Sudbury Laurentian University – Mining Faculties and Research – Page 4

Laurentian students making a name in mining – by Harley Davidson (Sudbury Star – June 24, 2017)

June 26, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Two St. Catharines natives are part of winning teams in this year’s MINED Open Innovation Challenge, offered by the Ontario Mining Association to mining and engineering students.

Adam Grinbergs and Sarah Bulanda, Laurentian University students, are members of the first and second place teams, respectively. The program tasked engineering students to come up with solutions to hypothetical mining problems.

Their case study presented them with the challenge of cooling down underground mines. Grinbergs’ team came up with a concept called Deep Water Cooling, in which cool water from the bottom of the Great Lakes is pumped into the mine and misted into the air. Grinbergs says the process of cooling deep mines is essential, with temperatures in mines rising an average of 1 degree Celsius per 100 metres depth.

Sudbury Laurentian researcher gets key grant for work in biomining – by Ben Leeson (Sudbury Star – May 29, 2017)

April 30, 2018May 29, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Laurentian University researcher Nadia Mykytczuk’s recent Early Researcher Award served as affirmation of the value of her work, as well as assurance that work will continue uninterrupted.

Mykytczuk, who works out of the Vale Living With Lakes Centre as Laurentian’s NOHFC Industrial Research Chair, received $140,000 from the provincial government to fund her project aimed at developing cost-effective, energy-efficient ways to recover metals and reduce environmental impacts from mine wastes using microbes.

“It’s excellent support, to apply for these very competitive grants and then to be a recipient means that I’m not only doing a good job at being a researcher, but that I’m actually standing out there and being able to get a competitive grant like this to support my early research,” Mykytczuk said.

Mining world looks to Northern Ontario for innovation – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – May 18, 2017)

May 19, 2017

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

Congratulating mining contractor Cementation for its grand prize victory at the Disrupt Mining event co-sponsored by Goldcorp and Integra Gold during the PDAC in March, Rick Howes, president and CEO of Dundee Precious Metals made an observation about the important role that Northern Ontario plays in the global mining industry.

“I’m a Northern Ontario boy. I spent most of my career in Northern Ontario and I see how far we’re spreading our influence globally,” Howes told a standing room only audience attending a panel discussion sponsored by the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation.

Fellow panelist Fred Stanford, former president of Ontario Operations for Vale and currently president and CEO of Torex Gold Resources works in Mexico, said Howes. “I work in Europe and Africa.”

Rick could have gone on an on. Roy Slack and Alun Price Jones, the two Cementation executives who are championing the company’s innovative injection hoisting solution that wowed the Disrupt Mining judges are from North Bay.

Canadian Industry leaders debate state of mining technology (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – May 18, 2017)

May 19, 2017

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

Following are edited excerpts from a Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) panel discussion at the PDAC March 6th featuring Zachary Mayer, manager, mine technical services, Kidd Operations, Glencore; Rick Howes, president and CEO, Dundee Precious Metals; Fred Stanford, president and CEO, Torex Gold Resources; and Conor Spollen, COO, Canada and the U.K., Vale Canada. The discussion was moderated by Steve Paikin, host of the popular TV Ontario current affairs program, The Agenda.

Steve Paikin: What are the most pressing technology problems facing the underground mining industry?

Zach Mayer: At Kidd, we’ve done a lot over the last four or five years…We have autonomous loaders and Canada’s largest ventilation-on-demand system. We have wireless communication, proximity warning, collision avoidance and super sophisticated geotechnical modelling.

From my perspective, the hardest thing is just selling the idea of why we need to put all this stuff in, what it’s going to do for us. Coming up with a business case has always been a challenge. Luckily, we have the right people in the right places who understand the KPIs we’re going after.

Sudbury’s Bio-Mine impresses mining convention (Sudbury Star – March 10, 2017)

April 30, 2018March 10, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

The Canadian Press – TORONTO — Programmable bacteria, a gold-sniffing camera and a virtual reality tool for taking investors underground were among the innovations on display at the world’s biggest annual mining convention in Toronto this week.

