Saskatchewan Mining Week 2024

Saskatchewan Mining Week will be held May 26 - June 1, 2024.  The week will culminate with the 54th Emergency Response Mine Rescue Skills Competition taking place at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon. Click HERE for a list of Mining Week events.

Saskatchewan Mining Week 2023

Saskatchewan Mining Week was held May 28 - June 3, 2023.  The week culminated with the 53rd Emergency Response Mine Rescue Skills Competition at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon. 

Following are the presesentations that took place during Saskatchewan Mining Week.

• Tuesday, May 30       Global Uranium and Nuclear Energy Market - Brian Reilly, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Cameco Corporation.  
• Wednesday, May 31  Towards Sustainable Mining - Equity Diversity and Inclusion Protocol - Ben Chalmers, Senior Vice President, Mining Association of Canada
• Thursday, June 1       K+S Potash Canada Mining Week Presentation - Sam Farris, President, K+S Potash Canada
• Thursday, June 1       Saskatchewan: A Growing Critical Minerals Hub Meeting Global Demand  - Pam Schwann, President, Saskatchewan Mining Association
• Friday, June 2            Feeding the Future - Chris Reynolds, Executive Vice President and President, Potash, Nutrien

Saskatchewan Mining Week 2022

Saskatchewan Mining Week was held May 29 - June 4, 2022. Click HERE for a Schedule of Mining Week Events.

Following are the presentations that took place during Saskatchewan Mining Week.

Foran Mining Corporation - Dan Myerson, Executive Chairman

Prairie Lithium - Zach Mauer, President and CEO

Saskatchewan Research Council - Mike Crabtree, President and CEO

Carbon Capture and Storage in Saskatchewan - Past, Present and Future  - Conway Nelson, Vice President Project Development & Advisory Services, International CCS Knowledge Centre, and Adlai Majer, Director of New Energy, Whitecap Resoruces Inc.

Saskatchewan's Critrical Minerals - Essential to Global Security and Supply Chains Podcast  - Panel moderated by Kelly Ogle CEO, Canadian Global Affairs Institute; Panel Members: Jerry Grandey, former CEO Cameco Corp and former Board member PotashCorp and Nutrien; Larry Long, Senior Vice President Operations, Potash, Nutrien; Alanna Koch, Board Chair, Global Institute for Food Security

Restart of Cameco McArthur River and Key Lake Operations - Brian Reilly, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Cameco Corporation

Mosaic K3 Project & Potash Market Update - Kelly Strong, Vice President Mining, North America, The Mosaic Company

The 58th Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at TCU Place in Saskatoon. 

Click HERE for the AGM Program.

Mineral Exploration Expo 2023 was held Thursday, November 9 at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. MinExplo Expo is an opportunity for primarily northern-owned businesses and community economic development officers to learn about mineral exploration programs and related business and employment opportunities that SMA member companies are planning for the upcoming 2022/2023 year.

Following are the presentations from MinExplo Expo 2023:

• Exploration Overview
• Foran Mining
• Cosa Resources
• DIAS Geophysical
• VEC's Presentation
• Baselode Energy Corp
• CanAlaska Uranium
• UEC

Following is the Program and presentations for MinExplo Expo 2022:

• Mineral Exploration Expo 2022 Program
• Exploration Overview
• Baseload Energy Corporation
• Cameco Corporation
• IsoEnergy
• Kineepik Metis Local of Pinehouse
• UEC
• 92 Energy
• TEAM Drilling
• Orano Canada
• Murchison Minerals

August 12 - 18

August 12 and 13, 2023

Spent a busy, informative, and fun, first afternoon and next morning learning about all that is geology, mining processes, and mining safety in Saskatchewan. Am suddenly proud of what the industry is doing and has to offer potential employees (ie. our students)! Thanks to our presenters for a relaxed day of learning.

Now it is time to load the bus and…..

Get our motor runnin'

Head out on the highway

Lookin' for adventure

At whatever mines come our way

Born to be wild……

First stop BHP Discovery Lodge

All I can say is wow they treat their employees well! Top grades for planning a home away from home. The whole facility is designed to allow all the amenities employees might use in their home communities but it is all in one location! Almost like an all inclusive resort, except you have to go to work each day….. Gym, training facilities, court sports, outdoor track and training area, lounges for recreation, garden plots for those with a green thumb, and a top-notch theatre! I am sure I missed a few details but was very impressed. Thanks to BHP for the hosting us and providing a great lunch!

Back on the bus and…..

