Powering Through The

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SASKATCHEWAN MINING ASSOCIATION POWERING THROUGH THE CYCLE TOP 10 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES MINING COMPANIES INNOVATE FOR STRENGTH NORTHLANDS COLLEGE MINE SCHOOL TAKING EDUCATION TO HIGHER LEVELS SASKATCHEWAN EARNS AN A SPRING / SUMMER 2015 FRASER INSTITUTE GIVES PROVINCE Publication Mail Agreement No. 42154021 TOP MARKS IN CANADA ORE | THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SASKATCHEWAN MINING ASSOCIATION FALL/WINTER 2013 ORE | THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SASKATCHEWAN MINING ASSOCIATION SPRING/SUMMER 2015 wherever there’s mining, we’rE THERE. Tim Gitzel speaks with employees at Cigar Lake at a celebration of the first ore production. ORE is produced solely by the Saskatchewan Mining Association. CONTENTS HEAD OFFICE ® Suite 1500 COVER FEATURE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE No other manufacturer can offer what Caterpillar does: 2002 Victoria Avenue Regina, Saskatchewan TOP 10 TOP PROVINCE TOPS IN S4P 0R7 The broadest line of surface and underground equipment in the industry. Challenges and Fraser Institute INNOVATION Telephone: (306) 757-9505 Fax: (306) 569-1085 opportunities after gives Saskatchewan What’s new in mining the supercycle high marks technology Wherever there is drilling and digging, loading and hauling, grading and dozing, you will find www.saskmining.ca Cat® machines hard at work. Cat products are on more mine sites than any other equipment line, CONTACT FOR ADVERTISERS 5 8 14 delivering the reliability and durability you need to mine efficiently and productively. Tap Communications Inc. 203-262 Avenue B South ORE DEPOSITS: SODIUM SULPHATE Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 3 S7M 1M4 Kramer Ltd. offers the finest people, service and tooling throughout our province-wide branch ENVIRONMENT Telephone: (306) 373-7330 Tailings facilities part of mine design 10 network to meet and exceed the demands of Saskatchewan’s growing mining industry. [email protected] INDUSTRY OUTLOOK All rights reserved. The contents of Global impact on mining industry 12 this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part without consent of the copyright owner. eARTh Saskatoon painter fascinated by industry at the edge of nature 16 COVER PHOTO EDUCATION As commodity prices emerge from Digging Deeper challenge celebrates SMA’s 50th year 17 the supercycle, mining companies in Saskatchewan continue to upgrade, SUCCESS TABLE OF CONTENTS develop and enhance their operations. Northlands Mine School grows into its own location 18 With some of the best geology and supporting policies on Earth, they BEYOND THE BIO are powering through the challenges and finding the opportunities… not Tim Gitzel, president and CEO, Cameco Corp. 20 unlike a Tour de France champion. Optimism is their driving force. TAGGING ALONG AREVA’s Dennis Pastl keeps McClean mill moving 23 SAFETY Contractors to get standardized safety training 24 1 KRAMER.CA ORE | THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SASKATCHEWAN MINING ASSOCIATION SPRING/SUMMER 2015 ORE | THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SASKATCHEWAN MINING ASSOCIATION SPRING/SUMMER 2015 A MESSAGE FROM SMA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – PAM SCHWANN EXPLORATION – THE QUEST TO DISCOVER to 1 in 3,333 (0.03%) for While advances in Exploring is about asking why new exploration targets technology have facilitated and searching for the answer. (greenfield) targeting world- finding mineral deposits When a company explored class deposits. Although he at greater depths in the why they were having was speaking about space earth, technology plays certain injuries reported exploration, he could well an important role in other and what could be done to have been referring to mineral aspects of the mining prevent these injuries, they SODIUM SULPHATE exploration when American business – including the discovered a very innovative astronomer Seth Shostak, use of drones for efficiently and successful solution, expressed “exploration laying out mine plans, to as described in the Flex Have you ever driven past How Does Sodium occasionally rewards the adoption of technology Time article. Exploration 2 the town of Chaplin, between Sulphate Form? those who accept its risks, as a business strategy for has also been called the Moose Jaw and Swift Sodium sulphate deposits 1 usually with new resources.” Athabasca Basin Security’s engine of innovation – the Current, and wondered about Crystallization pond form in groundwater-fed, Brine Rewards of a successful work at minesites. ORE’s Environment article Return those large piles of white hypersaline lakes within diamond exploration program Tagging Along segment to Nature describes the stuff on the side of the road isolated, internally drained Dredge-mounted 3 Mineral exploration is a are beautifully crafted and