CIM communityCIM community


CIM community

Sudbury’s supportive branch CIM Sudbury Branch donations chair Sue Tessier (left) with representativesfrom Modern Mining and Technology Sudbury, Cambrian College’s MiningDay 2014, the Sudbury Regional Science Fair, and the Laurentian UniversityMining Games.Since 1997, the Sudbury branch has contributed significant donationstoward mining education at the primary, secondary and post-secondaryschool levels. These events include mining week, science fairs and a teachers’tour program, along with support for various local industry organizationsthat build awareness about the importance of the mining sector and careerchoices the industry has to offer.

Saskatoon branch gives backVolunteers at the CIM Saskatoon Branch have been busy this year. Branchdirector Robert Carey said just less than 140 people showed up for the CIMSaskatoon’s Environmental Safety Night in January, which included a presen-tation from incoming CIM president-elect Garth Kirkham. The geoscientistdiscussed CIM standards and definitions at the event, “including lots of talkabout the history of why it came into place and why people in mining haveto be careful when talking about reserves and resources,” said Carey. Headded that Kirkham was impressed by the more than 20 minutes of ques-tions that followed his presentation.

On March 20, the branch held its Industry Collaboration night, formerlyknown as its Student Night. “We gave out $31,000 in scholarships to stu-dents who are interested in working in mining or engineering,” said Carey. Inall, 21 post-secondary students received $1,400 scholarships each and twostudents won $1,000 attendance scholarships. The $1,400 scholarship win-ners were Kara Nickel, Mike Amos, Yuhou Hu, Jason Meginbir, Scott Garri-son, Kayla Seguin, Garrett Snell, Spencer Chuhaniuk, Tanner Smith, MelissaScansen, Cristina Sabo, Justin Stack, Jessica Wilson, Morgan Rhode, Adri-enne Bangsund, Cody Bolotniuk, Pascal Marjolaine, Laine Bryan, RylanElliott, Derrick Catterall and Dunja Gaco.

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May 2014 | 87

CIM community

Metallurgical plant design book in the worksSeventeen mining and engineering experts from around the world are currently writing

chapters for a comprehensive metallurgical plant design book that CIM will publish nextyear.

Chris Twigge-Molecey, CIM past-president and senior advisor at Hatch, said there is abig gap in the market for a book devoted specifically to the design of metallurgical plants.“The key is it’s about design,” he said. “It’s not about construction. It’s not about project man-agement, because there’re all kinds of books about that.”

The book will cover all aspects associated with metallurgical plant design including riskmanagement approaches, project definition, site selection, technology selection, as well assustainability and safety issues.

Twigge-Molecey, who is among the 17 authors of the book, said the consequences of poorplant design can be grave. “The typical outcome of not doing things the proper way on the design side is cost overruns,schedule delays and probably most critically, poor performance of the operating plant,” he explained. “In fairness, youcan do a good design job and screw up construction and still have cost overruns and schedule problems. But typically,if you do a good design job, you’re not going to have a performance problem.”

Twigge-Molecey said the first draft of the book should be completed shortly and he is cautiously optimistic that itwill be released at the Conference of Metallurgists 2015 in Toronto.

Minds and moneyThe Canadian Mining and Metallurgical Foundation (CMMF) has announced its new cohort of scholarship winners.

CMMF awards scholarships annually to post-secondary students pursuing careers in mining:

McIntosh Engineering Scholarships: ($12,000 for post-secondary students studyingengineering or technical degrees in mining focused on underground mining)

Benoit QuinnCEGEP de l’Abitibi:GeologyDream job: generalmanager of anexploration company

Anthony ClappertonUniversité Laval: Min-ing engineering with aspecialty in mineralprocessingDream job: metallur-gist in a mineral concentrator

Victor DesrosiersMcGill University:Mining engineeringDream job: under-ground hardrockmining, working onsafety and innovation

Frédéric ProvencherÉcole Polytechnique de Montréal: Mining engineeringDream job: mine generalmanager in my homeregion Abitibi-Témiscamingue

Victoria ThomsenUniversity of Alberta: Mining engineeringDream job: immerse myselfin the fundamentals of min-ing operations to improve thedynamic balance betweensocial, environmental andeconomic practices

Robert Glen MurrayUniversity of British Colum-bia: Mining and mineralprocess engineeringDream job: operations manager who developsmines from planning stagesinto production

Dakota RecolletLaurentian University:GeologyDream job: one thatwould allow me to traveland see how operationsvary in different areas ofthe world

Frédéric ProvencherÉcole Polytechnique de Montréal

Marin Brochu-BaekelmansÉcole Polytechnique de Montréal: Projectmanagement, and health and safetyDream job: long-term strategic planning andmine design

Taking Flight Scholarship: ($1,000 for high school/post-secondary students pursuing a mining career)

Irene and Arthur Foley Scholarships: ($3,000 for mining engineering students enrolled at École Polytechnique de Montréal)

Compiled by Herb Mathisen


Local fare is based onmeat, potatoes andpasta. Signaturedishes include shishkebabs, “besh-barmak,” ahorse meatand pasta dishwith potatoand onion,and “plov,”fried rice withmeat, carrotsand raisins.

