Mining Education and Innovation – Page 18

City backs deep mining project in Sudbury – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – April 15, 2015)

April 15, 2015

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Sudbury’s Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation is getting a big boost. City council voted unanimously on Tuesday to invest $200,000 per year for the next five years in CEMI, for its commercialization attainment project (CAP).

By 2019, a total of $1 million will have been invested through the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, the city’s economic development wing.

“The $1 million is part of the contribution of a number of projects that are contributing to the commercialization of various projects that’ll help the mining industry in Sudbury,” Mayor Brian Bigger said after Tuesday’s meeting.

The commercialization initiative, part of a $47-million ultra-deep mining program — projects breaking ground at least 2.5 km below the surface — aims to research and innovate solutions, and to open markets for Sudbury-based small- and medium-sized businesses.

According to a city press release, ultra-deep mining innovation “will lead the way in helping ultra-deep mines operate more effectively and safely, generate more value, improve the human environment and enhance mine productivity.”

Mineral sector must go deep, says head of school (CBC News Sudbury – March 26, 2015)

March 27, 2015

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

Bruce Jago says province should look to deep mining as it updates plans for mineral sector

The province needs to invest in deep mining research and techniques as it looks to update its plans for the mineral sector, according to the head of the Goodman School of Mines in Sudbury.

Bruce Jago says deep mining is the future of the industry, and the best place to find concentrated mineral deposits. “I’m really on the exploration side of things, and I believe in it. I think it’s an amazing industry and one where a lot of good things can happen,” Jago said.

The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines has been asking for input as it prepares to renew its Mineral Development Strategy, which was first introduced in 2006.

Jago says the government also needs to develop an overall infrastructure plan to connect mining exploration sites, and bring modern living to isolated areas so they can share in economic growth.

“If they start working on a grand policy for it, they’ll get there. There certainly is a need for it. And I think if they consult with both First Nation communities and industry, they’ll get pointed in the right direction pretty quickly,” he said. Comments on the mineral sector can be submitted until May 8 through the province’s environmental registry.

Atlas Copco and Anglo American Announce JDA for Underground Mining Equipment (March 23, 2015)

March 24, 2015

http://www.azomining.com/

A joint development project involving two of the mining industry’s flagship companies – Atlas Copco and Anglo American – is well under way towards a potential milestone in future mining technology.
Atlas Copco, the leading mining and construction equipment manufacturer and Anglo American, the global mining corporation, are set to test a new type of mining machine that is expected to transform the extraction process of ore from underground hard rock mines.

The two companies have been cooperating in a research and development partnership since 2012 and their combined efforts, which center on mechanical excavation technology, are now in an advanced stage with proof-of-concept testing scheduled to start in the fall, 2015.

If all goes according to plan, it will be a milestone for the partnership and one of the most significant examples of innovative technology to emerge from Anglo American’s FutureSmart™ approach to mining.

Scott Barker, President of Atlas Copco’s Underground Rock Excavation Division, says: “We are very proud to be Anglo American’s partner in this joint development project and we are excited at the prospect of demonstrating this potential game-changing technology to the mining industry.”

Donovan Waller, Group Head of Technology Development at Anglo American, comments:

College celebrates mining program, strikes new one at PDAC – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 10, 2015)

March 11, 2015

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Thunder Bay’s Confederation College celebrated a successful mining industry training alliance at the recent Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention and confirmed a new one.

Its industry partner, Noront Resources, received the PDAC’s Environmental and Social Responsibility Award for its work with the Ring of Fire Aboriginal Training Alliance (RoFATA), along with other community initiatives with remote First Nation communities.

The award recognizes outstanding leadership in environmental protection and/or good community relations.

“We celebrate this incredible achievement of our community partner and are proud to have played a small part in their success,” said Confederation president Jim Madder in a March 9 news release. “Noront Resources has provided extensive support and leadership within the RoFATA program and has consistently demonstrated its commitment to education and providing pathways to employment in the mining industry.”

