2018
OUTSTANDING INNOVATOR
Malcolm Scoble
r Malcolm Scoble is a Professor at the
University of British Columbia
specialising in surface and underground
mine design and planning; mine-mill
integration; occupational health and safety;
sustainable mining and mining with
communities. He is nominated as much for all
the mining engineers he has inspired over the
decades as for his own many achievements.
D
Malcolm Scoble holds a B.Sc. in Mining from
the Camborne School of Mines, UK, an M.Sc. in
Mining Geology and Exploration from Leicester
University, UK, and a Ph.D. in Rock Mechanics
from Nottingham University, UK, where he was
also a lecturer.
While working for the Hudson Bay Mining and
Smelting Co (HBM+S) in Canada, Malcolm was
involved in the formation of the company’s first
computer group. He was trained by IBM as a
systems analyst, and started to apply himself to
developing mainframe computer applications
for the mines.
He was Director of the Mining Engineering
Program at McGill University in Montreal for
nine years, and holder of the endowed Webster
Chair in Mining Engineering from 1990 through
1997. He was associated with the establishment
of the Cooperative Program in Mining
Engineering (the first Co-op degree at McGill).
Over the years at McGill, much of his mining
automation research efforts were in
collaboration with Inco Ltd and Laurentian
University in Sudbury. In 1996, he was
appointed Adjunct Professor in the School of
Engineering at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
He also acted as Director and Secretary-
Treasurer of McGill’s Small Mining International
(SMI), a non-profit organisation serving
artisanal mining in developing countries.
He has held terms as the Head of the Mining
Departments at both McGill and UBC. His
teaching and research evolved over his career
from surface and underground mining
technology to mining automation. In the last
decade, however, he has been devoted to
promoting Sustainable Mining with its
communities.
Malcolm’s teaching has focused mainly on
aspects of mine planning and design,
automation, IT and geomechanics. His research
evolved from surface and underground rock
mechanics, to mine automation, and more
recently to sustainable development and mining
communities. To date he has supervised 32 PhD
and 29 Master’s research students to completion.
Whilst at McGill University, he played a key
role in establishing the Canadian Center for
Automation and Robotics in Mining (CCARM).
CCARM assisted Inco to develop Telemining™,
just one example of his work in automation.
This involved the use of state-of-the-art
technology of the time, including underground
communications, positioning, process
engineering, monitoring and control systems, to
operate mining equipment and systems. Inco
said at the time, “Telemining greatly increases
safety of underground mining and improves
productivity and working conditions.
“Several components of Inco’s current mining
operations, including certain loaders, drills and
trackless tramming units are already capable of
being operated remotely, even from surface.
Research has now entered a new stage aimed at
developing and testing technology to make the
entire mining cycle capable of remote operation.
The fully-automated mine is becoming a possibility
thanks to the emergence of positioning software.
“Automation not only increases workplace
safety and efficiency, it also reduces the mining
industry’s production costs. For example, since
Inco’s automated haulage truck was put
underground in 1991, it has hauled 1.5 Mt of ore
without failure. The truck uses an on-board
computer and video cameras so the driver can
sit thousands of metres away on the surface
and operate the vehicle using a PC-based
software program which simulates the hauler’s
dashboard.
“In the case of an automated LHD, the
company realised cost savings from an
increased fuel capacity through the elimination
of the operator’s cab. Through the use of video
technology, telecommunications, modems and
PCs, Inco has developed a positioning robot and
robotic drifting systems, and has installed
telecommunications systems and intelligent
drilling systems.”
His teaching is in mining technology,
feasibility studies and surface mining, and he
has become involved as the Program Leader of
an application to the Federal government for the
establishment of a national Network for
Sustainable Mining. He is a professional
engineer in the province of British Columbia and
a chartered engineer in the EU. He is a firm
supporter of industry associations, particularly
the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and
Petroleum, as well as the Mining Association of
British Columbia.
In 2018 he was awarded the CIM
Distinguished Service Medal, “in recognition of
a passionate and visionary proponent of mining
education at all levels.” He
has been a dedicated
member and supporter of
CIM and its branches in Flin
Flon, Snow Lake, Montreal,
and Vancouver since the
1960s. Among prior awards
are CIM’s Fellowship {1994}
and Distinguished Lecturer Award {1996}. In
2012 he was awarded the Inaugural Gold Medal
for distinguished service by the Canadian
Mining Innovation Council.
Jonathan Peck, PhD. a past inductee and CEO
& President of Peck Tech Consulting Ltd, made
the initial nomination and wrote, “he was my
PhD supervisor and served as the same for
several people that went on to dramatically
transform mining in many ways. Malcolm also
had a profound impact on the mining
engineering programs at McGill and then UBC.
Thus, the energy he injected and changes he
made allowed these mining schools to continue
to grow and thrive. Mining rarely acknowledges
the role that academics play to ensure a healthy
industry. But without the contributions and
dedication of people like Malcolm, mining
graduates would be poorly prepared to enter
the workforce with the right skills...”
John Chadwick, the Founder of International
Mining and the Technology Hall of Fame, also
had the good fortune to have Malcolm Scoble as
his tutor at Nottingham University in England in
the early 1970s. “Being in a largely coal biased
mining department, it was Malcolm that
fostered my interest in metal mining, directing
and greatly helping with my thesis, ‘The
feasibility of reopening old British metalliferous
mines.’ Largely thanks to him I got very
interested in metal mining and metal recovery,
did not join the National Coal Board but went
out to Zambia and the copper mines there to
start my career there.”
Peter Knights, PhD, Professor of Mining
Engineering at The University of Queensland,
has fond memories of working with Malcom at
McGill University. In 1995 he co-authored a
conference paper with Malcom titled ‘Integrated
Mining Information and Control Systems;
Towards the Digital Mine’ that was later cited by
a key Rio Tinto executive as an influence in its
Mine of the Future™ program.
Awards
Stefanko Best Paper Award, 1991
Distinguished Lecturer Award, 1996
Fellowship Award of the Canadian Institute of
Mining and Metallurgy, 1994
Inaugural Gold Medal for distinguished service,
2012
Distinguished Service Medal of Canadian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 2018