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By William Gleason

The world has seen unprecedented economic changes in recent years, starting with the stock market collapse of 2008 and the great recession that followed. With these changes, the mining industry, like others, has been forced to find ways to adapt to the shifting and sometimes volatile conditions. It has been a bumpy ride that has not been easy. Prices for most commodities have been in a decline in the past several quarters ? albeit still well above the average prices of 10 years ago ? as the costs of production have been on a steady incline for the past 10 years. Adding to the concern was the report in April that China, which had grown at an average pace of 10 percent/year, for the past decade, slowed to less than 8 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year, catching many off guard. Even gold, once the safe haven for investors during rocky times, stumbled in April of this year, losing 7 percent of its value in two days. So what?s an investor to do ? and how can companies still attract financing? For the first time in 10 years, SME, in conjunction with the New York Local Section of SME, attempted to clear the waters of the mining finance sector with a conference focused on ?Current Trends in Mining Finance.? Held at City University of New York, Graduate Center, April 29-30, the two-day conference attracted 148 attendees and was intended for senior executives and mining industry specialists, covering a range of important topics and trends through 17 panels with about 50 speakers. The presentations came from representatives from some of the most influential companies in the mining and financial sectors, including Citi, Nomura, Societe Generale, Caterpillar, Newmont Mining Corp., Ernst & Young, Export Development Canada (EDC), KPMG, HSBC, Tocqueville Asset Management, BNP Paribas, Revett Minerals, Royal Gold, Environ and ERM.

Jul 1, 2013

Choosing the right valve for corrosive, abrasive slurry applications requires exacting analysis and a comprehensive understanding of the complete slurry process. Within the realm of flow control in abrasive and corrosive slurry applications, there is no room for a one-size-fits-all approach. To ensure minimal maintenance, maximum uptime and the lowest overall cost of ownership, the slurry processing toolbox must contain countless alloy and elastomeric pairings ? each carefully targeted to the particular process medium and conditions. This materials selection process is best tackled by turning to expert slurry application engineers and valve product managers who work closely with customers to specify the optimal valve for the given parameters. ?When plant operators and design engineers apply conventional valves in abrasive applications or use metal seated valves or simply apply the wrong valve for a particular flow control situation, it typically leads to rapid valve failure, the potential for hazardous leakage, unexpected shutdowns and costly downtime,? said Cal Cobb, valve products manager for Weir Minerals North America, manufacturer of Isogate slurry valves for service in mining, minerals processing and metallurgical environments.

Jan 1, 2011

By Robert Klug, Nils Engelke

"In order to extract proportionately small quantities of valuable minerals, mining companies move large amounts of earth. A resulting waste product of this process has traditionally been stored in a semi-liquid phase known as tailings, typically stored in a large pond created by an earthen dam at the low end of a drainage basin. It is generally expected that these dams are stable enough to withstand the pressure of the stored material. Unfortunately, history shows us that this is not always the case. The Baia Mare dam in Romania failed in 2000, causing tragic and prolonged environmental damage to several major European rivers. The Bento Rodrigues dam in Brazil failed on Nov. 5, 2015, and that event resulted in the loss of 16 lives.In hard rock mining, many minerals are imbedded within the ore. As part of the mining process, valuable minerals are extracted from the ore; often, the mineral content is only a fraction of the total ore volume processed. To extract the minerals, the ore is typically crushed and pulverized into very fine particles, then wetted to form slurries. The minerals are extracted from the slurries through a series of flotation and/or sedimentation steps with the aid of water-soluble separation chemicals typically known as reagents. Following the mineral extraction, the resulting residual wetted ore cuttings are labeled as tailings. At the end of the extraction process, the tailings are in a thick semi-fluid sludge state, often with trace elements of the extraction reagents.Historically, these tailings are deposited in giant basins or sludge ponds, where they pose a great threat to the environment while binding large volumes of waste process water.Process water recovery and achievingdry tailingsCurrent generation engineering studies, trials and successful field implementation have shown that an alternate process known as dry stacking is practical. The dry stacking process deposits dewatered tailings into containment areas that are smaller in overall footprint and significantly safer by reducing the transfer of reagents into the tailings storage area. In addition to achieving the dry tailing benefits mentioned, it is possible to recover valuable process water while dewatering the tailings sludge utilizing modern separation technology."