The best restaurant,The Kazakhstan, islocated on the firstfloor the Stenpno-gorsk Hotel. Mealsrange from $20 to$30. Other populardining spots are Char-

WHERE TO DINE

TRAVEL

By Dinah Zeldin

Established by Soviet officials in 1956, the industrial town of Stepnogorsk, located inthe Akmola province of Kazakhstan, was once a top-secret location developed aroundmilitary facilities. This included a large uranium processing plant and a biochemical

plant where anthrax was manufactured. When Stepnogorsk was opened to the public afterthe collapse of the Soviet Union the town was an industrial wasteland. But in 2011,Kazatomprom, the state-owned nuclear company, began partnering with foreign enterprisesto develop the rich rare earth potential in the area, and Stepnogorsk started regaining itsindustrial clout. Today, the town (pop. 46,000) offers business travellers the basic comfortsrequired for a pleasant stay.

The standard for business travellers is HotelStepnogorsk. Located a few steps from the city’scentral square, the 1970s-era, four-storey com-plex includes a restaurant, a snack bar, and aselection of suites. Rooms start at $45/night. Fortravellers looking to offset the city’s grey land-scape with a little glitz, the recently opened Mi-La Hotel promises luxury suites, starting at$115/night. Other hotels are not recommended.

Hotel Stepnogorsk: +7 71645 60962Mi-La: +7 71645 32906

Transactions are doneprimarily with cash. TheKazakh currency is thetenge (KZT), and it isillegal to use foreign cur-rency in financial trans-actions. Currency can beexchanged at any bank,and 1 CAD is worthabout 165 KZT.

WHERE TO STAY

HOW TO PAY

Stepnogorsk

TIP

To avoid expensive roaming

fees purchase a prepaid SIM card at the airport.

TIP

WHOTO CONTACT

CANADIAN EMBASSY Kabanbay, Batyr Street 13/1, Astana, +7 (7172) 475 577, [email protected]. EMBASSY Rakhymzhan Koshkarbayev Avenue, No. 3, Astana, +7 (7172) 70-21-00, [email protected] The town clinic +7 71645 62127; The emergency clinic +7 71645 62127; The Bioritm Private Clinic +7 71645 27700

Make dinnerreservations in advance,especially on weekends.Because there are only three restaurants in town

they can get busy.

odeika (+7 7164562572) and Zhuldyz(+7 71645 32898).

Quick meals areserved at cafés, whereprices range from $10

to $15 for a meal.Zhili-Bili and Dzenis,both located in micro-rayon 3 (micro-district3), are recommended.Pastries and coffee areavailable at Kofeyinain the KazakhstanShopping Centre.

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Business cards arecommon in Russianand English; somecards can be inKazakh. Arrangingmeetings with seniorofficials and top man-agers of Kazakh com-panies can be achallenge. Be nimble;such meetings are fre-quently only con-firmed at the lastminute.

Kazakh is the officialstate language, butRussian is spoken bythe majority of thepopulation and is stillthe business lan-guage. English is notwidely spoken. Very

few people speakFrench. It is best touse a reputable andexperienced transla-tor during businessmeetings.

After establishing abusiness relationship,local businessmenmay invite you to arestaurant or to theirhome. When invitedto a Kazakh contact’shome, bring a bottleof wine, whiskey orcognac, and anuneven number offlowers for thewomen of the house(giving an even num-ber of flowers is con-sidered bad luck).

May 2014 | 89

HOW TO FIT IN

Lufthansa, Etihad Airways, Turkish Airlines,KLM and Transaero Airlines fly from Canada tothe closest airport in Astana in about 12 hours,with one or more stops. A taxi from Astana toStenpnogorsk costs from $70 to $85. A shuttlebus, if there are enough passen-gers, is available for $15 perperson. Although the drivefrom Astana to Stepno-gorsk is just less than200 kilometres, it cantake as long as four hoursdue to poor roads and badweather.

The best way to get around is by cab. Useonly trusted taxi lines Jaguar and Akdzol.Taxi fare to any part of the city should notexceed 500KZT (about $3). The city is fairlysmall, so in nice weather walking is also anoption. At night, it is advisable to call a rep-utable taxi service before leaving popularrestaurants and places of recreation, as for-eigners have been specifically targeted fortheft around such venues.