Launched in October 2013, RoFATA is training partnership between the college; Matawa First Nations and its training agreement holder, Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services; and Noront.

NEWS RELEASE: LAURENTIAN ENGINEERING STUDENTS MAKE HISTORY

March 9, 2015

Both Bharti School’s Junior, Senior Design teams Win Canadian Engineering Competition

SUDBURY, ON (MARCH 8, 2015) – Laurentian University’s Bharti School of Engineering makes history as both Junior and Senior Design teams win the 2015 Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC) in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Results of the CEC were announced at an awards banquet at Memorial University on Saturday evening.

After the Junior Design team won the Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC) last month and the Senior Design team came in second, both teams qualified to represent Ontario at the nationwide 2015 CEC. Laurentian’s Junior Design team members are: Aidan Simpson, Colin Roos, Matthew Bennison and Stephane Labine. Members of the Senior Design team are: Caitlin Roos, Jasmin Lemieux, Louis-Francis Tremblay and Philip O’Connor.

“This is truly an exceptional moment for Laurentian University and for the Bharti School of Engineering,” said Dr. Ramesh Subramanian, Director, Bharti School of Engineering. “For the first time in our University’s history we had both Junior and Senior Design teams represent Ontario on a national stage in the same year and we are inspired by their performance,” he said.

Teams competed in the following categories: Communications Engineering, Consulting Engineering, Innovative Design, Junior Design, Extemporaneous Debate, Re-Engineering, and Senior Design.

What Citi misses about mining revolutions – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – February 20, 2015)

February 20, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

Advances in mineral exploration are needed to support discoveries.

Citi Research takes a stab at so-called disruptive technologies concerning metals and mining in a recent research report. It’s a nice overview on a number of fronts especially as far as solar and silver, lab-grown diamonds and metal-use in cars go. In short: silver’s there to stay, lab-grown diamonds could disrupt the industry in the years to come (but consumers will decide), and PGMs look solid.

But the report misses, or doesn’t treat, a few areas that deserve some attention. In particular, there was scarce mention of exploration technology, seabed mining and mineral processing.

I won’t go into all these areas here. As it stands, I have some questions out to mineral processing specialists for their thoughts on what technologies or processes stand to have revolutionary (or at least pretty meaningful) impacts on the mining sector. That is, like the impact of heap leaching, what technologies might unlock hitherto uneconomic deposits or cheapen the conventional flow sheet? Seabed mining, I’ve recently touched on, so I won’t go back there right now.

Which leaves us exploration technology to consider.

B.C. schools increase mining education despite industry downturn – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – February 17, 2015)

February 18, 2015

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

While recent mining news has been dominated by mine closures, layoffs and a retrenchment of prospecting and exploration, UBC’ is launching a new executive MBA program

VANCOUVER — It might seem counterintuitive to launch new education programs focused on mining while the industry is in the middle of a downturn, but B.C.-based institutions are taking a longer-term view than the current business cycle.

While recent mining news has been dominated by mine closures, layoffs and a retrenchment of prospecting and exploration, UBC’s Sauder School of Business is launching a new executive MBA program for mining professionals. At BCIT in Burnaby, the coming fall will see it offer a new bachelor of engineering program in mining.

It is an age-old story now of preparing for the rising tide of retiring baby-boomers, so current layoffs and unemployment aside, the mining industry — B.C.’s in particular — is staring at a disproportionally high segment of its workforce in the 54-to-64 demographic.

“I’m not sure if the timing is good or bad,” said Brian Bemmels, associate dean of the Sauder School. “There are pros and cons to doing this at this time.” It was Vancouver-headquartered mining firms, though, that don’t see the next generation of their industry’s leaders being developed, who prodded the Sauder School into developing the program, Bemmels added.