Jan 4, 2018

At the 25th Peruvian Mining Convention, the start-up of Antamina was called ?the mining event of the year.? Antamina, one of the largestcopper-zinc mines in the world, began operations in May 2001.Augusto Baertl is Executive Chairman of Compañía Minera Antamina, the operating company. He said in a convention address that Antamina would be in full production in 2002. ?I would like to stress that Antamina is, in every respect, a highly stringent operation, as it intends to be the Peruvianmine of the future,? Baertl said. ?Antamina has set the target of being, and remaining throughout time, a model mine as to technology, environmental practices and social responsibility.? [ ] In the areas of technology and operations, Baertl noted that ?we have incorporated the best engineering design available and state-of-the art technology for mining, grinding and transportation processes, among others.? In the environmental area, he said that ?we have carried out careful environ-mental impact studies and have incorporated modern technologies and methods to control and minimize any environmental impact.? In the social field, Baertl noted that ?our relationship with neighboring communities is being developed under the premises of the social responsibility philosophy.? These include popular consultation processes, environmental committees and conciliation discussion committees. The purpose, he said, is to encourage communities located within the area of influence of the project to find and lead by themselves their path toward sustainable development, beyond the life of the operation itself.?

Jan 1, 2001

By William Gleason

"In a time that seems to be dominated with nothing but bad news coming from the mining industry, there is a success story that has been quietly happening in Southwestern Wyoming for more than 60 years, and it is one that is likely to continue for many decades to come.Beneath the wind swept high desert plains of Sweetwater County, WY, about 32 km (20 miles) west of Green River, lies the Green River Basin where five companies, including Tata Chemicals North America (TCNA), are mining the world’s largest known deposit of trona and, in turn, are collectively producing 15.3 Mt/a (17 million stpy) of soda ash.“We have a long-term growth story that has been, and will continue to be a steady earner for many years to come,” said J. Martin Keighley, managing director of TCNA who has been in charge of the mine, formerly known as General Chemical Industrial Products Inc., for Tata Chemicals for about three years.According to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Keighley is safe with his prediction of future success. The BLM estimates that there are enough reserves in the Green River Basin to last another 2,000 years. Currently, four trona beds in the Green River Basin are being mined and in all, there are 25 major trona beds that occur within the Wilkins Peak Member of the Upper Eocene Age Green River Formation. The trona deposit as a whole covers about 2,500 km2 (1,000 sq miles) within the Green River Basin.And imagine, this economic mainstay in the region was discovered accidently.Prior to 1948, soda ash, the salable commodity that comes from trona and is used in a host of products including glass and detergent, was produced synthetically. In 1938, an oil and gas exploration team working in the Green River Basin came away with a find that would change the soda ash industry and the physical and employment landscape of southwestern Wyoming forever. Within 10 years, the communities of Green River and Rock Springs, which were built largely on the back of coal mining and railroads, had another commodity beneath their feet."

Jul 1, 2016

By Chee Theng

"Mining professionals are a resilient lot. Sure, copper prices are dismal, permitting processes seem interminable and the top mining companies are shedding jobs like a Shetland sheepdog sheds hair. All the more reason to hone technical skills, reconnect with old contacts and get one’s finger on the pulse of the industry.More than 400 did just that in the balmy sunshine and among the saguaro cactus of the Tucson venue of the SME Arizona Conference.Giving the keynote speech was Patrick Merrin, vice president at Hudbay Minerals (see box), while the luncheon speaker was University Distinguished Professor Mary Poulton, director of the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources at The University of Arizona.“Attendance was great, especially given the copper price,” said Ta Li, vice president of business development at Tetra Tech and 2001 SME President. “The luncheon speaker was one of the better ones in recent years. Her talk contained a lot of fresh ideas, and practical versus theoretical concepts.”Talk about values, not economicsPraise was unanimous for Poulton, who gave a thought-provoking talk on “The New Face of Mining: The Culture Change for Compatible Mining.” Corporate social responsibility has been embraced by the metals mining industry, and it’s being done right, she said. “So why do we have more conflict? Why are there more protests? Why does permitting take longer and longer?” Poulton made a case for an approach based on compatible, rather than sustainable, mining to present a new face of mining that can be compatible with communities, cultures and the environment, and still be profitable. When the mining industry starts to talk about compatibility between what it is doing and what “me,” as the consumer, wants, what “we,” as citizens of a community, want, and what’s good for the “world,” we’re going to see the next culture change happen, she concluded."

