cim magazine may 2016

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May • Mai 2016 | 5

38-47Underground

miningInstrumented bolts in Illinois

By Eavan Moore

Mosaic Colonsay’s Canpotex runBy Peter Braul

Dean Millar discusses the “40 per cent mine”

By David Chen

60In the Valley of the Kings

Bestowed with high-grades and blessed with

a favourable exchange rate, the Brucejack project is a jewel

in Pretium’s crown

By Virginia Heffernan

65Pump it up

Tougher materials and earliertreatment define the advances

in dewatering technology

By Eavan Moore

68Coal in Canada

A snapshot of the sector fromthe Pacific to the Atlantic

By David Chen and Ryan Bergen

52Names to know 2016 This year’s class of leaders, innovators and regulators making their marks in the industryBy Correy Baldwin, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Andrew Seale, Katelyn Spidle

MAY | 2016 | MAI

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71 Table des matières

72 Lettre de l’éditeur | Mot du président

75 La classe de chefs de file, d’innovateurs et d’organismes deréglementation qui font leurs marques dans l’industrie cetteannée

Par Correy Baldwin, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco,Andrew Seale, Katelyn Spidle

l’actualité

73 Le budget fédéral prévoit des fonds pour les technologiespropres, l’exploration et la réforme de la réglementation

Par Chris Windeyer

profil de projet

83 Le projet Brucejack, qui bénéficie de hautes teneurs et d’untaux de change favorable, est un joyau dans la couronne deprojets de Pretium

Par Virginia Heffernan

65

32

17

contenufrancophone

La version françaiseintégrale du CIM Magazineest disponible en ligne :magazine.CIM.org/fr-CA

CIM MAGAZINE MAY | 2016 | MAI

article de fond

8 Editor’s letter

10 President’s notes

12 Chatter

tools of the trade

14 The best in new technology Compiled by David Chen and Kelsey Rolfe

developments

17 Federal budget contains money for clean technology,exploration and regulatory reform

By Chris Windeyer

19 Briefs

22 Four miners receive funding from federal sustainabledevelopment technology fund

By Correy Baldwin

28 Taseko, other miners face off against activist shareholders By Kate Sheridan

columns

36 Measurement matters By Jeff Geipel

37 Mining, the loonie and energy By Mauro Chiesa

tribute

48 Remembering Hugh Taylor By Lawrence Devon Smith

CRIRSCO

51 Standards committee expands its international reach By Deborah McCombe

mining lore

90 California was not able to send soldiers to the Civil War, but thelocal mining industry offered a vital contribution

By Kate Sheridan

technical abstracts

86 CIM Journal

75

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

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

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

hitachimining.com

4:10 PM

8 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 11, No. 3

Editor-in-chief Ryan Bergen, [email protected]

Executive editor Angela Hamlyn, [email protected]

Managing editor Andrea Nichiporuk, [email protected]

Section editor Tom DiNardo, [email protected]

Junior section editor Kelsey Rolfe, [email protected]

Copy editor Marilena Lucci, [email protected]

Web content editor Maria Olaguera, [email protected]

Contributing editors Peter Braul, [email protected]; Eavan Moore, [email protected]

Editorial intern David Chen

Digitization technician Marie-Ève Lapierre, [email protected]

Contributors Correy Baldwin, Mauro Chiesa, Antoine Dion-Ortega,Jeff Geipel, Virginia Heffernan, Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, DeborahMcCombe, Eavan Moore, Andrew Seale, Kate Sheridan, Larry Smith,Katelyn Spidle, Kylie Williams, Chris Windeyer

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

Translations CNW, Karen Rolland

Published 8 times a year by:Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum 1250 – 3500 de Maisonneuve Blvd. WestWestmount, QC H3Z 3C1Tel.: 514.939.2710; Fax: 514.939.2714 www.cim.org; [email protected]

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Subscriptions Included in CIM membership ($187); Non-members (Canada):$275/yr (AB, BC, MB, NT, NU, SK add $13.50 GST; NB, ON add$35.10 HST; QC add $40.40 GST + PST; PE add $37.80 HST; NSadd $40.50 HST); Non-members (USA & International): US$325/yr;Single copy: $25.

Leader of SGS Geostat’s Gold Rush Challenge team, Guy DesharnaisPhotograph by Riccardo Cellere

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

Copyright©2016. All rights reserved.

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

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

Printed in Canada

2015

Kenneth R. Wilson Awards

Finalist

Best in Canadian Business M

edia

E ach spring, we editors at CIM Magazinetake on the mantle of Qualified Personand get serious about our annual list of

people whose past accomplishments or futureprojects merit concentrated coverage.

With every new edition, we start with acore list of individuals. For example, theascension of Denise Johnson to group presi-dent of resource industries at Caterpillarjumped out at us immediately. It is clear to us,having been on group tours of Caterpillar’sproving ground in Arizona with the company’salmost exclusively male mining dealers andclients, that Johnson is breaking ground.Moreover, the course she charts to navigate

the group through the current marketplace is one to watch.Similarly Maureen Jensen, the first woman to head the Ontario

Securities Commission, captured our attention earlier this year when shetook the position and with it the task of helping to create a more elegantregulatory regime than Canada’s existing system of overlapping regulationsamong provincial security commissions.

In other instances, we, like the market, play a hunch. Recently, TeslaMotors continued to distinguish itself as a singular brand in the automotivesector, with thousands of people lining up to pay their deposit for the com-pany’s latest and most affordable electric car, due out next year. For betteror worse, the lithium exploration company Pure Energy Minerals hasbecome part of that spectacle. Its Nevada property, which showed promis-ing drilling results last year, has an agreement to supply the materialneeded for the rechargeable batteries Tesla will require. The job of PureEnergy Minerals CEO Patrick Highsmith, who we also profile, is to convertthe early buzz into the hum of production. To make this happen he willneed to turn an exploration project into a bonafide producer, and thatchallenge will include the commissioning of a solvent extraction processplant that would avoid the industry-standard brine evaporation pools.

Together, these and the other figures we profile are meant to create acomposite portrait of the industry at this moment and lay out the interest-ing and sometimes unexpected dimensions within. We hope you enjoy it,and we would love to hear your thoughts.

Ryan Bergen, [email protected]

@Ryan_CIM_Mag

The names game

editor’s letter


An unforgettable year“Coming together is a beginning, staying together isprogress and working together is success”

– Henry Ford

When I look back on the year that was my presidency, I am filled onlywith love and admiration for this organization. That includes council, com-mittee members, our presidents (past and future), CIM staff (past and pres-ent) and particularly you, the CIM members. The unrelenting optimism,resilience, drive, determination and desire for excellence you all have dis-played over the past year have been inspiring to me.

I must say that I will always value the relationships I have formed at CIMand hope they will endure. I have loved travelling to branch meetings, con-ferences, the Montreal head office, regional events and international gather-ings, all of which gave me an opportunity to meet with you in friendship andcommon purpose. I have loved the challenges, and in all honesty this pastyear has posed many of them. Starting with the repair of relationships lastspring, then the long-awaited implementation of the five-year strategic planand the subsequent re-organization, all with the backdrop of the continueddownturn in the mining and metals sector.

However, having seen a surprising buoyancy at the PDAC convention, Itruly expect that mood to continue at the CIM 2016 Convention. One benefitof these trying times is that we have been brought together in fellowship andresolve. Heady days afford us much less time, so let us take advantage ofthese opportunities.

I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude for all you have done, are doingand will do on behalf of CIM and the mining community. It is truly appreci-ated. I commit to serve our new president Michael Winship, his successorKen Thomas and incoming president-elect and my dear friend Janice Zinckas awesomely as they have supported me. Rest assured, we are in goodhands!

I do hope that you have enjoyed these notes as much as I have enjoyedwriting them.

This quote from Dr. Seuss sums my feelings up to a T: “Don’t cry becauseit’s over, smile because it happened.”

I bid you all a fond farewell, with a tear in my eye but a smile on my face!

Garth Kirkham CIM President @GarthCIMPrez

president’s notes

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chatter FOLLOW US

TWITTERtwitter.com/CIMorg/

FACEBOOK facebook.com/CIMMag/facebook.com/CIM.ICM/

LINKEDIN linkedin.com/groups/40506/

INSTAGRAM instagram.com/cim_mag

YOUTUBE youtube.com/canadianinstituteofmining

RE: GRINDING DOWN COSTS (MARCH/APRIL ’16)

Gold mine in Quebec reduces cyanideusage by 20% by adding it after grinding.

– Lydia Miller, @LydiaCAMiller

“Canadian Malartic reduces its cyanideuse by switching to different injectionpoints” #GoldMining

– Jeffrey J Davis, @JeffreyJDavis

RYAN BERGEN@Ryan_CIM_Mag

ANGELA HAMLYN@AngelaH_CIM

ANDREA NICHIPORUK@Andrea_CIM_Mag

TOM DiNARDO@Tom_CIM_Mag

KELSEY ROLFE@kelseyarolfe

MARIA OLAGUERA@Maria_CIM_Mag

LET’S TALKWant to sing our praises or read us the riot act? Email your comments to [email protected] and you could be featured on these pages.

RE: FEB. ‘16

Is it sad that I get excited aboutmining/tech magazines? A little bit? Ok.

#CIMBC16 – K M, @AngelusEstNomen

RE: KNOW NO FEAR (FEB. ‘16)

It will be very interesting to see how thistechnology and associated analyticsdeliver on possibility for improved safety.

– Robert Seitz

Sci-Fi keeps getting more real. Will beinteresting to see how this getsimplemented and if theemployees/unions will be accepting ofthe new tech. I would imagine moreadopters with time and education.

– Marty Dilworth

RE: GRINDING DOWN COSTS (MARCH/APRIL ’16)

Very interesting report. I would further beinterested in the effect of cyanide level(maintained in the leach slurry) on ferro-cyanide formation. If mechanical attrition ofsteel balls is the major contributor toformation of ferrocyanides, as concluded inthe report, the fine ground steel balls [with]iron should still consume cyanidedownstream of milling. Perhaps movingfrom single point cyanide addition todividing addition points ensured thatconditions are less favourable for side-reactions.

– Michael Sithole

Very useful information; maybe we mayhave to look at incorporating this kind of“new thinking” into other processes.

– Tadimety Rao

Very good article, and seems almostintuitive that grinding media wouldconsume Cyanide. We wasted a lot ofCyanide over the years!!!

– Sadek E. El-Alfy

DO YOU TWEET?Get on Twitter and start following @CIMorg so you don't miss out on all the important news before,during and after this year's convention #CIMBC16!

WATCH: Lesley Warren from University of Torontodiscusses the possibilities of mine wastewater bacteriain her presentation at McEwen Mining’s Lunch & Learnseries. See the complete series on our Youtubechannel, and read more about mining genomicsprojects on page 20.

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Better blendingGrade fluctuations at the processing plant can hob-ble productivity and drive up operational costs, withengineers spending extra time blending materialreclaimed from stockpiles to meet the plant’s require-ments. Hexagon Mining believes its newly-released Atlas 3.0, an upgrade to its Atlas activityscheduling and stockpile management software, cansolve that problem. Introducing a new license forAtlas integrated with IBM’s ILOG CPLEX, Atlas 3.0allows users to select multiple reclaim sources and adestination for the material. It also enables them tospecify a range of lower- and upper-grade constraints from each source, which helps with blending at the processing plant,or to set volume and tonnage constraints. “The optimization results can be manually modified to allow more control over thereclaimed material,” said Samira Kalantari, Hexagon’s engineering product manager. Atlas 3.0 can also schedule other mine-site activities like drilling and blasting. – Kelsey Rolfe

The purpose of mobile equipment lubricants is simple:reduce friction and protect against wear. Klüber Lubricationbelieves its new calcium sulphonate-based greases, theKlüberplex EM 91-151 and 91-152, perform substantiallybetter than the commonly-used lithium and lithium complexgrease. While adding calcium sulphonate to the formulaincreases complexity during manufacturing, it is “superior incorrosion-protection and load-carrying capabilities,” saidDaniel Narnhammer, head of Klüber North America’sGlobal Competence Centre. “In our field tests in both sur-face and underground mines, we were able to test our greaseagainst a standard lithium complex grease,” said Narnham-mer. “The customer noted they had increased pin life andthe overall consumption of grease was significantly lower.”Narnhammer said the lubricant can “take up water, keep itsproperties and adhere to metal,” which results in corrosionprotection and the ability to carry more load. – David Chen


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May • Mai 2016 | 17

British Columbia to amend Mines Act

19

Taseko, other miners face off against

activist shareholders

28

Ontario court paves the way for

Ring of Fire road

21

Four miners receive funding from federal

sustainable developmenttechnology fund

22

Funding the futureFederal budget contains money for clean technology, exploration and regulatory reformBy Chris Windeyer

Developments

Three of Canada’s main miningorganizations are taking a page out ofPrime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “sunnyways” playbook, at least as far as theirresponses to the federal budget areconcerned.

There is not much in the 2016budget specifically earmarked for min-ing. But the 15 per cent Mineral Explo-ration Tax Credit (METC) is back againfor another year, extended until March31, 2017, to the delight of the MiningAssociation of Canada (MAC), theAssociation for Mineral ExplorationBritish Columbia (AME BC) and theProspectors and Developers Associa-tion of Canada (PDAC).

“We heard the arguments in favourof the credit, we think they’re com-pelling arguments,” said NaturalResources Minister James Carr in a sit-down interview with CIM Magazine.“We certainly think that it’s well under-stood in the government that this hasbeen very helpful to the mining sector.”

In an environment where capital isstill hard to come by for junior miners,the METC’s incentive is vital, said MACspokesperson Jessica Draker. “WhatCanada needs to ensure is that there isa pipeline of projects that could even-tually become mines to ensure sustain-able growth in the industry,” she said.

It is also worth keeping an eye onthe government’s budget promises tochange the rules surrounding Cana-

dian Exploration Expenses to includeregulatory work and consultations aseligible expenses, and its pledge not toapply any federal carbon tax in juris-dictions that already have one.

Also on the exploration side, thebudget contains $87.2 million forbaseline research at Natural ResourcesCanada, including earth sciences andmapping. “The federal government’scommitment to earth sciences andmapping as well as minerals-relatedresearch will further boost Canada’sleadership and reputation for innova-tion and help attract more investmentinto mineral exploration and develop-

ment,” said Gavin Dirom, AME BC’spresident and CEO, in a release.

The budget also aims to kickstart theoft-congested regulatory process withnew money for federal agencies, includ-ing $16.5 million over three years for theNational Energy Board, NaturalResources Canada and TransportCanada to implement the government’snew interim regulatory principles forresource projects. There is $14.2 millionover four years for the Canadian Envi-ronmental Assessment Agency, and$10.1 million over four years for theNorthern Projects Management Office,which coordinates federal agencies

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Finance Minister Bill Morneau tabled his first federal budget on March 22, with funding for clean technology andexploration, and a renewal of the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit.


involved in regulatory proceedings inthe territories.

Regulatory changes over the last fewyears were coupled with budget cuts tofederal regulatory agencies, Drakersaid. “[The funding increase is] veryimportant because it will ensure therewill be enough capacity for regulatorsto carry out their duties, specificallythe environmental assessment and per-mitting processes.”

The budget’s centrepiece areas of“clean growth” and initiatives toaddress the social and economic dis-parities between indigenous peopleand the general population offertrickle-down benefits to mining.There’s $4.2 billion over five years foreducation and training in indigenouscommunities, and $3.4 billion overfive years for infrastructure, includinga major spending push on housing,healthcare and water on reserves. In astatement, MAC called these invest-ments “important building blocks for

accelerating the participation ofIndigenous Canadians in the miningindustry.”

And there is more than $1 billionover four years for research into cleantechnology, something that is of greatinterest to miners, said Draker. Themining industry spends around $700million per year on innovation accord-ing to MAC, including energy effi-ciency and reducing greenhouse gasemissions, and new federal spendingon research can help “catalyze” existinginvestments by industry, she said.

What is absent from the budget isany specific earmarks for major infra-structure projects of interest to min-ers, such as badly-needed roads toOntario’s Ring of Fire, at least for thetime being. The government haspledged $120 billion for new infra-structure over the next decade, butonly offers details on the first phase,which focuses mostly on public tran-sit, municipal infrastructure projects

and upgrades to existing federal infra-structure.

The Liberals say they will developPhase 2 in consultation with provinces,territories, First Nations, cities andother stakeholders. PDAC and MACare both keen to see much of that newinvestment take place in remote andnorthern regions of the country, as arethe territorial governments. NorthwestTerritories premier Bob McLeod said inearly March he hoped some of the fed-eral government’s planned infrastruc-ture funding would go to the North toassist the territory’s mining sector.

“Such investments, if made inresource-rich parts of the country,would both lead to more discoveriesand would also make it economicallyviable to develop existing discoveriesthat remain undeveloped,” said PDACpresident Robert Schafer. “Transporta-tion infrastructure remains the key tounlocking the resource potential ofthe North.” CIM

British Columbia toamend Mines Act

Nearly a year and a half after theMount Polley tailings dam disaster,British Columbia is expanding itspower to enforce its mining health andsafety rules. Energy and Mines MinisterBill Bennett introduced amendments tothe Mines Act in late February thatwould give his ministry the ability tohand out financial penalties to compa-nies without going through the courts.Currently, the government can onlyshut down mines or revoke permits ofnoncompliant companies.

Bennett told CIM Magazine theupdate would put the mining industryon par with other sectors in theprovince.

“The Environmental ManagementAct, the Forest Act, the Oil and GasActivities Act, they all have administra-tive penalties,” he said. “It just gives ussome flexibility and makes us a bit

May • Mai 2016 | 19

more nimble to make sure that peopleare complying.”

The amendment would also allowcourts to hand out more severe finan-cial penalties of up to $1 million, andjail terms of up to three years, up fromthe current maximum of $100,000 orone year in jail.

B.C. is currently reviewing its healthand safety code for mining to deter-mine how to implement recommenda-tions made in the reports from theindependent Mount Polley investiga-tion panel and B.C. chief mines inspec-tor Al Hoffman.

This is not the first time theprovince has reviewed the code after amining accident; the last time theprovince examined its code was in2007, after four people died due to thelack of oxygen in a pump shed at thedecommissioned Sullivan mine inKimberley.

Bennett has pledged to implementall of the independent panel’s recom-

mendations. One would require min-ing companies to demonstrate theyhad examined all possible tailingsoptions to determine the best possi-ble method for their sites. In the pastthey only had to present informationon the one they chose to build.Another would require all mines witha tailings facility to have an inde-pendent review board scrutinize engi-neering designs.

Karina Briño, president and CEO ofthe Mining Associations of B.C.(MABC) said the industry knew thegovernment has been contemplatingchanges since December. “We werenotified through the release of the chief[mines] inspector’s report after theMount Polley investigation,” she said.

Briño said the current regulationsare already very strict, but the industrywants to be “part of the conversation”about safety and updating the regula-tions to ensure public confidence inmining.

developments


“We are a mining country, we are amining jurisdiction here in BritishColumbia, so it is important to us thatwe have a good relationship with thegeneral public.” – David Chen

Mining projects advancein Genome Canadacompetition

Four proposals to improve the envi-ronmental impact of mining by captur-ing the enormous potential ofbiological processes have moved on tothe next round of a $26-millionGenome Canada funding competition.

The next step for the teams – amonga total of 21 from various industries –is preparing a final application andpresenting it to Genome Canada’sreview board. Between 10 and 12 proj-ects will receive funding for up to fouryears. Final applications are due inmid-April, and Genome Canada willannounce the funding recipients in late

June. The federally-funded organiza-tion’s task is to spark the creation oftechnologies based on the geneticinformation that modern science cannow easily access.

A team from Université Laval andCOREM, including researchers AlainGarnier and Philippe Gagnon, wantsto use proteomic tools to find,develop and test new protein-basedflotation reagents to replace othersthat are toxic in water, including xan-thate. The project’s total cost would beabout $4 million.

Shawn Mansfield and his team at theUniversity of British Columbia, NaturalResources Canada’s forestry centre andQueen’s University want to sequencethe genomes of 800 trees to determinewhat genetic signature might make cer-tain trees particularly suited to rehabil-itate mine sites – for example, bysequestering contaminants like heavymetals. Specialized tree breeders coulduse this information to grow trees

specifically to rehabilitate the soilaround closed mine sites. “It’s likebreeding show dogs,” Mansfieldexplained. The project, TerraTrees,could cost around $9 million.

With a DNA amplification anddetection technique, qPCR, and $10million, a project called PROAQUA,led by the University of Victoria’sCaren Helbing, could better assess theimpact of mine sites on local frog andfish populations. The project couldalso help companies detect endangeredspecies in the environment by testingwater for the species’ DNA, giving min-ing companies more certainty abouttheir impact on local ecosystems.

Lesley Warren from the University ofToronto would use $4 million to dis-cover how bacteria act in a mine’s waste-water. “Mining sites are rich in terms ofbacteria,” she said, but bacteria geneticsare poorly understood. Learning morecould lead to new treatments or evendiscovering helpful bacterial impacts.

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May • Mai 2016 | 21

Industry partners are already inter-ested in the projects. Goldcorp is pro-viding Mansfield with tailings from thePorcupine mine in Timmins, Ontarioand the closed Equity mine in BritishColumbia. Helbing will also be nearthe Equity site for one of her four casestudy sites; Imperial Metals will alsoprovide case study sites “to show howit will work in the real world,” Helbingsaid. Glencore and Hudbay Mineralsare among Warren’s backers and willgive her team access and samples andserve on the project’s advisory board. – Kate Sheridan

Rio Tinto CEO SamWalsh retires

After three challenging years at thehelm of mining giant Rio Tinto, SamWalsh will soon retire as chief execu-tive officer. He will be replaced byJean-Sébastien Jacques in July.

Walsh took over the top job at theworld’s second-largest mining com-pany from predecessor Tom Albanesein January 2013, shortly after Rio Tintorecorded its first annual loss indecades.

Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessiscredited Walsh with transforming thebusiness against a volatile economicbackdrop. During his time as chiefexecutive, Walsh and his team cut over$6 billion in costs, leaving Rio Tinto ina stronger position than when he tookon the role.

“I have been seriously fortunate tolead one of the world’s best compa-nies. After 25 great and enjoyableyears with Rio Tinto, now is the righttime to pass the reins on to Jean-Sébastien,” Walsh said in a March 17press release.

The incoming CEO joined Rio Tintoin 2011 after more than 15 years invarious aluminum, bauxite and steelindustry roles. Jacques quickly provedhis worth within Rio Tinto, referred toas a “standout performer” by Walsh,most recently as chief executive of itsextensive copper and coal portfolio.

Jacques’ most notable achievementof recent years was his leading role innegotiations with the Mongolian gov-

ernment over the Oyu Tolgoi mine. Heoversaw delivery of the first coppershipment from Oyu Tolgoi and thesigning of an underground mine devel-opment and financing plan in May2015, paving the way for the furtherdevelopment of the one of the world’slargest known copper and golddeposits. – Kylie Williams

Ontario court paves theway for Ring of Fire road

A road to the northern Ontario Ringof Fire chromite deposit could be builton top of a mining company’s claimswithout that company’s consent,according to a Feb. 25 decision fromthe Ontario Court of Appeal.

