Mining Sustainability Working Group

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.

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!

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

The Fraser Institute’s new global centre for mining studies has produced an important new paper on the “resource curse”. It shows that the vast majority of nations benefit from mining activities and lays out the conditions for increasing mining benefits for all nations. The paper is available for free download at:

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/newsandevents/news/6982.aspx

The podcast below gives a timely update on the debate about the role of Canadian mining companies abroad:

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200910/20091016.html

a new NGO campaign:

http://www.drc.moonfruit.org/

This action movie will be presented at  UBC-Mining Engineering,  room 519A, Oct/23rd just after the MINE 590W (Environmental Risk Assessment) class. Coke and popcorn will be available. FREE.

Blood Diamond is a 2006 action/adventure drama film co-produced and directed by Edward Zwick, director of Glory and The Last Samurai, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance the conflicts and profit the warlords and the diamond companies across the world. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Actor (DiCaprio) and Best Supporting Actor (Hounsou).