Memo program book 2017

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

September 24 to 27, 2017 TCU Place, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

memo2017.cim.org

Geological Society

Fit-For-Purpose Engineering and Design tĞ ƐƵƉƉŽƌƚ ŽƵƌ ĐůŝĞŶƚ͛Ɛ ĐĂƉŝƚĂů ƉƌŽũĞĐƚ ƌĞƋƵŝƌĞŵĞŶƚƐ, maintenance planning, and continuous improvement initiatives

by providing high-quality, practical services. We specialize in: -

Multi-discipline Engineering and Design

-

Discrete Element Modelling

-

Finite Element Analysis

-

Geology Services

-

Machine Design

-

Scheduling

-

Cost Control

-

Project Management

-

Capital Planning

-

Studies

Locally owned and operated in Saskatoon, SK!

www.howattconsulting.com

WELCOME FROM THE MEMO 2017 CONFERENCE CHAIR On behalf of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) and its Saskatoon Branch; the Maintenance, Engineering and Reliability Society; the Underground Mining Society; the Surface Mining Society; the Society for Rock Engineering; and the Saskatoon GeoSection, we are honoured to welcome you to MeMO 2017 – a conference for operators, by operators.

Our theme of Finding MeMO was selected because we knew to have a successful conference in this economic downturn, we needed to find Maintenance, Engineering, and Mine Operators. Once again, the Saskatchewan mining industry has demonstrated that this is a fantastic place to hold a successful conference, even at a time when everyone is focused on reducing costs. MeMO 2017 is an opportunity for our mining community to share and gather information through inspirational keynote speakers, informative technical program, and outstanding field trips and industry site tours, so that we can continue to inspire each other to increase productivity while improving safety and reliability.

The MeMO Trade Show is an excellent platform for the latest in maintenance and operations technology. Be sure to make time to visit the 64 companies showcasing their products and services.

Drop in to see CIM’s popular Mining for Society (M4S) educational and interactive show on mining, minerals, metals and materials taking place downstairs. Everyone is welcome to explore the pavilions and learn a little more about the life cycle of mining and its role in our everyday lives. M4S is very important for CIM because it delivers a positive message to elementary and high school students about the mining industry, the interesting and rewarding careers we offer, and our contribution to society. Our M4S partners, the Saskatchewan Mining Association and Saskatoon Industry Education Council, were instrumental to this event.

On the social and relaxation side, don’t miss the Opening Reception on Sunday evening, the Lunch and Beer Reception on both Monday and Tuesday on the Trade Show floor, our MeMO Banquet on Monday evening, and the CIM Foundation’s Tuesday Networking Evening (aka Scotch Tasting Night).

Finally, we would like to thank our sponsors without whom this conference would not be possible. Your support is very much appreciated.

We hope you enjoy the conference and the Saskatoon experience!

Chuck Edwards Memo 2017 Conference Chair MEMO 2017 | 3

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Conference Chair Chuck Edwards Technical Program Donna Beneteau, Chair Damian Rohraff, Co-Chair Sponsorship Chair Rory Duncan Field Trip Co-Chairs Robert Carey Shayne Rozdilsky Sheldon Hill M4S Co-Chairs Pam Schwann Janet Uchacz-Hart

CIM SOCIETY REPRESENTATIVES Saskatoon GeoSection Shayne Rozdilsky Surface Mining Society Zoltan Lukacs Underground Mining Society Donna Beneteau Maintenance, Engineering and Reliability Society Andy Lemay Rhaul Lakhote Society for Rock Engineering Douglas Milne

CIM CONTACTS Event Team Leader Chantal Murphy Director, Conferences and Trade Shows Lise Bujold Exhibition Sales Manager Martin Bell Registration Coordinator Carol Lee 4 | MEMO 2017

DAILY SCHEDULE Sunday Sept 24 13:00 - 20:00 Registration 18:00 - 20:00 Opening Ceremony & Reception on Trade Show Floor

Main Lobby Grand Salon

Monday Sept 25 7:30 7:30 7:30 9:00 9:30

-

9:00 17:00 17:00 10:00 14:30

10:00 - 16:00 10:30 - 17:10

12:00 - 13:30 15:00 - 16:00 19:00 - 22:00

Presenters’ Breakfast Registration Presenters’ Preview Room Keynote Speaker M4S Educational Outreach Program MeMO Trade Show Technical Program - Mining - Maintenance & Reliability - Health, Safety & Environment - Mineral Exploration & Geoscience and Community & Management Lunch on Trade Show Floor Beer Reception on Trade Show Floor MEMO Banquet

Gallery Suite I Main Lobby Gallery Suite II Gallery AB Centennial Hall Grand Salon Gallery AB Gallery C Gallery D Regal B Grand Salon Grand Salon Gallery AB

Tuesday Sept 26 7:30 7:30 7:30 9:00 9:30

-

9:00 14:00 17:00 10:00 14:30

10:00 - 16:00 10:30 - 17:10

12:00 - 13:30 15:00 - 16:00 18:30 - 21:30

Presenters’ Breakfast Registration Presenters’ Preview Room Keynote Speaker M4S Educational Outreach Program MeMO Trade Show Technical Program - Mining - Maintenance & Reliability - Emerging Innovations - Processing Lunch on Trade Show Floor Beer Reception on Trade Show Floor Networking Evening (Scotch Night)

Gallery Suite I Main Lobby Gallery Suite II Gallery AB Centennial Hall Grand Salon Gallery AB Gallery C Gallery D Regal B Grand Salon Grand Salon Stantec Office

Wednesday Sept 27 6:00 Cigar Lake Mine Tour

Departure from TCU Place

Thursday Sept 28 6:45 Potash Corp Allan Tour

Departure from TCU Place MEMO 2017 | 5

GENERAL INFORMATION Registration The registration desk, located in the Main Lobby of TCU Place, is open during the following hours: Sunday, September 24 13:00 to 20:00 Monday, September 25 7:30 to 17:00 Tuesday, September 26 7:30 to 14:00

Trade Show The Trade Show, located in the Grand Salon on the Upper level, is open during the following hours: Sunday, September 24 18:00 to 20:00 Monday, September 25 10:00 to 16:00 Tuesday, September 26 10:00 to 16:00

Presenter’s Preview Room The Gallery Suite II room has all the necessary audio-visual equipment available for reviewing presentations. It is open on Monday and Tuesday, from 7:30 to 17:00.

Breakfast for Presenters and Session Chairs A breakfast meeting is held each morning from 7:30 to 9:00 in the Gallery Suite I room for all authors presenting during that day.

Presenters must attend the breakfast to go over scheduling and details with the session chairs and the technical program chairs.

6 | MEMO 2017

FIELD TRIPS Tours depart from the entrance of TCU Place.

CIGAR LAKE MINE TOUR Wednesday, September 27 Cost: $950 | Includes bus to airport, charter flight, bus transportation to the site, lunch and guidebook Departure Time: 6:00 am Return Time: 19:00 (estimated)

POTASH CORP ALLAN TOUR Thursday, September 28 Cost: $125 | Includes bus transportation to the site and lunch Departure Time: 6:45 am Return Time: 13:30 (estimated)

The educational public show on mining, minerals, metals and materials CIM and MeMO provide hands-on education to students and teachers from 28 schools from the greater Saskatoon region.

M4S is presented to help build knowledge of the mining cycle – from exploration and extraction to production and reclamation – as well as to introduce the diverse career opportunities in the industry that make mining safe and efficient.

MeMO delegates are invited to visit M4S to engage in the Six pavilions:

Exploration • Mining • Processing Products & Fabrication • Sustainability • Safety The interactive activities are sure to make the experience unforgettable.

Date: September 25 and 26 Time: 9:30 to 14:30 Room: Centennial Hall

MEMO 2017 | 7

SOCIAL PROGRAM Sunday, September 24 Opening Ceremony & Reception in the Trade Show This networking event allows participants to gather for the kick-off of the 2017 MeMo Conference and Trade Show where you will be treated to hors-d’oeuvres and live entertainment. Open to all participants.

Where: Grand Salon Time: 18:00 to 20:00

Monday and Tuesday, September 25-26 Lunches in the Trade Show All delegates are invited to have lunch in the Trade Show. Lunch is included with delegate registration. Tickets for exhibitors and visitors are available for $22 at the registration desk.

Where: Grand Salon Time: 12:00 to 13:30

Beer Receptions in the Trade Show One drink ticket per day is included with delegate registration.

Where: Grand Salon Time: 15:00 to 16:00 This event is sponsored by:

Monday, September 25 MEMO 2017 Banquet Banquet tickets can be purchased for $100 at the registration desk.

This is The evening where all delegates gather to celebrate and enjoy good food.

Representatives of the New PotashCorp Children’s Museum Dave Hunchak and Lesley McGilp will provide an update on the project, including details of the Discovery Mine, which will be included in the project.

Where: Gallery AB Time: Reception at 18:30; Banquet at 19:00

8 | MEMO 2017

Tuesday, September 26 Tuesday Networking Evening (Scotch Night) Organized by the CIM Foundation. Tickets can be purchased for $100 at the registration desk. Invoice or partial receipt for income tax purposes is available after the conference.

Where: Stantec OďŹƒce, 100-75 24th Street East (walking distance) Time: 18:30 to 21:30 This event is sponsored by: ÂŽ

MEMO 2017 | 9

NOTES

10 | MEMO 2017

Technical Program MONDAY

GALLERY AB

GALLERY C

COFFEE BREAK MAINTENANCE & RELIABILITY Maintenance Excellence LUNCH MAINTENANCE & RELIABILITY Material Discharge and Bin Design COFFEE BREAK MAINTENANCE & RELIABILITY Optimization

HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT Safety Systems

HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT Data

HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT Zero Emission & Working Environment

GALLERY D

COMMUNITY & MANAGEMENT Community

MINERAL EXPLORATION AND GEOSCIENCE Geoscience

MINERAL EXPLORATION AND GEOSCIENCE Exploration Techniques

REGAL B

TECHNICAL SCHEDULE MONDAY SEPT 25 ROOM KEYNOTE SESSION

MINING Geotechnical

MINING Production Efficiency

MINING Haulage

9:00 to 10:00

10:30 to 12:10

13:30 to 15:10

15:30 to 17:10

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

®

FRIEND

®

MONDAY KEYNOTE SESSION SEPTEMBER 25 | 9:00 – 10:00 Room: Gallery AB KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Lawrence Devon Smith Principal Consultant at Lawrence, Devon, Smith and Associates “Being smarter next time – What will smarter look like?”

Lawrence Devon Smith (Larry) is Principal Consultant at LDSA and has been Director of Project Evaluations for Barrick Gold, ValeInco, and Rio Algom as well as SNCLavalin/Kilborn.

Larry is a mining engineer with over 40 years’ experience in project economic evaluations including scoping and optimization studies, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, risk assessment, and due diligence. He has published a number of papers on these topics.

Larry teaches Mineral Economics as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto and Schulich Business School Mining MBA at York University. He has lectured at a number of universities and has given numerous in-house courses and workshops for lawyers, explorationists, financial and accounting professionals, and for First Nations groups.

Larry is on the executive of MES and CIM Toronto, has received the Robert Elver Award for Mineral Economics, is a CIM Distinguished Lecturer, and is a Fellow of CIM.

MEMO 2017 | 11

TECHNICAL PROGRAM MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 | 10:30

HAULAGE Stream: Mining Chair: Tim Grain Joseph, Principal Engineer, JPi Mine Equipment Room: Gallery AB 10:30 – Paper 1834 EVALUATION OF WHOLE BODY VIBRATIONS IN MINE HAUL TRUCKS WITH THE USE OF TRUCK BODY MOTIONS Tim Grain Joseph and Wei Victor Liu, University of Alberta

Research related to Whole Body Vibrations (WBV) within the mining industry has emphasized adverse effects of human interactions with handheld and operator-mounted mechanical equipment with haul trucks indicating major concerns when measured against existing standards; ISO2631-1(1997), ISO2631-5(2004). This study focuses on analyzing truck motion parameters against axes of vibration in order to develop a WBV measurement system integrated to onboard data monitoring systems. Variations in roll, pitch and Left Front (LF) strut motions from an onboard dataset were analyzed against x, y and z axes vibrations simultaneously recorded using a tri-axial accelerometer.

Datasets were analyzed at 60 minute and 20 minute segments using Root Mean Square (RMS) method to calculate both acceleration and truck motion parameter equivalents.

Pitch motion indicated poor linear correlation (0.23) versus x-axis vibrations while y and z axes shows significant correlation of 0.72 and 0.85 respectively against roll and LF motions, indicating possible development a proactive system applicable for mine haul trucks to continuously measure WBV levels without disrupting the routine tasks and reducing the accumulation of greater capital costs. Further field data is being collected to verify results and analyzed using cumulative methods to assess sensitivity towards intermittent nature of vibration exposures.

10:55 – Paper 1664 THE IMPACT OF BROKEN ROCK BEHAVIOUR ON SHOVEL DIPPER CAPACITY, TRUCK BODY DESIGN AND TIRE LIFE Tim Grain Joseph and Mark Curley, JPi Mine Equipment Steven Duncan, PCS Potash

This paper outlines an alternative means of evaluating the behaviour of broken rock and soils relative to the capacity of truck bodies, shovel dippers and excavator buckets.

Existing on-board haul truck suspension monitoring sys12 | MEMO 2017

tems permit an evaluation of both incremental loading of a truck body and by association, the bucket payload achieved by load pass. An evaluation of material angle of repose permits the truck body payload capacity to be determined through a double integration process using a polar co-ordinate system, which then identifies the broken material or soil density and swell factor through knowing the bank density of the material. This knowledge in relation to a known bucket struck capacity, identifies the bucket fill factor. For a given truck body geometry, broken rock angle of repose and density; the load distribution affecting tire performance, measured as tonne-kilometre per hour (tkph) is evaluated and compared to the tire manufacturer recommended tkph limit. The results of the analysis performed here show that the truck body designs investigated indicate the design angle of repose and broken rock material density assumptions used do not permit the target load distribution, directly impacting tire performance, to be easily achieved. The analysis procedure developed then provides a means of refining truck body design to meet performance expectations specific for a broken rock or soil behaviour. A codicil to this work is that in the field, running surface conditions also have a compounding impact on tkph response, such that up to three times the anticipated tkph, due to a truck body payload centroid, may be experienced accelerating the loss of tire life. It is thus critical that mining operations associate such impacts to the level of diligence in haul road design and maintenance; thus reinforcing the parallel efforts made by truck body designers in accounting for such angle of repose and material density parameters as investigated here.

11:20 – Paper 1665 IS BIGGER STILL BETTER? CONSIDERATIONS IN INCREASING SIZE OF HAULAGE EQUIPMENT Magreth Dotto, University of Dar El Salem, Tanzania Tim Grain Joseph and Mark Curley, JPi Mine Equipment

Equipment selection is one of the most important decisions made in mine planning as the size of equipment affects decisions from size of pit to total cost of operation.