WHERE TO EXPLORE

GETTING AROUND

HOW TO

GET THERE

Travellers looking for acultural experienceshould visit Kaza-khstan’s capital, Astana.You will have to passthrough in any case ifyou are destined forStepnogorsk. Desig-nated as the capital inthe late 1990s, the cityunderwent a majorfacelift and boasts a sky-line dominated byimpressive contempo-rary architecture. TheIshim River splits theNew City, which is fullof architectural marvels,from the Old City,

which is occupied bySoviet-era structuresand government build-ings. The central prom-enade, the Avenue ofthe Republic, isbustling with shopsand restaurants.

Make sure to stroll bythe Baiterek Monu-ment, a unique 105-metre tall constructionof metal and concrete,with a glass sphere setat a height of 97metres. Venture insideand ride the glass ele-vators to the top to

enjoy a cocktail at abar that offers apanoramic view of thecity. The Khan Shatyr,a shopping mall andcultural centre, builtto look like a tent fromthe outside, is alsoworth a visit.

In the evening, headover to the Palace ofPeace and Reconcilia-tion; the pyramid-shaped structure,designed by Britisharchitects Foster andPartners, was built in2006 to house the

Congress of Leaders ofWorld and TraditionalReligions, which isheld in Astana everyyear. The structurealso contains a 1,500-seat opera house, thenational museum ofculture and severalother socio-culturalinstitutions.

If you have time toextend your stay, you

might want to ventureoff the beaten path toBorovoye, a resortwith rustic lakefrontaccommodations, aforest and smallmountains. Fishingenthusiasts canarrange an anglingadventure, and hikerscan tour the hills. Yourhotel will be able toorganize transporta-tion to the resort.

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Certification in Ore Reserve Risk and Strategic Mine Planning OptimizationSpread over a period of four months, this four-week course is designed for busy mining professionals who wish to update their skills and knowledge base in modernmodelling techniques for ore bodies and new risk-based optimization methodologies for strategic mine planning. Gain practical experience by applying the followinghands-on concepts and technical methods: methods for modelling ore bodies; stochastic simulations, case studies and models of geological uncertainty; anddemand-driven production scheduling and geological risk.INSTRUCTOR Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada • DATES Week 1: May 5-9, Week 2: June 2-6, Week 3: July 7-11, Week 4: August 25-28,2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada • INFO & REGISTRATION http://www.mcgill.ca/scs-ore

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

Geostatistical Mineral Resource Estimation and Meeting the New Regulatory Environment: Step by Step from Sampling to Grade ControlLearn about the latest regulations on public reporting of resources/reserves through state-of-the-art statistical and geostatistical techniques; how to applygeostatistics to predict dilution and adapt reserve estimates to that predicted dilution; how geostatistics can help you categorize your resources in an objectivemanner; and how to understand principles of NI 43-101 and the SME Guide.INSTRUCTORS Marcelo Godoy, Golder Associates, Chile; and Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada • DATE September 8-12, 2014 • LOCATION Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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

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

Estimating bulk density for mineral resource reportingG. J. Arseneau, SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Reconciling the recent uranium surge with staff shortages: Where are the human resources for the next generation?P. W. Waggitt, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

ABSTRACT From approximately 1986 until 2000, uraniumproduction was at a historic low. In 2003, uranium mineralexploration surged, despite the global financial crisis; how-ever, the shortage and aging of qualified and experiencedoperators and regulators might soon become a constraint tothis upsurge. This is true for all types of engineers, geolo-gists, other scientists, tradespeople, and technicians. Thesituation raises questions about how the global miningindustry in general and the uranium sector in particular willcope with future staffing needs. In this paper, the authorexamines the current situation and describes how someorganizations are seeking possible solutions.

RÉSUMÉ Dans la période générale entre 1986 et 2000, la produc-tion d’uranium a connu un bas historique. En 2003, l’explorationpour l’uranium a surgi malgré une crise financière mondiale. Cepen-dant, la pénurie et l’âge des opérateurs et des régulateurs qualifiéset d’expérience pourraient bientôt restreindre cette remontée. C’estvrai pour tous les types de professions : ingénieurs, géologues,autres scientifiques, gens de métier et techniciens. La situationsoulève des questions sur la capacité de l’industrie minière mondi-ale, et du secteur de l’uranium en particulier, à faire face aux futursbesoins de recrutement de personnel. Dans cet article, l’auteurexamine la situation actuelle et décrit comment certaines organisa-tions cherchent des solutions possibles.

ABSTRACT Mineral resource statements are reported as ton-nage (volume × density) and grades. Effort is expended toaccurately estimate the volume and grade, but accuratelydetermining bulk density is often overlooked. Oversimplifi-cation of density modelling can result in potentially seriouserrors in tonnage estimates and over- or underestimation ofmetal content. A reliable bulk density model requires anadequate database and a good understanding of density vari-ability, along with grade and geology. In this paper, theauthor summarizes density measuring techniques, draws onexamples of simple and complex grade-variable densitydomains, and discusses improved approaches for minimiz-ing density estimation errors.