Yeah, we’re gonna make it happen

Take mining in a love embrace

Fire up the bus at once and

Explode into Esterhazy

Born to be wild…….

Made our way to Esterhazy and were treated to a great homemade dinner of perogies, cabbage rolls, and sausage with salad at the local bowling alley. The meal set us up for a tour of the Saskatchewan Potash Interpretive Centre. Thanks to our guides, Richard and Oliver, who shared their vast knowledge of all the working parts and processes of the local mines while explaining the artifacts at the centre.

And, back on the bus to the hotel…..

Like a true teacher’s child

We were born, born to learn

Got to learn so much

But now we wanna rest

Born to be wild……

Thanks to Steppenwolf for the tune.

Day one complete!

August 14, 2023

Video Blog: Potash - Conventional Underground - Nutrien Rocanville (forthcoming)

August 15, 2023

Video Blog: Building connection between mining and education

The alarms were set this morning for our group to meet up at 6:15am for a quick visit to the old Willow Bunch Convent site (now a museum), as well as to view the life size statue of Edouard Beaupre, a gentlemen from the area in the 1900’s who was a whopping 8’ 2” tall. We followed his replica size 22 footprints along the sidewalk up to his statue for a group picture before making our way to the bus to take off for the day.

Our next stop was a short ways down the road to Deb’s Country Kitchen in Coronach for a delicious buffet breakfast. The small town diner is a gem and was worth getting out of bed before 6am all in itself. After Deb’s, we hit the road to Westmoreland Poplar River Coal Mine, where we would be until the early afternoon.

At Westmoreland Coal Mine, we were greeted before being shown to a board room where we took in a short orientation/safety video about the company and mine site. After being fitted with steel toe boots and the proper PPE we were on the bus and on our way to check out the sites. Site number one took us to the bottom of a pit where we were able to stretch our legs and grab ourselves coal samples while watching a monstrous drag line scoop away overburden and unearth coal to be excavated later on. The bucket on the drag line can remove a whopping 94 cubic yards per scoop! Site number two provided us with a 2nd drag line unearthing coal, as well as a loader, and multiple articulated haulers working to transport the freshly removed coal to the mill for crushing. An impressive feat of this company is their ability to reclaim the land that they have previously mined, to the point where it is nearly impossible to distinguish the reclaimed land from the virgin land in the area. Bravo!

Dragline exposing coal seam to be hauled by shovel and truck operation

After our mine site visits, we were taken back to the Westmoreland headquarters and provided lunch before we were virtually joined by two gentlemen from the Carbon Capture and Storage Knowledge Centre (CCS) who provided us with an eye opening presentation on the benefits and challenges of carbon capture. They focused on the Boundary Dam 3 CCS facility in Saskatchewan as an example in our area of the work being done to provide our province with a cleaner and more environmentally friendly way to produce energy and etter deal with the byproduct of carbon emissions.

After departing Westmoreland, we made a quick one hour stop at the Big Muddy Badlands. We were lucky enough to have Meagan Gilbert along (she is a guru in all things to do with geology, rocks, land formations…the list goes on). Meagan explained the formation of Big Muddy to us and how it came to be over the history of our earth, as well as explained all the layers that were visible in the land formation. We got in touch with our artistic side and all took a stab at sketching a land formation or item of interest at the badlands. Some very humorous attempts at drawing! Exploring was done, some braved their way climbing to the top of Big Muddy, some explored the caves, some hiked the trail around the formation, and some squeezed in all three! A very cool stop along our way to Moose Jaw.

Our final stop before checking into The Grant Hotel for the night in Moose Jaw was a road cut where we had the opportunity to collect some crystalized gypsum samples that are growing in the present day conditions of that warm, dry site.

August 16, 2023

August 17, 2023

Up early out of the hotel after breakfast and off to Rise Air terminal at the airport for our journey North to Cigar Lake uranium mine operated by Cameco! Off the plane at the air strip onto a bus to the mine site.

As we arrive and deplane on the tarmac, Elena attempts to speak to the pilot crew in French. Little does she know that the bilingual intercom messages in the air were prerecorded.

This author is surprised that the cell service seems to be as good or better than home.

As we load on the bus, Robert sits in the front seat, attempting to usurp an already known fact, that the real cool kids travel at the front of the bus.

Kristin gets audibly excited as well enter the camp grounds, and spots an excavator. This leads, once again, in to additional renditions of a children's song she seems to have permanently etched in her memory.

