(L to R) Robert Krcmarov, Senior Vice President, Global Exploration, Barrick Gold Corporation; Dr. Patrice Sawyer, Vice President, Research and Francophone Affairs, Laurentian University; The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology); The Honourable Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources; Carl Weatherell, Executive Director and CEO, Canada MIning Innovation Council; Janet Walden, Acting President, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Dr. Michael Lesher, Professor and Research Chair in MIneral Exploration and Principal Investigator, Laurentian University; Dr. Francois Robert, Vice President and Chief Geologist, Global Exploration, Barrick Gold Corporation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Largest ever NSERC-Collaborative R & D grant in support of “Footprints”

TORONTO, ON (May 14, 2013) – An innovative geo-science research project involving universities and mining industry sponsors from across Canada is being supported by the largest research grant ever awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) through its Collaborative Research and Development program.

Dr. Michael Lesher, Professor and Research Chair in MIneral Exploration and Principal Investigator Footprints Project, Laurentian University

The $5.1M NSERC grant was formally announced today by the Minister of State (Science and Technology), the Honourable Gary Goodyear. The NSERC funding is augmented by close to $7M in supportive funding from Canadian mining and related companies, acting through the Canada Mining Innovation Council (CMIC). The multi-year project will involve more than 40 researchers in geosciences from universities across Canada. The research is being co-led by Dr. Michael Lesher, Research Chair in Mineral Exploration and Professor of Economic Geology at Laurentian University and by Dr. Mark Hannington, Goldcorp Chair in Economic Geology and Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Read the rest of this entry »

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

A Laurentian University professor will help lead a $12-million research project to develop new ways to discover deep ore and mineral deposits.

Michael Lesher, research chair in mineral exploration and professor of economic geology at Laurentian, and Mark Hannington, Goldcorp chair in economic geology and professor of earth sciences at the University of Ottawa, will co-lead the project, which has been dubbed Footprints.

“It’s certainly the largest mineral exploration project ever run in Canada,” Lesher told The Sudbury Star on Tuesday. Footprints will involve researchers from 24 universities across the country and 27 industry partners, who will provide logistical and technical support. “It’s truly an incredibly consortium of people working together,” Lesher said.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council granted $5.1 million to the project and industry partners contributed an additional $7 million.

Lesher said most new ore discoveries will be deep underground. Deposits like the Ring of Fire (located in northwestern Ontario), which are almost outcropping from the Earth, represent the exception to the rule, he said. Mining exploration companies will need new technologies and methods to discover deeper ore bodies. Read the rest of this entry »

Sudbury, ON, May 6, 2013 – MIRARCO continues to be a leader in adding value to underground selective mining operations through the use of the Schedule Optimization Tool (SOT). Building upon this commercial software, the SOT+ project dives deeper to enhance the capabilities of the existing tool. In partnership with mining companies Vale and Newmont, commercialization partners CAE Mining and Deswik, and project managed by the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), the first SOT+ case study is now underway, optimizing the economic value of a Vale mining operation in the Sudbury area.

The SOT software optimizes the net present value (NPV) of medium to long-term underground mine schedules for both development and production. As a result, it decreases financial risk, saves time and manpower, and facilitates the evaluation of alternative designs and strategic options along with a wide range of analyses.

The SOT+ project aims to advance the functionality of the software for selective mining and to expand the software to handle bulk mining methods. There are five research themes, each of which will be anchored by a three year case study. The research themes are: ore blending, ventilation constraints, geotechnical constraints, schedule optimization for bulk mining methods (block caving and/or surface mining), and advanced valuation.

The research team includes partners from MIRARCO, Laurentian University, Curtin University, and Chasm Consulting/Ventsim. A mine planning specialist is seconded to the mining company sponsor for each case study. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Toronto environmental company is cleaning up a toxic Manitoba mine site at no cost to taxpayers. Its compensation? It gets to keep any gold it can extract from a stockpile of arsenopyrite concentrate.

“As the price of gold and copper began to rise, we realized the possibility for extracting value from mine tailings,” says Ross Orr, president and CEO of BacTech Environmental Corporation.