The court upheld a decision toallow a numbered company whollyowned by Noront Resources to build aroad running north to the Big Daddychromite deposit in the Ring of Fire ifOntario’s Mining and Lands Commis-sioner approves it.

The appellate decision affirmed thatthe road could be built on 108 of CanadaChrome Corporation’s mining claimswithout the company’s permission.

Canada Chrome Corporation is awholly-owned subsidiary of Toronto-based KWG Resources, which owns

developments

Jacques took a leading role in negotiations with theMongolian government over the Oyu Tolgoi mine andoversaw delivery of its first copper shipment.

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FROM THE WIRE

Eldorado Gold received a license for its

Olympias project in Halkidiki, Greece

in late March, which allows the com-

pany to set up a processing plant on the

site. Eldorado has allocated $155 mil-

lion, or nearly two thirds of its 2016

development budget, to develop the

gold-silver-lead-zinc mine.

Barrick Gold made two appointments in

mid-March. Catherine Raw was named

Barrick’s CFO, replacing Shaun Usmar.

Raw was Barrick’s executive vice-presi-

dent of business performance, and came

to the company from BlackRock in

2015. Rob Krcmarov, Barrick’s senior

vice-president of global exploration,

took on the role of executive vice-

president of exploration and growth,

and will join the company’s executive

committee.

Merushe (Meri) Verli was appointed

Northern Superior Resources’ new

CFO, the company announced in mid-

March. Verli, a chartered accountant,

comes to Northern Superior from Lake

Shore Gold, where she was the vice-

president of finance.

Goldcorp shook up its ranks in early

March, announcing several new

appointments. Russell Ball, executive

vice-president of corporate develop-

ment, was named the company’s CFO.

Richard Orazietti, vice-president of

internal audit, will be senior vice-presi-

dent and controller. David Stephens,

the director of corporate development,

will become vice-president and treas-

urer. Rohan Athaide, director of inter-

nal audit, will take on the role of

vice-president of internal audit.

South Africa-based global engineering

group DRA International acquired

Met-Chem Canada from UEC Tech-

nologies, the company announced in

early March. Met-Chem, a Montreal-

based consulting engineering company

founded in 1969, specializes in design

engineering, mineral processing,

EPCM project delivery and contract

operations.

Compiled by Kelsey Rolfe


30 per cent of the Big Daddy projectand had laid the chain of claims lead-ing up to the deposit to improve thechances the project advanced. Norontowns the remaining 70 per cent, and isalso the largest shareholder in KWGResources. Noront inherited the law-suit when it acquired Cliffs NaturalResources’ chromite properties in April2015.

In the court’s decision Justice GeorgeR. Strathy quoted from T.A. Ricard’s TheRomance of Mining: “An unprofitablemine is fit only for the [tomb] of a deadmule.” Strathy noted that “the samemight be said of an inaccessible mine.”

The court said there was no evi-dence a road could interfere withfuture exploration and exploitation onthe claims in question, but Maurice

Lavigne, vice-president of explorationand development at KWG, said directmining activities were never intendedfor those claims. “When we stakedthose claims, it was for the purpose ofbuilding the infrastructure we neededfor the mine,” he said. (KWG wantedto build a railroad to its site; accordingto Lavigne, there is not enough suitablearea to support a railroad and a road.)

Big Daddy, however, remains low onNoront’s list of development priorities inthe Ring of Fire. The company’s flagshipproject is the Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper-PGE project in the Ring of Fire. Thecompany is also developing the BlackThor project near the Big Daddydeposit. Noront president and CEOAlan Coutts told CIM Magazine thatwhile the company inherited the suit

near the end of the process, they contin-ued it to keep their options open forpotential chromite development proj-ects. Coutts said the company’s focus isEagle’s Nest, which would not requirean access corridor through these claims.

The Ontario government committed$1 billion to infrastructure projects inthe Ring of Fire in the 2016 budget. Sofar, the province has spent at least $78million to prepare communities in thearea for development-related opportu-nities. The federal government has alsobeen involved in the area and collabo-rated with the provincial authorities tofund a $785,000 study on corridoroptions for four Matawa First Nationscommunities. The provincial miningministry has contributed $23 million. – K. Sheridan

Sustainable Development Technol-ogy Canada (SDTC) recently announced$206 million in funding for 36 cleantechnology projects across the country,including four projects by mining com-panies Alliance Magnesium, AvalonAdvanced Materials, Quest Rare Miner-als and Teck Resources.

SDTC has funded over 300 projectsin 15 years. And though just 10 (total-ing $40 million) have come from themining sector, four successful appli-cants this year alone signals an increas-ing interest from the industry. “It is anarea we have been interested in gettinginto even more,” said SDTC presidentand CEO Leah Lawrence. “We seerecognition [from the industry] thatsustainability needs to be integratedinto mining. And we have some reallystrong leaders in that area, so we arestarting to see momentum.”

SDTC has several priority invest-ment areas when it comes to miningprojects. One, not represented in thisyear’s recipients, is intelligent mining,or the application of data to the miningprocess.

Clean slate Four miners receive funding from federal sustainable development technology fund By Correy Baldwin

A second involves attempts to elimi-nate the smelting process by refiningnear deposits, an approach taken byTeck, which is looking to place refiner-ies close to high-arsenic copper

deposits. “Refining on-site or close tothe mine makes a lot of sense from cost,environmental and sustainability driv-ers,” said Keith Mayhew, manager ofTeck’s CESL operations. Teck has part-

Teck’s SDTC-funded project to eliminate smelting by placing refineries close to high-arsenic copper deposits willinvolve work at its CESL demonstration plant autoclave.

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nered with the German refining company Aurubis todevelop new technology to process concentrates hydromet-allurgically rather than through smelting, to be tested at atwo-year pilot plant in Richmond, British Columbia

As high-grade copper deposits become scarce, compa-nies are increasingly turning to lower-grade deposits,which often contain high levels of arsenic. “The amount ofarsenic-containing copper concentrates is projected to sig-nificantly increase,” said Mayhew, “and smelters aren’treally designed to manage high-arsenic material.”

Teck’s process extracts copper at higher levels thansmelters, and simultaneously stabilizes the arsenic to theresidue. It produces none of the sulphur dioxide or arsenicemissions produced through smelting, and significantlyreduces energy and water consumption.

SDTC’s third priority investment area is convertingwaste to products, as with a process developed by Allianceto remediate asbestos tailings to produce magnesium.Alliance is revamping the former Magnola plant inAsbestos, Quebec, improving the hydrometallurgy andelectrolysis processes used at the plant by Noranda from2000 to 2003. The SDTC funding will help test furtherimprovements in engineering aimed at producing 50,000tonnes by 2017, with full production soon after.

The process is meant to replace the thermal Pidgeonprocess used in China, which leads global primary mag-nesium production. As it is used today, the Pidgeonprocess relies heavily on energy from coal, and emits alot of C02, explained Alliance CEO Joël Fournier. “It’salso very expensive because it requires a lot of energy. Ittakes five times the amount of energy required by elec-trolysis.” Alliance’s process drastically reduces C02 emis-sions, and virtually eliminates what remains throughcarbon capture.

There are also benefits downstream; magnesiumdemand is increasing, mainly from an automobile sectorlooking to improve fuel efficiency and cut greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions by reducing vehicle weight. Magnesiumis a lighter alternative to metals traditionally used by thetransportation and aerospace industry, like steel.

SDTC has also become interested in supporting rareearth projects. “We like those because they support thevalue chain of many other things we fund – LEDs, solarpanels, stronger magnets – all of these things that enableclean technologies and renewable energies,” said Lawrence.“We think this is an area where Canada can play a signifi-cant role, and maybe develop to be a world leader.”

China dominates the rare earth market, and specificallythose required for clean technology, like dysprosium, ter-bium, europium, neodymium and yttrium, which arealready in short supply. Quest’s Strange Lake project innorthern Quebec could change all that. “Strange Lake hasone of the highest concentrations of environmentally-relevant rare earths in the world,” said Quest PresidentDirk Naumann. “The downstream opportunities areimmense. And the resource we have in Strange Lake is

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good for 150 years, with a mining rate of 10,000 tonnesper year.”

Rare earth extraction is energy-intensive, and creates sig-nificant waste. Naumann, a chemical engineer, was broughton board to reconceive the process for Quest’s Bécancourplant. “I went back to the physical and chemical fundamen-tals, and threw out lots of unnecessary process steps, simpli-fying things,” he said.

The resulting Selective Thermal Sulphation (STS)process uses heat rather than chemi-cals to separate out impurities. Hightemperatures decompose all metal sul-phates other than rare earths to insol-uble components, and the remainingrare earths are dissolved in water. Sul-phuric acid used in the processing isreused, rather than neutralized withcalcium, which normally creates largeamounts of solid tailings. The result isfar fewer tailings and GHG emissions,and a two-thirds reduction in capitalcosts. “We will see 15 per cent of thetailings in Bécancour compared towhat we initially put out in the prefea-sibility study,” Naumann said.

Avalon also received funding fortheir Nechalacho rare earth project inthe Northwest Territories, though dueto market conditions the project hasbeen put on hold and the fundingdeferred. Avalon has been looking atrecycling chemicals used in the recov-ery process, thus reducing tailings,along with GHG emissions.

“It’s great that SDTC is recognizingthat innovation in process metallurgy isimportant to sustainable development,and that a lot of these special metalsand minerals such as rare earths are keyto a lot of clean technology,” saidAvalon president and CEO Don Bubar.“The fact that they are now recognizingthat and supporting innovation in thatsector is really good.”

It counters a perception that themining industry is not doing anythingnew or innovative, said Bubar: “There’sactually quite a lot happening. And it’sfinally getting some recognition.”

Bottomless optimism atPDAC

Attendance numbers were down butspirits were high at this year’s annual

CIM

PDAC conference and trade show. The gathering brought22,000 people – just a little less than last year’s 23,500 – toToronto’s Metro Toronto Convention Centre where, despitean ongoing commodities rout, the mood was cautiouslyoptimistic for the future.

“Last year it was pretty downbeat. This year was definitelyupbeat, so there is a change in sentiment,” said Rod Thomas,PDAC’s past-president. “I think last year we thought we wereat the bottom [of the downturn]; this year we know we’re at

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the bottom and we get a sense thatthere’s a bit of light at the end of thetunnel.”

Despite a positive outlook amongdelegates, presenters tended towardsgloomier views of the year ahead. PaulRobinson, a director at CRU Group,said current supply cuts will not beenough to restore demand confidence,and he expects miners will continue“digging for victory” in 2016. “We think2016 will be another difficult year forcommodities…driven by weak demandand limited supply cuts,” he said.

Exploration was also top of mindfor presenters and attendees. MarkBristow, CEO of Randgold Resources(see our profile, pg. 55), criticized theindustry in a presentation for being“plagued by systemic short-termism”and cutting back on exploration fund-ing. “Exploration is the only sure wayof creating value in an extractiveindustry such as mining,” he said.

Natural Resources Minister JamesCarr attended the conference withassurances that the government of

Canada would assist the industry, high-lighting investment in innovation, reg-ulatory stability, engagement withindigenous communities and supportfor mineral exploration as four govern-ment priorities. “All of them are linkedby one goal: to fortify the strong andvibrant mining sector we have inCanada,” Carr said during his openremarks.

This year’s conference also markedthe end of Thomas’s two-year term asPDAC president. Robert Schafer, previ-ously the association’s first vice-presi-dent, will now step into the role.

“I always have fun doing what I do,”Schafer said of taking over the top jobat PDAC. “I feel very challenged, butI’m also feeling pretty comfortableabout what I’m about to do, becauseeverybody’s my friend here.”

Next year’s conference will takeplace from March 5 to 8. – Kelsey Rolfe

PDAC past-president Rod Thomas said this year’sconference was “definitely upbeat” in comparison tothe previous year.

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It has been a busy year for BritishColumbia miner Taseko Mines.

The company lost a defamation suitagainst an environmental group in Jan-uary regarding articles about thepotential environmental impact of itsproposed New Prosperity copper-goldproject, which the group posted duringthe federal environmental assessment’spublic comment period. In February,the company launched a new lawsuitalleging the federal government didnot meet its legal duties in the develop-ment of the New Prosperity project.Finally, a dissident shareholder group,Raging River Capital, called for a share-holder meeting in January.

The battle has been acrimonious.On Feb. 25, Taseko sent a press releaseaccusing Mark Radzik, Raging River’s

Battle for the boardTaseko, other miners face off against activist shareholdersBy Kate Sheridan

nomination for a Taseko board memberspot, of failing to disclose his involve-ment in a corporate bankruptcy. (In aninterview, Radzik said he was not adirector at the time and claimed Tasekowas attempting to direct the focus awayfrom its performance.)

The dispute is rooted in a key dis-agreement: Raging River believes Tasekois underperforming and should focuson a few development projects and selloff non-core assets; Taseko’s currentleadership disagrees with Raging River’sassessment and proposed strategy.

By definition, activist shareholdersuse their equity in a publicly tradedcompany to force the company’s man-agement to change something, like selloff assets or modify the shareholder orexecutive compensation structure.

“[Shareholder activism] is just gener-ally a reality – shareholders are beingmore responsible about their invest-ing,” said Kingsdale Shareholder Serv-ices’ president Amy Freedman.(Freedman has been peripherallyinvolved in the Taseko/Raging Rivercase.) “It could be the beginning of anew chapter. At the end of the day, thegoal is to maximize shareholder value.”

Proxy contests can happen when ashareholder or a group of shareholdershave an opposing position to the com-pany’s direction or the board’s strat-egy. Shareholders can hold a vote toapply pressure to the company; if theyare successful, they can appoint a newdirector or a slate of new directors,push out an existing director or blocka transaction.

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Companies faced 29 proxy contestsacross Canada as of September 2015,according to Kingsdale ShareholderServices’ latest proxy season review –which, the report noted, nearly matches2014’s total. Nine of those contests werein the materials sector; another seveninvolved energy companies.

Indeed, Taseko is not the only com-pany currently fending off an activistadvance; a dissident group claimedDominion Diamond’s share price fellbecause of poor management. In Janu-ary, shareholders voted for a new boardappointee, Josef Vejvoda – a portfoliomanager from K2 & Associates Invest-ment Management Inc., a companyreportedly leading an activist group.

While the number of proxy contestsis trending downward, Freedmannoted reported figures are likely under-stating the situation. “People try tokeep more out of the public eye,”Freedman said. “We work on manythings quietly. You may see a press

release go out that there’s a new boardmember or a strategic review, and it’sthe result of activist activity in thebackground.” Cases typically go publicwhen an activist has already tried towork with management, or when theybelieve the company will not act ontheir suggestions, Freedman added.

David Salmon, president of share-holder solicitation firm Laurel HillAdvisory Group, agreed there has beenan overall increase in shareholder

activism, “but not in traditionalactivism [like proxy battles].” (Salmonis directly involved with theTaseko/Raging River case.) Instead offighting to change the company’s direc-tion by appointing a new board mem-ber, Salmon said, activists have oftentried to block specific transactions,mergers or acquisitions. Technologyhas enabled shareholders to communi-cate with each other and do their ownresearch on transactions, Salmon said.

“Generally speaking, if you look 10or 15 years ago, no one opposed atransaction. But you saw that last year,”Salmon added.

Salmon noted that even smallershareholders have significant powertoday. One Fission Uranium share-holder, Jim Gifford, put together acoalition and blocked a merger withDenison Mines, Salmon noted, but Gif-ford’s own holding in the company rel-ative to the potential value of thetransaction was microscopic.

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May • Mai 2016 | 31

“It wasn’t an institution. This was asmall guy that lived in a farming com-munity in Ontario who got his messageout there,” Salmon said. “The ability[of this shareholder] to articulate hisarguments and get enough supportsuch that a $900 million transaction iskilled – I think that speaks volumesabout the level of engagement.”

Why are shareholders gettinginvolved now? The economy could bea factor. “[Shareholders are] losingmoney and they want to control asmuch as they can in those situations,”Salmon said. The number of proxybattles jumped after 2008, when theglobal economic downturn began, henoted. However, “the challengingeconomy was part of the reason, asmany stock prices were down signifi-cantly, but not the only reason,”Salmon said. Ultimately, a company’sperformance – and its shareholders’fortunes – must be evaluated in thecontext of a downturn.

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Taseko’s relative performance in thedownturn is the driving factor for RagingRiver’s actions, said Raging River boardnominee Mark Radzik. “We’ve watchedour share price go down and we’veseen action in millions of dollars goout, we’ve seen the CEO get a fullbonus and full compensation, when inall the public documents it says hedidn’t meet his objectives,” he said.

Taseko’s vice-president of investorrelations Brian Bergot acknowledged ithad been a “challenging couple of yearsfor copper miners,” but added thatactivist investors may take advantage of

frustrated shareholders. “I think they’reattacking Taseko because of the valueof our assets,” he said. The suit thecompany has launched against the fed-eral government regarding its assess-ment of New Prosperity is part of theeffort to restore that value.

“We are not interested in litigationand being tied up in court. But we needto do what we have to do to ensure ourprojects get fairly assessed in the envi-ronmental process,” he added.

Taseko will hold a special meet-ing, as requested by Raging River, onMay 10. CIM

The materials sector has experienced more proxy battles over five years than any other industry surveyed by Kingsdale

2011 2012 2013 2015

10

22

16

29

16

32

9

29

13

30

2014

materials sector

total

Proxy battles per year


has for the sector to frame its 2016Conference and Expo.

The event, held at the Phoenix Con-vention Centre from Feb. 21 to 24,hosted a formidable amount of contentin its three days of technical program-ming. It featured presentations divided

between at least 24 different streamseach day.

To open proceedings, SME presi-dent Steven Gardner threw a spotlighton perhaps the most promising datapoint of all. “Last year,” he declared tothe crowd gathered for the keynote ses-sion, “was the best year for mine safetyin the United States in history.” Thecountry recorded only 27 mining fatal-ities in 2015, down from 45 the previ-ous year and eight fewer than thepreceding record set in 2009.

Among a series of questions presen-ters tackled on the topic of data sci-ence was how the analysis of thegrowing collection of mine site datamight continue to improve the indus-try’s safety record by helping to iden-tify practices or trends that can predictsafety performance.

Presentations ranged from case stud-ies, such as one from Leonardo Avila ofWenco International Mining Systems,which detailed how fueling dispatchsoftware helped an oil sands mine gain

More than 6,300 delegates attended SME’s 2016 conference, which focused on the potential of data analysis.

Sorting through the dataTagged “The future for mining in a

data-driven world,” the Society forMining, Metallurgy and Exploration(SME) used the enormous potentialthat the capture and analysis of data

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9,600 hours of haul truck productivity,to more open-ended discussions con-sidering how the work of mine site sur-veyors, geologists and engineers mightbe captured for data analysis. A numberof presentations referred to “Big Data”in their titles and with them the sugges-tion that computer science can deliver anew era of safer, more efficient and pro-ductive operations.

Speakers, however, were careful totemper the excitement. “The more youautomate and algorithmize, the moreyou need to have a sanity check,”advised Ted Branscombe, manager ofinnovation and technology for Modu-lar Mining. “With large data sets youwill almost always find something thatseems significant, but that may not bethe case.” Do not undervalue experi-ence and common sense in the dataanalytics realm, he urged. “You needsomeone who knows the equipmentand processes to judge what matters.”

SME reported more than 6,300attended the event. Next year’s confer-

ence will be held from Feb. 19 to 22 inDenver, Colorado. – Ryan Bergen

Standards group releasesbond efficiency guidelines

The Global Mining Standards andGuidelines Group (GMSG) took thefirst step towards standardizing howgrinding circuit efficiency is calculatedwith the publication of its latest guide-line in early March. The guideline,“Determining the Bond Efficiency ofindustrial grinding circuits,” was pre-pared by the Bond Work Index sub-committee led by Rob McIvor, chiefmetallurgist of grinding systems atMetcom Technologies.

The guideline is “extremely impor-tant” for energy reduction and cost sav-ings in the mining industry, McIvor said.

“About 10 per cent of the cost ofproducing metal, before it can beprocessed into something useful, goesinto the size reductions of the ores,” hesaid. “The typical medium-sized plant

will spend millions of dollars a year ongrinding energy. You need a measure ofefficiency; you need to know whereyou stand. You can’t improve what youdon’t measure.”

Efficiency is calculated using theratio between the optimal amount ofenergy it takes to break down material,as measured in a lab, and the actualamount of energy it takes a mill to grindit. The standard measurement for grind-ing energy is called a work index, whichis derived from the Bond equation.

While the equation and the wayefficiency is mathematically calculatedhave been used for decades, there havebeen wide discrepancies as to how labwork is done and how mills are meas-ured. The new guideline aims to stan-dardize those procedures in theindustry. McIvor said the next step is tocalibrate actual lab tests and create abenchmarking database for the indus-try to reference.

GMSG will soon publish two addi-tional comminution guidelines: “Methods

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to Survey and Sampling Grinding Cir-cuits” and “Morrell Method for deter-mining comminution circuit specificenergy and assessing energy utilizationefficiency of existing circuits.” – D. Chen

Exploration geochemistryresearch at UBC gets afunding boost

Government funding for an industry-led research program at the Universityof British Columbia’s Mineral DepositResearch Unit (MDRU) came throughlate last year. The initiative aims toreinvigorate research in explorationgeochemistry, a field that has had verylittle formal research within Canadianuniversities and around the globe inrecent years.

Half of the $2.5 million the five-yearprogram now has was contributed bymineral testing laboratory AcmeLabs,which was acquired by Bureau Veritas

Minerals Laboratories in 2011. NSERCprovided the other half late last yearafter approving the program’s applica-tion in June. Research had alreadybegun in the fall of 2014 in anticipationof the federal funding.

UBC researcher Peter Winterburn,who is taking up the position of

NSERC/AcmeLabs/Bureau MineralsIndustrial Research Chair in Explo-ration Geochemistry, said the initia-tive is important because explorationin mining is becoming increasinglydifficult.

“One of the big problems is thatmost outcropping deposits have, byand large, now been found,” he said.“The next set of deposits that we dis-cover will be the ones that are buriedunder other material.”

Winterburn, who was the globalgeochemist for Vale prior to joiningUBC in 2013, hopes the program willlay a foundation for developing practi-cal methods that can be applied tocommercial exploration.

“The intention there is, using geo-chemistry, we would actually be able todiscriminate between [different] typesof targets at a fairly early stage and givethat drill or no-drill decision muchmore prominence, and obviously savea lot of money,” he said. – D. Chen

UBC researcher Peter Winterburn said the initiative isimportant because exploration is becomingincreasingly difficult.

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T he Extractive Sector Trans-parency Measures Act came intoforce last June, requiring mining

and oil and gas companies of a certainsize listed in Canada to disclose pay-ments made to all governments inCanada and abroad. Rules and systemslike this play a vital role in improvingthe governance of mining, both inadvanced and developing countries.Transparency helps prevent problematicmining codes and contracts, and opendata can help host country stakeholdersto push for better management of natu-ral resource extraction.

It is striking, however, that to thispoint most of the attention of civil soci-ety when it comes to economic impactsof mining has been focused exclusivelyon tax payments. While important,these are not the only, or even thelargest, economic contributions miningoperations make to host economies.