RÉSUMÉ Les déclarations de ressources minérales sont expriméesen termes de tonnage (volume x densité) et de teneurs. De grandsefforts sont consentis pour estimer le volume et la teneur demanière précise mais la détermination de la masse volumiqueapparente est souvent négligée. Une simplification exagérée de lamodélisation de la densité pourrait engendrer de sérieuses erreurspotentielles dans les estimés de tonnage et conduire à la sur- ou lasous-estimation du contenu en métaux. Un modèle fiable de déter-mination de la masse volumique apparente exige une base dedonnées adéquate et une bonne compréhension de la variabilitéde la densité, ainsi que de la teneur et de la géologie. Dans leprésent article, l’auteur résume les techniques de mesure de la den-sité, il donne des exemples, simples et complexes, de domaines dedensité à teneur variable et il traite aussi d’approches amélioréespour minimiser les erreurs d’estimation de la densité.

May 2014 | 91

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2.To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org

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

CIM journal

Industry-scale knowledge management—RISKGATE and Australian coal operationsP. A. Kirsch and J. Harris, Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane,Queensland, Australia; D. Sprott, Design Solutions Pty. Ltd., Buddina, Queensland, Australia; D. Cliff, Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre,Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT RISKGATE is the largest Australian Coal Associa-tion Research Program (ACARP) occupational health andsafety initiative to date. It is an interactive online risk man-agement system developed to maximize health and safetyperformance in the coal mining industry by implementingcontinuous improvement in managing major unwantedevents. The comprehensive knowledge base covers tires, col-lisions, fires, isolation, strata control underground, ground

RÉSUMÉ À ce jour, RISKGATE est la plus importante initiative desanté et sécurité au travail de l’ACARP (Australian Coal AssociationResearch Program) [programme de recherche de l’association decharbon de l’Australie]. Il s’agit d’un système interactif en ligne degestion du risque qui a été développé pour maximiser la perform-ance en santé et sécurité dans l’industrie minière du charbon; c’estréalisé en améliorant continuellement la gestion d’événementsmajeurs non désirés. La base très étendue des connaissances traitedes pneus, des collisions, des feux, de l’isolation, du contrôle des

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CIM Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2.To subscribe, to submit a paper or to be a peer reviewer—www.cim.org


CIM journal


Nanoparticle ţotation collectors for pentlanditeS. Yang and R. Pelton, Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; M. Xu and Z. Dai, Vale Base MetalsTechnical Excellence Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT Hydrophobic polystyrene nanoparticles were eval-uated as potential flotation collectors for pentlandite. Theflotation of hydrophilic glass beads demonstrated thenanoparticles’ ability to induce flotation. Deposition ofnanoparticles on glass surfaces increased the contact angleand enhanced adhesion of the beads to air bubbles. Highflotation recoveries were achieved when 5–10% of the beadsurfaces were covered with nanoparticles. Surface functional-ization—the addition of vinylimidazole to polystyrenenanoparticle surfaces—caused the nanoparticles to selec-tively deposit onto pentlandite surfaces in the presence ofMg-Si slimes. Ongoing work includes attempts to identifyspecific applications where nanoparticle collectors might becost-effective.

RÉSUMÉ Des nanoparticules de polystyrène hydrophobe ont étéévaluées en termes de collecteurs potentiels lors de la flottation dela pentlandite. La flottation de billes de verre hydrophiles a démon-tré la capacité des nanoparticules à induire la flottation. Ladéposition de nanoparticules sur des surfaces de verre a augmentél’angle de contact et a amélioré l’adhésion des billes aux bulles d’air.Des récupérations élevées par flottation ont été atteintes lorsque de5 à 10 % des surfaces des billes étaient couvertes de nanoparticules.La fonctionnalisation de la surface – l’ajout de vinylimidazole auxsurfaces des nanoparticules de polystyrène – a fait en sorte que lesnanoparticules se déposaient de manière sélective sur les surfacesde la pentlandite en présence de schlamms fins Mg-Si. Les travauxen cours comprennent des essais pour identifier des applicationsspécifiques dans lesquelles des collecteurs de nanoparticules pour-raient être rentables.

control open cut, explosions, explosives, manual tasks, andslips/trips/falls. All major Australian coal mining companiescontributed topic experts to this broad industry initiative:nine coal mining companies, more than 80 experts, andmore than 400 days of individual time for knowledge-cap-ture workshops.

strates souterraines, du contrôle du terrain à ciel ouvert, des explo-sions, des explosifs, des tâches manuelles et des pertes d’appui / destrébuchements/des chutes. Toutes les grandes compagniesminières australiennes de charbon ont prêté des experts sur diverssujets à cette vaste initiative de l’industrie : 9 compagnies minièresde charbon, plus de 80 experts et plus de 400 jours de temps indi-viduel pour des ateliers d’acquisition de connaissances. Dans leprésent article, je résume les techniques de mesure de la densité, jedonne des exemples, simples et complexes, de domaines de densitéà teneur variable et je traite aussi d’approches améliorées pour min-imiser les erreurs d’estimation de la densité.