This study analyses hauler scale impacts on aspects not currently incorporated into conventional mine planning, including expansion of roads to accommodate larger equipment, road layer thickness variation depending on hauler size, and fuel consumption and emissions. Results obtained indicate that such correlations have a high impact on cost and therefore an expanded consideration of the capacities of increasing equipment size in mine planning is highly recommended.

MEMO 2017 | 13

11:45 – Paper 1827 KEY CHALLENGES WITH AUTONOMOUS HAUL TRUCKS Robert Hall, University of Alberta

Autonomous mining equipment are said to improve the overall mining process, but bring with them a range of challenges that need to be addressed to take full advantage of their benefits. One of the key driving forces behind the shift to autonomous equipment is the thought that autonomous equipment are more cost effective, safe, accurate, efficient and reliable compared to their manual counterparts. It is a challenging task to implement autonomy on a mine site and installing a system does not guarantee success unless strong emphasis is placed on human machine interface, addressing associated communication, socio-economic and safety challenges. This paper presents a brief history of autonomous trucks along with the latest developments and implementations in the mining industry. Key challenges associated with safety and communication, impact of operator’s role and other socio-economic impacts of autonomous trucks are also addressed.

Some of the advantages and disadvantages are highlighted in this paper along with a brief discussion on current thoughts for successful implementation of autonomous trucks in the mining industry.

MAINTENANCE EXCELLENCE Stream: Maintenance & Reliability Chair: Gary Poxleitner, Principal Consultant, Practice Leader, SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. Room: Gallery C 10:30 – Paper 1782 MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE PROCESS TO CONTROL SAFETY & ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS, IMPROVE EQUIPMENT RELIABILITY AND REDUCE MAINTENANCE COSTS Michel Cote, Prosygma, Reliability and Maintenance Professional Services

This presentation is in the form of a case study. Back when he was working as a Six Sigma Black Belt for a major Canadian Mining & Metals Company, Michel Cote had the opportunity to develop and implement a management of change process (MOC) in a zinc smelter. The plant management was desperately looking for ways to reduce maintenance costs, and Mr. Cote was given the mandate to develop and deploy the Management of Change (MOC) process, which is also known as a modification management process. With the help of a multidisciplinary team that was assembled specifically for this project, the objectives for maintenance cost reduction were met, but we found 14 | MEMO 2017

that the project also had major positive impacts on reliability and risk management 10:55 – Paper 1829 USING TODAY’S TECHNOLOGIES TO ACHIEVE TOP QUARTILE PLANT PERFORMANCE IN A CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT Matthew Chaplin, Spartan Controls

Industrial operators are under tremendous pressure to hit financial targets with existing assets in order to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Becoming a Top Quartile Performer in a given industry requires setting and achieving new performance goals around production efficiency, asset reliability, safety and energy/emissions.

Benchmarking studies have shown the attributes of Top Quartile Performers compared to their industry peers: The key to achieving Top Quartile Performance is to first understand what is possible given today’s technologies and which levers can deliver measurable, predicable results.

This Operational Excellence workshop will focus on case studies of how instrumentation, advanced automation and rapid expansion of data & Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) can play a key role in helping industrial operators achieve their achieving new performance goals around production efficiency, asset reliability, safety and energy/emissions.

11:20 – Paper 1856 INTEGRATED OPERATIONS HELPS PCS DELIVER SIGNIFICANT GAINS John Pocock, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS) Jason Erny, Kalium Consulting

A multi-year capital expansion and new ERP installation led Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS) to upgrade their maintenance and reliability processes to support the new production environment. PCS partnered with Kalium Consulting, specialists in improving mining operations, to implement an Integrated Operations Model to support the maintenance organization. The Integrated Operations Model holistically focuses on creating quality plans and schedules within each department (mill, mine, maintenance, operations, and shaft) and aligning them into a cohesive site-wide schedule executed by all. Maintenance and reliability metrics are gathered and used to increase efficiency throughout the process and improve performance during shutdowns and turnarounds. The presentation describes how the site laid out the vision, engaged the workforce, and embraced new ways of working. The PCS maintenance organization focused on work execution, work management processes, and RCA/FMEA usage, as well as improved mine planning and communications processes. The site established a rigorous change manMEMO 2017 | 15

agement process to embed these processes and management systems throughout the organization and sustain the new ways of working and the adjustments in organizational roles. These changes drove improvements to the maintenance work execution, and the organization achieved capacity 20% above its expansion target.

11:45 – Paper 1794 SHORT OF AMMUNITION IN A TARGET-RICH ENVIRONMENT. STRENGTHENING THE ASSET FOCUS IN BROWNFIELD PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT Stuart Elliot, WorleyParsons Canada

Multi-project brownfield management has one imperative – improve the asset – executed through two mechanisms: portfolio content selection and portfolio delivery. Portfolio content selection involves picking from a long list of competing project ideas, with uncertain justifications and limited funding. Portfolio delivery involves synchronizing scarce resources onto multi-input tasks across dozens of active projects. The goal is more asset improvements for less effort and time. It’s a target-rich environment and we’re short of ammunition. And in the spirit of this metaphor, perhaps our aim could be better, given that there are human factors involved in addition to the intrinsic uncertainty of the asset. This paper presents a Lean framework for managing portfolio content and delivery, with a focus on project selection and governance to meet the needs of the asset. (The challenge of portfolio delivery was addressed at MeMo 2011 in a companion paper called “Stuck in Traffic and Boiling Over; why project-level thinking won’t solve portfolio-level problems”). The paper addresses defining asset needs, growing and managing the pool of competing ideas, defining the budget list, managing changes during the year, and improving how all this is managed. The best solutions allow for human nature and business surprises.

ZERO EMISSION & WORKING ENVIRONMENT Stream: Health, Safety & Environment Chair: Eric Hinton, Senior Mine Consultant, Boge and Boge Room: Gallery D 10:30 – Paper 1833 HOW TO RUN A ZERO EMISSIONS MINE Brian Huff, Artisan Vehicle Systems

In 2010, Kirkland Lake Gold (KLG) contacted Artisan Vehicle Systems and requested assistance with converting LHDs and haul trucks from diesel to battery power.

Seven years later, KLG has the world’s largest fleet of battery powered machines and is the most experienced mine in the use of battery powered underground equipment.

16 | MEMO 2017

Over 70% of the ore extracted from its Macassa mine is carried by battery powered loaders and haul trucks.

Brian’s presentation will describe the zero emission battery powered equipment, the infrastructure required to operate this equipment and the challenges of transforming a diesel operation to a battery powered operation.

10:55 – Paper 1670 IMPACT OF OPERATING CONDITIONS ON HAULER EMISSIONS Tim Grain Joseph, JPi Mine Equipment Regan Schafer, University of Alberta

Hauler emissions, despite the advancement and development of more efficient tier engines over the past 2 decades, remains a challenge for mine operators and original equipment manufacturers. The implications of carbon taxes and minimal to zero emissions by 2030 remains a target out of reach. Understanding the impacts of operating conditions on the ability for a tier engine to operate within the anticipated reduce emission design guidelines is a step on the path to 2030. This paper reports on recent emissions measurements made at an Alberta coal mining operation relative to the operating conditions, in an effort to understand whether the tier engine used is able to cope with the duty expected. These measurements are compared to existing modeled data to establish a predictive emissions performance tool.

11:20 – Paper 1741 THE INEVITABLE CHANGE TO ZERO EMISSION UNDERGROUND WORK ENVIRONMENTS Mike Kasaba, Artisan Vehicle Systems

Mike Kasaba will give examples of progress toward the ultimate elimination of diesel use in underground mining.

Zero emission underground environments are no longer a pipe dream. Most major mining companies are now authoring feasibility studies for underground mines designed with no diesel equipment whatsoever. Some mining companies have made a commitment to zero emission underground environments already and have these clean projects in development now. Most major mining companies in the world are looking at battery equipment not only for new development, but also for converting existing operations. Mine companies are using reliable real-world data that demonstrates cost savings for fleet expansions and total fleet conversions. The benefits are mounting, the awareness is growing, and the viability of zero emission mines is proving out. Moreover, the continued use of diesel is getting more costly and complicated by Tier 4 and Tier 5 regulations. Lastly, large mining company boards are beginning to assess the risk of not converting to battery. With a viable, cost effective alternative to diesel, the MEMO 2017 | 17

risk of health related claims by underground workers is growing. Not converting to zero emission battery equipment could result in huge liabilities. The technology is real, the business case is compelling and the outcome is certain. The question now is how to manage the inevitable transformation to a clean-air environment underground.

Mike’s presentation will provide a road map for mining companies to manage this important transformation.

EXPLORATION TECHNIQUES Stream: Mineral Exploration and Geoscience Chair: Kristl Hoksbergen, MSc Candidate, Department of Civil and Geological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan Room: Regal B 10:30 – Paper 1813 PARAMETERS AFFECTING BULK RESISTIVITY IN ATHABASCA SANDSTONE Clint Keller and Tom Kotzer, Cameco Corporation

Cameco Exploration uses surface DC resistivity techniques in the Athabasca Basin, northern Saskatchewan, as a proxy for fluid-rock interaction to highlight favourable exploration targets related to uranium mineralization. In this study, bulk rock resistivity and fluid resistivity were compared with intensity of clay alteration in rocks of the Athabasca Basin to verify the validity of applying Archie’s Law to resistive sandstones. When analyzed it was shown that Archie’s Law is not an applicable model for determining the resistivity of the Athabasca Group sandstone. A major factor driving bulk resistivity is total clay content, where an increase in clay content results in a decrease in bulk resistivity. Fluid chemistry was also compared with bulk resistivity, and it was shown that fluid resistivity has less impact on bulk rock resistivity compared to clay content, until relatively high salinity fluids are introduced into the rock.

Overall this study has provided empirical and fundamental insights into the dominant parameters affecting the transmission of electrical currents into resistive sandstone rocks and reaffirmed that bulk rock resistivity is a valuable tool for delineating areas of fluid-rock interaction and favorable exploration targets.

10:55 – Paper 1842 IDENTIFYING ABANDONED COAL WORKINGS USING GEOPHYSICS Drew Fossen, Rob Perrin and Jane Dawson, DMT Geosciences Ltd.

Case studies are presented from multiple sites located in Alberta, where previous coal operations occurred. In order to reduce the risk of an event happening, geophysics was used to help identify potential geotechnical hazards. The 18 | MEMO 2017

first case study was located near a rail line, busy highway, a construction site, power lines, and drilling activities that added significant sources of noise for seismic surveys.

This, combined with the shallow nature of the coal mining operations, made for a challenging seismic survey. For this reason, the survey design included combining three seismic methods to optimize the chance of successfully identifying potential hazards: seismic reflection, seismic refraction and multi-channel analysis of surface waves (MASW).

These survey results were integrated with available borehole information and historic records of the coal workings.

In some situations direct detection of coal workings can be challenging for a variety of reasons. In these cases, it is the secondary effects of coal workings that may be more readily detectible using geophysics. We present a study from Canmore, Alberta in which geophysics was used to map secondary coal working structures in 3D and so triangulate the expected location of an air shaft.

11:20 – Paper 1797 CORE BOX PHOTOGRAPHY SYSTEM – PRACTICAL INNOVATIONS FOR CAPTURING BETTER IMAGES Deb Shewfelt, North Rim / RESPEC

Capturing and archiving quality drill core images can be a tricky endeavor – especially in the field. As a significant portion of any exploration or delineation drill program is spent acquiring drill core from the subsurface, its preservation through digital photography is paramount. However, core photo quality can suffer due to unpredictable or subpar lighting, camera positioning and a litany of other constraints; data archiving efforts can most times also be improved upon. This talk introduces an innovative, portable drill core photography system that, with the support of smart phone camera software, can elevate the quality of photos taken in the field or in a laboratory environment. The process of migrating digital photos from smart phone to a database that automatically feeds a digital core photo template for comprehensive data archiving will be examined. This industry-academia collaboration project between RESPEC Saskatoon (formerly North Rim) and the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Saskatchewan integrates engineering, science and innovation that supports a common resource industry activity.

MEMO 2017 | 19

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 | 13:30

PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY Stream: Mining Chair: Mike Meadows, Senior Manager Mine Engineering Services, Mosaic

Room: Gallery AB 13:30 – Paper 1825 HOW TO BENEFIT FROM A SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH FOR YOUR SITE Dan Hendriks, GeoShack

The traditional system of monitoring and control of a mining operation consisted of truck counts, spreadsheets, unknown activities by non-visible equipment, operator perception and often intuitive decision-making processes.

With the advent of automatic, real-time data acquisition, much of this system has changed. We now have a bird’s eye view of the entire operation and observe the vital statistics of every activity within the mine. Critical machine data can be pulled from a wide range of vehicle types and vendors in real-time to a single source for reporting and display.

If a circuit is over-trucked while another circuit has a hanging excavator, resources can be redirected immediately. Trucks communicate their real-time payload during the loading process to the excavator so that payload targets can be achieved. - Machine health data is transmitted in real-time to warn of impending breakdowns. It is now possible to observe temperature increases of a $50,000 tire and pull the truck out of a circuit before the tire fails. Boost pressures can be monitored and action taken prior to major damage. Mining companies take advantage of real-time data from multiple sources and sensors to give them a competitive edge in today’s demanding market.

13:55 – Paper 1669 OPERATIONAL METHODOLOGIES FOR ROLLING RESISTANCE EVALUATION Tim Grain Joseph and Mark Curley, JPi Mine Equipment

The rolling resistance of materials used for haul road construction and to cap in-pit running surfaces is poorly understood and rarely evaluated in practice. Mine waste materials are frequently used to build and cap haul roads, only supplemented by surface capping where better quality gravel or crush materials are available within local geologic and economic limitations. Rolling resistance is most often estimated from limited geotechnical publications, most often made available through mining equipment manufacturer supplemental information whose origin is dif20 | MEMO 2017

ficult at best to verify. This paper outlines two methodologies which may be easily employed to evaluate rolling resistance for (a) selection of materials prior to road and running surface planning and construction and (b) an ongoing evaluation of haul road performance, such that critical areas may be identified for more frequent road maintenance or re-build. To select appropriate road building materials, a scale lab test is outlined which highlights the fact that rolling resistance, when expressed as a percentage equivalent slope and hence showing that rolling resistance is independent of haul truck weight and size and as such a material property; may permit not only the selection of individual materials, but may also be used to trial the performance of a composite set of haul road layers’ overall rolling resistance performance as sub-grade layers become deteriorated. The ongoing field evaluation of rolling resistance uses (a) the haul truck as the measurement tool, where each tire is a measurement device, reflected by the load response at the suspension and (b) a cyclic plate load test to establish the resilient pressure stiffness of the ground surface conditions. This permits the ground deformation, which when evaluated in parallel to the tire deformation establishing the changing tire-ground contact area, permits the rolling resistance to be evaluated. In plotting the rolling resistance magnitudes by GPS truck location as the truck moves around the mine site, identifies the critical zones requiring maintenance attention on an ongoing real time basis.

