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Mining Education and Innovation

Mining Digs Deep for Automation Help – by Aaron Hand (Automation World – December 14, 2016)

http://www.automationworld.com/

When it comes to remote operations, process industries have some of the remotest, toughest conditions out there. Take that a step further—or higher or lower—and you’ve got mining. Control engineers are trying to get mining operations up and running high on mountain tops, out in the driest deserts, amid political unrest, or a mile or more below ground, struggling with connectivity or even power lines.

When trying to commission a new mine or upgrade an existing operation, chances are you want to make extra sure you get it right the first time.

Red Chris Mine is an open pit copper and gold mine in northwest British Columbia, Canada, owned by Imperial Metals. It’s a remote location on top of a mountain, near Alaska. Spartan Controls, the integrator that worked to get the mine up and running about a year and a half ago, is based in Vancouver, B.C. To get to the operation from the southern part of the province requires three flights followed by a two-hour bus ride.

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Sudbury company keeps miners safe using IoT sensors – by Staff (Sudbury Star – December 5, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Maestro Mine Ventilation, a Sudbury company, was recognized last week for its commercial success during the second Ultra Deep Mining Network symposium in the Nickel City. UDMN presented Maestro with its Outstanding Achievement in Commercialization award for a technical innovation which ensures the safety of underground miners.

“The rapid commercial sale of this product to some of the deepest mines in the world is a testament that Maestro’s efforts combined with UDMN funding and guidance can in fact bring technology faster to market which in turn benefits the mining industry and Canadians,” the network said in a press release.

The focus of the $35 million Ultra-Deep Mining Network (UDMN), which has 76 member companies across Canada, is to help to solve the challenge of mining in ultra-deep environments.

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C$5.5m invested in research to minimise mining’s environmental impact – by Anine Kilian (Mining Weekly.com – December 5, 2016)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A strategic partnership grants programme administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has raised $5.5-million in funding for a research network, based at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada, which is researching new ways for mining companies to reduce the impact of their operations on the environment.

The University of Waterloo-led network, which is one of four across the country that received a total of nearly C$22-million in funding, is investigating new ways to stabilise mine waste and to prevent future environmental contamination.

Scientists and business leaders have joined together in these networks to tackle pressing challenges by targeting pollution, exploring enhanced manufacturing technology, developing sustainable natural resource extraction methods and modernising the stewardship of Canadian lakes.

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Boart Longyear establishes R&D test centre in Sudbury – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 14, 2016)

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

Innovative technologies to be tested at the NORCAT Underground Centre include next generation wireline tooling, smart drill rig technology, XRF technology for examining core samples and high-speed drilling technology

Boart Longyear’s next generation drilling technology will be tested and refined in Northern Ontario for the global market following a decision by the Utah-based mining supplier to establish a research and development presence at the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology’s (NORCAT) Underground Centre in Sudbury.

The partnership was announced by Boart Longyear president and CEO Jeff Olsen and NORCAT CEO Don Duval at MINExpo. Also in attendance was Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle, who announced a $1.3 million grant from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation to sweeten the deal.

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Cambrian once again among Canada’s top 50 research colleges – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – November 17, 2016)

https://www.sudbury.com/

As it has for five years, Cambrian College cracked Research Infosource’s list of Canada’s top 50 research colleges — the only college in Northern Ontario to do so.

But in its most recent ranking, for 2015, it sunk ten spots over the previous year. Cambrian ranked 44th on the list last year. It ranked 34th in 2014, 36th in 2013, 37th in 2012 and 34th in 2011 (that’s the earliest year for which information on this ranking is available on Research Infosource’s website).

“There was a change in the ranking, certainly, but I think that sort of speaks to how strong some of our other competitors are,” said Mike Commito, applied research developer with Cambrian Innovates.

