Sudbury Laurentian University – Mining Faculties and Research – Page 7

In a Sudbury mine, physicists probe secrets of dark matter – by Kate Allen (Toronto Star – December 6, 2015)

December 7, 2015

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

SUDBURY, ONT.—In a hot, dark cavern buried two kilometres below the earth’s surface, a pallet of No Name dog food lies covered in dust.

These subterranean passageways have certainly seen stranger sights than bulk dog food. There was the one-of-a-kind sanding robot, for starters. There was the giant acrylic orb, split in two pieces to fit down the mine’s narrow elevator shaft. Over the next four weeks, there will be 3.6 tonnes of liquid argon.

Every day, a parade of physicists in coveralls and head lamps rattles down the elevator and tramps through these passages — plus engineers, welders, machinists, grad students, the occasional journalist. Stephen Hawking was here.

[Sudbury Laurentian’s] MIRARCO CEO pushes for Ontario mining brand – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 20, 2015)

November 23, 2015

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

Ontario mining cluster more than the sum of its parts

Vic Pakalnis, president and CEO of MIRARCO Mining Innovation in Sudbury, is urging the provincial Ministry of Northern Development and Mines to take the lead in the development of an Ontario mining brand.

“We have a very good reputation in the rest of the world,” said Pakalnis. “Our mining expertise in Ontario and Canada is really valued,” but much more needs to be done to build on the industry’s strengths.

Pakalnis hopes to influence the Ministry’s pending refresh of the Ontario Mineral Development Strategy, which is scheduled for release early next year.

[Sudbury Neutrino Observatory] Art McDonald on how to win a Nobel Prize – by Kate Lunau (MACLEAN’S Magazine – November 21, 2015)

November 23, 2015

http://www.macleans.ca/

All it takes is one mine, 1,000 tonnes of heavy water, 274 scientists and the backing of an entire town

Arthur McDonald, tall, bespectacled and silver-haired, is hiking down the rocky tunnel of a nickel mine outside Sudbury, Ont., after descending more than two kilometres underground in a mine cage. The space is lit mainly by the roving headlamps worn by his small group. Roof bolts and steel screens brace the rock overhead.

The terrain is uneven, and it’s easy to stumble. McDonald, 72, takes slow, considered steps, occasionally turning to warn the others of a treacherous puddle or ditch. Fatigue is a common side effect of time spent this deep underground, where the air pressure is much higher than above ground, but he doesn’t seem to feel it.

Former Inco exec to receive honourary doctorate from Laurentian – by Staff (Sudbury Northern Life – October 28, 2015)

October 29, 2015

http://www.northernlife.ca/

The former chief operating officer of Inco Ltd. will receive an honourary doctorate from Laurentian University in June.

Mark Cutifani, now the CEO of Anglo American, returned to Sudbury this week where he took in an international mining safety conference, before delivering an Oct. 27 lecture at Science North in the evening.

He was the guest speaker at Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines’ GSM lecture. Cutifani, who worked for Inco from 2003-2007, focused his speech on changing the conversation around mining and how the industry can make positive connections with communities and economies.

The hour-long lecture was well attended, and Cutifani was tested with questions about leadership challenges and the mining industry’s track record with respect to the environment, citing recent developments about Vale leaking toxic runoff into the city’s waterways.

The announcement that he’ll receive the honourary doctorate came from Laurentian’s vice-president, academic, Robert Kerr.

Sudbury lakes centre developing educational video – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – September 25, 2015)

September 28, 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.

Sudbury’s Vale Living with Lakes Centre is developing an educational and promotional video designed to share the story of the city’s regreening success.

The story of Sudbury’s regreening, following decades of mining, has long been a shining example of environmental recovery. Now, the Vale Living with Lakes Centre is taking that message into the digital realm with a training and promotional video that will debut next fall.

An initiative led by research scientist Nadia Mykytczuk, the video features a series of vignettes that tell the Sudbury story from the start of the mining era, through the early days of the regreening efforts, and up to today’s advanced science research, and how all of it has helped researchers, miners and the greater community learn from the past.

Mykytczuk noted that the last compendium of the Sudbury story was the Green Book, which was compiled in 1995. But that format is now outdated, and many scientific gains have been made since then, requiring a new way for scientists to inform and engage their audience.