14:20 – Paper 1857 SURPASSING PRODUCTION TARGETS WITH INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Andrew Gulka, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS) Jason Burke, Kalium Consulting

While undergoing a multi-year expansion, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS) determined that fully realizing the gains would require changes in culture, management structure, and organizational accountability. PCS implemented these changes in parallel with the expansion to ramp-up production as early as possible and achieve aggressive budget targets. Given the urgency and large scope, PCS chose to partner with Kalium Consulting, specialists in improving mining operations. An integrated management system was envisioned to organize data, provide feedback to the workforce, improve leadership and management skills, and ultimately increase the productivity of the existing equipment and workforce while meeting new corporate production guidance. Kalium Consulting worked with PCS to develop and implement a management system that boosted productivity by focusing the organization on a visible set of goals and quickly addressing deficiencies. The system incorporated communication, KPI trackMEMO 2017 | 21

ing and reporting, new software tools for collecting and presenting data, and personal coaching of front-line supervisors and senior leadership to promote accountability.

The site experienced significant improvements to its operating capability and the organization achieved capacity 20% above its expansion target.

14:45 – Paper 1847 CIGAR LAKE OPERATION SHIPPING OPTIMIZATION WITH LEAN AND SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY Jason Gogal, Cameco Corporation

The Cigar Lake Operation (CLO) mines, grinds, and ships uranium ore slurry to the McClean Lake Mill. The steps of the ore shipping process were studied using various techniques including Lean and Six Sigma methodology.

Several steps of the ore shipping process were optimized in order to improve the overall ore shipping efficiency. A total gain of over 2.5 tonnes of solids per truck (28.6%) was realized as a result of the optimizations. The CLO moved into a position where, at the nameplate production rate of 18M lb/year, ore shipping can generally exceed the mill leach feed rate when ore grades are above 15% U3O8.

MATERIAL DISCHARGE AND BIN DESIGN Stream: Maintenance & Reliability Chairs: Janelle Appleyard, Director, Mine Engineering; Lorelei Duke, Engineer Lead, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan

Room: Gallery C 13:30 – Paper 1798 KNIFE GATE VALVES: CUTTING EDGE SOLUTIONS FOR TODAY’S CHALLENGES Michael Prince, Victaulic

Gate valves are a common maintenance item in mine processing facilities. Most mines use older slurry knife gate valves (KGV) that fail to incorporate the latest design efficiencies, which leads to costly maintenance and lost productivity. The Canadian mining market, is particularly attune to these operational challenges due to its harsh climate and remotely-located mine sites. Victaulic recently developed the industry’s first in-line maintenance KGV for steel and high-density polyethylene pipe. The innovative design makes in-line maintenance possible by consolidating all wear components into a single cartridge kit that can be easily removed and replaced in minutes, eliminating the need for line isolation or costly removal for repair or rebuild. This innovation represents the first significant advancement in KGV technology since the push through style design released and urethane seat designs released in the 1990’s. This presentation will review challenges associated with conventional KGVs and cover the 22 | MEMO 2017

research and development process that led to the design of this industry first in-line maintenance KGV. A case study will demonstrate how one mining operation in Canada has achieved substantial cost savings by replacing legacy valves with this new in-line KGV technology to eliminate hours of costly downtime, streamline maintenance and improve safety.

13:55 – Paper 1837 CONTROLLING ATTRITION, WEAR AND DUSTING WITH PROPER TRANSFER CHUTE DESIGN Tracy Holmes and Carrie Hartford, Jenike & Johanson Ltd.

Transfer chutes, whether between conveyors or process steps, are critical for reliable performance of systems handling bulk solids. When chutes are designed based on the materials handled and the range of anticipated operating conditions, trouble-free operations can be assured.

However, in many instances transfer chutes do not receive the attention they deserve during the engineering and design phase, which can plague systems with continuous problems. Problems associated with poorly designed chutes include excessive wear of chute surfaces and belts, excessive dust generation, product spillage, and particle attrition. When handling cohesive or high moisture materials, chute pluggages can be a major problem. These problems often lead to significant maintenance and production costs due to down time caused by pluggages or liner replacement. Product quality and performance can be degraded by attrition and fines generation. Poorly performing chutes can cause environmental problems and production losses due to dusting and spillage. This presentation will outline the causes of common problems experienced in transfer chutes. The discussion will include design methodologies that incorporate material characteristics, operating conditions, and design tools including Discrete Element Methods (DEM) to prevent problems in new chutes, as well as approaches to evaluate and improve the performance of existing chutes.

14:20 – Paper 1860 RETROFIT TO AGRIUM’S SPECIAL STANDARD SURGE BIN IMPROVES RELIABILITY, SAFETY & LIFE CYCLE COST Tracy Holmes, Jenike & Johanson Ltd. Shawn Davison, Agrium

The special standard surge bin at Agrium’s Vanscoy Potash Operations (VPO) has been plagued with flow, wear, and corrosion issues for its entire working life.

Investigation showed that the carbon steel construction, bin geometry, and resultant funnel-flow pattern were directly responsible for production losses and excessive maintenance and capital costs. A failure-mode and binperformance investigation combined with a life-cycle-cost MEMO 2017 | 23

analysis indicated it would be best to redesign the hopper.

The bin now provides safer, more reliable operation with a much longer predicted working life. Using this retrofit as an example, we aim to provide a general understanding of bulk solids flow theory and highlight the importance of customizing bulk material handling system design using appropriate flow properties to improve reliability, safety and cost effectiveness.

14:45 – Paper 1814 THE THREE ROOT CAUSES OF POOR MATERIAL DISCHARGE AND BIN HANG-UPS Jamil Bundalli, Kamengo

A storage bin suffering from intermittent discharge and hang-ups can be a terrible source of frustration and unforeseen operating costs. Understanding the scientific principles that underpin good bin and feeder design for difficult flowing cohesive materials, such as ore concentrates, is key to knowing how to resolve troublesome storage and feed systems. Starting in the 1980s, Kamengo led an extensive research program examining why bins plug, in particular when handling difficult flowing fibrous and cohesive materials such as potash, wet rock phosphate, ore concentrates, FGD gypsum, and coal. What the researchers discovered surprised them. This presentation will review the key findings from Kamengo’s research. In particular, it will review the three root causes of intermittent discharge and bin plugging, which are: 1) incorrect bin geometry; 2) compaction of the stored material by the discharge feeder; and, 3) uneven withdrawal of material by the discharge feeder. The presentation will use three case studies to illustrate how the outcomes of Kamengo’s research were applied in the design of new equipment as well as the retrofit of equipment suffering from chronic plugging. The presentation will look at the storage and feed system handling sticky, wet cobalt-hydroxide filter cake at the Tenke Fungurume copper-cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The presentation will also look at the hull design of two self-unloading ships, which are purpose-built to carry difficult flowing cargoes, including wet iron ore fines, coal, potash and rock gypsum.

Finally, the presentation will look at two 58-foot tall, 18-foot diameter, 47,000 cu-ft. silos with feeders handling sticky FGD Gypsum. About Kamengo Kamengo specializes in the design and supply of storage and feed equipment for difficult flowing materials. Kamengo staff spent 15 years researching the reasons why bins plug. The research showed that bin plugging is caused by poor bin geometry, compaction of the stored material by the feeder, and uneven discharge from the storage bin. To resolve these issues, Kamengo applies a deliberate, scientifically grounded approach that uses the flow properties of the 24 | MEMO 2017

stored material to design storage bins that can self-empty under gravity. Further, Kamengo has developed a unique feeder that resolves many of the shortcomings of conventional feeders, allowing us to deliver reliable equipment for handling even the most difficult flowing material.

DATA Stream: Health, Safety & Environment Chair: Robert Hall, Professor, University of Alberta Room: Gallery D 13:30 – Paper 1840 ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION FOR PROCESSING Jane Danoczi, Saskatchewan Research Council

The Saskatchewan Research Council processes high tonnages of ore through their processing plant, sourced from deposits across Canada, for various clients. While processing the ore, important processing information is continually being captured such as; particle size and particle size reduction, moisture content of ore, percent yield from each process, percentage tailings, grits and clays generated.

This information is used by process engineers for mass balancing the flow sheet but is also used by environmental engineers to plan tailings dams and to size tailings dumps.

Additional environmental information collected in the process plant comprises of the chemistry of the ore, information necessary for the disposal of the ore and for any leaching characteristics. Samples of the processing water are also collected for characterisation, information needed for recycling opportunities, thickener design and for final disposal of the water. This environmental information provides the environmental engineers with fundamental information for the design of waste and water management systems early in a project’s inception. Such information significantly reduces the risk of project unknowns while also facilitating the advancement of projects.

13:55 – Paper 1864 ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING Ryan Jansen, Saskatchewan Research Council

Measuring and recording quality data with a high degree of resolution is critical to the success of demonstrating environmental responsibility, as well as ensuring efficient mine operation. The Saskatchewan Research Council has developed core capacities in designing, installation, and operating customized monitoring stations for clients from Saskatoon to Mongolia. Monitoring stations are designed to operate reliably and automatically, thereby reducing operational costs while enhancing data value in order to best serve our clients. Stations can be installed in either MEMO 2017 | 25

remote or centralized operations, and transmit automated data streams via internet, cellular, or satellite communications. Almost any device can be interfaced to our stations ranging from meteorological sensors (wind, temperature, precipitation, etc.) to environmental systems (lake level, stream flow, etc.), and to system feedback sensors (system temperatures, maintenance switches, analog/digital inputs).

14:20 – Paper 1845 ENVIRONMENTAL DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (EDMS) FOR SITE REMEDIATION: CLEANS AND AUCM CASE STUDIES Anton Sizo and Elizaveta Petelina, Saskatchewan Research Council

EDMS was designed and developed as geoinformational tool for site remediation planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. EDMS consists of seven main components: Geodatabase that contains a spatial database to store and query spatially distributed data; GIS and Web GIS component that combines desktop and server-based GIS solutions; Field Data Collection component that contains tools for field work; QA/QC component that combines operational procedures for QA and measures for QC; Data Import and Export component that includes tools and templates for data transformation; Lab Data component that provides connection between EDMS and laboratory information management systems; and Reporting component that includes server-based, real-time generated reports.

The EDMS has been successfully implemented within the Project CLEANS (Clean-up of Abandoned Northern Mines), with the initial focus of decommissioning, rehabilitation, and cleanup of 37 abandoned uranium mine and mill sites in northern Saskatchewan. The Geodatabase component was designed and developed for the Abandoned Underground Coal Mines (AUCM) Project. The AUCM geodatabase purposed to store past, current, and future data of mine sites at the South of Saskatchewan. The project was performed under the umbrella of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment.

14:45 – Paper 1868 THE HUMAN FACTOR ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (HFACS); A REVIEW AND LESSONS FROM OTHER INDUSTRIES Ali Yaghini and Robert Hall, University of Alberta

Human factors (HF) play an important role in the mining and mineral industry; affecting operational and maintenance efficiency, and safety. Fatalities and major accidents are not acceptable to the mining and mineral industry, and the role of HF and human errors (HE) can help with the goal of eliminating them. The human factor analysis and classi26 | MEMO 2017

fication system (HFACS) is a well-known framework for analyzing and classifying the underlying HFs associated with accidents and incidents in the aviation and nuclear industries. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of the HFACS across several industries. From this review, the impact of HF on operation and maintenance will be summarized with a focus on understanding the systemic factors contributing to accidents, and to evaluate those organizational and supervisory failures that lead to HF and HE. Based on this review, future opportunities for additional efforts in the HF area in the mining industry are identified.

GEOSCIENCE Stream: Mineral Exploration & Geoscience Chair: Tabetha Stirrett, Business Development Manager, North Rim Exploration Ltd. Room: Regal B 13:30 – Paper 1832 EXPLORATION SUCCESS AT THE CHRISTIE LAKE PROJECT Trevor Perkins, UEX Corporation

The Christie Lake uranium project is located 9 km northeast along strike of Cameco’s world-class McArthur River mine. The P2 Fault Corridor, host of all McArthur River mineralization, extends onto the Christie Lake Project where it also hosts uranium mineralization. In 2016, JCU and UEX signed an option agreement under which UEX is on track to vest a 70% ownership position. UEX currently has a 30% interest and is the project operator. PNC Exploration Canada Co. Ltd. staked the project lands in 1985 and actively explored the property until 1997, resulting in the discovery of the Paul Bay and Ken Pen deposits. These two basement-hosted deposits sit at the southwest end of the Yalowega Trend, a 1.5 km long uraniferous conductive feature. Along the Yalowega Trend, the Athabasca Group Sandstone ranges between 405 to 485 m thick and overlies the western part of the Wollaston Domain. Within the project area, major faults trending northerly, northeasterly, easterly and southeasterly have been inferred from the regional magnetic data. Exploration along the Yalowega Trend in 2017 has led to the discovery of the high-grade Ōrora Deposit, an unconformity style deposit located 500 m to the northeast of the previously discovered deposits.

MEMO 2017 | 27

13:55 – Paper 1805 USING GEOCHEMISTRY, STATISTICS AND GIS TO ASSESS HYDROGEOLOGY AROUND POTASH MINES Kristl Tipton, Grant Ferguson, Bruce Eglington and Matt Lindsay, University of Saskatchewan

Publically available, industry provided, and newly sampled geochemical and isotopic data are currently being combined for stratigraphies of interest within the Saskatchewan portion of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. The creation of a GIS database and resultant ARCGIS compilation has allowed for spatial analysis of water chemistry which can assess the signatures of formation waters on a regional scale. Such signatures can then be compared with local scale potash mine water in an attempt to constrain flowpaths. By combining data on water chemistry, conservative stable isotopes, and isotopes with known affinities for water-rock exchange (such as carbon and strontium), information on mineral precipitation and dissolution can be obtained. Statistically evaluating the results of water-rock interaction and groundwater source data provide a greater understanding of both the hydrogeology and geochemical processes within the mining areas.

14:20 – Paper 1819 RISK-BASED ASSESSMENTS OF PHYSICAL MINE HAZARDS AT ABANDONED MINES LOCATED NEAR URANIUM CITY Robert McCauley and Paul Palmer, Golder Associates Ltd. Patty Ogilvie-Evans, Saskatchewan Research Council

Since 2012 Golder Associates Ltd. (Golder) and The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) have completed several risk-based assessments of physical hazards (shafts, raises, adits, crown pillars etc.) for abandoned mining properties located near Uranium City in Northern Saskatchewan. The purpose of these assessments is to define and reduce the risk to the public and environment.

