Mining (Resource Assignment)

Bri Allen, Allison Mitchell-Emslie, Dylan Day and Adam Marchione

Nature of work (Bri Allen)

 Operate heavy machines in order to extract ore, coal, rock and other materials
 Drill and blast through rock making tunnels underground
 Breaks rock to create tunnels deep underground were ore, coal, rocks and other minerals can be pulled
 Follow instructions
 Be able to spot a problem so that you can protect others while on the job
 Know your surroundings and what you are doing
 Methane gas can build up which can cause an explosion in the coal mine
 Cave-Ins- holes can collapse for many different reasons
 Floods can cause the structure to weaken all the walls to collapse causing deaths
 The conditions in the mine can cause heath risks like lung damage, poisoning (long term cases) respiratory irritations and
infections, bleeding headaches, sickness and many other heath problems
 Generates a lot of money to Canada's economy (around $10 billion every year
 Plays a huge part in Canada's trade system 75% of the output of minerals is to U.S, Asia and Europe
 Contributes to other resources in Canada some of which are: transportation, construction and equipment manufacturing etc.
 Around 260,000 people employed
 Alberta Oil Sands (Bri Allen)
 $49,308 million in mineral production (2001)
 Largest mineral producer in Canada
 Natural mixture of sand and other minerals make up the oil sands
 Have the largest oil sands and is the largest producers, most developed and used?
 Athabasca oil sands are the main ones in Alberta (found around Fort McMurray)
Hibernia (Bri Allen)
 An oil field off the North Atlantic Ocean
 The company that owns the oil sands is ExxonMobil
 Developed in 1986
 They started the producing oil on November 17,1997
 When they started the drilling for the oil it was in the 1960's
Description (Dylan Day)
What are the resources that Canada has?
 gold
 silver
 platinum
 diamond
 Some base metals:
 iron, copper, lead, zinc, and nickel
Why are they located in this area?
 Focus on the Alberta oil sands
 They chose it because of the high demand for coal and to support domestic heating needs
 They also mined for coal to support the CRP
Where is, the resource found? (one location, multiple locations)
 90% of coal deposits are found in western Canada
 In total Canada has 24 mine the majority in British Colombia
 Most of the Alberta mines are located in the middle of the province
 BC mines are nearing the boarder of Montana
How can they be divided/classed/organized?
 Classification of minerals in Canada follow by precious metals, base metals, energy minerals and industrial minerals.
 Here are the major minerals that are mined in Canada (gold, silver, platinum) and diamonds; base metals (iron, copper, lead,
zinc, nickel); energy minerals such as coal and uranium; and industrial minerals (limestone, rock salt, potash, gypsum).

Types of minerals (Dylan Day)

What does Canada have in terms of this resource?

 In Canada, there are 6 main types of industrial (non-metallic) minerals they are asbestos, potash, gypsum, soapstone,
diamond and gravel most of these materials benefit Canada’s economy.
 Potash is found in southern Saskatchewan by the American border.
 Why Are they located in this area?
 In the 1940’s when oil tycoons were drilling for oil they discovered large amounts of potash.
 Potash mines are still producing high amounts of this mineral.
 Where is, the resource found? (one location, multiple locations)
 One main location potash is primary found is in Canada in southern Saskatchewan and over the border into North Dakota and
Montana
 The vast deposit of 1,600 meters deep in a town called Belle Plaine.
 How can they be divided/classed/organized?
 Potash can be used for fertilizer, icing salt and industrial and commercial soap but majorly fertilizer
 What are the levels of quality?
 Potash is a major source for potassium and found in every cell in every plant
 The cost for fertilizer is rising and Canada is responsible for 50% of the world’s potash.

Threats/Problems (Allison Mitchell-Emslie)