In most cases, companies actuallyspend more money on the procurementof goods and services than taxes, wagesand community investment combined.The World Gold Council surveyed its18 member companies, which operatein over 40 countries, and found that in-country procurement for 2013accounted for 71 per cent of all eco-nomic value distributed in host coun-tries by member company sites.

So, if we really want to ensure min-ing has a positive impact on hosteconomies, and for mining companiesto obtain their social license to operate,miners need to optimize their local pro-curement strategies.

Proper management of processes likelocal procurement require proper meas-urement. For three years we at the Min-ing Shared Value initiative of EngineersWithout Borders have been trackinghow Canada and the world’s largest

mining companies report on localsourcing of goods and services. We haveseen a steady increase in the number ofcompanies reporting more detail ontheir programs, as well as statistics thatshow how much of their procurement isgoing to local suppliers. Kinross Gold,Anglo American and Cameco areamong those companies reporting in away that informs better decision-mak-ing by all stakeholders involved.

If companies report more on localprocurement, it will better inform localstakeholders making decisions on howto work with them. For example, ifmining companies report on the variousprograms they are using (supplierdevelopment for example), it informslocal chambers of commerce, NGOs,training institutes and financing institu-tions on how they can support thoseprograms.

Better reporting on the volumes andtypes of goods and services a miningoperation buys could also help informlocal governments and businesses onwhat they should focus on supplying,rather than guessing at which sectors toinvest in.

It is also worth noting that mostcountries creating new mining codes arenow including local content regula-tions. Improvements to reporting willhelp inform company engagement withgovernments on these new codes, andhelp prevent governments from impos-ing unrealistic and arbitrary require-ments. By better measuring and

presenting the exact nature of their pro-curement, companies can work withgovernments to help create effective reg-ulation. If companies are not able todemonstrate and explain the nuances oftheir sourcing, they risk governmentimposing regulations that have littlefoundation in reality.

Unfortunately, many companies donot report on local procurement andhave little in the way of sophisticated

management sys-tems. In addition,even for companiesthat do a good job oftracking their effortsto buy locally, thereare no standard met-rics for them to use

and many companies have to re-createthe wheel to make their own systems.

To address this, we are working withthe German development organizationG.I.Z. to provide a standard for miningcompanies to report on local procure-ment of goods and services. The goal ofthis new system will be to help compa-nies manage their economic impactswith the most effective indicators toinform decisions, and help host coun-tries better understand how they canwork with mining companies toincrease local procurement through col-laboration.

Both mining companies and hostgovernments as well as the communi-ties they interact with need metrics toguide their decision-making. Thesemeasurement systems must capturenuance, provide accountability and helpus understand how the private and pub-lic sectors can support inclusive devel-opment. CIM

Got an opinion on one of our columns? Send your comments to [email protected].

Jeff Geipel is venture leader for Mining SharedValue at Engineers Without Borders Canada.

Measurement mattersBy Jeff Geipel

columns

“Most countries creating newmining codes are now includinglocal content regulations.”

May • Mai 2016 | 37

Mining is a changing businesswithin a changing world. Exist-ing operations and new proj-

ects cover more continents, have thinnergrades, higher capital cost needs andmore remote situations (not to mentionhost governments who now are hesitantto pick up costs such as roads or energysubsidies). Thus, feasibility work shouldinclude a careful review of currencies,energy costs and procurement options.

Why introduce these issues? The eco-nomic landscape is changing andincreasingly cautious investors do notwant their investments crushed unex-pectedly; they will query the issues andthe mining company must show somedegree of forethought and distinguishitself from global competitors. The U.S.economy is finally rebounding and hasbecome more diversified, having devel-oped into a net energy exporter – twosimultaneous factors which boost theU.S. dollar, relative to other currencies,including the loonie. The global eco-nomic slowdown and slowing demandfor oil has added a damper on oil pricesand on the currencies of other oil-exporting countries whose economiesrely more heavily on energy exports.Four countries in particular – Venezuela,Nigeria, Russia, and Iran – are verycrude-dependent and thus looking toincrease production in order to mitigatethe fall in revenues. Canada is also insuch a bind with very high-cost oildefining the value of the loonie. Whilecommodity-misery generally associatedwith slowing demand would be the firstreaction for anyone to consider, there aresilver linings associated with the fall incurrency and oil prices, and the relation-ship between a host currency and theprice of oil. A mining company shouldtake note as it reviews its feasibility work– be it existing or expansion via brown-field or greenfield projects.

First consideration: the loonie’s fallfrom par with the U.S. dollar is not asbad as indicated. With most of the

world’s commodities priced in Americandollars, gold at US$1,200 per ouncewith the loonie at US$0.75 offers thesame revenue in Canadian dollars asgold at US$1,600 when the loonie wasat par. And the weaker loonie, in US$-terms, means operating costs are at 75per cent of their former at-par levels.

Secondly, should a mine be situatedin a country where the currency isclosely tied to the price of oil, likeCanada, the benefits are further com-

pounded. Not only are the operatingexpenses reduced because of the dis-counted loonie, but mining compa-nies’ energy costs are also down as theUS$-denominated price of energy hasfallen by about 70 to 75 per cent. If aproject is in, say, Nunavut, wherediesel fuel is essential for year-roundoperation, the compounded effectdoes make a difference.

Lastly is the issue of capital expendi-ture procurement, both during con-struction and operation. Many feasibilitystudies focus on US$-denominatedcosts, without a mention on local versusforeign procurement differentials,should currencies differ. Given the dis-counted currencies relative to the U.S.dollar and the cost of energy, a miningcompany must re-assess its procurementprocess, or “re-procure,” in its feasibilitystudy and make sure the CAPEX esti-mates now reflect a procurement modelthat is consistent with the new assump-tions. The sourcing of technical staffshould also be re-assessed using thesenew assumptions.

The issue of identifying local versusforeign procurement options packs

additional advantages that could expe-dite the project, especially when capitalis tight. Armed with the local procure-ment estimates for a project’s construc-tion and operation, a mining companyhas the information and the third-partyvalidation with which to negotiate andsecure financial assistance from thelocal public sector. Crown corporationssuch as Export Development Canada(EDC) and the Business DevelopmentBank of Canada focus both on the

export benefits and on the Canadiancontent input of any project they areasked to co-finance. Given the eco-nomic slowdown, governments look tosupport domestic supply of both capi-tal goods and services, such as trainingor immigration of specialised staff.Governments have now realised thatthese projects have multi-faceted bene-fits to their regions, especially in ruralsituations.

In summary, currencies, energyexposure and procurement are vari-ables that require careful considerationfor each operation evaluated and eachproject considered. With the swingsseen in the last 18 months and theglobal economic slowdown, miningcompanies need additional skill sets toavoid supporting a dud or neglecting astar, whether it is an operation or adevelopment project; they can alsoexpedite a project by facilitating co-financing and policy support from thepublic sector. CIM

Mauro Chiesa has over 35 years of experience infinancing and advising extractive and infrastructureprojects. He has worked with multinational banks inNew York City, at the World Bank Group and EDC.

Mining, the loonie and energyBy Mauro Chiesa

columns

“The economic landscape is changing andincreasingly cautious investors do not want

their investments crushed unexpectedly.”

Any mine support system will experience strain fromsurrounding rock, but understanding the directionand force of that strain allows miners to harness itin underground construction rather than fall victim

to bent bolts and unpredictable failures.A Southern Illinois University (SIU) research team in associ-

ation with Yieldpoint Inc. has developed a new research tool toinvestigate the effect shear stress has on roof bolts. By carvingthree slots along the length of the bolts, looping a length of fibreoptic cable through the three slots, and analyzing light behav-iour when force is applied, the researchers were able to calcu-late strain profile over the length of each bolt. Test monitoringin two Illinois coal mines showed that the technology workedin an underground setting.

“We have very few devices to calculate the axial and shearstress,” said Kashi Vishwanath Jessu, who was a part of the proj-ect as a graduate student at SIU in 2015 and is now a PhD can-didate at Curtin University in Australia. This innovative use ofoptical fibres in a three-slot design was developed by the SIUresearch team in collaboration with technology supplier Yield-Point of Kingston, Ontario. Todd Kostecki, PhD candidate atSIU; and Sam Spearing, then an associate professor in miningengineering at SIU and now acting director of the Western Aus-tralia School of Mines at Curtin University, were the lead gradu-ate student and principal investigator on the project, respectively.

Jay Emery, chief engineer at the participating Gibson Southmine, said that accurately estimating the direction of horizontalstresses is critical to mine planning. Previously availableresources include public data on the Illinois Basin and earlierinstrumented bolt technology that uses discrete resistive straingauges. In contrast, he said, “the optical sensing test bolts pres-ent an opportunity to gather information continuouslythroughout the entire length of the bolt, and specific to thismine rather than regional.”

Technology, design, analysisKostecki and Spearing had previously partnered with Yield-

Point in 2010 to run a different instrumented bolt project in

underground coal mines. In the 2014 project, they tested theuse of optical fibres as sensors. When a beam of light is directedthrough an optical fibre, the core of the fibre refracts that light.If the fibre is epoxied into long slots in a roof bolt, then thestrain the bolt experiences will minutely change the fibre’sshape and therefore the way its core refracts light.

The project tried out two different fibre optic technologies.The first, distributed optical sensing (DOS) measures continu-ously along the fibre. With DOS, strain can be calculated atmultiple points within the space of a millimetre. A 48-inch boltcould have 4,500 strain points. Earlier strain gauge bolts mighthave had only ten gauges total. The second type of sensor, afibre-Bragg grating (FBG), is not continuous, but is less costlyand less sensitive to dust interference than DOS.

Previous instrumentation studies had used only two diamet-rically opposed slots. That meant that any strain directed at cer-tain angles in relation to the slots would be difficult to interpret.Someone who needed to collect shear data in their mine wouldhave to know the mine’s shear-plane orientations already, andwould have to accomplish the difficult task of installing the boltat the correct angle to the shear plane.

But with three evenly distributed slots cut into the bolts,strain from any angle would be apparent from at least two ofthe slots. “The idea behind the three-slot design is so wedon’t have to know how the slots are oriented with respectto the shear plane,” said Kostecki. “When the bolts begin todevelop strain, it should give us all the information weneed.”

To test both their technology and their method of analysisfor calculating strain, the team started in a lab setting by apply-ing force to both two-slot and three-slot instrumented bolts. Incontrolled bending tests, the bending strain calculated wasclose to theoretical values – and the three-slot setup picked upstrain that the two-slot setup did not. The tests are described indetail in Jessu, Kostecki and Spearing’s recent paper in CIMJournal (Vol. 7, No 1).

Kostecki said that it would not be obvious which is shearstrain, and which is axial strain, just by looking at strain profile.

New angles on an oldproblemResearchers and coal miners in Illinoiscapture shear stress with newinstrumented boltsBy Eavan Moore


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Researchers at SIU were able to calculate strainprofile over the length of instrumented bolts.

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“With experience and in a controlled setting you can look at thetotal strain profile of a three-slot instrument and make an edu-cated guess,” he said. But to be sure, one would need to knowthe actual positions of the slots in the bolt and calculate out theaxial and shear strain.

In-situ researchAfter confirming the technology worked in principle, the

team needed to show it would still work in the damp and dustof a working mine. They contacted two local coal mines,including Gibson County Coal’s South mine, to enquire aboutparticipating in the project. “The engineers and mine personnelalways show great interest in these types of projects becausethey are so unique,” said Kostecki.

He praised the patient help of the mine personnel. Rock boltoperators at the mines conducted the installation themselves.Ryan Carey, roof bolter operator at Gibson County Coal,explained that these research bolts took extra care, becausefrom each bolt protrudes a connecting port that allows the fibreoptic data to be logged by separate equipment. The spinningmovement when bolts are mechanically installed can damagethe hair-thin optical fibres.

“Near-perfect alignment of the roof bolting machine’s drillhead and the roof bolt is critical,” said Carey. “Extra time wastaken to assure each drill hole was straight and aligned with thedrill head throughout bolt installation.”

At each of the two mine sites, SIU students spent about amonth monitoring the fibres hourly for sixteen hours a day. Ateach reading, they plugged a fibre from a data logger into theconnector in each bolt.

“This may seem like overkill, but when you’re dealing withoptical fibre interrogators that are very expensive, you want tomake sure someone is at the site in case something unexpectedoccurs,” explained Kostecki. Plus, he added, some instrumentsdevelop signs of strain over several hours. “Strain like this iswhat really gets us excited and you don’t want to miss it.”

Positive results – with challengesAs of March 2016, the research team had collected data from

both mines, covering multiple installations of two-slot andthree-slot bolts, fitted with either DOS or FBG. A full analysiswill appear in Kostecki’s PhD thesis, but some initial results arealready clear.

First and foremost, the technology worked underground.There were challenges, admitted Jessu. DOS showed excellentresults, but is vulnerable to breakage and dust interference.FBG also works well, but to approximate the level of detail inDOS results would require more reflectors per bolt – a signifi-cant cost increase.

Kostecki added that the strain data itself was a bonus, some-times an exciting one. “We were able to deduce the initiationof a shearing plane at one of the mines with the three-slotinstruments,” he said. “This confirmed our lab results, wherewe were applying a force around the circumference of a three-slot instrument, and trying to detect the direction of the force.We even consulted with the mine afterwards and this wasindeed their inferred direction of shear.”

The larger goal of the project was to better understand andimprove upon the industry’s approach to mine design.“Through this path we can better design our mine entries androck bolt systems, which we believe will provide a safer work-ing environment for the miners,” said Kostecki.

Where to next?Kostecki said his research team will hopefully conduct

another underground instrumentation project in several years iffunding becomes available again. The project was supported bythe Alpha Foundation for the Improvement of Mine Safety andHealth, established in 2011 following a lethal explosion at theUpper Big Branch coal mine.

“We do anticipate that if this research gains some attention,it has the potential to be taken up abroad with different mines,”Kostecki said, “most likely in Canada and Australia.” CIM

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Not your typical run of the millComprehensive preparation earns potash operation a huge spike in productivityBy Peter Braul


In late 2014, managementat Mosaic’s Colonsaypotash operation wasfighting for a chance to

increase the company’s shareof exports from Canpotex, thefirm that manages theSaskatchewan potash export-ing industry. Potash compa-nies split shares of the firm’stonnage based on the capacityof their facilities, and as suchonly produce enough to meetdemand. But Mosaic hadrecently completed an expan-sion of Colonsay’s east mill,which triggered a special event known as a Canpotex run –the best 90 out of 120 days of intense production to definethe capacity of its improved facility – and a chance to grabhotly contested market share.

In collaboration with consulting firm CLG, Colonsayunderwent a systematic overhaul of both the mine’s facilitiesand leadership model. “We proved out 2.8 million tonnes,”said Brian Marshall, general manager of the Colonsay mine,which is located about 60 kilometres east of Saskatoon. Thisamounted to about a 50 per cent improvement in productionat the mine, which previously had a nameplate capacity of1.9 million tonnes. “That was well beyond what we thoughtwe were going to get. We were expecting that if we hit themark we would get about 2.5 million tonnes.” At the sametime the mine achieved a reduction in safety incidents by 50per cent. After the run, Mosaic’s share of the Canpotexexports increased by 1.78 per cent to 40.55 per cent.

Downtime is frown timePreparations for September 2014, when the Canpotex run

started, began more than a year in advance. “They pulled mein to get them ready,” said Marshall, a 36-year veteran of themining industry who, the year before, had helped Mosaic’sEsterhazy operation go through a Canpotex run of its own.

Many miners are familiar with the concept of maximizingproductivity over the long term, but very few ever need to doit for just 120 days, where any downtime can result in alower allocation of Canpotex’s exports. “It’s a pretty special

time,” said Marshall. “You’rehitting on all cylinders and youdo things to keep the placerunning that you wouldn’t nor-mally do. You give it a lot ofovertime; you maintain equip-ment well past what you thinkit needs. The old part of themill that we had is 50 years old,so you get into it and youthink, ‘What are the things thatcould take us down during thisCanpotex run?’”

Teams focused on improv-ing critical assets that couldcause major delays; the hoist

and the mill were two of the most important. “We did a full upgrade on our hoist,” said Marshall. “We

rebuilt the motors to a bigger spec so they could handle moretorque. We had skips that were capable of holding 30 tonnes,but were running at about 27, so we increased the load, andwe also decreased the cycle time of the skip by about 20 sec-onds. That brought us from 800 tonnes per hour (tph) on theskip to about 1,100 tph.”

The usual approach to Canpotex runs is that operationspush production to its limits before something breaks, butColonsay opted to do things differently. During the run, themill shut down for a day every week to do regular mainte-nance. While this meant equipment availability was verygood (mill availability improved 19.2 per cent over baseline),it also made mill startup procedures very important, and leftless room for unexpected shutdowns. “When you’re into aCanpotex run, the way it works is at seven o’clock in themorning you need to start shoving full tonnage through themill,” said Marshall.

Operational knowledge found to be lackingWhile the maintenance schedules got revamped, it

became clear that the mill personnel had never receivedthe proper training to do their jobs. “We realized that overa number of years we’d lost the experience in our mill andthe guys didn’t understand how to actually run the mill,”recalled Marshall. “They really didn’t understand the cir-cuits themselves. That was a big surprise. We had to pull

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Mosaic’s Colonsay operation improved production by 50 per cent thanksto an overhaul of the mine’s facilities and leadership model.

these operators out and give them some formal training.”To do this they brought back the previous mill manager,Neil Anderson, from retirement. He had worked at theoperation for more than 30 years, and was given the taskof coaching and mentoring staff on how to get the mill run-ning efficiently.

“When you get an operation that’s been around for 50years, and people turning over for 50 years, every time some-body trains somebody else on how to operate a piece ofequipment you get something different,” said Marshall.“We’ve standardized that training now when people come onboard.”

The types of things operators often need to know are sub-jective, and need to be carefully transferred from one gener-ation to the next. Things, said Marshall, like “Just looking ata flotation circuit and saying, ‘Here’s what you should seecoming out the other side. Here’s what the water should looklike and here’s the amount of froth you should have on it.’What they were doing before that was just turn it on, andwhat they got, they got.”

Behaviour science in action“CLG was on site and they’re a behaviour science group,

so they look at why people do what they do,” said Marshall,who worked closely with consultant Laura Methot. Goodresults from the Canpotex run were critical for Mosaic as awhole, but could only be achieved if everyone was workingin unison toward the same goal. Luckily, Mosaic had alreadyplanned leadership training at the mine, and it just happenedto coincide with such a critical project.

“There really are five things that the best leaders do moreof than the rest,” said Methot, who conducted “turbo ses-sions” with mine management team members at the mine toeducate them about how leadership is best modelled. Thesebehaviours, she said, are: set clear expectations, monitor per-formance, enable barrier removal, provide feedback andcoach employees for improvement.

But all the theory in the world is of no use without someway to check if changes are having an effect. CLG and Mosaictracked leader behaviour and were able to correlate the suc-cessful execution of leadership behaviours with crew levelimprovements and ultimately with better results on theground. At the crew level, for example, safety observationsincreased and the number of injuries went down after leaderswere able to outline how much they expected employees tofocus on safety.

May • Mai 2016 | 43

underground mining

“The thing that Colonsay did better than many of theother clients we work with is the integration of thisbehaviour change methodology with visual manage-ment,” said Methot. Visual management boards are whiteboards that leaders use to track key metrics, and helpemployees stay on the same page.

“A supervisor would have a board on a wallwhere he’d write in the day’s production, anysafety issues, anything that was talked about theprevious day, just getting communication out,”said Marshall. “It was a fairly big change. Withthe underground guys, they wanted to knowwhat the recovery was in our mill. They’re work-ing hard to get the ore up the shaft, but they wantto know what they’re doing with it up there. Get-

ting that kind of information out there helped with morale.”Though another Canpotex run is unlikely in the near

future, Colonsay is well set up now to deliver at full capacitywhen the potash market picks up (the newer mill is currentlyoffline). “We have a philosophy that when the mill is run-ning, we’re running at full rates. If the market doesn’tdemand it, we run it full and then we take it offline and wedo maintenance. [The winter of 2014-15] we hit our lowestcost per tonne that we’ve ever seen.” CIM

www.knightpiesold.com

From geotechnical engineering to environmental assessments, water management, and renewable energy integration, our international team of consulting engineers and scientists has the expertise to help you in advancing your project through all stages of mine development.

“We built a culture during the Canpotexrun that put a sense of urgency into theorganization, where, if you come up from a shut down, you come up fast.”

– B. Marshall


Energy consumption in Canadian underground min-ing operations has been on a steady rise over the pasthalf-century as productivity has increased. But DeanMillar is convinced mines can be just as productive

while using far less energy. Millar boasts a long list of credentials: a PhD in Rock

Mechanics from Imperial College; faculty at Laurentian Univer-sity’s Bharti School of Engineering; director of the Energy,Renewable and Carbon Management Group of MIRARCO; aformer energy theme leader for the Ultra Deep Mine Network;and a CIM distinguished lecturer this year. Although he grew upin the UK and got his start in South Africa, it was his experiencein Canada that inspired his energy reduction vision. Millarbelieves there already exists many proven methods that can helpcut miner’s energy consumption to under 40 per cent of their2010 levels, an idea he has dubbed the “40 per cent mine.”

CIM: How did you start out in the mining business?Millar: I was schooled in England. When I finished highschool I went and worked in the South African gold miningindustry for Anglo American. When I was done with that, Iwas certain I wanted to go into mining. So with the support ofAnglo American, I went on to study mining at the RoyalSchool of Mines in London [at Imperial College] in 1986.

CIM: So how did you end up at LaurentianUniversity in Sudbury?Millar: Just a couple of years after I began teaching at theCamborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter, I wasasked to put forward my ideas for a new engineering program

and I suggested renewable energy. And that took my life in acompletely different direction for over a decade. I set up theworld’s first engineering program in renewable energy andlaunched that in 2003.

Then, in 2009, out of the blue, somebody from Canadacalled me and said, “We see you’re doing renewable energy ina mining school, have you ever thought of putting these twotogether?” I said, “Yes, I’ve often thought about it, but I’venever had any time to progress it.”

I came to Sudbury, I met the team at MIRARCO, I met thegroup at the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation(CEMI) and I came away from it just thinking what a brilliantset up they have here. This is absolutely the prime place to getinto a detailed research program on energy in mining. So fiveand a half years ago I joined.

CIM: Let’s get right into your idea of the “40 per centmine.” What does it mean?Millar: The 40 per cent mine is shorthand for a vision: thatwe should be able to reduce energy consumption at a mine to40 per cent of its current consumption value to lower costs,without penalizing production. We should also be able to rollthat vision out across the whole Canadian mining sector by theyear 2040. That’s down to 40 per cent for everyone by 2040.

CIM: Only about five per cent of Canadianunderground mining production costs were fromenergy in 1961, why is it over 15 per cent now?Millar: Over that period of time, there has been more dieselused in the mines and more mechanization.

CuttingconsumptionDean Millar explains his energy reduction strategy for underground minesBy David Chen

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What we think happened is this: if you use more diesel in amine, you have to apply more ventilation energy to keep thecontaminants below their threshold levels. And if you increasethe ventilation energy, that should be seen as a commensurateincrease in electricity consumption. [But] while the diesel con-sumption has increased, the electricity has stayed pretty flat.What that suggests to us is that the various conservation meas-ures that have been implemented in mines have basicallyallowed more diesel to be used in the operations. The electricityconservation measures have really been converted to enhancingmine production. For mining engineers, this is what they want.