Jan 1, 2015

By F. H. Buttner

Commodity currency intrigues most of us because of the problems it offers to solve for the Third and the First Worlds. What problems might be solved, if commodity currency were to be adopted in the Third World? That is really the question we are probing here right now. It would take a while to think through all their subtle consequences of this question, but, off the top, it might well have at least three important impacts. Most important of these to this audience is relief from unfair Third World competition. Second, it might well liberate Third World economies from financial indebtedness to the First World and give them freedom from the liquidity limitations. The third benefit is that it might help relieve World trade tensions. All three benefits are interrelated. We could start our speculations on the application of commodity currency from anyone of these starting points. But let us use the starting point most important to you, unfair competition to the U.S. mining industry. From there we might wind up with some thoughts on things you, yourselves, can do to improve things.

Jan 1, 1978

When Caterpillar announced that it had purchased Bucyrus for $8.8 billion, it was billed as the next great chapter in the history of mining. Surely, when the history books are written, it will be remembered as a deal that changed the face of the mining equipment sector, and it could well be a major milestone in the path toward autonomous mining in the future. In the short term, the deal is a clear indication that the world?s largest equipment maker is bullish on the mining sector. The purchase of Bucyrus allows Caterpillar to expand its mining interest to six product segments (underground, surface extraction, large mining trucks, surface material handling, hauling products and growth markets) with 16 product lines to serve the mining industry. But the commitment doesn?t end there. According to Steve Wunning, president of Caterpillar?s resource industries group, which includes Cat?s global mining division, the commitment to mining goes far beyond the acquisition of Bucyrus.

Jan 1, 2011

By Chinmay Shingote, Robert Visintainer, Renjie Ke, Jaikrishnan R. Kadambi, John Furlan

Hydrocyclone separators are some of the most widely used instruments in a variety of industrial applications. Their major functions are to sort, classify and separate solid particles and liquid droplets within a multiphase flow system. Research studies employing both experimental and numerical methods recognize that the performance of a cyclone is related to its geometric dimensions as well as the inner flow pattern. Although many successes have been achieved over the past years, the majority of investigations only focused on the simplified design of cyclone geometry and on single-phase flow. Therefore, this study set out to investigate the flow field in a new-design hydrocyclone and used particle image velocimetry (PIV) to explore the complex swirling flow behavior inside the cyclone within an air core. The flow field inside the cyclone was also studied by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation using a commercial CFD package. Different turbulent models were tested in this study with a moderate-size mesh, and the interface of liquid phase and air phase was predicted by the volume of fluid (VOF) model.

By Rick Frechette, Greg Nelson

"The 2018 Elko Roundtable was held at the Red Lion in Elko, NV on March 15, 2018. The gracious host was once again Knight Piésold. Attendance was robust with representatives from more than 14 mining properties across Nevada representing nine corporations. Total attendance was at its highest in almost a decade. A high level of interest was also gauged by the number of companies with multiple attendees.The topic of water in mining was clearly a factor in creating the large show of interest. In terms of industry trends that are tracked annually, this topic had been absent from the list for more than 10 years (Deloitte, 2018) but was squarely planted there this year. And deservedly so. Three attending companies are signatories of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) which espouses a firm stance on water stewardship (ICMM, 2017).How’s the water?It is reported that water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of the world’s population (Deloitte, 2018). Consumption of water in the United States, based on the last detailed census, entails only 1.5 percent usage by the mining industry. The largest users are reportedly thermoelectric power and irrigation, combining for more than 75 percent of the U.S. consumption. During the prior census period, water usage at mines was up dramatically (USGS, 2014).Mine water source usage is primarily a mix of ground water and saline or fresh surface water resources. Over the previous period, saline sources experienced the greatest percentage in growth as a mine water source, nearly doubling in use. Nevada ranks second as a state nationally in mine water consumption. California is the leader, and Nevada is immediately followed by Utah and Alaska (USGS, 2014).Water rights in Nevada and the ongoing litigation at the state level, particularly over the Humboldt River basin, have elevated the concern over the supply of water and have raised the interest regarding the topic of water across the mining industry as well as within other industries.The Elko Roundtable meeting began with a safety share and introductions, and included each attendee mentioned a water problem or solution that he or she would like to discuss during the day. An interesting list of subtopics was developed from this round robin and yielded the following most common themes:• Mine pit dewatering during operation and pit wall stability.• Draindown from tailings dams and heap leach pads and dealing with this at closure.• Post closure pit lakes, pit lake water quality and associated water rights."

