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Feature
42
42 The Prairies’
promise
A new era is dawning for mining in Canada’s
Prairie provinces
By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

Project Profile

48 Doubling down
Alamos Gold is aiming to turn its Island Gold
mine in Ontario into one of the lowest cost
and most profitable gold mines in Canada
by 2026
By Ailbhe Goodbody

Technology

52 A wealth of data
48 Asset monitoring solutions are leveraging
real-time data points for smarter
maintenance spending and reduced
52 downtime
By Sarah St-Pierre

64 Dog details
A tragedy at an Ontario mine
sparked a province-wide effort to
improve the safety of mine shafts.
In 1950, CIM Bulletin detailed the
progress made
Compiled by Michele Beacom

August 2023 | Août 2023 | 5

AUGUST 2023 | AOÛT 2023

In each issue
8 Editor’s letter 12
10 President’s notes

Tools of the trade

11 The best in new technology
Compiled by Alice Martin

Developments
12 Wildfires halt mining
operations in Quebec
By Alice Martin
13 A switch to renewable diesel
By Kelsey Rolfe
19 Rio Tinto’s big spend
By Ailbhe Goodbody

Column
28 Energy conservation as a
decarbonization strategy just
makes sense
By Andrew Cooper

Modern miner
30 Stantec’s Lee Ann Malley is
championing neuro-inclusion
and safety in the workplace
By Ailbhe Goodbody
Oil sands
33 Tire manufacturers and
suppliers have to contend with
the unique requirements of oil
sands mining sites
By Kelsey Rolfe
36 Researchers at the Northern
Alberta Institute of
Technology are investigating
various sensor-based
technologies for determining
the composition of oil sands
deposits
By Lynn Greiner
30
38 In recent years, mining
operations in the oil sands of
northeastern Alberta have
uncovered fossils of 13 marine
reptiles and one dinosaur from
the early Cretaceous Period; it
is Donald Henderson’s job to
recover these finds
By Ailbhe Goodbody
CIM News
55 CIM—fuelled by its members—
is driving the advancement of
mineral industry knowledge,
guidelines and leading
practices
By Rosemary Mantini
33
Contenu francophone
57 Table des matières
57 Lettre de l’éditeur
58 Mot du président
Les actualités
59 L’investissement majeur de Rio
Tinto dans l’aluminium au
Québec
Par Ailbhe Goodbody
Profil de projet
61 Doubler la mise
Alamos Gold cherche à
transformer Island Gold en
Ontario en l’une des mines d’or
les plus rentables et à plus
faibles coûts au Canada d’ici
2026
Par Ailbhe Goodbody

6 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5

It’s a big milestone for a piece of rubber. But Linatex® is so much
more than that. It’s unlike anything else, using a unique 95%
natural latex formula that has made Linatex® the strongest
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Editor’s letter

The minerals score

J
ust as we were putting the finishing touches on this issue, better than the average across all sectors, was behind Australia,
one in which you will find news of rare earth elements pro- Indonesia, Chile and the European Union.
duction, a revised mining law meant to accelerate mine This study found that Australia is the best prepared. The
developments, the streamlining of engineer certification and country’s score of 92 made Canada a distant second. “Thanks to a
further investment in lithium upgrading, a report arrived by mature mining industry and consistent geoscientific research
email that presented an interesting lens for viewing these head- efforts, Australia has a variety of proven battery, base and ferrous
lines. It came from BloombergNEF, a research group where the metals reserves, with each mineral accounting for more than 10
“N” and “E” represent new energy, and was titled “Ranking the per cent of the global total, except rare earths,” stated the report.
readiness of economies to boost critical minerals supply.” As a complement to this issue, I encourage you to parse the
The research report scored nine countries: Australia, Brazil, report. With all numbers meant to be definitive, there are many
Canada, Chile, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, assumptions built into it. Whereas the researchers call for more
Indonesia, South Africa and the United States, as well as the exploration to boost our mineral reserves, the Mining Association
European Union, to evaluate their relative preparedness to grow of Canada (p. 16) highlights the need for infrastructure to help
the supply of critical minerals such as copper, lithium and make mineral projects financially competitive propositions. While
graphite. The rating was compiled from an evaluation of their the Democratic Republic of Congo ranked the least prepared to
mineral reserves, critical minerals strategies, political stability, boost output in the report, the Kamoa-Kakula copper project in
talent—comprising mining salaries, education levels and gender DRC raced into production in 2021 and continues to expand.
equity—and environmental impact assessment frameworks. Despite these quibbles, or whether you agree that Canada’s
The research relied on public data such as The Canadian “C” grade is warranted, or if you think compensation in the
Critical Minerals Strategy, Statistics Canada, The World Bank, United States’s critical minerals sector is accurately portrayed (I
the World Economic Forum and the United States Geological don’t), this high-level assessment and its methodology is a com-
Survey. Canada scored a 73. It was among the top countries for pelling bird’s-eye view of the international mining landscape at
its social and government stability, its strategy and the credibil- this critical minerals moment.
ity of its environmental assessment framework.
What dragged it down was the relative size of its critical min-
eral reserves and how much people working in the mining indus-
try earn as compared to the average across all industries in the
country. “While Canada has reserves for seven out of the nine
minerals within our consideration, its share of global reserves is Ryan Bergen, Editor-in-chief
less than five per cent for all of them,” the report noted. As for editor@cim.org
salaries, the Canadian mining industry, despite being 52 per cent @Ryan_CIM_Mag

Editor-in-chief Ryan Bergen, rbergen@cim.org Advertising sales

Dovetail Communications Inc.
Managing editor Michele Beacom, mbeacom@cim.org
Tel.: 905.886.6640; Fax: 905.886.6615; www.dvtail.com
Senior editor Ailbhe Goodbody, agoodbody@cim.org
Senior Account Executives
Section editor Silvia Pikal, spikal@cim.org Leesa Nacht, lnacht@dvtail.com, 905.886.6640 ext 321
Editorial intern Alice Martin, amartin@cim.org Dinah Quattrin, dquattrin@dvtail.com, 905.886.6640 ext 308
Neal Young, nyoung@dvtail.com, 905.886.6640 ext 306
Contributors Andrew Cooper, Lynn Greiner, Rosemary Mantini,
Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco, Kelsey Rolfe, Sarah St-Pierre Subscriptions
Editorial advisory board Mohammad Babaei Khorzhoughi, Online version included in CIM Membership ($197/yr). Print
Vic Pakalnis, Steve Rusk, Nathan Stubina version for institutions or agencies – Canada: $275/yr (AB, BC,
Translations Karen Rolland, karen.g.rolland@gmail.com MB, NT, NU, SK, YT add 5% GST; ON add 13% HST; QC add
5% GST + 9.975% PST; NB, NL, NS, PE add 15% HST).
Layout and design Clò Communications Inc., Print version for institutions or agencies – USA/International:
This issue’s cover communications.clo@gmail.com US$325/yr. Online access to single copy: $50.
The Phase 3+ expansion site at Published 8 times a year by: Copyright©2023. All rights reserved.
Alamos Gold’s Island Gold mine Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum
1040 – 3500 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West ISSN 1718-4177. Publications Mail No. 09786.
Courtesy of Alamos Gold Westmount, QC H3Z 3C1 Postage paid at CPA Saint-Laurent, QC.
Tel.: 514.939.2710; Fax: 514.939.2714 Dépôt légal: Bibliothèque nationale du Québec.
www.cim.org; magazine@cim.org The Institute, as a body, is not responsible for
statements made or opinions advanced either in articles
or in any discussion appearing in its publications.

AGAZINE A AGAZINE A AGAZINE A

AL M WA AL M WA AL M WA
ON RD ON RD ON RD
TI S TI S TI S
NA NA NA
:B

:B

:B
22

22

23
2B

2B

2B
20

20

20

Gold Silver Silver

Winner Winner Winner Printed in Canada
2020 2021 2022
PR

PR

PR
2B

2B

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IX

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IX
:B

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DU DU DU
MA 22 MA 22 MA 23
GA 20 GA 20 GA 20
ZINE CANADIEN ZINE CANADIEN ZINE CANADIEN

8 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5

 President’s notes
Courtesy of Mike Cinnamond
Impacts and
benefits
A
t CIM’s recent Montreal conference, themed “Building
Trust to Decarbonize the World,” we had some great key-
note sessions. One of them focused on the need for miners
to ensure that we build trust with the Indigenous communities in
which we operate or are proposing to operate.
This really resonated with me as it is a very important area for
my company, B2Gold, in every jurisdiction we operate in but most
recently right here in Canada. In April 2023, B2Gold acquired the
Back River project in Nunavut from Sabina Gold & Silver. Back
River will be our sixth operating mine but our first significant
venture on home soil. In doing so, we realized we needed to adjust
our engagement approach to ensure we are meeting the social
expectations around successfully working in Canada’s largest set-
tled Indigenous land claim—Nunavut. This newest Canadian Ter-
ritory was formed in 1999 with the Inuit as signatories to the
Nunavut Agreement.
When we acquired it, Back River was already a fully permitted
mining district with a strong social licence built over 12 years of
continuous and diligent work with the local Kitikmeot Inuit. As
part of this process, the project design was brought to the Inuit
early for their input, and traditional knowledge was collected
hand-in-hand with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, which repre-
sents all Kitikmeot Inuit. This information, and the views of local
10 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
If our industry
gets it right in Canada,
we can build a
Brand Canada
approach that will be
a best practice
in the world.
land users, was then used to design a mine that worked for eve-
ryone involved. The mine design integrated Inuit recommenda-
tions into all stages of the project, from baseline data collection
all the way through to closure planning. It required not just an
information sharing process that informed people of the future
mine, but a two-way engagement process and dialogue that
meaningfully changed the project to accommodate local con-
cerns where it could.
While it will likely never be possible to meet everyone’s
expectations when it comes to new mineral developments, key
efforts were made to strike a balance between the Inuit com-
munity’s desire to maintain traditional ways of life, while also
securing well-paying jobs in the region, and the company’s
desire to operate a profitable gold mine, which will bring wide-
ranging benefits for all rights holders and stakeholders.
Working together will be a way of life at Back River—not
least of all because the project is located on Inuit-owned land.
Continuous communications with the Kitikmeot Inuit Associ-
ation and the various communities and groups in the region
will allow us to keep building relationships and trust. I recently
had an amazing opportunity to sit down with Elders in Cam-
bridge Bay and they expressed a true and meaningful desire to
work alongside us. They understand that many in their com-
munities want jobs and our project can help bring this and
other benefits. But to be successful, we must properly balance
these benefits against our impacts and address issues collabo-
ratively. Only by working together can we all be successful,
which is exactly what the panellists in a keynote session at our
recent Convention were saying: If our industry gets it right in
Canada, we can build a Brand Canada approach that will be a
best practice in the world.
Mike Cinnamond
CIM President
 Tools of the trade

Versatile and lightweight

Courtesy of Teledyne FLIR

inspection videoscope
Teledyne FLIR has launched the Extech HDV700 High-Definition
Videoscope, which can help with inspection in difficult-to-reach
areas by using eight narrow and manoeuvrable waterproof (IP67)
probes. The company stated that the various fixed and articulating
probe options allow inspection without having to disassemble
machines, pipes and air ducts. Weighing 705 grams, the HDV700 is
designed for single-handed use, and it has a colour-capacitive
touchscreen that remains functional while wearing utility gloves.
Its split-screen feature also gives inspectors the ability to use
reference images live on-screen and the HDMI video output allows
live footage to be viewed on an external device by another inspector.

Camera
System
Performance-tracking Kinematic
Sensors High-
management Precision
GPS

Orange Mining’s Digger Performance Management System

(DPMS) is a fully managed, standalone system that can be

Courtesy of Orange Mining

adapted to any production digger or shovel. The system has
kinematic sensors fitted to the body, boom, stick and bucket,
and a full HD, 192 FOV, industrial camera installed on the digger.
The DPMS’s processor is installed in the cab riser in an IP65-
rated enclosure for ease of access. The DPMS continuously
measures machine performance and provides data on slewing
performance, loading performance and bucket cycle times,
among others, while also identifying machine abuse. Orange
Mining stated that the DPMS provides quantifiable
measurements to help hold OEMs and their dealers accountable
In-Cab System Comms
for warranty claims.
Interface Processor

Rugged and reliable data

Courtesy of SKF

collector and analyzer

The SKF Microlog Analyzer dBX features Multi-Point
Acquisition (MPA), which the company stated is its fastest
vibration analysis method and three times faster than its
previous Microlog series, saving time spent on taking
measurements. The product also has a 10.1-inch high-
resolution touch screen, which was designed for easy
viewing in any light condition and can display up to six
measurement windows at once. The Microlog Analyzer dBX
has 256 GB of storage and an interchangeable and
rechargeable battery that supports up to eight hours of data
collection. The Microlog Analyzer dBX can be used as a
standalone tool with the option to perform data analysis
directly on the device, without the need for an external
computer. Users can also download predefined
measurement routes to the device through the SKY
monitoring software. The company stated its rugged design
Compiled by Alice Martin and IP65 rating makes it reliable in industrial environments.

August 2023 | Août 2023 | 11

 Developments

Courtesy of Lucas Garceau

Wildfires halt
mining operations
in Quebec
Wildfires in Quebec forced sev-
eral mining operations to suspend
operations in June. Champion Iron
had to interrupt service on May
30 at a railway transporting high-
The 215 fire located
(continued on page 13) in Sept-Îles.

12 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5


purity iron ore concentrate from its
Bloom Lake mine to the port of Sept-Îles.
It completed its first rail shipment on
June 10. Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. sus-
pended underground activities and sur-
face exploration activities at the Kiena
mine in Val d’Or on June 8 and
A switch to
renewable
diesel
Heavy machinery at Borax
mine fully transitions out of
fossil diesel
By Kelsey Rolfe
In June, Rio Tinto announced its Borax
mine became the first open-pit mine
globally to transition its entire fleet, and
its blasting process, to renewable diesel
after a one-year pilot project with the
alternative fuel.
The company said it expects the
switch at its borates mine in Boron, Cali-
fornia, to reduce its emissions by 45,000
tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per
year, an amount comparable to taking
9,600 cars off the road.
“Obviously, [renewable diesel] still
creates tailpipe emissions, but it’s a great
first or second step towards decar-
bonization,” said Ryan Harnden, chief
operating officer of Rio Tinto Borates, in
an interview with CIM Magazine. Rio
Tinto has said it will reduce its company-
wide Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by
50 per cent by 2030, and estimated diesel
use for its mining fleet and rail made up
13 per cent of those emissions in 2022.
The company converted a fleet of
roughly 35 vehicles at Borax, including
14 haul trucks, three loaders and its
dozers, graders, water carts and drills.
Borax’s shovels are electric-powered.
The changeover came after the Borax
team spent a year running two trucks—
one powered by renewable diesel and one
by fossil diesel—on the same workload
and functions to compare the perform-
ance of renewable diesel. The trial was in
partnership with Rolls-Royce and renew-
able diesel manufacturer Neste.
announced it had resumed operations on
June 13, stating there was a total down-
time of 36 hours. Several other miners
were impacted and have since resumed
operations, including Iron Ore Company
of Canada and Agnico Eagle Mines. Hecla
Mining’s Casa Berardi mine suspended
The switch to renewable diesel at Rio Tinto’s Borax mine in California was incentivized by
the state’s renewable diesel subsidies.
“We did more than 5,000 hours, and
all the way through we did checks on the
engine, the wear components, injectors.
There were no major issues,” Harnden
said. He added there were slight varia-
tions in performance, with the renewable
diesel-fuelled truck having slightly less
power under heavy loads, but “nothing to
stop us going forward.”
In May, Borax also transitioned its
blasting process to renewable diesel. The
mine uses hard detonators, with the
explosive column composed of a mix of
fuel oil and fertilizer. “It’s a very sensitive
chemical combination, but we’ve been
able to swap over to that without too
much testing. That just shows how versa-
tile renewable diesel is,” Harnden said.
Renewable diesel is made from the
same vegetable oils and animal fats as
biodiesel but is manufactured differently,
and the end product is a hydrocarbon that
is “chemically identical” to petroleum-
based diesel, according to the United
States Energy Information Administra-
tion. That equivalency means it can be
used as a direct replacement for petro-
leum diesel. Biodiesel, on the other hand,
can only be blended with traditional
Developments
operations twice, the second time begin-
ning on June 20 and it did not resume
operations until June 29. At the time of
print, 65 wildfires were still being fought
in Quebec by the Société de protection
des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU).
– Alice Martin
Courtesy of Rio Tinto
diesel in limited quantities due to its ten-
dency to congeal at colder temperatures.
Harnden said Borax initially trialled
biodiesel in its vehicles but found the pH
level of the fuel damaged the vehicles’
engines, prompting increased mainte-
nance time and expense.
Renewable diesel also has a lower car-
bon emissions profile than both biodiesel
and regular diesel. According to the U.S.
Department of Energy, renewable diesel
emits 4.2 per cent less carbon dioxide
than the same volume of regular diesel.
Rio Tinto began trialling renewable
diesel at its Kennecott copper mine in
Utah in October 2022, in partnership
with Cummins, to determine how the fuel
performs in a different operational envi-
ronment and with different equipment.
The mine has a “significantly long” ramp
that takes trucks two hours under heavy
load to get out of the pit, Harnden said.
Renewable diesel’s chemical composi-
tion and lower emissions profile have
made it the fastest-growing biofuel for
the past two years, according to the Inter-
national Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA
also pointed to favourable policies as
driving renewable diesel growth, includ-
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 13

ing the expansion of biomass-based
diesel tax credits through to 2024 in the
U.S. Inflation Reduction Act as well as the
European Union’s Renewable Energy
Directive—which aims to increase the
share of renewable energy in transport to
at least 14 per cent, including a minimum
share of 3.5 per cent of advanced biofuels.
Harnden said Rio Tinto was incen-
tivized by California’s renewable diesel
subsidies, which have made the fuel
“highly competitive” on a cost basis in
the state. While Harnden declined to say
how the costs of renewable diesel and
fossil diesel compared, he added that “for
us it’s within cents’ difference.”
The alternative fuel is advanced
enough to deploy “anywhere in the
world” as an interim decarbonization
solution, he said, but scaling it often
comes down to economic incentives.
In 2021, renewable diesel consump-
tion grew an “exponential” 65 per cent
from 2019 levels, the IEA reported, an
increase larger than any other biofuel
type. In 2022, global biofuel demand was
expected to be six per cent higher than
2021, with renewable diesel making up
the largest share of the expansion.
According to February projections
from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S.
renewable diesel capacity could more
than double in the next few years, from
roughly 170,000 barrels per day or 2.6
billion gallons per year at the end of 2022
to 384,000 barrels per day or 5.9 billion
gallons per year by the end of 2025. The
department noted that in 2022 and early
2023, eight new renewable diesel refiner-
ies began production in the U.S.
Canada is also stepping up its renew-
able diesel production, according to a
May market snapshot from the Canada
Energy Regulator (CER). Seven new
facilities are planned or under construc-
tion in British Columbia, Alberta, Que-
bec and Newfoundland and Labrador,
which would collectively add up to
70,000 barrels per day of production by
2027 or 4.07 billion litres per year, up
from zero in 2020.
The CER attributed the federal gov-
ernment’s clean fuel regulations, intro-
duced in 2020 and which came into effect
on July 1, as “one of the main drivers in
the development of renewable diesel pro-
duction in Canada.” The regulations
require liquid fuel suppliers to reduce the
carbon intensity of the fuels they make
and sell in Canada by about 15 per cent
below 2016 levels by 2030. CIM
14 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
Champion Iron’s Bloom Lake mine facilities.
Champion Iron
pushes ahead with
high-grade pellet plan
Champion Iron announced in late April
that it had approved an increase of $52
million to its initial budget of $10 million
for the engineering and construction of
its direct reduction pellet feed (DRPF)
project at its Bloom Lake iron ore com-
plex in Quebec. The project has an antici-
pated cost of $470.7 million and is
expected to be completed by the second
half of 2025.
Detailed engineering is ongoing for
the project, which aims to upgrade the
Bloom Lake Phase 2 plant’s production of
iron ore concentrate from 66.2 per cent
to 69 per cent with combined silica and
alumina content below 1.2 per cent, mak-
ing it one of the world’s highest-purity
iron ore products.
The product can be converted to
direct reduced iron (DRI) pellets and
used as a primary ingredient in DRI and
electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking,
technology that produces steel using
scrap material and DRI as primary
feedstock.
Using DRI/EAF processes in steelmak-
ing reduces carbon emissions when com-
pared to traditional blast furnace (BF) and
basic oxygen furnace (BOF) processes,
which use iron ore and coal as feedstock to
produce steel. According to an estimate by
Champion Iron using Wood Mackenzie
data, its DRPF project can reduce emis-
sions by 50 per cent by switching from
BF/BOF steelmaking to DRI/EAF processes.
David Cataford, Champion Iron’s
CEO, stated in a May 30 press release
that the project is a “rare global oppor-
tunity to produce direct reduction qual-
ity iron ore, enabling steelmaking
without the use of coal.”
Courtesy of Champion Iron
In January, Champion Iron announced
the findings of its feasibility study for the
project, which showed an average life-of-
mine production of 7.5 million tonnes per
year of DRPF quality iron-ore with an
after-tax net present value of $738.2 mil-
lion and an internal rate of return of 24
per cent.
In a January 26 press release, it stated
the project will regrind iron ore concen-
trate prior to submitting it to a reverse
flotation process to further remove silica
from iron oxides, which will reduce energy
consumption and improve iron recovery
compared to traditional flowsheets.
According to an August 2022 report
from the Institute for Energy Economics
and Financial Analysis, DRI/EAF tech-
nology requires high-quality iron ore
(DR-grade) with iron content of 67 per
cent and above, but DR-grade iron ore
makes up only about four per cent of
global iron ore supply. It stated that
among industry, there is concern that a
lack of DR-grade ore will limit switching
from BF/BOF to DRI processes. However,
it added that new technologies are chal-
lenging this view.
The World Steel Association stated
that in 2020, on average, every tonne of
2.6
The total direct emissions from steel
production in 2020, in billions of tonnes
67
The percentage of iron content needed
for DR-grade iron ore
4
The percentage of DR-grade iron ore
that makes up the global iron ore
supply
 Developments

Courtesy of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions

steel produced led to the emission of 1.85
tonnes of CO2. In 2020, it stated total
direct emissions from steel production
were approximately 2.6 billion tonnes,
which represents between seven and
nine per cent of global anthropogenic
CO2 emissions. – Silvia Pikal

Eldorado Gold’s
Lamaque mine
receives its first BEV
truck
In June, Eldorado Gold Québec added its
first battery-electric truck to its fleet at
the Lamaque underground gold mine in The Sandvik TH550B battery-electric truck has a 50-tonne loading capacity.
Val-d’Or, Quebec. The TH550B 50-tonne
truck from Sandvik Mining and Rock and CEO of Eldorado Gold Corporation, in the French press release that the truck is a
Solutions is the first of two BEV trucks to a June 16 press release from Sandvik. first step in meeting the mine’s targets to
be assembled and delivered in Canada Eldorado Gold stated in its own June lower its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
from the Sandvik factory in Winnipeg. 15 press release published in French that In 2022, Eldorado Gold released its first
The second will be delivered to Eldorado it is the first mining company in Quebec climate report. By 2030, the company aims
Gold Québec sometime in the fall. to integrate a Sandvik TH550B BEV truck to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG
“Eldorado Gold is excited to take this into its fleet. emissions by 30 per cent from a 2020 base-
next step towards electrifying our mining Sylvain Lehoux, vice-president of Eldo- line, a reduction equal to about 65,000
operations,” said George Burns, president rado Gold’s Canadian operations, said in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

