Vale,announces opening of Totten Mine (first mine opened in Sudbury in 40 years!,Victoria Mine Update ,Robert Freidland "Resource Super Cycle " Glencore/Extrata - Vale business combination rumors

Showcasing the mining expertise of NortHERN ONTARIO
December 1, 2013 ■ Volume 10, Number 4

www.sudburyminingsolutions.com

Special Focus on Totten Mine: Pages 19 to 30
Futuristic control room in Totten Mine’s administration building includes a wall-to-wall array of computer screens and video monitors with flow charts and bar graphs providing a visual
representation of mine operations.
Vale Archive. Miningindustrialphotographer.com

Vale celebrates Totten Mine startup
n Mine of the future

brimming with
state-of-the-art
technology
BY ORM TOLLINSKY
N
It’s not every day that a new mine goes
into production – not even in Sudbury,
one of the world’s most important centres of mineral wealth – but, this month,
Vale celebrates the official handover to
operations at Totten Mine, 40 kilometres west of downtown Sudbury.
Hailed as “a mine of the future” by
Kelly Strong, vice-president of Ontario
and UK operations, Totten is brimming
with advanced technologies.
“We’re very excited about this being
our first new mine in over 40 years,”

said Strong. “Totten demonstrates that
we have this amazing resource under
our feet here. Building Totten through
some challenging economic times
shows our commitment as a company
to Sudbury.
“One of the things you see in the
mining industry is that the price cycle is
shorter than the period of time it takes
to complete a project,” noted Strong.
“So, when we undertake to build these
big capital projects, we have to understand that we’re going to go through a
downturn at some point – either at the
front end, the middle or the end, and we
have to have the discipline to continue
through from front to back.”
That discipline hasn’t always been
manifest. Inco, which was acquired by
Vale in 2006, sunk two shafts at Totten
beginning in 1966, but put the project
on care and maintenance in 1972 and
let it flood four years later.
Vale announced plans to bring Totten

into production soon after acquiring
Inco in 2006. AMEC was awarded a
contract to build a water treatment
plant as a prelude to dewatering the
underground workings. Existing surface
infrastructure was demolished and in
2007 Cementation was hired to begin
rehabilitating the 4,130-foot Number
2 shaft.

It wasn’t always smooth sailing.
Totten was supposed to cost $450 million and begin operating in the second
quarter of 2011, but water ingress and
other challenges encountered along the
way delayed startup to December 2013
and the cost escalated to $760 million.

See inside, Page 22

INSIDE
WORLD’S LARGEST MINE CAGES ARE ON THE WAY TO INDONESIA
FLSMIDTH AND SUDBURY’S STAINLESS STEEL TECHNOLOGY PARTNER UP.................................. 3
.

CUTTING-EDGE INNOVATION CENTRE OPENS DOORS IN NORTH BAY
ICAMP BOASTS LASER SCANNERS, POLYMER PRINTERS, INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS..........................10

SPECIAL REPORT ON WOMEN IN MINING: DIVERSITY TAKES HOLD
MEET 12 WOMEN WHO ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE MINING INDUSTRY....................38-47

w w w. s u d b u r y m i n i n g s o l u t i o n s . c o m
Pub lica t io ns Mai l Agreement No. 40065411

NEWS


Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal I December 1, 2013

World’s largest cage headed to Indonesia
I Engineered by FLSmidth
and manufactured by
Stainless Steel Technology

Freeport McMoRan didn’t want it to be a manual system, “so we designed it to be pneumatically operated
with manual as backup,” said Brownlee.
Wheel chocks used for stabilizing rail cars with heavy
loads of supplies and equipment are also remotely
engaged. The cage won’t leave if the wheel chocks aren’t
in place.
The cages are also equipped with Technogrid safety
arrestors and FLSmidth Safety Catch Gear with impact
buffers –backup safety equipment that is hardly ever
used, said Brownlee.

BY NORM TOLLINSKY
FLSmidth and Sudbury fabricator Stainless Steel
Technology are about to deliver two 300-man cages to
Freeport McMoRan Copper Gold’s Grasberg complex
in Indonesia.
The two identical conveyances, one of which is a spare,
are the largest and most technologically advanced cages in
the world, according to Jim Brownlee, product manager for
FLSmidth. Designed to operate in a sub-vertical shaft, or
winze, the two-deck conveyances carry an 85,000-pound
material payload and are designed to operate with a Blair
multi-rope hoist.
The cages are equipped with continuous load monitoring, LED lighting, a communication system, sensors for
door position, a chairing solution and remotely operated
wheel chocks to secure rail cars carrying supplies and
equipment.
Blair multi-rope hoisting was developed as a solution for very deep shafts in South Africa, but is gaining in popularity in Canada for other reasons, noted
Brownlee.
“In Canada, we have a requirement for safety dogs on
conveyances. These are a spring-loaded apparatus that
deploys teeth into wooden guides to make sure a conveyance will come to a safe stop if the hoist loses control or
there is a broken or detached rope.”
The problem though is that the select grade
Douglas Fir that’s required for the wooden guides
is becoming increasingly hard to source and very
expensive.
“It also wears out and has to be continually replaced
and maintained, so it’s a huge maintenance issue,” said
Brownlee. Galvanized steel guides are an option, but only
if there’s a redundant rope.
“For that reason, there’s a lot of interest in BMR hoists.”
Constant power
Because of the relatively short depth that the
cages travel, they’re designed with a trailing cable for
constant power.
“Usually, when you go in a cage, everybody is standing
around with their cap lights on and that’s the only light,”

The cages are equipped with continuous load monitoring, LED
lighting, a communication system, sensors for door position,
a chairing solution and remotely operated wheel chocks to
secure rail cars carrying supplies and equipment.
said Brownlee. “This conveyance has LED lighting and a
full communication system.”
The cage operator can talk with the control room
instead of ringing bells, although the bells will
still be there for backup in the event of a power
disruption.
Other features of the cage include door sensors that
prevent the cage from moving if a door is left open and a
chairing mechanism that secures the cage at a level when
heavy loads are moved in or out.
The operator pulls a handle and four feet shoot out to
park the cage.

Spare cage
An identical spare cage was required because of the
mine’s location and the amount of time it would take
to replace and install it. The cages break down into 28
sections for transport to the mine site and down to the
sub-vertical shaft for reassembly.
A cavern was excavated to store the spare cage and
FLSmidth supplied storage and transfer equipment to
move it into position in the shaft.
“If the cage were damaged and they had to order another one, they’d have to shut down the mine for months,”
said Brownlee. “They couldn’t take that risk. There are so
many men who work down there and if they had to use a
ramp, it would take half their shift to get there. By bringing them down in a cage, they can get to work right away.”
FLSmidth, formerly GLV Dorr-Oliver, closed its
Orillia manufacturing facility in 1998, electing instead
to outsource manufacturing and focus on engineering
and sales.
“The purpose of outsourcing was to have multiple
shops to work with, which would give us a pricing and
delivery benefit,” said Brownlee. “We have worked with
a number of suppliers over the years, but Stainless Steel
Technology has emerged as a superior partner for us in
every way.”
Stainless Steel Technology has other customers but manufactures skips and cages exclusively for FLSmidth. The
company operates out of a state-of-the-art, 55,000-square
foot facility in Sudbury’s Lively Industrial Park and boasts
a 6 x12-foot laser cutter, a computer-controlled 10 x
24-foot water jet cutter and a robotic welder.
The Sudbury fabricator also has a drop test
tower, which eliminates the need for expensive and potentially hazardous drop tests at the
minesite.

www.flsmidth.com
www.stainlesssteeltech.com

CONTENTS
7
Technology

Hoverbarge proposed for access to Ring of Fire
Year-round overland access beats six-week ice road season/7

12
News

KGHM begins site preparation for Victoria Project
Sinking of 1,892-metre exploration shaft planned for 2014/15

News

Technology

Exploration

Energy

‘Build it and they will come’ strategy pays off
North Bay’s new airport industrial park a hit with suppliers/12
Evening out with mining luminary Robert Friedland
Flat is good, the Congo is a bit like Prince Edward Island/18

Proximity detection system keeps miners safe
When a zone is breached, system issues audible alarm/17
First comes love, then comes marriage
Miners, renewable energy developers check each other out/36

17

18

Also in this issue
Symboticware wireless system speeds subsidence monitoring ........5
Mining companies get behind Scrap Cancer campaign ........................6
Vale, Glencore said to be considering Sudbury combination..............13
Redpath Group wins mine development contract in Zambia ..............13
NORCAT space mining group goes its own way .......................................16
Atlas Copco wins design award for rig control system .........................48
There’s more to Nevada than guys in Elvis suits ....................................49
Calendar of coming events, trade shows, short courses......................50

3

4

NEWS

December 1, 2013 ■ Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal

HERE’S WHY ONTARIO, CANADA

IS YOUR NEXT

BIG IDEA
Opportunities for mineral exploration in Ontario abound. Powered
by global leaders in innovation and safety standards, our mining
practices are among the safest and most sustainable in the world.
With business costs lower here than in most G7 countries, Ontario
suppliers are more competitive – so you can depend on quality goods
and services, delivered on time, on spec and on budget. Innovation
is at our core. Make Ontario your next big idea.

YourNextBigIdea.ca/Mining

$2.9B

in non-metallic minerals,
including diamonds, was
produced in Ontario in 2012

$2.6B
in gold

$1.5B
in copper

$1.4B
in nickel

$787M

in other metals
such as platinum
and silver

Paid for by the Government of Ontario.


SMSJ_Sept 2012_Pro_TH_PC

Mobile Equipment for
Safety and Productivity


NEWS

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal ■ December 1, 2013

Wirelesstosolutionftspeeds subsidence monitoring
Re-Located a 50,000 sq. . PLant!
n Symboticware

mesh network
alerts miner to
ground movement
BY NORM TOLLINSKY
A Northern Ontario gold miner is
acquiring a wireless data solution from
Sudbury-based Symboticware to quickly and efficiently monitor subsidence
events linked to historical mining.
The miner currently collects data
manually from 47 wells equipped with
multi-point borehole extensometers to
monitor ground movement. The wells
are located throughout the heart of the
city’s core in parking lots, golf courses,
next to fast food restaurants and other
built-up areas. The wells are 18 to
16-inches in diameter, vary in depth
from 10 to 60 feet and are covered
by steel plates.
Extensometers
The multi-point borehole extensometers are long cables that stretch and
contract in response to ground movement. If subsidence is detected, the
mining company sends out a crew to
dump sand into the well.