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Local innovation aims to make mining cleaner – by Randy Shore (Vancouver Sun – November 7, 2016)

http://vancouversun.com/

The distances between points of interest in the Yukon are vast, but those day-long drives gave mining executive Doug Eaton time to think. He has thought about a lot of things, including the carbon footprint of fossil fuel-burning electricity generators used to power remote mines.

“We don’t get much sun, and the wind is variable, so there aren’t a lot of viable alternatives,” said Eaton, president and CEO of Strategic Metals. “I wanted to come up with a solution that had the social license needed to develop a project.” He was also pondering ways to convert the acidic waste from gold and silver mines into a stable, benign form that could simply be harmlessly shovelled back into the ground.

“The Faro lead-zinc mine was developed back in the ’60s — in the way that mines were run back then — and the company went into bankruptcy,” said Eaton. Cleaning up the notoriously polluted Yukon mine site could cost the Canadian government as much as $800 million, according to a report by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

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Robotics and automation will reduce mining employment by about 50% by 2030 (Next Big Future.com – November 4, 2016)

http://www.nextbigfuture.com/

Economist, lawyers and sustainable investment studies at the International Institute for Sustainable Development have a paper that looks at the mining industry. They look at how automation will effect mining jobs.

Given the fundamental uncertainty and longterm nature of automation technologies, we do not focus on them in this study, instead assessing new technologies that arebeing piloted today, which will be carried forward in the near-to-medium term. These technologies include:

1. Autonomous haul trucks and loaders: One person alone can already remotely operate a small fleet of these autonomous trucks. Improvements in software are likely to allow this to be performed even more efficiently by algorithm-driven computer programs. Driverless technology can lead to a 15 to 20 per cent increase in output, a 10 to 15 per cent decrease in fuel consumption and an 8 per cent decrease in maintenance costs.

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Automation becoming more prevalent in mining, says executive (CBC News Sudbury – November 03, 2016)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Automation is the key to the future of innovation in the industry, experts say

Mining companies are starting to transform how they operate, namely by embracing automation in underground work, according to a senior executive at Barrick Gold.

Michelle Ash, the senior vice president of transformation and innovation for the Toronto-based mining company spoke at the mining innovation summit in Sudbury, Ont., which wrapped up Tuesday. The wear and tear on the componentry is significantly less,” she said of the use of automated equipment underground.

“We’ve seen that in our Hemlo Mine, where trucks have gone in for their major rebuild at 20,000 hours and … everything is almost pristine.” A number of components didn’t even need to be replaced, she added.

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Ontario invests C$2.5m in mining R&D; Minister outlines progress to position province as mining leader – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – November 2, 2016)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The Ontario government on Tuesday announced that it would invest C$2.5-million in the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation’s (CEMI’s) ongoing work with the Ultra Deep Mining Network (UDMN), which is helping the mining sector develop and adopt commercially viable innovations. Part of a five-year initiative first started in 2014, the programme has created nearly 30 jobs in Northern Ontario to date.

The province, in partnership with the federal government, is supporting this research initiative by CEMI and UDMN, which will help mining companies and organisations develop technologies to enhance the safety, efficiency and sustainability of their operations.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle made the announcement during the Mining Innovation Summit 2016, hosted by Ontario in Sudbury. “Today’s Mining Innovation Summit and our investment in CEMI are proof Ontario is committed to supporting the future of the mining sector and ensuring that we are the global leader in sustainable mineral development.

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Maclean’s rankings: LU cracks top 10 but falls three spots for reputation – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – November 1, 2016)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Laurentian University fell three spots in Maclean’s Magazine’s reputational survey, and it ranks near the bottom when it comes to social sciences and humanities grants and the percentage of professors with Ph.D degrees.

That’s the bad news. But in the overall rankings, Laurentian has cracked the top 10 in its category for the second time in three years in the magazine’s annual Canadian university rankings edition.

Maclean’s breaks Canada’s universities into three categories — medical doctoral, comprehensive and primarily undergraduate. Laurentian is in the primarily undergraduate category along with 18 other universities.