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August 2023 | Août 2023 | 15


Lehoux added that the truck will also
improve health and safety by reducing
worker exposure to diesel exhaust.
The TH550B features Sandvik’s self-
swapping battery technology, which the
company said improves equipment avail-
ability and safety.
According to Eldorado Gold Québec,
once both trucks are fully operational, it
expects a reduction in the mine’s GHG
emissions of 1,700 tonnes of CO2 annu-
ally. The Lamaque mine, partly due to
being powered by hydroelectricity, is
one of the lowest GHG-emitting gold
mines in the world, the company said in
the release.
The Lamaque mine has been in pro-
duction since 2019 and is one of four
mines the company currently operates.
According to Eldorado’s 2022 sustain-
ability report, Lamaque generated 0.11
tonnes of Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions
per ounce of gold produced, while the
average across its operations was 0.44
tonnes per ounce. – Alice Martin
MAC report urges
government to
increase mining
investment
While the mining industry in Canada has
recovered from the pandemic, more
investment is needed from the federal
government to increase the production of
critical minerals, according to a report
released in May by the Mining Associa-
tion of Canada (MAC) titled “The Cana-
Courtesy of Newcrest Mining Ltd.
The MAC report stated that the Canadian government needs to increase mining
investment to avoid lagging behind in critical minerals production. Pictured: Newcrest’s
Red Chris gold-copper project in British Columbia.
16 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
dian Mining Story: Economic Impacts and
Drivers for the Global Energy Transition.”
The report detailed how the mining
industry contributed five per cent—or
$125 billion—to Canada’s gross domestic
product in 2021. It also noted that
Canada, which produces 60 minerals and
metals, is among the top 10 producers in
the world for 26 of them, notably potash,
gemstones and niobium, but that produc-
tion has declined since 2005 for nickel,
zinc and copper. According to the report,
this decline in production is partly linked
to a decrease in mineral investment.
“We are no longer a top producer of
minerals critical for a low-carbon econ-
omy and many minerals are not being
produced at the levels they were a decade
ago,” said Pierre Gratton, MAC’s presi-
dent and CEO, in a press release accom-
panying the report.
The report praised the federal govern-
ment’s commitments to the mining
industry in its 2022 and 2023 budgets.
Most recently, in the 2023 budget, the
government established a $1.5 billion
Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund for
energy and transportation projects to be
used in critical minerals operations.
The federal budget also proposed an
additional $500 million for the govern-
ment’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF)
over the next 10 years towards the devel-
opment of clean technologies, and a re-
allocation of $1.5 billion within the fund’s
existing resources to support projects in
clean technologies, critical minerals and
industrial transformation.
However, MAC advised that more
investments are needed for Canada to
Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
#ICYMI
In case you missed it (ICYMI), here’s
some notable news since the last issue
of CIM Magazine, which is just a sam-
ple of the news you’ll find in our
weekly recap emailed to our newslet-
ter subscribers.
In June, several Canadian companies vis-
ited Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana (pic-
tured), to discuss a potential launch of a
U.S.-Canada regional hub, as reported by
The Astana Times. A special session was
held as part of the 13th Astana Mining
and Metallurgy Congress to consider
opportunities for American and Canadian
companies, including Hatch, Cameco Cor-
poration, Barrick Gold, Arras Minerals,
Nutrien, Teck Resources and B2Gold, that
are doing or considering business in the
Kazakstan mining sector.
NASA is taking steps towards lunar mining
and developing resources on the moon
that would first include oxygen and water,
and could later expand to iron and rare
earths, as reported by Reuters. The plans
are part of NASA’s Artemis mission and
look towards advancing commercial
opportunities in space. Sometime this
summer, NASA will send a test drill rig to
the moon, and is planning a larger-scale
excavation of moon soil and a pilot pro-
cessing plant in 2032.
General Motors Co. and South Korean
company Posco Future M Co., Ltd. have
secured $300 million in funding to build a
new electric-vehicle battery component
plant in Quebec, as reported by
Bloomberg. The provincial and federal
governments will each contribute about
$150 million and the plant will cost a total
of $600 million. The two companies
announced plans in March 2022 to form a
joint venture called Ultium Cam that
would build a cathode material factory in
Becancour, halfway between Montreal
and Quebec City.

Labour costs will soon surpass fuel costs
as the biggest expense of operating
mines, as reported by The Northern Miner.
Data from Costmine Intelligence, a unit of
The Northern Miner Group, showed that
in Canada and the U.S., wage cost
increases ranged from five per cent to 12
per cent in 2021, and that salaried staff
saw similar increases. The data showed
that until 2021, wage cost increases had
largely matched inflation.
The key to Canada’s success in building a
critical mineral supply will be prioritizing
Indigenous partnerships and values in the
net-zero transition, according to a new
report from The First Nations Major Proj-
ects Coalition. The report highlighted
how First Nations’ participation in all
elements of the critical mineral supply
chain could lead to economic growth,
environmental stewardship and social
responsibility.
The Mining Association of Canada (MAC)
has introduced a new Towards Sustain-
able Mining (TSM) protocol aimed at
improving equity, diversity and inclusion.
The performance indicator will measure
mining companies’ performance in sev-
eral areas related to psychological safety
and respectful workplaces. The new pro-
tocol is part of a sustainability program
that assists mining companies in manag-
ing key environmental and social risks
and is a mandatory component of MAC
membership.
Ontario has launched a mining safety
inspection campaign, which will last until
March 2024, to ensure that workplaces
are keeping miners safe. Mining inspec-
tors will be visiting open-pit and under-
ground mines, along with surface plants
and refineries, to ensure that employers
are complying with the Occupational
Health and Safety Act and that employees
are properly trained and accredited.
Sign up for our newsletter
Stay up to date on the latest mining
developments with our weekly news
recap, where we catch you up on the
most relevant and topical mining news
from CIM Magazine and elsewhere that
you may have missed.
be a major player in the global energy
transition.
“Recent commitments, specifically
those included in Budget 2023, will
improve our industry’s ability to provide
the minerals and metals integral to low-
carbon technologies and the energy tran-
sition—this is good news as time is of the
essence if we are to establish Canada as
the global mining supplier of choice,”
Gratton said in the release.
To increase mineral production, the
report recommended the government
undertake comprehensive mineral resource
assessments to understand and incorpo-
rate the value of mineral potential into
regional assessments and land manage-
ment decisions. The report pointed to
northern Canada as an example, which
has a high potential for new mineral dis-
coveries.
It added that the infrastructure
deficit in Canada makes it one of the
most expensive places in the world to
mine, and that “substantial investments”
in infrastructure like railways, power-
lines and communication lines are key to
developing and supporting the mining
industry across the country.
“New infrastructure will help Canada’s
extraction, processing and manufacturing
industries by providing the resources that
the industry needs, reliably and at a rea-
sonable cost,” the report stated.
It also urged investing in mineral pro-
cessing. “If the processing industry is to
remain competitive, enhancing domestic
levels of mineral production through
investment in exploration and mine devel-
opment is essential,” the report said.
In 2021, Canada’s mining industry
directly employed 403,000 people, accord-
ing to the report. It said the tight labour
market poses challenges to mining
employers as it drives up recruitment
costs and wages, as well as increasing the
need for competitors to poach talent
from each other. It referenced the 2021
edition of the Mining Industry Human
Resources Council’s (MiHR) Canadian
Mining Labour Market Outlook, which
estimated that the Canadian mining
industry would need to hire at least
29,000 new workers from 2021 to 2025 to
replace retirees and fill new positions to
meet baseline production targets.
Unemployment rates from December
2022 in mining and quarrying are low at
3.9 per cent, but it stated these rates sug-
gest “the industry has begun to exhaust
its labour pool.”
Developments
According to the report, youth inter-
est in working in the mining industry
remains low and the number of gradu-
ates from mining programs is declining.
It mentioned the need for ongoing
efforts to recruit young people into the
industry, including through career fairs
or work placement programs. With the
industry becoming increasingly techni-
cal, a shortage of skilled engineers, tech-
nicians and information technologists
will pose challenges.
To increase equity, diversity and
inclusion (EDI) in the industry, it recom-
mended focusing on efforts to recruit
women and Indigenous people. For the
former, it cited a target from Natural
Resources Canada’s Canadian Minerals
and Metals Plan (CMMP) to have women
make up 30 per cent of the mining sector
by 2030.
“With the right supports, our indus-
try will be better able to provide the sus-
tainably produced products essential to
businesses and the public, both domesti-
cally and for our allies across the globe,”
Gratton said. – Alice Martin
The evolution of
bioleaching
Research from the University of Toronto’s
Faculty of Applied Science and Engineer-
ing shows that a strain of bacteria could
be genetically engineered to accelerate
the extraction of nickel from pyrrhotite
tailings.
The path to discovery began in 2010,
when a student collected a sample from a
pyrrhotite tailings site in Vale’s Clarabelle
Mill, near Sudbury, Ontario. The sample
was analyzed back in the lab and the
research team identified a new strain of a
species of bacteria called Acidithio-
bacillus ferridurans, which thrives in
extremely acidic and heavy metal-rich
environments. The researchers named
this strain Acidithiobacillus ferridurans
JAGS (the acronym is named after the ini-
tials of two students who helped with the
project, Andrew Jo and Srinath Garg).
Since then, University of Toronto engi-
neering researchers, including Radhakr-
ishnan Mahadevan, Elizabeth Edwards
and Vladimiros Papangelakis, mapped
the microbe’s genome sequence, which
was published in the journal Microbiol-
ogy Resource Announcements in 2020,
and have been working on enhancing its
bioleaching capabilities.
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 17
 Photo by Patrick Diep, courtesy of University of Toronto Engineering
From
the wire
Compiled by Alice Martin

Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. appointed

Anthea Bath as president and chief exec-
utive officer, effective July 1. Bath has 20
years of experience in the global mining
industry, including most recently as
chief operating officer at Ero Copper,
where she oversaw the company’s four
mines in Brazil.

Suncor Energy named Dave Oldreive as

executive vice-president of downstream
operations. Oldreive has nearly 30 years
of experience in the energy industry,
with considerable experience in Cana-
dian refining. Oldreive has previously
worked for ExxonMobil and Imperial Oil,
where he held roles of increasing
responsibility in engineering, opera-
tions, supply and corporate functions.
Robert Dickinson stepped down from
his director position at Northcliff
Resources Ltd. to pursue his interest in
exploration discoveries. The company
noted his years of dedication, leadership
and commitment, notably in acquiring
the Sisson tungsten molybdenum proj-
ect in New Brunswick.
Patriot Battery Metals Inc. appointed
Greg Barfoot as vice-president of proj-
ect development. Barfoot has held senior
project development roles with BHP,
SNC-Lavalin and Fluor for the past 25
years. Most recently, he spent eight
years managing the infrastructure
development for the BHP Jansen potash
mine in Saskatchewan.
The Association for Mineral Exploration
(AME) named Jessica Van Den Akker
an executive director, as well as acting
president and CEO. Van Den Akker is a
chartered professional accountant
who has served as chief financial offi-
cer and board director for multiple
junior issuers.
Anglo American has reshuffled its sen-
ior management team and made a num-
ber of changes to its organizational
structure. Finance director Stephen
Pearce will retire this year and the com-
pany is in the process of finding a
replacement. As of July, its production
businesses will be consolidated into
two regions led by regional directors:
the Americas, led by Ruben Fernandes
in Brazil, and Africa and Australia, led
by Themba Mkhwanazi in South Africa.
Researchers are designing acid-loving bacteria to accelerate nickel recovery from tailings.
Tailings from nickel mining opera-
tions are rich in iron and sulfur, along
with trace amounts of nickel. When such
tailings are exposed to oxygen, the sulfur
undergoes oxidation to form sulfate,
which is a component of sulfuric acid.
Water is used to cover the tailings to slow
the oxidation process, but over time the
ponds can still become highly acidic
when exposed to oxygen.
The researchers have been using
adaptive evolution to enhance the aci-
dophilic capabilities of the bacterial
strain. The researchers took samples that
grew well in the presence of low concen-
trations of mine tailings and exposed
them to increasingly higher concentra-
tions. Over time, the strains became
more effective at carrying out key chemi-
cal reactions utilized in bioleaching.
In addition to this, the researchers
are also using bioengineering tech-
niques to edit genes. Mahadevan, a pro-
fessor in the department of chemical
engineering and applied chemistry, told
CIM Magazine that while studying the
strain, the researchers noted it made
copies of certain genes that tolerate
metal. The researchers are working on
enhancing this capability through bio-
engineering.
“We hope that through these comple-
mentary approaches, we will come up
with a set of strains that will be able to
very rapidly dissolve oxidized minerals
and produce sulfur,” Mahadevan said.
Through a combination of genetic
engineering and process engineering,
the researchers hope to stop the produc-
tion of sulfuric acid by producing ele-
mental sulfur instead as a potential by-
product that could be sold for commer-
cial applications, for example fertilizer
production.
The next step is piloting the discov-
ery, all in the hopes of eventually
enabling widespread application of
bioleaching technology.
“We’d like to build some 50-litre scale
reactors so that we can put the microbes
that we’re discovering, along with real
substrates, and test their performance at
that scale. And then of course, if that
works, then we can go to 100 litres, and
eventually, to the scale at which we need
it,” Mahadevan said.
In April of this year, the project
received a total of $6 million in funding:
$2 million through Ontario Genomics
from Genome Canada, $2 million from
the Government of Ontario, and six com-
panies in the mining sector, including
Vale, Glencore, Metso-Outotec (now
known as Metso), BacTech, MIRARCO
and Yakum Consulting, are providing
about $2 million in funding and in-kind
contributions, which includes raw mate-
rials for testing.
Mahadevan said the goal is to have a
waste resource be utilized to extract
nickel and help with the energy transi-
tion to the net-zero economy.
Currently, there are about 100 million
dry tonnes of nickeliferous pyrrhotite
waste stored in tailings ponds located in
the Sudbury area.
The researchers hope to have a bacte-
rial strain, and an associated process that
will be ready to be tested in the field, in
three to five years. – Silvia Pikal

18 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5

 Developments

Courtesy of Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto’s
big spend
The substantial investment
into its aluminum smelter is
the most significant in over a
decade
By Ailbhe Goodbody

Rio Tinto is investing $1.4 billion to expand

its low-carbon AP60 aluminum smelting
technology at its Complexe Jonquière in
the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of
Quebec. Speaking at a press conference on
June 12, Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm
called the expansion “the beginning of a
new chapter of our aluminum operations
in Quebec,” adding that it is the company’s
most significant investment in its alu-
minum business for over 10 years.
“It’s also the most significant invest-
ment in the aluminum business across the
The expansion will add a further 96 AP60 pots to increase the smelter’s capacity to
approximately 220,000 tonnes per year.
western world for more than a decade, an Aluminum smelters consist of several
investment that seriously strengthens our connected reduction cells, or pots, where
offering of high-quality, low-carbon prod- electrolysis is used to produce primary
ucts to meet the growing demands from aluminum. Rio Tinto’s research and
customers who are also looking to reduce development teams developed the AP60
their footprint,” he noted. smelting technology, which the company

Collaborating with clients in delivering industry relevant solutions to improve

process performance, asset utilization and environmental sustainability.

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TECHNOLOGY AND FURNACE & AUTOMATION, MINERALOGY
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MODELLING
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recyclable materials inspections, asset laboratory and pilot Advanced control, geometallurgy,
leaching, metal integrity assessment, testing, roasting, data science and mineral processing
recovery, effluent/ corrosion testing & refractory selection, AI solutions for laboratory and
surface water failure analysis. furnace tapping, and energy reduction, mini pilot scale
treatment and arsenic industry support. mine ventilation, testing, flowsheet
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Pascal Coursol, Vice President | +1 705 699 3400 Pascal.Coursol@xps.ca | 6 Edison Road, Falconbridge Ontario, Canada P0M1S0 | Info@xps.ca | XPS.CA

August 2023 | Août 2023 | 19

Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.
appointed Scott Monteith as interim
CEO after former president and CEO
Donald Bubar decided to step down. The
company also named Jim Jaques as its
first chief administrative officer and Jan
Holland to its board of directors.
Ivan Vella, CEO of Rio Tinto Ltd.’s alu-
minum division, will leave his position in
December after spending 20 years with
Rio Tinto. He will continue to lead the
aluminum division until a successor is
found but has stepped down from the
executive committee. His next role will
be CEO and managing director at IGO
Limited, which IGO stated will be no
later than Dec. 11, following Vella’s
notice and handover at Rio Tinto.
Newmont Corporation promoted
Suzanne Retallack to chief safety and
sustainability officer. Retallack joined
Newmont in 2019 as vice-president for
health, safety and security. Before join-
ing Newmont, Retallack held senior
roles in health and safety, environment
and security at Rio Tinto.
The Mining Association of Canada (MAC)
elected Carolyn Chisholm, general man-
ager of external affairs for Rio Tinto, as
chair of MAC for the next two-year term.
Chisholm has several decades of experi-
ence in the mining industry and has
served in the executive, Indigenous rela-
tions, international social responsibility
and public affairs committees at the
association.
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. appointed
Shane Williams as president and CEO
and Duncan Middlemiss as an independ-
ent director. Williams has experience as
both a mining executive and an engineer
and previously held the position of chief
operating officer at Skeena Resources.
Middlemiss is an engineer who was pre-
viously the CEO of Wesdome Gold Mines
and St. Andrew Goldfields.
Teck Resources Ltd. named Nick
Marach as vice-president and corporate
controller, Sheila Risbud as vice-presi-
dent of sustainable development to its
coal division, Don Sander as vice-presi-
dent of coal operations and Richard
Whittington as vice-president of proj-
ects and operational excellence.
Alamos Gold Inc. appointed Shaun
Usmar to its board of directors after
Kenneth Stowe retired. Usmar founded
and is the CEO of Triple Flag Precious
Metals Corp. Previously, he acted as sen-
ior executive vice-president and chief
financial officer of Barrick Gold Corpora-
tion, from 2014 to 2016.
20 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
said is among the lowest carbon and most
efficient technology currently available
at commercial scale. The company pro-
duced the first metal from the AP60
smelting technology in September 2013.
The Complexe Jonquière currently has
38 AP60 pots in operation with an annual
production capacity of 60,000 tonnes of
primary aluminum, and the expansion
will add a further 96 AP60 pots to
increase the smelter’s capacity to approx-
imately 220,000 tonnes per year, which
the company noted is enough aluminum
to manufacture 400,000 electric cars.
Construction of the expansion is esti-
mated to take two and a half years, with
commissioning of the new pots planned
for the first half of 2026, followed by full
ramp up by the end of that year.
According to Rio Tinto, when com-
bined with the renewable hydroelectricity
used at its Canadian operations, the AP60
smelting technology generates approxi-
mately 1.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide equiv-
alent (CO2e) per tonne of aluminum
produced. This is half the greenhouse gas
emissions of the technology currently
being used at the Arvida smelter, which
emits around 3.2 tonnes of CO2e per tonne
of aluminum produced, and significantly
lower than the aluminum industry aver-
age of more than 12 tonnes of CO2e gener-
ated per tonne of aluminum.
The gradual closure of potrooms at
Rio Tinto’s Arvida aluminum smelter,
which is also located at the Complexe
Jonquière, starting in 2024 will coincide
with the expansion of the AP60 smelter.
Rio Tinto said the new capacity of the
AP60 smelter will offset the 170,000
tonnes of capacity the company will lose
by closing the Arvida smelter, and the
company also plans to add a further
30,000 tonnes of new capacity in the first
quarter of 2025 by commissioning a recy-
cling facility at Arvida. This recycling
centre will include integrating recycled
post-consumer aluminum into primary
aluminum alloys.
“Arvida will continue to play an
important role as a research hub and as a
base for our new recycling centre, which
will offset production along with the
AP60 smelter,” Stausholm said. “By har-
nessing the full potential of our existing
assets, we are fulfilling our purpose of
finding better ways to provide the mate-
rials the world needs.”
The investment in the expansion
includes up to $150 million of financial
support from the provincial government.
“A great momentum is building in our
regions for our green economy,” said
François Legault, Quebec’s premier, in a
June 12 press release. “The aluminum
industry in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
has always been a real source of pride
and has created considerable wealth in
the region. Today’s announcement will
breathe new life into this industry with
greener, less polluting processes.”
According to the Quebec government,
the province is the world’s fourth-largest
producer of primary aluminum, produc-
ing almost 2.9 million tonnes annually; it
stated that approximately 90 per cent of
Canadian aluminum and nearly 70 per
cent of North American aluminum is pro-
duced in Quebec.
“For decades, Quebec has distin-
guished itself as the greenest aluminum
in the world, powered with 100 per cent
renewable hydroelectricity,” Stausholm
said. “It is thanks to our brilliant, innova-
tive Québécois colleagues and partners
that this region has become the centre
for aluminum in the western world.”
In April of this year, Rio Tinto began
construction for the expansion of its alu-
minum smelter near Alma, Quebec, to
increase its capacity to cast low-carbon
aluminum billets. This expansion is
expected to be commissioned in the first
half of 2025.
Rio Tinto has also signed a memoran-
dum of understanding with the federal
government that the company said deep-
ens its commitment to strengthen the
domestic supply chain. “Through collab-
orations with the government of Canada,
we are decarbonizing our iron and tita-
nium operations in Sorel-Tracy and
transforming the business into a centre
of excellence for critical minerals pro-
cessing,” Stausholm said. “Our key focus
will be the decarbonization of our alu-
minum supply chain here in Canada.”
Canada’s Minister of Innovation,
Science and Industry, François-Philippe
Champagne, said in the June 12 press
release: “Canada has all it takes to be the
global green supplier of choice. And that
is why our government is collaborating
with key industry actors like Rio Tinto to
produce the world’s greenest aluminum.
By supporting the production of green
metals, we ensure Canada will remain at
the forefront of the economy of tomor-
row. When economic benefits are paired
with a commitment to developing green
solutions, it’s a win for our industry, our
cleantech ecosystem and our workers.”