As we exit the bus and climb 3 flights of stairs, this author notes that literally everyone seems to have learned nothing from our previous days orientation, as not one person implemented 3 points of constant contact in their ascent.

In the board room, Tamara clamors for the coffee machines, exclaiming the amount of coffee stops on the plane was inadequate, by her opinion.

We meet our hosts, Smiling Trevor and local bodybuilder, the man, the myth, the Transylvanian legend: Imra.

After we confirm with our hosts that we have been trained on air ventilators, they are very disappointed to find out that we actually know next to nothing about these safety devices. After increasing our knowledge, we are happily informed that there may not be enough ventilators for all of us anyways.

Down the mineshaft we go, on a platform which we are informed allegedly can carry 22 miners down to the mining level. This author can't help but question the math behind that, unless there is a lot of miner piggybacking involved.

Once out at mining level, this author asks what kind of rollercoaster Cameco uses, given the tracks in the floor. The response given was that they were used a long time ago, possibly the 90s? Maybe to move around a precursor to the JBM?

Jola and this author reflect on the walls and how the concrete added to help hold back the rock face reminds us of the old restaurant The Cave. Later, Tamara will comment on how they reminded her of amusement parks.

Tanner worries about cracks in the walls of the JBM tunnel. Kim assures him it's probably fine and we won't die. Tanner has not been convinced.

Tamara asks how fast the JBM can race. She's informed that it takes over a day to move to a new tunnel. "That don't impress me much" she is thinks to herself in the singsong manner of a certain Canadian country music star.

Group 2 failed to do the tour in the right order. We fist bump them to help keep their spirits up despite their incompetencies.

Brad shows Imra our schedule to impress upon him that we need to move faster. Imra knows education is more important than schedules and assures Brad we will be on time.

Imra shows us the backup pumps for the mine, and once again assured us that they have way more mechanical means to remove water than the last time the mine flooded. This surely assures most in the group.

This author heavily suspects that the sadness draped across Meagan's complexion like a dark cloud is because of all of the shotcrete covering up every square inch of the otherwise pretty rock face. Here and there she steals away where bare rock face is exposed in small amounts. Brad and Pam will later confirm that 25% of Lafarge's production of this cement is used up here at Cigar Lake, and that some rock material refuse that's locally sourced may or will be used in cement creation.

Near the end of our underground tour, Trevor gives us the shakedown we are all too used to by this point in the tour. It isn't our wallets he's after, it's the much more in demand commodity of heavy duty mechanics. We pledge to him that we will procure as many as we can to appease their miner's insatiable appetite for HDMs.

Brad describes Trevor as an HR superhero, as he's the only HR guy he ever has seen down in a mine. Indeed, he has been our literal vanguard during the entire underground tour making sure not even the most attention deficit among us get distracted or lost. In talking to Trevor though, this author finds out that he has a gritty side as well, responsible for much of the firing of incompetent staff at this location. This author now knows that pain that lies behind the charming smile.

After ascending the 500ft (480m) level to surface, we wash our boots of potential contaminants and radioactive material. This author now wonders if Jola should really have been tasting all of the rock wall formations to see if they were better than the walls at Rocanville

After emerging from the Earth, we headed down the road ~75km on the bus to Orano’s Mcarthur River uranium mill to learn how the uranium ore shipped over from the mine is processed, packaged and shipped out as black calcined yellowcake.

Then back to Cigar Lake via bus for the flight back to Saskatoon. Enroute to Cigar we stopped the bus… no need for “Art”-istic backing up of the bus here! Just a quick scramble for one of natures sandstone art pieces… Or is it ballast for the plane? Perhaps our braking mechanism a la Flinstones style for landing.

A full and very exciting day!

GeoVenture 2022 Blog

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

K+S Potash Solution Mine - blog by Mitchell and Monica

Friday, August 19, 2022

Rising from the (pot)Ash with Lori and Carla. 

Our last full day of the GeoVenture 2022 tour began with a short rest in the beautiful rooms at the Canalta in Esterhazy and a nice assortment at the continental breakfast then we were ready to board the bus at 7:15 a.m. Our tour began with a trip out to visit the K3 mine and see it’s new headframe with conveyor belt system running to mills at K1 and K2. The Mosaic logo was proudly displayed at a new multi-million dollar investment in the community of Esterhazy, Saskatchewan. We were able to see the belt line moving between the new K3 shaft and the now flooded shafts of K1 and K2. The tailings ponds of the older ponds are utilized further to accommodate K3 product which reduces infrastructure costs as well as the need for more land usage and reclamation. We also viewed the vast water reservoir used in a recycled process to facilitate mine and milling operations.