CIM: And how does Canada compare to the rest ofthe world?Millar: Canada and Australia are two of the most mechanizedjurisdictions for underground mining. If you were to comparethem to South Africa for example, where mining remains avery labour intensive process, the energy consumed per tonnewould be a bit higher here than it is there.

CIM: So what can mine operators do to try andachieve the “40 per cent mine?”Millar: The secret is a three-pronged approach. The first thingyou do is eliminate waste. And it’s simple stuff first, like turn-ing off the lights when you walk out the room at home. Anequivalent in mining is ventilation on demand: turning off theair when there’s nobody at the heading.

Then the next stage is to use more efficient equipment, oruse the energy you have to use more efficiently. An example ofthis would be upgrading to high-efficiency motors or adoptinghigh-efficiency screw compressors.

The last stage that you can look at then is using renewableenergy technologies, as they have done at Diavik mine in theNorthwest Territories.

CIM: Do you have other examples where companiesare making good strides to reduce energyconsumption with technology?Millar: One that really appeals to me is at Stobie mine, herein Sudbury. Generally, methane or propane is used to heat theair up in the winter in Canadian mines so that when the airgoes into the mine, it goes in at a temperature above zero. If itgoes in underground significantly below zero, any water itencounters turns into ice in the shaft, a real danger.

At Stobie mine, they don’t do that. Instead, in winter, theylet water pumped up from the bottom of the shaft come incontact with the really cold fresh intake air. The water heats upthe air, so it goes down at the right temperature. And in heat-ing up the air, the water cools down, so much that it becomessnow. Later on in the year when the intake fresh air may be toowarm, you can use that snow, by allowing it to melt, to createa refrigeration effect.

The thing is, simply as a heater it’s a great option for Cana-dian mines because it’s an air heater that doesn’t rely on the useof any fossil fuel. But as a heater and a refrigerator, it’s even bet-ter. We wonder why there aren’t more of them around. If you

plan ahead, the capital cost of using a system like that is verylow indeed.

CIM: Why are there so few adopters for technologieslike that?Millar: We don’t know, but we’re trying to promote it as amoney saver for mines. We’ve got an Ultra Deep Mine Net-work project here at MIRARCO called “Wind-to-Ice” that hasthe objective of understanding what the barriers might be.

CIM: So is the “40 per cent mine” goal a realisticone?Millar: There are some game changing technologies on thehorizon, but I believe that there are plenty of technologiesright now, even proven for decades in mines, like the Stobieice-stope air heater, that we should think about adopting. Notall the technologies apply to every mine, but when we havelooked at individual mining operations, we have managed todraw upon the established technologies to reach our 40 percent target.

Also, you can see in the data that where operations havehad a conservation effort in play, it’s had an impact. So wethink that the 40 per cent mine vision is not unrealistic at all.I’m pretty confident that it can be done wherever there is gen-uine desire to erode energy costs to enhance profitability. CIM

May • Mai 2016 | 47

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tribute

A description of Taylor’s law, can be found at:https://queensminedesign.miningexcellence.ca/index.php/Estimation_of_the_potential_production_rate

Measuring mine lifeA tribute to Hugh Taylor and his work

By Lawrence Devon Smith

Perhaps the single most criti-cal decision in the develop-ment of a mining project is

the determination of the size of theoperation. How big will the mineand mill be? What will be the dailyand annual throughput? All of themajor elements of the projecthinge on this decision: the capitalcost, the operating cost and the lifeof the mine. It is a daunting task.

As a young mining engineer, Iwas introduced to Taylor’s Lawwhile part of a project develop-ment team. The equation is meantto help guide project teamstowards a reasonable estimate ofthe operating capacity of a mine.It was a revelation to me that sucha thing existed and I was moresurprised to see how straightforwardthe equation was. Taylor expressed hisequation for determining a mine’s life inseveral forms:

Life = 0.2(Reserves)0.25

Production rate = 0.0143(Reserves)0.75

Life is in years

Reserves are in metric tonnes

Production rate is in metric tonnes per day

based on a 350 day-per-year operation

Hugh Taylor was a mining engineerworking for Placer Development Lim-ited in Vancouver in 1976 when he pre-sented his “law” in a paper at a miningseminar in Spokane, Washington. Taylor had observed that using eco-nomic theory and net present valuemethods tended to result in “optimum”mining rates that were impracticallyhigh and unachievable in practice. Thiswas particularly true for inexperiencedcompanies. Taylor developed his equa-tion from the observation of some 30

mining projects which encompassed awide range of mine types. It was anempirical approach or rule-of-thumbrather than theoretically derived.

It should be pointed out that Taylorhimself noted a number of situationswhere his equation did not work well,including old mines in the late stages ofoperation; very deep, flat ore bodieswhere production is limited by hoistinglimits of the shaft; and erratically miner-alized systems. Over the interveningyears, a number of people studied andtested Taylor’s work and even developedseveral other equations that, while theymay do a better job in specific circum-stances, require more variables, includ-ing capital and grade, to obtain results.

In 1995, I began a correspondencewith Taylor when he wrote a critique of apaper I had published in the CIM Bulletin.I was quite surprised to have the manwho developed Taylor’s Law engage in adiscussion of my work. We met in per-son at a CIM convention shortly afterand began a friendship that lasted over20 years.

Hugh Taylor passed away inVancouver on May 15, 2015 at theage of 98.

He was a CIM Fellow, CIM LifeMember and recipient of theRobert Elver mineral economicsaward in 1982. He was very activein CIM, serving on the VancouverBranch and District Six committeesin the 1970s, as well as being theLondon IMM’s Overseas Memberof Council for Canada in the1980s. He wrote and presented anumber of papers that coveredmost aspects of practical miningeconomics, generally as seen fromthe operating perspective of theproduction man that, at heart, hehad always remained.

Taylor was born in London in1916 and after graduating from theRoyal School of Mines, University ofLondon in 1937, he immigrated tosouthern Africa where he spent thenext thirty years working on the Wit-watersrand and other areas of theTransvaal and the copper mines ofNorthern Rhodesia/Zambia. In 1967 hebrought his family to Vancouver, wherehe remained for the rest of his life. Forthe next 14 years, he served PlacerDevelopment Limited as mine valua-tion superintendent. He retired offi-cially in 1981, but continued workingas a consultant until 1989 and as atechnical author until 1995.

Taylor’s Law has stood the test of timeas the quickest and easiest way to deter-mine a starting point in the estimation ofmine life and the production rate forpreliminary mine design. This is due toits simplicity of calculation and the factthat it was developed using real worlddata. Hugh was a kind and thoughtfulman, a true English gentleman. And hewas always a little surprised by theacclaim his “law” had received. CIM

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The Committee for MineralReserves International ReportingStandards (CRIRSCO) has been

gaining momentum in recent years, withBrazil as its latest inductee and first Por-tuguese-speaking member. In Novem-ber, the country became the ninthmember and the second South Ameri-can country to become a member of theCRIRSCO family of Codes.

CRIRSCO’s members are NationalReporting Organizations (NROs), whichare bodies responsible for developingmineral reporting codes, standards andguidelines for a single country or agrouping of countries. The memberNROs, such as CIM, nominate two rep-resentatives to the Committee who offertheir service on a voluntary basis.

Each year CRIRSCO holds an AnnualGeneral Meeting in a country workingtowards CRIRSCO membership, duringwhich the NRO representatives providean update of their jurisdiction’s codesand guidelines, and the chairperson ofCRIRSCO outlines the organization’sprogress and future goals. The mostrecent meeting was held in Brasilia,Brazil in late November.

The first day’s session was hosted bythe Comissão Brasileira de Recursos eReservas (“CBRR” – Brazilian Resourcesand Reserves Commission), a newly cre-ated NRO for Brazil. To be accepted forCRIRSCO membership, a NRO mustmeet several requirements that includeconducting international consultationswith NROs represented on CRIRSCO,maintaining a reporting standard com-patible with the CRIRSCO templatewhich is recognized as the standard ofpublic reporting for that region, andestablishing procedures for the registra-

Reserves reporting updateStandards committee expands its international reachBy Deborah McCombe

May • Mai 2016 | 51

tion of a Qualified (Competent) Personand a Code of Ethics, with suitable pro-visions for disciplining its members.

Under the stewardship of FelipeHolzhacker Alves, President of theCBRR, the Brazilian NRO prepared areporting standard and establishedprocedures for registering QualifiedPersons in the country. This allowedCBRR to achieve its objective of estab-lishing a solid basis for the local min-ing industry and incentivizinginvestments and developments. Theacceptance of Brazil into CRIRSCOcomes after a culmination of a year oftremendous effort by three organiza-tions working in concert within thenation: Associação Brasileira deEmpresas de Pesquisa Mineral (Brazil-ian Association of Mineral ExplorationCompanies), Agência para o Desen-volvimento Tecnológico da IndústriaMineral Brasileira (Brazilian Agency forMinerals Technology, Research andDevelopment) and Instituto Brasileirode Mineração (Brazilian Mining Associ-ation). CBRR will act as the nationalrepresentative organization and will beresponsible for registering QualifiedProfessionals, Brazil’s equivalent of aCompetent or Qualified Person.

CRIRSCO’s international acclaimcontinues to quickly progress, with sev-eral other countries expressing interestin becoming members. Representativesfrom Kazakhstan, India, and Chinaattended this year’s CRIRSCO meetingin Brasilia, with Kazakhstan havingsigned a Memorandum of Understand-ing with CRIRSCO and establishing itsown NRO – the Kazakhstan Associa-tion of Public Reporting of ExplorationResults, Mineral Resources and MineralReserves – in 2015. CRIRSCO hasappointed two representatives in Indiato help establish a compliant miningcode, and in November 2015, Indiaestablished a National Core Committeewith 30 members representing allregions of the country from variouscompanies and professional societies.

CRIRSCO

Discussions have been held with Chinafor many years on reporting systemsand there is a close relationshipbetween AusIMM and leaders in theChinese mining industry, many ofwhom are fellows of AusIMM. OtherSouth American countries in atten-dance, such as Peru, Colombia, andArgentina, are aiming to join CRIRSCO,and are currently in different stages ofsetting up a code modelled on theChilean Comisión Minera.

With support from CIM and theInternational Council on Mining andMetals, CRIRSCO, established in 1994,continues to build momentum as animportant international organizationseeking to improve the standards ofpublic reporting of exploration results,Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves.CIM has been an important supportingmember of CRIRSCO, and is a vital con-tributor to the standardization of codesand guidelines. The standardization ofthese codes and the involvement of aQualified (Competent) Person has led toincreased investor confidence in themining industry worldwide. CIM

Deborah McCombe is the president, CEO andprincipal geologist at Roscoe Postle Associates Inc.and CRIRSCO’s CIM representative.

CRIRSCO membersAustralasia (JORC)*

Canada (CIM)*

Europe (PERC)

South Africa (SAMREC)*

United States (SME)*

Chile (National Committee) Joined 2002

Russia (NAEN)Joined 2011

Mongolia (MPIGM)Joined 2014

Brazil (CBRR)Joined 2015

*Founding member

By Correy Baldwin | Antoine Dion-Ortega | Alexandra Lopez-PachecoAndrew Seale | Katelyn Spidle

Although the mining industry is relatively small, it contains some bigpersonalities. Our annual survey of the major players in the industry thisyear includes savvy mining execs, a strong First Nations leader and a familyof prospectors, all of which are sure to make their mark on the year to come.

2016NAMESTO KNOW

Riccardo Cellere

May • Mai 2016 | 53

When the team at Quebec-based geological consultingfirm SGS Geostat started brainstorming its entry forIntegra Gold’s Gold Rush Challenge crowdfundingcompetition, the first idea was based on an existing

concept: build a framework in which all available informationwould be integrated, interpolated and extrapolated. “Westarted off with a more conventional approach,” said Deshar-nais, technical manager of geological services in SGS’s mineralsdivision. “We wanted to make sure we leveraged the data tothe maximum, and populate a block model.” It was not untilnear the end of the process that the team came upon a morenovel approach of machine learning.

On March 6 at the PDAC convention in Toronto, SGS Geo-stat won the $500,000 first prize at the competition intendedto identify the best drilling targets on Integra’s Sigma-Lamaqueproperty. By combining 3D geological interpretations withmachine learning, SGS Geostat made a case for integratingartificial intelligence (AI) with more conventional explorationmethodologies.

The team first used sophisticated geostatistical methods topush all the available data on the property into an expansiveblock model. Mineralization vectors were then combined togenerate an overall prospectivity score between 0 and 100 forevery block that covered the property to a depth of 2 kilome-tres. In parallel, the data was processed with an advancedmachine learning algorithm to assist in identifying new targets

and confirming the first set of scores. The prospectivity scor-ing system thus took into account both geological knowledgeand machine learning. All of the geological data including thehigh-value targets were integrated into a virtual reality modelusing Oculus Rift technology for vetting and for the judges toexamine.

Desharnais and SGS geologist Jean-Philippe Paiement orig-inally came up with their own geological system, but they alsounderstood the limitations of human reasoning. “Humans arebiased by our very nature,” said Desharnais. “Jean-Philippeand I have a perceived understanding of what the controls areon ore gold mineralization, but we are biased based on ourexperience. So we decided to let the machine take a whack atthis and try to do better than we had done.”

Desharnais started looking inside the SGS Canada networkfor people who would be inclined to have a look at the blockmodel. He eventually contacted Doug Hatfield in Toronto.“Doug was already using quite sophisticated math conceptsto do simulation work for geometallurgy, and I knew he waspushing the limits of the capabilities of math for other things,”said Desharnais. “He has a side interest in the technology.”

This was the first time SGS Canada applied machine learn-ing to geoscience and mining. However, it could be part of itstoolkit in the future. “Since winning the contest, we have hadquite a bit of interest in applying our methodology to otherproperties,” said Desharnais. – Antoine Dion-ortegA

Courtesy of G

uy Desharnais

GUY DESHARNAISLeader of SGS Geostat’s Gold Rush Challenge team

01Left to right: Doug Hatfield, Jean-Phillippe Paiement and Guy Desharnais


For the Bjorkmans of Whisky Jack Lake near Atikokan,Ontario, prospecting is a family affair. Karl Bjorkmanheads Bjorkman Prospecting, joined by his wife Nikki asbookkeeper, and his six children – five girls and one boy.

This year the family received PDAC’s Special AchievementAward for its contribution to the industry.

Karl began prospecting around 1990, getting his licenseafter prospectors began working on his own property. Hetook a prospecting course and, as he said, “I kind of got thebug.” Then while attending a symposium in Thunder Bay in1992, he was approached by Garry Clark, who would go onto become executive director of the Ontario ProspectorsAssociation. “He came up and offered me a job, and Ithought, ‘Wow, I can get paid to go prospecting, this isgreat!’”

The family works largely out of Ontario and the territo-ries, but has worked in nearly every province as well as Nor-way and Sweden, focusing on smaller jobs. Traditionally,around half of their income comes from staking claims, butthe advent of electronic staking means the Bjorkmans havehad to diversify into such services as geological mapping,soil sampling and assessment reports. Siblings Ruth and

Katarina have also received degrees in geology, adding to thefamily’s expertise.

“We grew up prospecting with our dad, so it was just a nat-ural thing to do,” explained Ruth.

There is, however, a lack of new prospectors entering thefield, something the Bjorkman children are trying to change.“There aren’t very many prospectors who are younger thanmy dad,” said Ruth. She and her siblings are involved withPDAC’s Mining Matters, teaching courses at schools and inFirst Nations communities. “Early education is really impor-tant,” said Ruth. “A lot of kids don’t really even know thatprospecting exists.” The family hires helpers as well, providingtraining for new recruits.

The sisters also encourage women to enter the field, andprovide support for those who do. For these efforts, Ruth, Jes-sica and Veronique were named Tradeswomen of the Year bythe Influential Women of Northern Ontario last year.

For Karl, there are many benefits to running a family busi-ness, but a lot of it comes down to trust, and an ability to sticktogether through tough times. “We have a bit of an edge thatway,” he said, “because I trust my children. I trust their hon-esty and their integrity.” – Correy BAlDwin

Courtesy of Jessica Bjorkman

THE BJORKMAN FAMILYBjorkman Prospecting

02Left to right: Jessica, Veronique, Ruth, Nikki, Karl, Katarina, Bjorn and Karla Bjorkman

May • Mai 2016 | 55

Ask Bristow and he will tell you the goldindustry has been plagued for decades byshort-term thinking based on the last quarterreturn for shareholders or the latest gold

price. Instead, under the stewardship of Bristow,Randgold Resources has opted for a long-term strat-egy of investing in its Africa-based exploration andmining business consistently, not just when theprice soars.

That is why, as the price of gold plunged by 11 percent in 2015, Randgold was outperforming the S&P500 by almost 27 per cent. In fact, the company, con-sidered among the most profitable in its industry, washaving one of the best years since it was first listed onthe London Stock Exchange in 1997. Its production was up bysix per cent from the previous year to more than 1.2 millionounces and its cash on-hand was up by 158 per cent toUS$213.4 million, although its profit was down due to goldprices. In the first two months of 2016, the company’s stock roseby almost 29 per cent as gold prices sharply turned upward. ByMarch, analysts were ringing the bells: gold was back in a bullmarket for the first time since 2013.

“Our success in 2015 was driven in the years preceding.The things that we’re doing now will deliver the results in thefuture,” he said.

“Our core business is to be profitable and to create valuefor the benefit of all our stakeholders, which is our sharehold-ers, the governments who act on behalf of the people, com-munities and our workers,” said Bristow, whose long-termstrategy includes turning each of Randgold’s mining opera-tions into standalone businesses run and managed 100 percent by locals rather than bringing in expensive expats. “Thereturn on the investment in training an engineer is a matterof months,” said Bristow. “Expats cost a lot more and they aremercenary in that they’re not in it for the long-term.”

– AlexAnDrA lopez-pACheCo

Courtesy of Randgold Resources

MARK BRISTOWCEO of Randgold Resources

Chris Cline has turned hisshovel north to begin digginginto Canadian coal. In January,Kameron Collieries – a Cana-

dian-based subsidiary of the self-made billionaire’s company, the ClineGroup – announced that the Donkincoal mine in Cape Breton, Nova Sco-tia would re-open this summer.Kameron Collieries bought Glencore’s75 per cent interest in the project in2014 followed by the purchase of theremaining interest from MorienResources in early 2015.

According to Jim Bunn, vice-pres-ident of operations at Cutlass Col-lieries – a Cline Group company ofwhich Kameron Collieries is a sub-sidiary – reviving the mine will bringmany benefits to the country. “Donkincoal could potentially replace imported petroleum coke fromthe United States and coal from both the U.S. and SouthAmerica,” Bunn said. “This should benefit not just Nova ScotiaPower and their cost and reliability of fuel supply, but also thebalance of trade for Canada overall.”

An affiliate of the Cline group alsopurchased Coalspur Mines Limited lastJune, acquiring its Vista coal project inAlberta. But even though the AlbertaEnergy Regulator has issued the finalpermits on the project, development ison hold for the moment. “Givendepressed coal prices in Asia and thelikelihood that they will remaindepressed for the near future, the proj-ect is not economically viable,” saidBunn. “When prices recover, we will re-evaluate the project and the timing asso-ciated with its development.”

Credited for reviving the industry inIllinois, Cline’s company ForesightReserves owns a number of subsidiariesthat operate coal mines in that U.S.state.

Cline has also earned a reputation asa philanthropist, particularly in his home state of West Vir-ginia. In 2011, the Cline Family Foundation donated US$5million to West Virginia University, his alma mater. “He is athird generation coal miner with a big heart and firmlybelieves in giving back,” Bunn said. – KAtelyn SpiDle

Courtesy of Jim Bunn

CHRIS CLINEAmerican coal baron

03

04


Since he took office on Dec. 10, Macri has been focusingon reassuring foreign investors, and in particular miningcompanies, that his country is back to business. In mid-February, Macri lifted the five per cent export duties on

mining products, instituted by the previous administration 10years ago. The objective is to re-establish the attractiveness ofArgentina’s mining provinces, particularly San Juan and Cata-marca.

“The measure was well received in the mining provincesbecause these export duties were increasing costs, thus hin-dering their attractiveness for mining investors,” said Leonardo

Viglione, mining leader of PwC Argentina. “The objec-tive is to give a signal that Argentina is back on the righttrack.”

Macri also lifted foreign exchange controls in mid-December, which for years had maintained the Argen-tinean peso artificially high compared to the U.S. dollar(US$1=9.5 pesos). This overvaluation inspired the cre-ation of a parallel, non-official market more in tunewith the currency’s real value (US$1=14 pesos). Byallowing the peso to float freely, Macri triggered a dra-matic devaluation against the U.S. dollar, which almostreached 60 per cent at the beginning of March. Thedecision obviously had a very positive impact on cap-ital and operational costs for exporting companies,since most of those costs are incurred in pesos whileproducts are sold in U.S. dollars.

“The devaluation benefits all exporting companies,including the mining ones,” said Viglione. “The gov-ernment has merged the two foreign exchange marketsand now there is only one.”

The new secretary of mines, Daniel Meilán, was busy get-ting the message out at the PDAC convention held in Marchin Toronto. According to the Argentinian press, Meilán said itwas simply “impossible” to attract the required investmentwith the previously imposed export duties and controls onforeign exchange. Argentina still has 750,000 square kilome-tres waiting for mining development, of which only 150,000have been prospected. The country would need US$400 mil-lion per year in exploration efforts, and US$20 billion todevelop the 20 to 25 projects currently on the map, he said. – Antoine Dion-ortegA

Mauricio Macri/Flickr

Jensen has worked inmale -dominatedsectors all her life, asa geologist, a former

mining executive and a vet-eran in capital markets reg-ulation. As of Feb. 10,Jensen is also the firstwoman to ever head thecountry’s largest capital

markets regulator. She will be leading the OntarioSecurities Commission (OSC) through a historic transfor-

mation as Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, NewBrunswick, Prince Edward Island, Yukon and the federal gov-ernment join to form a new national regulator called theCooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System (CCMR) thatwill be in operation by the end of 2016.

“You will have one form and you will file it once, and youwill get one answer. That will be amazing,” said Jensen, whohopes other jurisdictions in Canada will join CCMR. These

are exciting days for Jensen, because the possibility of playinga role in reducing regulatory burden was one of the top rea-sons she took a job at the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1998.

“When I was CEO of [Noble Peak Resources], I spent a lotof time filling and filing forms. The rules were not very clear,”she said. “Regulators in one province told me to do it one wayand regulators in another told me to do it another way. Icouldn’t do it because they each wanted something that wascounter to what the other wanted.”