The company used to send out crews
every six months to take manual readings from the instrumentation.
“They’d have to send out two or
three guys because they had to lift a
manhole cover to get a reading,” said
Symboticware president Kirk Petroski.
Snow cover in winter was a problem, and sometimes they’d have to
stop traffic.
With the company poised to proceed with the development of a nearby
open pit, there’s a concern that the
dewatering and blasting will trigger
ground movement and subsidence, so
a decision was made to go with an
automated data collection system to
streamline monitoring, said Petroksi.
The pit will reclaim land containing mine hazards and unstable underground workings from historical mining operations, creating a lake and
parkland accessible to the public.
“What we’re doing is connecting a
wireless device to the head of the sensor underneath the manhole cover,”
explained Petroski. “The wireless
device transmits the readings through
a mesh network to a main controller at
the minesite.”
“The furthest monitoring point is
four kilometres away, but they’re all
located within 200 to 300 feet of
each other. All these systems wake up
and use each other to send the data

Authorized

to the main controller.”
Four wells were equipped with wireless devices in November. The remaining 43 wells will be converted for wireless data collection between January
and May. Solar collectors or lithium-ion batteries will supply power,
depending on the location of the wells.
Symboticare has been contracted to
supply and maintain the system for a
10-year period.
Geospatial interface
A Google Earth-type geographic
information system is being used to
geospatially represent the data from
the 47 wells, with colour-coded markers alerting mining company staff to
ground movement and pop-up displays revealing extensometer readings.
TECTERRA, an Alberta-based organization, provided a one-year loan
as part of its mandate to support the
development and commercialization
of geomatics technology.
Symboticware specializes in wireless
data solutions for a variety of applications and is best known for its Symbot,
a device designed to collect and wirelessly transmit real-time equipment
performance data in underground
mines.

MobileLandcruiser
Toyota Equipment for Safety and Productivity
Dealer

Authorized
Toyota Landcruiser
Dealer

symboticware.com
www.tecterra.com

Haileybury

Symboticware systems engineer Jon Petrenas demonstrates
the wireless data collection and transmission solution that
relays readings from multi-point borehole extensometers
for monitoring of ground movement in the city’s subsidenceprone downtown core.

Sudbury

Timmins

Val d’Or

We supply mine-grade products,
manufacture quality products, offer design,
fabrication and custom machining,
as well as sourcing.
We are your one-stop shop for industrial needs.
We are leaders in on-site VMI
(Vendor Managed Inventory).
Ask us about our customized
VMI service programs.
Call us at 1-800-669-3542 or
email us at info@timeltd.ca

Sales Rental Service
Phone: (705) 476-4500
Email: mtsales@millertechnology.com
Website: www.millertechnology.com

timeltd.ca
since 1971

5

6


NEWS


Mining companies get behind Scrap Cancer campaign
n Turning scrap into
cold, hard cash
BY HEATHER CAMPBELL
Asking for money is standard practice in fundraising, but the Northern
Cancer Foundation will also take scrap
metal. Toasters, lawnmowers, boilers,
cars, whatever. BM Metal Services, a division of Milman Industries, and other
Sudbury area companies are turning
scrap into cold, hard cash.
When BM Metal Services called
Northern Cancer Foundation executive
director Tannys Laughren with the idea,
she didn’t think they would make very
much money but was willing to try.
That first year, they made $21,000 - far
more than she expected.
BM Metal Services, a waste management and metal recycling company,
partnered with the Northern Cancer
Foundation to help collect and process the scrap. The company manages the entire process, including collection, preparation and selling of
the metal.
“This campaign is a fairly simple marriage for us,” said Shayne Smith, general
manager of BM Metal Services. “We were
looking for an opportunity to make a
meaningful contribution to the community. My parents are cancer survivors

Left to right are Dan Poirier of Vale; Tannys Laughren, executive director, Northern Cancer Foundation;
Dave Duncan, mine manager, Copper Cliff Mine, Vale; Christine Harvey, marketing coordinator, BM
Metal Services; and Roger Hines, Copper Cliff Mine, Vale, in front of a bin for collecting scrap metal.

and many of our employees have been
or are touched by cancer. It is a noble
cause to get behind.”
Donations are welcome at their yard,
or can be dropped off in bins located at a number of locations around
Sudbury.
The Scrap Metal campaign runs every

October. The money raised for the
Northern Cancer Foundation remains in
the community and supports research,
patient care and the acquisition of new
equipment.
Vale and a few other mining and
supply companies came on board in
the second year of the program, almost

doubling revenue to $35,000.
“Health Sciences North joined in
as well, donating an old boiler that
brought in $12,000,” said Laughren.
And one anonymous donor left a large
ice machine by the bin recently.
Dave Duncan, mine manager at Vale’s
Copper Cliff Mine, is hoping for still
more community involvement.
“Anything from around the home
can be donated,” said Duncan. “Steel
tables, chairs, lawnmowers. It is a great
way to give to a good cause while recycling material that might otherwise end
up in the garbage.”
Copper Cliff Mine won the Scrap
Cancer Cup for 2011 and 2012, donating
the most scrap metal. Carriere Industrial
won in 2010.
To build on the success of the campaign, more bin locations are being
added and more businesses are being
recruited to help out. BM Metal Services
will drop off a bin at any business interested in participating.
Long-term plans include starting
more scrap metal campaigns in other
northeastern Ontario cities.
Last year, the campaign brought in
$65,000, prompting participating companies to raise the bar even higher in
future years

www.milman.ca/_bmmetals
www.ncrfsudbury.com

Breathe easier one duct at a time

ISO 9001

North Bay | Ontario | Canada
T: (705) 472-2851 | F: (705) 472-4127
www.schauenburg.ca
A company of the SCHAUENBURG International Group


NEWS

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal I December 1, 2013

Hoverbarge with 50-tonne payload capacity travels on a cushion of air over ice, snow or swampy terrain. Unit shown was built by ST Marine of Singapore.

Hoverbarge proposed for year-round access to Ring of Fire
I CEMI proposes
novel means of
transportation
for construction
material and
equipment
BY NORM TOLLINSKY
While the battle over the mode and
route of a fixed transportation link to
Northern Ontario’s mineral-rich Ring
of Fire drags on, a novel means of
transporting construction material and
equipment into the remote, waterlogged James Bay Lowlands is being
proposed by the Sudbury-based Centre
for Excellence in Mining Innovation
(CEMI).
Hoverbarges, which travel on a
cushion of air, can carry hundreds of
tonnes of material year-round unlike ice
roads, which can only be used seasonally, according to CEMI president Doug
Morrison.
It will take years to build a road
or railway to Cliffs Natural Resources’
massive chromite discovery and Noront
Resources’ proposed nickel and PGM
project 330 kilometres north of Ontario’s
existing transportation infrastructure.
Construction material
Using hoverbarges to transport the
vast quantity of construction material
and equipment needed for the development of the mines “is a means of making sure the project will move forward
before the fixed link is constructed,” said
Morrison. Hoverbarges, he added, can

also be used to transport material and
equipment for the construction of the 30
or more bridges that would be required
for a fixed transportation corridor.
Ice roads, he said, won’t suffice for the
tonnages required and are increasingly
risky due to shortened seasons caused by
global warming.
Hoverbarges,
manufactured
by
Singapore-based Hovertrans Solutions,
can carry payloads of 50 to 2,500 tonnes.
Self-propelled, diesel-powered versions
can carry up to 200 tonnes and travel
at a speed of 10 kilometres an hour
over muskeg, water and ice. Larger units
would be towed by a tractor with oversized balloon tires.
Morrison has met with Cliffs, Noront
and De Beers, and is exploring the
possibility of tapping into Ontario’s
Innovation Demonstration Fund, the
federal government’s Sustainable
Development Technology Fund and
Fednor to fund a demonstration project using a 60-tonne hoverbarge that is
“readily available.”
Leasing and operating a hoverbarge
for a two-year trial would cost $20 million, said Morrison, while a one-year
trial would cost $12 million.
Hoverbarges have primarily been used
in wetland areas of the tropics by the
oil and gas industry, hence the need
to demonstrate their effectiveness in
the terrain and climatic conditions of
the James Bay Lowlands. The proposed
trial would be used to determine the
ideal size and figuration of the unit,
and resolve any issues relating to noise
and refueling.
According to Morrison, the hoverbarges would travel year-round along cleared
ice road routes, which would have to
be extended to the proposed mine sites
from their current points of termination.

Impact on the land is a mere one
to two pounds per square inch for a
self-propelled hoverbarge and four to
five pounds per square inch for a tractor with oversized balloon tires, he
noted. In both cases, the impact is less
than the seven to eight pounds per
square inch attributable to a human
being.
Fleet
Morrison envisions a fleet of differentsized hoverbarges, or hovercraft, to meet
different needs. Larger units would be
used to transport freight, while smaller
and faster bus-sized units could be used
as an alternative to much more expensive roads to transport people and supplies year-round to remote First Nation
communities.
Cliffs’ decision in June to suspend
work on the environmental assess-

ment for its Black Thor chromite project and the Ontario Mining and Lands
Commissioner ruling in September
denying Cliffs’ application for a road
easement across mining claims staked by
KWG Resources may delay the development of the Ring of Fire, but won’t put a
halt to it, said Morrison.
“This is a very major deposit and it
will absolutely be mined. The major
source of chromite at the present time
is South Africa and South Africa has
some challenges relating to power and
labour unrest. (The chromite in the
Ring of Fire) has a whole set of other
challenges relating to access, weather, etc., but it’s a very major deposit
that will go ahead. It’s just a question
of when.”

www.miningexcellence.ca
www.hovertranssolutions.com

BRIEFS
New Gold completes acquisition
of Rainy River
New Gold Inc. has successfully completed its acquisition of Rainy River Resources Ltd.
“We are pleased to have completed
the acquisition of Rainy River and look
forward to advancing it through the various stages of development,” said Randall Oliphant, executive chairman.
The company is in the process of
completing its detailed review and update of the Rainy River feasibility study
as well as advancing the permitting efforts for the project.

New Gold is an intermediate gold
mining company with a portfolio of four
producing assets and three development
projects. The New Afton Mine in Canada, the Cerro San Pedro Mine in Mexico,
the Mesquite Mine in the United States
and the Peak Mines in Australia provide
the company with its current production
base. In addition to the Rainy River project, New Gold owns 100 per cent of the
Blackwater project in British Columbia,
as well as 30 per cent of the El Morro
project in Chile.

7

8



Opinion

No endeavour for the faint of heart
By Norm Tollinsky

EDITOR
Sudbury Mining Solution Journal
This month marks the
handover to operations at
Vale’s state-of-the-art Totten
Mine, the first new mine in
the Sudbury Basin for Vale
(and the former Inco) in 40
years.
In this issue of Sudbury Mining
Solutions Journal, you can read about
the cutting-edge technology at Totten
and some of the engineering challenges
encountered during the mine’s construction, but the development of any new
mine is primarily a human triumph
made possible by hundreds of talented
people working together as a team.
Foremost among them in the case of
Totten are the members of the in-house
project management team – people like
project manager Bill Booth, execution
manager Gary Annett, automation and
production lead Jack McIssac, operational readiness lead Bernie Parisé, senior
environmental specialist Allison Merla,
chief mine geologist Lance Howland,

chief mine engineer Erick
Jarvi and maintenance superintendent Jason MacKinnon.
Building a new mine is no
endeavour for the faint of
heart. In the case of Totten,
the project team oversaw the
rehabilitation of a 4,130-foot
timbered shaft built in1966,
the excavation of 43,200 feet
of lateral development plus
thousands of feet of ventilation raises and boreholes, and the installation of the infrastructure and minewide communication system. They overcame ground control and water ingress
challenges. They weathered a wild rollercoaster ride that saw nickel prices climb
from $9 a pound in 2006 to $24 in 2007
and back down to $4 in 2008. And they
directed the traffic of 500 or more workers from dozens of companies while
chalking up an industry-leading safety
record.
Totten Mine is a testament to the
incredible mining talent we have in
Sudbury and Northern Ontario, but
it is also indicative of the seemingly
inexhaustible mineral wealth of the
Sudbury Basin.