Federal investment needed to spur mining innovation – by Jonathan Migneault (Northern Ontario Business – February 13, 2015)

February 17, 2015

Sudbury’s Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) is proposing a program to address the gap between good innovative ideas and finding ways to commercialize them for the mining industry.

While there is no shortage of good ideas and intellectual property related to mining in Canada, many of those ideas and potential innovations lay dormant and are never adopted by companies, said Charles Nyabeze, director of business development.

The centre is making the case for a new program called the Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA). “In Canada we can’t compete by lowering labour costs,” Nyabeze said. “We can only compete by being more innovative.”

The research and development departments at large mining companies have been shrinking almost across the board, said Nyabeze, because those investments are considered risky and don’t immediately improve key performance indicators.

Most innovation in the mining sector, he said, comes from small and medium-sized enterprises like Sudbury-based BESTECH and Symboticware. But many smaller companies struggle bringing their great ideas to market.

Renewable future for mine power shines bright – by Simon Rees (MiningWeekly.com – February 10, 2015)

February 10, 2015

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Renewable power is reliable, proven and continues to offer the mining industry an attractive means to obtain lower-cost energy at remote operations, Hatch director of renewable power Michel Carreau told an audience at a seminar hosted by the Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s Competence Centre for Mining and Mineral Resources on Friday.

The mining and renewable energy sectors must continue engaging with each other to develop joint solutions, he added. “This is a meeting of two worlds that, until quite recently, hadn’t worked together.”

Before a mining company selects a renewable component – whether wind, solar or another option – it must consider the economic viability and rate of return against the estimated mine life. The longer a mine is operational, the greater benefits renewables can deliver.

“Levels are typically fixed. For example, 15 cents per kW an hour would be a good bargain across 25 years,” Carreau said. “And while fuel costs are lower right now, remember this is just a moment in time; it will go up [in price].”

The level of power penetration by a renewable component varies; most provide mine sites with between 10% and 20% of their energy when in use. The goal of both the industries is to push this to a much higher level over the next five to ten years.

Attention Premier Wynne: Turn Laurentian Into Global Harvard of Hardrock Mining – by Stan Sudol (January 30, 2015)

May 4, 2015January 30, 2015

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant, mining columnist and owner/editor of www.republicofmining.com He can be reached at stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

This essay was also published in the Sudbury Star in two parts:

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2015/02/07/accent-laurentian-as-harvard-of-hardrock-mining-2

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2015/02/09/sudbury-needs-premier-needs-to-act-boldly

Sudbury Byelection

Laurentian University economics professor David Robinson, who is running for the Green Party in the current municipal by-election, has done a terrific job in highlighting mining issues and his plans to ensure that Sudbury continues to become Ontario’s centre of mining excellence.

It’s a refreshing policy approach that often gets overlooked by other politicians but in fairness to Glen Thibeault and even Premier Wynne, both have also mentioned – but not with the same passion as David Robinson – and promoted Sudbury’s mining sector.

However, as with many issues related to Premier Wynne and the mining sector – including the Ring of Fire – there seems to be more “political talk” and very “little solid walk”, actually dodging and spinning would be a better description of her government’s mining policy in general.

If Premier Wynne is truly serious about promoting and establishing Sudbury as a centre of mining excellence, than she must merge and relocate all of Ontario’s university mining programs to Laurentian and significantly expand and establish a “Global Harvard of Hardrock Mining” with a mandate to educate the next generation of miners in Canada and from around the world.

Leaders hope to inspire new [economic] visions for Sudbury – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – January 28, 2015)

January 28, 2015

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Four community leaders came together Tuesday at a chamber of commerce event to share their thoughts on what makes Sudbury an attractive place to live and what will enhance its culture and economy going forward.

Sean Murray, head of pediatrics at Health Sciences North, said his dream is to create a freestanding medical facility for children in Sudbury.

“I really want to inspire the City of Greater Sudbury, and our rural communities as well, to try to improve health care for children, who unfortunately often get left in the mix of everything else that goes on,” he said.