CCMR “will continue to focus on improving behaviourthrough compliance activities rather than just adding to therule book,” said Jensen, who headed the OSC’s “comply orexplain” initiative that saw a 15 per cent increase in the num-ber of women on the boards of directors and in leadershiproles of publicly traded companies in its first year. “We’regoing to keep a focus on ‘comply or explain’ by publishingthe results annually and at the end of the three years, we’regoing to determine what we should do next if there hasn’tbeen enough movement,” said Jensen. “It’s important.” – Correy BAlDwin

Courtesy of O

SC MAUREEN JENSEN Chair and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission

MAURICIO MACRIPresident of Argentina

06

05

DENISE JOHNSON Group president of

resource industries at Caterpillar

GLENN KOSICKPresident of Woodgrove Technologies

GLENN DOBBYVice-president of Woodgrove Technologies

May • Mai 2016 | 57

“When you develop technology ofthis magnitude to displaceexisting technology in a verymature industry, it’s not really

for the faint of heart,” said Glenn Kosick ofWoodgrove Technologies. Kosick and hispartner Glenn Dobby launched Woodgrovein 2009 to develop and promote their StagedFlotation Reactor (SFR), a new approach toflotation equipment for the mineral process-ing industry. The two have been developing innovative tech-nology together for nearly 30 years.

SFR is their response to the challenge of processing forincreasingly large-tonnage operations. “The trend has beento just build bigger and bigger, to the point where today[flotation equipment suppliers] are making 600-cubic-metre

tank cells to try and reduce infrastructure andcosts; but it’s not nearly enough,” said Dobby. The twosaw an opportunity to deal with the large inefficiency thatoccurs when moving from the laboratory to full-scale oper-ation. SFR separates the stages of the flotation process intoits three core components: particle collection, phase separa-

Courtesy of W

oodgrove Te

chnologies

When Johnson took on hernew role at Caterpillar onApril 1st, she became thecompany’s first female group

president. Since leaving GeneralMotors five years ago to join Caterpil-lar as the general manager of SpecialProducts within the company’sReman, Components and Work ToolsDivision, Johnson has smoothly navi-gated through rapid changes in hercareer as she was promoted to vice-president positions in three differentdivisions at Caterpillar.

“As a whole, I’m very adaptable to change,” said Johnson,who is now in charge of four divisions: Advanced Components& Systems, Surface Mining & Technology, Material Handling& Underground, and Product Development & Global Tech-nology. “New jobs, situations, environments and people don’treally throw me very much. I also have a lot of ‘stick-to-itness,’as I call it. I don’t run away from challenging situations.”

Unfazed by the current obstacles faced by the mining sec-tor, her vision for Caterpillar’s mining division is to help cus-

tomers adapt to the new realities ofthe industry and come out ahead. “Iwant to continue to get closer to our

customers and listen to their needs,”said Johnson. “If we can focus on thethings that make them successful thenthey will win and if they win, we win.”

Under her leadership, Caterpillarwill be investing heavily in researchand development to help customersimprove their site productivity byfocusing on connectivity technology tointegrate and monitor machinery,including competitors’ machines, aswell as technology to improve safety.“Everything that allows the site man-ager to really understand what’s hap-pening and how she or he canmaximize the output,” said Johnson.Other areas the company will be look-ing at include alternate fuels as well as

noise and dust suppression. For underground mining, saidJohnson, Caterpillar will be pushing forward with batteriesand electric technologies to help mines reduce emissions andlower their costs.

“We’re approaching this downturn as our new reality andwe’re not waiting for it to turn back,” said Johnson. “We focuson what we can control within our environment so we can allbe successful, even in the current state.” – AlexAnDrA lopez-pACheCo

Courtesy of Caterpillar

08

07

Left to right: Glenn Dobby and Glenn Kosick


tion and froth-recovery. The new technology results inaround 50 per cent savings on operating costs, floor spaceand energy consumption, along with lower installationand maintenance costs. “It really is a paradigm shift inflotation,” said Dobby.

There are other advantages: “We custom design every cir-cuit, based on the metal units in the feed over the life of themine, and the variability that we’re going to see over the lifeof the mine,” said Kosick. “And because each phase is sepa-rated, we can optimize each of these phases of flotation with-out interference from the other phases.”

Their first full-scale installation was at Anaconda Mining’sPine Cove gold mine in Newfoundland in 2010, followed bythree projects with Dundee Precious Metals at their Chelopechmine in Bulgaria, for both copper and pyrite recovery.

Concurrent with the Dundee projects, Woodgrove assem-bled a consortium of nine major copper producers for a large-scale demonstration plant in Brazil, hosted by Vale at itsSossego mine. That testing, which finished up in March 2015,was such a success that Vale immediately installed four SFRunits at Sossego’s sister copper plant at Salobo.

“We’re at the point now where we’re getting so muchawareness and contact from engineering companies and proj-ects around the world that we haven’t even been actively mar-keting,” said Dobby. “It’s now coming to us.” – Correy BAlDwin

Pure Energy got a big boost last summer with the releaseof an inferred resource estimate for its Clayton ValleySouth lithium brine project in west-central Nevada.With an estimated 816,000 tonnes of lithium carbon-

ate equivalent, its share price shot up and soon after thecompany struck a supply agreement with electric vehicleand battery manufacturer Tesla Motors. The companyearned the honour of top performer in the mining sector onthe TSX Venture exchange last year. Now, it is newlyinstalled CEO Patrick Highsmith’s job to move the projectforward.

“We gained control of a land package of 9,300 acres andthere’s an existing mine right next door,” said Highsmith,pointing to the adjacent Albemarle Corporation’s Silver Peakmine, currently the only lithium producer in the U.S. “Inone sense that enables us to move a little faster.” Rather thanthe industry standard evaporation method of lithium extrac-tion its neighbour uses, the Clayton Valley South projectwould rely on a relatively novel solvent extraction designedto improve efficiency, shorten production times and reducethe environmental impact.

To get the mine online, Highsmith, a geochemist andengineer by trade, plans to draw from his 25 years’ experi-ence in exploration, operations, business development andexecutive roles spanning over 200 projects and various com-panies, including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Newmont andLithium One.

Courtesy of Patrick Highsm

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PATRICK HIGHSMITHCEO of Pure Energy Minerals Limited

May • Mai 2016 | 59

robust signal to the rest of the industry,” said Highsmith,who came up through both the technical and business sidesof the mining industry.

“The technical training is important because you have tovisualize this lithium deposit and how it forms and how toexplore for it,” he said. “But I also ran exploration businessdevelopment – deal-making with juniors – at Newmont andduring that time I learned the capital markets, how to struc-ture deals and about relationships between juniors and majorcompanies.” – AnDrew SeAle

Among Highsmith’s first moves after he took the reins inearly March was to develop a timeline for delivering a prelim-inary economic assessment (PEA), which is expected thissummer. The company has already begun retaining the engi-neering team to assemble the PEA.

Pure Energy’s deal with Tesla is one of two such condi-tional agreements to supply lithium hydroxide to the com-pany’s “Gigafactory” where it plans annual batteryproduction capacity of 35 gigawatt hours by 2020. “Onceyou have a customer like that lined up, it sends a really

In February 2015, the Kluane First Nation (KFN) of BurwishLanding in southwestern Yukon signed a $583,000 agree-ment with the territorial department of Energy, Mines andResources to collect geophysical data on the Nation’s tradi-

tional territories. The partnership, facilitated by Chief MathieyaAlatini and Yukon Minister of Energy, Mines and ResourcesScott Kent, was exciting for both parties. An airborne surveyallowed KFN to discover economic opportunities buriedbeneath its settlement lands and the Yukon governmentgained a better understanding of the geology of the region. “Itwas a win-win,” said Kent. “That’s been my experience ofworking with Chief Alatini.”

Known for her straightforward approach and diplo-matic leadership style, Alatini has taken bold steps toinject opportunities for independence and prosperity intoher community. When she was first elected chief in 2010,it became clear that Alatini believed that developing a pos-itive and fruitful relationship with the mining sector was

an important step toward KFN achieving economicself-sufficiency.

“I certainly appreciate the opportunity to work with her,”Kent said. “She’s a very strong leader for KFN, and the peopleout there should be proud of her […] for the work that thatFirst Nation has been able to accomplish.”

In 2012, she and her team published the ProponentsEngagement Guide following a mining summit KFN convenedin early 2011 with representatives from industry, governmentsand the Yukon Geological Survey. The goal of the guide is toset clear definitions and expectations for any entity wishingto approach KFN about engagement opportunities.

Describing her as “very hands on and eager to learn aboutthe mining industry,” Kent noted that KFN’s ExplorationCooperation & Benefits Agreement with Wellgreen Platinumon its PGM-nickel deposit serves as a prime example of howAlatini is committed to developing economic opportunitieswithin her community. – KAtelyn SpiDle

MATHIEYA ALATINIChief of the Kluane First Nation

www.archbould.com

10


Up above the treeline in themountains of northwestern B.C.,Pretium Resources’ Brucejack project

promises to add lustre to the province’smining industry.

Cost overruns in the gold mining industry have becomeso commonplace that investors are justifiably wary of feasi-bility estimates. But the Brucejack project in British Colum-bia is trending in the opposite direction as constructionprogresses, shedding capital costs amid fiercely competitiveconditions for equipment and contractors and favourablecurrency markets.

Since Vancouver-based Pretium Resources released a feasi-bility study for Brucejack in mid-2014, estimated capital costsfor the project have dropped 14 per cent to US$641 million.That excludes the US$56 million in working capital set asidefor startup in case gold receipts are delayed. The portion allo-cated to the underground mine fell 33 per cent to aboutUS$101 million.

It is mostly a matter of timing. “The silver lining for us inthis industry downturn is that there are a lot companies andindividuals looking for work, so there was a very competitivebid process for the underground contracting job and we weresuccessful in getting good terms from a reputable contractor inCementation Canada,” said Pretium president JosephOvsenek.

And while the feasibility estimate assumed an exchange rateof US$0.92: CAD$1, the value of the Canadian dollar hasfallen significantly since. Actual conversions – including hun-dreds of millions in debt and equity financing – are occurringat or near US$0.75 to the Canadian dollar. The exchange sav-ings amount to roughly US$145 million, offsetting highercosts for environmental monitoring, winter construction andadditional man hours.

Filling the funding gapPretium is also celebrating a financing milestone in an oth-

erwise brutal market for miners. In early March the companyraised the final US$130 million needed to build Brucejackthrough a public share offering at US$4.58 per share. Theoffering followed a US$540 million financing consisting ofUS$350 million in debt, a US$150 million prepayment undera gold-silver stream agreement and a US$40 million privateplacement of shares. Investors opened their wallets afterBrucejack received final permits from the provincial and fed-eral governments in mid-2015.

“It’s really an exciting time,” Ovsenek told CIM Magazineafter returning to Vancouver from a site visit at the end ofMarch. “Bulk earthworks are winding up, foundations aregoing in for the permanent camp and we’ll start constructingour mill building soon. By the middle of next year we’ll startcommissioning the mill and expect to achieve commercial pro-duction before the end of the year,” he said.

With an average grade of 14.1 grams per tonne (gpt) gold,Brucejack is the highest-grade gold project in developmentworldwide, considerably higher than the next two in line, Rox-gold’s Yaramoko in Burkina Faso (11.8 gpt) and TMACResources’ Hope Bay in the Northwest Territories (7.7 gpt).The underground mine is expected run for 18 years, produc-ing 504,000 ounces of gold per year during the first eight yearsof life and 404,000 ounces per year thereafter at an all-sustain-ing cash cost of US$446 per ounce with the help of the sale ofsecondary silver.

The approach to the Brucejackproject includes a 12-kmtraverse of the Knipple glacier.All images courtesy of Pretium Resources

and trucks will transport the material from the various work-ing areas to the crusher through an internal ramp system.

Pretium will backfill the empty stopes with paste fill gener-ated from unclassified mill tailings mixed with sufficientbinder. At the western margin of the mine plan where thedeposit touches the Brucejack fault, recoveries are expected tofall to about 75 per cent, but this more fractured rock repre-sents only four per cent of the orebody. Development throughthe Brucejack Fault Zone will be supported using a combina-tion of bolts, welded wire mesh and fibre-reinforced shotcrete.

Optimizing the flowsheetBecause the mineralized zones at Brucejack are well-

defined and the metallurgy (coarse electrum) lends itself togravity separation, mining and processing will be relativelystraightforward. A decline from a surface portal located nearthe concentrator will provide access to two deposits: The Val-ley of the Kings and the West Zone. Ore will be extracted at arate of 2,700 tonnes per day by longhole open stoping (LHOS)– mostly transverse LHOS – and sent to a crusher at the 1,330-metre level. There will be no ore passes; rather a fleet of LHDs

In the

VALLEYof the

KINGSBY VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN

May • Mai 2016 | 61

One challenge Pretium faces is variability between high-grade mineralization (sometimes greater than 1,000 gpt) andthe surrounding, lower grade stockwork. The feasibility studyinput data for the Valley of the Kings includes a total of218,127 meters of underground and surface drilling. To get abetter handle on the grade distribution for mine planning, in2015 the company launched an underground infill drillingprogram of over 60,000 meters at 7.5 to 10-metre centres. Theaim is to drill off the stopes that will be mined in the first threeyears.

“Ultimately, we have to start mining to get a real feel for thedeposit and there is no shortcut for that,” said Ovsenek. “So inthe first year, we will have variability on a short-term basis, butas we mine, the grade will become more predictable.”

A 10,000-tonne bulk sample demonstrated that a gravityand flotation flowsheet is well suited for the varying mineral-ization and the wide range of feed grades.

According to the flowsheet, a conveyor system will feed thecrushed ore to a conventional SAG mill and ball mill at sur-face. The ore will be ground to 90 microns. The resultingmaterial will pass through a gravity concentrator to extract thefree gold and silver. Pretium will be able to recover about 45per cent of its gold through gravity to produce gold-silver dorébars that can be sold directly to refiners. The remaining rock


Location 65 km north-northwest of Stewart, B.C. Mining method Transverse and longitudinal longholeElevation 1,300 m Area 3,200 ha open stopingExpected commercial production 2017 Throughput 2,700 tpd Current mine life 18 yearsCapex US$641 million Processing Gravity concentration and sulphide flotation

VALLEY OF THE KINGS & WEST ZONEMineral Reserves Grade Grade Metal MetalBrucejack Ore Tonnes (Mt) Gold (g/t) Silver (g/t) Gold (Moz) Silver (Moz)Proven 3.5 12.2 161 1.4 18.2

Probable 13 14.7 30 6.1 12.5

Total 16.5 14.1 58 7.5 30.7

Project specs

A core sample from Brucejack Pretium has continued infill drilling in response to the variability of the grade.

The company upgraded a75-km access road toreach the project.

May • Mai 2016 | 63

project profile

veins that were formed when a porphyry system introducedmagmatic fluids through conduits to the overlying strata. Thepotential for finding more gold within this large hydrothermalsystem is high.

Aside from Proven and Probable Reserves of 16.5 milliontonnes grading 14.1 gpt gold, Brucejack contains Resources of15.3 million ounces of gold in the main Valley of the Kingszone and the smaller West Zone 500 metres to the north. Val-ley of the Kings is currently defined over 1,200 metres (m)along strike and to a depth of 650 m. The defined reservesonly cover approximately 450 m of strike and it is open to theeast and west along strike and at depth.

In 2015 Pretium conducted a regional exploration program,including 20,000 metres of drilling, to target porphyry andepithermal-style mineralization to the east of the project area.The program succeeded in extending the strike length of theValley of the Kings mineralization 1,000 m to the east to whatis called the Flow Dome Zone. Intersections included 2,100 gptgold over 2.05 m, including 8,600 gpt gold over 0.5 m.

“We initially drilled the Flow Dome Zone as a separate tar-get, but we intersected Valley of the Kings-style mineraliza-tion,” said Ovsenek. “Our geos are quite confident, looking atthe core and the position of the mineralization, that it is anextension of the Valley of the Kings. Once we’re in production,we’ll drive over there underground and set up some drill sta-tions to confirm this theory.”

Meanwhile, Pretium’s Snowfield project immediately to thenorth, a massive bulk tonnage opportunity with resources ofabout 26 million ounces of gold and 3 billion pounds of cop-per, awaits better commodity markets.

“Snowfield could become worth building if the gold priceimproves and the copper price surges,” said Ovsenek. “Atthese prices, we are keeping up the environmental baselinework on Snowfield, but our focus is Brucejack.” CIM

will be processed in flotation cells, concentrated down to lessthan 10 per cent of its original mass and shipped to refineriesor metal traders. Total gold recoveries are estimated to be 96.7per cent.

Navigating the glacierThe Brucejack project is situated within the mountains and

glacier-filled valleys of northwestern B.C. To reach the projectfrom the nearest highway, Pretium upgraded a 75-kilometreaccess road that crosses the Nass Area and traverses the mainarm of the receding Knipple glacier for the last 12 kilometres.During the winter, the final section can be groomed usingsnow cats but in the summer the road is an ice surface. Theglacier is constantly moving, freezing and thawing and theresulting crevasses are a hazard to ATVs and people on foot.

To maintain the road and keep it safe – particularly alongthis section – Pretium hired Tsetsaut Ventures, a contractingcompany run by the Skii km Lax Ha First Nation who haveasserted rights in the area. “You need constant maintenancealong the glacier. Tsetsaut does a good job, grading the road,grooming it in the winter and filling in the crevasses,” saidOvsenek. “They are sensitive to potential environmentalimpacts on the glacier because it means a lot to them.”

Aside from maintaining the access road, Tsetsaut suppliestrucks and earthmovers, manages the work camps and pro-vides other services. The First Nations group has been work-ing alongside Pretium since the junior purchased Brucejackand the nearby Snowfield project in 2010 and, by all accounts,the relationship is a respectful one.

Extending the mine lifeOvsenek does not hesitate to call Brucejack a “company-

maker” and it is easy to understand why. The deposit is a tran-sitional epithermal gold silver occurrence hosted in stockwork

Work on the mill began this springand will be completed in time forcommercial production next year.

May • Mai 2016 | 65

P U M P S A N D D E W AT E R I N G | technology

More than one dewatering tech-nology provider has noticed inrecent years that mines are try-

ing to pump out dirtier water than in thepast. Some underground mines may beexperiencing changing geology as theygo deeper; others may have made a dol-lars-and-cents decision not to pre-treatwater before pumping. Whatever thereason, mines and their suppliers havespent the last decade coming to gripswith high solid contents of 10 per centor more.

Tougher alloysBill Schlittler, mining market man-

ager at Cornell Pump, said he had seenthe hardness of dewatering pump mate-rials evolve as mining customers soughtto get more pressure out of one pump.Schlittler explained that large-diameterimpellers, spun at high speeds, take

more damage from suspended solids than lower-pressure pumps. To make these newer pumpsmore durable, Cornell built them with stronger materials.

The MX line of centrifugal pumps, introduced in 2011, can generate heads of up to 800feet. MX pumps have a heat-treated ductile iron volute and an impeller made of stainless steel.Cornell followed up with the MP product line, which uses even harder steel with a highchrome content of 27 per cent. MP pumps can handle coarse abrasives of up to three inchesin diameter.

“We just sold 20 pumps of the MP line to a major U.S. copper producer for a dewateringloop that they developed for draining water out of the ore body,” said Schlittler. “They saw upto 10 per cent solids.” The mine dewatering pumps the operator had used “were just wearingout, like, in a week.”

High-chrome alloys have a long history in slurry pump construction, but it is only in thelast decade that they have seen widespread adoption in dewatering applications.

“We have seen a tremendous change in the wear resistance in the hydraulic end,” said PeterUvemo, sales manager at Swedish company Grindex, which specializes in submersible electricpumps. As of 2007, Grindex has offered all of its pumps with its own version of the chromealloy, trademarked as Hard Iron.

Harvinder Bhabra, global product manager of mine dewatering at Weir Minerals, said thecompany had also applied more of its materials technology to its dewatering range in the lastfour to five years. “Our product portfolio is constantly being updated to keep pace with indus-try demands. This includes our self-priming pumps, which have evolved from our traditionalhard-iron wet ends to a chrome- iron alloy,” he said. “Similarly on our submersible pumps,potential weak spots have been reinforced by better materials in pumps used in dewateringapplications where we might have a larger than expected solids content.”

Dewatering systemproviders are settling ondifferent strategies to meetthe challenge of pumpingmine water with high solidcontents.


Pump it upDollar-conscious miners are turning to tougher materials and earlier treatment to cutdown on dewatering costs.By Eavan Moore

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ground can manage it,” said Martel. “The water flows into thatdispenser, and we have a decanting system on the other side.Then we pump the clean water to surface or recirculate it viaour dewatering system, and the solid concentrate goes into adisposal area where it will be dehydrated.”

The 15 to 20 mines that have installed the MudWizardwere previously settling out their solids in sumps that neededto be mucked out. Martel said the downside to running thesystem that way is that it requires production equipment thatcould be used elsewhere, and damages that production equip-ment with dirty water. On top of that, the pumps incur dam-age because sumps are often a low priority for maintenance.

In contrast, Technosub’s decanting system requires lessmaintenance. It does not draw power, either. The pressurefrom the pump that feeds it starts the settling process, and theclarification puck continues it. The puck itself is made fromnon-toxic potato and corn starch.

At what point exactly water should be treated is a questionwith diverse answers. David Willick, GE Mining’s commercialdirector for North America, made his preference clear.

“We treat this as a system, not a product,” he said. “Createan environment in the water before you pump it that’s going toprotect the pumping system. And if there are solids, corrosivewater, etc., treat it before you pump it.”

Low-hanging fruitGE put that principle into practice when replacing a problem-

atic dewatering system at a mine in Sudbury, Ontario. The originalpositive displacement pumps had frequent and heavy mainte-nance needs; GE’s solution has been running at 100 per centuptime since installation in 2014, saving the mine operatormore than $1 million a year in operating cost.


In 2015, Weir added a pump to its Floway vertical turbinerange – traditionally used on clear water applications – byadding the capability of handling fine solids up to 15 per centby weight. “For a vertical turbine pump, that was unknown inthe past,” said Bhabra. The vertical turbine slurry pumpincludes iron bowls with abrasion resistant coatings, hardcoated shaft, patented bearing design, and a mechanical shaftseal designed to withstand abrasion wear.

Technosub, a company that provides high-head/low- tomedium- flow dewatering solutions in Canada, addressed adifferent problem for certain customers. “We developed a spe-cial alloy for the mines in the Arctic where they work in per-mafrost, where classic high-chrome alloys show poorperformances” said Patrick Martel, vice-president of engineer-ing and innovations at Technosub. “They have a lot of prob-lems with corrosion because they need to pump brine. Also,crystallization inside the pump is a major issue.”

It took about two years to develop a double microstructurestainless steel that would resist corrosion. In 2012, Technosubbegan selling pumps with the new alloy to Arctic customers.In 2015, it began selling into Saskatchewan potash mines thatalso needed to pump corrosive brine.

Water treatmentTechnosub’s most prized innovation is not actually a pump.

Treatment is an essential step in the process of mine dewater-ing – any water discharged must be safe for the environment.Technosub spent five years working on a simple clarificationsystem for removing solids from water. In this treatment sys-tem – dubbed the MudWizard – the operator has only to inserta flocculant-filled tablet shaped like a hockey puck into a dis-penser about once a week. “It’s so simple that anybody under-

The demand from operations to recover water from tailings ponds,shown above, is growing, says Harvinder Bhabra of Weir Minerals.