Ore was discovered on the site of Totten
Mine in 1884 and mined from 1890 to
1927, when there was a cave-in caused
by a crown pillar failure. Inco bought
the property in 1935 from the Mond
Nickel Company, sunk the Number One
shaft to the 820-foot level and mined
approximately one million tonnes. The
Number Two shaft –Totten’s current
shaft – was sunk from 1966 to 1972,
but placed on care and maintenance
and allowed to flood in 1976 when
nickel prices tanked. It was drilling in
the 1990s that defined the deposit as it’s
known today.
Now, a mere seven kilometres east of
Totten Mine, a similar story is playing
out as KGHM International begins site
preparation at its Victoria Project, where
a new ore zone was recently discovered
on the site of another historic mine.
Clearly, after more than a century
of mining, the mineral wealth of the
Sudbury Basin is nowhere near exhaustion - great news for the talented people
in the region’s mining community who
thrive on challenges.
See Pages 19 to 30 for a full report on
Totten Mine and Page 15 for more on
KGHM’s Victoria Project.

Supply and service sector headed for good times
By David Robinson

ECONOMIST
Laurentian University
drobinson@laurentian.ca
The mining supply and
service sector will do much
better than the rest of the
economy over the next 50
years. Here’s why. And here
is what we ought to do.
There are three stylized facts that
matter. For economists “stylized facts”
capture the most important features
of a situation. For the mining supply
and service sector, the stylized facts are
“Harold Hotelling,” “China,” and “technology.”
“Technology” obviously stands for the
fact that in mining, as in other fields,
labour is being replaced by capital and
services. That means the mining supply
and service sector will be getting a bigger and bigger share of the value-added
of the mining sector.
“China” stands for the huge growth
in demand for minerals that we know
is coming. No one really doubts that we
will need to produce as much copper
over the next 30 or 50 years as has been
produced in the whole history of mining. You might quibble about whether
the right time frame is 25 or 55 years,
but this stylized fact tells us that the pie
will get a lot bigger.
This means the supply sector will be
getting bigger share of a bigger pie.
The third stylized fact comes from and
old piece of economic theory. In 1931,
Harold Hotelling published a paper

that showed resource prices
should rise exponentially. It
was a brilliant bit of analysis,
and it became a foundation
stone in the field of Resource
Economics. It also became
the biggest embarrassment
faced by theorists in the field
because resource prices actually fell throughout most of
the 20th Century. Even by
the 1990s, researchers didn’t
have statistical evidence that resource
prices were starting to trend upward.
The sharp spikes that they were seeing
could have been accidents.
Now, we are almost certain that we
are into a long period of rising prices.
This rise may be the result of a “Super
Cycle” in the world economy. If that is
true, then we may only have 30 years of
relatively high prices. If the Hotelling
Effect kicks in, we can expect to see a
permanent change in the relative price
of what the mining sector produces. In
any case, we have positive fact number
three: rising prices for metals will mean
more lavish spending on equipment
and services.
If the share of mining value-added
increases by 50 per cent and total output
increases by a factor of five, the supply
sector will have to grow by a factor of
7.5. Add in rising prices and the sector’s revenues will increase by at least 10
times. Supplying the mining sector will
be a very good business to be in.
For supply firms, the question is
how to position themselves for this
bonanza. The answers are fairly obvious. Invest heavily and soon. Buy

competitors. Do a lot of research. And
play politics in a strategic way: support
industry organizations like SAMSSA
and encourage governments to spend
more on research related to mining
and much more on research for the
supply sector.
For industry organizations like
SAMSSA, the first job is to make
Canadian governments understand
that we have an historic opportunity
to expand Canadian trade. The supply
sector is still languishing in the government’s blind spot. It is overshadowed
by the drama of high-stakes gambles
in the mining industry, outshone by
the financial sector and outshouted by
the major mining players. It is hard
for policy makers to see that there
could easily be more revenue for government from growing the supply
sector than from growing the mining
industry itself.
For Canada, the big question is
what the country can do to make sure
Canadian firms grab a much bigger
share of the much bigger pie. The country needs a national strategy to supply
mining companies around the world
with Canadian equipment, consumables and services.
A good start would be a road-mapping process for the mining supply
industry. The U.S. did it 15 years ago
for its own mining industry. Our mining companies would be happy to help
guide supplier research and innovation. A great role for government would
be to bring together a very diverse
and scattered sector to plan for a very
exciting future.

December 1, 2013, Vol. 10, No. 4
Editor
Norm Tollinsky
ntollinsky@sudburyminingsolutions.com
Editorial Advisory Board
David Robinson, Chair
Associate Professor, Economics
Laurentian University
Greg Baiden
Canadian Chair, Robotics and Mine Automation
Dick DeStefano
Executive Director,
Sudbury Area Mining Supply
and Service Association
Erin Richmond
Manager, Economic Development
City of North Bay
Dennis Shannon
President, National Mine
Safety Training Centre
Daniel Giroux
Vice President, Collège Boréal
Graphic Designer
Mandy Kinnonen
mkinnonen@nob.on.ca
Creative Resources
Matina Castonguay
Barb Smith
Allan McMullan
Tom Colton
Circulation
Giselle Perrin
giselep@nob.on.ca
President
Michael R. Atkins
matkins@laurentianmedia.com
Publisher
Patricia Mills
pmills@nob.on.ca
Marketing Director
Brandi Braithwaite
705-673-5705 ext. 381
brandi@nob.on.ca
Contact Information
Telephone: 705-673-5705
Fax: 705-673-9542
Mail:
Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal
158 Elgin St. S
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada P3E 3N5
Online:
Subscription Inquiries:
705-673-5705
Advertising Inquiries:
Patricia Mills
705-673-5705
pmills@nob.on.ca
Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal is published
quarterly, in March, June, September and
December, by Northern Ontario Business Limited
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40065411.
Return undeliverable addresses to Circulation
Dept. 158 Elgin St. S Sudbury, ON P3E 3N5
ISSN 1710-7903


opinion


Women. What would we do without them?
By Dick DeStefano

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
SAMSSA
destefan@isys.ca

Modern
Mining

Technology
Sudbury
(MMTS) is one of the best
organizations in Canada for
promoting and creating awareness of
mining and the technology advances
in the industry.
The organization is responsible for
number of mining games and activities geared to elementary and high
school students and teachers during
April and May each year, events that
attract thousands of students from the
Sudbury district to Dynamic Earth,
the city’s geoscience centre. These
innovative and interactive opportunities expose students to the importance of new technologies required
for the future of mining. MMTS
2013 week-long events attracted over
1,000 attendees.
MMTS 2014 will be special because
the organization has commitments
from a number of professional women
with mining industry experience. The
profiles of women in mining in this
edition of Sudbury Mining Solutions
Journal reflect the important role

women are playing in the
industry. However, in addition to playing a role in
industry, women are taking a
lead in promoting mining as
a great career choice.
Much credit must go to
Nicole Tardif, former chair
of MMTS. Program coordinator at Laurentian
Unversity’s
Goodman
School of Mines, Nicole led a group of
volunteers to rebrand and restructure
the Sudbury Mining Week organization to move into the 21st Century.
Her perseverance during the past two
years led to the creation of a nonprofit organization with a full governance structure and multiple committees. She will continue to work with
the MMTS executive as secretary and
will be an active member in the years
to come.
Lori Martin, geology lead at Glencore
Xstrata’s Fraser Morgan Project in
Sudbury, has agreed to serve as chair
for the next two years. Lori has a significant background in mining exploration and analysis and, last year, was
responsible for sponsorship support
for MMTS. Lori is very thorough and
committed to the industry, and we look
forward to her leadership and ideas
during the next two years.
Claudine Beausoleil of the Bharti

“Women are taking a lead
in promoting mining as a
great career choice.”
– Dick DeStefano Executive Director, SAMSSA

School of Engineering at Laurentian
University is vice-chair for the forthcoming year and has been an active
supporter of MMTS. She is well known
in mining circles as she is responsible
for finding co-op placements for students. Claudine brings a high level
of energy and professionalism to the
MMTS committee.
Samantha Epsley, Vale’s general
manager of mines mill technical
services for Ontario Operations, has
agreed to serve as honourary chair
for the forthcoming year. Samantha
has a wealth of operational experience and recently received the prestigious Women in Mining Canada
National Trailblazer Award. She is a
past-president and a founding director
of WISE Sudbury (Women in Science
Engineering), a past member of the
board of trustees for Science North,
a long-standing member of CIM and
has been an executive member of the
CIM Sudbury Branch. She is also a
newly appointed board member for

the Bharti School of Engineering at
Laurentian University.
Alana Arcand, Canadian mining coordinator at Golder Associates
in Sudbury, is responsible for the
annual MMTS career showcase, as
well as the advertising campaign
for the week-long MMTS. Alana has
proven to be a capable and excellent
organizer.
Other members of the executive are
the Ministry of Northern Development
and Mines’ Sean MacLean, who will
oversee sponsorship, and Ed Debicki
who serves as MMTS treasurer. Ed is
the senior manager of the Ontario
Geological
Survey’s
Geoscience
Laboratories.
Yours truly, past honorary chair, will
continue to work on the MMTS executive committee as a director emeritus, a
newly created position.
A significant number of MMTS committees are led by women.
Shannon Katary of CEMI, Danica
Pagnutti of Vale, Diana Holloway of
Northern Life newspaper, Jennifer
Beaudry of Dynamic Earth (Science
North) and Sherrie Burrell, executive
assistant, Stantec, are also contributing
to the success of MMTS.
For full details on committee members
and the proposed events for 2014, visit
http://www.modernmining.ca/author/
mmts.

Charters Cargo Flights
Serving Timmins,
Ontario Exploration Geoscience Symposium
Thunder Bay, and
 November 5 w 6, 2013, United Steelworkers
No
Northern Ontario.
Local 6500 rving Sudbury, Ontario
e Hall,
S
k!
anuc
Peaw
Booth Poster Space Available
Daily

Scheduled Flights
Northwestern Ontario Mines Minerals Symposium
✓ April 8 9, 2014
Departing Timmins
Free Admission to Exhibits on Tuesday,
Ontario xp
Vahalla Inn, ThunderEBayration G
lo
th
eoscience S
November 5 after 3 p.m.
every single day.
Novembe 5
Northeastern Ontario Mines Minerals rSymposium ymposium
6, 2013, U
nited Steelw
Local 6500 H
orkers
all, Sudbury
✓ April 15 16, 2014
, Ontario
Ontario Prospectors Association – Awards Dinner
McIntyre Arena, Timmins
Booth Pos
6 p.m. Tuesday, November 5th
ter Space A
vailable
Ticketed Event
Fr
ee Admission
to Exh
November 5 th ibits on Tuesday,
after 3 p.m. participate contact Susan or Garry at
To
Ontario Prosp
ectors Assoc
iation – Awar 866.259.3727 (807.622.3284) or
6 p.m. Tues
ds D oegs@ontarioprospectors.com
day, Novem
Email inner
th
Ticketed Eve ber 5
nt
To participa
For additional details on For additional details on prospecting funding
te contact S
usan or Gar
866.259.37
ry at
prospecting funding27 (807.622.3
Email oegs@ or Symposia, 4)Symposia, please visit our website at
28 or
ontarioprospe
www.ontarioprospectors.com
please visit our website at ctors.com
For additiona
www.ontarioprospectors.com
l details on pr
ospecting fu
Symposia, pl
nding or
ease
Email
www.ontario visit our website at
prospectors.
oegs@ontarioprospectors.com com

thunderair.com
1 800 803 9943

or

9

10

December 1, 2013 I Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal

RESEARCH


College invites manufacturers to innovation sandbox
Industrial-sized robot mounted on a track at ICAMP’s Canadore College trades campus can tool CNC machine in two hours, versus the six hours it takes for a machinist.