Rio Tinto also noted that it is still
working with the federal and provincial
governments towards the deployment
of the ELYSIS zero-carbon aluminum
smelting technology at its facilities in
Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. Under the
current schedule, ELYSIS technology
could be available for installation from
2024, followed by the production of
larger volumes of carbon-free aluminum
around two years later.
“The gradual ramp down of Arvida and
the expansion of our AP60 smelter is an
important step as we continue to work
towards the deployment of our ELYSIS
zero-carbon smelting technology,”
Stausholm said. “We are deeply commit-
ted to the development of ELYSIS, a truly
breakthrough technology that will revolu-
tionize the aluminum industry. For now,
what is clear is that we are making consid-
erable strides to transform aluminum
production. Aluminum is so essential to
the world we live in and the energy transi-
tion. Demand for green metals to fuel
decarbonization is only growing. Together,
we’re making sure Canada is at the van-
guard of this opportunity.” CIM
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Courtesy of Workplace Safety North
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angle rope rescue, emergency manage-
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vidually tested on their technical skills
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the speed and skill level with which they
completed the rescue.
Ontario Mine Rescue, a part of Work-
place Safety North, delivers training to
volunteer mine rescue responders. The
provincial competitions have taken
place since 1950 and are a way to evalu-
ate mine emergency response teams
and standardize mine rescue practices
in Ontario.
While the district competitions are
hosted in spectator-friendly arenas
with a maze of simulated mine work-
ings constructed on the arena floor, the
provincial competition sends teams
into an actual operating underground
mine, where team members have to
resolve a complicated multi-stage mine
emergency.
This year, the emergency scenario
consisted of the rescue of a civilian that
had fallen into a mine shaft opening from
the surface, the assessment of unstable
and collapsed mine workings using
drones, the extinguishing of an under-
ground vehicle fire and the extrication
and evacuation of a mine worker that had
become trapped in a mine collapse.
Weagle said his team put in around
450 hours of preparation for the provin-
cial competition, adding, “It’s training
you never want to use.”
For Weagle’s team, the biggest chal-
lenge was the rope rescue of the civilian.
However, he said that they simply did
what they were trained to do. “They
pulled all the team captains, and the
teams were left to their own devices,”
Weagle explained. “That’s not something
we train for a lot, because your captain is
usually your leader and they come up
with all the plans. When you take that
leadership away, all that does is show you
exactly what you have in your group.”
Weagle has worked in mine rescue
since 2012 and this year was his fifth time
competing in the provincial competition.
He said that it is “really helpful” for mine
rescuers to join the competition and that
they get “a tremendous amount of train-
ing out of the competition.”
“I’ve been doing this for a while.
[Team members] at the start of the year
come in, and they’re ready, they want
[the win] and then they get that training,
and you can see the confidence build in
them,” he said. “Now, confidence is key
because if there’s an actual emergency,
which we hope never happens, they have
the confidence to handle that task.”
– Alice Martin
22 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
One of 140 solvent extraction cells that will be at the core of SRC’s rare earth processing
facility’s separation unit.
SRC manufactures
solvent extraction
cells for rare earth
processing
The Saskatchewan Research Council
(SRC) announced in late May it has
designed and manufactured Canada’s
first proprietary commercial-scale sol-
vent extraction cell technology, which
is designed to upgrade rare earth ele-
ment (REE) concentrate to a commer-
cial rare earth oxide. The organization
called it a step forward in the develop-
ment of its rare earth processing facil-
ity in Saskatoon.
The facility, which, through two
stages of processing, will produce rare
earth oxides and magnet metals from
REE ores, will be the first of its kind in
North America, making Canada one of
only a handful of countries in the world
with this capability.
A total of 140 solvent extraction cells
will be manufactured in-house at an SRC-
operated facility by fall 2024 for use in
the processing facility’s separation unit.
The separation unit will be fed mixed
rare earth chloride, a liquid mixture con-
taining all 17 REEs, to extract individual
or grouped rare earth oxides.
The first batch of 50 cells are antici-
pated to be completed by fall 2023,
according to Mike Crabtree, SRC’s CEO
and president. The solvent extraction
Courtesy of the Saskatchewan Research Council
cells are manufactured with automa-
tion algorithms that will improve pro-
ductivity and efficiency, while being
cost-effective, the organization stated.
Crabtree said the separation stage is AI-
controlled, which is “really unique in
the world.”
“From an operational standpoint, it
means that rather than taking weeks, and
sometimes months, for the system to
equilibrate, it will take hours and days,”
he explained. “That will have a huge cost-
saving impact.”
Finding cost-saving options was cru-
cial for the SRC, as it needed to compen-
sate for the sizeable investments it
made in the sustainability aspect of the
facility, Crabtree said. Currently, the
rare earth processing facility will cost
around $87 million to build. So far, $20
million has been invested to ensure all
water and chemical waste will be recy-
cled and reused. “There will be zero liq-
uid discharge from this plant,” added
Crabtree.
The facility has been designed to
process about 3,000 tonnes of monazite
concentrate into 1,600 tonnes of REEs
annually, of which 400 tonnes will be a
neodymium praseodymium (NdPr) alloy.
The facility will also produce REEs that
can be used in the defence industry.
“We’re calling this a research demon-
stration and commercialization plant,”
Crabtree said. “A full-scale plant might
be 10,000 tonnes.”
 Developments

Even at a third of the scale of a full-

size plant, Crabtree said 400 tonnes of
NdPr alloy is enough to provide material
for half a million electric vehicles.
The midstream facility will be sourc-
ing monazite mainly from Brazil, but SRC
is looking at Europe, Africa and South-
east Asia as other sources of monazite.
Currently, there are no commercially
operating rare earths mining projects in
Canada for either monazite or bastnae-
site, two major minerals used to produce
rare earth metals.
“We took the opportunity to build
that midstream ahead of the upstream
mining sector,” Crabtree said. “It’s a
little like that chicken and the egg
story; which do you do first? Do you
put the mines in place, or the ability to
process the ore? We’ve chosen the abil-
ity to process so that when Canadian
mines come online, they will have a
route to market for their product,
other than just selling the ore on the
international market.”
The SRC also hopes to stimulate a
rare earth supply chain in Canada. “If
our only ambition is to mine the rare
3,000
Tonnes of monazite concentrate that
will be processed annually
400
Tonnes of neodymium praseodymium
(NdPr) alloy that will be produced
500,000
Estimated number of electric vehicles
that could be built with 400 tonnes of
NdPr alloy
earths, we might make $10,000 a tonne
exporting to the rest of the world,” he
continued. “If we take it through the
midstream process, the value goes up
exponentially. For example, NdPr alloys
can range from about $90,000 to
$200,000 a tonne.”
The over 100,000-square-foot facility
is aimed to position Saskatchewan as a
North American option for the process-
ing of REEs sourced from around the
world. Anywhere between 30 and 50 jobs
are expected to be created by the facility
once it is up and running by the end of
this year.
Crabtree said representatives from
over 40 countries have visited the
facility in the last six months: “We
have received incredible interest both
domestically within Saskatchewan and
Canada, and globally. We are in
detailed discussions with a significant
number of companies at the moment
about both the provision of various
raw materials to the plant, but also for
offtake of the products.”
Although the facility is still in devel-
opment, the potential for expansion is
already being considered for the next
two to three years. Crabtree explained
expansion could be handled on two
fronts, increasing the capacity to a full-
commercial level of 12,000 tonnes of
monazite processed annually and
extending the midstream further down
to start producing magnets.
“This is the beginning of a really,
really important sector for the Cana-
dian economy,” Crabtree said.
– Alice Martin

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August 2023 | Août 2023 | 23


Courtesy of the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills
At a May 23 news conference, Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton announced
Professional Engineers Ontario would be the first regulatory body in the province to
remove the Canadian work experience criteria from its application requirements.
Canadian work
experience
requirement dropped
for Ontario engineers
As of May 23, internationally trained
engineers are no longer required to have
Canadian work experience to become
licensed by Professional Engineers
Ontario (PEO), the provincial engineer-
ing regulatory body.
In 2019, out of 85,649 registered engi-
neers in Ontario, 24,258 of them were
internationally trained. That year, engi-
neers were the fourth-largest regulated
profession in the province.
Up to 60 per cent of engineering
licence applications that PEO receives
every year come from internationally
24,258
Number of internationally trained
engineers in Ontario in 2019
60
Percentage of engineering licence
applications that PEO receives each
year from internationally trained
engineers
7,000
Vacant jobs in Ontario that are
estimated to be engineering positions
24 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
trained engineers, according to Roydon
Fraser, president of PEO, in the May 23
press release announcing the change.
“By no longer requiring proof of Cana-
dian experience when applying for an
engineering licence, PEO will effectively
ensure that qualified, international
applicants can be licensed more quickly,
so they can actively contribute to the
economy as engineers,” Fraser said.
He added PEO will continue to ensure
only properly qualified individuals prac-
tice engineering through competency-
based assessment models and other
evaluation methods.
It is good news for the mining indus-
try and will help fill the high number of
vacancies in engineering positions, said
Erik Buckland, partner at Lincoln Strate-
gies International in global mining
recruitment.
Buckland stated that dropping the
requirement will fast-track immigrant
engineers into meaningful positions.
“We’ll be able to have them immedi-
ately start contributing and being held
accountable at a professional engineer
level because they’ve written the equiva-
lency exams,” Buckland told CIM Maga-
zine. “We’re just taking one piece out of
it, and that’s the one-year [Canadian
work] experience.”
He also noted that a professional
engineering designation from Canada is
considered top-tier, and that the high
standards Canadian engineers are held
to will not be lost with this policy change
as long as there is an equivalency
assessment.
“If you come from a similar system to
Canada, as the U.K. or Australia have,
you’re going to know the Canadian regu-
lations,” he said. “If you’re coming from a
system that does not have those regula-
tions in with them, you’re not going to be
able to get your equivalency here.”
In 2021, Ontario introduced the
Working for Workers Act, which banned
more than 30 regulated professions—or
jobs that require a licence to practice
such as law, accounting, architecture,
electrical and plumbing—from requiring
Canadian work experience as a require-
ment. PEO is the first regulatory body in
the country to remove the Canadian
work experience criteria from its appli-
cation requirements.
Ontario Labour Minister Monte
McNaughton had called requiring Cana-
dian work experience “unfair and dis-
criminatory” in a May 23 press release.
With the policy change, the province
aims to help fill 300,000 vacant jobs in
Ontario, 7,000 of which it estimated are
engineering positions.
Buckland, however, said that he does
not think the move will be enough to fill
the labour shortage and that the mining
industry must work on making itself
more attractive to workers.
By December 2023, all regulated pro-
fessions and trades in Ontario targeted
by the Working for Workers Act will see
their Canadian work experience require-
ments voided unless an exemption is
granted by the labour minister.
– Alice Martin
Sayona advances
planning for Quebec
lithium carbonate
plant
Australian miner Sayona Mining Limited
announced it is moving forward with the
restart of a lithium carbonate production
plant at its North American Lithium
(NAL) operation in Quebec, bringing it
closer to becoming a downstream pro-
ducer of lithium chemicals.
In late June, the company released the
results of a preliminary study for the
standalone lithium carbonate project,
outlining the production of 372,000
tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbon-
ate from 2.9 million tonnes of spodumene
 Developments

Courtesy of Piedmont Lithium

concentrate from the NAL mine over a
project life of 16 years.
All-in sustaining costs per tonne of
lithium carbonate are estimated to be
$15,996.
Results from the study showed the
project could generate a pre-tax net pres-
ent value of $2.9 billion at an eight per
cent discount rate and a pre-tax internal
rate of return of 60 per cent. The study
anticipates capital costs of $555 million
and assumes an average selling price of
$34,113 per tonne of lithium carbonate.
Brett Lynch, Sayona Mining’s manag-
ing director, said in a June 21 press
release that taking advantage of existing
infrastructure and assets will help accel-
erate NAL’s pathway to lithium carbon-
ate production.
Sayona Québec—a 75-25 joint venture Sayona Québec—a 75-25 joint venture between Sayona Mining and Piedmont Lithium—
between Sayona Mining Limited and purchased the North American Lithium operation in August 2021.
American company Piedmont Lithium—
purchased the NAL assets in August 2021 process plant, and waste and tailings said. “Lithium demand continues to
after two previous operators failed to management facilities. increase and the Canadian and U.S. gov-
make the operation profitable. The site “Significantly, NAL is set to become ernments have clearly shown their
includes mining and concentrator facili- the only lithium operation with a con- intentions to develop a North American
ties, which will provide feedstock to the centrator and carbonate plant all on the supply chain, from mining to processing
partially constructed lithium carbonate same site in North America,” Lynch and manufacturing.”

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 The company stated in the release
that the lithium carbonate plant needs to
be updated to reach its nameplate
throughput capacity, which includes
work on the hydrometallurgy portion of
the carbonate plant. Planned additions to
the original flowsheet include a sodium
sulfate crystallizer and buffer tanks.
The pyrometallurgical section of the
flowsheet also needs major upgrades,
including the addition of a feed preheat-
ing system, a rotary calcine cooler, a ball
mill, modifications to the acid-mixing
circuit and the addition of an acid bake
kiln to replace the existing acid reactor.
Based on the results of the preliminary
study, Sayona plans to commission a defin-
itive technical study for the project, and it
is targeting production as early as 2026.
On March 30, Sayona Québec restarted
production of spodumene concentrate at
NAL, targeting four shipments from NAL
totalling up to 120,000 tonnes by the end
of 2023, which is expected to supply
clients including LG Chem and Tesla.
A definitive feasibility study of the
NAL mine released in April stated its
proven and probable reserves total
235,500 tonnes of contained lithium
oxide from 21.7 million tonnes grading at
1.08 per cent. – Silvia Pikal
Ontario’s Building
More Mines Act is
now law
“There’s a
misconception,
I believe, outside of
the mining space, that
a longer period of time
for an environmental
assessment means
a greater level of
quality.”
– Kristan Straub,
CEO of Ring of Fire Metals
wording to “comparable to or better
than” it was before the recovery activity.
Mines minister George Pirie told The
Northern Miner in an interview on June
14 that this amendment would allow the
reprocessing of existing mine tailings
and heap dumps.
“There’ll be situations like we’re look-
ing at in Sudbury with the heap dumps,
and the slag heaps and the tailings, to
reprocess those using bioleaching to
recover rare earths. That change is done
to reclaim what would have been waste
facilities,” Pirie said.
The act also changes mine closure
planning and eliminates the need for a
ministry technical review. Instead, quali-
fied professionals will be able to certify
plans. Companies are also now allowed to
conditionally file a closure plan while
deferring elements, such as studies, to a
later date.
“Things that used to take two months,
now take routinely two to five years,”
Pirie told The Northern Miner. “An end-
less process of questions and replies and
more questions and more replies. So, we
want to use the experts that are in the
field rather than the bureaucrats... to
simplify the process and get to the right
endpoint quicker.”
While he did not expand on what is
considered to be a qualified professional,
he stated that a final certification by the
ministry and himself would still be
required.
The bill also allows financial assur-
ance to be paid by companies in phases
tied to the project’s construction sched-
ule instead of required upfront.
Kristan Straub, CEO of Ring of Fire
Metals, a junior miner that owns the
rights to the Eagle’s Nest deposit in the
Ring of Fire region of northern Ontario,
told CIM Magazine that phasing the
financial assurance will reduce the finan-
cial burden early in the operation and
allow the company to distribute the costs
over a period of time.
“Previously, you had to post a signifi-
cant portion—if not all—of the closure
cost up ahead,” Straub said. “It doesn’t

Courtesy of Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd.

The Building More Mines Act (Bill 71), an
amendment to Ontario’s Mining Act,
received royal assent on May 18, only two
and a half months after it was intro-
duced, passing the final stage for it to
become law.
The amendments to the Mining Act
aim to speed up permitting and approval
times for Ontario mines. George Pirie,
Minister of Mines, described the govern-
ment process in approving mining proj-
ects as “too time consuming and costly,
leading to project delays and lost oppor-
tunities for Ontario’s mineral exploration
and mining sector” in a March 2 press
release.
The changes make it easier for compa-
nies to get a permit to recover minerals
from mine tailings and waste. The origi-
nal act required that to be approved for a
recovery permit, the condition of the
land subject to the recovery must be
“improved” in regard to public safety, the The Esker site is a base for project and exploration teams located adjacent to the Eagle’s
environment or both. Bill 71 changed the Nest deposit, in the Ring of Fire region of northern Ontario.

26 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5


reduce our liability in the future, it just
changes what the economics look like in
the early years, which was a welcome
change.”
Straub added that he would also like
to see federal environmental impact
assessments be completed more quickly.
Currently, an environmental impact
assessment from the federal government
can take up to seven years to be com-
pleted, according to legislated guidelines
under The Impact Assessment Act.
Ontario is the only province that does
not require a provincial environmental
assessment.
“There’s a misconception, I believe,
outside of the mining space, that a longer
period of time for an environmental
assessment means a greater level of qual-
ity,” he said. “We’re not saying to go
faster or to not collect the data. On the
contrary, we are saying to collect the data
and work in parallel with the analysis.”
The Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First
Nation has strongly opposed the change
ever since the bill was introduced on
March 2. It maintains the new legislation
disregards First Nations Treaty rights.
The First Nation claimed that it had
not been properly consulted during the
review and amendment process. It also
stated the initial discussion of the pro-
posed amendments was insufficient to
fully understand the potential impact of
Bill 71. In addition, it expressed concern
over the lowered standard to obtain a
recovery permit and the loosened closure
planning certification process.
Bill 71 also grants the decision-
making powers of the director of explo-
ration and director of mine rehabilitation
to the mines minister. The role of director
Developments
of exploration will continue to exist,
whereas the position of director of mine
rehabilitation will be eliminated.
The Atikameksheng Anishnawbek
First Nation is concerned that this
amendment would remove regulatory
oversight and exacerbate the lack of con-
sultation with the First Nation.
Sudbury MPP Jamie West and Nickel
Belt MPP France Gélinas, both from the
NDP, voted against the bill when it was
put to voting on May 10. West cited that
the roles of director of exploration and
director of mine rehabilitation being
bestowed to the minister of mines could
lead to political interference. The NDP,
Green Party and environmental activists
have also opposed the bill. However, the
third reading of Bill 71 was passed, and it
received royal assent the following week.
– Alice Martin
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 27
Courtesy of Andrew Cooper
Energy conservation as a
decarbonization strategy
By Andrew Cooper
E
nergy conservation is a low-cost strategy to eliminate
energy waste, which can account for up to 15 per cent of a
mine’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. If you have set a
decarbonization objective to reduce your baseline GHG emis-
sions by 30 per cent by the year 2030, this means that you can
achieve 50 per cent of that objective through energy conserva-
tion. In our current capital-constrained environment, is this
low-cost strategy to eliminate a significant percentage of your
GHG emissions being seriously considered?
A tool being used to assess decarbonization opportunities is
the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC), which presents
the relative cost of GHG emissions reduction opportunities, as
well as the potential volume of GHG emissions reduced for each
opportunity. Opportunities with a lower cost per tonne of GHGs
reduced are to the left of the curve, with the higher cost per
tonne opportunities to the right (see figure below).
Looking at a few MACCs recently, one consistent fact stood out.
Many of the low-cost opportunities to the left of the curve were
linked to energy conservation and process efficiency. Yet looking
at a number of sustainability reports from mining companies, I did
not see “energy conservation” as a decarbonization strategy.
From a cost and GHG emissions reduction perspective, here’s
why it makes sense for energy conservation to be one of your
decarbonization strategies: One battery electric loader for your
!"#$%&"'()*"+,-,&+(./0+(.1#2,(3!)..4
The Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) is a visual, economic, decision-support tool that can assist to identify, rank, and prioritize
emissions abatement projects. Projects are sequenced in order of increasing marginal abatement cost (left-right), representing the most
to least favourable carbon reduction opportunities for implementation.
28 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
underground operation is going to set you back north of $2 mil-
lion. For that $2 million investment, you are going to see an
annual GHG emissions reduction of about 350 to 500 tonnes of
carbon dioxide equivalent (TCO2e), depending on operating
hours and the electrical grid emissions factor. That means you
are spending between $4,000 to $5,570 per TCO2e reduced.
What if you invest that same $2 million in a company-wide
energy conservation strategy, focused on the elimination of
energy waste, with a conservative target of a 10 per cent reduction
in GHG emissions? If your company’s annual GHG emissions are
100,000 TCO2e, that 10 per cent reduction is worth 10,000 TCO2e,
which means you are spending $200 per TCO2e reduced.
In addition, the energy conservation strategy will give you a
conservative five to eight per cent decrease in energy expense,
which is typically a mining company’s second biggest operational
expense after employee- and contractor-related expenses. If
your annual energy expense is $100 million per year, that is a $5
million to $8 million increase in net income, which will more
than sustain the energy conservation strategy.
The economics and the GHG emissions reductions speak for
themselves.
Despite the common misconception that “there is no more
low hanging fruit,” there are abundant low- or no-cost opportu-
nities to improve efficiency and eliminate energy waste, which
Source: Deloitte LLP
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K5'(46"(&"6HF2'-I$%$4(2'4".%$$(
?6$"&2@+,'C+('&,"/6&A%-"4&,/'-$2"B2'&2'('C',@"B2&3$4(/"
The organization should consider prioritizing projects
5'(6",$@+('D$"E+2@',+%"+F+($E$,("4&/("789:"G"<=>0"
with negative marginal abatement cost (MAC < $0).
?#/6,00(,88%6%,&67=(0<%+65%&$(+/(/&>0%+,(@AB(8/#(
Process efficiency, switching to on-site LNG for
9/<,#($,&,#"+%/&=(+,-
power #,&,<"*',(,&,#$7(9#/C,6+0
generation and renewable energy projects
+2$"+E&,@"(6$"8"2/1#"*',("*"+,-,&+(',2,#0
are among the favourable abatement levers(6+("4+,"
that
can generate savings when implemented.
@$,$2+($"/+D',@/"56$,"'EB%$E$,($-0
*2&3$4(/"5'(6',"(6$"/6+-$-"+2$+"789:";"<=>"+2$
Projects within the shaded area (MAC > $0) are
"-/&$(+5,(',"0+(,6/&/-%6"''7(2%"*',(8/#(
among the least economically viable for
%-9',-,&+"+%/&0"?6'/"@2&AB"',4%A-$/",',6+#%8%6"+%/&(
implementation. This group includes electrification
/8(/&0%+,(+#"&09/#+"+%/&("&:(81+1#,(:,6"#*/&%;"+%/&(
of onsite transportation and future decarbonization
9"+5<"70=(0165("0(0<%+65%&$(+/(*%/>:%,0,'0
pathways, such as switching to bio-diesel.

