Green Mining – Page 10 – Republic of Mining

NEWS RELEASE: Diavik [diamond mine] begins wind farm construction

November 7, 2011

03 November 2011

After several years of studying renewable energy resources, Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., operator of the Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories, is pleased to announce the start of construction of a wind farm at our mine site.

With investment from our joint venture partners, Rio Tinto and Harry Winston Diamond Corporation, approved earlier this year, and much planning completed, we have now advanced the Diavik wind farm to initial construction. Four 2.3 megawatt turbines will be constructed providing a capacity of 9.2 megawatts.

Diavik currently, relies on diesel fuel for all our energy needs. The wind farm will reduce our diesel use by approximately four million litres, about ten per cent of our total diesel consumption. Greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by approximately 12,000 tonnes, or six per cent of total emissions. By diversifying our energy mix at our mine we will offset some of the risks associated with reliance on diesel.

“The benefits of the initiative are numerous and will be realized for many years to come.

A New Addiction the US Can’t Afford: [Vanadium] Foreign Batteries – by By Ron MacDonald

October 24, 2011

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Ron MacDonald is Vice Chairman & Director, Senior Council Global Markets of American Vanadium Corp.

The US government’s commitment to supporting both the renewable energy and electric vehicle industries underlines the need for the rapid development of the automotive and mass storage batteries, and has thrown the spotlight on domestic vanadium supplies.

In the not-too-distant future, will America find itself exchanging an addiction to foreign oil with an addiction to foreign batteries? Or will it create a successful battery market policy through its current efforts to bolster manufacturing while securing strategic materials? Either way, it seems certain that playing a critical role will be a little known element: vanadium.

It’s easy to connect the four dots involved: (1) US government policy is focused on reducing reliance on foreign oil and lowering CO2 emissions; (2) As a result, renewable energy investments and electric vehicles production will capture an increasingly large part of the American economy; (3) Since renewables such as wind and solar require mass storage batteries to effectively integrate with the grid, and since electric vehicles require higher performance batteries to compete with gas-burning cars; then (4) new battery solutions are vital to the US hitting its policy targets.

NEWS RELEASE: Agnico-Eagle’s Goldex mine to suspend production during investigation and remediation of water inflow and ground stability issue; book value of Goldex to be written off (Oct/19/2011)

May 16, 2012October 19, 2011

Stock Symbol: AEM (NYSE and TSX)

(All amounts expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted)

TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2011 /CNW/ – Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (“Agnico-Eagle” or the “Company”) announced today that it is suspending mining operations and gold production at its Goldex mine in Val d’Or, Quebec effective immediately. This decision follows the receipt of an opinion from a second rock mechanics consulting firm which recommended that underground mining operations be halted until the situation is investigated further.

While the Company continues to assess the situation, it appears that a weak volcanic rock unit in the hangingwall of the Goldex deposit has failed. This rock failure is thought to extend between the top of the deposit and surface. As a result, this structure has allowed ground water to flow into the mine. This water flow has likely contributed to further weakening and movement of the rock mass.

“Considering the safety of the Company’s employees, and the integrity of the mine’s infrastructure and that of the surrounding area, the decision was made to stop production indefinitely” said Sean Boyd, Vice-Chairman and CEO.

Sustainability In Nickel Projects: 50 Years of Experience at Vale Inco – by S.W. Marcuson, J. Hooper, R.C. Osborne, K. Chow and J. Burchell (December 1, 2009)

June 10, 2015March 28, 2011

The principal author, Dr. Sam Marcuson ( Sam.Marcuson@valeinco.com ) is vice-president, business improvement for Vale Inco Limited, Mississauga, ON, Canada. This article was adapted from a plenary speech made at the CIM Conference of Metallurgists held August 2009 in Sudbury, Ontario. The full paper is available from the author or the conference proceedings.

Looking at the industry’s past and present with a view to projecting into the future can be a valuable exercise for executing and maintaining sustainable development

The first eight years of this century saw rapid growth in the consumption and production of nickel and related commodities. In response to growth in the BRIC countries, but especially China, new projects, many in under-developed countries, were initiated. Nickel pig iron, produced in aging Chinese blast furnaces, unexpectedly emerged. Simultaneously, scientists concluded that global warming is “unequivocal” and human activity is the main driver, “very likely” (>90%) causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950[1]. These factors point to a future in which sustainable development becomes of paramount interest to the mining and metallurgy industry.

To the practicing metallurgist and operator, “sustainability” may appear as keeping employees safe, meeting prevailing environmental regulations and contributing to social programs contractually agreed to, while maintaining a low-cost operation that meets production and financial targets. But this is a highly simplified view that ignores many of the sustainability concepts.

The 2010 Tom Peters Memorial Reclamation Award

January 2, 2011

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

This posting came from the Ontario Mining Association’s 90th Anniversary Publication (October/2010): http://www.oma.on.ca/en/resources/OMAat90three.pdf

The 2010 Tom Peters Memorial Reclamation Award was given to the Penokean Hills Field Naturalists (PHFN), the City of Elliot Lake and Rio Algom Limited for the work they did in converting the Milliken tailings management area (TMA) into a 182-ha wetland that includes marsh, bog and shoreline, as well as mature mixed forest.