Evolution of a lakebed resulting from subaqueous tailings discharge: Coupling multibeam surveys and airborne LiDARD. Turmel and J. Locat, Laboratoire d’études sur les risques naturels, Département de géologie et de génie géologique, Université Laval, QuébecCity, Québec, Canada; G. Parker, Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Lab, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Department of Geology,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA

ABSTRACT Since 1964, the Iron Ore Company of Canada hasdeposited iron ore tailings into Wabush Lake in westernLabrador, Canada. From 1999 to 2008, the authors com-pleted multibeam bathymetric and sampling surveys and anairborne LiDAR survey. These data were integrated to studythe evolution of the tailings delta shoreline and lakebed ele-vation. Subaqueous channels evolved between surveys,influencing the tailings depositional pattern. With thisanalysis, it is possible to evaluate the effect of disposal strate-gies on the delta topset and tailings accumulation. Thisproject uniquely couples marine and terrestrial techniquesto follow the fate of tailings in a dispersal system.

RÉSUMÉ Depuis 1964, la Compagnie minière IOC a déposé desrésidus de minerai de fer dans le lac Wabush, situé dans l’ouest duLabrador, Canada. De 1999 à 2008, la compagnie a entrepris desrelevés bathymétriques multifaisceaux, des campagnes d’échantil-lonnage et un relevé LiDAR aéroporté. Ils ont intégré ces donnéesafin d’étudier l’évolution de la ligne de rive du delta formé par lesrésidus et l’élévation du fond du lac. Les chenaux subaquatiques ontévolué entre les relevés, influençant le patron de distribution desrésidus. Avec la présente analyse, ils peuvent évaluer l’effet desstratégies de déposition sur la couche sommitale du delta et l’accu-mulation des résidus. Ce projet joint, de manière unique, destechniques marines et terrestres pour suivre le sort des résidus dansun système de dispersion.

May 2014 | 93

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CMQ, Vol. 52, No. 4.To subscribe – www.cmq-online.ca


canadian metallurgical quarterly

Development of a model for copper convertingA. Lennartsson, F. Engström, B. Björkman, and C. Samuelsson, Minerals and Metals Research Laboratory, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå,Sweden

ABSTRACT Building on previous work reported in the litera-ture, a dynamic model of the operation of the Peirce-SmithConverter has been developed to describe the distribution ofthe major elements present. The fundamental principle ofthe model was a thermodynamic calculation. The situationof non-equilibrium conditions was considered by dividingthe converter into different zones linked by predefined flowparameters. The model was verified against actual converterplant data, with the simulated results for the major elementsbeing in good agreement with the plant data. The agreementbetween plant and calculated data for Pb, and Zn was not asgood and more work is required regarding this aspect.

RÉSUMÉ En se basant sur des travaux antérieurs rapportés dans lalittérature, on a développé un modèle dynamique de l’opération duConvertisseur de Peirce-Smith afin de caractériser la distributiondes principaux éléments chimiques présents. Le principe fonda-mental de ce modèle repose sur un calcul thermodynamique. On aconsidéré la situation des conditions hors d’équilibre en divisant leconvertisseur en différentes zones reliées par des paramètres d’é-coulement prédéfinis. On a confronté le modèle à des donnéesissues du convertisseur d’une usine existante, les résultats simulésmontrant un bon accord avec les données de l’usine en ce qui con-cerne les éléments majoritaires. La concordance des données del’usine et des valeurs calculées pour le plomb et le zinc n’était pasaussi bonne et, donc, une investigation plus poussée concernantcet aspect du modèle s’avère nécessaire.

Estimation of liquidus temperature for B2O3- and TiO2- containing ţuoride free mould ţuxes from activation energy for viscous ţow and DTA measurementsZ. Wang, Q. F. Shu, and K. Chou, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, China Iron and Steel Research Institute Group, Beijing, China

ABSTRACT Liquidus temperatures of fluoride free mouldfluxes simultaneously containing B2O3 and TiO2 have beenestimated from two methods, the activation energy for vis-cous flow and the DTA technique. Generally, the liquidustemperatures determined from the two methods are in goodagreement. With the increase in B2O3 and TiO2 content, thevariation of liquidus temperatures for fluoride free mouldfluxes estimated from the two methods is consistent. As theTiO2 content increases, liquidus temperatures of the slagsinitially decrease and then increase. With the increase inB2O3 content, the liquidus temperatures of the slagsdecrease. Further quenching experiments reveal that there isno crystal precipitation in the slag at the liquidus tempera-ture determined from DTA, while some crystal can beobserved in the slag at the liquidus temperature determinedfrom the activation energy for viscous flow. Superheatingand supercooling effects that could bring errors in determin-ing liquidus temperature by using the two methods arediscussed.