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According to Willick, several different elements combinedto generate the savings. First, mine water runs through a solidseparation screen before entering the pump system. Second,the pumps installed were multistage centrifugal pumps thatGE had already proven in its oil and gas division. Third,because the combined pressure of one multistage installationcould add up to about 6,000 pounds per square inch, it waspossible to pump 1,700 metres to the surface in one straightshot, obviating the need for multiple pump stations on mul-tiple levels.

Willick said that GE customers had only begun to warm tothis system in the last year or two. In a precariously low com-modity price environment, optimizing system performancetook on an allure it had not possessed back when meeting pro-duction targets was more of a concern than operational costs.

“In the past, if a solution wasn’t developed in mining, it wasoften dismissed as not applicable to mining,” said Willick.“What we’re finding today, is the realization of operators thatthey have to do things differently and therefore they havestarted looking outside to other industries and this case studyis a classic example of such.”

GE is also looking at how innovations in adjacent industriescan be deployed to the mining sector. Willick cites the exam-ple of advanced materials and nano coatings used in powergeneration turbines which could in turn be used to extend thelife of pump impellers. “We call this approach, accessing the

GE Store for technical expertise and solutions,” said Willick.“We apply knowledge and experience from other industries tonew applications.”

The future of dewateringA bit of innovation is also required to address an emerging

challenge: in a time when environmental issues force mines touse their water efficiently, how can all that unwanted ground-water be put to best-use? Technosub and Weir are among theproviders working with mines to recirculate the water theypump out.

“Rather than just pump water into the tailings pond like weused to, and just leave it there to settle out, we find that thereis an increasing demand for that water to be reused in someform or other,” Weir’s Bhabra said. “We’re doing a lot of workwith mining companies where we’re supplying them withpumps which are designed for dewatering, but they’re notdewatering in the true sense, but pumping it back to the mine,for reuse in the process. As well as the pumps we manufacture,we now supply barges that you’re floating out on the tailingspond with pumps on them. And they’re pumping the waterback to the mine.”

In the dry mining climates of northern Chile, Weir has sup-plied several vertical turbine pumps, which circulate waterback into mines from many kilometres away: an example ofwhat, Bhabra jokes, they like to call re-watering. CIM

Coal burning in CanadaThe federal government sketched

out in 2012 its vision for cutting green-house gas emissions as it relates tocoal. The released regulations dictatethat if provinces want to run coalpower plants beyond 2030, they willhave to adopt carbon capture and stor-age (CCS) technology. It also requirespower plants built before 1975 to shutdown once they reach 50 years of serv-ice, or by 2020.

Alberta and Saskatchewan, withtheir mine-to-mouth coal plants, arethe most affected jurisdictions. Theyare not only the heaviest coal-burners,but they also mine the largest amountsof thermal coal in the country.Saskatchewan’s response to theregulations was to invest heavilyin CCS technology. In 2014, theprovince generated 44 per centof its electricity from coal andhas no plan to reduce it in thefuture. Alberta’s governmentchose a different path, pledginglast November to eliminate coalburning by 2030. Last year theprovince cut its coal depend-ency to 38.5 per cent of itsenergy mix, a 16.5 per cent

Cost control for coking coalMetallurgical coal, the other half of

the industry, accounts for half of thecountry’s coal production and almostall of its annual exports. It has been hitespecially hard over the past few yearsas producers are faced with plummet-ing prices and market oversupply. Italso did not help that Australia andChina, the largest consumers of coal inthe world, signed a free trade agree-ment last year, eliminating a three percent tariff on coking coal and puttingCanadian companies at a disadvantage.

In an attempt to try to stay afloat inthe volatile market, a number of com-panies in Canada have had to reduce or

cut production altogether.Anglo-American and WalterEnergy indefinitely suspended acombined four mines in north-eastern British Columbiabetween 2013 and 2014. InAlberta, the Grande Cache minewas shut down at the end of2015 after a series of layoffs.Teck Resources, now the soleproducer of coking coal inCanada, took a rotating 3-weekshutdown of its six coal mineslast summer.

drop from 2014. Natural gas is nowAlberta’s biggest power source.

The biggest coal-reduction story inCanada came in 2014 when Ontariobecame the first jurisdiction in NorthAmerica to fully eliminate coal as asource of electricity. A decade earlier,the province still generated a quarter ofits power from coal.

The other provinces that still burncoal for electricity are Nova Scotia andNew Brunswick. The two maritimeprovinces currently import all of theircoal from the United States and SouthAmerica. Overall, Canada now gener-ates around 18 per cent of its total elec-tricity from coal.


The Vancouver-based companyhas implemented a number of cost-cutting measures to its mining opera-tions. According to company

spokesperson Chris Stannell, one ofthe biggest savings comes from thereduction in diesel fuel consumptionby haul trucks. Stannell said Teck hasinstalled lighter truck boxes, ran ananti-idle campaign and cut theamount of time it takes a haul truckto load and unload. He also said thedecline in oil prices have helped sig-nificantly with cost savings. Otherdiesel-saving measures the companyis looking into is the use of liquefiednatural gas as a fuel source for itshaul trucks, a measure it is testingout at its Fording River coal mine inB.C.

3.5-kilometre tunnels that lead to thecoal seam beneath the ocean floor,underground work includes roadwayimprovements, tunnel support, geot-echnical work, the installation of anew power distribution system as wellas the beginnings of a conveyor sys-tem. According to Bunn, the deposit“has great mining height – 3.5 metresat the face – and great coal quality, butit is on a 10 per cent grade.”

Donkin has an estimated resourceof nearly half a billion tonnes of coalwell suited for both power generationand steel making. “We are sharingquality information with Nova ScotiaPower and preparing to collect a sam-ple for a test burn in the summer of2016,” said Bunn. The mine is also ashort haul away from port facilities,which goes a long in improving theeconomics of the project. CIM

Renaissance projectThere are signs of life in the cradle

of Canada’s coal mining industry. TheDonkin project on the northern tip of

Cape Breton, where coalmining in North Amer-ica first began centuriesago, has been recruitingexperienced coal minersto help bring the room-and-pillar mine intoproduction.

The last operatingcoal mine in Cape Bre-ton was shuttered in2001. Xstrata sparkedhope for the industry in2005 when it boughtcontrolling interest in

the Donkin project in 2005. The com-pany and its junior partner MorienResources spent a combined $43 mil-lion before it stopped opera-tions there in 2013.

Jim Bunn, Kameron Col-lieries senior vice-president ofoperations and development,would not say how much thecompany has spent so farsince it bought in 2014 the75 per cent interest Xstrata-acquirer Glencore had in theproject, but confirmed thesite is buzzing. In addition to the dewatering of two

May • Mai 2016 | 69

TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNICAL PROGRAM

DAILY THEMED PLENARIES

FOUR-DAY CONGRESS

600 ORAL PRESENTATIONS

TECHNICAL TOPICS16 SHORT COURSES8 INDUSTRIAL TOURS+ +

70 EXHIBITORS

150 POSTERS

PARTICIPANTS

NETWORK WITH PEERS AND PARTNERS

VAST NETWORKING & BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

1000

What to expect at IMPC 2016?

TECHNICAL STREAMSCharacterization: Mineralogy, Geometallurgy

Process Control: Instrumentation, Modelling, Simulation

Flotation: From Chemistry to Machines

Extractive Metallurgy: Hydro and Pyrometallurgy

Comminution: AG/SAG, Crushers, HPGR, Tumbling and Stirred Mills

Physical Separation: Gravity, Magnetic, Electrostatic, Ore Sorting, Upgrading (physical and chemical)

Plant Design: Complex Ores, Integrated Flowsheets

Asset Management: Sampling, Metal Accounting, Surveys and Flowsheet Improvement

New Frontiers: Harsh Environments Including Arctic, Undersea, Space and Beyond

Environment, Recycling and Social Responsibility

Dewatering: Thickening, Filtering, Drying

SYMPOSIA4th International Symposium on Iron Control in Hydrometallurgy

Electrometallurgy 2016

Rare Earth Elements

Lightweight Metals and Composites: Production, Processing and Applications

IMPC Commissions: Education, Mineral Processing for the Future

IMPC2016.ORG [email protected]

IMPC 2016 IS HOSTING THE 55TH ANNUALCONFERENCE OF METALLURGISTS

Plan to attend IMPC 2016, September 11-15, Québec, CanadaThe Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) is honoured to be hosting the XXVIII International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) in Québec City, Québec, Canada. In September 2016, over 1,000 mineral processing experts, academics and industry professionals from more than 60 countries will gather to explore and discuss the important issues and trends currently shaping our industry and its future. Canada last hosted the IMPC in 1982 and is proud to do so again.

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75 La classe de chefs de file, d’innovateurs etd’organismes de réglementation qui font leursmarques dans l’industrie cette annéePar Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Correy Baldwin, Antoine Dion-Ortega, Katelyn Spidle, Andrew Seale

72 Lettre de l’éditeur

72 Mot du président

73 Le budget fédéral prévoit des fonds pour lestechnologies propres, l’exploration et la réforme de la réglementationPar Chris Windeyer

83 Profil de projet : Le projet Brucejack, qui bénéficiede hautes teneurs et d’un taux de changefavorable, est un joyau dans la couronne de projets de PretiumPar Virginia Heffernan

2016-03-29 2:59 PM

lettre de l’éditeur mot du président

Toutes les années au prin-temps, les éditeurs du CIMMagazine revêtent leur manteau depersonnes qualifiées et se lancentconcrètement dans la créationd’une liste annuelle de femmes etd’hommes dont les accomplisse-ments passés ou les projets futursméritent d’être mis à l’honneur.

Chaque nouveau numéro s’ac-compagne d’une liste d’individus.Par exemple, l’ascension de DeniseJohnson au poste de présidente dugroupe des industries des res-sources chez Caterpillar nous a

immédiatement sauté aux yeux. Nous avons eu l’occasion deprendre part à des visites de groupe sur les terrains d’essai deCaterpillar en Arizona aux côtés des fournisseurs et des clientsminiers de la société, à forte dominance masculine, aussi il ne faitaucun doute à nos yeux que Mme Johnson est une pionnière. Enoutre, sa manière de procéder pour diriger le groupe au sein dumarché est un exemple à suivre.

De la même manière, Maureen Jensen, la première femme àdiriger la commission des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario, a attirénotre attention en début d’année lorsqu’elle a été nommée prési-dente et directrice générale et a été chargée de créer un régimeréglementaire plus élégant que le système canadien actuel, quimultiplie les chevauchements de réglementations entre commis-sions provinciales des valeurs mobilières.

Dans d’autres cas, tout comme le marché, nous suivons notreinspiration du moment. Récemment, Tesla Motors s’est de nouveaudémarquée au sein du secteur automobile lorsqu’elle a annoncé lacommercialisation l’année prochaine de sa toute dernière voitureélectrique, la plus abordable du marché ; sans plus attendre, desmilliers de personnes sont allées faire la queue pour réserver leurvéhicule et régler leur premier versement. Que l’on s’en réjouisse ounon, la société d’exploration du lithium Pure Energy Minerals faitpartie du spectacle. Sa propriété du Nevada, dont les résultats enmatière de forage l’année dernière se sont révélés très prometteurs,a signé un accord avec Tesla pour lui fournir le matériel nécessaireà ses batteries rechargeables. La fonction du président et directeurgénéral de Pure Energy Patrick Highsmith, dont nous dressons éga-lement le portrait, est de s’assurer que la spéculation caractéristiquede la fièvre initiale se traduise par la concrétisation de la production.Pour ce faire, le projet d’exploration devra évoluer pour devenir unproducteur sérieux, ce qui comprendra la lourde tâche de mettre enservice une usine utilisant la méthode d’extraction par solvants quipermettrait d’éviter d’avoir recours à des bassins d’évaporation de lasaumure, comme c’est souvent le cas dans l’industrie.

Notre objectif est qu’ensemble, ces personnes et les autres dontnous établissons le profil créent un portrait composé de l’industrietelle qu’elle est à l’heure actuelle, et exposent les dimensions inté-ressantes et parfois inattendues qui en font partie. Nous espéronsque vous apprécierez ces portraits, et attendons avec impatiencevotre point de vue sur le sujet.

Ryan Bergen, Rédacteur en chef,[email protected], @Ryan_CIM_Mag

Des noms qui en disent long Se réunir est un début ; rester

ensemble est un progrès ;travailler ensemble marque

la réussite. – Henry Ford

Quand je repense à mon annéeà la présidence de l’ICM, je ne res-sens qu’amour et admiration pourcette organisation. Ce sentimentconcerne autant le conseil que lesmembres des comités, nos prési-dents (sortants et entrants), le per-sonnel de l’ICM (ancien et nou-

veau) et tout particulièrement vous, membres de l’ICM.L’optimisme, la tolérance, le dynamisme, la détermination et le désird’excellence incessants dont vous avez tous et toutes fait preuvel’année passée ont été pour moi une véritable source d’inspiration.

Je n’oublierai jamais les relations que j’ai établies avec l’ICM etespère qu’elles perdureront. J’ai particulièrement apprécié de merendre aux réunions des sections, aux conférences, au siège social àMontréal, aux événements régionaux et aux rencontres internatio-nales, car tous ces déplacements m’ont permis de vous rencontrerdans une atmosphère amicale et de constater que nous tendions tousà un même objectif. J’ai apprécié les défis qui, en toute honnêteté, ontété nombreux durant l’année qui s’est écoulée, qu’il s’agisse du réta-blissement des relations au printemps dernier, de la mise en œuvretrès attendue de notre plan stratégique sur cinq ans ou encore de laréorganisation qui a suivi, le tout avec pour toile de fond le ralentis-sement économique que traverse le secteur des mines et des métaux.

Je dois avouer que l’entrain général que j’ai observé lors ducongrès de la Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada(PDAC, l’association canadienne des prospecteurs et entrepreneurs)m’a redonné confiance et j’espère vraiment retrouver cette atmo-sphère au congrès de l’ICM 2016. L’un des points positifs de ces tempsdifficiles est qu’ils nous ont rapproché dans un élan de fraternité et derésolution. Les périodes fastes nous laissent bien moins de tempspour établir le contact, aussi sachons profiter de cette occasion.

Je tiens à exprimer ma profonde gratitude envers tous ceux etcelles d’entre vous qui ont déployé, déploient et continueront dedéployer tant d’efforts au nom de l’ICM et de la communautéminière. Je vous en suis extrêmement reconnaissant. Je m’engage àsoutenir notre nouveau président Michael Winship, son successeurKen Thomas ainsi que la présidente élue entrante et ma très chèreamie Janice Zinck avec le même enthousiasme dont ils ont faitpreuve durant mon mandat. Soyez rassurés, nous sommes entre debonnes mains !

J’espère que vous avez lu ces billets avec autant de plaisir quej’ai pris à les écrire.

Ne pleure pas parce que c’est fini, mais souris parce que c’estarrivé. Cette citation du Dr Seuss résume parfaitement ce que jeressens.

Je vous dis au revoir à tous et à toutes, la larme à l’œil mais lesourire aux lèvres !

Garth KirkhamCIM President

@GarthCIMPrez

Une année inoubliable


May • Mai 2016 | 73

L’actualité

Trois des principales organisationsminières du Canada trouvent une inspi-ration dans le programme des « voiesensoleillées » préconisée par le premierministre Justin Trudeau, au moins dansleurs réactions au budget fédéral.

Il n’y a pas grand-chose de prévupour le secteur minier dans le budget de2016. Cependant, le crédit d’impôtpour exploration minière de 15 %(CIEM) est de retour pour une autreannée, prolongé jusqu’au 31 mars 2017,à la grande satisfaction de l’Associationminière du Canada (AMC), de l’Associa-tion de l’exploration minière de laColombie-Britannique (AME BC, pourAssociation for Mineral Exploration Bri-tish Columbia) et de l’Association cana-dienne des prospecteurs et entrepreneurs(PDAC, pour Prospectors and Develo-pers Association of Canada).

« Nous avons entendu les argumentsen faveur du crédit, nous pensons qu’ilssont convaincants », a déclaré leministre des Ressouces naturelles, JamesCarr, dans une entrevue approfondieavec CIM Magazine. « Nous pensonsvraiment qu’on a bien compris au gou-vernement que cette mesure a été trèsutile pour le secteur minier. »

Selon la porte-parole de l’AMC, Jessica Draker, dans un contexte où lespetites sociétés minières ont du mal àattirer des capitaux, la mesure incitativeque représente le CIEM est essentielle.« Le Canada doit faire en sorte d’avoirune liste de projets miniers en réservesusceptibles de se concrétiser et d’assu-rer la croissance durable de ce secteur »,a-t-elle déclaré.

Il convient aussi de prêter attentionaux promesses faites par le gouverne-ment dans son budget portant sur desmodifications de la réglementationentourant les frais d’exploration auCanada afin d’inclure les tâches de régle-

mentation et les consultations à titre defrais admissibles, ainsi qu’à sa promessede ne pas appliquer de taxe fédérale surle carbone dans les provinces et terri-toires où il en existe déjà une.

Par ailleurs, au chapitre de l’explora-tion, le budget alloue une somme de87,2 M$ aux projets de recherche debase de Ressources naturelles Canada,incluant les sciences de la Terre et la car-tographie. « L’engagement du gouverne-ment fédéral à l’égard des sciences de laTerre et de la cartographie, ainsi qu’à larecherche liée aux minéraux, renforcerale leadership et la réputation du Canadaen matière d’innovation et contribuera àattirer de nouveaux investissementsdans l’exploration minérale et la mise envaleur », a souligné Gavin Dirom, prési-dent et chef de la direction d’AME BC,dans un communiqué.

Le budget vise aussi à relancer le pro-cessus réglementaire souvent engorgéen allouant de nouveaux fonds auxorganismes gouvernementaux, dont16,5 M$ sur trois ans à l’Office national

de l’énergie, Ressources naturellesCanada et Transports Canada, afin demettre en œuvre les nouveaux principesréglementaires provisoires du gouverne-ment pour les projets portant sur lesressources naturelles. Un montant de14,2 M$ sur quatre ans sera alloué àl’Agence canadienne d’évaluation envi-ronnementale et un montant de10,1 M$, également sur quatre ans, seraoctroyé au Bureau de gestion des projetsnordiques qui assure la coordinationentre les organismes fédéraux concernéspar les démarches réglementaires dansles territoires.

Selon Mme Draker, ces dernièresannées, les modifications de réglemen-tation ont été liées à des restrictionsbudgétaires dans les organismes deréglementation fédéraux. « [La haussede financement est] très importante, carelle leur permettra d’avoir les moyensnécessaires pour effectuer leur travail,en particulier en ce qui concerne lesprocessus d’évaluation environnemen-tale et d’octroi de permis. »

Investir dans l’avenirLe budget fédéral prévoit des fonds pour les technologies propres, l’exploration et la réforme de la réglementationPar Chris Windeyer

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Le ministre des finances Bill Morneau a déposé son premier budget fédéral le 22 mars, qui accorde unfinancement aux technologies propres et à l’exploration ainsi qu'un renouvellement du crédit d’impôt pourl’exploration minière (CIEM).


Les domaines de la « croissancepropre » et les initiatives visant àrésoudre les problèmes de disparitéssociales et économiques entre lesAutochtones et la population en généralqui sont au cœur du budget auront desretombées positives sur le secteur minier.Ainsi, le budget prévoit d’allouer 4,2 G$sur cinq ans à l’éducation et à la forma-tion dans les communautés autochtoneset 3,4 G$ sur cinq ans aux infrastruc-tures, dont une concentration impor-tante des dépenses dans le logement, lessoins de santé et l’approvisionnement eneau dans les réserves. Dans une déclara-tion, l’AMC a qualifié ces investissementsde « fondations essentielles pour stimu-ler la participation des Autochtones duCanada dans l’industrie minière. »

Un montant de plus de 1 G$ surquatre ans sera affecté à la recherche surles technologies propres, ce qui présenteun grand intérêt pour les sociétésminières, a déclaré Mme Draker. Selonl’AMC, chaque année, l’industrieminière consacre quelque 700 M$ aux

innovations, notamment en matièred’efficacité énergétique et de réductiondes émissions de gaz à effet de serre.Mme Draker a ajouté que les nouvellesdépenses du gouvernement fédéral dansla recherche auraient un effet de « cata-lyseur » sur les investissements actuelsde l’industrie.

Ce qui ne figure pas dans le budgetcependant, c’est l’affectation spécifiquede crédits à des projets d’infrastructurequi sont importants pour les sociétésminières, comme les routes dont ellesont grandement besoin dans le Cerclede feu de l’Ontario, du moins actuelle-ment. Le gouvernement a promis d’in-vestir 120 G$ dans de nouvellesinfrastructures au cours de la prochainedécennie, mais n’a fourni des détailsque sur la première phase axée princi-palement sur les projets de transportpublic, d’infrastructures municipales etla rénovation des infrastructures fédé-rales existantes.

Les Libéraux disent qu’ils développe-ront la Phase 2 en consultation avec les

provinces, les territoires, les PremièresNations, les villes et d’autres parties pre-nantes. La PDAC et l’AMC souhaitenttoutes deux vivement, de même que lesgouvernements des territoires, que lamajeure partie de ces nouveaux inves-tissements aient lieu dans les régionséloignées et nordiques du pays. Audébut du mois de mars, le premierministre des Territoires du Nord-Ouest,Bob McLeod, a déclaré qu’il espéraitqu’une partie du financement des infra-structures prévu par le gouvernementfédéral serait consacrée au Nord afind’aider le secteur minier des territoires.

« Ces investissements, s’ils sont faitsdans les régions riches en ressources dupays, mèneraient à la fois à plus dedécouvertes et feraient aussi en sorte qu’ilsoit économiquement viable de mettreen valeur des découvertes existantesencore inexploitées », a souligné le prési-dent de la PDAC, Robert Schafer. « Lesinfrastructures de transport demeurent laclé qui permettra de libérer le potentieldes ressources dans le Nord. » ICM

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2016 LES NOMSÀ CONNAÎTRE

Par Correy Baldwin | Antoine Dion-Ortega | Alexandra Lopez-PachecoAndrew Seale | Katelyn Spidle

L’industrie minière a beau être relativement petite, elle renferme de grandespersonnalités. Cette année, notre enquête auprès des principaux acteursde l’industrie se tourne vers des dirigeants chevronnés de l’industrie, unchef déterminé des Premières Nations et une famille de prospecteurs, quilaisseront assurément leur empreinte sur l’année à venir.

