Mining Sustainability Working Group

The Call for Papers for the 5th SDIMI Conference has been posted.

The Institute of Mining Engineering I of the RWTH Aachen University is pleased to announce:
Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry From Primary Production to Sustainable Supply Chains on June 14 – 17, 2011 in Aachen, Germany under the framework of Aachen International Mining Symposia (AIMS)

SDIMI 2011 is the fifth in a series of international conferences dedicated to the issue of sustainable development in the minerals industry world wide.

This conference series is jointly organized by RWTH Aachen University, Germany, Virginia Tech University, USA, and the Technical University of Crete, Greece.

The purpose of the SDIMI conference series is best captured in the “Milos Declaration”, that has been adopted at the first SDIMI conference held on the island of Milos, Greece, in the year 2003 and which has been endorsed by leading global professional and scientific organizations active in the sector.

Please check it out:
http://www.aims.rwth-aachen.de/SDIMI2011/

Mining and Metagenomics: Public Acceptability and Translational Praxis

The Translational Research Group (TRGR) at UBC (Department of Applied Ethics) is undertaking an exciting and unique Mining and Metagenomics project.  There is ongoing research that looks at how mining companies can explore and exploit properties of organisms in their natural environment and how this can help to reduce ARD.  What is innovative about this TRGR project is the integration of the social, natural and applied sciences. The project is looking at the development of a genomic tool for monitoring and improving passive mitigation of mine drainage. But it is also working to better understand how the processes by which the mining industry and its stakeholders make decisions about what water treatment (passive or active) to use.  The project also wants to explore the implications of those processes for the adoption of novel genomic technologies in the larger context of emerging field.

The research questions provide some important ideas about how this project will help companies approach mining issues in a holistic manner.

Question 1 – What socio-economic, geographic, and historical factors affect the adoption of AMD treatment technologies in BC’s mining industry?  This question takes a multidisciplinary and historical (evolutionary) look at why certain treatment systems (passive or active) have been adopted locally.  This is a useful approach in order to look at future decisions and mine management policy, particularly as there have been some concerns around mining projects that could require thousands of years of monitoring activities.

Question 2 – What is the nature of stakeholder engagement in decisions on technological change? How and why do perceptions of novel technologies vary across different stakeholder groups? How do stakeholders differentiate between active and passive treatment systems?  This question allows the researchers to address some of the perceptions that communities have about mining particularly looking at the reception of emerging technologies. This could provide important insight for how to approach and inform communities about details of mining project management, as well as providing an opportunity to further educate communities about mining projects. The end result could lead to productive opportunities for dialogue.

For more information about the project, please see: Mining and Metagenomics

Upcoming Event

Reflections on the Red Chris Mine Decision

There will be a panel discussion on the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision regarding the Red Chris Mine case as well as the implications of this seminal decision on the law and practice of environmental assessment in Canada.

Thursday, February 11, 12:30 – 2:00 pm
Liu Institute for Global Issues, Multipurpose Room
6476 NW Marine Drive, UBC

Panel experts will include:

• Lara Tessaro, Staff Lawyer, Ecojustice, Co-counsel for Miningwatch Canada
• Mark Haddock, Director, Environmental Tribunals Project, University of Victoria
• Diana Valiela, Barrister and Solicitor, Co-counsel for the Red Chris Development Co.

Please register for this event at: http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/liuinstitute/register-red-chris-mine

Hosted by UBC’s Centre for Global Environmental and Natural Resource Law and the Liu Institute for Global Issues

A Career in Mining is something worth talking about!

Despite current economic conditions, the Canadian mining industry is facing a substantial workforce shortage due largely to its aging workforce. According to the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), 60 000 to 90 000 new workers will be needed to meet anticipated Canadian production targets through to 2017. We also know that the general public has a number of misperceptions of the mining industry that may deter new and non-traditional workers from exploring career opportunities in mining.

To attract workers to the mining industry, MiHR has launched the ‘Explore for More’ attraction, recruitment and retention campaign, and an important part of this campaign involves community outreach through speaker presentations.