Dec 1, 2018

Automated drilling in surface mines is here, it?s successful, and it?s already at work in mines around the globe. Coal, copper, iron and gold mines in large mining countries such as Canada, Australia, South Africa, the United States and Chile are meeting mining objectives previously ruled out as unattainable. Pit Viper automation enables operators to accomplish more objectives safely. Operator assist functions like AutoLevel, AutoDrill, Auto Rod Changer and multi-rig teleremote control are a few of the features mines are using to gain consistent, sustainable productivity.

By William Gleason

"The times they are a changing, and, for the mining industry, the optimism is high. On Nov. 8, Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States, and the Republican Party won a majority of seats in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, ushering in what many hope will be a positive change for the mining and extractive minerals industries.Trump has stated that one of his top priorities as president will be to increase spending on the nation’s infrastructure, which could help spark a boom for mining. He has also pledged to bring back coal jobs and reverse many of the environmental regulations that were put in place by the Obama administration. However, before the mining industry gets too far ahead of itself and plans for another Super Cycle, there are stark reminders that any work in the natural resources sector is complicated and challenging. On Dec. 4, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it would not grant an easement that would allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to pass under a portion of the Missouri River in North Dakota. The proposed crossing of the oil pipeline is approximately a half a mile upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux’s Reservation, and for months, hundreds of protestors camped out at the site in an effort to halt the project, saying they feared how it would impact water supplies and sacred lands.Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline, said the pipeline is a $3.78-billion investment that will connect the Bakken and Three Forks production areas to major refining markets. The company signed voluntary easement agreements with landowners representing more than 85 percent of the properties along the four-state route but faced an organized protest from the Sioux Nation at Standing Rock. The protest gathered momentum and support through social and traditional media and became the focal point of global environmental and indigenous activism. The protestors claimed victory, at least temporarily, when the Corps of Engineers said it would look for alternative routes for the project. It’s a decision that could lead to a lengthy environmental review and one that has the potential to block the construction of the pipeline for months or even years."

Jan 1, 2017

By William Gleason

"Technology of all forms has experienced exponential growth in recent years, and there is no sign of it slowing down. This growth has presented amazing opportunity and significant challenges in nearly every aspect of daily life. Some of these changes are seen and experienced every day as we turn to our smart phones, tablets and smart watches to help with us with everything from directions to the store to managing our health. And other technological growth takes place far away from the public view but can have as much of an impact on our daily life as does shopping at Amazon or connecting with friends on social media.At the “THRIVE 2018, Innovations Advancing Mining” conference presented by SME on Sept. 27 at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square in Pittsburgh, PA, the focus was on innovation and how it affects the global mining industry.More than 100 people were on hand for the inaugural event, and they were treated to a unique program that focused on the cutting-edge innovations that will carry the mining industry into the future while increasing safety and productivity along the way.2018 SME President Barbara Arnold was the driving force behind the conference and put together the technical program with a focus on innovation through the entire mining life cycle and into the future. Talks ranged from more efficient and safer ways to extract minerals to some of the most advanced end uses of minerals and metals, including the use of 3D printing to create precision parts for machines and humans from advanced metal alloys.“We need to adapt new technologies to our industry and develop additional technologies as we provide materials and metals for infrastructure and energy development in the United States, around the globe, and to the Moon and beyond,” Arnold told Mining Engineering. “Our inaugural THRIVE conference sets the stage for these innovations to be applied and to continue to be developed. Our mining industry can only continue to thrive with these advances.”"