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Lorsque l’équipe d’experts-conseils en géologie de lasociété québécoise SGS Geostat a commencé à préparersa participation au concours Ruée vers l’or d’Integra Gold,sa première idée s’appuyait sur un concept déjà existant,

celui visant à développer un cadre au sein duquel seraientintégrées, interpolées et extrapolées toutes les données dispo-nibles. « Nous avons commencé avec une approche plus tra-ditionnelle », déclarait Guy Desharnais, directeur techniquedes services géologiques de la section Minéraux de SGS.« Nous voulions être sûrs d’exploiter au mieux les données enles compilant dans un modèle de blocs. » Ce n’est que vers lafin du processus que l’équipe en est venue à envisager l’ap-prentissage automatique.Le 6 mars dernier, à l’occasion du congrès de la Prospectors

and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC, l’association cana-dienne des prospecteurs et entrepreneurs) qui s’est tenu àToronto, SGS Geostat a remporté 500 000 $, le premier prix duconcours dont l’objectif était d’identifier les meilleures cibles deforage sur la propriété Sigma-Lamaque d’Integra Gold. En asso-ciant les interprétations 3D et l’apprentissage automatique, SGSGeostat a montré l’intérêt d’intégrer l’intelligence artificielle (IA)aux méthodes d’exploration traditionnelles.L’équipe a d’abord utilisé des méthodes géostatistiques

sophistiquées pour compiler toutes les données disponiblesdans la propriété et produire un modèle de blocs expansif. Lesvecteurs de minéralisation ont ensuite été combinés pouraccorder une note de perspectives d’exploration de 0 à 100 à

chacun des blocs recouvrant la pro-priété, jusqu’à une profondeur de 2kilomètres (km). Parallèlement, les

données étaient traitées à l’aide d’un algo-rithme d’apprentissage automatique quicontribuait à l’identification de nouvellescibles tout en confirmant la première sériede résultats. Le système de notation desperspectives d’exploration a donc pris encompte les connaissances géologiquesainsi que l’apprentissage automatique.Toutes les données géologiques, et notam-ment les cibles de grande valeur, ont fina-lement été intégrées dans un modèle deréalité virtuelle reposant sur la technolo-gie Oculus Rift à des fins de vérification, et

aussi pour que les membres du jury puissent juger d’eux-mêmes. À l’origine, M. Desharnais et le géologue de SGS Jean-Phi-

lippe Paiement avaient conçu leur propre système géologique,mais ils étaient aussi bien conscients des limites du raisonne-ment humain. « Par nature, les êtres humains ne sont pas objec-tifs », indiquait M. Desharnais. « Jean-Philippe et moi avonsune compréhension subjective des contrôles de la minéralisa-tion de l’or, mais nous ne sommes pas impartiaux en raison denotre expérience. Nous avons donc décidé de laisser faire lamachine pour voir si elle parvenait à un meilleur résultat. » M. Desharnais a donc commencé à chercher, à travers le

réseau SGS Canada, des personnes disposées à examiner leurmodèle de blocs. Il a fini par contacter Doug Hatfield àToronto. « Doug utilisait déjà des concepts mathématiquesassez sophistiqués pour faire des simulations en géométallur-gie, et je savais qu’il poussait les limites de ce que les mathé-matiques sont capables de faire pour les appliquer à d’autresdomaines », déclarait-il. « Il a un intérêt personnel dans cettetechnologie. »C’était la première fois que SGS Canada intégrait l’appren-

tissage automatique aux sciences de la Terre et à l’exploitationminière. Toutefois, la société pourrait bien intégrer cet essai àses méthodes de travail à l’avenir. « Depuis que nous avonsremporté le concours, nous avons senti un intérêt marquépour l’application de notre méthodologie à d’autres proprié-tés », indiquait M. Desharnais. – Antoine Dion-ortegA

Pour les Bjorkman de Whisky Jack Lake, près d’Atiko-kan, en Ontario, la prospection est une affaire defamille. Karl Bjorkman dirige Bjorkman Prospecting,aidé de son épouse, Nikki, qui tient les comptes, et de

leurs six enfants – cinq filles et un garçon. Cette année, lafamille a reçu un prix pour réalisation exceptionnelle décernépar l’Association canadienne des prospecteurs et entrepre-neurs (ACPE) pour sa contribution à l’industrie.Karl s’est lancé dans la prospection vers les années 1990,

ayant obtenu son permis de prospecteur après que des pros-

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GUY DESHARNAISCapitaine de l’équipe de SGS Geostat dans le cadre du concours Ruée vers l’or

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LA FAMILLE BJORKMANBjorkman Prospecting02


De gauche à droite : Doug Hatfield, Jean-Phillippe Paiement et Guy Desharnais

De gauche à droite : Jessica, Veronique, Ruth, Nikki, Karl, Katarina, Bjorn et KarlaBjorkman

May • Mai 2016 | 77

pecteurs eurent commencé à travailler sur sa propriété. Il a suiviun cours de prospection et, comme il le dit : « J’ai eu la piqûre. »Puis, en 1992, alors qu’il participait à un symposium à ThunderBay, il a été abordé par Garry Clark, qui allait devenir directeurgénéral de l’Association des prospecteurs de l’Ontario. « Il estvenu me proposer un emploi et j’ai pensé, ‘Wow, je peux êtrepayé pour faire de la prospection, c’est formidable!’»La famille travaille surtout en Ontario et dans les Terri-

toires, mais a travaillé dans presque toutes les provinces ainsiqu’en Norvège et en Suède, occupant des emplois plusmodestes. Jusqu’à maintenant, les Bjorkmans tiraient environla moitié de leurs revenus du jalonnement de concessions,mais avec l’avènement des procédés de jalonnement électro-niques, ils ont dû diversifier leurs activités dans des servicestels que la cartographie géologique, l’échantillonnage de solet les rapports d’évaluation. Deux des filles, Ruth et Katarina,ont en outre obtenu des diplômes en géologie, ce qui accroîtl’expertise de la famille.Comme l’explique Ruth, « Nous avons grandi en faisant de

la prospection avec notre père, cela nous a paru tout naturelde continuer dans cette voie. »

Le secteur connaît cependant une pénurie de nouveauxprospecteurs, ce que les enfants Bjorkman essaient de changer.« Il n’y a pas beaucoup de prospecteurs plus jeunes que monpère », dit Ruth. Elle-même et ses sœurs participent aux acti-vités de l’organisme Mining Matters de l’ACPE, en donnant descours dans des écoles et dans des communautés des PremièresNations. « Un enseignement précoce est vraiment important »,explique Ruth. « Beaucoup d’enfants ne savent même pas vrai-ment que la prospection existe. » La famille embauche aussides aides et fournit une formation aux nouvelles recrues.Les sœurs encouragent aussi les femmes à se lancer dans

ce domaine et apportent leur soutien à celles qui le font. L’andernier, pour leurs efforts, Ruth, Jessica et Veronique ont éténommées Femmes de métier de l’année par l’organismeInfluential Women of Northern Ontario.Selon Karl, diriger une entreprise familiale présente de

nombreux avantages, mais il s’agit surtout de confiance et dese soutenir mutuellement dans les moments difficiles. « Noussommes privilégiés », dit-il, « car j’ai confiance en mes enfants.Je crois en leur honnêteté et en leur intégrité. » – correy BAlDwin

MARK BRISTOWChef de la direction de Randgold Resources

Parlez-en à Mark Bristow et il vous dira quel’industrie de l’or souffre depuis des décen-nies d’une vision à court terme ne tenantcompte que du dernier rendement trimes-

triel pour l’actionnaire ou du cours de l’or le plusrécent. Sous sa gouverne, Randgold Resources aplutôt misé sur une stratégie à long terme consis-tant à investir de façon soutenue – et non unique-ment lorsque les cours s’envolent – dans sesactivités d’exploration et d’exploitation minières enAfrique.C’est ce qui explique pourquoi en 2015, quand

le cours de l’or a chuté de 11 %, Randgold surpas-sait l’indice S&P 500 de près de 27 %. En fait, lasociété, considérée comme faisant partie des plusrentables de son industrie, a connu l’une de ses meilleuresannées depuis son introduction à la Bourse de Londres en1997. Sa production, de plus de 1,2 million d’onces, s’étaitaccrue de 6 % par rapport à l’exercice précédent, et ses fondsen caisse s’élevaient à 213,4 M$ US, un bond de 158 %, mal-gré un profit en baisse plombé par les prix de l’or. Durant lesdeux premiers mois de 2016, les actions de la société ont aug-menté de près de 29 %, les prix de l’or amorçant une forteremontée. En mars, les analystes ont annoncé haut et fort que,pour la première fois depuis 2013, l’or était de retour dans unmarché haussier.« Le succès que nous avons connu en 2015 était l’aboutis-

sement des années précédentes. Les mesures que nous prenonsaujourd’hui produiront les résultats de demain », a-t-il affirmé.

« Notre principal mandat consiste à être rentables et àcréer de la valeur au profit de toutes nos parties prenantes, àsavoir nos actionnaires, les gouvernements qui agissent aunom des gens, les communautés et nos travailleurs », a expli-qué M. Bristow, dont la stratégie à long terme consiste à trans-former chacun des sites d’exploitation minière de Randgolden entreprise autonome, entièrement exploitée et gérée pardes membres de la communauté locale, plutôt que de faireappel à une main-d’œuvre étrangère coûteuse. « L’investisse-ment dans la formation d’un ingénieur se rentabilise enquelques mois », a souligné M. Bristow. « L’embauche d’étran-gers coûte beaucoup plus cher, sans compter qu’il s’agit enquelque sorte de travailleurs mercenaires qui ne s’engagentpas à long terme. » – AlexAnDrA lopez-pAcheco

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Depuis son élection le 10 décembre 2015, M. Macri s’estefforcé de rassurer les investisseurs étrangers, plus par-ticulièrement les sociétés minières, sur le fait que sonpays est de nouveau en affaires.

À la mi-février, M. Macri a supprimé les droitsd’exportation de 5 % sur les produits miniersqui avaient été instaurés par le précédent gou-vernement il y a 10 ans. Son objectif est de rendreles provinces minières argentines, particulièrementSan Juan et Catamarca, de nouveau attrayantes. « Cette mesure a été bien reçue dans les pro-

vinces minières, car ces droits d’exportation aug-mentaient les coûts, rendant ainsi ces régionsmoins attrayantes pour les investisseurs du secteurminier », a déclaré Leonardo Viglione, dirigeant dusecteur minier, PwC Argentina. « Nous souhaitonsfaire clairement savoir que l’Argentine est de nou-veau sur la bonne voie. » À la mi-décembre, M. Macri a également levé le

contrôle des changes qui, pendant des années, amaintenu le peso argentin artificiellement élevé parrapport au dollar américain (1 $ US = 9,5 pesos).Cette surévaluation a donné lieu à la création d’un

marché parallèle non officiel qui correspondait davantage à lavaleur réelle de la monnaie (1 $ US = 14 pesos). En permettantau peso de flotter librement, M. Macri a déclenché une déva-luation spectaculaire du peso par rapport au dollar américain,qui a atteint près de 60 % au début du mois de mars. De touteévidence, cette décision a eu une incidence positive sur lescoûts d’investissement et d’exploitation des sociétés exporta-trices, étant donné que la majeure partie de ces coûts sont

CHRIS CLINELe baron américain du charbon

Chris Cline, milliardaire qui ne doit safortune qu’à lui même, a dirigé sesefforts vers le nord, pour commen-cer à extraire du charbon au Canada.

En janvier, Kameron Collieries – filialecanadienne de sa société Cline Group – aannoncé que la mine de charbon de Don-kin à Cape Breton, en Nouvelle-Écosse,rouvrira cet été. En 2014, Kameron Col-lieries a acheté la participation de 75 % deGlencore dans le projet, puis a fait l’acqui-sition de la participation restante deMorien Resources au début de 2015. D’après Jim Bunn, vice-président,

Exploitation, Cutlass Collieries – unesociété de Cline Group dont KameronCollieries est une filiale – donner unsecond souffle à la mine apportera de nombreux avantages aupays. « La mine de charbon de Donkin pourrait remplacer lecoke de pétrole importé des États-Unis ainsi que le charbonprovenant des États-Unis et d’Amérique du Sud », a déclaréM. Bunn. « Cela devrait profiter non seulement à Nova ScotiaPower sur le plan des coûts et de la fiabilité de l’approvision-nement en combustible, mais également à la balance commer-ciale du Canada dans son ensemble. »

Une société affiliée à Cline Groupa également acheté Coalspur MinesLimited en juin dernier, faisant l’ac-quisition de son projet de charbonVista, en Alberta. Cependant, même sil’organisme Alberta Energy Regulatora délivré les permis finaux pour ceprojet, le développement est actuelle-ment en suspens. « Étant donné labaisse des prix du charbon en Asie etla probabilité qu’ils restent bas dansun proche avenir, le projet n’est pasviable sur le plan économique », adéclaré M. Bunn. « Quand les prixremonteront, nous réévaluerons leprojet et les délais associés à son déve-loppement. »Ayant réussi à donner un second

souffle à l’industrie dans l’Illinois, lasociété de M. Cline, Foresight

Reserves, détient un certain nombre de filiales qui exploitentdes mines de charbon en Illinois.Chris Cline a également acquis une réputation de philan-

thrope, particulièrement dans son État natal de Virginie-Occi-dentale. En 2011, la Cline Family Foundation a remis 5M$ US à l’Université de Virginie-Occidentale, son alma mater.« C’est un mineur de charbon de troisième génération dotéd’un grand cœur et qui croit fermement qu’il faut donner auxsuivants », a déclaré M. Bunn. – KAtelyn SpiDle

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engagés en pesos, alors que les produits sont vendus en dollarsaméricains. « Cette dévaluation est bénéfique pour toutes les sociétés

exportatrices, y compris les sociétés minières », a indiqué M.Viglione. « Le gouvernement a fusionné les deux marchés deschanges et il n’y en a qu’un désormais. » Le nouveau secrétaire responsable du secteur minier,

Daniel Meilán, est venu donner des nouvelles lors du congrèsde l’Association canadienne des prospecteurs et entrepreneurs(PDAC pour Prospectors and Developers Association of

Canada) qui s’est tenu en mars à Toronto. Selon la presseargentine, M. Meilán a déclaré qu’il était tout simplement« impossible » d’attirer les investissements nécessaires comptetenu des droits d’exportation et des contrôles des changesimposés antérieurement. L’Argentine a encore 750 000 kilo-mètres carrés de terre prête pour l’exploitation minière, dontseulement 150 000 kilomètres carrés ont été mis en valeur. Lepays devrait consacrer 400 M$ US par année à l’exploration,et 20 G$ US à la mise en valeur de 20 à 25 projets actuelle-ment envisagés, a-t-il ajouté. – Antoine Dion-ortegA

MAUREEN JENSEN Présidente et chef de la direction de la Commission

des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario

Mme Jensen a œuvré toute sa vie dans unmilieu dominé par les hommes, commegéologue, ancienne cadre dans le secteurminier et vétéran de la réglementation des

marchés financiers. Depuis le 10 février, Mme Jen-sen est également la première femme à diriger l’or-ganisme de réglementation des marchés financiersle plus important au pays. Elle présidera à unetransformation historique de la Commission desvaleurs mobilières de l’Ontario (CVMO), alors quel’Ontario, la Colombie-Britannique, la Saskatche-wan, le Nouveau-Brunswick, l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard, le Yukon et le gouvernement fédérals’unissent pour créer un nouvel organisme deréglementation national appelé le Régime coopéra-tif en matière de réglementation des marchés descapitaux (le « RCRMC ») qui sera opérationnel d’icila fin de 2016. « Vous n’aurez à remplir qu’un seul formulaire

une seule fois et vous recevrez une réponse. Ce serafantastique », a déclaré Mme Jensen, qui espère qued’autres juridictions au Canada se joindront auRCRMC. C’est une période enthousiasmante pourMme Jensen, car la possibilité de jouer un rôle dansl’allégement du fardeau de la réglementation a étél’une des raisons principales pour lesquelles elle aaccepté un poste à la Bourse de Toronto en 1998. « Alors que j’étais chef de la direction de [Noble

Peak Resources], j’ai consacré beaucoup de tempsà remplir des formulaires, encore et encore. Les règles n’étaientpas très précises », a-t-elle expliqué. « Des organismes de régle-mentation dans une province me disaient de faire les chosesd’une manière, tandis que ceux d’une autre province m’indi-quaient une autre façon de faire. Je ne pouvais acquiescer à leurdemande, car ils voulaient quelque chose qui allait à l’encontredes désirs de l’autre. » Le RCRMC « continuera à s’efforcer d’améliorer les compor-

tements par des activités de conformité plutôt que d’ajoutersimplement des règlements », a poursuivi Mme Jensen. D’ail-

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leurs, elle a été à la tête de l’initiative « se conformer ou s’ex-pliquer » de la CVMO qui a donné lieu à une hausse de 15 %du nombre de femmes au sein des conseils d’administration etdans des postes de direction de sociétés ouvertes, et ce, dès sapremière année d’existence. « Nous allons continuer à misersur l’initiative « se conformer ou s’expliquer » en publiantchaque année les résultats et, à la fin de trois ans, nous déter-minerons ce que nous devrons faire par la suite si les chosesn’ont pas suffisamment changé », a affirmé Mme Jensen. « C’estimportant. » – correy BAlDwin

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GLENN KOSICKprésident de Woodgrove Technologies

GLENN DOBBYvice-président de Woodgrove Technologies

“Quand vous mettez au point une tech-nologie d’une telle envergure pourremplacer une technologie existantedans une industrie très mature, ce

n’est pas vraiment pour les âmes sensibles », adéclaré Glenn Kosick de Woodgrove Technolo-gies. M. Kosick et son partenaire Glenn Dobby

Exploitation minière et technologie à ciel ouvert, Manu-tention et opérations souterraines et Développement desproduits et technologies mondiales. « Je ne suis pas vrai-ment déstabilisée par la nouveauté, qu’il s’agisse d’emplois,

de situations, d’environnements ou de gens. Je fais aussipreuve de beaucoup d’obstination. Je ne fuis pas les situationsdifficiles. »Sans se laisser ébranler par les obstacles rencontrés actuel-

lement par le secteur minier, elle veut que la division de l’ex-ploitation minière de Caterpillar aide les clients à s’adapteraux nouvelles réalités de l’industrie et à en sortir gagnants.« Je veux continuer de me rapprocher de nos clients et être àl’écoute de leurs besoins », a expliqué Denise Johnson. « Sinous pouvons nous concentrer sur les éléments qui assurentleur réussite, ils auront du succès et s’ils ont du succès, nousen sortirons gagnants. »Sous sa direction, Caterpillar investira massivement dans

les activités de recherche et développement afin d’aider lesclients à améliorer leur productivité sur le terrain en mettantl’accent sur les technologies de connectivité pour assurer l’in-tégration et la surveillance des machines, y compris celles dela concurrence, ainsi que sur les technologies pour renforcerla sécurité. « Tout ce qui permet au responsable des travauxde bien comprendre ce qui se passe et de savoir commentmaximiser la production », a précisé Denise Johnson. Cater-pillar s’intéressera également à d’autres domaines, comme lescarburants de remplacement, ainsi que la suppression du bruitet l’élimination des poussières. Pour ce qui est de l’exploitationsouterraine, selon Mme Johnson, Caterpillar poursuivra sesefforts dans le domaine des batteries et des technologies élec-triques pour aider les mines à réduire leurs émissions et àdiminuer leurs coûts.« Nous considérons le ralentissement actuel comme notre

nouvelle réalité au lieu d’attendre que la situation revienne àla normale », a souligné Denise Johnson. « Nous nous concen-trons sur ce que nous pouvons contrôler dans notre environ-nement afin que nous puissions tous prospérer, même dansla conjoncture actuelle. » – AlexAnDrA lopez-pAcheco

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DENISE JOHNSON Présidente du groupe Secteurs des ressources à Caterpillar

En assumant ses nouvelles fonctions à Caterpillar le1er avril, Denise Johnson est devenue la premièrefemme présidente de groupe de l’entreprise. Depuisqu’elle a quitté General Motors il y a cinq ans pour

entrer au service de Caterpillar en tant que directrice généraledes Produits spéciaux au sein de la division Remanufactura-tion, Composants et Outils de travail de l’entreprise,Denise Johnson a su s’adapter sans encombre aux change-ments rapides qui ont marqué sa carrière alors qu’elle a étépromue à la vice-présidence de trois divisions différentes ausein de Caterpillar.« Dans l’ensemble, je m’adapte très bien aux change-

ments », a déclaré Mme Johnson, qui est maintenant respon-sable de quatre divisions : Composants et systèmes avancés,

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ont créé Woodgrove en 2009 afin de mettre au point et depromouvoir leur réacteur de flottation étagé (SFR, pour StagedFlotation Reactor), une nouvelle approche en matière d’équi-pements de flottation destinée à l’industrie de la minéralurgie.Ils développent ensemble des technologies novatrices depuisprès de 30 ans.Ils ont conçu le SFR en réponse au défi posé par le traite-

ment pour des exploitations au tonnage de plus en plusimportant. « La tendance a consisté à simplement construirede plus en plus gros, à un point tel qu’aujourd’hui, [les four-nisseurs d’équipements de flottation] fabriquent des cellulesde cuve de 600 m3 pour essayer de réduire les infrastructureset les coûts; mais cela reste insuffisant », a déclaré M. Dobby.Les deux partenaires y ont vu une occasion de pallier l’im-portante lacune qui apparaît au moment de passer du labo-ratoire à l’exploitation à grande échelle. Le SFR dissocie lesétapes du processus de flottation en trois phases principales :la collecte des particules, la séparation de phases et la récu-pération de l’écume. La nouvelle technologie permet deréduire d’environ 50 % les coûts d’exploitation, l’espace ausol et la consommation d’énergie, en plus de réduire lescoûts d’installation et d’entretien. « Il s’agit vraiment d’unchangement de paradigme en matière de flottation », a ajoutéM. Dobby.