are far more cost effective than many technology improvement
opportunities.
As an example: A company has an opportunity to utilize new
technology to improve the energy performance of a piece of
equipment that is a relatively big energy user. A feasibility study
indicated energy savings of one gigawatt hour of electricity per
year. The project is going to cost $200,000 and will last 10 years.
It has a positive net present value, a 39 per cent internal rate of
return and a 2.5-year payback.
At the same operation, a group of operators decided to shut
down a 5,200 horsepower conveyor system when they were not
running ore from underground. Same annual energy savings,
zero cost, infinite IRR. Which is better?
There is so much we can do easily and cost effectively if, like
these operators, we make a decision: a decision to be efficient
and conserve energy in everything we do, on a day-to-day basis,
then act on that decision.
Accessing these opportunities also starts with a decision to
implement a company-wide energy conservation strategy, ideally
supported by an energy management system like ISO 50001, or
Column
the Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining
Climate Change Protocol.
These systems are a set of interrelated processes, built into
your existing operational and business systems, to allow you to
effectively manage your energy use, to continually improve your
energy performance each year and to engage and empower your
employees in the process. Not only do they help you to eliminate
energy waste and reduce operating costs, but, like safety, energy
conservation becomes something everyone does on a day-to-
day basis.
If done properly, the system will be self-sustaining. The (low-
or no-cost) opportunities identified will start to save money
and reduce GHG emissions from year one. You will reduce the
capital cost to achieve your decarbonization objectives and the
energy conservation framework will support future decarboniza-
tion initiatives.
Energy conservation as a decarbonization strategy just makes
sense. CIM
Andrew Cooper is a strategic energy management specialist.
Strategic Mine Planning with New Digital
Technologies, Risk Management and
Mineral Value Chains
At the time of a continuing rebound of metal markets, learn
how the application of new digital technologies can add
substantial value to strategic mine planning and asset
valuation. The new technologies and related tools integrate
technical risk management while capitalizing on the
synergies amongst the elements of mineral value chains
through their simultaneous optimization—from mines to
products to markets.
INSTRUCTORS Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University,
Canada, and Ryan Goodfellow, Newmont, USA • PLACE Montreal,
QC • DATE September 13-15, 2023
Geostatistical Evaluation of Mineral
Resources and their Uncertainty under the
New Regulatory Environment
This course is designed according to the latest regulations on
public reporting of Mineral Resources. It aims at showing how
state-of-the-art statistical and geostatistical techniques help
answer the requirements of those regulations in an objective
and reproducible manner. A particular emphasis is put on
understanding sampling and estimation errors and related
uncertainties, as well as how to assign levels of estimation
confidence through the application of resource classification
fundamentals. In addition to a solid introduction to mining
geostatistics, this course provides a comprehensive overview
of how modern techniques, such as conditional simulations,
are currently applied in the industry.
INSTRUCTORS David F. Machuca, SRK Consulting, Canada, and
Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, McGill University, Canada • PLACE
Montreal, QC • DATE September 25-29, 2023
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 29

modern miner
Intention
in action
Stantec’s Lee Ann Malley
is championing neuro-
inclusion and safety in
the workplace
By Ailbhe Goodbody
Lee Ann Malley
Senior environmental
planner
Stantec
Honours Bachelor of
Science in Forestry (HBScF)
Faculty of Natural Resources
Management, Lakehead
University
What is your proudest career
highlight?
In the Northwest Territories, there
was a gap in regulatory framework
for air quality monitoring and
management. Around two years
ago, I championed the proposed
development of the ‘Ambient Air
Quality Monitoring Guideline’ that
was scoped to mine operators. Air
quality regulations over the years
were met with challenges, and the
guideline was a step towards
closing the gap, bringing clarity of
expectations to industry and
government alike.
30 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
Courtesy of Lee Ann Malley
O
ver the course of her career, Lee Ann Malley has developed proficiency in
environmental management across various sectors including forestry, min-
ing, consulting and the public service; her work in mining has brought her to
the tundra of the Northwest Territories, the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario and many
places in between. In addition to environmental management, she has become an
advocate for neuro-inclusion and workplace safety culture.
Malley grew up in Red Rock, Ontario, and always had an interest in the environ-
ment. “I had freedom to explore and did a lot of outdoor activities. The resource econ-
omy was also at my doorstep—our town had a pulp and paper mill,” she told CIM
Magazine. “I have a memory from my early school days, where I had to share the
biggest word that I knew at the time. My answer was ‘environment’—looking back,
this may have been career foreshadowing.”
Following graduation, Malley began her career with the Ontario Ministry of Natu-
ral Resources in Thunder Bay. “There was a recession that significantly impacted the
forest industry of northern Ontario during that time,” she said. “I wanted to diversify
my skills, which eventually led me to an environmental career with De Beers Canada
in 2013. I was part of a training program that provided a unique opportunity to learn
about all facets of the business while engaging in my primary discipline.”
A career highlight for Malley was initiating and leading a native seed collection
program to support reclamation at the company’s Victor mine in 2014. “In designing
the first program, I set high biodiversity collection targets and Indigenous participa-
tion objectives, which were voluntary moves that the company supported. In part, it
has helped to differentiate this mine from typical closure scenarios,” she explained.
Up until 2014, the mine had broad commitments related to native plant revegetation
and it conducted research, but to operationalize this was new territory.
The year she worked on this project, the collection exceeded 60 species, employed
over 10 Indigenous youth—some of whom worked offsite—delivered science educa-
tion and had zero safety incidents.

“The program was carried on and grown by others through
the years, but the values I set stuck and became interwoven
with the mine’s closure story and legacy,” she said. “I often look
back on this project because I learned a lot and saw how many
benefits come from intentional value-based programs.”
In 2017, Malley joined the Government of the Northwest Ter-
ritories as an environmental assessment (EA) analyst, later
becoming the manager of her unit. Mining projects were a com-
mon focus of her role, but it also touched on other types of
developments.
“Foresters are trained in multi-disciplinary resource man-
agement, which is very transferrable to the mining sector,” she
said. “Forest management planning also carries a lot of parallel
thought processes, which aligns with mine planning. For
instance, both industries apply resource quantification tech-
niques and sequencing for extraction, while taking into consid-
eration environmental management, engagement, economics
and constraints. The other obvious strength of a forestry back-
ground deals with vegetation and reclamation.”
She noted that like the mining industry, forestry has faced
public opposition. “The importance of public engagement and
consent building was always imparted to me as the key to suc-
cess,” she said. “Overall, I think my degree has given me good per-
spectives to bring into mining and other resource developments.”
In 2022, Malley accepted a role at Stantec and moved back to
Thunder Bay. As a senior environmental planner, she supports
Stantec’s clients and project delivery related to EA and permit-
ting solutions. This can involve analysis for regulatory
roadmaps, gap analysis, project descriptions, preparing permit
applications and supporting documents and authoring EA
chapters, or coordinating for an overall EA submission.
“I don’t necessarily work for mining clients every day, but
permitting solutions for a mine’s ancillary infrastructure is
found within other sectors,” she explained. “We often help to
advise clients on project approvals and how to proceed in a way
that supports regulators to make their decisions.”
Stantec has safety and environment coordinators in every
office who help assist its leadership with health, safety, security
and environment (HSSE) program delivery, and Malley has this
role at the Thunder Bay office in addition to her primary role as
an environmental planner. She conducts HSSE orientation of
new staff, serves as a local resource to help navigate safety
questions related to field planning and participates on the joint
health and safety committee.
“If we’re not intentional about safety, complacency and inci-
dents can rise,” she said. “It allows me to be a better project
manager too, as we are responsible for the safety of others in
the field. The role allowed me to understand Stantec’s safety
framework more quickly than I would have otherwise.”
Including neurodiversity
Malley also chairs Stantec’s Canadian employee resource
group (ERG) for neurodiversity, which she co-founded with
another colleague in December 2022. Preceding this launch,
similar groups were established at the company’s offices in the
U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
“During my first week at Stantec, I came across neurodiver-
sity content on an intranet page,” she recalled. “I was diagnosed
with ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] as a child,
and the early assessments identified some other cognitive dif-
ferences. Unfortunately, the challenges and barriers can be sig-
Modern miner
nificant for the neurodivergent community, and this was the
first workplace where I saw this conversation occurring.”
The ERG delivers initiatives and activities, open to all Cana-
dian employees, based on providing opportunities for educa-
tion, support and advocacy. “We host online events, speakers
and roundtables, and we are developing a peer support pro-
gram,” she said. “We’re essentially furthering conversation
around neuro-inclusion.”
According to Malley, the group has had a great response and
high event turnout. “When we manage with neuro-inclusion in
mind, it brings benefits to the entire workforce,” she pointed out.
“Neurodiversity as a paradigm recognizes and values neurologi-
cal variation across the entire population. It values all minds.
We’re in a knowledge economy and our labour is mainly intellec-
tual. Valuing neurological diversity, and the expression of it in
the workplace, adds strength and depth to any organization.”
She noted that neurodivergent people often report that they
are not understood, and such ERGs can help to remove stigma,
foster a sense of acceptance and belonging and allow for shared
experience. “There is support and awareness for neurodiver-
gent kids within the education system, but that support doesn’t
necessarily continue in the workforce,” she said. “Groups like
this can help to bridge a gap.”
Malley explained that one area many people with ADHD and
other forms of neurodivergence struggle with is justice sensi-
tivity (perceiving unfairness and wrongdoing in the world more
frequently, and feeling it more acutely, than neurotypical peo-
ple); many of the initiatives she highlighted for this profile are
those with social values. “In my experience, there is also a
downside to being a person who is sensitive to justice—it is not
always understood at the surface [level],” she said. “I think
those with justice sensitivity make great managers and leaders
because they are naturally attuned to identify and strive for
corrections in meaningful ways, and it makes the workplace a
bit better. There is room for more understanding on the topic of
neurodivergence in the workplace and the inherent leadership
qualities that neurodivergent people bring.”
Looking towards the future, Malley pointed out that climate
change and mining energy solutions are a significant industry
challenge, and that mining projects will be scrutinized more
and more from a climate lens. “I will be looking for opportuni-
ties to build more skills around energy and climate solutions
related to resource developments, as well as ways to innovate
on consent building and Indigenous project equity,” she said. “I
think both areas will be important for mine developments
today, and in the future. I’d love to have a client/project that
allows me to stretch in this way. The landscape for mining
expectations is changing rapidly.”
Her dream project would be to do client work related to the
Ring of Fire region in Ontario. “I believe this development is an
iconic nation-building project and is going to play a pivotal role
for the societal energy transition,” she said. CIM
Mining is a varied, multi-faceted industry and the
people who work in the sector are equally diverse.
Modern Miner will run through 2023 and showcase
mining professionals from a range of backgrounds
and highlight the ways they are leading, innovating
and pushing the industry forward. If you know some-
body who should be profiled, email editor@cim.org.
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 31
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Tires used in the oil sands need to be made of a more heat resistant compound to those used at hard rock mines.
When the rubber hits the sand
Tire manufacturers and suppliers have to contend with the unique requirements of oil
sands mining sites
By Kelsey Rolfe
T
he humble tire. It does not look like much from the out-
side: a rubber casing, heavy-duty rims and plenty of air to
fill it up.
But as Euan Hovell sees it, tires are a feat of engineering—
and nowhere in the world is that truer than Alberta’s
Athabasca oil sands, where an unconventional oil deposit type,
extremely varied weather conditions and a need for speed con-
spire to demand a tire uniquely manufactured for the region.
Hovell would know better than anyone. Now the global min-
ing product category manager at Michelin, he was on the origi-
nal design team that engineered the radial tires for the first
Caterpillar 797 haul truck to be sent to the oil sands in 1999, and
he has seen haul truck tires evolve over the decades alongside
the development of the mines in the area.
“When we look at the conditions for the oil sands, we defi-
nitely have a different specification for tires,” he said. “The con-
ditions just by themselves lead to a product that needs to be
designed for these specific changing conditions in mind.”
Oil sands
Courtesy of Kal Tire
Tough terrain
There are two methods of extracting oil from the oil sands:
in-situ and surface mining. Eighty per cent of Canada’s oil sands
deposits are found far underground in oil sands reservoirs,
which require in-situ drilling and recovery. But the remaining 20
per cent are within 70 metres of the surface and can be extracted
by a truck and shovel mining method. These deposits are found
in loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone—a mix of
sand, clay and water soaked with bitumen.
Unlike hard rock mines, where the haul roads are firm and
unyielding, oil sands operations are soft underfoot, and trucks
must contend with plenty of ground movement, particularly in
the summer. Faced with undulating ground conditions, haul
trucks bounce along the terrain, and the tires rolling under enor-
mous loads must shoulder that weight and dynamic movement,
which causes heat to build up as well as fatigue on the tire’s cas-
ing over time. Add to that the natural resistance that sand cre-
ates, which Hovell compared to adding a wave of material in
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 33
front of each of the haul truck tires, and drivers have to use a lot
of torque so as to push the truck harder to overcome this resist-
ance to move forward.
“The biggest challenge up here is heat and constantly run-
ning against sand, as the soft underfoot makes it challenging for
customers to maintain roads. The sand creates undulations that
can make a fully loaded superclass truck bounce down the haul
roads,” said Justin Varney, sales manager at Kal Tire’s Mining
Tire Group, who works in Fort McMurray.
Another factor that comes into play is the uniquely flat haul
cycles at oil sands operations. Unlike the grading of hard rock
mines’ haul ramps, oil sands mines tend to be very flat and very
long. Without any need to slow down to descend or ascend
through the mine, trucks drive at their peak speed, their truck
beds filled to nameplate capacity with dense sand. That long
undulating road becomes an endurance test.
Many oil sands operators have spent millions of dollars main-
taining their haul roads to conserve and maintain the integrity
and functionality for that very reason, Hovell said. Michelin,
meanwhile, has introduced unique design components into tires
bound for the oil sands to handle its specific challenges.
Design features
To be able to run the trucks at high speeds over long cycles
while managing the heat from applying so much power, tires
need a shallower tread depth. Hovell said Michelin optimizes the
highest tread depth possible for its tires for oil sands haulers.
And while the ground conditions can result in high resistance to
mobility, it is not the type of material that abrades a tire tread.
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34 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
Varney noted that tire wear is not a maintenance issue Kal Tire
team members ever address in the oil sands.
Dave Allan, vice-president of Canada at Kal Tire’s Mining
Tire Group, noted tires in the oil sands also need to be made of
a different compound to those used at hard rock mines. Oil
sands tires will require a compound that is more heat resistant
than cut resistant because of the different makeup of the
haulage roads.
Hovell said Michelin also must account for the radius of the
curves that are common at oil sands sites, which exert a power-
ful lateral force on the tire. “We’re continuously designing ele-
ments into the tire that can prevent shear forces from
destroying the tire crown and belt package,” he said. “There’s a
lot of force developed going into [turning] the corner with ultra-
class machines, and so we all have an important challenge in the
design: making sure that we can sustain no tire damage due to a
very high lateral acceleration in a curve.”
The tire also needs to be able to accommodate the very high
decanewtons of torque being transmitted from the truck’s drive-
train, through the rim, to the tire’s bead and finally through the
tire structure to the tire footprint, where it makes contact with
the ground. Oil sands trucks deliver higher levels of initial
torque to start motion compared to other mining operations due
to the resistance of the sand, Hovell said. “For the tire rim inter-
face and that whole bead area, the design of that part of the tire
needs to be very robust to be able to maintain and disperse the
torque throughout the rest of the tire,” he explained. If the con-
nection between the rim and bead were to break down, the force
of the torque would destroy the tire bead area.
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Radial steel cables within the tire manage the stress caused
by the undulating ground conditions. The air pressure inside the
tire causes the casing to be placed into tension, which allows the
tire to carry the load. The moment a haul truck experiences
bouncing due to the surface undulations, the steel cables in the
tire need to be able to handle the resulting compression and
extension without failing. “It’s a very important part of the
design,” Hovell said. “We have to have enough rigidity in the
cable for it to resist the high elongation but to also be flexible
enough to bend and not compress.”
Changing of the seasons
Tire manufacturers also need to account for the significant
variations in year-round temperature and weather conditions
at the oil sands. While the summer makes tire heat a more
pressing issue, the winter’s ambient temperature helps with
heat separation and stabilizes the ground. But then there are
the spring thaw and the fall freeze to contend with. Those shift-
ing conditions demand a tire that can deliver some traction.
Hovell said Michelin designed its tread sculpture to be opti-
mized within the tire’s life cycle in a way that responds to those
seasonal shifts.
Tires spend the first third of their life on the truck’s front
axle and the last two-thirds on the rear. The front tires are
important for steering, shoulder the majority of the weight
of the truck’s load—particularly when travelling downhill—
and “take the most abuse,” said Varney, which makes the
front an ideal position for brand-new tires. The back tires,
meanwhile, receive the torque that drives the machine for-
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Oil sands
ward, and play a key role in maintaining traction during
tough ground conditions.
Shifting mine plans
In the decades since 1999, oil sands tires have become more
sophisticated, and Hovell said additional “technological bricks”
have been added by Michelin after close collaboration with its
mining customers and the service provider in the region. Oil
sands operations themselves have also evolved, growing in
scope as mining companies have expanded to new deposits
within their sites. Hovell said this means that haul truck speeds
have increased to account for the growing distance between the
active deposit and the crusher, and payloads have also evolved
and gotten larger. In response, manufacturers have had to
increase tire sizes over time.
Varney said the inflation pressure has also increased in tires
over the years; Kal Tire used to inflate tires to 105 pounds per
square inch (PSI) but now inflates them to 110 or 115 PSI to ensure
the air pressure supports heavier loads and longer haul roads.
According to Hovell, Michelin is constantly negotiating
with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for more tire
space. “Michelin is designing tires within the ‘space claim’
given by the OEMs,” he added. “There is a fixed limit to the
dimensions of a tire that could be transported over the high-
way and due to all these restrictions, we are limited to how
large we can make tires. With these constraints in mind, we
need to make the current and future tires carry even more
loads, go faster and go longer.”
Progress rolls on. CIM
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August 2023 | Août 2023 | 35
Courtesy of NAIT
Sensor-based technologies can be utilized in drill core analysis for the characterization of oil sands deposits.
Comparing characterization
techniques
Researchers at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology are investigating various
sensor-based technologies for determining the composition of oil sands deposits
By Lynn Greiner
A
s with any mine, oil sands operators need to have a good
understanding of the nature of the ore they are process-
ing. The task of drilling hundreds of cores up to 75
metres deep to give mine operators a sense of what they are fac-
ing as they plan their operations is expensive and time consum-
ing, but necessary. The composition of each deposit has a major
effect on how the oil is extracted, and what kind of waste (and
how much) will end up in tailings ponds.
Today those cores are slabbed, with half (typically called the
A side) being sent to a lab, where a number of destructive tests
are performed on extracts from them. If there is doubt about a
result, it is hard to redo the characterization since the test pro-
cedure requires destruction of the original material.
The B side is dried and photographed to allow geologists to
interpret its strata. This core is then stored, given to regulators
or disposed of.
Potential improvement
Jason Ng, lead researcher at the Technology Access Centre for
Oil Sands Sustainability (TACOSS) at the Northern Alberta Insti-
tute of Technology (NAIT), is working to improve that workflow.
In the current process, he explained, “we use something
called a Dean-Stark apparatus to determine the composition of
36 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
the oil sands—the bitumen, water and mineral solids—by distil-
lation. We also do clay analysis using a method called methylene
blue index (MBI), which is a titration test to indicate how much
active clay is in the sample. We also do particle size analysis
using sieving and laser diffraction techniques. These lab-based
methods are very, very time consuming.” He said it typically
takes two to three months for an operator to collect all the data
from a coring program.
Ng is instead proposing non-destructive testing that will be
faster and cheaper. As an added bonus, this may generate fewer
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as there will be less require-
ment to transport cores from site to labs in Calgary or Edmonton.
“What we’re testing and validating on the core-scanning side
is using sensors, which can get results as quickly as in minutes,”
he explained. With the sensors and associated imaging, values
can be assigned to each pixel of the image, providing precise
information about every location in the core.
Andrea Sedgwick, Ledcor applied research chair at TACOSS,
added that because the sample is not destroyed during these
tests, it allows for more flexibility in extracting multiple types of
data from a single sample.
“What we’re validating is if those sensors actually provide
the information that the vendors claim within the accuracies

needed,” she said. “We’re back checking lab results by testing
different cores that are very well homogenized and understood.”
Ng added, “The resolution of the data with these non-
destructive technologies are usually much higher compared to
the lab, because when we do run tests in the lab, we require a
minimum amount of sample. That limits the resolution of the
data we can get from lab-based analysis, but [with] sensor-
based [testing], typically you can have very high resolution. So
that is another benefit.”
Resolution, in this context, means the amount of material
required to run a test. Lab-based tests typically require a mini-
mum of 30 centimetres of core material, which is then homoge-
nized for lab characterization. But sometimes, the sample
composition can vary within a few centimetres. However, Ng
said, with the scanning technologies the NAIT team is testing,
samples can be examined centimetre by centimetre if needed.
“It’s tricky,” Sedgwick observed, “because we have different
geological facies within our cores, and sometimes when the lab
person picks the section that they want, it could come from two
different facies. It is very hard to tell that though once they have
blended and homogenized the core. It does not give a very good
indication of what is really happening in that geological facies,
versus if we are running this online without any disturbance.
With core-scanning technologies, we can see where one facies
ends and another facies begins. It makes a big difference in get-
ting our modelling more accurate for the mining engineers. It is
important for the mine plan to understand what is happening in
the orebody.”
That understanding not only affects how the mining is done
[blending], she explained, but how plant engineers process the
feed and how they manage the tailings.
Encouraging results
No single sensor technology can do it all, Ng pointed out, but
he has found several that are promising. Hyperspectral imaging
can provide quick measurements of both spatial and spectral
information, and geologists can use the software to examine the
cores online, where previously they might have had to go to the
lab for a look. “You have everything online, digitized, and you
have all the hyperspectral data as well.”
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Ng said, has promise
as well.
“We’re seeing that technology might have strong potential
for an online type of application to measure slurry composition,
so that can really help with the process control in the extraction
plant,” he said. “Because in oil sands, the ore feed can be quite
varied, sometimes you do not know exactly what is coming into
the plant. Being able to at least have some idea of what type of
material you are dealing with in your plant can really help with
optimizing it so that you get the best recovery.” These optimiza-
tions can lead to notable reduction of GHG emissions.
One challenge is seeing how different technologies can be
combined to get a complete overview of the material, he noted.
Oil sands solids contain sand, silt-sized fine mineral solids and
clays. Particle sizes vary. And while the bitumen, water and
solids composition can be detected using NMR and hyperspec-
tral imaging, which are both proving successful at composi-
tional analysis, the particle size distribution is turning out to be
trickier to nail down.
Ng is testing various imaging technologies to address that
issue, but it is proving difficult. In actual operations, there might
Oil sands
be lumps of material that make it hard to measure individual
particles, especially using 2D measurements. His team also
tested 3D measurements using micro-computed tomography
(micro-CT) but, he said, the outputs are complex to analyze.
Yet particle size is important. “The amount of fines and
clays that you have really influences the extraction process,”
he said. “We typically don’t want too much of high fines ore
going into the plant as it can disrupt operations and decrease
recovery.” Fines and clays, he explained, are defined as parti-
cles less than 44 microns and 2 microns in size respectively;
they take a long time to settle in suspension, so the tailings
consolidate slowly.
Future plans
The project has tested five to 10 technologies so far, Ng said,
and it is not finished yet. New proprietary technology coming
out of other universities is on the way, including a unit from a
team at the University of British Columbia that is due to arrive
this summer.
“The thing that gets me most excited is that we’re seeing suc-
cesses,” Sedgwick said. “We are seeing things that are working,
that we think can be implemented in the very near term onto
mine sites.”
Ng agreed. “Being able to work on this project, and seeing a
path to potential field implementation and commercializing the
technology in oil sands is very exciting. That’s part of what
applied research is all about. In addition to research, we also
wanted to make a real impact to industry. The commitment from
the oil sands companies to technology and innovation—I’m
really excited about that too, because in the past decade in the
mining space, a lot of companies have applied new technologies
to measure ore grade for ore sorting, and the oil sands compa-
nies are now following suit.”
The Institute for Oil Sands Innovation (a partnership of
Imperial Oil, the University of Alberta’s faculty of engineering
and provincial research and innovation agency Alberta Inno-
vates) is funding this project along with the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The
NAIT team works closely with employees at Imperial Oil
Research, Sepideh Mortazavi Manesh and Givemore Sakuhuni.
The two project stewards meet with Sedgwick and Ng monthly
to discuss progress and next steps, providing valuable contribu-
tions to the project.
“They help a lot by providing representative samples, giving
us insights on the actual operation and so on, because they know
a lot better what exactly their mine needs,” he said. “It’s a really
good combination to have the industry stewards and
researchers working together on a problem.”
Sedgwick added, “It allows us to get that real-time feedback.
Sometimes we think, ‘This is a really great technology,’ but for
some operational reason, they may say, ‘Well, these are some of
the barriers that we have identified with the technology.’ Or, in
reverse, they might say, ‘We love that, let’s do more work on this
technology.’ Their feedback is invaluable.”
She continued, “We still have about a year left in our project
to look at different technologies. We’re excited to keep investi-
gating and finding technologies that can be used in the field and
about potential next steps. We are proposing to work with some
of the more successful technologies in further detail. And hope-
fully, we’re going to be able to see some of these technologies on
site within the next year or two.” CIM
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 37
Courtesy of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

Royal Tyrrell Museum technician Mark Mitchell points to plesiosaur neck bones at the Syncrude mine in 2011.