I ICAMP opens doors
BY NORM TOLLINSKY
Manufacturers and entrepreneurs from North Bay
and the rest of Northern Ontario have a standing invitation to come and “play” in a sandbox with the latest
in 3D laser scanning, polymer printing and robotic
technology.
ICAMP, the Innovation Centre for Advanced
Manufacturing and Production, celebrated its official
opening in September. The 8,500-square foot innovation centre, located at Canadore College’s trade campus in North Bay, is equipped for reverse engineering,
product design and rapid prototyping.
Cutting-edge “toys” include a hand-held Metra Scan
3D optical scanning system, Solid Works virtual reality simulation software, a 3D theatre, a Connex 500
3D polymer printer and a robot with a 9 axis CNC
milling machine. Still to come are a scanning electron
microscope and a water jet cutter.
1 1/17/2013 12:02:34 PM
Penguin_ASI_Advertising_2013.pdf

“If I’m a manufacturer of mining equipment, I can send my employees to ICAMP
to learn how to program a robot to tool a
machine, so I don’t have to buy it and have
it sit on my floor for eight months while
I’m getting up to speed.”
– Charles Gagnon, Manager,
Corporate Relations, Canadore College

ICAMP “is an incubator, a sandbox, where companies can come and have access to this equipment,”
said Charles Gagnon, the college’s manager of corporate relations. “If I’m a manufacturer of mining
equipment, I can send my employees to ICAMP to
learn how to program a robot to tool a machine,
so I don’t have to buy it and have it sit on my floor
for eight months while I’m getting up to speed.

I can use it at ICAMP and practise on it until I’m
comfortable.”
In addition to offering companies expertise and
technology, ICAMP will connect clients with funding
agencies to support their research, product development and process improvement.
For example, a manufacturer or entrepreneur with
an idea for a new wrench can scan an existing one,
import it into Solid Works software, adapt it, view it
in a 3D theatre and then produce a replica of it using
the polymer printer.
An industrial-sized robot mounted on a track to the
nine-axis CNC machine and a miniature, six axis training robot offer manufacturers an opportunity to test
drive 21st century manufacturing technology.
“Mining supply companies have been very slow in
adopting robotic technology,” said Gagnon. “We know
there’s going to be a tremendous skill shortage in the
coming years. Robotics can help address it. We also
face offshore competition. Using a robot, you can tool
a machine in two hours, versus the six hours it takes
for a machinist.”

Safely creating Independence
with teleautonomy.
C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Penguin Automated Systems Inc.
1755 Regional Road 55
Naughton, Ontario, Canada
P0M 2M0

penguinasi.com

RESEARCH


Charles Gagnon, corporate relations manager for Canadore
College, demonstrates hand-held 3D optical scanner.
Gagnon and Canadore president George
Burton consulted widely with North Bay
manufacturers to conceptualize ICAMP and
its toolkit of prototyping and manufacturing
technology.
“We pounded the cement for a year and
a half visiting companies, talking to owners
and asking them what kind of equipment
we should buy,” said Gagnon. “We had a tremendous amount of input and we were very
fortunate to have strong participation from
local businesses.”
The federal and provincial governments
each contributed $1 million. Another
$800,000 came from the college and local
businesses, including Rotacan, a manufacturer of rotary blasthole bits, Wipware, a
manufacturer of photoanalysis and fragmentation analysis systems, Pilot Diamond Tools,
Premium Mining, 3H Manufacturing and
GinCor Industries.


Visitors at ICAMP’s official opening learn about miniature, six axis training robot.

There are plans to hire a metals and
materials expert to assist clients and equipment suppliers themselves will demonstrate
their technology through workshops and
presentations.
A working relationship with other innovation centres across Northern Ontario is in the
formative stages.
ICAMP has signed a memorandum of
understanding with MAJIC, the Materials
Joining Innovation Centre in Kirkland Lake,
and hopes to establish a similar relationship with the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation
Centre and the Northern Centre for Advanced
Technology in Sudbury.
“It’s a natural down the road because we
need to work together,” said Gagnon.

www.canadorecollege.ca/ICAMP
Control panel on Doosan CNC machine.

Komatsu equipment is built to work in rugged environments
and harsh applications, yet it is engineered to perform with top
precision in sensitive sites. To meet the diversified requirements
of the construction and mining industries, your organization
needs quality equipment and a premier dealer to deliver
reliable support time after time. By combining Komatsu’s
innovative te chnolo g y w ith S M S E q ui p m e nt supp or t
organization, you can count on moving more material
while reducing your production cost and increasing your profit.

Eastern Region: 1 800 881-9828
Western Region: 1 866 458-0101
Timmins: 705 264-4300
www.smsequip.com

11

12


NEWS


New industrial park home to three mining suppliers
n orth Bay airport park
N
ends shortage of fully
serviced land
BY NORM TOLLINSKY
The new 600-acre Airport Industrial Park
in North Bay has put an end to the chronic
shortage of fully-serviced industrial land in
the city and attracted three mining suppliers in search of new and larger premises:
Mine Hoists International, Barrie Hard
Chrome Plating and Drillers Edge.
“North Bay is the only city in Canada
that will sell airside land on or beside an
airport,” said mayor Al McDonald.
It’s also one of only four airports in
Ontario that boasts a 10,000-foot runway
capable of accommodating the largest aircraft in the world, the Antonov 225, which
has carried payloads of up to 189 tonnes
and made several stops in North Bay over
the years.
“It’s very difficult finding industrial land
beside an airport, said McDonald. “Mining
supply firms need access worldwide, so it
makes sense that there’s a lot of interest in
the park.”
Mine Hoists International, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Mining Equipment
Ltd. of Colorado, refurbishes, rents and
sells mine hoists and shaft sinking winches
from its new 14,000-square foot building

in the park.
“We buy used hoists when they become
available, we store them in our yard, and
when they find a new home, we refurbish
and upgrade them with new electrical controls, PLC controls and brake controls to
meet modern standards,” said Dan Howe,
president.
Prior to moving into the park, the company subcontracted work to other shops
in the city. Bringing the work in-house, he
said, “helps us with scheduling and gives
us more capacity.”
The building is equipped with 80-tonne
and 12.5-tonne cranes for lifting hoists
and winches off a trailer and moving them
into work areas.
Customers include mine contractors
Dumas, Cementation and former co-owner J.S. Redpath. “We’ve also sold equipment into Tanzania, Mexico, Chile and
Peru,” said Howe.
Barrie Hard Chrome Plating chromes
inner tubes and outer tubes for diamond drilling from a state-of-the-art
12,000-square foot building in the park.
In business in North Bay since 1965,
the company has twice as much space as it
had in its former location and has invested
in new chrome plating tanks, hoists and
scrubber systems to meet strict environmental standards.
Chrome applications of between two
and four one thousandths of an inch resist
wear and corrosion, prolonging the life of

SMSJ_December_2013_Pro_JG_am

Dan Howe, president of Mine Hoists International, in the company’s new 14,000-square foot building in
North Bay’s Airport Industrial Park.
the tubes.
“It doesn’t sound like a lot, but the
chrome is so hard, it makes everything last
longer,” said owner Jamie Corbeil.
Barrie Hard Chrome customers include
Boart Longyear, Atlas Copco and Drillers
Edge, an immediate neighbour at both its
former and current locations.
Founded in 2010 by a trio of former
Boart Longyear employees, Drillers Edge
moved into its new, 28,000-square foot

Rock Solid Solutions

building in November.
Starting off as a manufacturer of drill
bits and core retrieval tools, the company
recently broadened its product line to
include rods and casings. In September,
it completed a strategic merger with
Edmonton-based Di-Corp, which has
focused until recently on supplying drilling fluids to the oil patch in Western
Canada and is now aggressively diversifying into mining exploration.

NEWS

“Despite the slowdown in the exploration industry, we’ve seen growth every
year – even this year with the addition of
rods and casings to our product line,” said
operations manager Lori Leblond.
Drillers Edge has focused more on
export markets such as South America,
Turkey and Russia. Now, as a subsidiary of Di-Corp, which has also acquired
Drilling Depot and West Coast Drilling
Supplies, Driller Edge will also have a
stronger presence in the Canadian
market, said Leblond.
The idea of building an airport industrial park dates back to 1988, but it took
until 2010 for the three levels of governments to fund it.
“The province and the feds each contributed $2 million and we contributed $2
million,” said McDonald. “That was the
final hurdle allowing us to go ahead.”
The city will sell or lease land, and connect prospective tenants with local investors and developers who will build to suit.
“The inventory of serviced industrial land in North Bay was very tight,
if not non-existent before we opened
this park,” said McDonald. “We’re finding that local companies that were hindered by not being able to expand on
their footprint are looking to the airport park for expansion, and that’s opening up space for smaller companies and
startups.”

www.cityofnorthbay.ca
www.drillersedge.com
www.minehoist.com
www.di-corp.com


BRIEFS
Vale, Glencore rumoured to be
exploring Sudbury combination
Media reports circulating since October
have Glencore Xstrata and Vale in discussions
about combining their nickel mining operations in the Sudbury Basin, although neither
company has issued confirmation.
The original Reuters news item quoted
“sources familiar with the situation” saying
“discussions are still at an early stage but have
revived hopes of a long debated Sudbury tieup, with the companies considering a number
of options for their mining and processing

operations in the area.”
When previous owners Inco and Falconbridge flirted with a merger in 2006, estimated
savings of more than $500 million a year were
expected from the resulting synergies.
The Reuters report said “talks restarted
after Glencore completed its acquisition of
Xstrata earlier this year…against the backdrop
of a nickel price that has fallen by around a
fifth since January to around four-year lows,
weighed down by over-supply.”

Kidd operation wins safety award

Top to bottom are the new homes of Drillers Edge
Mine Hoists International and Barrie Hard Chrome
Plating.

Glencore Xstrata’s Kidd Operation in
Timmins has won Workplace Safety North’s
President’s Award for its contribution to building safe and healthy workplaces in Ontario.
“Everyone’s really proud of the win,” said
Tom Semadeni, general manager of Kidd
Operations. “It’s really icing on the cake because earlier this year we won the John T.
Ryan national safety trophy for the best safety performance for a Canadian metal mine.
“I think it’s great to promote success in the
area of safety. A lot of times, businesses have
a tendency to notice and follow up on things
that are going badly or wrong, but you need
to recognize success, not only internally, but
also publicly.
“We’re the deepest base metal mine in
the world and that creates its own set of challenges… with logistics, transportation and

supervision of people over vast distances.
“There are two aspects of benchmarking that
are important,” noted Semadeni. “One is that
you should be improving relative to yourself.
Sometimes it is difficult to compare yourself
to others because every operation is different.
So I think the aspect of the award where you
need to demonstrate year-on-year improvement is important because the most important
thing is to be able to prove to yourself that you
are improving your own operation. The rest of
the world moves around and you can’t control
that, but you can control your own destiny,
your own operation.
“Changing human behaviour and changing our habits are hard,” added Semadeni.
“It takes a lot of hard work to improve safety, so I think a validation of that work is a
great feeling.”