The Milliken mine and mill operated from 1958 to 1964, producing 5.7 million tonnes of tailings to the Stanleigh TMA. During this period an estimated 76,500 tonnes of tailings were released to Sheriff Creek in an area later rehabilitated to form the Milliken TMA, This 17-ha area was remediated in the late 1970s. Drainage channels were installed on part of the tailings. The flat area that remained was covered by three feet of sandy gravel to form a ball field while the rest of the tailings area was flooded to form a wetland. The field was transformed in 1978 into an equestrian practice and competition field. In 1997, a berm was constructed at the outlet of the wetland to ensure the tailings remained saturated. In 2000, the berm and spillway were upgraded to safely cope with a probable maximum precipitation event.

In 1990, Erwin Meisner of the Penokean Hills Field Naturalists, asked Rio Algom whether it would consider transforming Sheriff Creek Park into the Sheriff Creek Bird Sanctuary. (The naturalists recognized the diversity of bird habitats that had evolved in the area.) With the support of Rio Algom, the PHFN secured support from the city and established a bird sanctuary at the park. In 1996, PHFN and Rio Algom entered into a “Stewardship Agreement” that identi¬fied operational objectives and prescribed activities for the sanctuary.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions – No Progress in Policy, Some Progress on the Ground – by Paul Stothart

December 8, 2010November 2, 2010

Paul Stothart is vice president, economic affairs of the Mining Association of Canada. He is responsible for advancing the industry’s interests regarding federal tax, trade, investment, transport and energy issues.

Throughout the history of the global environmental movement, no issue has seen anything approaching the elaborate policy structure and negotiation frameworks that surround the climate change and greenhouse gas mitigation area.

International climate change policy has been focused around the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for over 20 years. The IFCC is a United Nations entity created in 1988 that writes extensive reports, drawing upon input from 2500 scientific experts, 800 contributing authors, 450 lead authors, and 620 expert reviewers. IPCC reports typically stretch into the thousands of pages.

The UNFCCC has coordinated 15 Conference of the Parties (CoP) sessions over the past fifteen years. These sessions have in the past featured hundreds of environmental groups, business delegations, and government departments. Thousands of bureaucrats congregate at CoP sessions, often held in exotic locations that entail enormous travel distances and related airline GHG emissions. Between CoP sessions, numerous working groups interact and themselves congregate in sub-committee meetings at locations around the world. There are some 192 countries engaged in the UNFCCC process and these individual countries in turn support their policy discussions and documents with equally substantial resources and bureaucracies. Some countries, such as Australia and the UK, have created entire government departments around climate change policy.

In Canada, at least eight “climate change strategies” have been unveiled since the mid-1990s – five by Liberal governments and three by Conservatives – each plan outlining targets, actions, and commitments supported by the loftiest of communications rhetoric and printed on the glossiest of paper. Through the years, the federal government has outlined plans and processes for clean development mechanisms, offset systems, early action credits, technology funds, reduction targets, emission trading systems, cap and trade systems and carbon taxes. One particularly memorable offset document contained a 34 page glossary. The combined worth of these documents, plus a toonie, would today buy a Starbucks coffee.

Russian Hydrology Student Particpates in De Beers Peatlands Reseach at Northern Ontario Diamond Mine

November 5, 2015September 15, 2010

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Russian graduate student Yulia Orlova hopes to take lessons she is learning about muskeg at De Beers Canada’s Victor Mine home to better understand the dynamics of Siberian peatlands. She came to Canada last year and started her Masters in Geography at the University of Toronto. Ms. Orlova is researching the impact of mine dewatering and mercury in peatlands under the direction of U of T professor Brian Branfireun. This is one of the major research projects De Beers Canada’s Victor Mine is helping to sponsor.

The 26 year old native of St. Petersburg graduated from St. Petersburg State University with a degree in hydrology. She worked for three years both for the Russian government and a non-governmental environmental agency before continuing her studies in Canada.

“There is expertise in Canada on peatlands and funding support and there were more opportunities to do research in my area.” – Russian Hydrology Student Yulia Orlova

“I wanted to come to Canada to study here,” said Ms. Orlova. “There is expertise in Canada on peatlands and funding support and there were more opportunities to do research in my area.” To complete her thesis on the hydrology of the James Bay lowlands, she collects and tests water samples from streams around the mine site and carries out analysis of the results and examines water chemistry.

Along with the academic component of her studies, Ms. Orlova, like all students and professors on the Victor site, is regularly engaged in safety training and orientation sessions.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Canada’s Mining Exploration Sector: Doing the Right Thing Wherever We Work – Jon Baird (June 23, 2009)

September 12, 2010

Jon Baird, Past President of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), gave this speech to the Economic Club of Canada on June 23, 2009

Check against delivery

Thank you for your generous introduction, Bill. In a 2007 speech here at the Economic Club, National Chief Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations didn’t pull any punches.

He opened his talk by describing the poverty, suffering and frustration that too many of his people live with.
He called for businesses to join the AFN’s Corporate Challenge and work together with First Nations to help address long standing problems and alleviate poverty. The National Chief described the resource industry as a natural partner for First Nations and called on both groups to work together for their mutual benefit.

So it’s fitting that the PDAC is here today to publicly introduce our new corporate social responsibility initiative, e3 Plus: A Framework for Responsible Exploration.

Aboriginal people and Europeans have been working together on the hunt for minerals in Canada since Jacques Cartier arrived here 500 years ago looking for, he said, “gold, rubies and other gems.”

The PDAC marks the industry’s long connection with Aboriginal people with the Skookum Jim Award, which is presented at our convention in Toronto every March. It recognizes Aboriginal achievement in the industry. Skookum Jim was a Tagish man who led the group that discovered gold in the Klondike in 1896 and touched off the Yukon gold rush.

Those of you outside the mining community may not be aware of how closely geoscientists in this country work with First Nations people.