RÉSUMÉ On a estimé les températures du liquidus de fondantssans fluorure pour moule contenant simultanément du B2O3 et duTiO2, à partir de deux méthodes, l’énergie d’activation pour écoule-ment visqueux et la technique de DTA. Généralement, lestempératures de liquidus déterminées à partir des deux méthodesétaient en bon accord. Avec l’augmentation de la teneur en B2O3 eten TiO2, la variation des températures de liquidus des fondants sansfluorure pour moule, estimée à partir des deux méthodes, va de pair.À mesure que la teneur en TiO2 augmente, les températures de liq-uidus des scories diminuent initialement et ensuite, augmentent.Avec l’augmentation de la teneur en B2O3, les températures de liq-uidus des scories diminuent. Des expériences additionnelles detrempe révèlent qu’il n’y a pas de précipitation de cristal dans lascorie à la température de liquidus déterminée à partir du DTA, alorsqu’on peut observer quelques cristaux dans la scorie à la tempéra-ture de liquidus déterminée à partir de l’énergie d’activation pourécoulement visqueux. On discute des effets de surchauffe et de sur-fusion qui peuvent conduire à des erreurs dans la détermination dela température de liquidus au moyen de deux méthodes.

Excerpts taken from abstracts in CMQ, Vol. 52, No. 4.To subscribe – www.cmq-online.ca

Al electrodeposition from chloroaluminate ionic liquidL. P. Zhang, Z. W. Ge, X. J. Yu, Z. D. Zhao, and Y. H. Dong, School of Chemical Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, China

ABSTRACT Cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry andelectrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used toinvestigate the mechanism of Al electrodeposition for anionic liquid with a 2:1 molar ratio of AlCl3/[EMIM]Br (1-methyl-3-ethyl imidazolium bromide) at room temperature25±1°C. Results indicated that the Al electrodeposition fromthis ionic liquid is a quasi-reversible process. Instantaneousnucleation with diffusion controlled growth of the Al elec-trode was demonstrated. The constant phase element waspresent in the electrical double layer, with � = 0·37. Thekinetic complications during the reaction may be attributedto the controlled cooperative processes of electron transferand mass transport. The potential effects on the characteris-tics of Al deposits were evaluated by scanning electronmicroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Granular Al depositscould be obtained at a potential higher than −0·45 V. Cubicfeatured Al deposits were obtained within the range of −0·56to −0·88 V. The rough deposits began to show dendriticmorphologies at a potential less than −1·05 V.

RÉSUMÉ On a utilisé les techniques électrochimiques de la voltam-pérométrie cyclique, de la chronoampérométrie et des spectresd’impédance électrochimique pour examiner le mécanisme d’élec-trodéposition de l’aluminium (Al) à partir d’un liquide ioniqued’AlCl3/[EMIM]Br de 2:1 (rapport molaire) à la température de lapièce (25±1°C). Les résultats indiquaient que l’électrodéposition del’Al à partir de ce liquide ionique était un procédé quasi réversible.On a mis en évidence la nucléation instantanée avec croissancecontrôlée par diffusion de l’électrodéposition de l’Al. L’élément àphase constante (EPC) qui se produisait dans la couche électriquedouble montrait une valeur de � = 0·37. On peut attribuer les com-plications cinétiques pendant la réaction aux procédés contrôlés encoopérative du transfert d’électron et du transport de masse. On aévalué les effets du potentiel sur les caractéristiques des dépôts d’Alau moyen de la microscopie électronique à balayage (SEM) et dudiffractomètre à rayons X allemand (XRD). On a également observéque l’on pouvait obtenir un dépôt granuleux d’Al à un potentielplus élevé que �0·45 V. On a obtenu des dépôts d’Al à caractéristiquecubique dans la gamme de potentiel de �0·56 à � �0·88 V. Les dépôtsobtenus à un potentiel de moins que �1·05 V devenaient rugueux etcommençaient à montrer des morphologies dendritiques.


canadian metallurgical quarterly


Electrodeposition of cobalt�tungsten alloys from alkaline citrate containing bath as alternative for chromiumhexavalent replacementN. Dadvand, G. Jarjoura, and G. J. Kipouros, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