After our quick drive-by tour we headed for Colonsay.

At 150 km SE we spotted the BHP Jansen mine out of our bus window. Although their operation is not scheduled to begin until 2027, they are hoping to push up that timeline. It will have an 8 million tone capacity by Stage 2 with an initial target of 4 million tones at Stage 1. BHP has designed the mine to operate remotely being handled through advanced technology from Saskatoon with a potentiometer to support jobs from different locations. This mine will operate as a conventional mine and involve a $7.5 million investment. Closer to Colonsay we passed the site of the Nutrien Lanigan mining operation. Nutrien has committed to increasing potash output by 40% to meet the rising demands imposed by sanctions on Russia and the uncertainty of European supplies. This will see Nutrien Lanigan boosting its production by $1 million tones annually.

Finally arriving at Mosaic in Colonsay, we were introduced to Trevor Tucker, Joe Winters, Nathan Karwandy, Scott Condliffe, Mike Wallace, and Dustin Orosz who would lead our tour for the day. Trevor started off by giving us a brief orientation and an overview of how things run at Mosaic. Mosaic holds safety as a huge priority and their safety program includes areas such as hazard recognition, risk assessment, environmental safety and psychological wellness. We were then showed the Marietta mining machine that is used to mine 600 to 700 tons per hour with a specific cutting style to maintain beam sustainability and product quality while watching for signs of bending and cracking as mining progresses. These stable areas allow for mining longer periods of time. The design of drifts work to protect and prevent pressure claps and ensures mining success.

Current and plant mining areas are extensive and continue to be beneficial to Mosaic landowners and surrounding community. The underground operation includes mining staff areas and refuge stations which are strategically placed for longevity of design and to support safety as well as day-to-day workings underground. The underground flow sheet presented outlined the planned production path and promotes the efficiency of removing the most product safely. The Colonsay potash mine includes a large tailings management design as well as one of the largest product storage warehouses in the industry. Their storage infrastructure holds 6,000 tons in the mill with 145,000 tons of storage in the warehouse. At the Colonsay facility, potash goes through crushing, separation, washing, drying and packaging. Did you know that the potash from this facility is not died but naturally holds a pink or reddish tint?

  Video 1,     Video 2

Interesting fact: Himalayan sea salt lamps are not actually a treasured find but rather made from the cheapest grade of potash that you can find?

Another interesting fact: Secondary products are retrieved in the mining of potash, such as Aspire and Dyna K. Dyna K is used as an additive to animal food and therefore must have all impurities removed.

After the orientation we were were provided a phenomenal lunch, then herded to the change room to dress with PPE so we could go underground into the mine. We were given some rules to follow for moving down into the mine. Once we were all suited up and loaded onto the cage, we moved at 25 km/h to hit 3300 feet below surface. Our guides had each of us sit in one of the Toyota, Jurassic park like buggies. We toured all through the west seven driveline and saw a of number interesting fixtures that make working in the mine efficient and safe for all of its workers. Some sites included storage areas, drill and blast stations, construction shops, warehouse battery storage and diesel shop. One cool machine that I saw was the Rock Bolter which is used to stabilize the ground in different areas of the mine including the ceiling and the walls. Operators of the Rock Bolter have to be specifically trained in order to know how to utilize it properly and safely. It was interesting to see how they drilled stress ways on both sides of the drive area to allow for acceptable failures to occur and essentially make drilling in the areas that they want to safer. The mine operates on large cables that are filled with approximately 15,000 V.  In total each cable holds a proximately 5000 V and some of the cables are connected directly to the miner itself. The electricity for these cables is taken from electricity hubs distributed throughout the mine.

.            

The absolute best part of this tour was zipping through the tunnels in the buggies and reaching our destination where we were able to collect samples, talk with the miners themselves, and see all of the different strata in the mineral formations. Once back on the surface we were able to sit down and chat a little bit longer with our tour guides and say goodbye and thank them for the wonderful, unique opportunity. You were outstanding hosts Mosaic!

Our bus driver, George, was initially overwhelmed at seeing how many potash samples we were going to be loading onto the bus with us, as if the experience with the coal samples and black mess the day before wasn’t enough. Thanks George, you “rock”!! To end the day, SK Mining Association treated us all to a wonderful last night celebration at the Cactus Club where we were able to chat and laugh about all of the incredible experiences we’ve had this week.