To facilitate these presentations, MiHR has developed an online Speakers Bureau where representatives can register to speak about the exciting careers in mining. Teachers, community groups, and others can then search for a speaker who fills their need for a career presentation in mining, and request the speaker through the online portal.

We need your help!

MiHR is currently looking for volunteer speakers to facilitate these presentations!

Speakers must:

• Have knowledge of and/or experience in the mining industry
• Be passionate about the industry
• Be willing to share their enthusiasm and insights

They play a vital role in raising awareness about the mining industry and steering interested individuals to appropriate career and educational resources. As a speaker, you may be invited to give presentations at schools, community centres, industry organizations or career fairs.

What you will gain:

• Relevant volunteer experience for your resume, and scholarship applications
• Experience in presentation facilitation – to a variety of audiences
• Sense of well-being that comes from being a role-model – you will be introducing the industry to many people/youth who may have otherwise never considered a career in mining. You will be helping to shape the future workforce of the industry.
• Great conversation starter for your next conference J

Volunteer Details

When you register as a speaker (by setting up an online profile), you can select which types of groups you are comfortable speaking with. You can also determine the regional presentation radius, and indicate scheduling that works best for you.

Presentation requests will be sent to you by email, at which time you can decide whether to accept it or not; you set your own schedule. We ask that speakers commit to a minimum of 2 presentations per year.

Regional Resource Providers (RRPs) are available across Canada, and they have free resources to support presentations. These resources include:  pop-up banners, mining videos, and career tools kits. You can contact the RRP closest to your presentation location; they will ensure resources are delivered to the presentation location on the required dates.

To become a speaker, visit www.acareerinmining.ca and click on Speakers Bureau where you can register online. There, you will also find downloadable versions of all the materials you will need to make a presentation, and links to all relevant resources and contacts.

If you have any questions, or would like assistance in registering, please contact Jen Clark – Outreach Coordinate MiHR – jclark@mihr.ca For more information on these resources please visit www.acareerinmining.ca.

Blow is an article from the Vancouver Sun.

It outlines some of the debate that surrounds the bill, particularly around the question on monitoring and investigation activities that would be undertaken by the government in order to ensure that companies are complying with the guidelines.

Sat Jan 16 2010
Byline: Fiona Anderson

As long as Canadian mining companies work in emerging markets, complaints about adverse effects on the local community are going to arise. But how can Canadians be sure that local companies aren’t misbehaving?

MiningWatch Canada is advocating the passage of Bill C-300 — “An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries.” The private member’s bill, brought forward by Liberal MP John McKay, passed second reading and was before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs when the prime minister recessed Parliament until March. The prorogation order allows reinstatement of private members bills and, if passed, the bill would force the government to create corporate guidelines consistent with Canada’s international commitments on human rights and environmental sustainability. Companies that fail to comply with the guidelines would be ineligible for funding from Export Development Canada.

But the mining industry is against the bill, not because it doesn’t want to comply with the standards, it says, but because the bill doesn’t provide for funding — no private member’s bill can — and the guidelines that need to be followed are too vague. On top of that, three years of roundtable discussions have led to a four-pronged approach that includes developing guidelines and appointing a corporate social responsibility (CSR) counsellor, who was appointed in October.  “The problem with C-300 is it really sets all of that aside,” said Laureen Whyte, vice-president of sustainability and operations at the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.

“It’s not based on the outcomes of those roundtable discussions. It instead offers up a pretty punitive way of investigating complaints, and it frankly doesn’t, and it can’t, provide for the resources that’s needed to do proper investigations.”  The CSR counsellor, on the other hand, has the funds needed to do the necessary investigations, which can be costly.  “It’s really hard from afar to identify what’s really going on, and so you need to have local information that you can rely on,” Whyte said. “You also need to have some ability to assess the factors that are at play. And it takes a huge amount of resources to do that.”  Without the ability to investigate, the situation remains as it is now, a media play, Whyte said.  It’s easy for people to complain that companies are making them sick or poisoning their water, especially to the media, Whyte said.  The CSR counsellor can take those complaints and “create a space for constructive dialogue,” to try to find a resolution.
Read more

Here is an interesting short article in Science on the impact of mountaintop mining. This may have a significant impact on coal mining policy in the eastern US.