Jan 11, 2018

By J. Weyer

"Colored gemstones are most often mined in small scale artisanal mining operations. Sri Lanka is well known as source for precious stones since thousands of years. Gemstones are mine in small open pits, directly in rivers (river dredging) and in underground mines. Almost all mined deposits are alluvial deposits. PRECIOUS STONES AND DEPOSITS Precious stones from Sri Lanka are well known for thousands of years. Tales and legends from Arabia, India, China and reports from discoverers like Marco Polo describe the fabulous stones from Ceylon which was the name for Sri Lanka before 1972. Already 1000 BC King Salomon got valuable gemstones from the legendary Queen of Sheba on her visit to Jerusalem. Paintings (frescoes) of the “cloud maidens” with huge gemstones can be seen at the “mirror walls” of the Sigiriya rock fortress - one of the eight World Heritages Sites of Sri Lanka.And even today some of the most valuable and most desired gemstones come from Sri Lanka. The term “Ceylon Sapphire” stands for an excellent royal blue color of high quality corundum from Sri Lanka. Reason enough to look a bit closer how these gemstones are mined. Sri Lanka has rich gemstone deposits which are mined underground, in small open pits or directly within a river. Some of the primary deposits in magmatic and metamorphic rock are also known, but most gemstones are mined in secondary alluvial deposits. Gem bearing deposits can be found in a band from NW to SE. Highly probable deposits and main mining areas can be found around Ratnapura – the city of gems, down to the coast (Matale) and up to the region around Elahera. These secondary deposits are mostly thin layers of gravel and sand, so called “illam”. The depth can vary between some dm to 10 25 m or even almost 40 m. But the average depth is about 12 m. Gemstone mining is controlled, licensed and regulated by a special authority – the National Gem and Jewelry Authority - which was founded in 1993. Another task of this authority is the promotion and development of the gemstone industry and the control of import and export of gemstones. Any violence of the NGJA law can lead to a fine or even up to 5 years imprisonment. To increase the confidence in the gemstone industry the Authority offers a unique service to foreigners. All bought gemstones can be tested free of charge in certain laboratories in Ratnapura and Colombo. So visitors can be sure they got no imitations, wrong stones or even synthetic stones or glass. It was said that detected synthetic stones will be destroyed and the seller will do all he can to replace the stone with the right stone. Otherwise he will lose his license."

Jan 1, 2016

By William Gleason

"With desert temperatures climbing high at Caterpillar’s Tinaja Hills Demonstration and Learning Center near Tucson, AZ in September, a group of editors were given a reprieve from the sun and stepped inside the new Cat Minestar Command Center. The movie theater-like temperatures inside were a welcome relief, and the computer screens stationed around the room were an indication of not just how much things have evolved in the mining equipment sector, but also a peek into the future of where mining is headed.Equipment manufacturers like Caterpillar have always had to deal with peaks and valleys in demand that come with mining, perhaps never more so than in the last five years. Sudhanshu Singh, global product manager for Caterpillar, said that in one month in 2012, at the height of the mining Super Cycle, Caterpillar produced more than 150 large mining trucks (haul trucks that carry 136 t/150 st or more). By contrast, Caterpillar produced about 80 of those trucks in the full year of 2016. Between 2012 and 2016, Caterpillar saw its profits drop by 40 percent.“This shows how cyclical the industry is, and it is a testament to the strength of Caterpillar to be able to tolerate the wide swings,” said Singh. Demand for commodities is once again on the rise as are commodity prices with many signs pointing toward a recovery for the mining sector, and Caterpillar has positioned itself for the recovery. During its 2017 press event in September, company officials emphasized that Caterpillar has added strength in its technology divisions by forming new partnerships and adjusting its operating plan.“At the heart of our enterprise strategy is the operating & execution (O&E) model, a strategic framework to identify areas of the business that either create or consume the most value,” said Caterpillar chief executive officer, Jim Umpleby. “Using the O&E model as a guide, we gain a deeper understanding of where we have a competitive advantage, which is key to generating high returns.”"

