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Mining Education and Innovation

Slow-moving mining companies begin to look to startups for digital innovations (Toronto Star – February 26, 2018)

https://www.thestar.com/

CANADIAN PRESS: VANCOUVER—The mining industry has developed a reputation for being slow to change, but a new wave of startups is helping push it into the digital age.

Four of those companies have been declared finalists in Goldcorp Inc.’s mining innovation competition, banking on the potential to replace cyanide, to use sound waves to see deep inside the earth, map mines in virtual reality and digitize trading.

The companies — EnviroLeach Technologies Inc., Acoustic Zoom Inc., LlamaZoo Interactive Inc. and Open Mineral AG — were chosen out of for more than 100 companies looking to bring new ideas to the industry.

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Exploring Innovation in Northern Canada with Insights from the Mining Innovation System in Greater Sudbury, Ontario – by Heather Hall (The Northern Review – June 29, 2017)

http://journals.sfu.ca/

Heather Hall is the Assistant Professor, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) at the University of Waterloo.

The Mining Innovation System in Greater Sudbury

The remainder of this article focuses on the development of the mining innovation system in Greater Sudbury to provide insights on innovation and economic development in northern regions.1

It is worth noting that Sudbury2 is a unique case study to investigate the northern dynamics of innovation in the Canadian context due to its size (population 165,000) and location. As will be discussed later, it is the largest community in northern Canada and is located in the southern part of the provincial North. That being said, the Sudbury case does provide insights into the economic development challenges that are faced by many communities across northern Canada.

It also highlights the importance of public investment and infrastructure for enhancing northern innovation. In the circumpolar context, Sudbury is not unlike Oulu (Finland), Tromsø (Norway), and Luleå (Sweden) in terms of its development, size, and function as a regional-service centre.

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CEMI NEW RELEASE: CLEER MINING PROPOSAL NOT SELECTED IN INNOVATION SUPERCLUSTERS INITIATIVE (February 15, 2018)

Industry remains committed to investing in mining innovation

Ottawa, February 15, 2018 – The consortium behind the CLEER supercluster proposal remains committed to transforming Canada’s mining industry through innovation, despite not being amongst the five projects selected by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada for supercluster funding.

The Canadian mining industry developed the pan-Canadian supercluster initiative, CLEER (Clean, Low-Energy, Effective, Engaged and Remediated) to power clean growth through mining innovation. The CLEER submission was prepared on behalf of the mining sector by CEMI, CIMRE, CMIC, COREM, IMII, and MSTA. The CLEER proposal was one of nine projects that was shortlisted by the federal government and the only proposal focused on clean resources.

“We thank Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada for considering the CLEER proposal and are honoured to have been a finalist. While we are disappointed with the final outcome, we remain optimistic, firmly committed to mining innovation and working towards building up this significant initiative,” stated Adrian McFadden, Chair of the CLEER Interim Board.

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What it means to be a miner in the 21st century – by David Garofalo (Globe and Mail – February 15, 2018)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

David Garofalo is the CEO of Goldcorp Inc.

The mining industry has traditionally been a laggard when it comes to innovation. The 21st-century economy, however, dominated by emerging technologies like electric vehicles, green energy sources and ever-more advanced mobile devices, is demanding creative approaches to efficiently delivering the raw materials that will fuel modern economies.

Canadian mining is seeing a real drive to innovate that is bolstering our ability to get materials to global markets as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. And it’s changing what it means to work in mining.

New technologies are enabling workers to make quicker, more informed decisions at the front lines of operations. Advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning are giving geologists more options and the data to understand existing deposits differently, along with tools to make new discoveries. Increased automation is removing workers from the riskiest parts of the mine, making our mines safer as we strive for zero harm.

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‘Every area of mining ripe for innovation’ – Goldcorp – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – February 9, 2018)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Every conceivable area of mining is in dire need of technological innovation, major miner Goldcorp tells Mining Weekly Online in an interview.

“We are not exactly the most advanced industry in the world, and we’re slow in adopting new technologies. Every area is ripe for innovation,” Goldcorp’s VP for technology Luis Canepari says. According to him, perhaps the most critical area in need of innovation is exploration.