Abstract

There has been a global, 30-year increase in surface mining (1), which is now the dominant driver of land-use change in the central Appalachian ecoregion of the United States (2). One major form of such mining, mountaintop mining with valley fills (MTM/VF) (3), is widespread throughout eastern Kentucky, West Virginia (WV), and southwestern Virginia. Upper elevation forests are cleared and stripped of topsoil, and explosives are used to break up rocks to access buried coal (fig. S1). Excess rock (mine “spoil”) is pushed into adjacent valleys, where it buries existing streams.

Link:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;327/5962/148?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=coal+mountaintop&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

*GREEN BAG LUNCH*

Who? Mike Nutter, Hatch Engineering Regional Lead-Western Canada

What? Talk on sustainable development design practice

Where? Suite 640 – 580 Hornby St. (Infomine office)

When? Monday Nov. 30 from12pm-1pm

Hope to see you there!

There has been a lot of debate about the proposed Bill C-300. In the Mining Engineering department of UBC, Professor John Meech recently emailed the faculty and graduate students a link to a mining weekly article, outlining the arguments for and against Bill C-300. Dr. Dawn Mills proposed an open formal debate.

A bit of background on Bill C-300:

Bill C-300 was introduced to the Canadian House of Commons in February of 2009 by Liberal Member of Parliament, John McKay. The bill is intended to regulate Canadian mining companies operating in developing countries by creating a guideline for accountability to which companies must comply. The bill will also create a sytem by which complaints against companies can be filed and brought to the attention of Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
In August, Mining Watch released its opinion on the bill. Its position is largely positive, stating that this bill is “the best chance we have as Canadians to assure that Canadian extractive companies follow human rights and environmental best practices when they operate overseas“. On November 26, 2009, a joint standing committee released its position on bill C-300. This standing committee was made up of representatives from Barrick Gold, Kinross Gold, and Goldcorp. The committee is concerned that the bill is too simplistic and one-dimensional, which will cause undue economic burden and unjustified harm to the reputation of Canadian mining companies. The committee goes on to state that bill C-300 “is unnecessary as Canadian companies are already subject to a variety of domestic and international rules, regulations and guidelines holding companies to account in the area of CSR“.

In my opinion (or rather, my questions)…

Is this bill really our best hope? Or will it simply cause mining companies to leave Canada and set-up shop in less regulated regions? If Canada truly is over-regulated to the point of economic ruin, then one wonders: why would companies operate here at all? And if these companies are already made accountable through existing policies, why do incidents of social and environmental degradation mining companies with headquarter in Canada still occur? (e.g. HudBay Minerals Inc. in Guatemala, TVI Pacific in Mindanao and former Argentine minister’s recent complaints to the House of Commons). Who benefits from this bill being passed? And, who benefits from having these mining companies continue to operate as they are? Canada certainly benefits by having these companies hold headquarters within its borders economically through jobs and taxes… don’t they?
The truths in all of this can be found within the underlying motivations of the parties involved.

Any thoughts?

This paper was produced as part of the Mining and Community Health project, a collaborative research initiative between the School of Population and Public Health and the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at the University of British Columbia. It identifies key findings regarding characteristics associated with British Columbia mining communities, the mining industry and academics to consider. Associated research projects, author acknowledgements and information, and citations are provided at the end of the report.

To download the report please go to: http://www.cher.ubc.ca/researchreports/publicationlist.asp
Authors: Janis Shandro, Mieke Koehoorn, Malcolm Scoble, Christie Hurrell

Friday, Nov 6, 2009 at 12:30 – 1:30pm
Presenter: Ben Bradshaw, Associate Professor and Peter Siebenmorgen, MA Candidate
Dept. of Geography, University of Guelph
Location: Library Processing Centre Room 491 – 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC
Online: Wimba Classroom* – login at www.soeh.ubc.ca/seminars