Jan 11, 2017

By R. D. Williams

"In a very real sense, Butte, MT is where the copper came from that won two world wars. The price for that unrestricted mining and smelting of copper came due in 1983 when Butte was declared a Superfund site.One of the most complex remnants of this mining history is the Parrot Tailings site. The Parrot smelter operated from 1881 to 1910, moving Upper Silver Bow Creek to the south and depositing approximately 283,000 m3 (370,000 cu yd) of waste material adjacent to Upper Silver Bow Creek. Additional mixed waste from other processing sites deposited below the Parrot tailings at the Northside Tailings, Diggings East and Blacktail Creek Berm total approximately 171,000 m3 (224,000 cu yd) of contaminated material. As part of the Superfund remedy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed leaving all these wastes in place. This proposal prompted a detailed criticism by several geoscientists familiar with the site. The EPA’s 2006 Record of Decision (ROD) did in fact leave these wastes in place, which set the stage for a series of studies that continue to refine how best to protect extensive completed Superfund Remediation downstream of Upper Silver Bow Creek. History of the Parrott Mine and tailingsPlacer gold was discovered in Silver Bow Creek, the headwaters of the Clark Fork River only a few miles from the Continental Divide in 1864. This discovery led to a stampede of placer and lode claims. One of the first lode claims located was the Parrot lode, located in the fall of 1864. Progress for developing a mine at the Parrott was slow, and it was not until 1876 that one of the original locators encountered a rich vein of chalcocite. Butte had its first copper mine.The Parrott Mine was patented in 1879 and by 1881 the Parrot, having lost a “t”, concentrator and smelter were built. The smelter and concentrator were an immediate success with a considerable market for processing the district’s rich copper ore. In 1885, the employees of the Parrot smelter bought the Butte Reduction Works, another smelter. In 1885, dams were built on Silver Bow Creek to contain various tailings and related processing byproducts (Fig. 1).By 1890, the various smelters in Butte rendered Butte’s air quality as suffocating (Fig. 2). An 1889 funeral procession was rumored to have gotten lost in the thick smelter smoke and somehow ended up at the Centennial Brewery. A city ordinance was passed late in 1890 in an attempt to control smoke. The Parrot smelter employed approximately 500 men by 1890. Through the 1890s, the tailings produced grew from approximately 91 t/d (100 stpd) to more than 181 t/d (200 stpd). Copper values in the tailings were initially as high as 4 percent, but as the processing improved that was reduced to 1.5 percent."

Apr 1, 2019

By Robert Smith

Deposits are global, said Barrick Gold's Smith. This means that the mineral industry, by necessity, is global. "Manufacturers have considerable freedom to decide exactly where they wish to produce whatever it is that they sell," he said. "What we sell, on the other hand, must be produced where nature chose to lay it down. The question is not so much, whether to go global, as when to do it and how to go about it." The timing of international expansion depends on external factors, often political, Smith said, and on internal ones that relate to the company's size and stage of development. "In deciding how to expand, a company is largely deciding how to adapt its existing business strategy to activity on the world stage," he said Barrick entered 1997 with 1.58 kt (51 million oz) of reserves, Smith said, annual production of 93.3 t (3 mil- lion oz) and cash flow of $463 million. Reserves in- creased 40% in 1996 and production will begin to rise again significantly in 1999. "We believe our fundamental strategy is responsible for our early development and subsequent success," he said. Barrick entered the gold-mining industry in 1983. Its corporate mandate was to create shareholder value, Smith said. From the beginning, the company took a different approach - businesslike, entrepreneurial, strategic and focused. "Many mining companies start out with a technical team and develop business and financial expertise thereafter," Smith said. "In 1983, Barrick had the business people, and then moved into mining." First, it acquired part interest in two small operations, one in Alaska and one in Ontario. Then, in 1984, it merged with Camflo Mines, which operated a low-cost underground operation in Quebec.