Their makers say these and other technologies have the potential to reshape the mining industry at every stage — from financing and exploration to extraction and cleaning up sites once the metal is gone.

Some veterans of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention say such innovation is badly needed in an industry traditionally resistant to change.“There’s a lot of inertia in our business,” said George Salamis, chairman of Vancouver-based Integra Gold Corp. (TSXV:ICG).

Expanding Sudbury’s research ‘culture’ (Sudbury Star – March 9, 2017)

March 10, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Cambrian College and Laurentian University announced an agreement Wednesday they say will boost research and innovation in Northern Ontario.

The agreement facilitates the creation of collaborative partnerships and enables faculty, students and staff at both institutions to pursue large-scale research projects, Cambrian and Laurentian said in a joint press release.

The schools will share professional expertise, facilities, equipment, and administrative services, the release said, in order to boost innovation, productivity and results.

NEWS RELEASE: CEMI Celebrates 10 Years of Achieving Mining Innovation for the Global Metal Mining Industry

March 8, 2017March 7, 2017

(L to R): Zachary Mayer, Manager, Mine Technical Services, Kidd Operations – Glencore Canada; Moderator: TVO’s The Agenda Steve Paikin; Rick Howes, President & Chief Executive Officer, Dundee Precious Metals; Mayor of Greater Sudbury Brian Bigger; MP Paul Lefebrvre; Deputy Minister for MDNM, David de Launay; Fred Stanford, President & CEO, Torex Gold Resources Inc; MP Marc Serre; Douglas Morrison, President & CEO, CEMI; Conor Spollen, Chief Operating Officer, Canada & UK, Vale Canada Limited; and Dominic Giroux, President, Laurentian University.

https://www.miningexcellence.ca/

Toronto, ON (March 6, 2017) – CEMI (Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation) celebrates its 10-year anniversary of delivering innovations to the global mining industry to a packed house with a series of presentations and an Industry-led Panel at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2017 annual conference. The celebration highlighted CEMI’s results and dedication to delivering technical solutions to the mining industry through innovation and commercialization.

Mark Cutifani, CEO, Anglo American, remarked “I was honoured to be part of a team comprising representatives from industry, government and academia that helped create CEMI. Under the leadership of Douglas Morrison, CEMI has continued to evolve to support the needs of the industry.

The most important transition has been the focus on innovation at the high end of the Technology Readiness scale. CEMI continues to work with a wide range of mining service and supply companies, academic institutions, SMEs, OEMs and start-ups to bring new products and services to the market and I am honoured to have been part of their genesis.”

Sudbury’s Bio-Mine up for $1-million prize – by Ben Leeson (Sudbury Star – March 1, 2017)

April 30, 2018March 1, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Yet another right-here-in-Sudbury story is unfolding before our eyes, and on March 5, in front of some 400 mining company executives, government officials and other heavy hitters at the finale of #DisruptMining, a high-stakes mining innovation contest, in Toronto.

Bio-Mine Ltd., a Sudbury-based company, is one of five finalists getting reading to pitch their “game-changing environmental technology” at the Shark Tank-style event, with $1 million on the line.

“You couldn’t ask for that kind of earshot marketing,” said Bio-Mine CEO Kurtis Vanwallegham, who founded the company along with Dr. Vasu Appanna. “It would have taken us a year, two years, to do that, so just the fact that many decision-makers in the recovery and remediation sector are sitting in that room is key. Obviously, we’re there to win, and a million-dollar injection would be a springboard for us, but the most important part for us is actually the crowd itself in one room, getting that many people.”

NEWS RELEASE: LAURENTIAN’S BHARTI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING WINS GLOBAL MINE RESCUE COMPETITION

February 23, 2017

Students win in two mine rescue categories and overall title

Sudbury, ON (FEBRUARY 21, 2017) – Laurentian University’s Bharti School of Engineering students won the 2017 Intercollegiate Mines Emergency Response Development (MERD) competition in Golden, Colorado. The team placed first in the first aid and the field competitions and earned the overall title.