He explains that, these days, across the entire mining industry, the exploration success rate is very low. “Anything that we can do to improve those results have a direct correlation to improving the bottom line. That is why we are spending big on exploration innovation.”

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Mining in the digital age a challenge – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – February 2, 2018)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

The mine sector may be lagging behind others in its embrace of digital technologies, but companies need to catch up to be sustainable, an industry leader said Thursday. “It’s clearly a different world we’re heading into,” said Rick Howes, CEO of Dundee Precious Metals, at a one-day conference on digital transformation. “We were focussing on the blue collar work; now we’re focussing on white collar work and how we use data.”

Howes was named an outstanding innovator in 2016 by the Mining Technology Hall of Fame for an operational performance project at his company’s Chelopech mine that uses new technologies to provide real-time production management.

If mines haven’t made as fast a leap into the digital future as manufacturers and other sectors, it’s largely because they are limited in their “strategic agility,” Howes told the conference audience. “Our ability to respond to change is very slow compared to other industries; it’s the nature of our business because of the way we invest in mines and mining technology, develop mines, build and operate them, and then shut them down.”

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Laurentian University researchers put Cobalt camp under the microscope – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 25, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

First Cobalt Mining conducting in-depth study of historic silver district

First Cobalt Mining, the biggest exploration player in the Cobalt camp, is bringing a Laurentian University researcher into the fold to better understand the geology of its properties in northeastern Ontario.

The Toronto company announced it’s embarking on a dedicated research partnership program with the university’s Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC) by sponsoring a post-doctoral position to carry out the first detailed study of major structural features in the 110-year-old history of the camp.

“We’re looking at it from a new set of eyes as researchers,” said Ross Sherlock, who oversees MERC’s Metal Earth project. “It’s an unusual geological assemblage.” MERC is the geoscience arm attached to Laurentian’s Harquail School of Earth Sciences, under the umbrella of the Goodman School of Mines.

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NEWS RELEASE: Investing in Canada’s clean tech ecosystem will promote effective mining waste management while reducing greenhouse gases (January 24, 2018)

NEWS PROVIDED BY: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Minister Bibeau announces $1.2 million to help a Thetford Mines company develop new technologies that will improve mining operations and produce cleaner ore

THETFORD MINES, QC, Jan. 24, 2018 /CNW/ – A more economical and environmentally friendly approach to capturing arsenic waste from mining operations may soon be developed thanks to an investment in new clean technologies from the Government of Canada.

The federal investment of $1.2 million was announced today by the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophone and Member of Parliament for Compton–Stanstead, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.

Dundee Sustainable Technologies will use the funding to develop a process to separate the arsenic waste commonly produced through mining operations and trap it in stable, non-toxic glass.

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Sudbury’s Laurentian University looking at a bright future – by Staff (Sudbury Star – January 18, 2018)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Laurentian University is broadening its horizons and looking toward a bright future.

The university launched its 2018-2023 strategic plan Wednesday, which focuses on its five shared values: the north inspires us, student success is our success, teaching and learning define us, curiosity drives our research, and relationships are our priority.

“Laurentian’s 2018-2023 strategic plan encapsulates our university’s core values,” Pierre Zundel, interim president and vice-chancellor, said Wednesday. “We have embraced our identity as well as our collective strengths to identify 25 desired outcomes.

This strategic plan is a reflection of our students, faculty and staff, their work, and the positive impact Laurentian will continue to make in the world. Together, we will shape the future.”

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Ontario funds health and safety research in Sudbury – by Staff (Sudbury Star – January 18, 2018)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Laurentian University’s Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health will receive more than $300,000 in new research funding from the Ontario government. Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault, who is also Ontario’s minister of Energy, made the announcement at the CROSH lab Tuesday.

“Addressing high hazards associated with the operation of mobile equipment was a priority identified in the 2015 Mining Health Safety and Prevention review,” Thibeault said in a release. “Furthermore, addressing indigenous workplace issues will begin a conversation about what is needed to improve occupational health and safety of Indigenous peoples in the workplace.”

In all, Ontario is awarding $310,000 to support innovative research projects and top talent. The funding will assist CROSH researchers as they carry out three projects aimed at addressing mobile equipment hazards, advancing Indigenous occupational health and safety in Northern Ontario, and improving safety for people who work around heavy equipment.