The company is employing bioleaching technology, which uses microbes to extract valuable metals from undesirable materials.

“Bacteria digest the sulphides to break up the matrix of the tailings materials,” says Orr. “The arsenic and iron go into the solution and the precious metals go into a precipitate for which we can use conventional extraction methods.”

While the technology isn’t new, the application is. The plant would be the world’s first bioleaching facility for the remediation of toxic material. The company initially met with some resistance, however, when it presented its ideas under its other banner, mining firm REBgold Corporation. Read the rest of this entry »

Over $65M invested during university’s most successful fund-raising drive

SUDBURY, ON (Thursday, March 28, 2013) – Laurentian University today celebrated the success of the most ambitious fund-raising campaign in its history. Launched as part of Laurentian’s 50th anniversary celebrations, “The Next 50 Campaign” set a fund-raising target of $50M to fuel the university’s growth and drive creativity, innovation and prosperity. The campaign has exceeded its goal and has raised more than $65.2M in private gifts alone excluding investments made by governments.

“The support shown for The Next 50 Campaign, both by members of the Sudbury community and donors across the country, has been quite extraordinary,” said Laurentian University President and Vice-Chancellor Dominic Giroux. “There is a growing awareness of the strengths of Laurentian’s signature programs, the expertise of its faculty, and the quality of its graduates. The university is clearly succeeding in its objective to build a national and international reputation for excellence.”

At each donor’s request, funds received in support of The Next 50 Campaign were earmarked for a variety of university projects and initiatives, including the Vale Living with Lakes Centre, the Centre for Excellence in Mining, expansion of the Ben Avery Centre, the Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre, the Goodman School of Mines, student scholarships and bursaries and cutting–edge research and studies. The tremendous momentum the campaign has generated will allow Laurentian’s Development staff to continue to identify and engage new donors in support of the university’s strategic directions. Read the rest of this entry »

ROUYN-NORANDA, QC, April 24, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT and Polytechnique Montréal are launching a joint research program, the only one of its kind in Québec: the Research Institute on Mines and Environment – RIME UQAT-Polytechnique (UQAT-Polytechnique). The program will have several mining industry partners: Agnico Eagle, Osisko Mining Corporation, IAMGOLD Corporation, Rio Tinto, Fer et Titane inc. and Xstrata Nickel Raglan Mine. With a value of nearly $10 million provided over seven years, this innovative partnership will produce a top-notch research program and train highly qualified professionals.

For some 30 years, UQAT and Polytechnique Montréal have pooled their expertise by collaborating on various teaching and research projects, particularly since 2001 with the creation of the Industrial NSERC Polytechnique-UQAT Research Chair in Environment and Mine Wastes Management. This longstanding association has produced more than 150 highly qualified people, as well as research work whose results are currently being incorporated into mining practices in Québec, Canada and worldwide.

Johanne Jean, Rector of UQAT, says: “This major partnership announced today reflects UQAT’s development philosophy: that of joining forces. Because of the quality of the research teams in place and the cutting-edge facilities at the two institutions, this high-level scientific programming will foster knowledge development and enable the establishment of optimal solutions for mine waste management and site reclamation, thus meeting the needs of both industry and society.” Read the rest of this entry »

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

A Laurentian University scientist is conducting independent research into “mining” decades-old tailing ponds in Copper Cliff that contain nickel and copper that, if reclaimed, would be worth billions of dollars.

Nadia Mykytczuk, an environmental microbiologist at Laurentian’s Vale Living with Lakes Centre, says Sudbury has tremendous potential to be leaders in bioleaching — a process using microbes to extract valuable minerals from ores in waste water.

In many parts of the world, bioleaching is the only source of mineral extraction from low-grade ore and waste, said Mykytczuk during a break at a forum Wednesday at the centre. Bioleaching would remove or extract from ores minerals that weren’t removed by the smelting process.

The microscopic organisms — bacteria, viruses and parasites — eat into waste water, feeding on chemical energy and breaking the water into its chemical components. Microbes don’t destroy those elements, but rather separate them from their mineral form, making them soluble.