This is carried out by reviewing the current stability conditions, defining data gaps, and recommending additional investigation and remediation measures required for long term closure. The completed assessments have follow a phased approach beginning with a thorough review of all known historical documentation relating to the operations and geological settings associated with the site (Phase 1).

This data is then verified and compared to observations and surveyed features collected during site visits (Phase 2). The information compiled in Phases 1 and 2 are used to assess, when possible, the stability conditions of the physical hazards. Following the assessment each hazard is assigned a risk-ranking and reviewed to determine if additional data is required, the current remediation measure is sufficient, or if additional remediation is required. Since 28 | MEMO 2017

these assessments are based almost entirely on historical data conservative assumptions are commonly made to fill in data gaps and compensate for potential inaccuracies.

This poses a challenge in determining the cost-effectiveness of completing site investigations (excavation, drilling etc.) to obtain more accurate data or establishing final remediation measures based on the conservative desktop results.

14:45

Presentation title will be on the door signage Troy Boisjoli, NexGen Energy Ltd.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 | 15:30

GEOTECHNICAL Stream: Mining Chairs: Geoffrey Capes, Manager Project Engineering, BHP Billiton Canada Inc.; Kelsey Hewitt, MSc Student in Engineering, University of Saskatchewan Room: Gallery AB 15:30 – Paper 1854 MEASURING THE SHEAR STRENGTH OF ROCK CORE USING A GUILLOTINE SHEARBOX Garrett Snell, Doug Milne, Zbigniew Szczepanik and Donna Beneteau, University of Saskatchewan

The shear strength of intact rock can be an important property for rock mechanics design. Although the unconfined compressive strength of rock core is often measured with laboratory testing, the shear strength of that rock is difficult to measure directly. A guillotine-type “shearbox” has been developed to directly measure the shear strength of intact rock core. An additional, alteration was made to the shearbox to apply normal forces to the shear plane. Ideally, a failure criteria or envelope can be determined when multiple tests are conducted on rock cores of similar type.

Since most failure in underground mines is usually of most concern when it occurs near an excavation, failure behaviour at low confinements is more representative of field conditions. Unconfined compressive strength tests, coupled with low-confinement tri-axial tests and guillotine shear-box tests were conducted on concrete and limestone samples. The results of the different tests will be compared and discussed. This testing apparatus provides a relatively simple and inexpensive alternative, or addition to tri-axial testing. Making the failure criteria of a rock easier to attain and more representative of field conditions can assist engineers to make more educated design decisions in mining and civil projects.

MEMO 2017 | 29

15:55 – Paper 1824 POTASHCORP ALLAN PRODUCTION SHAFT CONCRETE LINER REMEDIATION David Murray, PotashCorp

In November 2016, PCS announced a repair of the Allan Mine production shaft concrete liner. The concrete has deteriorated to a point where the liner was becoming a safety risk to the mine. In February 2017, a contractor mobilized on site, with a scope of work to remove and replace 60ft of concrete liner. This was the first undertaking of this nature in a potash production shaft in the province. This project was different than past occurrences due to the skips and shaft infrastructure remaining in place during construction. A set of underslung work platforms and collection boxes were used in conjunction with hydraulic splitters, jack legs and hand chippers to excavate and remove the broken concrete. New concrete was placed in kind per the original pressure relief design, using a shaft slip form.

It was found shortly after excavating, that the estimated breaking rate and amount of original concrete in-situ was estimated incorrectly. The completion of 15 feet of excavated concrete and 10ft of replaced new concrete occurred on April 28, 2017 and the production shaft was turned over to mine operations. This will be a PowerPoint presentation only highlighting the design and methodology of remediation with lessons learned.

16:20 – Paper 1812 EXPLORING DISCONTINUITY ROUGHNESS MEASUREMENT SCALE EFFECTS Erin Moss Tressel, Clifton Associates Doug Milne, University of Saskatchewan

It is important in rock mechanics design to be able to accurately, and consistently, characterize discontinuity planes with respect to their mechanical behaviour. The characterization of discontinuity roughness using core logging and line mapping methods was studied, focusing on how each data collection method described large and small scale roughness properties. Differences were identified, and the significance of these differences with respect to how the discontinuity would be classified for design was considered. Field data was collected in August 2016. Large and small scale roughness measurements using core log and line map descriptions were collected from the same discontinuities. Trends in characterizing roughness between the two methods were evaluated through comparison plots. The data suggests that core logging has a conservative bias in the assessment of discontinuity waviness, especially on discontinuities with a large wavelength. Core scale roughness and shape do appear to correlate to the 10 cm JRC values. The lack of accuracy in characterizing the discontinuity waviness at the core scale may not signifi30 | MEMO 2017

cantly impact the overall rock mass classification, although this should be confirmed with more data.

16:45 – Paper 1898 CASE HISTORIES OF DOMAIN ASSESSMENT FOR GEOTECHNICAL DESIGN Geoffrey Capes, Consultant

This presentation provides a summary of a few techniques which have been used to assess and refine geotechnical domains for design of underground excavations.

Understanding the variability within geotechnical domains is important as they form the basis of input to both empirical and numerical design techniques. Examples from development mining, open stoping, and caving are discussed.

OPTIMIZATION Stream: Maintenance & Reliability Chair: C. Scott Bishop, Principal Mine Engineer, Cameco Corporation

Room: Gallery C 15:30 – Paper 1869 MAXIMIZING EQUIPMENT UPTIME USING HIGH SPEED REFUELING TECHNOLOGIES Joe Murphy, Fireball Equipment Ltd.

More than ever, today’s miners are focused on uptime and profitability, more than total production capacity. Operational excellence is now on the forefront. A major area that mine operators are investigating to improve margins is to maximize equipment uptime by controlling and reducing nonproductive time for hauling equipment. One of the primary candidates to accomplish this is to reduce the unproductive time during the fueling process. Every minute that a haul truck spends getting refueled means loss of productivity.

Shaving six minutes off of the refueling process can result in massive increases in productive time. In essence, by turning haul trucks around more efficiently through the fuel site, operators are experiencing the equivalent of an additional productive week per year for each truck in the fleet. While the theory makes economic sense, there are numerous challenges surrounding the effective implementation of a High Speed Refueling system. Some main areas causing challenges under the new fueling conditions are safe and reliable fuel shutoff, handling static buildup, managing backpressure, and controlling fueling procedures. This presentation will discuss the risks, reward, and practical learning surrounding this very timely topic.

MEMO 2017 | 31

15:55 – Paper 1872 SUPPORT FOR MER THROUGH ENGINEERED EQUIPMENT UPGRADES Sheldon George Hill, Saskatchewan Research Council

Maintenance, engineering and reliability share the common objective of improving equipment performance. Each initiative has its own specific priorities and it can be difficult for one management area to identify opportunities for improvement that lie outside their scope. Pursuing re-engineering of equipment with the intent of improving reliability, operability, serviceability, maintenance, safety, quality, and capacity can result in cooperation of the various management systems and groups within your company. Reengineering equipment is not a common strategy; but, this new paradigm presents a significant opportunity to pursue performance excellence even when resource prices are low and capital budgets are tight. Benefits can be realized for reliability, maintenance, safety, and operational initiatives while extending the life of the asset. Re-engineering must be approached with caution. Depending on the type and extent of the engineered upgrades, an element of experimental development may be required to ensure that solutions are de-risked and validated before wide-spread implementation or application on critical equipment. This presentation explains what is meant by re-engineering, what can be achieved, and how to avoid risks while capturing benefits.

16:20 – Paper 1873 APPLICATION OF TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY CONSTRUCTION METHODS TO UNDERGROUND MINING Gary Haywood, Points Athabasca Contracting

Trenchless technology in the civil construction industry has become widely used and includes such practices as Horizontal auger boring, pipe bursting, pipe ramming and horizontal directional drilling. The main advantage of this technology is to minimize surface disturbance that otherwise would be impacted by trenching, due to existing infrastructure or environmental considerations. It has been used in many applications including installation of casings under highways and railways, water and sewer upgrades and residential utility upgrades. Points Athabasca has been involved in horizontal auger boring since 2014 and has since completed over 1,000m of pipe installation across Saskatchewan. The latest technology in machines has seen the introduction of electric auger boring machines, mainly due to the requirement to lower emissions in residential areas. This, combined with developing rock cutting technology, may have opened up the application of this trenchless method to the mining industry. The ability to drill large diameter horizontal bore holes, while simultaneously installing a casing over long distances has 32 | MEMO 2017

many advantages over traditional methods on installing utilities such as process water and or chemical pipelines, dewatering pipelines or services (power and air). This has particular application to underground mining, and could have advantages in reducing piping distances, removing pipelines from drifts to reduce cross sectional area and containing utilities to specific areas. This paper will explore the technology available and provide a study into the benefits of using civil technology in a mining environment.

16:45 – Paper 1875 CASE STUDY: HOW DID WE GET THIS WAY AND HOW DO WE GET BETTER? IMPROVING MAINTENANCE EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH A WORKFLOW AUDIT Jeremy Hilderman, Mosaic Canada ULC

You would like to reduce costs, improve asset reliability, and ultimately increase safe production, but where do you start? You’ve got a good maintenance department and your company is gaining maturity in reliability practices.

You know there is room for improvement but cannot pinpoint what to investigate and analyze for an opportunity.

Truly understanding your maintenance workflow processes from work initiation to completion will help you identify opportunities for improvement, and give you a holistic view on how you got where you are. That holistic view is the key ingredient to significantly help your approach to drive change. This presentation will walk through a maintenance workflow improvement journey at a Potash Mine and Refinery. It will give insight to the aspects that were investigated, the methods used to analyze, the key stakeholders involved, prioritizing improvement efforts, and KPI’s to consider. That’s the easy stuff.

What’s part of your maintenance workflow process documents usually aren’t what’s really happening in the field.

What are those gaps and how did they come to be? Most importantly, it will also discuss what pitfalls to avoid and methods to approach the change management.

Maintenance workflow processes have a deep rooted culture and is often a tough nut to crack. Real life examples will be used to depict approaches to change culture.

SAFETY SYSTEMS Stream: Health, Safety & Environment Chair: Karen Coates, Mining Inspector, City of Saskatoon Room: Gallery D 15:30 – Paper 1822 MECHANICAL INSULATION – WHY SHOULD I CARE? Steve Clayman, Thermal Insulation Association of Canada

Pipe insulation? Duct insulation? Equipment insulation?

Things that don’t light up, beep, come with touch-screens MEMO 2017 | 33

and remain mostly out of sight? And, no moving parts to wear out? What can be exciting about that? To start with, benchmarking energy use and water consumption is becoming more prevalent. Find out where mechanical insulation can help. We’ll find out how correctly specified and installed mechanical insulation impacts on energy conservation, greenhouse gas emissions and health and safety issues. We’ll talk about a no-cost/low-cost approach to determining when insulation on mechanical systems requires immediate attention. We’ll see how easy it is to “fix” seemingly complicated insulation deficiencies. We’ll talk about personnel protection, condensation control and address mould growth. We’ll review how a free, downloadable software tool called, “3E Plus” can tie all of these elements together.

15:55 – Paper 1823 REMOTE OPERATIONS: INCREASED SAFETY AND PRODUCTIVITY USING VIDEO SUPPORT SYSTEMS Karly Winfield, Provix

Implemented at Diavik, Goldcorp and Vale remote video systems enable equipment operators to work from a safe location when poor grounds conditions exist. Provix designs and manufactures wired and wireless video systems to support remote drilling, bolting, screening and mucking operations. These video systems offer enhanced safety during remote operations and allow for increased productivity, while remaining cost effective and easy to deploy. For remote bolting operations, two rugged pan, tilt and zoom cameras are fitted on either side of the bolter, providing visual guidance and support. A smaller fixed camera provides a constant frame of reference for the equipment operator, who is positioned 50- 250 feet back from the face in the safety and comfort of a sea-can established as a mobile control station. The operator runs both the tele-remote controls and views the video systems from the safety of a sea can, where three large LCD monitors provide an up close and personal display of the back, the face, the booms, the screens and the positioning of the drill. Video system Feedback from both supervisors and operators stated conclusively that the operator can view the work area and the task at hand, more effectively than if they are actually sitting in the cab of the bolter. They indicate up to a 50% increase in bolting rate. Provix remote video systems have been proven effective in Gold, Nickel, Diamond and Copper operations in North America and have been featured in industry periodicals such as International Mining and the Canadian Mining Journal.

34 | MEMO 2017

16:20 – Paper 1862 REDUCING THE UPPER WALL CUSP HAZARD AT THE COLONSAY MINE BY MEANS OF CUTTING PROFILE MODIFICATION Nathan Morgan, Mosaic Potash Colonsay

At the Colonsay mine, the effects of initial stress relief following a new borer excavation are most evident during the first seventy-two hours. Though the resultant ground conditions can be variable, the development of an upper wall cusp is consistent and has proved to be a significant safety risk to our employees. This presentation will summarize the approach that was taken to reduce the upper wall cusp size through the modification of the borer cutting profile.

COMMUNITY Stream: Community & Management Chair: Nancy Komperdo, Senior Geoscientist, BHP Billiton Canada Inc.

Room: Regal B 15:30 – Paper 1820 OPENING NEW DOORS – IMII’S DIVERSITY & INCLUSION CHALLENGE PROGRAM Al Shpyth, International Minerals Innovation Institute (IMII)

On behalf of its major mining company members, the International Minerals Innovation Institute (IMII) launched a diversity and inclusion-focused open innovation challenge program in May 2017. With a release titled “Opening New Doors”, IMII announced that it was prepared to invest $1 million in innovative projects to help mineral companies achieve their diversity and inclusion targets. The four Diversity and Inclusion Challenges are improving access to employment opportunities with contractors and suppliers to the minerals sector for Indigenous peoples; creating new opportunities for Indigenous peoples in the minerals sector workforce; promoting mining careers to young women by connecting earlier in the talent pipeline; and increasing the number of women in key occupations in the minerals sector. The presentation will update participants on the process and potential education and training innovations arising from IMII’s Diversity & Inclusion Challenge Program.

15:55 – Paper 1871 OUR JOURNEY – UNCOVERING THE EXPERIENCES, BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN MINING Maria Santos, Cameco Corporation

Recently Cameco embarked on a mission to examine the experiences of women in the organization and uncover the barriers related to attraction, retention, development and engagement. Throughout 2015 and 2016, small focus MEMO 2017 | 35

groups were formed and women across the organization were personally interviewed. With leadership and support from our CEO, a member of the senior executive team met with females at all Cameco North American locations to understand the experiences, barriers and opportunities.

One of the more significant question was, “What are the barriers and what can we do?” This presentation is about our journey. What were our lessons learned, what have we done so far and what is our path forward. Our intent is to share our experiences with the audience so that others may learn from our lessons and together create more inclusiveness for all in the mining industry.