Murray said he had performed a procedure earlier in the day on a boy who has chronic medical issues, including autism spectrum disorder, and was suffering from headaches. “I had to stick a needle into his back to take spinal fluid out and measure how much pressure was in his brain,” he said.

But since the boy has particular sensitivities to needles and crowds of people, the procedure had to be done in OR. “It really highlighted for me the importance of having something that is child-friendly,” he said. “We need to minimize those types of traumas that kids go through.”

Penguin ASI Takes Mining Automation to the Next Level – by Robert Spence (Mining Global – November 04, 2014)

May 4, 2015January 16, 2015

http://www.miningglobal.com/

Penguin Automated Systems Inc. is a leading research, development and prototyping company in the field of robotic & Automation solutions. The Company specializes in full service telecommunication enabling the transmission of video, data and voice for control of single or multiple robots and equipment in underground, underwater and space solutions.

First initiated in 2001, Penguin ASI offers a wide range of options in the mining, construction and exploration industries, providing wireless optical networking to underground GPS systems and inertial navigation for positioning. Penguin ASI uses a comprehensive approach to software development, systems integration and field testing to ensure leading edge technologies are supplied to manage all of their client’s needs.

By applying existing technology and inventing new ones, Penguin ASI is able to enable the creation of innovative solutions for challenging projects, allowing the Company to be a leading force in the Telerobotics field.

Real-time communications to allow deep mining – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – January 15, 2015)

January 15, 2015

It may sound like something straight from science fiction, but for miners of the future, suits and helmets that monitor their vital signs, regulate their body temperature and communicate to aboveground operators isn’t so far from reality.

Sudbury company Jannatec Technologies is working to develop fully connected, wearable gear that would do all these things to help miners go deeper underground.

“We’re very good at mining, but our communications and how we move ore and how we move things is still back 30, 40 years, so we have to catch up, and we need higher speed data under there,” Jannatec president Wayne Ablitt said. “We have to give the same working tools underground that are above ground, and that’s our goal.”

Jannatec is one of the partners in the Ultra-Deep Mining Network — established by Sudbury’s Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) — focused on four areas of innovation: rock-stress risk reduction, energy reduction, material transport and productivity, and human health. The network defines ultra-deep mining as mining taking place up to 2.5 kilometres underground.

Mining of the future – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – December 28, 2014)

January 5, 2015

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Real-time communications to allow deep mining

Sudbury company Jannatec Technologies is working to develop fully connected, wearable gear that would do all these things to help miners go deeper underground.

Last January, the network received $15 million from the Business Led Network Centres of Excellence; an additional $31 million has come from cash and in-kind contributions.

Waterloo-based inventor hopes to mine riches with Gold Sniffer – by Terry Pender (Waterloo Region Record – December 6, 2014)

December 8, 2014

http://www.insidehalton.com/halton/

KITCHENER — Inside a Conestoga College lab, Jim Kendall is building a device that could revolutionize mineral exploration — a camera that detects gold in rock samples.

Kendall calls it the Gold Sniffer. He co-founded a company, Kendall Technology, to bring his remarkable idea it to market. If all goes well in the coming months, the first Gold Sniffers will be ready next May and a more sophisticated version will come out next fall. Each will sell for about $55,000.

Kendall’s unique background and boundless curiosity led to his idea that a camera could be turned into a small, portable device that quickly and accurately determines if there is gold in the mineral samples collected by prospectors.

Currently, prospectors collect samples in the bush, which are then sent to an assay lab that conducts tests to confirm the presence of gold. It can take a month to get results. Between 50 and 90 per cent of the samples tested in the assay lab contain no gold.

Kendall believes the Gold Sniffer could quickly change all that. “The exploration geologist then in a couple of minutes right there on the site has the information about whether the sample has gold, how big the particles are, and the minerals associated with it,” he says.