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Sudbury Laurentian University – Mining Faculties and Research

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

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People share their vision for Greater Sudbury – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – March 16, 2015)

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

Noting that while Sudbury has the third largest mining cluster in the country —
behind Vancouver and Toronto — the province still does not recognize the expertise
that exists within its borders.

“All the political people in this city need to start hammering the province to recognize
Sudbury as the mining supply and technology centre for Ontario,” Robinson said. “We’ve got
a university, we’ve got mines — everything we need. What we don’t have is the province
saying they’re going to close down mining engineering in Toronto and move it up to Sudbury.
The province would be much better off doing this — it would save money and promote jobs.
So then it’s a political question.” (Professor David Robinson)

Picture Greater Sudbury in 2025: more residents living within the downtown core ” … bike lanes and paths criss-crossing and connecting all points of this sprawling city ” … robust industrial parks that capitalize on local expertise and drive socio-economic development ” … and a school of performing arts at Laurentian University.

These were just a few of the ideas participants brought to the table at last evening’s public input session, part of the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation’s economic visioning process.

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NEWS RELEASE: LAURENTIAN ENGINEERING STUDENTS MAKE HISTORY

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.

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

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Sudbury needs premier needs to act boldly [turn Laurentian in global Harvard of hardrock mining] – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – February 9, 2015)

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

Note: this is the second of two parts.

Sudbury: Paris of the Mining World

While I can’t remember who coined the phrase, “Sudbury, the Paris of the Mining World” – I wish I had been that clever – there is an amazing amount of truth to the statement. Obviously, in no uncertain terms, does any part of Sudbury remind anyone – even in a drugged or drunken state – of Paris.

However, my lake-filled, mid-sized hometown does have a wide variety of retail, tourist, educational and other amenities that most tiny isolated mining towns do not and it is located only 400 km north of Canada’s largest city, Toronto.

A few years ago, a colleague who moved from Red Lake to Sudbury almost considered herself in “mining heaven” with the abundance of amenities not found in that tiny gold mining centre.

In addition to the Ontario government’s new differentiation and international student outreach policies, there are many other reasons why all post-secondary mining programs should be relocated to Sudbury’s Laurentian University.

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Accent: Laurentian as ‘Harvard of Hardrock Mining’ – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – February 7, 2015)

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

Note: This is the first of two parts.

Laurentian University economics professor David Robinson, who ran for the Green Party in Sudbury’s provincial byelection on Thursday, 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 Glenn Thibeault and even Premier Kathleen Wynne, both have also mentioned — but not with the same passion as 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, then 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.

With this consolidation, not only would the premier solidify Sudbury’s premier role in underground mining, supply and services, mining education and research in Canada, she would also dovetail with current policy proposals from her own Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities that are trying to cut duplication in the university sector and increase the number of international students attending the province’s universities.

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Attention Premier Wynne: Turn Laurentian Into Global Harvard of Hardrock Mining – by Stan Sudol (January 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.

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Leaders hope to inspire new [economic] visions for Sudbury – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – 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.”

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Make Sudbury mining centre: Robinson – by Staff (Sudbury Star – January 24, 2015)

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

Green Party candidate David Robinson says Sudbury is strategically positioned to reap the benefits of developing northwestern Ontario’s Ring of Fire, as long as every effort is made to turn Sudbury into a global centre for mining excellence.

Local leadership in developing meaningful partnerships with business, industry, the education sector and higher orders of government are key to Robinson’s plan. “My plan for Northern Ontario puts Sudbury front and centre on a global stage, and will make Sudbury the staging area for developing the Ring of Fire,” Robinson said in a release.

“My plan starts with giving Northern communities the incentive and the tools that they need to seize control of their own destinies. For too long, Sudbury and other Northern communities have had to go cap in hand to Toronto, rather than being able to quickly seize local ideas and initiatives.”

Robinson said Sudbury’s local potential can be unlocked by building partnerships with job-creators like Laurentian University and Sudbury’s vigorous mining supply sector. Vacant land in the city’s downtown is strategically located to host new mining supply startups ready to capitalize on developing the Ring of Fire.

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

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Real-time communications to allow deep mining

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 above-ground 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.

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.

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Mining sector lacks support for innovation: Industry expert – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life –  November 03, 2014)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Pierre Lassonde to address mining sector challenges at Laurentian Nov. 6

The mining industry lacks the government support needed to innovate, says Pierre Lassonde, chairman of Franco-Nevada Corporation.

Lassonde is scheduled to speak at Laurentian University’s Fraser Auditorium Thursday, Nov. 6, where he plans to address many of the issues Canada’s mining sector faces.