Cretaceous excavation
In recent years, mining operations in the oil sands of northeastern Alberta have uncovered
fossils of 13 marine reptiles and one dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period; it is
Donald Henderson’s job to recover these finds
By Ailbhe Goodbody

A
fter receiving his primary degree in geophysics at the
University of Toronto, Donald Henderson did a PhD in
vertebrate paleontology at the University of Bristol in
the U.K. He then spent five years as a postdoc at the University of
Calgary, twice taking summer jobs at the Royal Tyrrell Museum
of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta. In 2006, he joined the
museum full time as curator of dinosaurs, and since then he has
supervised many of the fossil excavations at oil sands mines.
CIM: Why have so many large fossils been found at oil
sands operations?
Henderson: The Cretaceous Period was a greenhouse world
with no polar icecaps, so sea levels were very high and the conti-
nents were flooded. What is now North America was a few
degrees further north than it is now, and was split in two by a sea
called the Western Interior Seaway that extended from the Gulf
of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. These warm, shallow seas were
very productive, and it would have been a good place to be a
marine reptile.
Fortuitously, the mountains were rising in the west, so there
was a constant supply of sediment flowing into the Western
Interior Seaway. The combination of these factors meant that
when large animals died in that sea, they had a good chance of
becoming a fossil. In later time periods, the currents and sedi-
ment supply changed, so large reptiles were not preserved.
The fossils are found because the mines have to remove over-
burden. There is three to four metres of glacial sediments at the
surface, then eight to 10 metres of the Clearwater Formation
from the early Cretaceous period. The bottom of the Clearwater
Formation includes a layer called the Wabiskaw Member, which
is approximately 110-112 million years old and is where almost
all the fossils found at oil sands sites come from.

38 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5


Below the Clearwater Formation is the McMur-
ray Formation, which consists of unlithified sand
that hosts the bitumen extracted at the oil sands
mines.
CIM: What is the process when a significant
fossil is found at an oil sands mine?
Henderson: All fossils in Alberta are pro-
tected by the Historical Resources Act,
which covers archaeological and palaeonto-
logical remains—no one can collect them without
a permit. As part of their mining permits, the oil
sands companies have agreed to notify us when
they encounter any exceptional or significant fos-
sil find.
For the early fossil finds in the 1990s, the mines
just put the fossils onto the back of a truck and
drove them south for us. However, the strati-
graphic location of a fossil is really important, so
it’s better for us to excavate them ourselves.
These days, we’re more efficient and can get to
the mine site within 48 hours of being notified. We
supply the mines with an action plan and pictures,
so everybody from the shovel operators to the mine
managers know what to do if they find a fossil.
The people at the mines are great—I think it’s
such a change from their normal routine that
they’re thrilled to help us. We keep encountering a
myth that we shut the mines down for the excava-
tions, but they just put down cones and flagging
tape, and move the mining itself over by 50 metres.
There was one exception that took us nearly three
weeks, but usually we’re done in a week. For the
last one in March, we were done in two days.
We don’t want to expose too much of the fossil
at the mine, because the bones are quite delicate—
heavy, but brittle. We try to leave as much rock as
we can enclosing them, exposing just enough to
estimate the size and range of the fossil. We do
sometimes have to make strategic breaks. We cap
the fossil with a plaster and burlap mixture, dig
down even more underneath, flip it over, put
another plaster and burlap cap on the top and lift
the fossil out. It’s almost a formula now.
Fortunately, the mines have heavy equipment
that can do the lifting, so we run slings underneath
the fossils and they lift them up for us. Sometimes
they’ll carry it out of the mine up to the top surface,
or they’ll drive a truck down and load it for us.
The slower, more detailed fossil work is done at
the museum. TV shows give the sense that you’re
done once you get the fossil out of the ground, but
there could be years of work ahead.
CIM: In March, a plesiosaur was discovered
at the Mildred Lake mine. Why is this find
important?
Henderson: The shovel operator saw a piece of
bone fall down off the cliff, and knew from her
training to stop. This specimen was in the Mc-
Murray Formation—we’ve never had a plesiosaur
TIMELINE OF OIL
SANDS FOSSIL
DISCOVERIES
April 1992
Operator Willie Brevant
discovered an ichthyosaur
fossil at Syncrude’s Base
mine
February 1994
Machine operators Greg
Fisher and Lorne Cundal
found a new genus of
plesiosaur, named
Nichollssaura borealis, at
Syncrude’s Base mine
July 1995
Backhoe operator Owen
Staudinger found a
plesiosaur at Syncrude's
North mine
May 2000
A new ichthyosaur,
Athabascasaurus
bitumineus, found at
Syncrude’s Base mine
March 2011
Shovel operator Shawn Funk
found a new nodosaur,
named Borealopelta
markmitchelli, at Suncor’s
Millennium mine
November 2011
Heavy equipment operator
Maggy Horvath found a
plesiosaur at the Syncrude
mine
May 2012
Two elasmosaurs found
days apart at Syncrude’s
North mine
December 2012
An elasmosaur was found
during construction of the
Parsons Creek interchange
February 2016
A plesiosaur was discovered
during exploration drilling at
Suncor’s Millennium mine.
The remains were
excavated in February 2019
Oil sands
[a large 1.5-metre to 15-metre-long predatory
marine reptile] from that formation before, but
we’re always looking to expand the range that we
find them in. This makes it the oldest Cretaceous
plesiosaur found so far in Alberta. It is estimated to
be at least 115 million years old; it was found a bit
lower than the Albian-Aptian boundary, which is
113 million years old.
That level is thought to have been shoreface,
which would have been a very active environment.
The carcass would have been broken up by the
tides and surf, and I also suspect it could have been
scavenged by dinosaurs because it was near the
shore. All we got was the tail. We looked through
the rubble but couldn’t find any more; I think that
tail was all that was left when it finally got buried
115 million years ago.
CIM: Could you tell me about the dinosaur
discovered in 2011?
Henderson: The fossil was found in a cliff at the
Suncor Millennium mine, and is the only dinosaur
fossil found so far in the oil sands. As the shovel
operator scooped up the material, he noticed rows
of bone on a slab slide down the cliff and realized
he’d found something.
It was a huge surprise that it was a dinosaur, as
we expected another plesiosaur. The mine sent us
photos of rings or discs of bone in parallel rows,
and it looked an awful lot like a plesiosaur flip-
per. Then when we got there, we realized it
was even better—it was a dinosaur, a type of
nodosaur. We knew right away from that first visit
that the dinosaur fossil was special; it is the best-
preserved armoured dinosaur ever found, and it
was a new species. This dinosaur probably
weighed about 1.5 tonnes when he was alive.
As for why the dinosaur was on the seabed—we
think it was washed out in a flood, meaning the
shoreline couldn’t have been very far away. We’ve
got evidence of major river deltas going out into
the Western Interior Seaway. We’ve found foot-
prints from rocks of the same age and type in
British Columbia, so we already knew that there
were large four-footed armoured dinosaurs in
northwestern Canada at the time. At approxi-
mately 110 million years old, this is the oldest
dinosaur ever actually found in Alberta.
The dinosaur was in a belly-up position,
pressed on his back into the soft silt of the seabed.
He was probably dead when he washed out to sea,
and eventually the body wall ruptured and down
he went. There was a crater where he hit the
seabed; in the cliff face, you could see the deflec-
tion of the sediments after the impact. He settled
in a glauconite sand, and the mineral glau-
conite only forms in water deeper than 50
metres so we can estimate the minimum
depth of burial. A very dense, hard concretion
had grown around the dinosaur carcass, which
was unusual, and prevented mineral-saturated
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 39
Photos courtesy of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

(Left) Donald Henderson at Suncor’s Millennium mine; (right) part of the plesiosaur fossil being removed from the Millennium mine in 2019.

groundwater from precipitating minerals into it. brought up chunks of bone from 33 metres down.
None of the remains are your traditional, mineral- They told us, ‘We’ll call you back when the working
July 2017
infilled fossil. Several plesiosaurs from face of the mine has got to that location,’ so we had
We managed to get the bigger pieces that we the same era as the other to wait three more years.
could see farther from the cliff, and then we got a marine reptiles were found In February 2019, they finally got to mining that
trackhoe with an extremely long arm to reach in, at the Syncrude mine, but area and called us in to excavate the fossil. We got
curl the bucket around and lift out the other the remains were highly down to the magic 33 metres, but there was noth-
pieces that were too close to the base of the cliff fragmented ing there. The mine manager said, ‘let’s keep dig-
for us to approach. They’re fanatical about safety ging,’ and we found a really nice skeleton. The
at the mine. drill core had gone right through the middle of
It was not your normal fossil collection. We June 2018 the chest. The hole had been drilled for geo-
Scott Fisher, a geotechnical
were on-site for 17 days, doing 12-hour days. I spent technical testing, so there were cables running
instrumentation technician
two of those days with the technician and three with Neegan Technical through it and it had been filled with plaster. We
other people from the mine’s geology department Services, found a plesiosaur collected the plesiosaur with a plaster column and
just going through the rubble looking for more at Syncrude’s North mine several cables sticking out of it.
pieces, and we filled several pallets with fragments In 2012, an elasmosaur was found at the Parsons
and bigger blocks. Creek interchange at the north edge of Fort McMur-
The specimen was found just 10 metres from March 2023 ray when they were putting in massive roadworks.
the mine’s claim limit. The mine doesn’t dig right Shovel operator Jenna An elasmosaur is a genus of plesiosaur famous for
up to the edge of the claim for slope stability rea- Plamondon discovered the its extremely long neck, and it was from the same
sons. If that carcass had drifted just another 10 oldest plesiosaur ever found period as the fossils at the oil sands mines—the
in Alberta at Suncor’s
metres when it settled on the seabed 110 million strata there are absolutely horizontal. We exca-
Mildred Lake mine
years ago, it would still be in the ground. vated it in December, so they built us a hut out of
two-by-fours, sheets and tarpaulin. We worked
CIM: What are some other notable fossils found in the inside that while the digging machines got closer and closer. That
oil sands that you have worked on? was a really nice specimen; the armspan on it is huge.
Henderson: We have found about 13 marine reptiles in the We also find a lot of fossil wood—it is bitumen-soaked wood,
oil sands; 11 of them were plesiosaurs, and two were which is another bit of evidence that the shoreline can’t be more
ichthyosaurs. The strange thing is that apart from one excep- than a few kilometres away. It isn’t petrified wood, it’s soft and
tion, all the marine reptiles have come from the Syncrude rotten and soaked in petroleum.
mine, which is about 10 kilometres away from the Millen- You can’t predict where the fossils will be found, but on average,
nium mine. a fossilized marine reptile is found about every two years in the oil
We have only found one large reptile above the Wabiskaw sands. I call them the regular surprises—we know they’re coming,
Member. In 2016, exploration drilling at the Millennium mine but we don’t know when or where they’re coming from. CIM

40 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5

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The Prairies’
promise
A new era is dawning for mining in
Canada’s Prairie provinces
By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco

I
n the last three years, there has been a significant increase in
mining activity in Canada’s mineral-rich Prairies region, par-
ticularly in the critical minerals space, to fuel the energy tran-
sition and food security in a world of geopolitical uncertainties.
Saskatchewan, a global leader in uranium and potash, both of
which are identified by the federal government as critical miner-
als, is leading the way. But miners are also flocking to Manitoba
and, while Alberta is lagging in critical minerals exploration
investment, it is experiencing the birth of a brine lithium rush.
The future of mining through the energy transition in the
Prairies is full of potential, with new projects in development
and at least one project being reclaimed that could help redefine
the image of an entire mining sector.

Exploring Saskatchewan
Exploration and deposit appraisal expenditures in Saskatch-
ewan rose from $158.5 million in 2020 to $370.6 million in 2022,
according to National Resources Canada. Saskatchewan is vying
to become a world-class critical minerals hub. In May, the Fraser
Institute ranked Saskatchewan as Canada’s most attractive
jurisdiction for mining investment for 2022 (and third globally).
The province has occurrences of 23 of the 31 critical minerals
identified by the federal government in the Critical Minerals
Strategy it introduced in December 2022, including lithium, cop-
per, zinc and rare earths.
In March, when the Saskatchewan government announced its
new critical minerals strategy, it increased its non-refundable
flow-through share mineral exploration tax credit from 10 per
cent to 30 per cent and its Targeted Mineral Exploration Incentive
for hard rock drilling mineral exploration from $750,000 to $4
million. “I know we have had a lot more interest from investors as
a result,” said Pam Schwann, president of the Saskatchewan Min-
ing Association. “The 30 percent is starting to attract attention
from those looking for investment as a tax strategy.”
A significant portion of new exploration in Saskatchewan is
for uranium, thanks to rising spot prices and a revival in nuclear
energy. Northern Saskatchewan has the largest high-grade ura-
nium deposits in the world and its mines and mills, operated by
uranium giants Orano Canada and Cameco, produce close to 25
per cent of the global uranium supply for nuclear energy.
In addition to Canadian juniors—such as Azincourt Energy
with its East Preston uranium project, and Purepoint Uranium,
which published its 2023 Portfolio Handbook in late June, pro-
viding a comprehensive review of each of its 10 exploration proj-
ects in northern Saskatchewan—Canada’s heartland of uranium
is also attracting Australian juniors such as 92 Energy, which The site of Orano’s former Cluff Lake
mine in Saskatchewan, which ceased
arrived in northern Saskatchewan in 2020 and has seven ura- operations in 2002, was transferred to
nium exploration projects, and Terra Uranium, which currently the province of Saskatchewan in May.
has three exploration projects in the province.

42 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5

 Feature

Courtesy of Orano

August 2023 | Août 2023 | 43

 “We’re seeing a lot more juniors from Australia coming in
and that’s very good,” said Schwann. “The Australians have a
great reputation very similar to Canadian style. They are serious
exploration companies that don’t just flip properties. They
invest in them.”
When it comes to mineral exploration in Saskatchewan, brine
lithium is the new kid on the block. In 2019, Saskatchewan-
headquartered Prairie Lithium began exploring for brine lithium
at the province’s Williston Basin and developing its direct
lithium extraction (DLE) technology. In March 2023, the com-
pany was awarded $1 million from Natural Resources Canada to
upgrade its advanced pilot project into a fully automated unit
capable of operating continuously.
Courtesy of Grid Metals
Grid Metals staff at the Tanco mine in Manitoba; the company has a
toll milling memorandum of understanding with Tanco to process
its lithium.
44 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
Another brine lithium exploration company, Alberta-based
Grounded Lithium, which drilled its first well in summer 2022 at
its Kindersley lithium project in western Saskatchewan,
recently announced it will begin the construction of a field pilot
project later this year.
“While potash and uranium are definitely our strengths, we
are also seeing a more diversified interest,” said Schwann. This
includes other critical minerals in addition to lithium, including
nickel, platinum, copper and gold.
Exploring Manitoba
Manitoba also saw a dramatic increase in exploration and
deposit appraisal expenditures from $61.7 million in 2020 to
$169.9 million last year. Although Manitoba is not the mining
powerhouse that Saskatchewan is today, the province is rich in
occurrences of such critical minerals as nickel, copper, zinc,
lithium, cobalt and graphite.
“Manitoba has enormous potential, and it is a jurisdiction
that is often not thought of immediately when you think of
hard rock exploration,” said MaryAnn Mihychuk, president of
the Manitoba Prospectors and Developers Association. “We
haven’t had the level of activity of other jurisdictions like
Ontario, Quebec or B.C. It means that Manitoba is under-
explored and that implies that a discovery is more likely. We
have great geology.”
The province also has Canada’s only established lithium mine
and mill project, the 54-year-old lithium, cesium and tantalum
Tanco mine, which was purchased by Chinese mining company
Sinomine in 2019.
Currently, there are some 17 companies exploring for critical
minerals, mostly for pegmatite lithium, in Manitoba. These
include Snow Lake Lithium, New Age Metals, Lodestar Battery
Metals and Grid Metals, which recently completed an 80-hole
exploration drilling campaign over 17,000 metres on pegmatite
dykes at its Donner Lake lithium property near the Tanco mine.
Grid Metals has a toll milling memorandum of understanding
with Tanco to process its lithium.
“The problem with juniors is you have no cash flow so you
always have to raise money in the market, but if you can get to a
place where you’re self-funded going forward, then it’s a whole
new ball game,” said Robin Dunbar, Grid Metals’ president and
director. “Being able to mine and send it to a mill that’s already
up and running with people who know how to process it, that’s
an opportunity very few people have. We’re pretty close to sub-
mitting our advanced exploration permit, which will enable us
to put in the site infrastructure.”
Dunbar anticipates the company will be able to start mining
and produce a bulk sample by the end of 2023.
Meanwhile, this past March at another one of Grid Metals’
properties, Falcon West, some 120 kilometres east of Winnipeg,
assay results for 2012 drill core samples featured not just high-
grade lithium but also cesium and tantalum, which are both on
the federal government’s critical minerals list.
Exploring Alberta
While the Alberta government also hopes to see its province
leverage the growing demand for critical minerals, Alberta actu-
ally saw a decline in exploration and deposit appraisal expendi-
tures from $46.6 million to $27.1 million between 2020 and 2022.
That said, Alberta has favourable geology for critical minerals