NEWS RELEASE: Ivanhoe Mines, Laurentian University and the University of Limpopo forge educational partnership to provide skills for South Africa’s miners of tomorrow

September 9, 2015September 9, 2015

Representatives of the South African and Canadian governments, Ivanhoe Mines, Ivanplats, Laurentian University (LU) and the University of Limpopo (UL) celebrate the new partnership in mining education at the latter's Turfloop Campus in Polokwane today. (L to R) Vinesh Devchander (Department of Mineral Resources), Dr. Patricia Makhesha (Managing Director, Ivanplats), Dr. Bruce Jago (LU), Michael Langa (MSc candidate), Prof. John Dunlevey (UL), Prof. Mahlo Mokgalong (Vice-Chancellor, UL), Prof. Aifheli Gelebe (UL), Thabiso Makohliso (MSc candidate), Louise Holt (Canadian High Commission) and Jeremy Michaels (Ivanhoe Mines). — Representatives of the South African and Canadian governments, Ivanhoe Mines, Ivanplats, Laurentian University (LU) and the University of Limpopo (UL) celebrate the new partnership in mining education at the latter’s Turfloop Campus in Polokwane today. (L to R) Vinesh Devchander (Department of Mineral Resources), Dr. Patricia Makhesha (Managing Director, Ivanplats), Dr. Bruce Jago (LU), Michael Langa (MSc candidate), Prof. John Dunlevey (UL), Prof. Mahlo Mokgalong (Vice-Chancellor, UL), Prof. Aifheli Gelebe (UL), Thabiso Makohliso (MSc candidate), Louise Holt (Canadian High Commission) and Jeremy Michaels (Ivanhoe Mines).

www.ivanhoemines.com

POLOKWANE, SOUTH AFRICA – September 9, 2015 – Ivanhoe Mines Limited (TSX: IVN), the University of Limpopo in South Africa and Laurentian University in Canada signed an agreement today officially launching an educational collaboration between the two universities. The collaboration, initiated and sponsored by Ivanhoe’s South African subsidiary, Ivanplats, was celebrated at a signing ceremony on the University of Limpopo campus attended by officials from Laurentian University, the University of Limpopo, Ivanhoe and the South African and Canadian governments.

A principal goal of the five-year partnership, which is renewable for a further five years, is to develop and equip the University of Limpopo’s geology department to become a centre of excellence in geosciences. This will be achieved through measures that include:

• improved training and curriculum choices in economic geology and mineral exploration at the University of Limpopo;
• increased teaching and research capacities at the graduate student level;
• equipping laboratories;
• purchasing an outdoor vehicle and trailer for field excursions; and
• collaborating with Laurentian University to improve the University of Limpopo’s learning programmes.

Rehabilitation efforts bring new life to Hemlo – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – August 18, 2015)

August 19, 2015

Reclamation work being done by Barrick Gold at its Hemlo property near Marathon has changed the landscape of the former mining operation. Where once there stood a headframe, access roads and outbuildings, there is now only a grassy plain, accented by native trees and inhabited by a variety of wildlife.

This is what nature after mining looks like in 2015.

“It kind of caught us off guard, because the (David Bell) mine is still beside an operating mine,” said Shane Hayes, Barrick’s mine closure co-ordinator at Hemlo. “The area has been rehabilitated so quickly, I’d be lying if I said we weren’t surprised at how quickly nature re-established itself.”

Three mines started up at the Hemlo site in the 1980s. The still-operational Williams Mine produced 206,000 ounces of gold in 2014, while David Bell closed that same year. A third mine, Golden Giant, closed in 2010. The bulk of the rehabilitation work to date has focused on David Bell.

Sudbury study to examine mental health of miners – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – July 24, 2015)

July 24, 2015

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

A research project on the mental health of workers in the mining industry is exactly the type of study Ontario Labour Minister Kevin Flynn would like to see more of in Ontario.

The three-year, $400,000 study, funded by Vale Ltd., is a partnership among the mining company, United Steelworkers and Laurentian University’s Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH).

The goal of the study, called Mining Mental Health, is to collect information to develop strategies to promote strong mental health among workers in Vale’s Ontario operations.

Flynn paid his first visit to a mine earlier this year when he went underground at Vale’s Coleman Mine.

Travelling 5,000 feet below surface “was quite the experience for a city kid,” Flynn told about 100 people in the lobby of Laurentian’s Ben Avery building Thursday.

[Sudbury] Laurentian prof says it’s time for the ‘40% mine’ (CBC News Sudbury – June 9, 2015)

June 11, 2015

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

Reducing energy usage by 60% has multiple benefits, Dean Millar says

Energy conservation is the key to maintaining the viability of older mines and ensuring the profitability of new ones, a professor at Laurentian University says.

Dean Millar, who was recently named a distinguished lecturer by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, will be touring the country to spread the word that employing modern technology in the age-old business of extracting minerals from the ground has multiple benefits.

“The 40-per-cent mine is shorthand for the idea that we could reduce energy consumption to support mine production to a level of 40 per cent of what it currently is by the year 2040 by using renewable energy technologies, by embracing energy efficiency and the state of the art in poly-generation (the sequential production of electricity and thermal energy in the form of heat or steam, or useful mechanical work, such as shaft power, from the same fuel source) and other modern technologies which are routinely used in other industries and bring them to mining,” said Millar.

People in the industry scoff at the notion initially as a “load of rubbish,” Millar said.

Moonscape to greenbelt: Conference celebrates regreening – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – June 9, 2015)

November 5, 2015June 10, 2015

http://www.northernlife.ca/

www2.laurentian.ca/sudbury2015

Sudbury world-renowned for its remediation program

Researchers from as far away as Russia and Norway will gather in Sudbury for the sixth Mining and Environment International Conference at Laurentian University June 20-25.

