Sudbury astrophysics research to benefit from a $63M grant – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – September 9, 2016)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Federal money for Queen’s University to help partner universities and institutions

Laurentian University’s earth sciences and mineral exploration faculty weren’t the only researchers at the institution to benefit from the federal government’s Canada First Research Excellence Fund earlier in the week.

The $900-million fund also granted $63.7 million to Queen’s University to support the creation of the Canadian Particle Astrophysics Research Centre over a seven-year period. While Kingston is about a six-hour drive from Sudbury, the two cities are closely linked in the area of astrophysics.

Art McDonald, who was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for his role as director of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory – and the breakthrough discovery that subatomic particles called neutrinos have mass – is also the Patricia Gray Chair in Particle Astrophysics at Queen’s University.

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Ring of Fire could benefit from Laurentian University’s new Metal Earth project (CBC News Sudbury – September 8, 2016)

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

The mineral exploration community is welcoming news of a major mining research project. This week, Laurentian University announced it’s starting a seven-year initiative called Metal Earth.

The goal is to figure out more precisely where ore deposits are, making exploration less costly for companies. The president of the Sudbury Prospectors and Developers Association, Joshua Bailey, says it’s great to see more than $100-million being spent on mining research.

Bailey, who is also the vice-president of exploration with Wallbridge Mining and the head of the Ontario Prospectors Association, says there hasn’t been a lot of innovation in mineral exploration.

“A lot of the geophysics that we use was technology initially developed during World War 2, you know, looking for submarines and that sort of thing,” says Bailey.

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Editorial: A $114M day for Laurentian is a great day for Sudbury – Editorial (Sudbury Northern Life – September 7, 2016)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Ambitious Metal Earth project puts LU on the global map

Few places know the nature of the mining sector better than Greater Sudbury. We know mining is cyclical. We’ve — repeatedly and with regularity — lived through the best and the worst of times. We know that right now, mining is in the trough of that cyclical wave.

We also know that the demand for metals has rarely been higher globally. As more and more developing countries industrialize, their need to access the raw materials hidden beneath the surface of the planet keeps pace.

As we produce and consume more and more advanced technologies, we have to dig up more of the unique and rare metals those technologies require. But there’s an issue: The success rate for finding new deposits isn’t keeping pace with our demand. There’s still a place in the world for prospectors, of course, but mining companies know that what will ensure we can fulfill humanity’s global demand for metal is better science.

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Laurentian University celebrates a $114-million day – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – September 6, 2016)

 

https://www.sudbury.com/

Laurentian University had a $114-million day Tuesday, in what it’s president, Dominic Giroux, has called an historic moment for the university.

The day started with a $10-million donation to support Laurentian University’s Department of Earth Sciences and its Mineral Exploration Research Centre from David Harquail, the CEO of Franco-Nevada Corporation, through his family’s Midas Touch Foundation.

In honour of Harquail’s donation university’s board of governors renamed the Department of Earth Sciences to the Harquail School of Earth Sciences. Harquail’s donation will help Laurentian improve its mineral development research.

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Harquail family gives $10M to Laurentian – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 7, 2016)

Photo (L to R) James Harquail, Sofia Harquail, David Harquail, Birgitta Sigfridsson, Peter Harquail  (Laurentian University Photo)
Photo (L to R) James Harquail, Sofia Harquail, David Harquail, Birgitta Sigfridsson, Peter Harquail (Laurentian University Photo)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Today is a red letter day for Laurentian University in more than one way. David Harquail announced Monday morning his family foundation is investing $10 million in Laurentian University’s Department of Earth Sciences and its Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC).

Laurentian’s board of governors decided to honour the Harquail family by renaming the Department of Earth Sciences the Harquail School of Earth Sciences and to associate ongoing MERC efforts with the Harquail name. A celebration of the Harquail family’s generosity will be held in the coming weeks.

Harquail is president and chief executive officer of Franco-Nevada Corporation. “Laurentian University is already a global leader in mineral exploration research,” said Harquail. “This is a step towards making Laurentian the leading centre for mineral exploration research in the world.