Left alone, that water and the metals in it leach out as acid mine draining, entering waterways. Read the rest of this entry »

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

For the past three summers, the Ontario Mining Association has been involved in a week-long educational program called the Teachers’ Mining Tour. This year, the program is being held twice, which doubles the number of teachers to 60 who will gain a first-hand glimpse of modern mining in Ontario.

The programs are being held at the Canadian Ecology Centre, near Mattawa. Thirty teachers from across the province will participate in each of the educational workshops being held July 29 to August 2 and from August 19 to 23, 2013.

“Seeing is believing and this fully sponsored professional development opportunity presents informed choices for educators,” said Bill Steer, General Manager of the Canadian Ecology Centre. “The Teachers’ Mining Tour is an opportunity to bring modern mining into the classroom curricula.”

Lesley Hymers, OMA Environment and Education Specialist, will be supporting the program and making presentations throughout both weeks on OMA education and outreach initiatives. These include the OMA’s high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining and the OMA’s collaborative activities with Skills Canada Ontario, which promotes trades and technologies as career options for students and other organizations. Read the rest of this entry »

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Lakehead University’s mineral exploration research centre is up and running. President Brian Stevenson announced at an alumni breakfast at the Prospectors and Developers show in Toronto, March 4, that the Thunder Bay institution is staking its claim in the mining game in northwestern Ontario.

After a year of planning and laying the administrative groundwork, the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration is now officially open. The centre will be focused on mineral exploration, the environment, and First Nations engagement.

“The key word is sustainable,” said geology professor Peter Hollings, who was named the centre’s director. “It’s not just about mining and exploration, it’s about doing it in a manner with minimal impact.”

Intended to be a truly interdisciplinary institute, it will utilize all the available faculty expertise from across campus in engineering, natural resources management, chemistry, anthropology, First Nation studies, and other groups. “What excites me about this centre is that it goes beyond the geology department,” said Hollings. Read the rest of this entry »

(L to R) Tracy Macleod, Director of Development, Laurentian University; Ilan Bahar, Vice-President, Global Metals & Mining, Toronto, BMO Financial Group; Bruce Jago, Executive Director, Goodman School of Mines; Ned Goodman; Jonathan Goodman; Dominic Giroux, President & Vice-Chancellor, Laurentian University; Terry MacGibbon, Chair, The Next 50 Campaign, Laurentian University (PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Owen Halper)

Bank supports ‘life-long learning’ through Laurentian University

TORONTO, ON (March 5, 2013) – BMO Financial Group announced a donation of $250,000 in Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines. The gift was presented at BMO’s offices at First Canadian Place, at a gathering held during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada International Convention and Trade Show.

“We are delighted to count BMO Financial Group among the significant private sector supporters of our Goodman School of Mines,” said Laurentian University President and Vice-Chancellor, Dominic Giroux. “I believe that we share a sincere conviction that both graduate education and life-long learning for mid-career professionals will enrich and strengthen the mining industry in Canada and abroad.”

“At BMO Financial Group we believe in personal growth and achievement through continuous learning and access to education. We’re impressed with the vision of the Goodman School of Mines at Laurentian University, and with its focus on training the next generation of mining professionals in Canada,” said Jason Neal, Managing Director & Global Co-Head, Global Metals & Mining, BMO Capital Markets. Read the rest of this entry »

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

The O’Neilleans are coming. In the 1970s, fed up with government bureaucracy, the Princeton University physicist and space advocate Gerard K. O’Neill became convinced that free enterprise was the key to extending humanity’s presence beyond Earth.

Now, as a flurry of newly formed companies unveil plans to mine the moon and asteroids, and a non-profit foundation seeks to launch humans to Mars, Dr. O’Neill’s entrepreneurial vision as well as a big dose of Silicon Valley wealth looms large behind it all.

“It’s the expansion of the economic sphere outward to where the resources are,” said Bob Richards, co-founder and CEO of Moon Express, a Bay Area company that seeks to place the first privately financed lander on the moon.

Mr. Richards left Canada in 2009, discouraged by a lack of momentum in a space industry reliant on government contracts, but still dreaming about the Apollo moon landings that inspired his interest in space. After spending time among California’s venture capitalists, he realized he had arrived at the right place at the right time.