16:20 – Paper 1851 MINING AND A COOPERATION AGREEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF OYU TOLGOI MINE IN SOUTH GOBI, MONGOLIA Chimedlkham Enkhbayar and Jeremy Richards, University of Alberta

Mongolia, a mineral-rich developing country, has been experiencing a mining boom with large mining developments. Its economy has become increasingly reliant on the resource sector. Oyu Tolgoi, one of the world’s largest CuAu projects located in southern Mongolia, has been operated by Turquoise Hill Resources since 2009. Under the Mineral Law, Oyu Tolgoi signed a Cooperation Agreement (CA) with local three governances in 2015. This study employs a qualitative case study of the Oyu Tolgoi project’s CA emphasizing on its social aspect. According to the CA, Oyu Tolgoi sets an annual fund to support a sustainable development in southern Mongolia. Unfortunately, not all locals are aware or capable of getting it for different reasons. This study poses that a CA can be a good way to the social wellbeing of mining-affected communities if it is communicated well with local residents, and the industry and communities find their common ground towards a sustainable growth.

16:45 – Paper 1879 DIGITAL TOOLS FOR ENHANCING INDIGENOUS INCLUSION IN THE MINING & MINERALS SECTOR Sheldon Wuttunee, Saskatchewan First Nations Natural Resource Centre of Excellence Deb Shewfelt, North Rim / RESPEC

This talk will highlight collaborative industry-community projects in the development phase that foster the inclusion of Indigenous peoples in the mining and minerals sector.

Indigenous Leadership teams aim to enhance the existing knowledge base around the Saskatchewan mining & minerals supply chain through the accessibility to innovative online tools paired with the support and assessment of success factors at the community level. With the unique 36 | MEMO 2017

layering of community, natural resource, land and marketplace information, Indigenous groups can visually interpret spatial information and can connect to opportunities, required education and skill sets.

MEMO 2017 | 37

NOTES

38 | MEMO 2017

Technical Program TUESDAY

GALLERY AB

GALLERY C

COFFEE BREAK MAINTENANCE & RELIABILITY Ropes and Hoisting LUNCH MAINTENANCE & RELIABILITY Machinery Maintenance COFFEE BREAK MINING Equipment

EMERGING INNOVATIONS Technology

EMERGING INNOVATIONS Strategic Initiatives

EMERGING INNOVATIONS Energy

GALLERY D

PROCESSING Processing and OH&S

PROCESSING Processing

PROCESSING Pipeline Technology

REGAL B

TECHNICAL SCHEDULE TUESDAY SEPT 26 ROOM KEYNOTE SESSION

MINING Mining Methods

MINING Bolting

MINING Mine Ventilation

9:00 to 10:00

10:30 to 12:10

13:30 to 15:10

15:30 to 17:10

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

®

FRIEND

®

TUESDAY KEYNOTE SESSION SEPTEMBER 26 | 9:00 – 10:00 Room: Gallery AB KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Ryan Morelli Assistant Chief Geologist of the Data Management Unit, Saskatchewan Geological Survey “Saskatchewan’s Mineral Sector in 2017: Status, Outlook and Opportunities” Since 2007, Ryan was a Precambrian Research Geologist with the Saskatchewan Geological Survey. He has undertaken bedrock mapping and drill core investigations throughout much of the Reindeer Zone in the Trans-Hudson orogen. Ryan has recently become Assistant Chief Geologist of the Data Management Unit.

MEMO 2017 | 39

TECHNICAL PROGRAM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 | 10:30

MINE VENTILATION Stream: Mining Chair: Euler De Souza, Associate Professor, Queen’s University Room: Gallery AB 10:30 – Paper 1831 LIFE OF MINE VENTILATION PLANNING AT DIAVIK Robert Clarke, Rio Tinto - Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. Euler De Souza, Queen’s University

A framework for ventilation planning, with particular focus on planning to the end of mine life, was developed for use at the Diavik Diamond Mine. Diavik has been an underground operation since 2012 and has a mine life of only 13 years. With only eight years remaining the mine will go through some fundamental milestones before closure.

These milestones include the closing of two orebodies, leaving a single orebody for the final three years of mine life. A significant change to the ventilation system will be required to support the transition to the final configuration.

The framework achieved this result through the reconciliation of the production plan with the ventilation plan by creating design acceptability criteria, and using the valueease analysis method to narrow down relatively quickly the ideas generated to two options for detailed assessment and economic analysis. For Diavik, the framework was successfully utilized by the mine engineers to select a cost-effective ventilation plan based on twinning an exhaust raise and re-equipping an old drift to the pit as an exhaust path with a new fan chamber.

10:55 – Paper 1830 THE MANAGEMENT OF HEAT FLOW IN A POTASH MINE Ryan Anderson, Mosaic Euler De Souza, Queen’s University

Heat management within the mine environment is a critical component of health and safety within the workplace.

There are many sources of heat energy within a mine, the primary being heat associated with mining operations and heat transfer from the rock mass into the mine workings.

Heat, as an integral part of all mining activities, produces a wide range of adverse environmental conditions. The heat energy found within the mine may vary throughout the workings, with effects on local environmental heat conditions where personnel may be found and potentially com40 | MEMO 2017

promising the working efficiency of the workers. In this presentation, a study within an Esterhazy potash mine looks at the influencing factors that affect the heat conditions within a specific location of the mine and the management practices put in place to monitor heat flow and control heat exposure.

11:20 – Paper 1816 COMMISSIONING A VENTILATION EXPANSION IN AN OPERATING POTASH MINE Kyle Penner, PotashCorp Euler De Souza, Queen’s Unviersity

The Rocanville potash mine is located in southeast Saskatchewan. The mine recently expanded mining, hoisting and ore processing facilities to increase annual production capacity from 3.0MMtpa to approximately 6.0 MMtpa of finished potash products. The Rocanville potash mine has historically been accessed through two shafts: a production and ventilation exhaust shaft, and a service and ventilation fresh air shaft. A major component of the expansion was construction of a new service shaft 15 km from the existing site – once fully commissioned, this new shaft became the single fresh air shaft. The historical service shaft was subsequently converted to a second production and exhaust-air shaft. To facilitate safe production in the expanded mine, the existing mine ventilation system capacity needed to be increased from 142m3/s to 236m3/s. This paper summarizes the design, construction, and implementation of this new ventilation system.

Computer modelling was used to assist in design and to integrate production scheduling and ventilation requirements through the implementation process.

Commissioning of the new ventilation system was completed in phases, permitting controlled ramp up to ventilation capacity while minimizing disruption to mine operations. Mine ventilation surveys were completed through the ramp-up phases and used to verify the design. This ensured that technical project requirements were met upon completion.

11:45 – Paper 1878 VENTILATION DEMAND AT THE WORLD’S HIGHEST GRADE URANIUM MINE: A LOOK AT THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION Mhula Kitindi, Cameco Corporation

The need for clean energy has become a major topic of discussion around the world. One way of ensuring a clean environment while boosting the world economy is through the production of nuclear energy. Historically, over 50% of uranium production came from underground mines mainly through conventional mining methods. However, underground mines with significantly higher ore grades than MEMO 2017 | 41

ever before are being discovered, constructed, and mined using various underground techniques. The Cigar Lake project in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, entered into commercial production in 2014. The underground mine currently holds the top spot as the world’s highest grade uranium mine with average ore grade of approximately 16.7%U3O8. The high ore grade in conjunction with other geotechnical issues, makes conventional underground mining at Cigar Lake impractical. To mine the deposit economically while minimizing the exposure of personnel to radiation, an innovative Jet Boring System (JBS) mining method along with a well-engineered ventilation system were developed. The JBS was developed to allow workers to extract ore from a secure horizon below the orebody, safe from gamma and airborne radiation. This paper attempts to demonstrate how the JBS technology has enabled the recovery of Cigar’s high grade uranium ore with a relatively low demand and economic ventilation system.

ROPES AND HOISTING Stream: Maintenance & Reliability Chair: Richard Smith, Senior Consultant, Stantec Consulting Room: Gallery C 10:30 – Paper 1850 MANAGING RISK WHILE APPLYING LOWER HOIST ROPE SAFETY FACTORS Jason Morrow, Stantec

As deeper ore deposits are considered, few single factors have as much impact on the economics of a shaft based project as the hoist rope static (or safety) factors.

Globalization of the mining industry has exposed all of us to legislation from many different jurisdictions. Some companies standardize with their home legislation if the local regulations are less strict. It is tempting for all companies to apply lower static factors from different factors especially when they are from just over a border. It is critical to understand the context of these different factors. Applied correctly, additional shaft capacity can be achieved without increasing the risk to a project. Applied poorly, the opposite can be the result. This paper will explore the hoist rope legislation and standards of multiple regions including suggestions on some possible avenues in which improvements to standards can be made.

42 | MEMO 2017

10:55 – Paper 1724 MINE HOIST PLANT DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS Richard (Dick) Arnold McIvor, McIvor Engineering and Maintenance Services Inc.

It is important to ensure that the basic mine hoist plant design fundamentals are incorporated into any new mine hoist plant project before detailed design engineering is commenced. Some of the basic design fundamentals to be considered are: hoist rope fleet and flight angles for good hoist rope coiling, hoist rope harmonic frequency study to ensure that the hoist rope does not run at full speed at a rope resonance frequency, head frame and shaft clearance diagrams to establish the optimum positions for the loading and dumping of the shaft conveyances, access in the head frame and shaft collar for hoist rope and shaft conveyance installation and removal. Failure to consider the hoist plant fundamentals before detailed engineering commences will result in extra costs for hoist plant redesign or a significant increase in operating and maintenance costs for the mine due to increased hoist plant downtime to perform tasks and a lower mine operating efficiency.

11:20 – Paper 1671 FIRST WORLDWIDE APPLICATION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE SYNTHETIC ROPE FOR MINE HOISTING Martin Côté, Natural Resources Canada / CanmetMINING

As hoisting depths increase, the self-weight of steel wire ropes limits hoisting capacity. The higher strength-toweight ratio of synthetic ropes has the advantage of hoisting a larger payload with similar rope size. A synthetic rope has been installed on a hoist at a mine site and behavior observations and measures were taken in mine hoisting conditions. Continuous monitoring equipment were also evaluated in order to provide non-destructive testing methods of synthetic ropes.

11:45 – Paper 1778 STANDARDIZING SHAFT INSPECTIONS Vance Thorn and Jack Nolan, Alan Auld Canada

The maintenance and inspection of underground infrastructure presents challenges at both the site and corporate levels. Weekly inspection of mine shafts is a consistent statutory requirement in most jurisdictions, however no standard exists to assess conditions against. Alan Auld Canada (AACN) has developed a standardized inspection methodology to locate, identify and categorize defects within shafts in a consistent, repeatable manner. A standardized inspection conducted by AACN is intended to supplement statutory inspections as opposed to replacing them. A portion of AACN’s standardized inspection method includes the use of 360-degree video to produce MEMO 2017 | 43

video as-builts allowing for clear communication and repeated viewing. This document will discuss the development and implementation of a standardized shaft inspection and ongoing research and development work to improve it.

ENERGY Stream: Emerging Innovations Chair: Alex Bell, Project Manager, Procon Mining and Tunnelling Ltd.

Room: Gallery D 10:30 – Paper 1835 ENERGY OPTIMIZATION IN THE MINING SECTOR Aaron Ling, Advisian

One of the current and future challenges for Canadian mining is the introduction of a price on Carbon in Canada. The challenge for mining companies is how to take actions to reduce exposure to the carbon price. Optimizing the energy use and the energy supply in a mine can enable the site to lower energy costs, increase production, and provide a consistent power supply as well as backup power. Advisian have worked with mining companies of all sizes to optimize their energy, through a process that we have standardized. We will present some case studies, as well as some programs in Canada such as the Towards Sustainable Mining Program, and government grants. Our Energy Optimization process includes streamlining the application for government funding, such as the Federal Energy Efficiency for Industry program, offering costshared assistance to industrial companies to implement energy management projects, and other provincial programs that provide financial incentives to encourage investment in innovative process changes and equipment retrofits to reduce electricity consumption on the provincial system and to help companies become more competitive by positively impacting their bottom line. This includes funding of up to 50% of costs, with up to $10 million is available for each project.

10:55 – Paper 1783 THE FEASIBILITY OF USING LARGE SCALE RENEWABLE HEATING/COOLING SYSTEMS IN UNDERGROUND MINES OF CANADA Ali G. Madiseh and Ali F. Kuyuk, University of British Columbia

Contemporary global inclination towards clean energy and pending carbon tax regulations are pushing big industrial establishments to rethink their energy policies. As a result, mining operations are expected to fit their energy consumption profiles into their corporate social responsibilities and appreciate the economic challenges ahead.

44 | MEMO 2017

Operating under extreme climatic conditions, occasionally being situated in remote and off-grid locations and heavy dependence on fossil fuels make this transition even more challenging for Canadian mines. These challenges are accompanied by economic incentives embedded within the carbon taxation policies encouraging the industries to move towards renewable energies. Throughout this gradual transition, geothermal systems have been identified as widely available and technologically mature candidates.

Yet, many geothermal projects do not reach implantation stage mainly because of their capital-intensive nature and the financial risks associated with them. To mitigate such financial risks, an amenable techno-economic analysis is fundamentally required. This study, with the help of a holistic financial approach, aims to outline the situations in which a geothermal system could sustainably payback.

Following this main objective, this study introduces and discusses two distinct large scale mine heating/cooling projects, namely; lake cooling and geothermal heating.

Additionally, based on technological similarities between the aforementioned systems, their financial assessment and profitability are investigated. The emphasis of current work is on the techno-economic feasibility of the application of renewable energy systems in mining.

11:20 – Paper 1863 RENEWABLE GENERATION TECHNOLOGY IN MINING Ryan Jansen, Saskatchewan Research Council

Renewable generation technologies have the potential to lower the levelized cost of energy at remote mine sites. By utilizing renewables such as solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and wind, mining operations can not only decrease fossil fuel consumption, but also reduce risks associated with fuel transportation and storage. Energy storage, chiefly in the form of batteries, are an emerging technology that can enable mining sites to further increase the amount of renewable generation without sacrificing reliability. Energy storage can be used to smoothe volatile power fluctuations associated with renewable energy generation, store excess renewable energy for use during the night, and to provide back-up and black-start capability to a mine site. Batteries can also be paired to fossil fuel generators to increase operational efficiency, extend generator lifetime, reduce maintenance and noise, and reduce fuel consumption.