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson (in pink jacket) visiting PADCOM's new potash mine in June.
such as lithium, uranium, vanadium, nickel, rare earth elements
and potash.
Still, the province boasts the innovative E3 Lithium Clearwa-
ter project on Alberta’s Leduc oil field, which is looking to begin
production in 2026. The project has even attracted the interest
of Big Oil. Last summer, the company struck a strategic agree-
ment with Imperial Oil, which will provide E3 Lithium with tech-
nical and development support, access to freehold lands in areas
operated by Imperial and a $6.35 million investment. In June, E3
Lithium announced it was building a pilot field plant that will be
commissioned sometime in late July.
The brine lithium space in Alberta is gaining traction and has
been described as a gamechanger for the province’s energy tran-
sition. It includes exploration and development projects such as
NeoLithica’s Peace River project, Indigo Exploration’s Fox Creek
project, Lithium Bank’s Boardwalk and Park Place projects and
Volt Lithium’s Rainbow Lake property.
Development
As a result of ramping up production to meet the global
shortage of potash created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and
related sanctions, Saskatchewan increased its market share last
year from 32 percent of the agricultural fertilizer’s global supply
to 37 percent. Saskatchewan, responsible for securing Canada’s
position as the world’s largest potash producer, is poised to
increase its production with the construction of BHP Group’s
Jansen mine 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon, Phase 1 of which
is a $7.5 billion initiative. Expected to commence production in
2026, Jansen will be the world’s largest potash mine.
“Our fundamentals for the short, medium and long term for
potash as part of the solution for food security are strong,” said
Feature
Courtesy of the government of Manitoba
Schwann. “Countries are looking for a more reliable and rep-
utable supply chain.”
In Manitoba, a small private company, Potash and Agri Devel-
opment Corporation of Manitoba (PADCOM), is humbly taking a
giant step. PADCOM is building Manitoba’s first selective solu-
tion potash mine.
“Saskatchewan is the most trusted jurisdiction of potash
mining in the world,” said PADCOM president Daymon Guillas.
“In comparison we have just a small deposit, but we have some
of the same high grade in Manitoba as in Saskatchewan. It has
been known for years, and lots of companies have explored Man-
itoba’s potash extensively, but it has become clear that it isn’t
suitable for an underground mine.”
Instead, PADCOM will be using polythermic selective solu-
tion mining to extract the potash. With this method, a brine
solution is injected into the ground to dissolve the mineral.
“What comes out of the well is a solution saturated with potash,”
said Guillas.
The mine, which received $300,000 in seed money from the
Manitoba government, is expected to be fully commissioned
by fall 2023, when it will begin producing some 100,000
tonnes of potash annually. It cost $15 million. “We funded it
ourselves,” said Guillas. “All our equipment is used. I want to
be very clear about that. The first plant is small and very hum-
ble looking.”
The next step, said Guillas, will be to build a $100 million
plant that will produce some 250,000 tonnes of potash a year.
“The world needs a lot more potash and smaller mines like ours
are part of the solution, but we are not the [only] solution. We
still need the big mines,” he said, adding that PADCOM
has been building a relationship with the local Indigenous
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 45
Courtesy of Orano
Some 1,600 hectares of the Cluff Lake site in Saskatchewan have
been returned safely to wilderness.
communities for years and is in talks about profit-sharing
agreements with them.
“It’s important when you are doing resource or industrial
development in small communities that as many of the commu-
nities as possible benefit directly or indirectly,” said Guillas. “It
is wrong when one or two people get rich on the backs of others.
The point being, you need to pay good wages, which we will, and
profit share, which is what we’re going to do with our neigh-
bouring Indigenous communities. We’re going to put money into
helping people start businesses for a quality of life improvement
in the region. It needs to be shared.”
Mihychuk cited PADCOM’s relationship with its local Indige-
nous communities as an example of the private sector in Mani-
toba working with First Nations in a positive way, as well as the
revenue-sharing impact benefit agreement Alamos Gold signed
in June with the Marcel Colomb First Nation for the develop-
ment of its open-pit gold Lynn Lake mine. But it’s not enough,
she said.
“We’ve been calling for revenue sharing in terms of the gov-
ernment of Manitoba and the governments of Indigenous peo-
ple,” said Mihychuk. “It’s an important step and it would go a
long way to make things better.”
NexGen’s $1.3 billion Rook I uranium project in Saskatchewan,
which is in its final permitting approvals stage and will be one
of the world’s largest uranium mines, has also signed impact
benefit agreements with all four of the Indigenous communi-
ties—the Clearwater River Dene Nation, Birch Narrows Dene
Nation, Buffalo River Dene Nation and the Métis Nation—
affected by the project.
In April of this year, Fission Uranium announced its advanced
exploration PLS high-grade uranium project in Saskatchewan
near NexGen had submitted its application to the Canadian
Nuclear Safety Commission for a licence to construct a uranium
mine and mill facility. If it continues to advance on schedule, the
company estimates it will be able to start construction in 2026,
with production slated for 2029.
Also moving closer to construction is Denison Mines’
Wheeler River uranium project in Saskatchewan, which
46 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
reported positive results from its feasibility study in June. The
project, which is currently running a pilot plant, will be Canada’s
first uranium mine to use in-situ recovery. This method injects a
solution into the ground to dissolve the uranium, which is then
pumped up to the surface. The method, which is ideal for high-
grade but small deposits, is widely used in Kazakhstan. It is cred-
ited with that country toppling Canada from its position as the
world’s top uranium producer to second place in 2009.
Reclamation
This year, Orano Canada marked a momentous milestone at
its Cluff Lake project in northern Saskatchewan. It has the
potential to help end the decades-long association the uranium
industry has had with Cold War secrecy, nuclear weapons and
hazardous abandoned mines.
“Uranium mining has a bit of a stigma because there are old
sites, usually run by government companies, that didn’t do such
a good job of cleaning them up,” said Dale Huffman, Orano
Canada’s vice-president of operations. “They ended up being a
burden on the taxpayer, and so there are old uranium sites in
Canada and elsewhere in the world that are problematic.”
On May 11, Orano announced that Cluff Lake, which operated
between 1979 and 2002, had concluded its mining life cycle and
the company was transferring the land on which it operated two
underground mines, four open-pit mines, a tailings manage-
ment facility, a mill and other support facilities back to the
province of Saskatchewan. The announcement followed a Cana-
dian Nuclear Safety Commission public hearing, the subsequent
approval by the regulatory agency of Orano’s application to
revoke the company’s mine and mill operating licence—and 21
years of reclamation and monitoring work by the company. The
strenuous process dates back to the Saskatchewan govern-
ment’s Cluff Lake Board of Inquiry Report in the 1970s, prior to
the project’s construction.
“The inquiry was really the province making a decision of
whether or not it wanted to continue in the uranium business,”
said Huffman. “The report itemized some 54 recommendations,
which were the conditions by which we had to live. At Cluff Lake
we lived by them; we planned for decommissioning right from
the start, and we behaved responsibly. The 54 items described
what responsible uranium mining looked like. It was ground-
breaking at the time but it set us up in Saskatchewan really well.”
Today, some 1,600 hectares of the Cluff Lake site have been
returned safely to wilderness. “There are no restrictions on it for
access to the land. You can hunt, fish, trap and do all sorts of tra-
ditional activities,” said Huffman. The remaining 300 hectares,
including the covered tailings management area, is decommis-
sioned and will remain under the province’s Institutional Con-
trol Program, which includes mandating the company to put
aside funds to deal with any unforeseen environmental issues in
the future. Huffman noted, “You won’t be able to dig on or build
on the tailings area, and exploration companies won’t be able to
go drill there, so there is some land-use protection but otherwise
it’s a safe, stable and accessible site.”
“People think uranium mining is unusually dangerous due to
radioactivity, but the truth is that because of the radioactivity,
we have a whole other layer of regulations and regulators,” Huff-
man added. “Because of that oversight, uranium mines today are
amongst the safest industrial facilities. It’s absolutely the
reverse of conventional thinking.” CIM
Courtesy of Alamos Gold
The Phase 3+ expansion will double the Island Gold mine’s production to 2,400 tonnes per day.
Doubling down
Alamos Gold is aiming to turn its Island Gold mine in Ontario into one of the lowest cost
and most profitable gold mines in Canada by 2026
By Ailbhe Goodbody
W
ith the latest expansion under way at Alamos Gold’s
Island Gold mine in northern Ontario, which is slated
for completion in 2026, its gold production is set to
double. “Island Gold is quickly transforming into one of the best
assets in all of Canada,” said Greg Fisher, chief financial officer
at Alamos Gold. “I would argue it’s probably the best asset that’s
not currently owned by a major mining company.”
The mine is located near Dubreuilville, within the historic
gold producing area of the Michipicoten greenstone belt of the
Archean Superior Province; Argonaut Gold’s Magino mine and
Wesdome Gold Mines’ Eagle River complex are nearby.
According to Alamos Gold, Island Gold is the world’s sixth
highest grade gold mine. For the year ending 2022, its measured
and indicated gold resources stood at 1,276,000 tonnes contain-
ing 291,000 ounces of gold at 7.09 grams per tonne (g/t), along
with proven and probable reserves of 4,225,000 tonnes at 10.78
g/t of gold for 1,464,000 ounces of gold. Its inferred mineral
resources were 8,066,000 tonnes containing 3,529,000 ounces of
gold at 13.61 g/t.
The company credits continued exploration activities with
supporting a multi-phase expansion of the mine, which cur-
rently has a life of 17 years. Island Gold began commercial pro-
duction in October 2007 as a joint venture between Richmont
48 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
Mines and Patricia Mining Corp., averaging less than 50,000
ounces of gold per year. Richmont Mines acquired Patricia Min-
ing the following year.
In May 2017, Richmont published a preliminary economic
assessment for the Phase I expansion of the mine to 1,100 tonnes
per day from the previous nameplate capacity of 900 tonnes per
day. In November of that year, Alamos Gold acquired Richmont,
and the Phase I expansion was completed in 2018.
Island Gold’s reserves and resources doubled to 3.7 million
ounces in the two years following Alamos Gold’s acquisition of
the mine. A permit for the Phase II expansion, which increased
production to 1,200 tonnes per day, was granted in 2019. In July
2020, the company completed the Phase 3 expansion study,
which would increase production to 2,000 tonnes per day; this
study identified that adding a shaft, instead of expanding the
ramp, would increase productivity and reduce costs. Ground-
breaking for the Phase 3 expansion occurred in April 2022.
The Phase 3+ expansion
However, the mine’s combined mineral reserves and
resources increased by 37 per cent to 5.1 million ounces of gold
following the completion of the Phase 3 study, so in June 2022
Alamos Gold announced the updated Phase 3+ expansion, which

Phase 3+ expansion highlights
Estimated capital cost
Underground access Transition from ramp to shaft
Backfill New paste plant to support higher mining rate and recovery
Mill capacity From 1,200 to 2,400 tpd
Power From 12 MW to 34 MW peak
Wastewater Addition of effluent treatment plant
will double the mine’s production from 1,200 tonnes per day to
2,400 tonnes per day. The consultants that contributed to the
Phase 3+ expansion study included Hatch, Hepburn Engineer-
ing, Redpath, Airfinders, Paterson & Cooke, Golder, Halyard,
Bestech and StruthersTech.
“There are three key infrastructure components to the Phase
3+ expansion,” Luc Guimond, chief operating officer at Alamos
Gold, told CIM Magazine. “We’re putting shaft infrastructure in
place, expanding our mill and adding a paste backfill plant to
support the higher mining rates.”
The primary mining method at Island Gold is longitudinal
retreat longhole open stoping, and the mining operations are
currently accessed by a ramp system. With the Phase 3+ expan-
sion, however, ore and waste will be skipped to the surface via
the new shaft infrastructure instead of being hauled via truck.
From there, it will be trucked to the mill, which is also being
expanded.
“The paste backfill doesn’t change our mining method,” said
Nathan Bourgeault, chief mine engineer at Island Gold. “There
will be a bit of a change in sequencing, but the paste cycle allows
us to backfill the stopes a lot more rapidly.”
Ramp up of the Phase 3+ expansion will start in late 2025,
with the full 2,400 tonne per day production reached in 2026.
Average production will increase to 287,000 ounces per year
once the expansion is completed in 2026.
“We’re making a significant investment at Island Gold, and
the growth capital of US$756 million sets us up for the long term
to be a very low-cost producer with all-in sustaining costs
(AISC) of US$576 an ounce,” explained Guimond.
Bourgeault added: “The shaft is what will allow us to do that,
as it ensures a stable cost environment, more effective access to
the mine, and benefits from the economies of scale to get an
increased throughput. We’ve been operating this mine for a
number of years now, so we have a really good handle on what
our costs are. A lot of the improvement across the board is tied
to more efficiency. The two largest components of our cost
structure are labour and maintenance, and we see those improv-
* Gold reserves and resources Tonnes
Proven and probable mineral reserves 4,225,000
Measured and indicated mineral resources 1,276,000
Inferred mineral resources 8,066,000
*As of December 31, 2022
Project profile
US$756 million
US$229 million
US$52 million
US$76 million
US$24 million
US$16 million
Source: Alamos Gold
ing in the post-shaft period. It currently takes over an hour to
get down to the working faces by the ramp, so getting the work-
ers to the mine face more quickly will obviously be a lot more
efficient. That decreased reliance on diesel haulage specifically
will also allow us to control the maintenance costs.”
Upgraded infrastructure
The initial shaft sinking depth is 1,373 metres, which is
scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2026. The five-
metre-diameter concrete-lined shaft has been designed to
accommodate future growth in gold reserves and resources at
the mine. “We’re excavating the shaft on the basis of what we
know today,” said Guimond. “But with continued success on the
exploration front, we can deepen that shaft to 2,000 metres to
support mining even further at depth.”
At 1,373 metres, the shaft capacity will be 4,500 tonnes per
day, which is more than required for the peak throughput (ore
and waste). At its maximum depth of 2,000 metres, the shaft
would have a capacity of 3,500 tonnes per day.
The hoist house was built earlier this year and construction
of the steel headframe is under way. The shaft pre-sink has
also been completed to a depth of 42 metres. The shaft site
infrastructure is well advanced, and the majority of earth-
works have also been completed. Shaft sinking is due to begin
in the fourth quarter of 2023 utilizing a conventional blind
sink methodology, which will have minimal impact on current
mining operations. The configuration of the underground ore
and waste handling and loading pocket will be similar to the
one at Alamos Gold’s Young-Davidson mine in northeastern
Ontario. The total construction capital for the shaft installa-
tion, including all supporting infrastructure, is expected to be
US$229 million.
Alamos evaluated the possibility of constructing a new mill
at Island Gold to accommodate the higher 2,400 tonnes per day
throughput rate, but the high capital cost would have offset the
lower operating costs. Instead, the Phase 3+ expansion will
upgrade the mill circuit, including a new single stage crushing
Grade Gold ounces
(grams per tonne)
10.78 1,464,000
7.09 291,000
13.61 3,529,000
Source: Alamos Gold
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 49
Photos courtesy of Alamos Gold
Clockwise from left: Ore and waste at the Island Gold mine will be skipped to the surface via the new shaft infrastructure instead of being
hauled via truck; the hoist house for the new shaft infrastructure was completed earlier this year; as part of the Phase 3+ expansion, the
mine’s powerline will be upgraded to a peak capacity of 34 MW.
plant, an additional ball mill, a covered stockpile, a larger
adsorption/desorption/recovery (ADR) plant and the conversion
of the existing carbon-in-pulp (CIP) circuit to carbon-in-leach
(CIL) while adding seven new leach tanks.
The majority of the expanded mill components are new or
refurbished, and the total cost of the mill expansion is expected
to be US$76 million. The Phase 3+ expansion has also incorpo-
rated a US$16 million effluent treatment plant. The larger mill
and increased mining rates will require increased electricity,
so the mine’s powerline will be upgraded to a peak capacity of
34 MW.
The paste plant was planned as part of the original Phase 3
expansion plan, but the Phase 3+ expansion has sized it up by 20
per cent to accommodate the higher throughput.
“The paste backfill plant will allow faster stope cycling,
which will support higher mining rates and increase geotech-
nical stability,” noted Guimond. “It also means we’re putting
more tailings material back underground instead of filling our
tailings facility on the surface, extending the life of our tail-
ings facility.”
The total capital investment for the paste plant, including the
underground distribution system, is expected to be approxi-
mately US$52 million. The engineering is 38 per cent complete,
50 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
and construction is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of
2023. The mill, paste plant and power upgrade are all on track
for completion in the first quarter of 2026.
Other improvements
Alamos Gold is transitioning Island Gold to an owner mining
model. The mine currently has 516 Alamos employees, 13 per
cent of which are Michipicoten First Nation or other First Nation
band members.
“We are taking more and more control of our day-to-day
operations,” said Austin Hemphill, general manager at Island
Gold. “Up until very recently, we depended upon contract pro-
duction drilling, but we’re now bringing that in-house.”
Guimond added, “We’re also looking to phase out the devel-
opment contractors. We want to manage all functions of the
business underground with our own personnel. We feel we can
do it more efficiently and more cost effectively than running
with a contractor.”
Alamos Gold released its first climate change report in June,
which outlined the company’s corporate governance around
climate-related risks and opportunities and its alignment to the
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). It
also reaffirmed the company’s target of a 30 per cent reduction

Clockwise from left: Alamos Gold CEO and president John McCluskey, COO Luc Guimond, Island Gold Phase 3+ expansion project
director Trevor Gilchrist and Island Gold Phase 3+ assistant shaft area project manager Hank Jien.
in company-wide absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by
2030. According to Alamos Gold, the Phase 3+ expansion at
Island Gold is expected to reduce GHG emissions by 35 per cent
over the life of mine.
A large part of this is the switch to shaft access. “By doing
that, we’re going to be able to move the ore and the waste in
our business plan more efficiently,” stated Guimond. “We’re
going to reduce our truck fleet from 18 trucks to five because
of the new shaft infrastructure. There will be a lot less diesel
requirements as a result, which is going to improve our overall
GHG emissions.”
Fewer trucks also means lower demand for ventilation to
remove the diesel particulate. “We’re looking to implement
ventilation on demand—meaning in areas where there is active
equipment, the ventilation is running, and if there’s no activi-
ties occurring in those areas, the ventilation would not be on,”
said Guimond.
The upgraded ventilation system at Island Gold has been
designed as a flow-through system, which will reduce downtime
between shift changes. “The fresh air will come in through the
shaft infrastructure, flow through the network of underground
workings and exhaust through the exhaust raise system at the
other end of the orebody,” explained Guimond. “After the pro-
duction blast at the end of the shift, the blast fumes generated
from blasting activities get cleared out of the mine through the
exhaust system right away, and the employees come in on the
fresh air side, allowing them to get back into the work environ-
ment sooner than our current ventilation system.”
Island Gold also has high water efficiency per ounce of
gold produced compared to the sector average. “We recycle
Project profile
Courtesy of Alamos Gold
the water utilized in both the mining and milling processes,”
said Guimond. “We also recycle the water from the tailings
facility and bring it back as process water to run the process-
ing plant.”
Other improvements planned at the mine include the addi-
tion of electric vehicles, the conversion of the air heating from
propane to natural gas to lower the mine’s carbon footprint, and
the addition of a long-term evolution (LTE) communications
network underground to optimize fleet management.
The future
In December 2020, Alamos Gold acquired Trillium Mining,
which added more than 5,500 hectares adjacent to and along
strike from the Island Gold deposit, which includes two past pro-
ducing gold mines. In May this year, the company closed the
acquisition of Manitou Gold, which added another 40,000
hectares. The Island Gold property currently covers 55,277
hectares across the Michipicoten greenstone belt.
The company has 45,000 metres of underground exploration
drilling, 444 metres of underground exploration drift develop-
ment and 36,000 metres of underground delineation drilling
planned at Island Gold in 2023. In June, the company reported
new results from underground exploration drilling that
extended high-grade gold mineralization at the mine.
“Island Gold is a long-term asset,” concluded Guimond.
“With continued exploration success at depth to the east and
west of Island Gold’s mineralization, and with the improved
infrastructure that we’re going to put in place, it bodes well for
a long-term future for Island Gold and the surrounding commu-
nities of Wawa, White River and Dubreuilville.” CIM
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 51
Courtesy of ABB

ABB Ability Condition Monitoring for belts collects and tracks data from conveyor belts.

F
or a mining operation, unplanned downtime is not only

A wealth of data the enemy of productivity—it also makes for a very

Asset monitoring solutions are leveraging
real-time data points for smarter
maintenance spending and reduced
downtime
By Sarah St-Pierre
expensive inconvenience. “A general rule of thumb is, a
planned job is going to be one and a half to three times cheaper
than the same job that is unplanned,” said Andrew Johnston,
asset management solution executive at RPMGlobal. On the
scale of a yearly budget, such a gap becomes significant quickly.
However, asset failure can often be difficult to anticipate.
“Only a relatively small number of failures are a consequence of
what you might call age-related failure, things that you could put
a reactive and preventive maintenance system to catch,” said
David Bleackley, vice-president, advanced applications at
AVEVA. “The vast majority of failures are for spurious and ran-
dom reasons.”
Asset monitoring technology providers seek to help mining
operations mitigate the risk of such unplanned equipment fail-
ure and its associated downtime by making sure no asset compo-
nent goes ignored, or by facilitating big picture insights about an
entire operation’s set of assets.

Taking a live pulse

The ABB Ability Condition Monitoring for belts is a platform
that collects and tracks data from conveyor belts, a critical min-
ing asset. Strategically placed sensors along the belt monitor its
speed, temperature, thickness and wear as well as potential
misalignment, damage or slippage. The sensors themselves are
designed to withstand the harsh conditions of a mining environ-
ment and send signals to remote input/output cabinets, which
relay the signals to the condition monitoring controller. The
information collected from the sensors is then used to assess the
health of the asset.
In order to do so, three elements can be surveyed: the pow-
ertrain, which powers the conveyor through electrical motors,
the rollers and the belt itself. Having identified that many oper-
ations monitor the powertrain to track the state of their con-
veyors, but not the belt, ABB decided to design a solution that
would allow it to fill this gap. The company is also developing a

52 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5


roller monitoring system, which is scheduled to hit the market
next year. The development of these new monitoring systems
is part of ABB’s mining team’s objective to attain complete
asset monitoring.
In designing the platform, ABB aimed to offer a service that
could prevent asset failure and help operations switch from pre-
ventive to predictive maintenance. “Right now, the way that
most of the belts are running is just reactive. So [maintenance
crews] do some cyclical maintenance, let’s say every six months,
maybe once a year. Then, they virtually hope that nothing bad is
going to happen in between. What this tool is going to do is
change that,” said Felipe Silva, segment manager, automation &
digital, mining, North America at ABB.
The system is suitable for any kind of conveyor belt, in sur-
face or underground mines, though ABB recommends focusing
on large, critical ones. In Silva’s experience, clients usually opt to
apply the sensors to conveyor belts connecting the mine to its
processing plant, and to particularly lengthy conveyor belts that
can typically span several kilometres.
“In addition to productivity benefits, there’s a health and
safety aspect to this,” said Sachin Jari, general manager, mining,
North America at ABB. “You want to minimize exposing people
to harsh conditions, including winter in Canada. The remote
monitoring removes the risks associated with physical inspec-
tions of the equipment while it is in use, or the need to stop the
equipment for a safer inspection resulting in productivity loss.”
The first step to implementing the Ability Condition Moni-
toring for belts entails a one- to three-day site survey by ABB to
establish the condition of the equipment and pick out the best
points to install the sensors. Then, after installation, the mine
usually has a service agreement with ABB, typically lasting from
a few months up to a year, so that ABB can guide new users of the
platform in getting used to their new tool and advise them on
taking action based on the information now available to them.
Getting the most out of data
When mining operations apply asset monitoring with as
narrow and precise a scope as a belt sensor to multiple pieces of
equipment, maintenance crews and engineers can be faced with
an overwhelming amount of data to parse. Predictive data
analysis solutions can therefore make their job far more
straightforward.
AVEVA’s Predictive Analytics software applies artificial
intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to data from
various sensor data sources to detect failure patterns before
they can be identified either from viewing the control system or
by human experience.
Rather than placing alarm thresholds that trendlines of asset
monitoring data need to hit to prompt action, the software com-
pares sensor signals to AI-based models that represent specific
asset operational signatures. “We train our AI algorithms
against historical data of different asset and equipment types
and determine what we believe to be good operating data for
that piece of equipment,” said Bleackley. “When we run that
model against real plant information, we can identify when
those equipment items are deviating.”
Training algorithms against “good” data rather than prompt-
ing them to find data exhibiting “bad” equipment behaviour is
more efficient and, according to Bleackley, easier to scale. “The
reality is, it’s not just the data science—which is important—
that makes a scalable, deployable application,” he said. For com-
Asset monitoring
Courtesy of AVEVA
AVEVA’s Predictive Analytics software applies AI and machine
learning algorithms to data to detect failure patterns.
panies with operations in various countries that can easily total
thousands of assets in use at their mine sites, being able to have
a centralized platform for predictive maintenance can prevent a
lot of headaches.
Moreover, for these large-scale operations, the latest update
to AVEVA’s software that came out in February 2023 allows the
AI models used by the software to be derived automatically from
the data histories of their own equipment, speeding up the
implementation process and customizing the analytics to the
actual mine site conditions. From the software analytics, key
actionable information like descriptive diagnostics and remain-
ing useful life can be garnered.
AVEVA also provides guidance to operators and maintenance
crews on what actions they should take based on the fault that is
identified by the software so that its integration into standard
work practices can go smoothly, regardless of scale. “It’s not a
tool for data scientists. It’s a tool for engineering and mainte-
nance people. People who work day-to-day who need to under-
stand the behaviour of a company, a compressor or a conveyor
belt, whatever it may be,” said Bleackley.
Linking maintenance to business planning
While asset monitoring’s advantages are plain when it comes
to maintenance, the practice can also have a big picture dimen-
sion that extends to financial forecasts. RPMGlobal first devel-
oped its Asset Management Tool (AMT) over 20 years ago to
help maintenance teams figure out their maintenance costs
ahead of time so they could plan and budget appropriately. In
November 2022, the company released AMT Mobile, a mobile
version of the tool that enables field technicians, managers and
supervisors to digitize forms and processes to streamline work
management in the field.
“In order to meet operations needs and maximize produc-
tion, there’s rarely a good time to take machines offline [when
operations] are running 24/7, so it’s critical that maintenance
and production are on the same page for when machines need to
be taken down,” said Johnston. “On average, the maintenance
costs within mining can be 30 to 50 per cent of the total operat-
ing costs for a mine. It’s a massive spend, and to forecast that
accurately is not an easy thing to do.”
Johnston noted that many companies rely on enterprise
resource planning (ERP) software to create work orders and
plan out maintenance tasks, but these are not linked to the
budgeting and financial planning aspects of maintenance. AMT
fuses both aspects in the same software, allowing maintenance
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 53
teams to link their work orders and see updated, dynamic life
cycle costing for their equipment.
The forecasts reflect the accrued costs of aging machinery, as
well as the evolving timelines of completed work orders, and all
future forecasted work. AMT then creates a budget built from the
ground up based on the actual work that needs to be performed,
which is more accurate, so it becomes easier to identify the source
of discrepancies between actual costs and the budget from the
start of the year and identify areas to optimize down the line.
AMT can retrieve information about the equipment and asset
strategies already stored in any third-party application or ERP
about an operation’s assets. There are three key aspects that the
software needs to identify: the predicted future usage of the
asset, the asset details and what maintenance tasks are going to
be performed for each asset, and the daily work orders to link to
those maintenance tasks.
Once this information is defined, AMT forecasts each future
event until the end of the asset’s life, as determined by the user.
“We’re able to forecast a cost build up, the labour hours required
to do a task as well as the downtime that’s going to be associated
[with maintenance],” said Johnston. From these projections,
maintenance teams can more accurately inform operations of
AMT can also help make key decisions about acquiring or
retiring equipment at a time that reflects the best value for the
asset. The same applies to the replacement of smaller equipment
components. “From a reliability perspective, there’s often a push
for condition monitoring and extending component life,” said
Johnston. However, according to him, even if a component can be
replaced a bit later, the number of changes over the asset’s life
should also be taken into consideration, as extending component
life increases the risk of it breaking down in the field and creating
avoidable damages and downtime. If extending the life does not
prevent a changeout over life of the asset, then the added risk
was taken on for no financial benefit within the life cycle cost of
the asset.
“If you’re not looking at things from the whole life cycle
perspective, you can make the wrong decision that can come
back to bite you and ultimately may actually cost you more in
the long run,” said Johnston. CIM
RPMGlobal’s Asset
Management Tool (AMT) is an
in-shift maintenance solution

Courtesy of RPMGlobal
machine availability. They can also optimize their labour head- that dynamically links to life-
counts rather than rely on assumed equipment-to-labour ratios. cycle costing and strategy.
Any condition monitoring information available to the mainte-
nance team through other systems (such as oil analysis, for exam-
ple) can also be brought into AMT. Therefore, comparing pieces of
equipment to identify which ones need more urgent attention in
performing maintenance tasks can also be achieved using the
software’s long-term planning functionality to see what needs to
be done over the next two to 10 months and plan accordingly.