Redpath Group wins contract in Zambia’s Copper Belt
The Redpath Group has won a contract for the expansion of Mopani Copper Mines’ Mindola Mine in the
Zambian Copper Belt. The North Bay, Ontario, mining contractor’s Johannesburg group is busy mobilizing for the project, which will include shaft sinking,
raiseboring and lateral development.
“The contract is of substantial importance to
the international Redpath Group and will prove to
be a major contributor towards our long-term
growth in Africa,” said company president George
Flummerfelt.
Mopani Copper Mines is co-owned by Glencore
International (73.1 per cent), First Quantum Minerals
(16.9 per cent) and ZCCM Investment Holdings (10 per
cent). The Mindola Mine is part of Mopani Copper’s
Nkana complex, located in Kitwe, 388 kilometres
north of Lusaka.
Earlier this year, Redpath also completed a sand
tunnel project at Gem Diamonds’ Ghaghoo diamond mine in Botswana. Redpath drove a concrete lined tunnel to 112 metres below surface at an
incline of eight degrees using an open-faced tunnel
shield.
“It was a very challenging project,” said Flummerfelt.
“It’s a big 50-tonne hydraulic shield with a safety canopy.
The sand is dug out under the protection of the shield,
which is advanced a half metre at a time.
“A similar solution is used in horizontal applications
for civil works, but we adapted it for this project.”
In addition to its North American business unit
and headquarters based in North Bay and its presence in Johannesburg, Redpath has offices in Australia,
Chile and Germany.

Concrete lined tunnel excavated by
Redpath Group’s South Africa division for Gem Diamonds’ Ghaghoo
diamond mine in Botswana.

“In the last year, we worked in some 18 different countries,” said Flummerfelt.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Deilmann-Haniel
International Mining and Tunneling of Dortmund,
Germany, the Redpath Group employs approximately

6,200 people, including between 180 and 200 at its
headquarters in North Bay.

www.redpathmining.com

13

14


NEWS


“An energy audit helped us
identify opportunities to save money
by reducing electricity use.”
Mike Bannon,
VP of Production, Tempo Plastics

Saving energy makes sense
– business sense.
Energy efficiency incentives from your local electric utility are available for

Get up to 70% off
project costs, including:

manufacturing operations like yours. Whether you’re in the plastics and

• Engineering studies

for up to 70% of your project costs, including engineering studies and process

• On-site energy manager

and systems upgrades to help lower operating costs.

• Key system upgrades
• Monitoring and targeting

packaging, automotive or food and beverage industry, you may be covered

Big or small, every Ontario business can beneﬁt from energy efﬁciency.
Contact your local electric utility or visit saveonenergy.ca/industrial

Subject to additional terms and conditions found at saveonenergy.ca. Subject to change without notice.
A mark of the Province of Ontario protected under Canadian trade-mark law. Used under licence.
OM
Official Marks of the Ontario Power Authority.

NEWS


KGHM begins site preparation
for Victoria Project
n xcavation of
E
1,892-metre
exploration shaft to
commence next year
BY NORM TOLLINSKY
KGHM International has commenced
site construction work at its Victoria
Project 30 kilometres west of Sudbury in
preparation for the sinking of an exploration shaft next year.
The 6.7-metre diameter shaft is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016
and will extend to a depth of 1,892
metres. Lateral development will follow
at the 1,400, 1,600 and 1,800-metre
levels for underground definition drilling and the extraction of a bulk sample
in 2018.
Parent company KGHM Polska Miedz
acquired the Victoria Project when it
purchased Quadra FNX in December
2011 for $3.3 billion.
Hailed by former Quadra FNX president Paul Blythe as “one of the most
significant discoveries made in the
Sudbury district in the past 40 years,”
Victoria boasts an inferred resource of
approximately 12 million tonnes grading 2.3% copper, 2.2% nickel and 8.5
g/t precious metals.

“At this point in time, we’re
looking at a single, exploration
shaft scenario because it’s an
inferred resources. We want
to be able to go down to and
determine its actual size.”
– Adrian McFadden, Vice-President,
Underground Operations, KGHM International

The deposit starts at 1,000 metres
from surface and remains open at 2,000
metres. At that depth, surface drilling
would be “like pushing down on a
piece of spaghetti,” hence the decision
to proceed to an advanced exploration
program, explained Adrian McFadden,
vice-president of underground operations for KGHM International.
KGHM has submitted a closure
plan to the Ministry of Northern
Development and Mines and has
signed memoranda of understanding
with the Sagamok and Atikameksheng
First Nations.
The company had a choice of sinking
two shafts concurrently or in sequence.
“At this point in time, we’re looking
at a single exploration shaft scenario

because it’s an inferred resources,” said
McFadden. “We want to be able to go
down and determine its actual size. The
way it looks right now, we’d be able to
convert it to a ventilation shaft, or use
it as a production shaft if the orebody
isn’t sustainable for a higher mining rate
or there’s some surprise that we don’t
anticipate.”
A decision on the economic viability
of the project would be made following
the conclusion of definition drilling
in 2018.
Commencement of mining operations would depend on the results of
advanced exploration, commodity prices and a decision on whether to sink a
second shaft. Commercial production
would likely begin at a rate of 1,200
to 1,500 tonnes per day in 2023 and
increase to 3,500 tonnes per day over a
mine life of 10 plus years, according to
McFadden.
Discovery
Copper and nickel sulphide mineralization was first discovered on the
Victoria property in 1886. The property was acquired by the Mond Nickel
Company in 1889 and yielded 888,000
tonnes of ore grading 2.99% copper and
2.12% nickel between 1900 and 1923.
Inco acquired the property following
its merger with Mond Nickel in 1931
and brought it back into production in
1973, producing 649,000 tonnes of ore
averaging 1.26% copper, .083% nickel
and .067 oz/tonne of total precious
metals.
In 2001, Inco sold Victoria and four
other “non-core” assets to FNX Mining.
Following the discovery of a new ore
zone south of the historic Victoria Mine
in 2011, Quadra FNX announced plans
to spend upwards of $750 million to
sink two concurrent shafts in support of
a 2,500 to 4,000 tonne per day mining
operation.
However, plans for Victoria were
shelved when KGHM acquired Quadra
FNX and entered into negotiations with
Vale over processing terms and “back-in
rights” to the project.
The two-year hiatus concluded in
August when the two companies came
to an agreement that leaves KGHM as
the sole owner of the project with Vale
receiving a royalty and off-take on production from the mine.
KGHM has a workforce of approximately 600 people in the Sudbury
Basin and produces ore from the
McCreedy West Mine and the Levack
Mine’s Morrison deposit, which it
accesses from Glencore’s adjacent Craig
Mine.
The Victoria Project is approximately
seven kilometres east of Vale’s Totten
Mine.

www.quadrafnx.com
www.kghm.pl


15

SLURRY
SLUDGE
TAILINGS
...or just plain water

WE ARE
YOUR
PUMPING
SOLUTION!
Aquatech stocks and delivers a
complete line of portable
pumping equipment. Our custom
engineered, full turn-key solutions
and extensive inventory, make us
Aquatech stocks and
one of the most comprehensive delivers a
providers of line of and
completeequipment portable pumping
services in Canada.

equipment. Our custom engineered,
full turn-key solutions and extensive
DEWATERING | BYPASS PUMPING | DREDGING | HDPE PIPE FUSION | RENTAL
inventory, make us one of the most
www. AquatechDewatering
comprehensive providers of
equipment and services
in Canada.

CONCORD R OTTAWA R SUDBURY R ST. JOHN’S

1.877.907.7852
DEWATERING R BYPASS PUMPING R DREDGING
HDPE PIPE FUSION R RENTAL SALES

www.AquatechDewatering.com

16


INVEST IN DRYDEN
Northwestern Ontario’s Service Centre

Emerging gold belt of NWO
... opportunity ahead
• Centrally located on highway 17
• Access to 40+ First Nation markets
• Low taxes and affordable land
• No development charges
• Knowledgable economic support
• Diverse retail and service sector
• Supportive business community

www.dryden.ca
1-877-7-DRYDEN or edo@dryden.ca

NEWS


Deltion aims
for the moon
BY SCOTT HADDOW
Deltion Innovations Ltd. CEO Dale
Boucher wants people to pay close attention to the new company, as it is going
places. Far away places.
“If things go well, you will see our
logo on the moon in 2018. Watch us,”
Boucher said.
Deltion is an independently owned
business spun out of the Innovation and
Prototype Department of the Northern
Centre for Advanced Technology
(NORCAT). The department has been
hard at work on space mining technologies since 1995. When NORCAT decided
to no longer continue the work last year,
members of the department banded
together to keep it alive.
Deltion is a private corporation, but is
leasing space from NORCAT. There are
nine shareholders, all former employees of the NORCAT Innovation and
Prototype Department.
“We believe there is a great opportunity here,” Boucher said. “Our capabilities are rather unique in North
America. We were encouraged by NASA
and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
to continue. We think we are on the
threshold of something great. We think
Canada and the Canadian mining sector in particular can play a significant
role in the space mining industry. We
think, Canada being a leader in mining
technologies, should lead the way. We
all think it is worthwhile to continue
our work.”
Drilling technology
The Deltion team has been designing
and fabricating drilling and excavation
technology for more than a decade,
specializing in transferring and adapting technologies developed in the space
sector to the terrestrial market and viceversa. Technology includes drilling and
excavation systems, processing, power
systems, remote operations and subsurface exploration equipment.
Launched officially in September,
Deltion is already in full swing. The
team is working with NASA and CSA on
the development of drilling technology
for the RESOLVE payload destined for
the Lunar Resource Prospector Mission
scheduled for 2018.
Deltion recently finished the concept study for a drill they will build
for the mission. It is a tight deadline
- going to the moon in four years but one Boucher knows his team can
meet.
“We looked at a diamond drill that
can operate in a liquid-nitrogen environment and operate with little power
to drill one-metre into frozen rock, dirt
and water,” Boucher said. “Our concept
comes in at under 100 watts of power.

Deltion Innovations CEO Dale Boucher.
It is an interesting project. NASA is on
a mission in 2018 to prospect for water
and ice and they invited Canada to participate. We hope to be the provider for
the drill.
NASA
Deltion is also in negotiations with
NASA on a long-term contract and has
done a concept study for the Centre
for Excellence in Mining Innovation on
space suit technology and how it can be
adapted to improve the health of miners
working at depth here on Earth.
“There are a lot of areas in which we
can be beneficial to both the space mining industry and the mining industry,”
Boucher said.
Deltion was formed with three main
priorities. It wants to develop mining
technologies and systems for space,
robotic mining systems and technologies for Earth and adapt space-derived
technologies for the mining industry.
And they want to do it in Sudbury. There
is no other place they would rather be
except for the moon or an asteroid or far
away planet.
“We were keen to keep it in Sudbury,”
Boucher said. “We had a lot of space
agencies asking us why we’re not moving, but mining is in our blood in
Sudbury. If the 2018 mission comes
through, we will have to hire more staff
quickly to meet the requirements.”
Deltion also negotiated the rights to
host the Planetary and Terrestrial Mining
Sciences Symposium, an annual event
held since 2004, as well as the joint
PTMSS/Space Resources Roundtable,
held since 2012. The PTMSS, scheduled to be held in Boulder, Colorado
in 2014, addresses the parallels
between Earth-based mining and space
mining.