11:45 – Paper 1749 HOW LUBRICATION CAN HELP REDUCE YOUR MINE’S ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Greg Peters, Lubricants

One of the greatest challenges facing mining companies today is balancing productivity with managing the environMEMO 2017 | 45

mental impact of their operations. Though companies utilize a variety of tactics to minimize their environmental footprint, one of the most overlooked opportunities is equipment lubrication. Knowing what lubrication factors to assess can result in insights that lead to meaningful improvements to your operation’s sustainability, including a possible reduction in emissions. For example, using higher quality lubricants can potentially deliver significant energy efficiency benefits in both mobile and rotating equipment. Also, utilizing expert technical services can result in improvements to your maintenance program, as well as reduced oil consumption and waste oil disposal.

Imperial has decades of experience helping mining companies achieve their environmental goals. For example, Imperial helped an open pit mining operation switch to higher performance lubricants, resulting in a reduction of engine oil consumption, which helped reduce waste oil disposal and improve fuel economy, leading to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Drawing on these experiences, this paper will outline the crucial role lubrication can play in reducing the environmental impact of mining operations, as well as specific strategies mining companies can employ to address environmental-related gaps in their lubrication program.

PIPELINE TECHNOLOGY Stream: Processing Chair: Martin Wacker, Principal Engineer, Cameco Corporation Room: Regal B 10:30 – Paper 1818 HIGH PERFORMANCE COATINGS FOR ABRASION IN SLURRY PIPELINES AND OTHER MINING EQUIPMENT Lawrence Lai, Michael Magerstaedt, Ali Sarvi, Thorsten Raeth, Stefan Forster and Nils Rentmeister, ROSEN IPS Canada Ltd

Downtime for maintenance due to abrasion of contact surfaces on pipes, chutes, pumps and other equipment in contact with ore is a significant cost factor in mining operations. Under today’s difficult market conditions, savings achieved by reducing idle time required for maintenance may be pivotal for the profitability of a mining operation.

Inner surface wear on pipes, pumps, hydrocyclones, mills and other wear-exposed mining equipment components can be reduced by protective cladding, coating and lining materials. Polymer coatings, particularly polyurethane (PUR) exhibit a very high performance-to-cost ratio. In applications like oils sands tailings and hydrotransport, cement transport, phosphate station piping, copper slurry pumps and choke stations, tailor-made polyurethanes interior pipe coatings and machinery wear plating have 46 | MEMO 2017

increased design life by factors up to 10 and possibly more. Recent innovations include a family of products that can monitor material wear using sensors inside the coating to transmit thickness data to the outside of the pipe without the need for a hole through the pipe wall. Such “intelligent” coatings have been operational in oils sands mining since 2015. Operators are able to reduce downtime by planning maintenance shutdowns much more precisely than possible without intelligent wear protection products.

This presentation will provide a summary of test data and case studies on field experience.

10:55 – Paper 1839 SLURRY PIPELINES AS PROCESS VESSELS Melissa McKibben, Saskatchewan Research Council

Slurry pipelines are frequently employed in the mining and mineral processing industry. While the most common application is for short or long distance transport of ore or tailings, some industries have successfully incorporated their slurry pipeline(s) into their processing flowsheet thereby eliminating one or more process vessels. One of the most notable examples is the use of hydrotransport technology in the oil sand sector. While serving as a transport mechanism for the ore, these slurry pipelines also provide pre-conditioning of the oil sand for extraction, resulting in capital, operating and processing efficiencies. In this presentation, slurry pipelines will be discussed in the context of their potential use as a process vessel including examples of ore and tailings applications. The possibility of applying these ideas to develop similar process improvements over a wider range of mining applications will be introduced.

11:20 – Paper 1809 DETECTION OF PIPELINE WEAKENING AND DEFECTS VIA ANALYSIS OF FLUID PRESSURE DYNAMIC RESPONSE Jeremy ven der Buhs and Travis Wiens, University of Saskatchewan

Long pipelines are extremely common in industries that refine materials such as oil and gas, chemical production, and mining. These pipelines typically contain liquid chemicals or slurries that contain water as the working fluid to transport solids such as sand, clay, and tailings. However very effective at moving materials over long distances, internal pipe erosion and corrosion result from continuous flow over long periods of time, and if not detected and maintained, can lead to failure. Inside fluid pipelines, the pressure wave propagation speed is dependent on the mechanical and geometrical properties of the pipe.

Common defects such as erosion, corrosion, and leaks have shown to have a significant effect on the dynamic response of the pressure within the pipeline. With recent MEMO 2017 | 47

advancements in modelling long, fluid-filled, transmission lines with the transmission line method (TLM) technique, faster and easier computation of fluid dynamic responses can be performed. Preliminary analysis and simulations using the TLM have theoretically shown that pipe defects and weakening can be detected in the frequency response and located by scaling the impulse response of the pipeline with respect to the wave propagation speed.

Future development of this technology could lead to a continuous pipeline monitoring and alerting system designed to prevent spills, effectively schedule maintenance, and increase the safety of workers and the environment.

11:45 – Paper 1815 ADVANCEMENTS IN SLURRY PIPELINE FLOW PREDICTIONS WITH THE SRC PIPEFLOW MODELS Ryan B. Spelay, SRC

The pipeline transport of slurries is a critical process in the mining and mineral processing industry. The SRC Pipe Flow Technology Centre™ has been conducting research on slurry pipeline flows for nearly 60 years. The completion of a wide range of projects for the oil sands and mineral processing industries with a variety of slurries has led to the development of the SRC PipeFlow Models. These are mechanistic models which use force balances along with semi-empirical correlations to provide predictions of the friction losses and deposition velocity for heterogeneous (settling) slurries in turbulent pipe flow. Older versions of the SRC PipeFlow model required the slurry to be characterized by a single coarse particle size (d50) and single coarse particle density (ρs). However, recent advancements have been made which have led to the release of a new model, SRC PipeFlow M1.0. This model includes a multi-species functionality that is now able to deal with multiple coarse particle sizes and densities, making it ideal for predicting the pipe flow behaviour of hydrotransport and coarse tailings slurries. It is also capable of handling the added complication of multimodal slurries containing lumps (rock) or slurries with broad particle size distributions. In the presentation, an overview of the SRC slurry classification system and the key concepts behind the SRC PipeFlow Models will be given. Practical examples, highlighting the capabilities of the model, will be provided for a number slurries typically encountered in the mining and mineral processing industry.

48 | MEMO 2017

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 | 13:30

BOLTING Stream: Mining Chair: Travis Wiens, Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan

Room: Gallery AB 13:30 – Paper 1853 IN SITU FIBRE-OPTIC INSTRUMENTED REBAR Garrett Snell, Evan Kuley and Doug Milne, University of Saskatchewan

An emerging technology often called distributed optical sensing allows for strain measurement using fibre-optics.

The technology uses Rayleigh scattering to measure strain at 0.7 mm increments along a several metre length of fibreoptic cable. The fibre-optic has been installed along the length of rebar rockbolts. The rockbolts were then installed by resin-grouting at various potash mines in Saskatchewan. The procedure for bolt installation and handling of the read-out unit will be discussed. Potash deforms a significant amount and the corresponding stress and strain response within the rebar can be determined with the fibre-optic instrumentation. Multiple readings were taken of the rockbolts as deformation progressed. The results were processed and the evolution of deformation within the rebar can be seen. The tensile, shear, and bending behaviour that a rockbolt can undergo is quite complex, but the fibre-optic instrumented bolt can measure this 3-dimensional behaviour. Knowing the deformation profile of the rebar rockbolt provides new insight into their performance. Distributed optical sensing can allow engineers to make more accurate evaluations of ground support requirements.

13:55 – Paper 1858 DYNABOLTER “A ROCK SOLID SOLUTION” Victoria Rhodes and Kevin Andersen, DynaIndustrial

An unsupported roof of a mine is one of the leading causes of accidents in mining. To solve this problem, mine personnel install roof bolts. Roof bolting is often done with manual bolting methods, which require the miners to stand underneath an unsupported roof, putting them at risk of serious injury or death due to falling debris. This method also takes more time and resources. With the DynaBolter’s 6 bolt carousel, dual joy stick controls and onboard LCD monitor, a single operator can easily secure the roof 2-3 times faster than the manual bolting method. The operator will also install the bolts 15 feet away from the drilling hole, in a cab certified for protection against roll over and falling MEMO 2017 | 49

debris. Standing at 7 feet tall, the bolter’s low profile design allows the operator to navigate through restrictive mines which have low backs and tight corners. This will not only save you time and money but it will ensure that at the end of a shift, the miners return home safely.

14:20 – Paper 1848 FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING OF PARTIALLY BOLTED POTASH ENVIRONMENTS Joshua Pauls, Paul Hughes and Travis Wiens, University of Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan potash mining takes place in generally flat lying ore beds with consistent clay seams throughout.

These normally flat lying beds are occasionally interrupted by anomalous ground conditions that result in reduced stability of the mine back. Currently, mining is stopped and the area is bolted using a mechanical-style rock bolt. To improve the production rate in such areas, it is desired that the bolts be installed as mining progresses, behind the borer, and out of the way of future mine passes. This condition allows for only one half of the mined room to be bolted because secondary passes are only partial passes and overlap on the initial room. The stability of such a system needs to be compared to the current bolting process to determine the safety of implementation. One method that can be used to achieve this is finite element analysis.

In this way, several different bolting patterns and scenarios can be tested rapidly and without putting underground personnel in unstable ground conditions. Using FEA software also allows the stability of tunnel to be analyzed locally, yielding some interesting results.

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE Stream: Maintenance & Reliability Chair: Damian Rohraff, Sales Lead, Mining and Minerals, Saskatchewan Research Council Room: Gallery C 13:30 – Paper 1838 CUTTING THROUGH THE COMPLEXITY OF MACHINERY ANALYSIS WITH PEAKVUE Matthew Chaplin and Mike Greer, Spartan Controls

Traditionally, vibration data has not been routed to the control room because it required specialized training and tools to extract any information from the data. Emerson’s PeakVue technology cuts through the complexity of machinery analysis to provide a simple, reliable indication of equipment health via a single trend. PeakVue filters out traditional vibration signals to focus on impacting, a much better indicator of overall asset health on any type of 50 | MEMO 2017

rolling element bearing machine. Applications on conveyers, pumps, crushers, and compactors will be highlighted.

13:55 – Paper 1826 REAL-TIME CONDITION MONITORING WITH MOBILE EQUIPMENT MONITORING Robert Hall, University of Alberta

Mining equipment maintenance has evolved rapidly in the last few decades starting with reactive breakdown maintenance and progressing to proactive preventative maintenance. Time-based preventative maintenance is not an ideal choice in the hostile mining environment and hence, condition based monitoring was developed that considers equipment usage and health conditions. Operators still depend on what they see, hear and feel to assess equipment performance and gain insight into equipment’s health, but it is often little too late to prevent the deterioration of equipment health if any problem exists. With the advent of real-time condition monitoring programs like Mobile Equipment Monitor (MEM) that uses data generated by existing sensors/systems on the truck potential equipment breakdowns and health degradation can be detected earlier. This paper explores the opportunities achievable through the use of MEM and highlights some successes that have been achieved at a major Canadian mining company.

14:20 – Paper 1668 HYDRAULIC EXCAVATOR VERSUS ROPE SHOVEL PERFORMANCE Tim Grain Joseph and Mark Curley, JPi Mine Equipment Rodion Andreev, Komatsu Russia John Sammut, University of Alberta

An analysis of dig performance for a hydraulic excavator versus an electric rope shovel of similar size class was performed in terms of the energy required to excavate a unit quantity of the same material from a mining face. The outcome of the analysis was that the energy per unit excavation quantity of rope shovels and hydraulic excavators are in fact identical. This is, for the most part, a material property; such that for any given material the amount of energy to excavate a unit quantity, regardless of the excavating tool, is constant. But this does not mean that one device is better than another; nor does it represent the total picture driving the selection of one excavating tool over another.

The total ‘cost’ of ownership including capital (plus sustaining capital), operating and maintenance costs, time, availability and utilization (productivity and efficiency of use) must also include the qualitative decisions regarding mining method and the mode of application; much of which is driven by the geological, operating and environmental conditions that are highly site specific. Thus in parallel, a MEMO 2017 | 51

comparative study of rope shovel and hydraulic excavator performance focusing on availability, productivity and life cycle cost (with a sub-focus on maintenance costs) was undertaken for 60,000 operating hours per machine, where data was available. Each machine’s performance was assessed by operating hours, maintenance activity impacting availability and productivity per m3 bucket capacity as a comparison normalizing factor, regardless of excavator size. Cost of ownership including: capital outlay, operating and maintenance costs including but not limited to spare parts, fuels, lubricants, electricity and consumables, were considered. The results indicated higher production rates by excavator of similar capacity and age. In general, electric rope shovels, with higher initial purchase cost, exhibited lower service cost per m3 capacity, becoming overall more cost effective within 5 years (~30,000 hours) of operation over the hydraulic excavator counterpart of similar capacity.

14:45 – Paper 1759 MITIGATING HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS FAILURES USING HIGH ENERGY MAGNETIC FILTRATION Roger Marchand, Bay6 Solutions Inc.

Mining systems’ productivity is dependent on mechanical equipment availability. Strategies designed to de-risk production and assure availability are especially important in challenging market conditions. Progressive CBM and RCM risk management strategies are increasingly including proactive techniques to de-risk operations and improve asset availability. Harsh mine operating environments present some of the most challenging conditions for equipment systems. Maintenance and reliability strategies that are simple in design and application generally deliver the best outcomes within the mining industry. By contrast, complex strategies utilizing moving parts or electronic controls and monitoring can frequently introduce secondary problems, additional maintenance complexity and often do not deliver the intended results. Mag-Shield magnetic filtration is a passive, proactive system that reduces total cost of ownership without moving parts, electronic support, and monitoring or additional maintenance routines. In 2012, tribology related issues cost the mining industry $5B in Canada and $30B in the U.S. Relatedly, most hydraulic system failures are unplanned maintenance outages. They are expensive systems to repair with commonly recurrent and catastrophic failures. Filtration and oil analysis programs are mostly reactive and limited in their ability to control and predict hydraulic system failures. By use of high-energy magnetic scrubbing, the Mag-Shield system effectively mitigates common failures, as demonstrated by field results. This power point presentation will focus on actual results from a range of mobile mine equipment applications.

52 | MEMO 2017

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Stream: Emerging Innovations Chair: Agus Sasmito, Assistant Professor, McGill University Room: Gallery D 13:30 – Paper 1882 SILVERTIP MINE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF USED EQUIPMENT IN A PLANT DESIGN PROJECT Sandy Kent, Allnorth Consultants Ltd.