THE NEXT LEVEL

SEPTEMBER 17 - 20, 2023
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54 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5

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guidelines and leading practices

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s Canada’s leading technical industry resource for and Mineral Reserves. The guidelines

A the minerals, metals, materials and petroleum sectors,

CIM is dedicated to advancing knowledge, facilitating
innovation, celebrating excellence and promoting sustainable
also provide technical content for
both internal and public reports on
mineral projects, as required under
Find all
CIM practice
guidelines at
mrmr.cim.org
practices across the full spectrum of our industry. The insti- National Instrument 43-101 Stan-
tute is also looking to its membership to help lead this work dards of Disclosure for Mineral Proj-
into the future. ects (NI 43-101). The LPGMP supplements the CIM Mineral
“As a CIM member, you—individually, but especially collec- Exploration Best Practice Guidelines (2018) and the CIM Estima-
tively—have the power to use your voice to drive our industry tion of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice
forward in a wealth of ways,” said CIM President Michael Cinna- Guidelines (2019).
mond, in the CIM mid-2023 report. “Join societies and commit- The CIM Standards, Leading Do you have expertise
tees that align with your interests and contribute to improving Practices and Guidelines Direc- in cost estimation?
standards, guidelines and leading practices. CIM is the sum of its torate (SLPGD) has now begun We’d love your
parts, most importantly its members, and it serves both those drafting the Cost Estimation input!
members and the industry at large by developing and communi- Guidelines, which will serve as a Contact
cating best practices and fostering innovation.” “how to” on effectively managing Jennifer Breaux:
jbreaux@cim.org
CIM takes an active leadership role in driving innovation and cost-estimating activities involved
working with our valued partners to advance an increasingly in a mineral project.
sustainable future through the world’s mineral resources. We CIM’s strategic plan provides a fresh outlook on how we
enable inclusive collaboration across our industry and beyond can support the Canadian minerals industry in its role as a
that helps to identify the most pressing challenges, set priorities global leader in sustainable and responsible mining. From
and facilitate solutions. lithium production to copper and nickel mining, to digitaliza-
The Leading Practice Guidelines for Mineral Processing tion, job creation and community engagement, CIM contin-
(LPGMP), published at the end of 2022 and more recently ues to be the trusted authority and collective source for
released in French, describe how mineral processing profession- advancing mineral industry knowledge, guidelines and lead-
als can provide input into the estimation of Mineral Resources ing practices. CIM

August 2023 | Août 2023 | 55


SECTION
francophone
AOÛT 2023
57 Lettre de l’éditeur
58 Mot du président
Les actualités
59 L’investissement majeur de Rio
Tinto dans l’aluminium au Québec
Par Ailbhe Goodbody
Profil de projet
61 Doubler la mise
Alamos Gold cherche à transformer
Island Gold en Ontario en l’une des
mines d’or les plus rentables et à
plus faibles coûts au Canada d’ici
2026
Par Ailbhe Goodbody
Lettre de l’éditeur
La note sur les minéraux
A
lors que nous étions en train de boucler ce numéro, dans lequel nous
vous parlerons de la production d’éléments des terres rares, de la révi-
sion d’une loi minière visant à accélérer les développements miniers, de
la rationalisation de la certification des ingénieurs et des investissements dans
la mise à niveau du lithium, un rapport m’est parvenu par courrier électronique.
Il présente une optique intéressante concernant ces gros titres. Ce rapport, inti-
tulé Ranking the readiness of economies to boost critical minerals supply,
m’était envoyé par BloombergNEF, un groupe de recherche où les lettres N et E
signifient nouvelle énergie.
Le rapport de recherche attribuait des notes à neuf pays, à savoir l’Australie,
le Brésil, le Canada, le Chili, la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), l’In-
donésie, l’Afrique du Sud et les États-Unis ainsi que l’Union européenne, afin
d’évaluer leur niveau de préparation relative pour augmenter les réserves de
minéraux critiques tels que le cuivre, le lithium et le graphite. La notation était
compilée à partir d’une évaluation de leurs réserves minérales, de leurs straté-
gies sur les minéraux critiques, de leur stabilité politique, de leur talent (y com-
pris les salaires de l’industrie minière, les niveaux d’éducation et l’équité en
matière de genre) et des cadres d’étude d’impact sur l’environnement.
La recherche portait sur des données publiques issues de la stratégie cana-
dienne sur les minéraux critiques, de Statistique Canada, de la Banque mondiale,
du Forum économique mondial et de la commission géologique des États-Unis.
Le Canada a obtenu un score de 73. Il faisait partie des pays en tête de liste pour
sa stabilité sociale et gouvernementale, sa stratégie et la crédibilité de son cadre
d’évaluation environnementale.
C’est la taille relative de ses réserves de minéraux critiques qui a fait baisser
ce score, tout comme le salaire des personnes travaillant dans le secteur minier
par rapport à la moyenne de toutes les autres industries du pays. « Si le Canada
a des réserves pour sept des neuf minéraux pris en compte, sa part de réserves
globales représente moins de 5 % de l’intégralité de celles-ci », lisait-on dans le
rapport. Concernant les salaires, même si elle rémunère mieux que la moyenne
pour tous les secteurs à hauteur de 52 %, l’industrie minière se trouvait derrière
l’Australie, l’Indonésie, le Chili et l’Union européenne.
Cette étude constatait que l’Australie est le pays le mieux préparé. Son score
de 92 faisait du Canada un second candidat lointain. « Grâce à une industrie
minière mûre et des efforts de recherche géoscientifique constants, l’Australie
dispose d’une variété de réserves éprouvées en batteries, métaux communs et
métaux ferreux. Chaque métal représente plus de 10 % du total à l’échelle mon-
diale, à l’exception des terres rares », poursuivait le rapport.
En complément de ce numéro, je vous encourage à analyser ce rapport.
Toutes les données sont censées être définitives, aussi elles soulèvent de nom-
breuses hypothèses. Alors que les chercheurs appellent à davantage d’explora-
tion pour augmenter nos réserves minérales, l’association minière du Canada
(p. 16, uniquement en anglais) insiste sur l’importance de l’infrastructure pour
rendre les projets miniers financièrement concurrentiels. Si le rapport classait
la République démocratique du Congo en bas de la liste en termes de préparation
pour augmenter la production, le projet cuprifère de Kamoa-Kakula en RDC a
commencé la production en 2021 et continue de se développer.
Malgré ces argumentations, que vous pensiez que la note « C » attribuée au
Canada est légitime ou que la rémunération dans le secteur des minéraux cri-
tiques aux États-Unis est un reflet fidèle de la réalité (ce n’est pas mon avis), cette
évaluation de haut niveau et sa méthodologie constituent une vue d’ensemble du
paysage minier international à ce moment critique pour les minéraux.
Ryan Bergen, Rédacteur en chef
editor@cim.org
@Ryan_CIM_Mag
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 57

Avec l’aimable autorisation de Mike Cinnamond
Répercussions et
avantages
L
e récent congrès de l’ICM à Montréal, intitulé Instaurer la
confiance pour décarboner le monde, a fait l’objet de très
intéressantes séances d’ouverture. L’une d’elles portait
sur l’importance pour les sociétés minières de s’assurer qu’elles
instaurent une relation de confiance avec les communautés
autochtones dans lesquelles elles travaillent ou là où elles propo-
sent de travailler.
C’est une question qui me parle beaucoup, car c’est un sujet
très cher à ma société, B2Gold, dans chaque territoire dans
lequel nous travaillons mais aussi plus récemment ici, au
Canada. En avril 2023, B2Gold a acheté à Sabina Gold & Silver le
projet Back River au Nunavut. Back River sera notre
sixième mine en exploitation, mais notre premier projet d’en-
vergure sur le territoire canadien. Ce faisant, nous nous
sommes rendu compte que nous devions adapter notre
approche à la participation afin de répondre aux attentes
sociales concernant une collaboration fructueuse sur la reven-
dication territoriale la plus vaste occupée par des Autochtones,
le Nunavut. Ce territoire canadien a été formé récemment,
en 1999. Les Inuits étaient les signataires de l’accord sur les
revendications territoriales du Nunavut.
Lorsque nous l’avons acheté, le projet de Back River était déjà
un district minier disposant de tous les permis nécessaires, et
son permis social d’exploitation solide avait été développé sur
plus de 12 ans de travail sans relâche et de diligence avec la com-
munauté locale inuite de Kitikmeot. Au titre de ce processus, la
conception du projet a été présentée dès le départ aux Inuits afin
58 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
Mot du président
d’obtenir leurs retours. Les connaissances traditionnelles ont
été recueillies avec l’aide de l’association inuite de Kitikmeot,
qui représente tous les Inuits de Kitikmeot. Ces informations,
associées aux points de vue des propriétaires fonciers locaux,
ont ensuite permis de concevoir une mine adaptée à toutes les
personnes impliquées. La conception de la mine intégrait les
recommandations des Inuits à toutes les étapes du projet,
depuis la collecte de données de référence jusqu’à la planifica-
tion de la fermeture. Ceci impliquait non seulement un proces-
sus de partage des informations visant à informer les
communautés de la future mine, mais aussi un processus de
participation et un dialogue à double sens qui a clairement
changé le projet de façon à tenir compte, dans la mesure du pos-
sible, des préoccupations formulées par les collectivités locales.
S’il n’est jamais possible de répondre aux attentes de toutes
et tous lorsqu’il est question de mise en valeur de nouvelles res-
sources minérales, des efforts importants ont été déployés afin
de trouver un équilibre entre la volonté de la communauté
inuite de préserver son mode de vie traditionnel tout en assu-
rant la création d’emplois bien rémunérés dans la région, et
celle de la société d’exploiter une mine rentable qui offrira des
avantages variés à tous les détenteurs de droits et toutes les
parties prenantes.
La collaboration deviendra un mode de vie à Back River, en
particulier parce que le projet est situé sur des terres apparte-
nant aux Inuits. La communication permanente avec l’associa-
tion inuite de Kitikmeot et les diverses communautés et
groupes de la région nous permettra de continuer à renforcer
les relations et la confiance. J’ai récemment eu la grande chance
de m’asseoir avec les aînés de Cambridge Bay, et ils m’ont fait
part d’une véritable volonté de collaborer avec nous. Ils com-
prennent bien que nombre des membres de leurs communautés
sont à la recherche d’un emploi, et que notre projet peut leur en
offrir un, en plus d’autres avantages. Mais pour réunir tous les
éléments de la réussite, nous devons trouver un équilibre entre
ces avantages et nos répercussions, et aborder ces questions en
collaboration. C’est uniquement en travaillant main dans la
main que nous pouvons réussir, et cela rejoint ce que disaient
les conférenciers lors de la séance d’ouverture de notre dernier
congrès : si notre industrie fait bien les choses au Canada, nous
créerons une image de marque canadienne qui deviendra une
pratique exemplaire à l’échelle mondiale.
Mike Cinnamond
Président de l’ICM
 Les actualités
L’investissement majeur de Rio
Tinto dans l’aluminium au Québec
Appuyé par le governement provincial, Rio Tinto élargit sa production d'aluminium à faibles
émissions de carbone
Par Ailbhe Goodbody

Avec l’aimable autorisation de Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto investit 1,4 milliard de dollars
pour agrandir son aluminerie équipée de
la technologie d’électrolyse à faibles
émissions de carbone AP60 au Complexe
Jonquière, dans la région de Saguenay–
Lac-Saint-Jean au Québec. Jakob Stau-
sholm, chef de la direction de Rio Tinto,
déclarait lors d’une conférence de presse
le lundi 12 juin que cette expansion mar-
quait « le début d’un nouveau chapitre
pour nos exploitations d’aluminium au
Québec ». Il ajoutait qu’il s’agit de l’inves-
tissement le plus important dans le sec-
teur de l’aluminium de la province depuis
plus d’une décennie.
« Cet investissement est également le
plus important dans le monde occidental
depuis plus d’une décennie. Il renforcera
encore davantage notre offre de produits
de haute qualité et à faibles émissions de Cette expansion viendra ajouter 96 nouvelles cuves AP60, ce qui augmentera la capacité
carbone à nos clients, qui s’efforcent de de l’aluminerie à environ 220 000 tonnes par an.
réduire leur propre empreinte carbone »,
indiquait-il. 220 000 tonnes par an, soit une quantité moyenne de l’industrie, qui émet plus de
Les alumineries sont composées de suffisante pour fabriquer 400 000 véhi- 12 tonnes d’équivalent CO2 par tonne
plusieurs cuves d’électrolyse connectées, cules électriques, indiquait la société. La d’aluminium.
où l’électrolyse sert à produire l’alumi- construction s’étalera sur deux ans et La fermeture progressive des salles de
nium primaire. Les équipes de recherche demi. Les nouvelles cuves seront mises cuves de l’aluminerie Arvida de Rio
et développement (R&D) de Rio Tinto ont en service au premier semestre 2026 et Tinto, qui est située sur le même site,
mis au point la technologie d’électrolyse l’usine atteindra la pleine capacité d’ici sera amorcée en 2024 et coïncidera avec
AP60, qui est actuellement, d’après la la fin de l’année 2026. l’expansion de l’aluminerie AP60. D’après
société, la plus efficace et parmi celles D’après Rio Tinto, la technologie AP60 Rio Tinto, cette nouvelle capacité com-
affichant les plus faibles émissions de génère environ 1,6 tonne d’équivalent en pensera les 170 000 tonnes de capacité
carbone disponibles à grande échelle sur dioxyde de carbone (équivalent CO2) par perdue en raison de la fermeture pro-
le marché. La société a produit le premier tonne d’aluminium produite lorsqu’elle gressive des salles de cuves de l’alumine-
métal à l’aide de la technologie d’électro- est associée à l’hydroélectricité renouve- rie d’Arvida. De plus, Rio Tinto ajoutera
lyse AP60 en septembre 2013. lable utilisée dans ses exploitations cana- 30 000 tonnes de nouvelle capacité grâce
Le Complexe Jonquière compte diennes. Ceci correspond à une réduction à la mise en service annoncée précédem-
actuellement 38 cuves AP60 en service. de 50 % des émissions de gaz à effet de ment d’un centre de recyclage de l’alumi-
La capacité de production annuelle est serre (GES) de la technologie actuelle- nium à Arvida au cours du premier
de 60 000 tonnes d’aluminium primaire, ment utilisée à l’usine Arvida, qui émet trimestre 2025. Ce centre de recyclage
et cette expansion viendra ajouter environ 3,2 tonnes d’équivalent CO2 par comprendra l’intégration de l’aluminium
96 cuves AP60 qui permettront d’ame- tonne d’aluminium. C’est aussi une post-consommation recyclé dans les
ner la capacité de l’aluminerie à environ réduction considérable par rapport à la alliages d’aluminium primaire.

August 2023 | Août 2023 | 59

 « Arvida continuera de jouer un rôle
important en tant que centre de recherche
et de base pour notre centre de recyclage,
qui compensera la production aux côtés
de l’aluminerie AP60 », indiquait M. Stau-
sholm. « En exploitant le plein potentiel de
nos actifs existants, nous remplissons
notre objectif visant à trouver de
meilleurs moyens de fournir au monde
entier les matériaux dont il a besoin. »
L’investissement dans l’expansion
comprend un soutien financier du gou-
vernement du Québec qui pourra
atteindre 150 millions de dollars. « Une
belle dynamique s’installe dans nos
régions en faveur de l’économie verte »,
déclarait François Legault, Premier
ministre du Québec, dans un communi-
qué de presse du 12 juin. « L’industrie de
l’aluminium au Saguenay–Lac-Saint-
Jean a toujours été une grande source de
fierté et de richesse dans la région. L’an-
nonce d’aujourd’hui donnera une nou-
velle vie à cette industrie, avec des
procédés plus verts et moins polluants. »
D’après le gouvernement du Québec,
la province est la quatrième plus grande
productrice au monde d’aluminium pri-
maire, avec une production de près de
2,9 millions de tonnes par an. Environ
90 % de l’aluminium canadien, et près de
70 % de l’aluminium d’Amérique du Nord,
sont produits au Québec.
« Pendant des décennies, le Québec
s’est distingué par sa production d’alu-
minium la plus écologique au monde, ali-
mentée par de l’hydroélectricité 100 %
renouvelable », indiquait M. Stausholm.
« C’est grâce à nos collègues et parte-
naires québécois brillants et innovants
60 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
que cette région est devenue le centre de
la production d’aluminium dans le
monde occidental. »
En avril cette année, Rio Tinto a com-
mencé les travaux de construction pour
l’expansion à son aluminerie près d’Alma,
au Québec, dans l’optique d’augmenter
sa capacité à couler des billettes d’alumi-
nium à faibles émissions de carbone.
Cette expansion devrait être mise en ser-
vice durant le premier semestre 2025.
Rio Tinto a aussi signé un protocole
d’accord avec le gouvernement fédéral
qui, selon la société, intensifie son engage-
ment à renforcer la chaîne d’approvision-
nement nationale. « À travers la
collaboration avec le gouvernement du
Canada, nous procédons à la décarbona-
tion de nos exploitations de fer et de titane
à Sorel-Tracy et transformons nos activi-
tés en un centre d’excellence pour le trai-
tement des minéraux critiques », ajoutait
M. Stausholm. « Notre priorité sera de
décarboner notre chaîne d’approvisionne-
ment de l’aluminium ici, au Canada. »
François-Philippe Champagne,
ministre canadien de l’innovation, des
sciences et de l’industrie, déclarait dans
le communiqué de presse du 12 juin que
« le Canada a tous les atouts en main pour
devenir le fournisseur d’aluminium éco-
logique de prédilection à l’échelle mon-
diale. C’est la raison pour laquelle notre
gouvernement collabore avec des acteurs
clés de l’industrie tels que Rio Tinto pour
produire l’aluminium le plus écologique
au monde. En soutenant la production de
métaux verts, nous nous assurons que le
Canada reste à l’avant-garde de l’écono-
mie de demain. Lorsque les avantages
économiques s’accompagnent d’un enga-
gement à développer des solutions écolo-
giques, c’est une victoire pour notre
industrie, notre écosystème de technolo-
gies propres et nos travailleurs ».
Rio Tinto indiquait également qu’elle
collabore avec les gouvernements du
Canada et du Québec pour envisager
l’utilisation de la technologie de produc-
tion d’aluminium sans carbone ELYSIS à
ses installations de Saguenay-Lac-Saint-
Jean. Conformément au calendrier de
développement actuel, la technologie
ELYSIS pourrait être installée à partir
de 2024, et la production de volumes plus
importants d’aluminium sans carbone
devrait être envisageable environ
deux ans plus tard.
« La phase progressive de démobilisa-
tion d’Arvida et l’expansion de notre alu-
minerie AP60 constituent une étape
importante alors que nous continuons
d’œuvrer à la mise en place de notre tech-
nologie de production d’aluminium sans
carbone ELYSIS », poursuivait M. Stau-
sholm. « Nous sommes fermement enga-
gés à assurer le développement d’ELYSIS,
une technologie véritablement révolu-
tionnaire qui bouleversera l’industrie de
l’aluminium. Ce qui est clair pour l’ins-
tant, c’est que nous faisons de réels pro-
grès vers la transformation de notre
production d’aluminium. L’aluminium
est un élément indissociable du monde
dans lequel nous vivons et de la transi-
tion énergétique. La demande de métaux
écologiques au profit de la décarbonation
ne cesse de croître. Ensemble, nous nous
assurons que le Canada est à l’avant-
garde de ces efforts. » ICM
Avec l’aimable autorisation de Alamos Gold
L’étape 3+ de l’agrandissement permettra de doubler la production d’or à la mine d’Island Gold pour atteindre 2 400 tonnes par jour.
Doubler la mise
Alamos Gold cherche à transformer Island Gold en Ontario en l’une des mines d’or les
plus rentables et à plus faibles coûts au Canada d’ici 2026
Par Ailbhe Goodbody
L
e dernier agrandissement prévu à la mine d’Island
Gold d’Alamos Gold, dans le nord de l’Ontario, devrait
s’achever en 2026. Il permettra à la société de doubler sa
production d’or. « Island Gold est en train de rapidement devenir
l’un des actifs les plus intéressants du Canada », déclarait Greg
Fisher, directeur des finances à Alamos Gold. « Je dirais même
qu’à l’heure actuelle, il s’agit du meilleur actif non détenu par
une grande société minière. »
La mine est située près de Dubreuilville, dans la ceinture de
roches vertes de Michipicoten de la province du lac Supérieur,
formée au cours de l’Archéen. Cette région a une riche histoire
en matière de production aurifère. La mine de Magino d’Argo-
naut Gold et le complexe d’Eagle River de Wesdome Gold Mines
se trouvent à proximité.
D’après Alamos Gold, la mine d’or d’Island Gold affiche
la sixième plus haute teneur au monde. Pour l’exercice 2022, ses
ressources en or mesurées et indiquées étaient de 1 276 000 tonnes
et contenaient 291 000 onces d’or à une teneur de 7,09 grammes
par tonne (g/t). Ses réserves prouvées et probables étaient de
4 225 000 tonnes et contenaient 1 464 000 onces d’or, à une
teneur de 10,78 g/t d’or. Ses ressources minérales présumées
étaient de 8 066 000 tonnes et contenaient 3 529 000 onces d’or
à une teneur de 13,61 g/t.
La société explique qu’elle poursuit ses activités d’explora-
tion pour soutenir l’agrandissement en plusieurs étapes de la
mine, dont la durée de vie est actuellement de 17 ans. La produc-
tion commerciale à Island Gold a commencé en octobre 2007.
L’exploitation était alors une entreprise commune entre Mines
Richmont et Patricia Mining Corp., avec une moyenne inférieure
à 50 000 onces d’or par an. Mines Richmont a racheté Patricia
Mining l’année suivante.
En mai 2017, Mines Richmont a publié une évaluation écono-
mique préliminaire (ÉÉP) pour la première étape de l’agrandis-
Profil de projet
sement de la mine, qui prévoyait une capacité nominale de
1 100 tonnes par jour, ou t/j (la capacité nominale était alors de
900 t/j). En novembre 2017, Alamos Gold a racheté Mines Rich-
mont et la première étape de l’agrandissement s’est achevée
en 2018.
Les réserves et les ressources d’Island Gold ont doublé pour
atteindre 3,7 millions d’onces dans les deux années qui ont suivi
l’acquisition de la mine par Alamos Gold. Un permis pour la
deuxième étape de l’agrandissement, qui augmentait la produc-
tion à 1 200 tonnes par jour, a été accordé en 2019. En
juillet 2020, la société concluait une étude sur la troisième étape
de l’agrandissement, qui prévoyait d’augmenter la production à
2 000 tonnes par jour. Cette étude indiquait que l’ajout d’un
puits plutôt que l’extension de la descenderie permettrait d’aug-
menter la productivité et de réduire les coûts. L’inauguration
des travaux pour la troisième étape de l’agrandissement a eu lieu
en avril 2022.
L’étape 3+ de l’agrandissement
Toutefois, les réserves et ressources minérales combinées
ont augmenté de 37 % pour atteindre 5,1 millions d’onces d’or
après la fin de l’étude sur la troisième étape. Ainsi, en juin 2022,
Alamos Gold annonçait la mise à jour de la troisième étape
d’agrandissement, baptisée « étape 3+ », qui doublera la produc-
tion de la mine de 1 200 tonnes par jour à 2 400 tonnes par jour.
Parmi les sociétés de conseils qui ont contribué à l’étude de
l’étape 3+ de l’agrandissement figuraient Hatch, Hepburn Engi-
neering, Redpath, Airfinders, Paterson & Cooke, Golder,
Halyard, Bestech et StruthersTech.
« Il existe trois principaux éléments infrastructurels dans
l’étape 3+ de l’agrandissement », déclarait Luc Guimond, direc-
teur de l’exploitation à Alamos Gold, à l’équipe du CIM Maga-
zine. « Nous installons une infrastructure de puits, agrandissons
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 61
 Les faits saillants de l’étape 3+ de l’agrandissement
Estimation du coût d’investissement
Accès souterrain Remplacement de la descenderie par un puits
Remblai Usine de remblai en pâte pour s’adapter à l’aug-
mentation des taux d’extraction et de récupération
Capacité du concentrateur De 1 200 à 2 400 t/j
Puissance De 12 MW à 34 MW en puissance maximale
Eaux usées Usine de traitement des effluents
notre concentrateur et ajoutons une usine de remblai en pâte
pour adapter la mine à l’augmentation des taux d’extraction. »
La principale méthode utilisée à Island Gold est l’exploitation
rabattante en chambre vide par longs trous longitudinaux. Les
travailleurs accèdent actuellement à l’exploitation par un système
de descenderie. Toutefois, avec l’étape 3+ de l’agrandissement, le
minerai et les déchets seront ramenés par benne à la surface via la
nouvelle infrastructure du puits, au lieu d’être transportés par
camions. De là, ils seront acheminés par camion jusqu’au concen-
trateur, lequel est aussi en cours d’agrandissement.
« Le remblai en pâte ne modifie pas notre méthode d’exploi-
tation minière », expliquait Nathan Bourgeault, ingénieur en
chef des mines à Island Gold. « Le séquençage changera un peu,
mais le cycle de remblai en pâte nous permet de remblayer les
chantiers bien plus rapidement. »
L’intensification des activités liées à l’étape 3+ de l’agrandis-
sement commencera fin 2025, et la pleine capacité de produc-
tion de 2 400 tonnes par jour est prévue pour 2026. La
production moyenne augmentera à 287 000 onces par an une
fois l’agrandissement terminé en 2026.
« Nous investissons considérablement dans Island Gold, et le
capital-développement de 756 millions de dollars américains
nous prépare sur le long terme à être un producteur à bas prix.
Nos coûts nécessaires au maintien de la production devraient
s’élever à 576 dollars américains l’once », expliquait M. Guimond.
M. Bourgeault ajoutait que « c’est le puits qui nous permettra
d’y parvenir, car il garantit la stabilité des coûts, un accès plus
efficace à la mine et des avantages au niveau des économies
d’échelle pour accroître la capacité. Nous exploitons cette mine
depuis plusieurs années, aussi nous sommes bien conscients de
nos coûts. Une grande partie de l’amélioration dans l’ensemble
de la mine est liée au meilleur rendement. Les deux plus gros élé-
ments de notre structure de coûts sont la main-d’œuvre et l’en-
tretien, et nous prévoyons de voir une amélioration à ce
niveau-là après l’installation du puits. Il nous faut actuellement
plus d’une heure pour descendre aux fronts de taille par la des-
cenderie. Ainsi, on améliorera indéniablement notre rendement
Réserves et ressources en or *
Réserves minérales prouvées et probables
Ressources minérales mesurées et indiquées
Ressources minérales présumées
*Au 31 décembre 2022
62 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
756 millions de dollars américains
229 millions de dollars américains
52 millions de dollars américains
76 millions de dollars américains
24 millions de dollars américains
16 millions de dollars américains
Source : Alamos Gold
si les travailleurs arrivent au front de taille plus rapidement.
Cette dépendance réduite vis-à-vis du transport alimenté au die-
sel nous permettra de contrôler les coûts d’entretien. »
Infrastructure modernisée
La profondeur initiale du fonçage du puits est de 1 373 mètres,
et il devrait être prêt durant le premier trimestre 2026. Ce puits
de cinq mètres de diamètre doublé de béton est conçu pour pou-
voir s’adapter à la croissance future des réserves et des res-
sources d’or à la mine. « Nous creusons le puits en fonction de nos
connaissances actuelles », expliquait M. Guimond. « Au vu de
notre succès continu en termes d’exploration, nous pouvons
creuser ce puits jusqu’à 2 000 mètres pour nous adapter à l’ex-
ploitation à des profondeurs encore supérieures. »
À 1 373 mètres, la capacité du puits sera de 4 500 tonnes par
jour, soit plus que ce qui est requis pour la capacité maximale
(minerai et déchets). À sa profondeur maximale de 2 000 mètres,
le puits aura une capacité de 3 500 tonnes par jour.
Le bâtiment d’extraction a été construit en début d’année, et
le chevalement en acier est en cours de construction. Le préfon-
çage du puits s’est terminé à une profondeur de 42 mètres. L’in-
frastructure du site du puits est bien avancée, et la majeure
partie des travaux de terrassement sont aussi terminés. Le fon-
çage du puits devrait commencer au quatrième trimestre 2023.
La méthode utilisée, le fonçage à l’aveugle, aura un impact
minime sur les activités minières en cours. La configuration du
minerai souterrain, la manutention des déchets et la zone de
chargement seront semblables à celles de la mine de Young-
Davidson d’Alamos Gold, dans le nord-est de l’Ontario. Le capital
total de construction pour l’installation du puits, qui inclut toute
l’infrastructure de soutien, devrait atteindre 229 millions de
dollars américains.
Alamos a envisagé la possibilité de construire un nouveau
concentrateur à Island Gold afin de s’adapter à l’augmentation
du taux de production à 2 400 tonnes par jour, mais le coût d’in-
vestissement élevé aurait neutralisé les faibles coûts d’exploita-
tion. L’étape 3+ de l’agrandissement portera plutôt sur la
Tonnes Teneur Onces d’or
(grammes par tonne)
4 225 000 10,78 1 464 000
1 276 000 7,09 291 000
8 066 000 13,61 3 529 000
Source : Alamos Gold

