CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY
Leading from
the front
Advances in emissions reduction technology,
communications solutions and digitalisation confirm
Canada’s credentials as a METS leader
t’s easy to see why Canada remains to this day
a mining technology leader.
With some of the deepest mines in the world,
it has been a first mover when it comes to
adopting electric-powered machines underground.
And, with depth comes safety issues; hence
the reason Canada led the adoption of
underground load and haul automation.
The country also plays host to the world’s
biggest stock exchange, the Toronto Stock
Exchange, meaning it has an investor base close
by that understands not only mining, but the
technology that goes into this.
It also has a supportive government that
acknowledges its small and nimble tech leaders
by investing in them through tailored funding
programs.
I
Government acknowledgement
One of the recent recipients of such investment
is FVT Research.
The British Columbia-based manufacturer
was recently awarded C$2 million ($1.41 million)
to design, develop and test a 14 t battery-
electric vehicle in an underground mining
scenario.
The project, funded through the Natural
Resources Canada’s Clean Growth Program, will
convert a Toro (Sandvik) 1400 from diesel to
battery power, with the machine set to be tested
at Impala Canada’s Lac des Iles underground
palladium mine in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and
Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel
Operations.
FVT was not the only company in this round
to receive funding from the program, which
invests in clean technology research and
development projects in Canada’s energy,
mining and forest sectors.
46 International Mining | APRIL 2020
The Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and
Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO), a
Sudbury-based non-profit, was provided C$1.5
million to develop a Natural Heat Exchange
Engineering Technology (NHEET). This is a
method for the engineering of natural heat
exchangers using fractured rocks to improve air
delivery in deep underground mines – another
technology that could benefit many of Canada’s
deep mines.
The project’s goal is to leverage previous
collaborative research between MIRARCO and
Vale on the natural heat exchange system at
Vale’s Creighton mine, in Sudbury, to determine
how the benefits of this system can be
replicated at other mine sites.
The NHEET partnership also involves
Laurentian University, Canmet MINING and
Cambrian College/OCE.
Vale’s Creighton mine has a unique natural
heat exchange system that has been in
operation for over 50 years, providing both
heating and cooling of ventilating air. Due to
this natural heat exchange, mining is carried out
at Creighton to a depth of 2.5 km without any
artificial refrigeration, and is projected to
continue to a depth of 3 km.
Replicating these benefits would displace the
capital and operating costs of a refrigeration
plant and heating system, while also reducing
the use of electricity and natural gas. This
results in both environmental and financial
benefits.
Another company to have recently received
national – and local – funding is NORCAT.
The company, which is focused on developing
and providing world-class programs, services,
and resources to reduce injuries, save lives, and
enhance productivity in the mining industry and
The Major Drilling EF-100 drill used at the
record-breaking 3,467 m Discovery 1 deep drill
hole, now the longest diamond drill hole in
Canada, at Osisko Mining’s Windfall project in
Québec, Canada
beyond, has previously welcomed in mining and
METS companies to its underground centre in
northern Ontario. The recent circa-C$3 million of
funding will help it realise its ambitions to build
a new “state-of-the art surface facility”.
The 12,000 sq.ft (1,115 sq.m) above-ground
facility will provide the office, meeting and
workshop space that it deems key to attracting
and retaining the international mining
companies that will use the services or expand
their operations at the centre, the Ontario
Government said.
MacLean Engineering, which has a range of
ground support, ore flow/secondary reduction
and utility vehicles used throughout the mining
industry, was also recently singled out by
Canada’s government.
At the March PDAC 2020 conference in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin
Trudeau, gave a shout out to the company and
its fleet electrification efforts as he announced
an extension of the government’s zero-emission
vehicle incentives to off-road vehicles.
Companies like MacLean electrifying mining
machinery are set to gain from such a move,
which could lead to a 100% write-off of the
purchase cost of eligible zero-emission vehicles
and automotive equipment in the year they are
put into use, according to the government.
MacLean, even without such a policy in place,
has sold 31 of its battery-electric vehicle units
since its initial electrification design phase
kicked off in 2015. These machines have over
40,000 operating hours in total to their name
and are working across various mine sites in
Canada.
Anthony Griffiths, Senior Product Manager –
Fleet Electrification, told the SME MineXchange
Annual Conference & Expo crowd in Phoenix,
Arizona, in late-February, that after successfully
finishing the electrification of its existing diesel
fleet in the 8 ft (2.4 m) wide category, the
company has plans to start the process on its 6
ft wide machines. Such a move could see
smaller, space-constrained mines employ its
electric equipment underground.
He later explained to IM: “The plan is for
engineering to complete our 8 ft wide fleet in
the next few quarters – and we currently have a
shotcrete sprayer (in Q2 (June quarter)) and
Transmixer (in Q3 (September quarter)) left to
electrify. The first (shotcrete sprayer) is on the
shop floor now, with the Transmixer set to
follow.”
Following this, the company will begin to
electrify its 6 ft wide fleet, with the company