Jan 1, 1997

By Brendan Howard

Rio Tinto has a large globally distributed technical workforce and needs to ensure these employees have the requisite skills to not only manage technical risk and enable safe efficient production, but also ensure they are keeping pace with a fast-changing technological landscape. Traditional approaches to learning struggle for scale and an inability to respond to the extreme diversity of capability development needs. In response, Rio Tinto has successfully introduced innovative approaches to learning and employee engagement via leveraging the power of globally distributed networks for peer-to-peer knowledge transfer and providing mechanisms to recognise, reward and retain the individual technical contributors.

Feb 1, 2024

By William Gleason

"Government support for Canada’s mineral industry was on full display during the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto, ON, Canada on March 3-6. First, there was the announcement of the five-year extension of Canada’s Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (METC), the first multi-year extension of the METC since its inception in 2000. Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, Amarjeet Sohi, added to that support when he spoke at the opening keynote session and announced the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (CMMP), a plan that aims to map out the future of the industry in Canada. Finally, the support for the mining industry was buttoned up with a visit to the conference by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.More than 25,000 people from 135 countries attended the annual conference that features a robust trade floor, technical sessions and an investors’ exchange that aims to put mining companies in touch with potential investors. Mining companies and ambassadors from nations around the world are given the opportunity to present to small audiences throughout the conference and this year PDAC was able to sway the Prime Minister to speak on its behalf.Trudeau sat down with PDAC President Glenn Mullan on March 5 to talk about the METC extension and a host of other issues important to the Canadian and global mining industry, giving the home country a bit of a profile advantage when it came to making a pitch to investors.Trudeau entered the week of the conference in the midst of the most serious political scandal of his career and was defending himself against accusations of political interference with the top prosecutor in the land over a criminal case involving one of Canada’s largest companies, SNC-Lavalin. During the question-and-answer session at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, Trudeau seemed more than happy to keep to the discussion about mining. He spoke favorably about the industry during the half hour conversation and praised the industry for its work with Indigenous people as well as its efforts to advance technology and innovation. He made a case that Canada is a safe and reliable place for investment in the minerals sector.“We are at a time of change right now, of transformation with new technologies and global supply chains, and everyone is trying to adjust to the new realities that have accelerated so much these past years,” Trudeau said. “What we are trying to do as a country and what you have done as an industry is to try to look at where things are going – go to where the puck is going to be, not where it is. You, as an industry, know that investments in innovation, research, science — investment in technology and partnerships with Indigenous communities are all things that are going to give you opportunities to be competitive in the coming years.”"

Apr 1, 2019

By William Gleason

"The mining industry tends to focus on very large numbers, whether it’s talking in terms of size of deposits, tons of material mined, the equipment used or the dollars spent. The numbers associated with mining projects are often in the hundreds of millions, but sometimes it’s the little things that can have the biggest impact.Take, for example, the Rosemont Copper Project in Arizona. Owned by HudBay Minerals, the Rosemont Copper project, when in production, is expected to be one of the largest copper mines in the United States, accounting for about 10 percent of total copper production with annual production expected to be 110 Mt/a (243 million lbs/year). However, the project is currently mired in a years-long permitting process. At the 2017 SME Arizona Conference in Tucson, AZ, Kathy Arnold, director of environmental and regulatory affairs for Hudbay Minerals, spoke about the project and the efforts to get it into production.She opened her presentation with the unfortunate news that her 2017 presentation would not be that much different than the 2016, 2015 or 2014 presentations she gave to the same conference. That’s because, as of Dec. 4, 2017, the project had been in the permitting process for 3,797 days, more than 10 years. The process began when Rosemont submitted its initial mine plan in 2006 and a revised one in 2017. The official start to Rosemont Copper’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) started in 2008.In June 2017, the project received its Final Record of Decision from the U.S. Forest Service, moving it a step closer to production. Yet it still faces stiff opposition from opponents while it works to secure the Clean Water Act Permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and to complete its final mine plan of operations.In her presentation, Arnold said the long process taught her many lessons, including approaching things with a different mindset. More than 130 pages worth of public comments have been collected over the years. The concerns expressed range from lighting issues to pavement to preserving land for a jaguar that was spotted on the property and named El Jefe.“A lot of things that people worry about seem to be small things, but we had to have a different mindset and be open-minded to the concerns,” Arnold said. “That is the commitment we made.”"

Jan 1, 2018