modernisation du circuit du concentreur, notamment une usine
de broyage à une seule étape, un broyeur à boulets supplémen-
taire, une pile de stockage couverte, une plus grande usine d’ad-
sorption-désorption-récupération (ADR) et la conversion du
circuit d’extraction de charbon en pulpe (CIP, de l’anglais car-
bon-in-pulp) en un circuit de lixiviation au carbone (CIL, de
l’anglais carbon-in-leach), tout en ajoutant sept nouvelles cuves
de lixiviation.
La majeure partie des éléments du concentrateur agrandi
sont nouveaux ou réusinés. Le coût total de l’agrandissement du
concentrateur s’élèvera à 76 millions de dollars américains.
L’étape 3+ de l’agrandissement intègre aussi une usine de traite-
ment des effluents de 16 millions de dollars américains. L’exten-
sion du concentrateur et l’augmentation des taux de production
minière entraîneront une hausse de la consommation d’électri-
cité. Ainsi, la ligne de transmission électrique de la mine sera
mise à niveau pour atteindre une capacité limite de 34 MW.
L’usine de remblai en pâte devait initialement faire partie de
la troisième étape du plan d’agrandissement, mais l’étape 3+ l’a
agrandi de 20 % afin de s’adapter à la capacité supérieure.
« L’usine de remblai en pâte permettra d’accélérer les cycles de
chantiers, ce qui favorisera l’augmentation des taux de production
et améliorera la stabilité géotechnique », faisait remarquer M. Gui-
mond. « Ceci signifie également que l’on peut renvoyer davantage
de résidus sous terre, plutôt que de remplir nos parcs à résidus
miniers en surface, prolongeant par là même leur durée de vie. »
L’investissement de capitaux total pour l’usine de remblai en
pâte, y compris le système de distribution souterrain, devrait
coûter environ 52 millions de dollars américains. L’étude tech-
nique est terminée à 38 %, et la construction devrait commencer
durant le quatrième trimestre 2023. Le concentrateur, l’usine de
remblai en pâte et la mise à niveau du système électrique
devraient tous être terminés d’ici le premier trimestre 2026.
Autres améliorations
Alamos Gold est en train de transformer Island Gold en un
modèle minier entièrement exploité par ses propriétaires. La
mine compte aujourd’hui 516 employés d’Alamos, dont 13 % sont
des membres de la Première Nation de Michipicoten ou d’autres
communautés des Premières Nations.
« Nous prenons de plus en plus le contrôle de nos activités
quotidiennes », déclarait Austin Hemphill, directeur général d’Is-
land Gold. « Jusqu’à récemment, le forage de production dépen-
dait d’un entrepreneur sous contrat, mais nous allons désormais
le faire en interne. »
M. Guimond ajoutait : « Nous cherchons à progressivement
éliminer les prestataires chargés du développement. Nous sou-
haitons gérer toutes les fonctions de nos activités souterraines
avec notre propre personnel. Nous avons le sentiment que nous
serons plus efficaces et plus rentables qu’en menant nos opéra-
tions avec un prestataire externe. »
Alamos Gold a publié son premier rapport sur le changement
climatique en juin, qui présentait la gouvernance d’entreprise de
la société en matière de risques et possibilités du changement
climatique, et son alignement sur le groupe de travail sur l’infor-
mation financière relative aux changements climatiques
(GTIFCC). Le rapport réaffirmait également l’objectif de la
société de réduire de 30 % ses émissions de gaz à effet de serre
(GES) à l’horizon 2030. D’après Alamos Gold, l’étape 3+ de
l’agrandissement à Island Gold devrait réduire ses émissions de
GES de 35 % au cours de la durée de vie de la mine.
Profil de projet
Cette amélioration est en grande partie attribuable au chan-
gement d’accès à la mine, qui se fera désormais par le puits. « Ce
faisant, nous allons pouvoir déplacer le minerai et les déchets
dans notre plan d’activités plus efficacement », indiquait M. Gui-
mond. « Grâce à cette nouvelle infrastructure de puits, nous
allons réduire notre parc de 18 camions. Nous aurons donc
besoin de bien moins de diesel, ce qui aura des répercussions
positives sur nos émissions globales de GES. »
Avec moins de camions, la demande en aérage pour éliminer
les particules de diesel sera également réduite. « Nous cher-
chons à mettre en œuvre l’aérage à la demande. En d’autres
termes, dans les zones où circule l’équipement actif, l’aérage
fonctionne, et lorsque aucune activité n’a lieu dans ces zones,
l’aérage n’est pas activé », précisait M. Guimond.
Le système d’aérage modernisé à Island Gold est conçu
comme un système d’écoulement qui réduira les temps d’immo-
bilisation entre les changements de postes. « L’air pur entrera
via l’infrastructure du puits, parcourra le réseau de chantiers
souterrains et sortira par le système d’échappement à l’autre
extrémité du corps minéralisé », expliquait M. Guimond. « Après
les dynamitages à la fin du poste, les fumées générées par les
activités d’abattage à l’explosif sont immédiatement dégagées
hors de la mine par le système d’échappement. Les employés
reviennent du côté alimenté en air pur, ce qui leur permet de
retourner dans leur environnement de travail plus tôt qu’avec
notre système d’aérage actuel. »
Par rapport à la moyenne de l’industrie, l’efficacité hydrique
à Island Gold par once d’or produite est aussi élevée. « Nous recy-
clons l’eau utilisée dans les processus d’exploitation minière et
de broyage », indiquait M. Guimond. « Nous recyclons aussi l’eau
du parc à résidus miniers et la réutilisons comme eau de traite-
ment pour faire fonctionner l’usine de traitement. »
D’autres améliorations sont prévues à la mine, notamment
l’ajout de véhicules électriques, la conversion du chauffage à air en
remplaçant le propane par du gaz naturel pour réduire l’empreinte
carbone de la mine, et l’ajout d’un réseau de communications utili-
sant la technologie d’évolution à long terme (LTE, de l’anglais Long-
Term Evolution) sous terre afin d’optimiser la gestion du parc.
L’avenir
En décembre 2020, Alamos Gold a racheté Trillium Mining.
Cette acquisition vient ajouter plus de 5 500 hectares limi-
trophes et parallèlement à la direction du gisement d’Island
Gold, et inclut deux mines d’or anciennement en production. En
mai cette année, la société a conclu l’acquisition de Manitou
Gold, ajoutant 40 000 hectares supplémentaires à sa propriété.
La propriété d’Island Gold couvre actuellement 55 277 hectares
dans la ceinture de roches vertes de Michipicoten.
Le forage d’exploration souterraine de la société s’étend sur
45 000 mètres. La galerie d’accès d’exploration souterraine en
développement mesure 444 mètres et un forage de délimitation
souterrain de 36 000 mètres est prévu à Island Gold en 2023. En
juin, la société a publié de nouveaux résultats de son forage d’ex-
ploration souterraine, qui prolongeait la minéralisation aurifère
à haute teneur à la mine.
« Island Gold est un actif sur le long terme », concluait M. Gui-
mond. « L’exploration continue en profondeur à l’est et à l’ouest de
la minéralisation d’Island Gold est un succès, et l’amélioration de
l’infrastructure existante que nous allons mettre en place laisse
présager un avenir durable pour Island Gold et les communautés
environnantes de Wawa, White River et Dubreuilville. » ICM
August 2023 | Août 2023 | 63
 SAFETY
DOG DETAILS
In the winter of 1945, at the Paymaster mine near
Timmins, the wire rope holding a cage with 16
men inside broke and the safety dogs meant to
safeguard against the cage dropping to the
bottom of the shaft also failed. The men fell 1,700
feet. Fourteen miners were killed immediately and
another two died before they could be brought to
the surface. The tragedy prompted extensive
work to identify the cause and to avoid future
disasters, including careful scrutiny of safety dog
performance at mines throughout the province.
This an excerpt of a paper presented at a CIM
meeting in Fort William, Ontario, in October 1949
and published in the December 1950 CIM Bulletin
detailing some of that work.
Excerpted from “Mine Conveyance Safety Dogs,” by A.B.C.
Stothart, Inspector of Mines ( Mechanical Electrical), Ontario
Department of Mines, Port Arthur, Ontario.
n February 2nd, 1945, a hoisting rope broke at the
O
Paymaster mine. The safety dogs proved ineffective
and permitted the cage to crash through to the bot-
tom of the shaft, with disastrous results.
Following this accident, the Ontario Government
appointed a Technical Committee to investigate The Safety
of Hoisting Equipment and Hoisting Practice in Ontario
Mines. The Ontario Mining Association (at the request of the
Ontario Government) also appointed a Committee.
Comprehensive reports of their findings, together with
certain recommendations, were submitted by these two
Committees. Acting in accordance with one of these recom-
mendations, a Mechnical Inspector was added to the
Inspection Staff of the Ontario Department of Mines. Safety
dogs were discussed with every mine. Following these discus-
sions and in line with the recommendations of the above two
committees, each mine was requested to take steps towards
obtaining safety dogs to meet the following requirements:
(1) The dogs must stop and hold the conveyance under maxi-
mum hoisting speed (descending) and maximum man-load
conditions.
(2) They must compensate for guide wear.
(3) They must not turn around, through or out of the guide.
(4) They must be of such design that they cannot be pre-
vented from functioning properly by spoil from the guides.
(5) The dogs and mechanism must be of a design that has
given adequate assurance (according to our present knowl-
edge) that the deceleration under maximum descending
hoisting speed and maximum man-load conditions will be
approximately two gravities.
(6) The mechanism must provide against the possible haz-
ards due to a trailing rope. (This device ceased to be manda-
tory on September 8th, 1949.)
(7) The dogs must be of the ‘Cam’ type.
64 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 18, No. 5
Most of the larger mines proceeded to develop safety
dogs of their own, while the smaller mines purchased dogs
of the E. Long or Kilborn type.
Since the E. Long dog is now used in almost all north-
western Ontario mines, its history will be sketched. This dog
is an adaptation of the Lake Shore dog. It was first produced
as a two-tooth dog with a loose link (anti-trailing rope device)
between the drawbar and bell crank on the dog shaft and
with torsion hold-out springs on the dog shafts. An angle of
the dog tooth (to the vertical) of less than 90 degrees, with a
splitter below the teeth, provided good removal of guide spoil
wood and less guide splitting than with an angle of 90
degrees or over. Free-fall tests at many of the mines on dif-
ferent weight conveyances and at different speeds provided
data for improving the design of tooth size and angle.
As a broken hold-out spring of the torsion type could not
be readily replaced, a bell-crank with rod and coil compres-
sion spring was adopted. It should be noted that both the
compression spring and the earlier torsion spring work in
opposition to the main (drawbar) spring on rope failure.
The latest design in this development is a one-tooth dog
with a leaf type hold-out spring below the drawbar. Two
advantages seem evident with these:
(1) The rotation between the fully engaged and fully disen-
gaged positions of a one-tooth dog is less than with a multi-
tooth dog and, as a consequence, the hub of the dog
prevents a falling object from striking the toe of the dog and
possibly causing inadvertent dogging.
(2) The hold-out spring does not work in opposition to the
main drawbar spring. This permits the use of greater force to
keep the dogs in their correct disengaged position.
FREE-FALL TESTING
Every set of dogs must be tailored to meet existing condi-
tions and, before men may be handled in any conveyance,
these dogs must be proven satisfactory by free-fall tests.
 1950

A material load equal to the maximum man load is placed

in the conveyance. The safety dogs, head frame bracing, Table 1. Free-fall test results, 1945, 1947, and 1948
guide mounting, and distance between guides are checked. 1945
The conveyance is then hoisted above the collar and a bulk- (Feb.-Oct.) 1947 1948
head placed across at the collar. A testing tower is used at
many of the larger mines. A ‘trip’ device is placed between No. of Companies participating 42 39 57
the drawbar and the rope thimble, with a snub on the rope. No. of tests conducted 84 184 320
The trip device commonly used is of the bear-trap type, with % classified as good or fair 46.5 87 93.1
a safety lock. % classified as poor 53.5 13 6.9
The conveyance is hoisted a suitable distance above the
Sub-division of poor tests:
bulkhead (at least twice the free-fall distance) and a ‘trigger’
% that hit bulkhead at collar 11.9 5.4 1.3
device is installed to prevent the drawbar from descending
% stopping rate over 3 gravities 41.6 7.6 5.6
until the conveyance has dropped freely the distance calcu-
lated to permit the conveyance to attain a speed equal to the The 1948 free-fall tests showed also a pronounced reduc-
hoisting speed. This trigger device is usually placed under tion in guide splitting over 1947 tests. This was due partly to
the increased use of a dog tooth angle (to the vertical) of
the drawbar-rope thimble pin, with a chain of the correct less than 90 degrees.
length installed to trip it. A stop rate over 3 gravities is too abrupt. Serious injury or
The free-fall distance, that is, the distance before the even death to the occupants of the conveyance may be
dogs engage the guides (due to drawbar descending relative expected.
to the conveyance) is calculated from the formula

s = V2/2g
where s is the distance in feet, V the hoisting speed in feet
per second, and g = 32.2 feet per second per second.
Thus, for example, for a conveyance operated by a 1,200
ft./min. hoist, or at 20 ft./sec.
202
s = ––––––––– = 6.2 feet
2 × 32.2
On free-fall testing, this conveyance should be dropped
freely 6.2 feet before the drawbar trigger device permits the
safety dogs to engage the guides.
When all is in readiness, a mark is placed on a guide even
with the top of the conveyance and the safety lock is
removed from the trip device. A rope attached to the latter is
pulled and the conveyance drops freely until the trigger de-
vice springs, permitting the drawbar to descend and so
cause the safety dogs to engage the guides and stop the
conveyance.
Measurements are then taken of the total fall and of the
distance the dogs grooved the guides, and from these the
free-fall distance is obtained by subtraction. If this free-fall
distance does not check with the required free fall, an adjust-
ment is made to the trigger device chain and the test is
repeated until there is agreement. The guides are then
checked closely for clearage of spoil wood, splitting, ten-
dency of dogs to run out of guides, grain of guides, presence
of knots, and any unusual condition. The deceleration in
terms of gravity may be quickly obtained by dividing the free-
fall distance by the stopping distance. The result must fall
within the limits of 1 and 3, with values between 1 and 2 con-
sidered preferable.
These tests are of a drastic nature, checking, as they do,
the ability of the safety dogs to function properly under the
most exacting condition possible, that is, where a rope is
lowering the maximum man-load at maximum hoisting speed.
This testing, plus good daily maintenance as required by sub-
section 277 (a) (iv) of the Mining Act of Ontario, should
ensure a safe stop in the event of a rope failure.
The following data on free-fall tests made in No. 2 shaft
of the Murray mine of the International Nickel Company of
Canada in December, 1948, will serve to illustrate the severe
nature of these tests:
Conveyance tested Cage
Weight of cage 14,800 lb.
Man load 8,400 lb
Load on cage during test 8,400 lb
Total load dropped 23,200 lb.
Distance before dogs engaged 10.14 ft.
Speed when dogs engaged 17.4 m.p.h
Distance after dogs engaged 7.93 ft.
That is, a weight of 11.6 tons travelling at 17.4 miles per
hour is brought to a stop in 7.93 feet at a deceleration in
terms of gravity of 1.28 G’s. Two other tests gave 1.40 and
1.37 G’s.
There were four guides of 3¾ in. by 7¾ in. B.C. fir.
There was no splitting, good grooving, and regular decel-
eration.
In 1945, it was found by free-fall testing that over 50 per
cent of the dogs in common use were unsatisfactory; in 1947,
the percentage of faulty dogs had dropped to 13, and in 1948
to 7 (see Table 1).
CONCLUSIONS
(1) Since the safety dog is actuated by a descending draw-
bar, which follows a rope failure but not necessarily a
brake or clutch failure, the rules on Hoisting Procedure in
the Mining Act of Ontario (1948) s.s. 240 (Brakes to be
Tested) and s.s. 241 (Friction Clutches) must be rigidly
adhered to.
(2) Ontario mines must be given full credit for the develop-
ment of these safety dogs. Their development, at great cost
to the mine operators, was based on a study of the resis-
tance of wood to the penetration of the dog teeth, and was
the result of a great many free-fall tests. A research labora-
tory could have been useful but it is doubtful if, alone, it could
have produced these results in twenty years. CIM

August 2023 | Août 2023 | 65

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