TECHNOLOGY



Proximity detection system marketed by Hard-Line Solutions triggers an audible alarm when mine personnel get too close to underground equipment.

System keeps miners out of harm’s way
BY LINDSAY KELLY
A new detection system developed
by Hard-Line Solutions of Sudbury
alerts workers when they get too close
to a piece of heavy equipment while
working underground.
The new product will increase safety
for workers with the aim of preventing
injury or death on the job.
“There have been incidents in the
mining industry where these sorts of
things happen because people become
complacent with using a remote control,” said Max Gray of Hard-Line
Solutions. “They get too close to it,
they make an error, and all of a sudden it’s too late for them to react.
This system will warn them so they
can react.”
Integrated
into
Hard-Line’s
Muckmaster Radio Remote Control
System, Prox detects when a remote
operator enters a zone around the
piece of machinery being operated.
When a zone is breached, the system
emits an audible and visual warning
and can be programmed to slow or

stop the machine automatically.
Other proximity detection systems
are on the market, but they operate as
separate wireless systems, Gray said.
Because both run on radio signals,
there’s the potential for the two systems
to interfere with each other, and both
could fail.
Because Prox is integrated into
Hard-Line’s system, it eliminates the
opportunity for interference.
Vice-president Ryan Siggelkow said
the company had been researching the
idea for about four
years.
Predictability
“We’ve seen many
systems that are
not
predictable,”
Siggelkow said. “They’ll (trigger an
alert) within 30 feet one time and within 15 feet the next time, and that, to us,
wasn’t good enough. We finally found
one that actually was very predictable
and repeatable.”
The system Hard-Line eventually
chose was originally developed by

another company for use in coal mining,
so it had to be adapted for a hard-rock
environment.
Radio signals react differently underground in a hard rock environment
than they do surrounded by coal, a
softer material.
Testing
When tested at the NORCAT test
mine, “it performed perfectly,” Gray
said.
“We’ve projected that we can probably sell 50 to 100
systems in the first
year of launching
it and that’s probably a conservative
estimate,”
Gray said. “Right
now, we’re going to be moving this in
Ontario and Quebec … and we’re negotiating right now for our South American
offices (Chile, Peru) and also for the
Australian market.”
Customer needs are also behind
the development of a second safety system launched in the last few

months. Developed at the request of
Xstrata Nickel (now Glencore), Entry
Alert is a warning system that notifies both remote operators and mine
personnel when someone enters
a stope.
A light beam spans the stope entrance
while a strobe light flashes to notify pedestrian and vehicle traffic that
remote mucking is in progress. If the
light beam is broken by entry into the
area, the strobe at the operator station
is immediately activated, notifying the
operator.
It’s a simple solution, but one Gray
said can make a significant impact on
underground safety.
“One death is too many,” Gray said.
“It’s dangerous down there, so the more
a company can do to protect its workers, and the more the employees can do
to protect themselves, the better it is for
everybody.”
Glencore was so satisfied with the
result that it now plans to install it
throughout the mine. Gray said other
companies have expressed interest in it
as well.

“CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS BALANCING PERFECTION SPEED”
T: 705.256.6221

F: 705.256.6503

MACHINING
• CNC Turning and Milling Capabilities
• Full Service Shop
• Ability to turn 52” diameter and 22 ft in length

ISO and CWB Certiﬁed
190 Sackville Road
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Canada P6A 4T6

“Serving Canada for
over 75 years”

MILLWRIGHTING
• Our Industrial Millwrights can remove, rebuild, reinstall
commission all types of new and used industrial
equipment.
• We accommodate large projects provide mobile
millwrighting

DRIVELINE
• Manufacture OEM quality driveshafts for automotive as
well as industrial off road equipment, mills and factories
• Largest Stocking Driveline component Distributor in
Northern Ontario
• RMW stocks major brands: Warn Winches, Muncie
Hydraulic Products, Spicer, Arvin Meritor, GWB, Voith
Neapco

www.rectormachineworks.com

WELDING FABRICATION
• Light, Medium and Heavy Fabrication as well as
Structural
• Punching, Bending, Shearing and Rolling
• Proven track record in the fabrication and installation
of piping, complete conveyor systems and misc mining
equipment.
HYDRAULICS
• Manufacture and rebuild Cylinders, Motors Pumps
• We stock replacement parts and kits for all makes
models.

2010 NOBA
COMPANY OF THE YEAR
16-50 EMPLOYEES

17

18


EXPLORATION


“Anyone who

tells you that the
supercycle is over is
completely idiotic.”
– Robert Friedland, executive
chairman, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.

Billionaire mining financier and mine finder Robert Friedland kicked off a lecture series at Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines in October.

Friedland: supercycle has legs
n ining luminary
M
talks up copper,
platinum and zinc
BY NORM TOLLINSKY
“The supercycle for metals is very
much alive,” according to internationally renowned financier and mining
luminary Robert Friedland.
Kicking off a lecture series at Laurentian
University’s Goodman School of Mines
in Sudbury October 9th, the executive chairman of Ivanhoe Mines said,
“Anyone who tells you that the supercycle is over is completely idiotic.
“The fundamental, overwhelming,
most important phenomenon of our
age is urbanization,” he said. “In 1970,
when I was 20 years old, 39 million
people lived in magacities – that’s cities
with a population of more than 10 million. There were only two of them – New
York and Tokyo. By 2011, we had 359
million people in 23 megacities and,
tomorrow morning in geological time,
2025, we’ll have 630 million people living in megacities.”
From 1900 to the present, said
Friedland, world consumption of copper totalled 585 million tonnes.
With hydrogen fuel cell automobiles,
high-speed trains, the Internet and the
a rapidly growing global middle class
snapping up air conditioners and stainless steel woks, we’ll need 600 million

tonnes of copper over the next 20 years,
“and we don’t know where it’s going to
come from,” he warned.
Lamenting popular ignorance about
the supply chain, Friedland complained
that people “have no idea where things
come from.
“Americans think a ham sandwich
comes out of a refrigerator. No one
thinks about what it’s like to slaughter
50 million pigs a year to deliver that
ham sandwich.”
Voisey’s Bay
Friedland’s two major claims to fame
are the discovery of the nickel-rich
Voisey’s Bay deposit by Diamond Fields
Resources, which he sold to Inco for
$4.3 billion in 1996, and Oyu Tolgoi
in Mongolia, one of the world’s largest
copper-gold porphyry deposits.
Shares of his company, Diamond
Fields Resources, skyrocketed from $1
to $161, and when the price hit $40, a
columnist in Canada’s Globe and Mail
newspaper wrote “a nasty article” telling investors they “might as well go to
Nevada and roll the dice,” Friedland
recalled. “However, anyone buying
Diamond Fields shares when the article
was published quadrupled their money
in five months.
“Everybody said Inco paid too much
for Voisey’s Bay, but in 1996 China
hadn’t been invented yet and we didn’t
know that Mrs. Wong would want
a stainless steel wok, so by the time
Voisey’s Bay came on stream, it was
worth every nickel.”

Oyu Tolgoi, which was gradually
acquired by Rio Tinto and began shipping copper this past summer, contains
an estimated resource of 2.7 million
tonnes of copper and 1.7 million ounces
of gold. Its number two shaft is 10
metres in diameter and has a hoisting
capacity of 50,000 tonnes a day, he
said. Ultimately, production from Oyu
Tolgoi will increase to 300,000 tonnes
per day from a total of seven shafts, he
predicted.
Far from resting on his laurels,
Friedland has a trio of new projects in
Africa focusing on platinum, copper
and zinc.
The Platreef platinum-nickel-copper
deposit in the South African province of
Limpopo boasts a NI 43-101 compliant
indicated resource of 214 million tonnes
grading 4.1 g/t platinum, palladium,
gold and rhodium. The orebody is perfectly flat with a thickness of 24 metres
and open in every direction.
“If you go to a typical platinum mine
today, you crawl for a kilometre or two
on your hands and knees to get to the
working face. The rock is 50 degrees
Celsius and the humidity is close to 100
per cent. You can’t stand up and there’s
virtually no ventilation.
“How can Toyota Motor Corporation
build a new generation of fuel cell
vehicles to clean up the air in China and
the U.S. when platinum is mined like
that?” he asked.
“This discovery is much bigger than
Bre-X, but it has the distinct advantage
of being real and it’s remarkable how

many people are not noticing it.”
Friedland attributed the lack of interest to a bias against Africa and the public
perception of a continent full of “bushmen, blowguns and lions.” Indeed, geopolitical risk is one of the reasons cited,
along with the downturn in the mining
sector as a whole, for a close to 50 per
cent plunge in Ivanhoe’s share price this
year.
Actually, “Limpopo is a very civilized place, a very beautiful part of the
world with friendly, intelligent people,”
Friedland said.
Congo
Ivanhoe Metals also has two projects in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. The Kamoa copper deposit 25
kilometres west of Kolwezi boasts a
mineral resource estimate of 739 million tonnes grading 2.9 per cent copper,
while the Kipushi Big Zinc project boasts
grades averaging 11 per cent zinc and
seven per cent copper.
Kamoa, said Friedland “is a transformative orebody,” but “we need 20 more
of them.”
The Goodman School of Mines can
play a role in preparing Africa for the
next wave of mineral development, said
Friedland. “They’re not going to be
down there with a jackleg making $12
a day,” he said. “They’re going to be
driving air-conditioned equipment like
in Sudbury and will be paid like dental
surgeons.”

www.ivanhoemines.com

TOTTEN mine



19

Team Totten rises to challenge
n round conditions,
G

water ingress and a
60-year-old timbered
shaft among the
challenges overcome
BY NORM TOLLINSKY
When Bob Booth and Gary Annett
of the Totten project team hand over
the reins to mine manager Dave Pisaric
on December 31st, life won’t be near as
exciting.
Few mine development projects go
exactly as planned. Mother Nature can
frustrate the intentions of the most
experienced and skilled engineers and
geoscientists, as happened at Totten
when unfavourable ground conditions and water ingress began bogging
things down.
The team stepped it up a notch, hunkered down…and saw it through.
Vale decided against the engineering,
procurement and construction management (EPCM) approach and kept the
project management in house.
Annett, with the ominous title of
Totten execution manager, was assigned

to Totten in February 2008. A 15-year
Vale and Inco mining engineer and
alumnus of Laurentian University,
Annett worked his way up through
operations and spent eight years at the
company’s Coleman Mine.
Bob Booth, a 23-year veteran, transferred from operations to project
management in 2000. He oversaw the
Creighton Deep project from 2000 to
2007, served in several senior engineering and management roles both in
Thompson, Manitoba and Sudbury, and
was assigned to the Totten team as project manager in February 2011.
Keeping project management in-house
eliminates a third party from the equation, allowing for quicker decisions when
challenges are encountered, said Booth.
The size of the team has to be appropriate though.
“When you bring in an EPCM team,
you bring on a full suite of systems.
When I arrived, there was a very small
team here, so we had to grow it and the
robustness of the systems to be able to
deliver,” said Booth.
The project team defined a new level
of excellence and trumpeted the “One
team, one way to zero harm” mantra
to the 500 workers from multiple contractors crossing paths and interacting
at the site.
“The colour of your coveralls didn’t

Totten Mine administration building features main floor entrance to drys with underground
corridor for access to cage.
matter,” said Booth. “It didn’t matter if
you worked for this engineering company or some other engineering company, Cementation, SCR, Technica. It
was about all working toward the same
goal. That’s what made us successful. It
was a team effort from everyone.”
One of the key indices of excellence
in the mining industry is safety, and on
this score, the results were world-class,
said Booth.