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Plug in to underground digital innovation: PACE hosting inaugural conference aimed purely at digital future of mines – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – December 29, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Digital technology is part of so many aspects of life, yet there is little talk over the radical changes it is making in the mining industry. To help bring awareness to this phenomenon, and bring digital mining companies together in one place, Partners in Achieving Change Excellence (PACE) is hosting Beyond Digital Transformation, Feb. 1 at the United Steelworkers Hall in Sudbury to discuss how mining companies from around the world see the future of digital technology in their industry.

“The conference is really for anyone who wants to plug into where the mines are going from a digital transformation perspective,” said Neha Singh, the “change guru” and project manager at PACE.

And by digital transformation, she said they are looking at how companies and individual mines are using technology. She said the mining industry is a great example of a sector that hasn’t consistently embraced digital innovation underground for various reasons, including connectivity.

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Trains, ships, automobiles: The autonomous evolution continues – by Eric Atkins (Globe and Mail – January 3, 2018)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Driverless freight trains are roaring across Australia’s outback, part of Rio Tinto Ltd.’s bid to cut costs and boost efficiencies as it moves iron ore from its mines to the ports.

The mining company ran its first autonomous train in late September, and now runs 60 per cent of its rail journeys in “attendant mode” – a person is in the cab but not in control. Rio Tinto plans to have all its trains in Western Australia operating without crews by next year, assuming it wins the backing of the rail regulator.

The autonomous trains are running 6 per cent faster than conventional locomotives, while reducing maintenance costs and improving safety, said Stephen McIntosh, the Rio Tinto executive in charge of the miner’s growth and innovation group.

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Mining as a nation-builder: CEMI among six groups forming supercluster to bring clean Canadian mining expertise to the international market – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – December 1, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

For six mining groups in Canada that have joined together, including one in Sudbury, mining is a nation-building exercise they want to take to the world. The hope is by joining together, they can qualify for government funding to help them support the mining industry on a holistic level.

Sudbury-based Centre for Mining Innovation (CEMI) is among the group that are pursuing a $200 million funding initiative to move their supercluster forward. Titled Clean, Low-energy, Effective, Engaged and Remediated (CLEER), to compete for funding though the federal government’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative.

The are many reasons for bringing this supercluster together, explained Charles Nyabeze, director, government affairs for CEMI, all of them go back to making mining in Canada more competitive, cleaner, diverse and showing the public the importance of mining to the nation’s economic stability.

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A global work in process: Sudbury’s Laurentian-based MERC releases progress report into far-reaching Metal Earth project – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – December 1, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Multiple disciplines, many researchers, scientists, industry players and $104 million have come together to create one of the most comprehensive studies into the metal riches of the Earth. And once it’s completed, the organization overseeing it says it will revolutionize how mining companies seek out metal deposits, and all the data will be free and public.

Harold Gibson, director of the Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC), gave a presentation on Nov. 29 to the Sudbury Geological Discussion Group of the latest findings of the Metal Earth project.

It’s an international project to help researchers, scientists and industry understand the processes of how and where metals appear in the planet’s crust and to make mineral exploration more accurate.

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How scientists unlock secrets of the universe from deep underground – by Erica Caden (The Conversation.com – November 28, 2017)

http://theconversation.com/

What do a big chunk of ice at the South Pole, a mine in northern Ontario and a mountain in Italy have in common? They’re all home to extreme underground environments but they’re connected in another, more unexpected way. All three are host to large physics experiments searching to understand and answer the most basic questions about the world around us.

As a research scientist at SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ont., I get the chance to talk to a lot of different people about the work we do. The question often comes up: Why are we doing astrophysics — the study of space and the cosmos — from deep underground?

In particle physics, we long ago answered all of the questions that could be answered through tabletop experiments run by small groups of scientists in small laboratory spaces. Albert Michelson and Edward Morley showed that “luminiferous aether” didn’t exist, using a light source and mirrors on a bench-top stand. Marie Skłodowska Curie discovered polonium and radium in a shed next to the school of chemistry and physics at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

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