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Grits want Ring developed too: minister – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – November 1, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

The Wynne government is as keen to advance development of the Ring of Fire as any company or individual, says Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle.

The Ontario government is working with its partners, including Noront Resources Inc. and neighbouring First Nations, to “bring the Ring of Fire project forward,” Gravelle told reporters Tuesday at a conference in Sudbury.

Gravelle attended the Mining Innovation Summit 2016 at which he announced $2.5 million in new funding for the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation in Sudbury. Part of that money will go toward the Ultra Deep Mining Network, a five-year, $46-million initiative to help companies with deep mines operate safely and efficiently.

The rest of the $2.5 million will go to small- and medium-sized enterprises whose owners have innovative ideas they wish to develop.

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NEWS RELEASE: Innovation Driving Growth in Sudbury, Ontario Mining Industry

Province Supporting Mining Research and Development at CEMI

Nov/01/16 – Ministry of Northern Development and Mines – Ontario is creating good jobs and helping grow the mining industry in the North by supporting research and development that will increase the sector’s innovation and competitiveness in the global market.

Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines, made the announcement today at the Mining Innovation Summit in Sudbury. With an investment through the province’s Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation’s (CEMI) ongoing work with the Ultra Deep Mining Network (UDMN) is helping the mining sector develop and adopt commercially viable innovations, a five-year initiative first started in 2014 that has created nearly 30 jobs in Northern Ontario to date.

The province, in partnership with the federal government, is supporting this research initiative by CEMI and UDMN that will help mining companies and organizations develop technologies to enhance the safety, efficiency and sustainability of their operations.

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$3M boost for Sudbury’s Laurentian University engineering building – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – October 25, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

This past summer, centenarian Lily Fielding helped celebrate the opening of Kivi Park, the new multi-use sports and outdoor park located on the site of the former Long Lake Public School and also the city’s largest park, made possible through the donation of 300 acres of land by Fielding and her family.

On Monday, Fielding and several family members visited Laurentian University’s Brenda Wallace reading room, named after her late daughter, to make another sizable donation — $3 million — toward the university’s $60.7-million proposal for strategic investment funding announced by the federal and Ontario governments Sept. 23.

As a result, Laurentian has decided to name a proposed state-of-the-art facility the Clifford A. Fielding Research, Innovation and Engineering Building in honour of her late husband.

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NEWS RELEASE UWaterloo to lead national initiative to manage hazardous waste from mining

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016 – The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has awarded $5.5 million to the University of Waterloo to lead a national team of experts in developing sustainable strategies for dealing with hazardous mine wastes.

David Blowes, Canada Research Chair in Groundwater Remediation and a professor in Waterloo’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, will lead the initiative entitled Toward Environmentally Responsible Resource Extraction Network (NSERC-TERRE-NET). The five-year project received the funding as part of the NSERC Strategic Partnership Grants for Networks (SPG-N).

While mining contributes billions to Canada’s economy and provides employment, resource extraction and processing operations often generate significant environmental liabilities associated with the long-term management of mine wastes and closures.

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NEWS RELEASE: CEMI’s Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction delivers industry & economic value

Setting the stage for large scale mining operations, now and in the future

Sudbury, ON (October 6, 2016) – CEMI (Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation) and Rio Tinto celebrate the completion of the Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction (RTC-UMC) at CEMI. This $10M investment in Canada’s mining innovation was created to undertake research in support of Rio Tinto’s Mine of the Future™ programme with a focus on underground mining infrastructure and footprint reliability.

This state-of-the-art research and knowledge centre played a role in the development and implementation of innovative step-change research and technology development for underground mines, designed to minimize delays and create value through speed and geo-risk mitigation. The results of this collaborative centre have set the stage for large-scale mining operations, now and in the future. CEMI 2016 Annual Report

Since being established in December 2010, the RTC-UMC interacts and collaborates with academics, consultants and representatives from a consortium of Rio Tinto operations worldwide.

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