“The goal this year is to really celebrate the successes of the Sudbury regreening program,” said Graeme Spiers, an associate professor with Laurentian’s faculty of the environment, and one of the conference organizers. “Sudbury is recognized globally for this. The citizens of Sudbury should be really proud of what the city has done.”

The “Sudbury Method,” as some have termed the city’s regreening effort, which began in 1978, has served as a model for jurisdictions around the world to remediate environments damaged by mining, smelting and other industrial activities.

NEWS RELEASE: LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY TO HOST 6TH MINING AND THE ENVIRONMENT 2015 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

June 9, 2015

SUDBURY, ON (JUNE 11, 2015) – Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines, in cooperation with the Laurentian University School of the Environment, will host the 6th Mining and the Environment 2015 International Conference from June 20-25, in Sudbury, Ontario.

The Conference will bring together experts in the environmental sciences and environmental health sciences, industry representatives and researchers, as well as policy makers and regulators from around the world. Conference delegates will explore mine, land and waterway rehabilitation and related environmental protection issues.

The first Mining and the Environment Conference was held in Sudbury in 1995. Since then, more than 2000 professionals have attended a series of conferences culminating in this 20th anniversary conference, to be hosted by Laurentian University.

The Sudbury Story: Re-greening Science of the Sudbury Region. Mining and the Environment 2015 Laurentian Conference Short Course

June 5, 2015

Mining and the Environment 2015 International Conference pre-conference Short Course June 20 and 21:

This workshop will focus on the 40 year history and science of the Sudbury Restoration Story, from the early experimental trials through operations of the UN Award-Winning Municipal Re-greening Program to the successes and challenges of today.

The short course features documentary-style lectures, group discussion and multi-media exercises working with actual data from long-term surveys and assessments.

The workshop will include in-class sessions on Saturday June 20th, with group work and presentations on Sunday June 21st.

We will conclude with a guided tour of the Sudbury reclamation sites on Sunday afternoon. Check out the website and watch a short video about the course.

Laurentian Exploration and Research: MERC looks to the future – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – May 2015)

May 22, 2015

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

The Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC) has committed itself to an ambitious, five-year business plan. The mineral exploration research arm of Laurentian University’s Department of Earth Sciences, MERC boasts a global reputation as a centre of excellence for research focused on Precambrian ore deposits.

The five-year business plan will help guide MERC’s growth and allow it to play an even more important role in the global search for mineral deposits.

Completed in November 2014, the business plan sets six key strategic directions, including a greater focus on Precambrian shields around the world, the establishment of a science advisory council, the hiring of research associates to assist with project management, and the recruitment of more corporate members.

With increased financial resources from courses, workshops and membership dues, MERC will allocate $20,000 annually for pre-research investigation and establish a one-year operating reserve to offset shortfalls due to cyclical downturns in the mining industry.

Laurentian’s Bharti School of Engineering makes its mark – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – May 2015)

May 21, 2015

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

Skyrocketing enrollment, national awards contribute to Bharti School’s stature as academic powerhouse.

It’s easy enough to illustrate the amazing growth of Laurentian University’s Bharti School of Engineering with a recitation of its skyrocketing enrollment numbers, but nothing speaks to the school’s stature as an academic powerhouse as eloquently as the awards its junior and senior teams took home from the 2015 Canadian Engineering Competition in March.

When the junior team won top honours at the Ontario Engineering Competition in February and the senior team came in second, both qualified to represent Ontario at the national competition at Memorial University in St. John’s.

“It was the first time that a university sent two teams to the competition and both won first prize,” said Bharti School director Dr. Ramesh Subramanian.

“It’s amazing how far we’ve come. We just had our iron ring ceremony and we had close to 90 students graduating. Less than 10 years ago, we had fewer than 15.”

Occupational health: Workplace safety research centre opens – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – April 28, 2015)

April 28, 2015

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

In the heart of a building that is the epicentre of sports on the Laurentian University campus, cutting-edge research into workplace health and safety underway in the city for seven years finally has a place to call home.

The new Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health laboratory and research facility, which was made available by the university and consists of 1,695 square feet of laboratory space and 629 square feet of office and meeting space, officially opened in the Ben Avery building Monday.

“We are risk takers … and we are not going to stop until we get it right,” Tammy Eger, the centre’s research chairwoman and an associate professor in the Laurentian School of Human Kinetics, told more than 50 people on hand for the opening. “This centre is about community. It’s about the passion we have for health and safety…We’re going to develop the solutions, expand the knowledge and sustainability. We’re going to make a difference, not only in Northern Ontario, but nationally and internationally. This is your centre.”

The centre was established in 2008 by Laurentian to provide a formalized structure for industry, safe workplace associations, labour groups, government organizations, and researchers to share workplace injury and disease problems and solutions.