Il y a d’autres avantages : « Nous avons conçu chaque circuitsur mesure, en fonction des métaux dans le minerai et de lavariabilité que nous observerons au cours de la durée de viede la mine », a déclaré M. Kosick. « En outre, comme lesphases sont séparées, nous pouvons optimiser chacune desphases de flottation sans interférence avec les autres phases. »Leur première installation à grande échelle a eu lieu en

2010 à la mine d’or Pine Cove d’Anaconda Mining, à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, suivie par trois projets avec Dundee Pre-cious Metals à sa mine de Chelopech, en Bulgarie, pour larécupération du cuivre et de la pyrite.Parallèlement aux projets de Dundee, Woodgrove a réuni

un consortium de neuf importants producteurs de cuivre pourimplanter une installation de démonstration à grande échelleau Brésil, exploitée par Vale dans sa mine de Sossego. Cettedémonstration, qui s’est terminée en mars 2015, a connu unetelle réussite que Vale a immédiatement installé quatre SFRdans sa mine de cuivre de Salobo.« Nous en sommes maintenant au point où notre réputa-

tion a pris tellement d’ampleur, et où nous sommes tellementsollicités par des sociétés d’ingénieurs et pour des projets dansle monde entier, que nous n’entreprenons même plus d’acti-vités de marketing », a souligné M. Dobby. « Les propositionsarrivent naturellement. » – correy BAlDwin

L’été dernier, Pure Energy a reçu un puissant coup depouce après la publication de l’estimation des ressourcesprésumées pour son projet de production de lithium àpartir de saumures à Clayton Valley South, dans le cen-

tre-ouest du Nevada. À la suite d’une estimation de 816 000tonnes de carbonate de lithium équivalent, le cours des actionsde la société a grimpé et, peu après, elle a conclu un contratd’approvisionnement avec le fabricant de véhicules électriqueset de batteries Tesla Motors. L’an dernier, Pure Energy a étéhonorée à titre de société la plus performante du secteur minierà la Bourse de croissance TSX. Le chef de la direction nouvel-lement nommé, Patrick Highsmith, a maintenant pour missionde faire en sorte que le projet aille de l’avant.« Nous avons obtenu le contrôle d’une superficie de 9 300

acres et il existe une mine juste à côté », souligne M. Highs-mith, en parlant de la mine adjacente Silver Peake d’AlbemarleCorporation qui est actuellement le seul producteur delithium aux États-Unis. « En un sens, cela nous permet d’avan-cer un peu plus vite. » À la place de la méthode classique uti-lisée par l’industrie consistant à extraire le lithium parévaporation, le projet de Clayton Valley South aurait recoursà un procédé relativement nouveau d’extraction par solvantpermettant d’améliorer l’efficience, de réduire les délais deproduction et d’atténuer les incidences environnementales. En vue de la mise en service de la mine, Patrick Highs-

mith, géochimiste et ingénieur de formation, prévoit tirer

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PATRICK HIGHSMITHChef de la direction de Pure Energy Minerals Limited

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En février 2015, la Première Nation Kluane (PNK) de Bur-wish Landing, dans le sud-ouest du Yukon, a signé uneentente de 583 000 $ avec le ministère territorial Éner-gie, Mines et Ressources afin de recueillir des données

géophysiques sur les territoires traditionnels de la Nation. Lepartenariat, facilité par la Chef Mathieya Alatini et Scott Kent,ministre de l’Énergie, des Mines et des Ressources du Yukon,était enthousiasmant pour les deux parties. Un levé aéroportéa permis à la PNK de découvrir que des ressources offrant despossibilités économiques étaient enfouies sous ses terres et legouvernement du Yukon a obtenu une meilleure compréhen-sion de la géologie de la région. « Ce fut avantageux pour toutle monde », a déclaré M. Kent. « C’est ce que je retire de monexpérience de collaboration avec la Chef Alatini. »Reconnue pour son approche directe et son style de gestion

privilégiant la diplomatie, la Chef Alatini a fait preuve d’au-dace en ouvrant des perspectives d’avenir pour favoriser l’in-dépendance et la prospérité de sa collectivité. Quand elle a étéélue Chef pour la première fois en 2010, il était évident qu’ellecroyait que le fait de cultiver une relation positive et fruc-tueuse avec le secteur minier était une étape importante versl’indépendance économique de la PNK.

« Je suis réellement heureux de collaborer avec elle », aaffirmé M. Kent. « Elle est une véritable chef de file pour laPNK, et son peuple peut être fier d’elle […] et du travail quecette Première Nation a su accomplir. » En 2012, elle et son équipe ont publié un document inti-

tulé Proponents Engagement Guide (Guide d’engagement despromoteurs) à la suite d’un sommet sur le secteur minier quela PNK avait organisé au début de 2011 et auquel ont participédes représentants de l’industrie, des gouvernements et de laCommission géologique du Yukon. L’objectif de ce guide estd’établir des définitions et des attentes claires pour toutes lesentités désireuses de discuter de possibilités d’engagementavec la PNK. Décrivant la Chef Alatini comme étant une personne

« très pratique et avide de connaissances sur le secteurminier », M. Kent a fait remarquer que l’Exploration Coope-ration & Benefits Agreement (entente de coopération et deretombées en matière d’exploration) de la PNK avec Well-green Platinum à l’égard de son gisement d’ÉGP-nickelillustre parfaitement bien l’engagement de la Chef Alatiniqui souhaite créer des débouchés économiques pour sacollectivité. – KAtelyn SpiDle

MATHIEYA ALATINIChef de la Première Nation Kluane

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parti de ses 25 années d’expérience dans les secteurs de l’explo-ration, de l’exploitation et du développement des affaires, ainsiqu’à la direction de plus de 200 projets dans diverses sociétésdont Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Newmont et Lithium One.L’une des premières tâches entreprises par M. Highsmith

après avoir pris les rênes de la société début mars a consisté àpréparer un échéancier pour la remise de l’évaluation écono-mique préliminaire, qui est attendue cet été. La société a déjàretenu les services d’une équipe technique chargée de mettresur pied l’évaluation économique préliminaire. L’entente conclue par Pure Energy avec Tesla est l’une de

deux ententes conditionnelles de fourniture d’hydroxyde delithium à la « Gigafactory » de Tesla où une capacité de pro-

duction annuelle de batteries de 35 gigawattheures est prévued’ici 2020. « Lorsque vous avez un client comme celui-là enattente, cela envoie un signal vraiment fort au reste de l’indus-trie », souligne M. Highsmith, qui connaît bien les aspects àla fois techniques et commerciaux de l’industrie minière.« La formation technique est importante, car vous devez

visualiser ce gisement de lithium ainsi que la façon dont il seforme et comment l’explorer », ajoute-t-il, « mais j’ai aussidirigé l’expansion de sociétés d’exploration – conclu des mar-chés avec des petites sociétés – à Newmont, et à cette époque,j’ai beaucoup appris sur les marchés financiers, sur la façonde structurer les ententes et sur les relations entre les petiteset les grandes sociétés. » – AnDrew SeAle

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que de nombreux particuliers et sociétés cherchent du travail ;ainsi, le processus de mise en candidature pour le contrat detravail concernant la mine souterraine s’est révélé très compé-titif, et nous avons réussi à obtenir des conditions satisfaisantesde la part d’un entrepreneur renommé, CementationCanada », déclarait Joseph Ovsenek, président de Pretium.

Les estimations des études de faisabilité tenaient compted’un taux de change à 0,92 $ US pour 1 $ CA, mais la valeurdu dollar canadien a depuis bien chuté. Les taux de conversionréels, qui incluent des centaines de millions de dollars enfinancement par emprunts ou capitaux propres, se rappro-chent davantage d’un taux de change à 0,75 $ US pour 1 $ CA.Les économies de devises avoisinent 145 millions $ US, ce quivient compenser les coûts plus élevés liés à la surveillance del’environnement, aux constructions hivernales et aux heures-personnes supplémentaires.

Combler le déficit de financementPretium célèbre aussi un tournant majeur en matière de

financement dans un marché par ailleurs extrêmement rudepour les sociétés minières. Début mars, la société a obtenu lesderniers 130 millions $ US nécessaires pour finaliser laconstruction du projet Brucejack grâce à une offre publique devente à 4,58 $ US par action. Cette offre a suivi un finance-ment de 540 millions $ US qui consistait en une dette de 350millions $ US, un paiement anticipé de 150 millions $ US dansle cadre d’un accord d’écoulement de l’or et de l’argent ainsiqu’un placement privé d’actions de 40 millions $ US. Lesinvestisseurs ont ouvert leurs bourses après que Brucejack ait

Au-delà de la limite forestière desmontagnes du nord-ouest de la C.-B., le projet Brucejack de Pretium

Resources promet de redorer le blason del’industrie minière de la province.

Les dépassements de coûts dans l’industrie de l’exploitationaurifère sont devenus si fréquents que les investisseurs onttoutes les raisons de n’accorder aucune confiance aux estima-tions des études de faisabilité. Le projet Brucejack, en Colom-bie-Britannique (C.-B.), évolue cependant dans la directionopposée à mesure que la construction avance, comprimant sescoûts d’investissements en optant pour les solutions les plussensées dans un contexte de concurrence extrême au niveaudu matériel et des fournisseurs et dans un marché des devisesfavorable.

Depuis que la société Pretium Resources de Vancouver apublié son étude de faisabilité pour le projet Brucejack enmilieu d’année 2014, les coûts d’investissements estimés duprojet ont diminué de 14 % pour atteindre 641 millions $ US.Ce chiffre ne tient pas compte des 56 millions $ US en fondsde roulement mis de côté pour le démarrage au cas où les ver-sements d’or seraient retardés. L’estimation concernant la partallouée à la mine souterraine a baissé de 33 %, pour atteindreenviron 101 millions $ US.

L’important est d’agir au bon moment. « Pour nous, le boncôté du ralentissement économique que connaît l’industrie est

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Le projet Brucejack est situé à 1 330 mètres d’altitude.

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reçu les derniers permis des gouvernements provincial et fédé-ral au second semestre 2015.

« C’est une période très intéressante », déclarait M. Ovse-nek à l’équipe du CIM Magazine après son retour à Vancouversuite à une visite sur le site fin mars. « Les plus gros travaux deterrassement se terminent, les fondations du campement per-manent sont posées et la construction de notre usine deconcentration va bientôt commencer. D’ici le deuxièmesemestre l’année prochaine, le concentrateur devrait être opé-rationnel et nous devrions atteindre le stade de productioncommerciale d’ici la fin de l’année 2017 », indiquait-il.

Avec une teneur moyenne de 14,1 grammes par tonne (g/t),Brucejack est le projet en développement affichant la plus hauteteneur en or dans le monde, bien au-delà des teneurs des deuxautres projets les mieux placés, à savoir Yaramoko de Roxgoldau Burkina Faso (11,8 g/t) et Hope Bay de TMAC Resourcesdans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest (7,7 g/t). La durée de vie dela mine souterraine est estimée à 18 années, durant lesquelleselle produira 504 000 onces d’or par an au cours des huit pre-mières années et 404 000 onces par an au cours des années sui-vantes, pour des coûts décaissés réels de maintien de446 $ US/once d’or (net des revenus de la vente d’argent).

Optimiser le schéma de traitementLes zones minéralisées de Brucejack sont bien définies, et la

métallurgie (de l’électrum à grains grossiers) se prête bien à laséparation par gravité, aussi l’exploitation et le traitementminiers seront relativement simples. Une descenderie accessibleà partir d’un portique en surface situé près du concentrateurdonnera accès à deux gisements, à savoir la vallée des rois et lazone Ouest. Le minerai sera extrait à un taux de 2 700 tonnespar jour (t/j) par la méthode d’exploitation en chambre vide parlongs trous (LHOS, de l’anglais long hole open stoping), principa-lement par LHOS transversale, puis envoyé vers un broyeursitué à 1 330 mètres (m) d’altitude. Aucune cheminée à minerai

ne sera installée ; par contre, une flotte composée de chargeurs-transporteurs et de camions transportera le matériau desdiverses zones de travail vers un système interne de plan incliné.

Pretium procédera au remblai des chambres vides en mélan-geant une pâte épaisse formée de résidus miniers non classifiésà un liant. Au niveau des bords pleins à l’ouest du plan de lamine, là où le gisement effleure la faille Brucejack, les récupé-rations devraient baisser à environ 75 %, mais cette roche plusfracturée ne constitue que 4 % du corps minéralisé. Une struc-ture composée de boulons, de treillis métallique soudé et debéton projeté fibreux sera installée de manière à assurer le déve-loppement à travers la zone de la faille Brucejack.

L’une des difficultés que rencontre Pretium concerne letaux de variation entre la minéralisation à haute teneur(dépassant parfois 1 000 g/t) et le stockwerk environnant,dont la teneur est plus faible. Les données d’entrée de l’étudede faisabilité pour la vallée des rois comprennent un total de218127 mètres de forage souterrain et en surface. Pour mieuxappréhender la distribution de la teneur à des fins d’aménage-ment de la mine, la société a lancé en 2015 un programme deforage intercalaire souterrain de plus de 60 000 mètres deforage en éventail, dont les centres étaient espacés de 7,5 à 10mètres. L’objectif est de forer près des chambres qui serontexploitées de la première à la troisième année.

« En définitive, nous devrons commencer l’exploitationpour vraiment saisir ce dont est fait ce gisement, et il n’y a pasde formule miracle pour y arriver », expliquait M. Ovsenek.« Ainsi, nous assisterons la première année à une variation surle court terme, mais à mesure que nous exploitons le gisement,la teneur deviendra plus prévisible. »

Un échantillon grossier de 10 000 tonnes a montré qu’unschéma de traitement reposant sur la concentration par gravitéet la flottation est bien adapté aux variations de la minéralisa-tion et à la large gamme de teneurs de l’alimentation.

D’après le schéma de traitement, un système de transportamènera le minerai broyé jusqu’à un broyeur semi-autogène(broyeur SAG) et un broyeur à boulets en surface. Le mineraisera broyé en grains de 90 microns. Le matériau qui en résul-tera passera par un dispositif de concentration gravimétriqueafin d’extraire l’or et l’argent vierges. La concentration par gra-vité permettra à Pretium de récupérer environ 45 % de son orafin de produire des lingots d’argent aurifère que la sociétépourra directement vendre à des affineurs. Les roches restantesseront traitées dans des cellules de flottation, concentrées àmoins de 10 % de leur masse initiale et envoyées vers des affi-neries et des négociants en métaux. Les récupérations d’ortotales sont estimées à 96,7 %.

Se frayer un chemin à travers le glacierLe projet Brucejack est situé au cœur des montagnes et des

vallées du nord-ouest de la Colombie-Britannique, qui regor-gent de glaciers. Pour atteindre le projet de la plus procheautoroute, Pretium a dû rénover une route d’accès de 73 kilo-mètres (km) qui traverse la région du Nass ainsi que le brasprincipal du glacier Knipple, en fort recul, sur les 12 dernierskilomètres. En hiver, la dernière portion de route peut être tas-


Les aménagements souterrains sonteffectués par Cementation Canada.

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profil de projet

sources de 15,3 millions d’onces d’or dans la principale zone dela vallée des rois et dans la zone Ouest, plus petite, située à 500mètres au nord. La vallée des rois est actuellement définie surune longueur de 1 200 m et une profondeur de 650 m. La zonede réserves définies ne couvre qu’environ 450 m de la décou-verte et s’ouvre à l’est et à l’ouest en longueur et en profondeur.

En 2015, Pretium a mené un programme d’explorationrégionale qui comprenait 20 000 mètres de forage pour ciblerune minéralisation de type porphyrique et épithermique à l’estde la zone du projet. Ce programme a permis de prolongerl’étendue longitudinale de la minéralisation de la vallée desrois de 1 000 m à l’est, jusqu’à la zone baptisée Flow Dome.Les intersections ont révélé une teneur non coupée de 2 100g/t d’or sur 2,05 m, dont une teneur non coupée de 8 600 g/td’or sur 0,5 m.

« Nous avons commencé par forer la zone Flow Domecomme cible distincte, mais nous avons recoupé une minéra-lisation du même type que celle de la vallée des rois », indi-quait M. Ovsenek. « Nos géologues ont étudié la carotte etl’emplacement de la minéralisation, et sont pratiquement per-suadés qu’il s’agit d’un prolongement de la vallée des rois. Unefois que nous commencerons la phase de production, nousnous rendrons sur place par voie souterraine et installerons desstations de forage pour confirmer cette théorie. »

Quant à son projet Snowfield au nord, qui offre de mul-tiples possibilités d’exploitation à fort tonnage avec des res-sources d’environ 26 millions d’onces d’or et 3 milliards delivres de cuivre, Pretium le garde de côté pour une périodeplus favorable aux marchés des marchandises.

« Snowfield pourrait devenir un projet intéressant à déve-lopper si le prix de l’or s’améliore et le prix du cuivreremonte », expliquait M. Ovsenek. « Cependant, au vu desprix actuels, nous menons les travaux de base sur l’environne-ment sur le site de Snowfield, mais nous concentrons nosefforts sur le projet Brucejack. » ICM

sée à l’aide de dameuses, mais en été, la route est vitrifiée deverglas. Le glacier est en constant mouvement ; il gèle etdégèle, et les crevasses en résultant représentent un dangerpour les véhicules tout terrain comme pour les piétons.

Pour entretenir la route et s’assurer qu’elle soit praticable entoute sécurité, particulièrement sur cette section, Pretium a faitappel aux services de Tsetsaut Ventures, une société contrac-tante dirigée par la Première Nation Skii km Lax Ha qui arevendiqué des droits dans la région. « Les environs du glacierdoivent être constamment entretenus. Tsetsaut Ventures faitdu bon travail, elle nivelle la route, la nettoie en hiver etrebouche les crevasses », indiquait M. Ovsenek. « L’équipe deTsetsaut Ventures est sensible aux répercussions possibles surl’environnement du glacier, car c’est un point qui tient beau-coup à cœur à cette Première Nation. »

Outre l’entretien de la route d’accès, Tsetsaut Ventures four-nit les camions et engins de terrassement, gère les campementset assure d’autres services. Le groupe des Premières Nationscollabore avec Pretium depuis l’acquisition de Brucejack et duprojet voisin Snowfield en 2010 par la petite société minière ;de toute évidence, les deux parties entretiennent des relationsfondées sur le respect.

Prolonger la durée de vie de la mineM. Ovsenek n’hésite pas à qualifier Brucejack de projet

« favorable à la société » et on peut facilement comprendrepourquoi. Ce gisement est une occurrence épithermale d’or etd’argent de type transitionnel abritée dans des filons entrecroi-sés en stockwerk qui se sont formés lorsqu’un système por-phyrique a introduit des fluides magmatiques dans les voiesd’accès menant au terrain de recouvrement. La probabilité detrouver d’autres sources d’or dans ce vaste système hydrother-mique est élevée.

Outre les réserves prouvées et probables de 16,5 millions detonnes à une teneur de 14,1 g/t d’or, Brucejack contient des res-

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Le campement, qui peut accueillir 330 personnes,sera terminé cette année.

Paragenesis of fluorspar deposits on the southern Burin Peninsula, Newfoundland,CanadaJ. H. Reeves, Newspar, St. Lawrence, Newfoundland; B. A. Sparkes, Canada Fluorspar (NL) Inc., St. Lawrence, Newfoundland; and N. Wilson,Newspar, St. Lawrence, Newfoundland

The St. Lawrence Granite hosts vein-type fluorite mineralization that was mined until 1977. Recent drilling identified asignificant fluorite-bearing structure hosted in adjacent meta-sedimentary country rocks. Several phases of vein fill andbrecciation indicate there are three phases of fluorite mineralization, of which the later two phases are volumetrically sig-nificant. The earliest fluorite is purple and occurs along joint and fracture surfaces, in fault-breccia matrices, and asstockwork veins. The second phase comprises primarily red, yellow, blue-green, and white colours of fluorite. The latestphase is green with lesser clear fluorite. Identification of fluorite veins in the meta-sedimentary rocks opens up new areasfor exploration.

Application of cave-scale rock degradation models in the imaging of theseismogenic zoneJ. M. Reyes-Montes, SeisQ Consulting, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, United Kingdom; B. L. Sainsbury, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia;J. R. Andrews, Caltech Seismo Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA; and R. P. Young, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Microseismic monitoring provides insight into the location and extent of rock-mass fracturing induced by cave mining,enabling interpretation of the cave profile and validation of predictive numerical models. Source location uncertainties canlead to misinterpretation of the inferred characteristics of the fracture network. One principal source of uncertainty is thevelocity model used to invert the location algorithm. Large-scale 3D numerical models of modulus changes across a cavedmass can represent such complexities in the location algorithms, allowing more accurate interpretation of the microseis-mic activity. A Northparkes mine case study applies this advanced approach to microseismic data interpretation.

Designing steel for ground-support applications in underground minesM. R. P. Snow, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

This paper outlines geotechnical conditions that commonly exist in underground, hardrock mines and the challenges posedfor ground-support steel, specifically rockbolts, used in these environments. A model is proposed whereby the in-situstress and rock-mass classifications (based on Bieniawski’s rock mass rating) form the basis of determining the desiredsteel properties of the rockbolts used. Based on the ASTM F432 bolting specification, recommended minimum steel prop-erties are defined for three ranges of in-situ stress levels, each with their own six ranges of RMR values. Heat treatmentfor the steel can be specified once these minimum steel properties are known.

CIM JournalAbstracts from CIM Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2.

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The American Civil War was a time of great unrest in theyoung country; the nation was torn apart and loyaltieswere tested. And although the newly-admitted state of

California was unable to contribute much in the way of sol-diers given its distance from theeastern battlefields, it did play ahand in helping to finance theUnion’s eventual victory, thanksto the local mining industry.

In January 1848, a carpenternamed James Marshall struckgold while working at CaptainJohn Sutter’s saw mill east ofSacramento in Coloma, Califor-nia. “Marshall took a rag fromhis pocket, showing me the yel-low metal: he had about twoounces of it; but how quick Mr.M. put the yellow metal in hispocket again can hardly bedescribed,” Sutter later wrote.Sutter tested the quality of the metal with “aqua fortis” – nitricacid – and “declared this to be gold of the finest quality, of atleast 23 carats.”

Marshall’s find was not particularly significant for its time;gold had already been found at San Fernando, near present-day Los Angeles in southern California. But as more and moregold was found in northern California throughout 1848,rumours began to spread.

In an address to Congress in December, President JamesPolk confirmed those rumours – and the following year, 1849,became synonymous with prospectors heading west to maketheir fortune.

Gold became the foundation of the California economy atthe time. During the 1848-1855 Gold Rush, California minesproduced 11 million ounces of gold. Some miners tried toexchange it for goods and services as a currency, though golddust was difficult to measure, and the purity of nuggets anddust widely varied. Eventually a more reliable system of pri-vate banking emerged, whereby these banks would exchangegold for paper notes.

When war broke out in 1861, the American govern-ment’s finances – and its ability to pay for a war – were alsotied to gold.

The Civil War cost the northern Union states $59 billion in2011 U.S. dollars, making it the most expensive war in the his-tory of the country at the time. The Confederate states, madeup of the thirteen Southern states that seceded betweenDecember 1860 and November 1861, spent over $20 billion.


The government’s debts could only be repaid in gold at thetime – before the Civil War, the federal government did notissue paper bills – so the Union needed a great deal of gold topay for supplies including weapons, food and uniforms for its

army of two million soldiers.It is unclear exactly who wasbehind the decision to movegold from California to theEast Coast, but move it did.

Ships left the Port of SanFrancisco once or twice amonth with between $1 and$2 million in 1860s U.S. dol-lars of gold on board. During1864 alone, $46 million ofgold was sent east. In addi-tion to supplies, the goldmay also have supported thegovernment’s currency asmore paper money came offthe presses. California gold

miners also contributed 25 per cent of the total raised for theSanitary Commission, an organization that paid for medicalcare for Union casualties, in individual donations.

“I do not know what we would do in this great nationalemergency were it not for the gold sent from California,”Union General – and future U.S. President – Ulysses S. Grantsaid.

Gold was the essence of California’s wartime contributions;it was too far away from the battlefield to send a useful numberof troops. An anonymous writer noted in an 1862 article in theNew York Times, “[Californians’] loyalty has always beenabove reproach. They have done us the honor to sympathizewith us in our troubles. California leads all her sisters of theUnion, and wins as much glory as she could by fighting.”

But the shipments from San Francisco did not go unnoticedby Confederate sympathizers, who hatched several unsuccess-ful plots to intercept the gold coming out of California.

A schooner called J.M. Chapman was seized by the San Fran-cisco police and U.S. government officials as a possible privateership in March 1863. Contemporary reports speculated the pri-vateers may have wanted to take over the Oregon, a steamership, and use that vessel to confront Union treasure ships.

The gold from California dodged the privateers andenriched the Union, but Sutter was not so lucky. While theland where Sutter’s saw mill stood is registered as a state his-toric landmark, and the first flake of gold Marshall found isnow stored at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,D.C., Sutter himself died in 1880, penniless. CIM

Western gold for a Northern victory By Kate Sheridan

Mining Lore

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When carpenter John Marshall struck gold at Captain JohnSutter’s saw mill (pictured), it marked the beginning of the

California Gold Rush.

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