23 23 Page 22 Contd on pg 23 By Frank Giorno Sudburybased Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation CEMI was established in 2007 CEMI s mandate is to introduce innovative new prac tices procedures tools techniques and technologies to help improve the performance of mines CEMI deliv ers commercia lly viable innovations to meet the challenges faced by the mining industry Their innovation has helped the mining industry improve safety productivity environmental protection and achieved better opera tional performance for a faster return on investments The innovations developed by CEMI have resulted in mining companies fnding more ore and mining ore more efectively CEMI works to ensure that these mining innovations are commercial ly viabl e and achieve a leve l of op erational integ ration into daytoday mining activities CEMI s focuses its innovation on four strategic technical mining cat egories exploration deep mining improving mine productivity oper ational performance and reducing the environmental impact improving sustainability Guiding CEMI s work is its innova tion equation INNOV A TION RD I C Each element in the equation ensures the innovation is sustainable and eco nomically feasible Research R is an essential com ponent that includes academic re search for the identifcation of new ideas and applied research to address practical applications Demonstration D of the product or service assures the application and workability of the idea Implementation I assures the operational viability of the innovation It answers the question is it appli cable in the realworld environment And fnally Commercialization C ensures that the innovation will be ac cepted or adopted by the mining op eration This fnal step is the proof of a successful innovation An example of the innovation that CEMI produces is its work with the Ultra Deep Mining Network UDMN The UDMN a CEMI Centre for Ex cellence in Mining Innovation pro gram works with some of the deepest mines in Canada to help the mining industry develop and adopt viable in novative technologies Last Decembe r at its third annual symposium for The Ultra Deep Min ing Network UDMN the commer cial success of Mira Geoscience was featured before an audience of 76 net work members from across Canada At the meeting Mira Geoscience was presented with UDMN s Outstanding Achievement in Commercialization award for a technical innovation and commercial sale that is quickly be coming the industry s most compre hensive and advanced geotechnical data management and hazard compu tation system As mines become deeper and as geo technical problems becom e more acute the need for a system to support record and communicate geotechnical interpretation based on a multiplicity of data streams at a greater data fow volume and with realtime data ac cess is imperative CEMI with its experience and ex pertise and through consultations with partners has identifed the most pressing industry technical challeng es investigated potential solutions and developed a suite of technical platforms to address them These are Lean Mining Pr ogram The program includes technologies to accelerate tunnel development in crease the rate of fow of ore rock reduce the ener gy associated with moving rock eliminate hoisting of waste rock improve the grade and volume of ore hoisted technologies to reduce the total ener gy required to ventilate mines and extract value from under ground mining data Clean Mining Pr ogram T o reduce the time and cost of fnal mine closure through a suite of mine tailings reclam ation technolo gies that can support permanent return of lands to their natural state or to a new de sired The benefts of this program include reprocessing tailing s con verting waste into concentrate and less hazardous byproduct It captures valuable materials for processing in an environmentally responsible way This lowers or eliminates long term Page 23 Contd from pg 22 closure liability by making tailings more environmentally benign It also includes the reuse of closed sites once they are revegetated includ ing opportunities for reforestation or agriculture and biomass to ener gy programs Remote Mining T o acce lerate mineral development in remote areas eg Canada s Far North where no permanent road infrastructure currently exists at lower capital cost and reduced envi ronmental impact This program is exploring the use of hoverbar ge tech nology to help develop remote mine sites and improve community infra structure prior to the development of permanent transportation routes The technology will enable the rapid construction of alternative power generation systems water treatment systems and facilitate the delivery of construction equipment modular housing and medical facilities This social infrastructure will help local communities prepare for employ ment at new mine developments Earlier this year CEMI participated in the CLEER Mining proposal to become a federally funded superclu ster The proposal was ultima tely not selected by the Ministry of Innova tion Science and Economic Devel opment Canada but the consortium behind the CLEER proposal an nounced that they remain committed to transforming Canada s mining in dustry through innovation The Canadian mining industry de veloped the panCanadian super cluster initiative CLEER Clean LowEner gy Efective Engaged and Remediated to power clean growth through mining innovation The submission was prepared on behalf of Canada s mining sector by CEMI and fve other or ganizations and one of nine projects that was shortlisted by the federal government and the only proposal focused on clean re 1 800 990 2263 b vminin f oc abur ea uv erit as c om w w w bur ea uv erit as c om um A s sa ying and Ge o chemic al A naly sis Me t allur gy and Miner alo gy Sp e c tr al Ser vic e s Mine Site Lab or a torie s B u r e a u V er i t a s Mi ner a l s A naly tic al L ab or a tor y Ser vic e s f or the Explor a tion Mining Industrie s EXP ANSION L AB IN TIMMINS V ANCO UVER WHITEHOR SE TIMMINS RICHMOND Me t lab N A ME S ept 1213 Visit us at b o oth A 42 sources The process of developing the CLEER initiative was a turning point for our sector It sparked an enthusiastic response from Canada s mining and min ing supply industries and involved an unprecedented level of collaboration on innovation in our sector stated Adrian McFadden Chair of the CLEER Interim Board The CLEER consortium included 162 members across Canada It was de signed to generate economic benefts across Canada by leveraging existing regional minin g clusters in Ontario Quebec British Columbia Alberta and Saskatchewan As detailed in its proposal to government this panCanadian cluster of clusters would have created an estimated 140000 new direct and indirect jobs and contributed 26 billion to Canada s GDP after fve years