spotlights a geological search to find the best way that look like snow? That is Brine basins. The Great Plains excavator Refining game of hide and seek, with showcased in eARTh; while engineer and describes how to mimic Mother Nature’s sodium sulphate, a mineral area contains thousands science tools like geophysics the Ore Deposit Model series technology is embedded vegetation regeneration in a that forms part of a variety of Fresh water Brine lake of such basins, filled by Intermittent and geochemistry helping describes the formation into his daily work routine. sand-dominated environment Fresh water products you use every day. either seasonal (playa) or crystal bed uncover the layers that hide of these gemstones. of northern Saskatchewan. perennial bodies of water. the deposit. The high stakes Brine Permanent What is Sodium Active groundwater seeps world of mineral exploration, NOT TO SCALE crystal bed Drying Sulphate, and What and springs on the margins the important role exploration are its Uses? of the lakes, and in the lake plays as the research and In Saskatchewan, sodium beds, feed mineral-rich 2 development phase of the sulphate (NaSO4) is a waters into these closed- Anhydrous sodium sulphate mining cycle and the state of Figure 2: Schematic cross-section of an idealized sodium sulphate deposit. Mining methods illustrated are: 1) evaporative processed commodity — basin systems. During the concentration of lake brine in crystallization pond, followed by precipitation of salt crystals as the brine cools in autumn; exploration in Saskatchewan 2) solution mining of thick crystal beds, with brine return being treated as in (1); and 3) dredging lake-bottom crystal beds sometimes referred to as warm, dry, windy summers, and Canada are laid out in (from Kelley and Holmden, 2001) glauber’s salt — derived ongoing evaporation and our two feature stories in this from a variety of naturally crystallization concentrates edition of ORE. The success production over that 60 year occurring evaporite minerals, the lake brines; some playa Sodium Sulphate of a mineral exploration span. Big Quill Resources which crystallize at or near lakes can dry out completely in Saskatchewan program is typically the Inc. (a division of Compass surface in many seasonal and each year. Perennial saline The discovery of sodium and result of coincident factors; Minerals Canada Corp.), permanent restricted bodies lakes, which don’t dry magnesium sulphate salts in an understanding of the which operates near 2015 SMA Board of Directors of water. These alkali lakes up, can also precipitate alkali lakes in Saskatchewan geological framework of an Wynyard, in east-central dot an area extending across evaporites when the outside resulted from the search area; an ore deposit model Saskatchewan, combines northwestern North Dakota, temperature gets cold for potash during the First that fits the geological potash and sodium sulphate northeastern Montana, enough that the lake water World War. The earliest framework, favourable to produce agricultural 2015 southern Saskatchewan can no longer hold the attempt to produce alkali commodity prices, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE grades of potassium and east-central Alberta in minerals in solution and they salt was in 1918 to 1919 infrastructure access, sulphate, a specialized President - Neil McMillan the northern part of what is crystallize out of solution at Muskiki Lake, northeast security of mineral tenure Past President & CEO, Claude Resources; low-salinity fertilizer, used Chair, Cameco Corporation known as the ‘Great Plains’ through a process known of Saskatoon. Production and successful financing. for chloride sensitive crops Past-President - Trevor Berg (Figure 1). In its raw mineral peaked in the province in the PotashCorp Patience Lake & PotashCorp Cory as ‘freeze-out’. The minerals such as citrus plants. form, pure sodium sulphate produced from these early 1980s. Of the more The mineral exploration 1st Vice President - Jessica Theriault Mosaic Company is called thenardite, but the processes form seasonal than 20 companies that have References: game is filled with optimistic 2nd Vice President - Tammy Van Lambalgen commodity can be produced or intermittent crystal beds, been involved in development Kelley, L.I. and Holmden, C. (2001): players – they have to be, as AREVA Resources Canada Inc. Semi-quantitative assessment of from a variety of sodium- and which may be partially or work at various locations the discovery of a mineral Member-at-Large - Nancy Case in Saskatchewan over the groundwater flux from H, O, and Mosaic Company magnesium-bearing evaporite wholly dissolved the following Sr isotopes, Lydden Lake sodium deposit and bringing it into past 97 years, only two Member-at-Large - Alice Wong minerals such as mirabilite, spring and summer. Partial sulphate deposit, Saskatchewan; successful production

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