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Record $114-million day for mining education at Sudbury’s Laurentian – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 7, 2016)

CFREF Announcement-Metal Earth (Laurentian University Photo)
CFREF Announcement-Metal Earth (Laurentian University Photo)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Tuesday was a $114-million day at Laurentian University and that had Laurentian president and vice-chancellor Dominic Giroux grinning ear to ear. Two multi-million donations, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, contained more zeroes than most people will see in a lifetime of pay cheques.

Mining entrepreneur David Harquail announced in the morning his family’s Midas Touch Foundation was donating $10 million to Laurentian University’s Department of Earth Sciences and its Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC). The department is being named the Harquail School of Earth Sciences in recognition of the contribution from the Franco-Nevada Corporation chief executive officer and his family.

Monday afternoon, Sudbury Liberal MP Paul Lefebvre and Nickel Belt Liberal MP Marc Serre announced their government was investing almost $49.3 million in the Metal Earth project at the university. The money comes from an unprecedented investment of $900 million by the federal government through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.

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NEWS RELEASE: Federal Government Invests $49M in $104M Mineral Exploration Research

CFREF Announcement-Metal Earth
CFREF Announcement-Metal Earth

Funding is the largest single investment in University’s history.

SUDBURY, ON (September 6, 2016) – Laurentian University is launching an unprecedented research effort to help the mineral industry make lower risk exploration investments in Canada and abroad and reverse the current lower discovery rates of new mineral deposits.

This seven-year initiative named Metal Earth received a boost of $49,269,000 over seven years from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). The announcement was made today by Sudbury Member of Parliament, Paul Lefebvre and Nickel Belt Member of Parliament, Marc Serré on behalf of the Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan. Twenty-two partners from academia, industry and government are providing $55 million in cash and in-kind contributions to this $104 million effort.

“Laurentian University is already #1 in Canada in economic geology research funding and among the best in the world,” said Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre. “We are proud to support Laurentian and its Mineral Exploration Research Centre at the Harquail School of Earth Sciences in becoming the undisputed global leader in mineral exploration research,” added Lefebvre.

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NEWS RELEASE: Harquail Family Invests $10 Million to Advance Mineral Exploration Research at Laurentian University

Photo (L to R) James Harquail, Sofia Harquail, David Harquail, Birgitta Sigfridsson, Peter Harquail
Photo (L to R) James Harquail, Sofia Harquail, David Harquail, Birgitta Sigfridsson, Peter Harquail

Laurentian’s Department of Earth Sciences will now be known as the Harquail School of Earth Sciences

SUDBURY, ON (September 6, 2016) – David Harquail announced today that his family foundation is making a $10 million investment to support Laurentian University’s Department of Earth Sciences and its Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC). The University’s Board of Governors has unanimously decided to honour the Harquail family by renaming the Department of Earth Sciences as the Harquail School of Earth Sciences and associate ongoing MERC efforts with the Harquail name. A celebration of the Harquail family’s generosity will be held in the coming weeks.

“Laurentian University is already a global leader in mineral exploration research,” explained David Harquail. “This is a step towards making Laurentian the leading center for mineral exploration research in the world. Laurentian has mining in its DNA with its location next to mines and a cluster of mining related government departments and research agencies on campus. Success will come from the development of new concepts and tools to find the next generation of ore deposits.”

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[Laurentian University’s Centre for Research in Occupation Safety and Health] New job for ex-Sudbury mayor – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – August 24, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Thirty years in the health and safety sector, some on the front lines and some in administration, will serve Marianne Matichuk well as inaugural chief administration officer of a research institute.

Her political connections won’t hurt, either, when Matichuk goes looking for money to pay for projects to be conducted by Laurentian University’s Centre for Research in Occupation Safety and Health (CROSH).

The former city mayor has decades of experience in the field, some of it reactive when she worked in health care, and some preventive, as a health and safety professional with the City of Greater Sudbury and Vale Ltd. Matichuk will be responsible for expanding CROSH’s capacity and steering its efforts to achieve key priorities.

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‘The Smartest Places on Earth’ – by Van Agtmael and Bakker – by Shawn Donnan (Financial Times – March 13, 2016)

https://www.ft.com/

An optimist’s guide to the rust belt revival

For years the dominant narrative about the American rust belt has been one of decline and decimation — a once-thriving industrial core turned into a dystopian wasteland by the winds of free trade and persistent undercutting by China.