  Regardless of the success in mining there is still millions of tones of waste still found on our land, in the air, and water.
 Acid Precipitation is a big cause of pollution. Smelters and refineries emit sulphur dioxide which causes acid rain.
 Abandoned mines leave scares on land and is a source of pollution as mine waste leak into rivers and lakes.
 Around 50% of minerals mined in Canada Before any smelting or Manufacturing is done. We are exporting the jobs
that result from the steps of final refining and manufacturing.
 Canada's mining production be harmed by unexpected events in countries around the world.
 Many of the high-quality reserves are being depleted. In the future Canada, may have to rely on mineral deposits, or
find areas from far from market or transportation route.
 Canada is starting to get some foreign competition in the mining business. Developing countries in Asia, Africa and
South America can make and sell their mineral products for cheaper than Canadian companies.
 Mining towns depend on there mines for their existence. When a mine closes down the many not survive.
Compare Methods of Mining (Allison Mitchell-Emslie)
 Strip
 Overburden is removed, may blast to remove, loaded onto trucks of conveyor belts either by shovel or draglines
(buckets dragged on the ground, stored until it gets processed or shipped
 Open Pit
 Overburden is removed, holes drilled 10-15m deep, explosives, rock is blasted, ore is loaded into trucks by large
shovels, stored until processed
 Underground
 Miners take an elevator down to the area ,Holes drilled at the slope and filled with explosives ,Explosive set, then rocks
are blasted ,Miners test the walls ,Blasted rock is called “muck” ,Muck is picked up by front end loader or train ,Muck
dropped down hole to be crushed ,Crushed is loaded into hoist ,Store it until processed ,All 3 methods use explosives to
get minerals ,All 3 are taken on trucks to be stored than processed, Strip and Open Pit have the overburden removed,
underground doesn’t ,Underground is the most dangerous method to humans
Prospects for the Future (Adam Marchione)

 Optimistic or pessimistic future?

 There is an optimistic future for Mining in Canada, people are working on the issues and problems involving this topic.
 Current Issues Canada’s facing in the Mining Industry are:
 Negative impact on environment. past 20 years, over $1 billion being spent controlling emissions & processing plants.
 Canada produces more of the pollutants that cause acid precipitation. Acid rock drainage is also a big problem related to
mining. ARD refers to the acidic water (toxic soup) that is created when sulphide minerals are exposed to air and
water. Mining can also be very energy-intensive because of fuel use and lot of electricity is used too. Reducing energy
consumption at mines would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and would allow fossil fuel to last longer
 Land disruption issues related to mining in Canada are:
 Waste rock= want a specific mineral they must remove all the rocks covering the rare one that contains the mineral they
want, stored in dumpsters which become hazardous
 Tailings= ore is crushed to a sand and processed in the mill to extract the mineral, add chemicals to extract the mineral.
Tailings enter wildlife making it harmful to all living things.
 Possible Solutions to Issues in Canada’s Mining Industry are:
 Some ways that mining companies can reduce their energy consumption would be to:
 Reduce the lighting used and use less energy consuming lights, reduce energy used for air, change to variable speed drives
reduce energy so it can keep the motor at only the needed torque output to do the job, reduce energy related to compressed air
leaks,
 Some solutions to the land disruption issues related to mining in Canada would be to:
 Reduce the amount of waste produced and stored, reduce the total area taken up vegetation cleared, planning mines around
previously used mines and existing infrastructure if possible, transplant any endangered plants found on site, fund and
advance organizations that work to coordinate developments for the problem of acid rock drainage (ARD) , store waste rock
underwater when possible and flood and seal underground mines
 What is their chance of success?
 Less of a want then a need, been in motion for a while. Over time fossil fuels will be used less, acid rock drainage will be
more understood and there will be better solutions too it as well as waste rock and tailings.
 Future needs?
 Alternative systems for mining that are less energy consuming and less costly but also a system that is more environmentally
friendly.

Importance (Adam Marchione)

 The Canadian mining industry is a huge employer:

 Employs more than 373 000 workers across the country in mineral extraction, smelting, fabrication and manufacturing, and
indirectly employs another 190 000.
 Canada has one of the largest mining supply sectors in the world with over 3 700 companies supplying engineering,
geotechnical, environmental, financial and more mining operations.
 Mining has the highest wages and salerues of all industrial sectors in Canada with an average annual pay over $115 000.
 Economical:
 Mining contributed to $56 billion to Canada's Gross Domestic Product or GDP (one of the primary indicators used to
estimate the health of a country's economy) in 2015
 The industry also accounted for 19% of the value of Canadian goods exports in 2015.
 Canada's value of mineral production was $42.8 billion in 2015.
 Global leader:
 Canada is one of the largest mining nations in the world producing more than 60 minerals and metals.
 Canada also ranks first in global production of potash
 Second in uranium, nickel and niobium.
 Third in cobalt, aluminum and platinum group metals.
 Fourth in salt, sulphur and tungsten.
 Fifth in diamonds, graphite and gold.