“The Ontario government blew $300 million on MaRS (Innovation) here in Toronto for high technology that has gone nowhere, producing nothing,” Lassonde said in a phone interview with NorthernLife.ca. “Why don’t you invest that money in exploration and find billion-dollar ore bodies that are going to produce a billion dollars worth of taxes?”

Lassonde said there have not been any major technological breakthroughs in the mining sector since the 1980s. While machinery has gotten bigger and more efficient, and exploration techniques have gotten more refined, nothing has changed dramatically, he said.

“We’re reaching the limit of many of the technologies we’ve been using for the past 50 years,” Lassonde said. The advent of reflection seismology in oil exploration increased the rate of new discoveries from one for every 10 drill holes, to seven for every 10 drill holes, Lassonde said, but there has been no such advancement in mining exploration.

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Government grants $15 million for deep mining research – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – January 22, 2014)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

CEMI will use funds to make deep mining more efficient

The Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) received $15 million in federal funding for its Ultra Deep Mining Network, announced Greg Rickford, Minister of State for Science and Technology.

Rickford made the announcement at Science North’s Vale Cavern, where representatives from CEMI and Vale said the funding will help address the challenges posed by mining deeper than 2.5 km.

The CEMI project was one of the winners of the government’s Business-led Networks of Centres of Excellence. The $15 million for the Ultra Deep Mining Network was the largest grant awarded to the program’s four funding recipients.

“Clearly, Sudbury is going to be the face of ultra-deep mining research,” said Rickford. “We think this kind of research isn’t just important to improve the effectiveness of deep mining and safety, but it also creates jobs.” Douglas Morrison, CEMI’s president and CEO, said in addition to the government’s contribution Wednesday, the Ultra Deep Mining Network has received $31 million in funding from the mining industry.

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Digging deep for deep mining – by Ben Leeson (Sudbury Star – January 23, 2014)

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

The Centre of Excellence in Mining Innovation wants to go deep — as in more than 2.5 kilometres below the surface — and on Wednesday, got a strong hand in getting there.

CEMI was announced as a winner of the business-led Networks of Centres of Excellence program, receiving $15 million for its Ultra-Deep Mining Network proposal. Greg Rickford, federal minister of state for Science and Technology, announced the four winners during a press conference in the Vale Cavern at Science North.

“This is a fine example of exactly the kind of collaboration we like to support through the Business-led Networks of Centres of Excellence program,” said Rickford, MP for Kenora.

“It will bring together members of the business and research community to help solve critical challenges that affect the international competitiveness of Canadian mining companies.”

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NEWS RELEASE: CEMI awarded $15 Million for Ultra-Deep Mining Network


(L to R) Samantha Espley, Vale; Janet Walden, NSERC; Douglas Morrison, CEMI; Minister Greg Rickford; Irene Sterian, ReMAP; Sylvain Cofsky, GARDN; Loretta Renard, ReMAP; and Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk

Sudbury, ON (January 22, 2014) – The Honourable Greg Rickford, Minister of State (Science and Technology) was in Sudbury to announce winners of the Business-led Networks of Centres of Excellence (BL-NCE) program. The Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) was selected as one of four recipients for its Ultra-Deep Mining Network (UDMN) proposal awarded $15 million, the largest grant recipient of the 2014 competition.

In conjunction with $15 million received from the BL-NCE, the UDMN has also received significant partnership commitments of $31 million in leveraged cash and in–kind contributions. The UDMN is a $46 million business-driven network, founded and funded by members of the mining and oil & gas industries, with the active participation of small to medium sized enterprises, industry agencies, research facilities and academia.

Managed through CEMI, the UDMN will lever collaborative, networked solution teams to solve critical private sector research and development challenges that impact resource extraction in ultra deep mining environments, as well as in deep, tight shale-hosted hydrocarbon reservoirs. Addressing these development and operational challenges in some of the deepest mines in the world will result in increased productivity, decreased risk to workers, lower energy utilization, as well as lower capital and operating costs, achieved through performance and efficiency improvements.

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New [Laurentian] school of mines to take a broad approach – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – November 7, 2013)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

The Goodman School of Mines will explore all aspects of the mining industry

Nicole Tardif, the program co-ordinator for Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines, updated mining industry professionals in Sudbury on the school’s progress at the 2013 Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium. Jonathan Migneault Northern Life.
Laurentian University’s new Goodman School of Mines has taken a multi-disciplinary approach to teach every aspect of the mining cycle.

Nicole Tardif, the Goodman School of Mines’ program co-ordinator, said staff have worked to offer students a wide variety of programs ranging from geology, to engineering and workplace safety.

Tardif addressed a crowd of mining professionals Wednesday at the 2013 Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium in Sudbury with updates on the school’s progress since it was founded in 2012.

The school’s goal, Tardif said, has been to regroup Laurentian’s various mining-related courses to create relevant programs for mining students.

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