Contractors + Consultants + Project Managers
Contractors + Consultants + Project Managers

Solutions that perform for
Contractors + Consultants +
the Client, Community, Project Managers
the Client, Community,
and Environment
and Environment

the Client, Community,
and Environment
Long-Term Mine Care and Maintenance

Water Management and Treatment
Water Management and Treatment
Mine Closure Planning Treatment
Mine Closure Planning
Water Management and
Environmental Permitting
Mine Closure Planning
Aquatics Monitoring
Aquatics Monitoring
Aquatics Monitoring
Mine Decommissioning and Restoration

www.denisonenvironmental.com
1 Horne Walk, Suite 200 • Elliot Lake, ON P5A 2A5
PH: 705.848.9191
PH: 705.848.9191
PH: 705.848.9191
info@denisonenvironmental.com

“There are no mines that I’m aware of
in North America that have an annual
recordable injury frequency of 3.58. We
set up the system in 2011, were middle
of the pack in 2012 and this year we’re
leading the pack.”
In September, the Totten team celebrated one million man hours without
a lost time injury.

See Page 21

MineMaste
MineMaster®
MineMaster®

Mine Utility
Mine Utility VehiclesVehicles
Mine Utility Vehicles
The MineMaster R520S F-TM Tire Manipulator was designed
The MineMaster® R520S F-TM Tire ®
Manipulator was designed
to take changing industrial tires.
to take the struggle out ofthe struggle out of changing industrial tires.
The MineMaster R520S F-TM Tire Manipulator was designed
®

to take the struggle out of changing industrial tires.

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Designed with safetyDesigned the safety in m
in mind, with
MineMaster
MineMaster® Tire Manipulator can® Tire Manipulat
Designed with safety safely change
in mind, the
quickly, efficiently and quickly, efficiently and safely
MineMaster® Tire Manipulator industrial
tires on can
tires on industrial vehicles on surface vehicles o
quickly, efficiently andor in anchange
safely underground enviro
or in an underground environment.
tires on industrial vehicles on surface
or in an underground environment.
•
Heavy
•
Heavy duty articulating frameduty articulating
•
•
Hydraulic fork design Hydraulic fork design
•
Heavy duty articulating frame capacity
•
3,000 lift
•
3,000 lift capacity
•
Hydraulic fork design
• 95 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise
3,000 lift capacity
•
Rotation - 95 degrees Rotation - or counterclockwise
clockwise
•
Maximum
Maximum stacking height –90” stacking height –90”
Rotation - 95 degrees -clockwise or- counterclockwise
Fork Range - Min• 32” Fork Range Min 32” - Max 85”
Max 85”
Maximum stacking height camera an infrared camera
Equipped
Equipped with an• infrared –90” with waterproof monitor waterproof monitor
Fork Range - Min• 32” - Max 85” with a hydraulic impact wrench
Equipped
Equipped with a hydraulic impact wrench
Equipped with an infrared camera waterproof monitor
Equipped with a hydraulic impact wrench

For more information or a contact:
For more information or a demonstration please demonstration please contact:

Sales Service Parts
For more information or a demonstration please contact:
Sales Service Parts Rentals

Rentals
Sales Service WHEELS WHEELS
Parts
TRACKSRentals
TRACKS
Congratulations

Sudbury

EQUIPMENT BROKERS Vale on
to INC.
EQUIPMENT WHEELS
TRACKS BROKERS INC.
REGISTERED ISO 9001:2008
the opening
EQUIPMENT BROKERS INC.
of Totten Mine.
1-800-465-5438
1-800-465-5438
Sudbury1-800-465-5438 North Bay
Timmins Marie Sault Ste Marie
Timmins
Sault Ste
400 Riverside
232 Sunshine Lane
2200 Hwy 69 N Dr. 2200 Riverside Dr.Rd
232
6 Drive-In Rd
Timmins
SaultDrive-In ON
Ste
North Bay
Sudbury, ON
Timmins, ON Marie Sault North Bay, ON
Ste Marie, ON
Timmins, ON
Sault Ste Marie,

North

6 Sunsh
400 Hwy 69 N
Sudbury
North B
Sudbury, ON
400 Hwy 69 N
2200P4R 1M9 Dr.
Riverside
232P6B 6A9 Rd
Drive-In
6 P6B 6A9 Lane
Sunshine
P3A 4S9
P4R 1M9
P1B
P3A 4S9
P1B 8G3
Sudbury, ON
Timmins, ON
Sault Ste Marie, ON
North840-5438
Bay, ON
(705) 566-5438
(705) 268-5438
(705) 256-5438
(705) 84
(705) 566-5438
(705) 268-5438
(705) 256-5438
(705)
P3A 4S9
P4R 1M9
P6B 6A9
P1B 8G3
www.minemaster.ca (705) 256-5438minemaster@trackandwhee
email:
(705) 566-5438
(705)
(705) 840-5438
www.minemaster.ca 268-5438 minemaster@trackandwheels.com
email:

www.minemaster.ca

email: minemaster@trackandwheels.com

20


NEWS



TOTTEN mine


... one team, one way to
zero harm gets results
From Page 19

– an 18-tonne skip, a second 15-tonne
skip with an underslung cage for 17 and
The mine development process began a two-deck Marianne accommodating
in 2006 with the construction of a eight people in tight quarters.
wastewater treatment plant.
There are five levels off the shaft, but
“We had to complete the wastewater only two main mining levels – 3150 and
treatment plant before we could pump 3850.
out one millilitre of water from the
Totten had very limited lateral develmine workings,” said Annett.
opment.
The plant, designed by AMEC,
“There was some development on the
pumped out one million gallons of upper levels, but we aren’t using any
water from the mine, clearing the way of it,” said Annett. “We’re going after
for a thorough inspection of the shaft.
deeper ore.”
The Totten Number 2
The project team oversaw
timbered shaft descends
43,200 feet of lateral devel4,130 feet. The challenge
opment, which was comwas to take a 47-year-old
pleted in August of this year.
shaft and make it like new,
“We went a bit smaller
said Booth.
- 14 x14-feet for the drifts
“We don’t build timand 14 x 16-feet for the
bered shafts anymore, so
ramps – because of the
we had to find the right
smaller equipment we’ll be
people to do this type of
using – 30-tonne trucks and
work. We were lucky to have
six-yard scoops instead of
Bob Booth, project
Cementation on board.
50-tonne trucks and eightmanager, Team Totten
They had some experienced
yard scoops,” said Annett.
old-timers who understand
Cementation drilled two
timbered shafts.”
ventilation raises from surThe timbers weren’t in
face to the 1850 level – an
bad shape, said Booth.
18-foot diameter fresh air
Immersion in water was
raise and a 16-foot return
actually a good thing
air raise. Beyond the 1850
because they didn’t dry out.
level, Redpath’s raiseboring
A thorough classificagroup drilled several fresh
tion of the ground was
and return air raises to the
performed and appropriate
3150 and 3850 levels –
ground support installed to
mostly 12-footers except for
stabilize challenging ground Gary Annett, execution
one 16-foot return air raise
conditions,
including manager, Team Totten
between the 3150 and 3850
‘bookcasing’.
levels.
“We weren’t able to use modern-day
A rebuilt Pitnam crusher on 3880
ground support with screen and bolts, level will be more than sufficient to
so we created concrete wall sets,” said handle eventual output of 2,200 tonnes
Booth. “We classified the whole shaft per day.
from surface to the 1850-level to decide
From a project management perspecthe treatment that would be required tive, the main challenge, aside from the
to reduce risk based on the ground in ground conditions and water ingress,
certain areas.” Beyond the 1850 level, was the sequencing of all the construcconcrete rings lined the shaft.
tion in the shaft with the delivery and
The nine-foot by 18-foot shaft is ser- installation of the infrastructure underviced by a 16.5-foot Davey-Markham ground, said Booth.
hoist and two conveyances supplied
“I think we’re both going to be bored
by FLSmidth and Stainless Steel when we move on to the next project.”
Technology. There are two conveyances
Totten Mine will ramp
up to a daily output of
2,200 tonnes.

WORLD’S
PREMIER MINING
TIRE SPECIALISTS
Built on a reputation for innovation, reliability
and providing outstanding service safely for
over 40 years, Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group is
the world’s leading earthmover and mining
tire specialist.
Kal Tire delivers 24-hour onsite service and tire
maintenance, tire supply and wealth of retread
manufacturing experience to underground and
on-surface customers.
Providing local support through global strength,
customers are safe in the knowledge that their
tires are in the best hands possible.
INTERESTED
Visit www.kaltire.com/careers or
email northamerica@kaltire.com
for information
120 Smelter Road Box 382 Coniston, ON P0M 1M0
Tel: (705) 694-3788
www. kaltiremining.com

21

22


TOTTEN mine


... Vale’s sixth operating mine in Sudbury Basin
From Page 1
Meanwhile, the price of nickel went
on a wild rollercoaster ride from $9
per pound in 2006, peaking at $24 per
pound in 2007, then plunging to just
over $4 in 2008.
Vale’s sixth operating mine in the
Sudbury Basin, Totten will ramp up to a
production output of 2,200 tonnes per
day, representing 10 per cent of the feed
to the company’s Clarabelle Mill.
“We’ll start up at 500 tonnes per day,
but as we get into different ore zones,
we’ll get up to full capacity by 20152016,” said Strong.
A polymetallic orebody with “some
good copper and nickel grades and
precious metals,” Totten will initially
result in a slight increase in production
from Vale’s Sudbury operations, noted
Strong. Over time, however, Totten and
other mine development projects in the
pipeline “will replace some of the ore
we’ve been depleting, so our production
levels will remain relatively stable over
the next 10 years.”
Thanks largely to the deployment of
advanced technology, Totten will be “at
the lower end of the cost curve in comparison with other mines,” said Strong.
“It’s a leaner operation that enables
us to unlock some of the value in the
reserves and resources we have. Once we
get Totten running, we’ll look at imple-

Kelly Strong, vice-president of Ontario and UK operations, Vale.
menting some of these technologies in
our other five mines, as well as in future
mine projects.”
Totten was also noteworthy in that
it was the first time Vale (or Inco) has
negotiated an impact benefit agreement
with a First Nation. Located 70 kilometres west of Totten, the Sagamok First
Nation benefits from business, training
and employment opportunities.
“The agreement allows both Sagamok
and Vale to see the success of Totten,

so we’re very happy to be associated
with Chief Paul Eshkakogan and his
community,” said Strong.
Totten’s sterling safety record is another
source of pride for Vale and suppliers who
have worked at the site. Earlier this year,
the development team celebrated one
million man hours of work without a lost
time injury, “a significant achievement
considering the environment they worked
in and the multiple contractors doing very
unique, non-standard work,” said Strong.