“I found the tribe that can do this and I never left,” said Mr. Richards, who spoke in Toronto on Thursday at a conference on commercial space development. Read the rest of this entry »

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

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but in fact, it’s already here says a growing list of mining and aerospace companies.

Mining in space? It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but in fact, it’s already here. A growing roster of Canadian aerospace and mining companies is setting its sights on asteroids as the next frontier for precious metals and reserves of water on the moon that could make it an ideal pit stop on the way to the deeper reaches of space.

That’s what brought several dozen representatives from aerospace and mining companies, as well as geologists, academics and legal experts to the 6th annual conference put on by the Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA) at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Thursday.

“It sounds like it’s a new area, but in actual fact, it’s been around for more than a decade, Dale Boucher, director of product design, prototyping and testing at the Northern Centre of Advanced Technologies, a Sudbury-based training and technology development centre for the mining industry.

NORCAT, as the facility is known, has developed rover chassis specifically designed for lunar mining activities. In the last decade, it has developed drills for the Canadian Space Agency and NASA. Read the rest of this entry »

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

The mining industry is facing a major human resource problem in the next 10 years as more workers will retire even as fewer students are getting skilled trades training.

Workforce Planning for Sudbury and Manitoulin has released a study that shows the mining industry in and around Sudbury will need more than 21,000 workers to fill vacancies over the next decade. And that’s after taking into consideration the recent slowdown in the industry.

Reggie Caverson, executive director of Workforce Planning for Sudbury and Manitoulin, said many factors are to blame for the projected labour shortfall.

“We’re dealing with the pending retirement of really knowledgeable and skilled people probably within the next five to 10 years and we also find we’re not seeing a lot of people going into the trades, specifically mining. We’re not attracting a lot of local talent to the profession. “When you combine those factors, we may not have enough people at the end of the road who are trained to be able to take over the jobs.”

Caverson says while mining has been in Sudbury for a long time, it still experiences an image problem. Read the rest of this entry »

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

A giant 3D television displayed two separate animations of coloured rectangle s that appeared at seemingly random areas on the screen. The coloured rectangles — and they covered the entire spectrum of a rainbow — represented different mine areas, and appeared on screen in the order they should be developed.

The animation was a visual representation of mine scheduling and showcased the differences between a schedule that was put together manually, and another that was created by an algorithm developed at Laurentian University.

Scheduling ore extraction at a mine may seem like a mundane task at first, but tweaking the extraction order for peak mine performance can increase the net value of a mining operation by up to 20%.

Researchers at Laurentian’s Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO) developed a software solution called the schedule optimization tool, or SOT for short.

The technology helps mining companies save time and money before they start digging for minerals, and has been used by a number of companies, including Vale and Xstrata.

Lorrie Fava, MIRARCO’s program manager of ventilation and production optimization, said the program cuts down greatly on the amount of time companies need to dedicate to scheduling a new mine site. Read the rest of this entry »

(L to R) Caleb Leduc, CROSH Graduate student School of Human Kinetics; Dr. Michel Larivière, Associate Director of Laurentian University’s Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health and Associate Professor within Laurentian’s School of Human Kinetics; Alexandra Clement, Graduate student representative for CROSH; Tamás Zsolnay, Executive Director University Advancement; Rick Bertrand, president of Steelworkers Local 6500; Leo Gerard, President of the United Steel Workers and Chair of the CROSH advisory board.

Sudbury, ON (FEBRUARY 7, 2013) The United Steelworkers (USW) today announced a donation of $50,000 toward the establishment of a Research Chair in Occupational Health and Safety at Laurentian University.

The new Research Chair in the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH) will lead research relevant to a broad range of workplaces. The Research Chair will work to make the Centre a national and international leader in occupational health and safety research, development, education, training, and global best practices. The CROSH Research Chair will be supported by a team of researchers, graduate students, and other personnel.

“Occupational health and safety is critical for the well-being of all workers and the overall economic health and productivity of our communities,” said Leo W. Gerard President, USW International. “The United Steelworkers is extremely pleased to be able to make this donation to help fund a Research Chair in Occupational Health and Safety at Laurentian University.” Read the rest of this entry »