ABSTRACT Cobalt�tungsten alloys have been considered aspotential materials for various applications. This workinvestigates the wear and corrosion resistance behaviour ofcobalt�tungsten�phosphorus alloys electroplated from alka-line citrate containing baths. The wear rates of thecobalt�tungsten alloy electrodeposits were lower than thoseof the unalloyed cobalt electrodeposits. The wear rate wasalso lower than those of chromium plated from hexavalentchromium plating bath. It was also demonstrated that theaddition of small quantities of phosphorus into Co�W alloysimproved the corrosion resistance of the alloy. In fact, theaddition of phosphorus further improved the corrosion ofthe alloy exposed to immersion test in comparison tocobalt�tungsten. The cobalt�tungsten alloys without havingany phosphorus component were subjected to further oxi-dation of tungsten component followed by dissolution indeionised water during the immersion tests.

RÉSUMÉ On a considéré des alliages de cobalt et tungstènecomme matériaux potentiels pour diverses applications. Ce travailexamine le comportement d’usure et de résistance à la corrosiond’alliages de cobalt, tungstène et phosphore déposés par électrol-yse, à partir de bains alcalins contenant du citrate. Les taux d’usuresdes dépôts de l’alliage de cobalt et tungstène étaient plus faiblesque ceux des dépôts non alliés de cobalt. Le taux d’usure étaitégalement plus faible que ceux de chrome déposés à partir d’unbain de dépôt électrolytique de chrome hexavalent. On a égale-ment démontré que l’addition de petites quantités de phosphoredans les alliages de Co�W améliorait la résistance à la corrosion del’alliage. En fait, l’addition de phosphore améliorait davantage la cor-rosion de l’alliage exposé à un essai d’immersion par rapport àl’alliage au cobalt et tungstène. Les alliages de cobalt et tungstène,sans la composante de phosphore, étaient sujets à davantaged’oxydation de la composante de tungstène suivie par la dissolu-tion dans de l’eau déionisée lors des essais d’immersion.

May 2014 | 95

innovation showcase

GLOBAL MINERAL RESEARCH (GMR)Global Mineral Research (GMR), located in Burnaby, BC, is just 15 min-utes from downtown Vancouver. This state-of-the-art laboratory was cre-ated in response to the global need for reliable, timely and cost effectivetestwork results. Their 10,000 square foot facility was custom designedfor efficiency, based on more than 35 years of experience in the industry.GMR technicians provide assays and metallurgical testwork for essentiallyall metals and industrial minerals, as well as some precious gems. Inaddition, the lab can provide environmental services such as ARD andwaste water treatment testing. “Our strengths lie in our experiencedteam, our up-to-the-minute equipment, and our cost competitiveness”says Peter Tse, COO, who has a solid track record of setting up and run-ning successful laboratories.

For more information visit www.gmrlaboratory.com

ISIS GEOMATICS Isis Geomatics utilizes the latest in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)and RTK survey equipment to provide stunning, high-definition imageryand high resolution quantity surveys for the mining industry and munici-palities. Class leading 3D and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)software provide unmatched accuracy and detail with a typical data reso-lution for both imagery and digital surface models (DSMs) of 3.5cm. Thismeans that there is continuous elevation data for the entire survey area,with precise elevation readings every 3.5cm, allowing observation ofeven the most subtle and minute changes in topography.

The high level of accuracy that Isis delivers translates into more accuratevolume calculations, contour mapping, and 3D point clouds. In fact, test-ing has shown the Isis method delivers a 3-5% increase in data accuracycompared with traditional GPS surveys, allowing clients to be confidentthat they are receiving the highest quality data available.

Please visit www.isisgeo.com for more.

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

www.portofbelledune.ca

http://www.isisgeo.com

http://www.gmrlaboratory.com


innovation showcase

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PROVIX PROVIX Detection is an RFID based proximity detection system that alerts heavy equipment operators ofthe presence of other vehicles, personnel and equipment. Its purpose is to reduce the chance of collisionsand to eliminate interactions between operating equipment and personnel. The PROVIX Detection Systemprovides a visual and audible warning to equipment operators and identifies the position and distance ofany vehicles, heavy equipment or personnel that are in proximity to the established geofenced perimeter.PROVIX Detection ensures detection within the pre-established GeoFenced area and will be processed anddetected in Real Time, for instant display on the cab monitor. PROVIX Detection arms each vehicle, eachperson and each piece of operating heavy equipment with an RFID tag. Each tag emits a wireless radiosignal that specifically identifies the tag. The tag can be detected up to 500 meters away and is config-urable to meet operational requirements.

professional directory

product files

THE FUTURE OF COAL IS IN CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE So why isn’t industry spending more on R&D?