The Silvertip Mine is an underground silver-lead-zinc mine located in northern British Columbia, approximately 16 km south of the Yukon border and 90 km southwest of Watson Lake. Our client, JDS Silver Inc. identified the Silvertip Project as a viable economic opportunity, seeing potential to unlock value in its assets. For this, they needed a new and innovative approach to develop the project’s potential and provide a significant return to their investors, within an ambitious time frame. In order to make the project economical in a period of then depressed commodity prices, the majority of the mechanical and electrical equipment would need to be of used condition, and the mine would need to start production as quickly as possible in order to generate a positive cash flow. As such, the Silvertip Project was proving to be an unconventional engineering project, not following the typical engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning sequences, and would require significant flexibility and capability from Allnorth to meet the demands for fast and responsive design processes. Allnorth will share lessons learned from this project, and discuss its successes, challenges and solutions. Attendees will gain insight on what to expect, how to prepare, and learn from recommended approaches for mine design projects that incorporate used equipment, outdated drawings and incomplete equipment data.

13:55 – Paper 1880 STRATEGIC MINE PLANNING: DETERMINING MINE VENTILATION SOLUTIONS USING ISIGHT®, MINESCHED®, EXCEL® AND VENTSIM® SOFTWARE Jason Allen, Tim Stokes and Donald Tolfree, Entech Mining Ltd.

Mine ventilation can be complex with some systems having many 100’s or 1000’s of connections within a network.

As the operation matures or new production locations are discovered, delivery of airflow to the required locations can govern production activities. The ventilation engineer is often required to quickly identify a solution that may address flow requirements, but may not be cost effective nor consider future mine expansion ventilation needs, potentially restricting future production. Entech, in partnership with Ventsim, 3DS-Geovia and our clients, have develMEMO 2017 | 53

oped a method of evaluation, which links the mine plan and ventilation models to the financial model. Using Isight® to control and track key parameters, many evaluations can be rapidly completed. On a recent project, more than 800 scenarios were produced to develop a well-supported solution. This paper discusses the benefits of a rigorous approach to complex system analysis in ventilation modelling that can be expanded to mine planning.

14:20 – Paper 1877 PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF KAIZEN® IN MINING Gary Rogers, Kaizen Institute North America

Historically, KAIZEN® has been linked to Manufacturing and most notably Automotive Manufacturing. Many industries stick to the belief that they are “different”. There is no way KAIZEN® applies to their industry and their business.

Up until recently, Mining has not been an exception to this belief. With the current market conditions and fluctuating commodity prices, there are ever increasing pressures from regulators, environmental concerns, transportation systems, and shareholders. The combination of these pressures has led to more complex processes and solutions when, in fact, the focus should shift toward simpler, quicker, more efficient solutions. In most cases, the cost of these inefficiencies and complexities adds 10-20% to the cost of production. The focus is towards value-added activities and the elimination of waste. Several case studies from the mining industry illustrating the practical application will be presented, including: 1. Capital Expenditure Avoidance 2. 5S/Workplace Organization 3. Lean Project Management 4. Warehouse Optimization/Stock Reduction 5. Visual Management.

14:45 – Paper 1890 EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF SELECTIVE ARTIFICIAL GROUND FREEZING WITH AIR INSULATION Agus Sasmito, Aurelien Nie-Rouquette and Mahmoud Alzoubi, McGill University

Artificial ground freezing (AGF) is an energy intensive technique used to strengthen saturated porous rock masses and render them impermeable. When freezing is only required at specific depths, an air insulation casing can be installed to create a passive freezing zone and thus reduce energy losses. A lack of radial support to ensure concentricity can cause inner and outer pipe walls to touch and thus bypass/short-circuit the air insulation. To quantify the importance of such phenomena, an experimental artificial ground freezing rig equipped with air-insulation bayonet tube is developed at McGill University. Several operating parameters were evaluated with regard to freezing efficiency. A mathematical model and numerical simulation 54 | MEMO 2017

to mimic our experiment is also developed and validated.

It is further employed to evaluate the effect pipe short-circuit at the air insulation, and compare it with that of perfectly installed air insulation. The results indicate the shortcircuit significantly reduces the effectiveness of the insulation by up to 90%.

PROCESSING Stream: Processing Chairs: Lorne D. Schwartz, Senior Engineering Specialist, AMEC Americas; Mahdieh Razeghi, Processing Engineer-in-Training

Room: Regal B 13:30 – Paper 1787 A 3-CURVE DENSIMETRIC ANALYSIS Jane Danoczi, Saskatchewan Research Council

A 3-curve densimetric analysis provides important operational information for any technology using gravity separation. Information such as mass-balance and recovery efficiency information. This analysis also allows one to critically compare the performance of different technologies or different sized units such as DMS cyclones - should one use a cluster of 360 mm diameter cyclones or one 610 mm diameter cyclone. The 3-curve densimetric analysis is conducted by taking representative samples of the feed, floats and sinks of a gravity separation process and then analysing these samples using heavy liquid separation (HLS). The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) can now conduct HLS testing to a specific gravity in excess of 4.0 g/ml. The SRC conducted a 3-curve densimetric analysis on their 150 mm diameter dense media cyclone (DMC) to quantify the misplaced material. The findings from this analysis are; • At the DMC d50 cut-point, the average operational efficiency is 97.95%. • The d50 value obtained from the DMC tracer test and from the heavy liquid densimetric tests are comparable. • The d50 value shifts approximately 0.1 SG for each 1 mm change in particle size.

13:55 – Paper 1817 IMPROVED RECOVERY, RELIABILITY AND EFFICIENCY THROUGH ADVANCED PROCESS CONTROL – PROVEN RESULTS Devin Marshman, Spartan Controls

Advanced control and optimization tools and techniques have seen limited historical acceptance in the mining and mineral processing industries. SAG mills and rotary dryer advanced control applications are not uncommon, and advanced flotation and reagent mixing advanced control strategies are beginning to be used by early adopters, but the rest of the processing facility operation is often manually set, monitored, and controlled by operators at the lowMEMO 2017 | 55

est possible level of automation. Due to the low baseline of existing automation combined with the ultimate impact on product recovery and energy efficiency of these oftenignored applications, the payback of these projects can be extremely attractive. Spartan Controls has recently partnered with various mining facilities across Western Canada to implement a variety of highly successful advanced control and optimization applications. Some of these mining facilities include a copper mill in British Columbia, a number of potash facilities in Saskatchewan, and a variety of oil sands surface mining operations in Alberta. This paper provides a survey of industry-tested applications and their payback in the mining and mineral processing industries.

14:20 – Paper 1828 MILL PERFORMANCE OPTIMISATION USING QEMSCAN MINERALOGICAL ANALYSIS Sarah Prout and Bernie Yeung, SGS Canada Inc.

Mineralogy is an essential tool for understanding the performance of a mill and for process optimisation. QEMSCAN (Quantitative Evaluation of Materials by Scanning Electron Microscopy) is one of the industry’s leading technologies for process mineralogy in terms of mineral identification and liberation; it can be used to document and understand the recovery of the metal carrying mineral phases, gangue phases, and penalty elements. A range of streams from the flowsheet can be analysed to monitor, troubleshoot, and conduct quality control for mineral processing operations.

These products can include the majority of the process streams such as feed, various intermediate products, final tailings, and concentrates. With judicial selection of the sampling points, a mineralogical mass balance can be performed on the flowsheet pinpointing the sources of gains and losses throughout the operation. It can be carried out on a routine basis in order to benchmark performance and to provide a database on historical performance; this data may then be combined with feed mineralogy to alert the operations of future processing issues.

14:45 – Paper 1836 THE IMPACTS OF ACTIVE CLAYS ON MINERAL SLURRY PROPERTIES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MINING PROCESSES Ruijun Sun, Saskatchewan Research Council

Active (swelling) clay minerals play predominate role in defining properties of clay based slurry, such as particle agglomeration, slurry rheology, tailing deposit permeability and void ratio. They affect processes like extraction, flotation, flocculation, thickening, hydrotransportation and sedimentation. Impacts of clays span different mineral sectors including potash, kimberlites and oil sands operations.

Research in this area shows that the presence of active 56 | MEMO 2017

clays, such as smectite can significantly increase solids settling times, which can have a significant impact on water recycle and tailings management processes.

Understanding the types and amounts of clay in mineral ores and tailings enables more effective process design and control. The talk will present the impacts different clay types have on mining operations and the sort of variation that can be seen within a single ore deposit. Methods for defining clay content, including X-Ray Diffraction and Methylene Blue Index (MBI) as a measure of clay activity will be discussed. This presentation will then discuss how variations in clay content affect mining processes, including pipeline transport, coagulant/flocculant dosages, tailings settling and consolidation rates.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 | 15:30

MINING METHODS Stream: Mining Chair: John D. Unrau, Manager Geotechnical Services, Mosaic Potash

Room: Gallery AB 15:30 – Paper 1841 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CIGAR LAKE JET BORING MINING METHOD. Martin Wacker, Cameco Corporation

Cigar Lake high-grade uranium mine in Saskatchewan is operating after 25 years of test mining, construction, and mine flood remediation. Factors include ground stability, groundwater control, radiation exposure, and ore handling. A 10 year test program resulted in validating “jet boring”, a non-entry mining method involving artificially freezing the orebody and surrounding rock; tunnelling to develop access crosscuts below the orebody; installing cased pilot holes through ore; extracting ore using rotating high-pressure water jets within pilot holes; and cavity concrete backfilling. Ore slurry is prepared underground, pumped to surface, and trucked to McClean Lake mill for processing to uranium concentrate.

15:55 – Paper 1865 SELECTIVE DISSOLUTION OF SYLVITE ORE USING MANGANESE AS A CATALYST Don Gendzwill and Z. Szczepanik, University of Saskatchewan

Solution mining of potash ore with concentrated brine has been proposed as a means to avoid large piles of halite tailings on the surface. Laboratory tests of 41% and 61% grade potash ore samples showed that concentrated NaCl brine can selectively leach sylvite from potash ore while MEMO 2017 | 57

leaving the original coarse-grained halite matrix in place but the rate of leaching is much slower than achieved with fresh water or weak brine. After leaching more than 150 hours, 98% of the original sylvite was removed from the samples creating high porosity that was partly filled and recemented with very-fine-grained new halite that crystallized out of the brine. Replacement of original sylvite with newly crystallized halite is a mechanism that transports halite from the surface to underground. A small amount of manganese added to the brine slightly improves the initial rate of sylvite leaching. The leached and highly porous rock samples, 97% pure halite, were still intact, did not disintegrate, and were strong enough to be easily handled and cut with a saw. It is not clear how such a sturdy framework of porous halite rock that remained after leaching would behave in an operating solution mine cavern.

16:20 – Paper 1852 ALIMAK PRODUCTION STOPING WITH ELECTRONIC DETONATORS AT SEABEE GOLD OPERATION Nathan Schartner, Silver Standard Resources Inc.

At the Seabee Gold Operation several unique operational difficulties were encountered when blasting production alimak stopes that remove the manway access while using electronic detonators. The confined nature of the alimak raise and limited air flow resulted in substantial condensation within the raise which then mixed with ammonium nitrate in the air from loading production holes; this resulted in a corrosive solution that negatively affected the connectors on the electronic detonators. A new systematic method of clipping the connectors to the harness wire was developed that minimised the ability of the corrosive solution to affect the connectors. Two case studies are presented that detail the background to the production blasting, the operational difficulties that were encountered, the method for each case study to remedy the problem, and the results of the blasts.

16:45 – Paper 1846 BLAST DESIGN EVALUATION AT TRUE NORTH MINE Tao Chakela and Rob Swanson, Klondex

Klondex Mines Ltd’s True North Mine, located in Bissett, Manitoba, is a narrow vein gold mine that utilizes longhole stoping as its primary mining method. This project evaluates the KPI’s on stope performance against varied longhole stope designs, and tracks the effects that these design changes serve in reducing dilution, secondary ground support, increased stope cycle times and ultimately costs. Historic longhole stoping parameters at True North Mine have been 50’ level spacing, with 3’ burden and 2-1/2” diameter production holes. To improve overall longhole mining efficiency, powder factor and level spac58 | MEMO 2017

ing have been decreased and analyzed based on KPI data taken from various production stopes. Powder factor has been decreased by moving to 2-1/8” bit diameter holes, and level spacing shortened to 30’. The results of these design changes have shown that although an increase in waste development has been required to produce more of ore sills off the main ramp system, the dilution has been decreased and cycle times increased [enough to outweigh the development costs]. These results are quantified using CMS scans, recorded cycle times and material cost analyses of stopes designed with the historic parameters compared with the new, modified design parameters.

EQUIPMENT Stream: Mining Chair: Neil Wight, Director, Maintenance & Engineering, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan

Room: Gallery C 15:30 – Paper 1867 INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO INCREASE THE RELIABILITY OF PUMPING AND DEWATERING SYSTEMS Patrick Martel, Technosub

Water and sludge management in underground mines brings several challenges: companies must deliver results, ensure a safe working environment and efficient operations. To meet these market performance criterias, traditional maintenance methods no longer suffice, and innovation plays a key role. Many innovative technologies are now available to optimize system lifespans, including improved pump designs, new materials, monitoring instrumentation or solids-laden water clarification methods. This presentation will demonstrate: 1. How to improve the mining process and reduce costs with the use of solids-laden water clarification methods; 2. How to choose an adequate pumping system that reduces energy consumption; 3.

How to identify the most common sources of pumping problems.

15:55 – Paper 1855 HOW THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS DRIVING INCREASED EFFICIENCY IN MINING OPERATIONS Mark Mills and Kevin Shikoluk, General Electric

The application of big data and advanced analytics has the potential to unlock untapped areas of productivity and efficiency for mining haul trucks. From digital modeling and validation in the design process to active monitoring and diagnosis of electronic and mechanical systems, GE is at the forefront of the Industrial Internet. This exciting new technology will greatly improve life cycle cost of mining assets through optimizing overhaul intervals to greatly MEMO 2017 | 59

improving fuel consumption by understanding the asset’s interaction with other mine equipment on a real-time basis.

This discussion will present some of innovative technology GE currently employs as well as a preview of some of big data innovations.

16:20 – Paper 1844 ACOUSTIC DRILL PIPE COMMUNICATIONS FOR MINING Md Shahriar Islam, Allan Dolovich and Travis Wiens, University of Saskatchewan Nathan Peter, Saskatchewan Research Council

Bi-directional communication through the drill pipe in many mining operations is important for control and feedback with the tool end since the borehole process is otherwise an invisible operation. There have been different methods used throughout history for communication, although they all have a very slow data rate. Moreover, different parameters affect the process and attenuate the data that are transferred through drill pipes. Acoustic telemetry is a method of transferring data through a medium using continuous wave propagation of forces. Using this new method may become popular in the mining industry because of its faster data transmission rate and ability to ignore most attenuating parameters. Although the theory of acoustic telemetry has existed for quite some time, the new method is still in its optimization stage and the use of a perfect tool to match with the parameters of the drill pipe and surroundings is still a challenge to overcome. These different parameters play an important role in attenuating the data through pipes, which need to be modeled correctly, as well as modelling the transducer for bi-directional communication. This paper will present a review of the current research in this field.