But in The Smartest Places on Earth, former financier Antoine van Agtmael and journalist Fred Bakker make a courageous case for an alternative vision. What if the real story of the rust belt these days is one of reinvention? What if we ought to consider these regions “the emerging hotspots of global innovation”?

It is a courageous argument because it goes against the political grain in America. Eight years after the global financial crisis, the US is reaping the political damage of not just the crisis but also of the decades-long economic patterns blamed for hollowing out the manufacturing sector and the middle class.

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‘The Geography of Genius,’ by Eric Weiner – by Ashlee Vance (New Your Times Sunday Book Review – January 8, 2016)

http://www.nytimes.com/

In the early 1960s, the Soviet Union tried to make a version of Silicon Valley from scratch. A city called Zelenograd came to life on the outskirts of Moscow and was populated with all manner of brainy Soviet engineers.

The hope — naturally — was that a concentration of clever minds coupled with ample funding would result in a wellspring of innovation and help Russia keep pace with California’s electronics boom. The experiment worked as well as one might expect. Few people will read this on a Mayakovsky-branded tablet or smartphone.

Many similar attempts have been made in the subsequent decades to replicate Silicon Valley and its abundance of creativity and ingenuity. Such efforts have largely failed. It seems near impossible to will an exceptional place into being or to manufacture the conditions that lead to an outpouring of genius.

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Prof, grad win award for paper on Copper Cliff’s geology – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – July 5, 2016)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Study commissioned by Vale makes several new findings

A Laurentian University professor and a master’s student who worked alongside him have won an award from the Mineralogical Association of Canada for a paper published in the journal “The Canadian Mineralogist.”

Andy McDonald and Sarah Gordon picked up the Hawley Medal at the joint annual Geological Association of Canada-Mineralogical Association of Canada meeting in Whitehorse, Yukon in early June.

The Hawley Medal is awarded to the authors of the best paper to appear in the “The Canadian Mineralogist” in a given year.

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Province sinks funding into bio-mining research – by Jonathan Migneault (Northern Ontario Business – July 8, 2016)

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A new Laurentian University industrial research chair position in bio-mining, bio-remediation and science communication has the potential to kickstart a new industry in Sudbury that could create hundreds or even thousands of jobs, said the director of the Vale Living with Lakes Centre.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say there will be an entire industry built around this,” said Laurentian professor John Gunn, who is also the Canada research chair for stressed aquatic systems. “The demands are so big.”

The province is investing more than $630,000 through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation to create the five-year research chair position at the university. The announcement was made at a press conference in Sudbury on May 9.

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MEDIA RELEASE: Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity Report Overlooks Sudbury’s World-Class Mining Clusters

Sudbury is the Silicon Valley of underground mining research

Nickel Belt – (July 6, 2016): The Toronto-based Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity recently issued a report titled “Clusters in Ontario: Creating an ecosystem for prosperity” that, in the opinion of industry experts, overlooks Sudbury’s vibrant mining clusters.

Industrial clusters are interrelated businesses in compact geographical regions that are supported by educational, research and government institutions which enhance economic growth, prosperity and innovation through value-added manufacturing and internal/external exports.

Marc Serré, Nickel Belt MP and a member of The National Standing Committee on Natural Resources says, “Sudbury’s dynamic mining clusters are a globally unique concentration of Canadian hard-rock expertise and innovation, unique in North America and found in very few other cities around the world. My fear is that federal and provincial policy experts and politicians will read this report and assume any requests for multi-million dollar strategic investments for Sudbury to further enhance educational or research aspects would not be warranted.”

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Mining magnate donates $10 million to architecture school – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 30, 2016)

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury’s emerging school of design has a new name: The McEwen School of Architecture at Laurentian University.

Goldcorp founder and CEO of McEwen Mining Rob McEwen and his wife Cheryl were in Sudbury, June 29, to donate $10 million to the downtown Sudbury institution, currently under its second phase of construction.“We are immensely grateful to the McEwen family for this transformative gift,” said Terrance Galvin, founding director of the School of Architecture.

“This investment will help us fulfil our mission to establish a unique and cutting-edge architecture program whose graduates will contribute to socio-economic and cultural development in northern latitudes across Canada and around the world. With his vision and enthusiasm, Rob will be a superb mentor to our students.”

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