The one-team philosophy adopted by
Vale is cited as one of the main reasons
for Totten’s safety record.
“It didn’t matter if your hard hat said
Vale, Cementation or some other company,” said Strong. “Everybody was part
of one team.”
Also contributing to the success of
the project was the Sudbury area’s supplier community. Dozens of Sudbury
and North Bay suppliers participated
in the project, including Cementation,
Redpath, Technica Mining and SCR
Mining and Tunnelling.
“We’re blessed with having so many
suppliers of equipment and material
right in our backyard,” said Strong.
Totten provided a major boost to
the local economy with upwards of
500 workers on site during construction, and 200 permanent jobs going
forward.
Vale’s commitment to the Sudbury
Basin goes beyond Totten, said Strong,
pointing to the recently completed $200
million Challenging Ore Recovery project at Clarabelle Mill and the ongoing
$1.1 billion Clean AER project at the
company’s Copper Cliff smelter.
These, together with future mine
expansion and development projects at
the company’s Creighton and Copper
Cliff mines, demonstrate “that we’re
going to be here for a long time,”
said Strong.

Mine shaft systems
Mine shaft systems
experts
experts
FLSmidth is your One Source for the Design, Manufacture, and Refurbishment of
•
Mine Hoists (Drum, Koepe, BMR, Shaft Sinking)
•
Head Sheaves, Deflection Sheaves, Double Down Sheaves, Sinking Sheaves
FLSmidth is your One Source for the Design, Manufacture, and Refurbishment of
•
Rope Attachments
•
Mine Cages
•
Skips Hoists (Drum, Koepe, BMR, Shaft Sinking)
•
Head Sheaves,Gear, Arrestors
•
Chairs, Catch Deflection Sheaves, Double Down Sheaves, Sinking Sheaves
•
RopeChain Feeders
•
Ross Attachments
•
Skips Cages
•
Loading Stations
•
Chairs, Catch Gear, Arrestors
•
Crushers
•
Ross Chain Feeders
•
Feeders / Feeder Breakers
•
Loading Stations
•
Crushers
Contact our Sales and Support Staff to find out more:
•
Orillia,Feeders / Feeder Breakers
Canada: +1 888 878 4726 - Ontario, Canada: +1 705 325 6181
Jim Brownlee, Ron Ostertag, Todd Kennedy, David Strong, Andrew Barnett,
Contact our Sales and Support
Donna Morano and Mark Wale Staff to find out more:
Orillia, Canada: +1 888 878 4726 - Ontario, Canada: +1 705 325 6181
Johannesburg,Ron Ostertag, +2710 210 4000 ext. Strong, Andrew Barnett,
Jim Brownlee, South Africa: Todd Kennedy, David 4811,
Wendy Norman and Deshan Reddy
Donna Morano and Mark Wale
www.flsmidth.com
Johannesburg, South Africa: +2710 210 4000 ext. 4811,
Wendy Norman and Deshan Reddy
www.flsmidth.com

FLS Suppliers of Skips, Cages, Trailer Cages,
Guide Rollers, Head Sheaves, Cement Galloway,
Load Stations for the Vale Totten project.

On behalf of FLSmidth Ltd, we congratulate
Vale on the start up of Totten Mine.

TOTTEN mine



Totten boasts 21st
Century control system
n Mine of the future
What makes Totten “a mine of the
future” has just about everything to do
with data and communication. Tying
together the headframe, the hoist, the
crusher, the mobile production equipment, the ventilation fans, the backfill
plant and all the other mine infrastructure is Totten’s distributed control
system (DCS).
“Most mines in Sudbury use programmable logic controllers (PLCs),”
said Jack McIssac, Totten automation
and electrical lead. “PLCs are standalone smart boxes that control individual parts of the process. A crusher
station will have a PLC, same with the
conveyor belts and the hoist. The distributed control system pulls everything
together into one system.
“The advantages of a DCS are that it’s
easier to maintain, easier to program
and implement the logic in the field,
and easier to troubleshoot. It’s also
easier to transfer data from one system
to another.”
Want to know the performance details
of a pump? Easy. Go to a workstation,

“The advantages of a
DCS are that it’s easier
to maintain, easier to
program and implement
the logic in the field, and
easier to troubleshoot.
It’s also easier to transfer
data from one system to
another.”
– Jack McIsaac, Automation
and Production Lead, Totten Mine

click on the piece of equipment and
drill down for real-time performance
values.
Everything comes together in a futuristic control room in the mine’s spacious administration building, where
a single operator sits at a long, curved
desk with a wall-to-wall array of computer screens and video monitors.
Flow charts and bar graphs provide a
visual representation of each process,
along with operational metrics, and

Jack McIssac, automation and production lead, at a controller for one of Totten’s two surface fans.
large overhead monitors display highdefinition video from cameras installed
throughout the mine.
The desks, the monitors and the overhead lighting can be raised, lowered or
otherwise adjusted with the push of a
button.
“In the control room, we can monitor every instrument, every pump, every
valve,” said McIssac.
If a piece of equipment deviates from normal operating parameters, an alarm is triggered, alerting the

operator and other designated staff, who
can then drill down to see the status of
the equipment and take appropriate
action.
“We would still have the same capability at a central control facility, but
DCS makes it easier to provide information to the control room. It’s a
very simple process, whereas with
PLCs, there’s a lot of work behind
the scenes to get to that point,”
said McIsaac.

WORKING TOGETHER
TO CHANGE THE GAME
TopRops and MPI have come together to offer you the best
possible products above and below ground
Level 2
ROPS/FOPS
certified

A/C available
on all trucks

Industry Proven
Vehicles
Quad cabs
now available

Other Great Products

MPI is a proud distributor for TOPROPS
www.toprops.com
1-800-267-4728

www.mobileparts.com
1-800-461-4055

23

24

TOTTEN mine



Advanced technology drives efficiencies
n Ventilation on

demand, blasting
and surveying
innovations
BY NORM TOLLINSKY
Overseeing mine planning, execution
and scheduling at a brand new mine is
a once in a lifetime experience. For Erick
Jarvi, it’s a dream come true.
A Laurentian University mining
engineering grad, Jarvi joined Inco
in 1997 as a production miner at the
company’s Levack Mine. He spent four
years as an hourly employee and six years
as a production supervisor at Coleman
before transferring into engineering at
Creighton Mine.
Starting at the bottom and working
your way up isn’t unusual given the
cyclical nature of the mining industry and
the difficulty of landing an engineering
job in a down market. In Jarvi’s case, the
wealth of experience he gained at the
face paid off in January when he was
appointed chief mine engineer at Totten.
Hailed as “a mine of the future,” Totten
offers Vale an opportunity to introduce
cutting-edge technology for ground
control, ventilation and surveying, all
of which are overseen by the chief mine
engineer.
Blasthole stoping
The vertically dipping orebody lends
itself to blasthole stoping, a mining
method which is commonly used across
the Sudbury Basin, said Jarvi.
“We’re looking at lift heights of 120 to
140 feet and we incorporate a four-foot
raisebore slot raise coupled with 4.5inch in-the-hole production drilling, so
our average stopes range from 15,000 to
30,000 tonnes.
The Totten production fleet will include
Redbore 40 raise drills and two fully
automatic Atlas Copco Simba in-the-hole
drills. The load-haul-dump machines are
six-yard Elphinstone Caterpillar units.

Variable speed surface fans provides a maximum volume of 790,000 cfm of air to mine’s underground workings.

“The purpose (of ventilationon-demand) isn’t necessarily
to save power, but to maximize
efficiency. It ensures that
ventilation is being used
efficiently across the mine
and drastically improves blast
clearing time…”
– Erick Jarvi, Chief Mine Engineer, Totten Mine

Resin rebar will be used for primary
ground support along with some dynamic
support where warranted.
“We have a couple areas where we
intersect a trap dyke, so we use the trap


dyke protocol there,” said Jarvi. “We to direct air based on the detection of
also have a very advanced ESG Solutions RFID tags installed on mobile equipment
microseismic system that provides real- and in miners cap lamps.
time source location.”
“The purpose isn’t necessarily to save
The microseismic system is monitored power, but to maximize efficiency,”
from Totten’s control room and said Jarvi. “It ensures that ventilation is
from several computers
being used efficiently across
underground in active
the mine and drastically
working areas, allowing
improves blast clearing time
control room staff and
by shutting off areas where
production supervisors to
air is flowing for nothing
visualize seismic activity in
and focusing on where the
real time.
ventilation is really needed.”
“If there’s an event, we
The system is able to
can identify the magnitude
distinguish between an
and location, and make sure
LHD and a personnel carrier
workers are out of harm’s Erick Jarvi, chief mine
and adjust the volume of air
way,” said Jarvi.
accordingly.
engineer, Totten Mine
A ventilation-on-demand
Totten is also pioneering
system from Simsmart
new
technology
for
Technologies controls louvers and surveying, having opted for the Miner
modulates fans with variable speed drives Operated Survey System (MOSS).

FABRITHANE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS INC.
Custom molding of polyurethane, rubber and fibreglass parts for mining, construction, forestry,
woodland, pump paper industries.

Pump and Flotation

Miscellaneous

Molding and relining of pump
flotation parts. Denver, Flyght,
Galiger, Sala, SRL, Wemco, etc.

Larox filter replacement parts: Roller seals,
roller scrapers, Larox pinch valve sleeves,
plus sheave liners, sheave wheel liners, skip
wheels, belt scrapers, rollers, seals, gaskets,
bumpers, screens, chute liners, impact blocks,
suspension pads, hose clamps, sprockets, pinch
valve sleeves, Salt spinners, wear strips, Krebs
cyclone replacement parts, Warman Vortex
Finders, etc.

Jean-Guy Perreault.
President/Owner/Operator

6, 10th Ave. North P.O. Box 68, Earlton, Ont. P0J 1E0
Tel: (705) 563-2223 / 1-866-664-2223 Fax: (705) 563-8201

Tooling department on site for
mold design and fabrication of any
parts you may require, plus custom
fabrication, rubber lining etc.
Please do not hesitate in contacting
us with any of your requirements for
any parts or application not listed
above.

www.fabrithane.com
E-Mail: fabrithane@ntl.sympatico.ca

Vale,announces opening of Totten Mine (first mine opened in Sudbury in 40 years!,Victoria Mine Update ,Robert Freidland "Resource Super Cycle " Glencore/Extrata - Vale business combination rumors

Vale,announces opening of Totten Mine (first mine opened in Sudbury in 40 years!,Victoria Mine Update ,Robert Freidland "Resource Super Cycle " Glencore/Extrata - Vale business combination rumors

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Ähnlich wie Vale,announces opening of Totten Mine (first mine opened in Sudbury in 40 years!,Victoria Mine Update ,Robert Freidland "Resource Super Cycle " Glencore/Extrata - Vale business combination rumors

Ähnlich wie Vale,announces opening of Totten Mine (first mine opened in Sudbury in 40 years!,Victoria Mine Update ,Robert Freidland "Resource Super Cycle " Glencore/Extrata - Vale business combination rumors (20)

Mehr von Follow me on Twitter @Stockshaman

Mehr von Follow me on Twitter @Stockshaman (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (12)

Vale,announces opening of Totten Mine (first mine opened in Sudbury in 40 years!,Victoria Mine Update ,Robert Freidland "Resource Super Cycle " Glencore/Extrata - Vale business combination rumors