16:45 – Paper 1866 PROCESSING PLANT EXPANSION AT KITTILA MINE AFFORDS OPPORTUNITY FOR SIGNIFICANT MATERIAL HANDLING IMPROVEMENT Tracy Holmes, Jenike & Johanson Ltd. John Middlemiss, Agnico Eagle Mine

AgnicoEagle (AE) has operated their Kittila Mine in Finland since 2008. Their flat-bottomed 2000-tonne mill feed bin has experienced considerable ore flow problems (ratholing, bridging, freezing) since start up. In the first winter, the entire central portion of the contents of the bin froze. Flow was erratic and could only be achieved through small diameter ratholes. To maintain a reasonable, albeit limited, feed to the mill, the bin had to be kept less than ½-full and a portable steam generator was brought in to melt frozen agglomerates that frequently blocked the outlets. The combination of limited surge capacity and frequent outages required the crushing plant to operate 24/7 and 60 | MEMO 2017

resulted in inconsistent production levels and high operating costs. AE’s plans to expand the processing plant to increase throughput by ~30% when they transitioned from open pit to underground ore presented an opportunity to improve the material handling. (To avoid similar problems, AE enlisted Jenike & Johanson to test samples of the ore, and based on the measured flow properties to provide recommendations.) The new 2000-tonne expanded-flow mill feed bin and apron feeder were installed in 2014 and now supply ~ 93% of the total mill feed.

TECHNOLOGY Stream: Emerging Innovations Chair: Nathan Peter, Business Unit Manager, Development Engineering & Manufacturing, SRC

Room: Gallery D 15:30 – Paper 1861 VIDEO MONITORING AS AN ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF MEASURING INFRASTRUCTURE DISPLACEMENTS Katy Richard, The Mosaic Company

Methods for measuring movement on essential mine infrastructure has traditionally relied on some degree of physical contact or proximity between an instrument and the desired structure. Accessibility, and the conditions surrounding such equipment, can make obtaining a reliable means of measuring displacements and deformation challenging. Video-monitoring technology has emerged as a possible non-contact alternative to conventional instrumentation methods that many operations are currently accustomed to. This presentation will summarize the video-monitoring tests conducted by Mosaic, including its use in assessing the recent failure of a roof-mounted head pulley assembly at the K2 Mine.

15:55 – Paper 1659 PASSIVE RFID IN MINING Marc Brunet, K4 Integration Inc.

Many newly discovered ore bodies have been found deep within existing mining infrastructure. Logistical costs to access and maintain these areas are high and any reduction in operating expenditures are crucial. Deploying a passive RFID in these circumstances or in new operations is beneficial, as it can be used for: 1) Material handling and inventory: knowing what you have and where in the mine can make inventory management easy and reliable.

Proactive ordering makes sure you never run out.

Expensive equipment can be tracked in order to monitor its use. 2) Personnel tracking: energy used for lighting and ventilation can be controlled depending on activity in an MEMO 2017 | 61

area of the mine; dispatching is more efficient; safety accountability time during an emergency is reduced. Data from work habits can be stored and reviewed. 3) Ramp optimization is achieved by prioritizing its use depending on equipment. Newly developed tags are being introduced every day; these only add to the breadth where a passive RFID system can be beneficial. Tags can now be embedded in steel or hammered onto a skid, they can be carried by personnel without being intrusive, or they can be installed on vehicles.

16:20 – Paper 1902 MAXIMIZE ASSET AVAILABILITY THROUGH OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL MODELLING Alp Bora and Irwin Ewen, SNC-Lavalin

Effectiveness of the mining equipment is mainly influenced by the availability, reliability and maintainability of the system, and its capability to perform as expected. The return on investment on a piece of equipment can be maximized by optimizing its availability. Moreover, for Greenfield projects, Design Engineering Stress-Testing is needed to deliver on targeted production outcomes while sustaining the operations over the asset lifecycle. Throughout our various interactions with Mining and Metallurgy companies, we have noted that by relying on the end-goal of each production improvement project, efforts tend to be misaligned and thus, projects might not deliver the expected value.

SNC-Lavalin believe Engineering and Construction companies play a key role in providing Mining and Metallurgy companies with a holistic approach to maximize operability of their assets. Using a value chain modeling approach, Mining and Metallurgy companies can successfully identify critical improvement projects; E&C companies understand the efforts required to achieve required production targets, provide technical and financial expertise, quantify the impact and support improvements prioritization. This paper seeks to streamline how asset availability and productivity can be maximized through operational and financial modelling.

The systemic and cross-functional approach used in operations modeling allows for an accurate and comprehensive picture of the production value chain. This comprehensive view of operations and processes allows companies to identify bottlenecks, and to understand the consequences of changes in operations & maintenance.

Modeling provides an end-to-end process flow map accounting for operational and financial risks that can be analysed at all stages of mining value chain, from Greenfield project to mine closure. The optimization of

62 | MEMO 2017

each stage in relation to one another is imperative to make the system profitable and viable for operation.

PROCESSING AND OH&S Stream: Processing Chairs: Geoff Wilkie, Senior Cost Consultant, ENGCOMP; Jane Danoczi, Senior Process Engineer, SRC

Room: Regal B 15:30 – Paper 1876 BIOSORPTION OF PRECIOUS METALS FROM PLS IN CHLORIDE MEDIA Yen Ning Lee and Shafiq Alam, University of Saskatchewan, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Conventional hydrometallurgical processing of metals involves the use of large quantities of toxic chemicals.

Realizing a need to develop sustainable technologies, extensive research studies are being carried out to recover and recycle base, precious and rare earth metals from their pregnant leach solutions (PLS) using green chemicals/biomaterials prepared from biomass wastes derived from agriculture, marine and forest resources. Our innovative research showed that bio-adsorbents prepared from such biomass wastes can effectively adsorb precious metals, especially gold after conversion of their functional groups in a very simple process. The highly effective “Adsorption-coupled-Reduction” phenomenon witnessed appears promising for the potential use of this gold biosorption process in the mining industry. Proper management and effective use of biomass wastes as value added green chemicals will not only reduce the volume of wastes being generated every day in our society, but will also have a high end value to the mining and mineral processing industries as those biomaterials would be cheap, but very selective for gold recovery/recycling from low grade ore, leach residue or e-wastes.

15:55 – Paper 1874 BUILDING CULTURE FOR STRONG SAFETY PERFORMANCE Sunil S. Sohani, Saskatchewan Research Council

The Saskatchewan Research Council is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. A continuously evolving safety culture has been critical to this sustained existence. Over the years Occupational Health and Safety program at SRC has tried to engage employees at all levels of the organization to build the culture that drives strong safety performance. Establishing “Safety” as an overriding priority and an OH&S Management System with “Commitment and Leadership” as its core element was critical to building the culture. Efforts over the last many years have resulted in a MEMO 2017 | 63

reducing trend for incidents, more than 1.5 million person hours (and counting…) without a Lost Time Incident and winning the first ever “Mission Zero” award by Safe Saskatchewan in 2016. Various initiatives have been implemented and important lessons have been learned during this journey. These initiatives are helping the evolution of the program in which not only the management but employees at all levels of the organization drive the program forward in a proactive manner. The presentation will delve into details of the program and initiatives as well as lessons learned which can offer learnings to other organizations in their pursuit of world class safety standards.

16:20 – Paper 1888 OPERATING ON SOLID GROUND: HOW TO AVOID COMMON MISTAKES IN PROCESS DESIGN Carlos Perucca, CPPC Ltd.

The design of a new Process Plant, whatever the ore to be beneficiated, it’s not much different from any new-product development process. Process Plant Design needs to be understood as a complex and multi-dimensional process which usually has a unique solution that should be tailormade to the ore to be processed. Unfortunately, there are more than a few examples of Process Plants that have taken many months before performing to the standards to which they were designed, or that never managed to achieve these standards at all. There have been a few cases of process plants that failed to work or had a botched start-up and needed major workovers before they could even start production on a consistent basis. This paper aims to stress the importance of adhering to the main phases of design or any industrial design for that matter – the information phase, the generation phase, and the testing and evaluation phase – as critical to the success of a plant design. A successful process plant design would have a short start-up which would rapidly ramp up production to the targeted throughput and recoveries without significant deviations on the estimated operating costs.

16:45 – Paper 1881 SCREENING TECHNOLOGIES FOR APPLICATIONS FROM FINE SAND TO COARSE COAL AND THE AIM OF MINIMUM ENERGY COSTS AND MAINTENANCE EFFORT Manuel Kevin Eickhorn, RHEWUM GmbH

For screening technologies, there is a vast field of different applications in the mining industry. While on the one hand coarse screening is required for surface mining of rocks and soils, on the other hand minerals such as salt and zinc often need to be processed much finer. Production mostly takes place near the deposit after crushing the material.

The steps of screening and crushing can be done multiple times until the grain size required for the following final 64 | MEMO 2017

production process is attained. Either a linear oscillatory motion screen or a dual frequency screen can process high feed rates from medium to coarse separation range.

The drive principle is based on a combination of two outof-balance motors running with dierent frequencies and strokes resulting in unique vibrations along the screening surface. Choosing the processing steps and the associated screen cuts the required energy consumption and maintenance should be as low as possible. Therefore, a machine with direct excitation of the screen surface is recommended. Electromagnetic vibrating heads and an integrated cleaning cycle eectively prevent blinding of the mesh and thus reduce maintenance for cleaning and exchange. The technique itself grants a high availability of the screening machine throughout the year.

MEMO 2017 | 65

TRADE SHOW EXHIBITORS Booth 327 325 106 336 331 333 100 228 205 112 104 118 202 211 335 234 200 126 337 305 231 226 214 110 208 319 400 311 402 102 307 303 216 213 340

Name Website A.R. Wilfley & Sons wilfley.com BASF Corporation master-builders-solutions.basf.us Bit Service Company Ltd. bitservice.ca Brandt brandt.com Broadbent Centrifuges broadbent.co.uk Buhler Inc. buhlergroup.com Carriere Industrial Supply Ltd. carriereindustrial.com Certified Mining & certifiedsalesandrentals.com Construction Sales & Rentals CMI cmisk.ca Commercial Sand Blasting csbp.ca and Painting Croatia Industries Ltd croatiaindustries.com CWA Engineers Inc. cwaengineers.com DSI Underground Canada Ltd. dsiunderground.com DynaIndustrial dynaindustrial.com EECOL Electric eecol.com Enerburn Inc. enerburninc.com ENGCOMP Engineering engcomp.ca & Computing Professionals Inc. Engineered Pipe Group hdpe.ca ENS Industrial ensindustrial.ca Fabco Plastics fabcoplastics.com Fireball Equipment mining.fireball.ca Fortis fortiscorporation.com G.L. Tiley & Associates Ltd tiley.on.ca Geobrugg Geohazard geobrugg.com Solutions, LLC GeoShack geoshack.com GMR Electric Motors gmrelectric.com Hazleton Pumps International hazletonpumps.co.za (Pty) Ltd. Hepburn Engineering Inc. hepeng.com Honeywell Footwear honeywellsafety.com Howatt Consulting howattconsulting.com Hurley Ventilation thehurleygroup.com Technologies Ltd Industrial Fabrication Inc. minecat.com Industrial Machine & Mfg. Inc. indmac.ca Jenike & Johanson Ltd. jenike.com JNE Welding LP jnewelding.com

66 | MEMO 2017

Booth 225 339 334 215 408 130 206 230 108 212 223 124 120 122 224 315 217 237 313 132 128 222 235 404 227 317 210 236 329 204 209 309 207 233 406 229

Name K4 Integration Inc./TopVu Kalenborn Abresist Corp.

Kal Tire Kamengo Maclean Engineering Meglab Mine Design Technologies Inc. Mine Supply Company Minetec Industrial Supply Multotec Canada MWG Apparel Corp Norcan Fluid Power Normet Norseman Structures Northern Strands Park Derochie Coatings (Saskatchewan) Inc PEX Industrial Piping Solutions Provix Richwood Rocvent Inc RST Instruments Ltd. Saskatchewan Research Council SIEMAG TECBERG SKF Canada Ltd Spraying Systems Co. Standard Machine Technosub Thermal Insulation Association of Canada Thurston Machine Inc. TIME Limited Transmin Pty Ltd Wabi Iron & Steel Corp Weir Minerals Welco Expediting Ltd. Wesco Distribution Westlund

Website topvu.ca kalenborn.de kaltiremining.com kamengo.com macleanengineering.com meglab.ca mdt.ca minesupplyco.com minetecsales.com multotec.ca mwgapparel.com norcanfp.com normet.com norsemanstructures.com northernstrands.com parkderochie.com pex-pipe.com provix.net richwood.com rocvent.com rstinstruments.com src.sk.ca siemag-tecberg.com skf.ca spray.com standardmachine.ca technosub.net tiac.ca thurston.ca timeltd.ca transmin.com.au wabicorp.com weirminerals.com welco.ca wesco.ca westlundpvf.com

MEMO 2017 | 67

EXHIBITION FLOOR PLAN

68 | MEMO 2017

FLOOR PLAN – MAIN LEVEL

MEMO 2017 | 69

FLOOR PLAN – UPPER LEVEL

70 | MEMO 2017

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS Deadline: November 20, 2017

SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT AND WORK WITH US TO BUILD THE FUTURE OF MINING TOGETHER. The CIM Convention has always been a gathering place for thought leaders and industry innovators; a place where minds come together to combine expertise, vision and dedication to find solutions to some of the industry’s greatest challenges and grasp opportunities.

➔ You can submit an abstract to any of the following technical program streams: ➔ Maintenance Engineering and Reliability Best Practices

➔ A Vision for the Future – Mineral Processing In Canada

➔ Mining Projects Development

➔ Underground Mining

➔ Environment and Sustainability Development

➔ Mining Metamorphosis

➔ Leading In Safety ➔ Practical Operation ➔ Exploration and Mine Geology

➔ Rock Mechanics ➔ Diversity and Inclusion ➔ Management and Finance Day (By invitation only)

Note: More details and sub-themes are available on the website.

Submit an abstract at

A selection of papers presented at CIM Convention 2018 will be available online through cim.org Technical Paper Library.

CONVENTION.CIM.ORG #CIMBC18

100% Power.

100% Operator Comfort.

The Komatsu D475A-5 has a net horsepower of 890HP (664 kW) @2000 rpm and an operating weight of 108,390 kg (238,960 lbs.).

Other features include: • Extra-low machine profile Provides excellent machine balance and low centre of gravity • Operator Comfort Palm control joysticks, air suspension seat that rotates 15 degrees to the right and a low dBA cab

1 866-458-0101

smsequip.com

• 100% Power-Pushing or Ripping Equipped with an automatic lock-up torque converter, the D475A has the versatility, speed and power to maximize production