The competition was held over two days and consisted of teams from University of British Columbia, Freiburg University (Germany), Montana Tech, South Dakota School of Mines and Colorado School of Mines. The first intercollegiate MERD was held in 2011.

The competition consists of mock disasters that are created in an underground mine to train collegiate mine rescue teams in a realistic emergency search and rescue setting. It included a field competition where teams had to put out an actual underground fire, a technician test, and a first aid test.

A snapshot of mining R&D activity in Ontario – by Alisha Hiyate (Canadian Mining Journal – February 1, 2017)

February 22, 2017

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

As part of its “Innovation Agenda” the federal government announced last year that it would invest $800 million over four years to support research and innovation in five key sectors of Canada’s economy.

The identity of those sectors is still uncertain, but with the funding expected to flow starting this year, we’ll soon find out if mining is one of them.

What is certain is that Canada’s mining sector could use more investment: We only spend about $550 million annually on mining R&D and innovation compared with $2.8 billion in Australia.

[Mining education and research innovation] LU head proud university in ‘new league’ – by Staff (Sudbury Star – January 16, 2017)

January 16, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Laurentian University president Dominic Giroux can look back on several accomplishments in 2016, including tens of millions in new government funding and donations for the university, as well as record enrolment, and his personal appointment as vice-chair of Universities Canada from October 2016 to October 2017, and as chair from October 2017 to 2019, among other honours.

Originally appointed as president in 2009, Giroux has seen many of his plans for Laurentian come to fruition, with many parts of an ambitious 2012-2-17 Strategic Plan already implemented.

He has faced his share of challenges, too, such as the tough decision to suspend programs at Laurentian’s Barrie campus earlier this year. Giroux took some time over the holidays to reflect on his near-eight-year tenure as president and the year that was in 2016, and to talk about his future vision for Laurentian University.

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

November 2, 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.

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

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.

[$27 million mining research facility] Big payday for LU – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – September 24, 2016)

September 26, 2016

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Laurentian University has a few more dollars to add to its coffers, after yet another funding announcement on Friday.

The university received $21.1 million from the federal government, as well as $6.3 million from the province — for a total of $27.4 million — to build a new research, engineering and innovation centre at its Ramsey Lake Road campus. The 47,000-square-foot centre will be used to house labs, lecture theatres, a shop and collaborative spaces, as well as shared equipment.

“It will provide space for researchers from the university’s seven faculties, for research and innovation,” Dominic Giroux, the university’s president, said. “We’re being purposeful in designing this new research and innovation space that cuts across the disciplines.”

NEWS RELEASE: CANADIAN AND ONTARIO GOVERNMENTS INVEST $27.4 MILLION IN INFRASTRUCTURE AT LAURENTIAN

September 23, 2016

(L to R) Jennifer Witty, Chair of the Board of Governors at Laurentian University, Members of Parliament Marc Serré and Paul Lefebvre, Deputy Premier Deb Matthews, Energy Minister and Sudbury Member of Provincial Parliament Glenn Thibeault, Dominic Giroux, President and Vice-Chancellor Laurentian University.

Part of $60.7 million project to include a new Research, Innovation and Engineering Building

SUDBURY, ON (SEPTEMBER 23, 2016) – The federal government will invest $21.1 million and the Ontario government will invest $6.3 million towards research and innovation infrastructure at Laurentian University. As part of a broad capital program totalling $60.7 million to be completed by March 2018, this $27.4 million investment is earmarked for the immediate construction of a new 47,000 sq ft Research, Innovation and Engineering Building. The announcement was made today by Members of Parliament Marc Serré and Paul Lefebvre, Deputy Premier Deb Matthews and Energy Minister and Sudbury Member of Provincial Parliament Glenn Thibeault.

“The significant support of $27.4 million received today from this joint federal-provincial announcement, the largest infrastructure announcement in Laurentian’s 56-year history, allows for the expansion of much needed research and innovation space in our region,” said Jennifer Witty, Chair of the Board of Governors at Laurentian University. “With this investment, we will build the infrastructure required to support education and research, foster innovation, and create opportunity for students while strengthening the economy.”