TECHNOLOGYAdvances in emissions control

SAFETYCalamity in a can - Energy drinks on the worksite

SYSTEMS ENGINEERINGthe key to cutting innovation risk

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May 2014 | 97

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57 University of BritishColumbia

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Innovation Showcase

95 Belledune Port Authority

95 Global Mineral Research(GMR)

95 ISIS Geomatics

96 Provix

Product Files

96 BBA

96 PowerFlow Engineering Inc.

Professional Directory

96 CONMico

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Shut

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tock

Privileged with comfort and beauty,Kathleen Rice rejected the mar -ginalized existence offered to

Canadian women in the early 20thcentury, instead choosing a life in thewilderness. Her mineral discoveries innorthern Manitoba earned her the title ofCanada’s first female prospector.

Rice was born into a well-to-do fam-ily in St. Marys, Ontario in 1883. Hergrandfather was a forward-thinking manwho founded a college for women inHamilton. Rice’s father dreamed ofexploring the frontier but he sacrificedhis aspirations for a teaching career. Theimportance of education trickled downto Rice who excelled in mathematics atthe University of Toronto and decided tofollow in her father’s footsteps as ateacher.

Upon graduation, Rice held a seriesof positions as a mathematics instructor,first in Ontario, and then later out west.Because she taught what was considereda male discipline, she described herself as “constantly [being]up against a feeling that [she] ought not to be there.” It wasduring a vacation to the Canadian Rockies, after a teachingstint in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, when Rice made a life-chang-ing decision. Perhaps the mountain air cleared her mind, orthe wild horizon beckoned; whatever the case, she decided toclose the book on her teaching career.

Rice wanted to homestead near The Pas, Manitoba, butwomen could not own property at the time. To circumventthis rule, her brother signed the required deed for her in 1913.Gold was discovered by the Mosher brothers near Beaver Lakeand prompted a prospecting buzz. Rice began studying min-eral assessments: she read everything she could on geology,and she learned to hunt and trap – and also how to speak Cree– by befriending local aboriginals. She would be referred to bythe Cree as “Mooniasquao,” which means “white woman.”

In March 1914, Rice hired an aboriginal guide and sleddogs and ventured off on her first prospecting trip. They trav-elled to Beaver Lake and continued on to Reindeer Lake, andeventually reached Brochet, completing a 452-kilometre trek.She found zinc occurrences, but no claims were staked.

The following year, Rice set out on a solo trip. A friend fromChicago grubstaked her venture. She staked gold and base metalclaims near Beaver Lake, and sent notes and pictures from heradventure to her friend. She also hunted game to sustain her-


self and sold pelts in order to buy thematerials needed to build a log cabin.

It was around this time when she metDick Woosey, a burly Boer War veteranwith coal-black hair. He had moved toCanada with his wife, but upon arrival,she rejected the idea of life in the bushand promptly returned to England.Woosey and Rice would soon becomeacquainted, but they defined their unionas a business partnership, even as Ricemoved into his cabin on Chisel Lake.The neighbours assumed that the twowere “shacked up,” but Rice made noindication of intimacy. She neverrevealed her living arrangements to theToronto Star reporters who hounded herdue to her local celebrity whenever shereturned to visit her parents.

In the following years, Rice andWoosey travelled northeast to HerbLake. Other prospectors had alreadystaked its shores, but some abandonedclaims in the country caught Rice’s eye.

In 1920, she settled onto Assessment Island, which was laterrenamed Rice Island. According to legend, while standing onthe shore, Rice saw a rainbow end on the island and, using anovel borax bead testing method, she confirmed the presenceof copper. In 1928, she arranged for drilling, and the copperproved to be substantial. Rice subsequently discovered nickel,forming the Rice Island Nickel Mining Company, and a latervanadium discovery earned her respect, as no other prospec-tors had located vanadium in the area to date.

Rice hoped to have her island claims diamond-drilled, andshe was offered $500,000. But she held out for a million, andthe buyer eventually walked away. Ultimately, Rice would onlyreceive $20,000 for those claims. As a complex legal disputebetween her and Woosey, and a third partner over the owner-ship of the claims wound its way through the courts, Incoeventually acquired the lease in 1958, making the $20,000payment to Rice, who subsequently liquidated Rice IslandNickel Mining Company. Vale, which acquired Inco in 2006,still holds the Rice Island lease, and Rice’s claims are said tohave lured Inco to the region in the first place.

Woosey died unexpectedly in the early 1940s, leaving Riceon her own. She remained on her island, gardening, prospect-ing and writing articles for the Toronto Star Weekly and scien-tific journals. She died in 1963 and was inducted into theCanadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2014. CIM

Kathleen Rice: Trailblazing the Manitoba wildsBy Jen Glanville

Standing six feet tall with a head of golden blonde hair,Kathleen Rice left a life of privilege in Ontario tobecome a mineral prospector in northern Manitoba.

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cim magazine may 2014

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