Saturday, August 20, 2022

This is our last day on GeoVenture… and what an adventure! Today we had three culminating sessions that helped us see how we might use what we learned through GeoVenture and the Saskatchewan Mining Association online resources with our students. Below is a short description of the sessions.

Mining Inquiry Project with an Indigenous Lens

Hilary Roemer,geoscientist and educator with the SMA Education Outreach Program, gave an overview of “Indigenization of SMA Lesson Plans: Mining Inquiry Project” available on the SMA website. Terry Johanson, former SMA Education Outreach Coordinator, led a well-rounded team in the creation of this 85-page document consisting of lessons connected to many curricular outcomes in grades four through nine. Beginning with Elders’ stories about the significance of place, an Indigenous perspective permeates throughout many lessons within the unit’s four themes: Place Matters, Building a Habitat, Mineral Exploration & Mining, and Mining Resources. We did many of the hands-on activities within the lessons including the final cookie mining simulation on land to which we each previously said to have a special connection. SMA encourages educators to use the resource and provide feedback.

Indigenous Engagement within the Resource Sector

Dr. Ken Coates virtually spoke with our group about Indigenous engagement within the resource sector. Raised in Whitehorse, Dr. Coates has worked for Indigenous groups and governments in Canada and internationally and is author of  many publications on the subject. Due to memories of past experiences, it is reasonable that some Indigenous communities are suspicious of resource activity that may negatively affect land or way of life even if it may bring economic initiatives. In his presentation, Dr. Coates compared the relationships between Indigenous communities, the resource sector and various levels of government from the 19^th century to current day with a focus on specific positive examples within the last couple of decades. In Canada, resource companies and governments must now consult Indigenous communities upon whose land they plan to work and then accommodate appropriately This is partially thanks to the 1982 Constitution (Section 35) on Indigenous and treaty rights and the 2004 Supreme Court case between a provincial government and local Indigenous communities. Even before it became law to consult and accommodate, many resource companies were aware of the reciprocal benefits to ensure good relationships with regional Indigenous communities. Dr. Coates spoke of agreements made to ensure local service and supply companies such as transportation, cleaning and meals are contracted out to local companies and that the resource company’s labour force consists of mainly regional employees trained locally. He gave examples of a deeper level of Indigenous engagement and participation through Indigenous-owned corporations that make significant economic decisions and receive revenue from resource activity. Dr. Coates is hopeful for continued positive relationships and authentic engagement between Indigenous communities and the resource sector.

For more on this subject, read “New Beginnings: How Canada’s Natural Resource Wealth Could Reshape Relations with Aboriginal People” by Coates and Crowley.

Brainstorming Curricular Outcome Connections

GeoVenture 2022 consists of teachers with knowledge of most Saskatchewan curriculums from primary to high school. With such varied teaching experiences, Pam and Hilary led and recorded a “lesson plan connection discussion” that had curricular outcome connections to many subjects in most grades.

The Environmental Forum provided a professional development opportunity for environmental practitioners in the mining industry, consulting businesses, post-secondary researchers and government. With changing regulations and evolving technology it is important for environmental professionals to keep current, and move forward, in developing and identifying best practices related to environmental sustainability. The Forum agenda offered high quality technical presentations on a diverse range of topics.

Related Documents:

• CALL FOR PAPERS
• ABSTRACT TEMPLATE
• FORMAT FOR PRESENTATIONS
• FORMAT FOR PAPERS
• SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
• FINAL AGENDA - October 11, 2021
• FINAL BOOK OF ABSTRACTS - October 11, 2021

Presentations:

• Dam Safety Inventory and Semi-Quantitative Risk Analusis for Saskatchewan Potash Mines - Art Kalmes (Barr Engineering Company)
• Geotextile Bags for Enhanced Dewatering and Accelerated Consolidation of Fluid Fine Tailings - Lessons Learned - Fernando De Silva (SNC-Lavalin Inc.)
• Decommissioning of the Cluff Lake Uranium Mine, Saskatchewan, Canada - Tina Searcy, Kebbi Hughes (Orano Canada Inc.)
• Using Multiple Accounts Analysis to Compare Mine Closre Options for Planning - Lisa May (Golder Member of WSP)
• Freshwater Bivalves as an Alternative to Fish Populations in Canadian Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) - Catherine L. Proulx (Kilgour & Associates Ltd.)
• Effects of Dust Deposition from Diamond Mining on Sub-Artic Plant Communities and Barren-Ground Caribou Forage - John Virgl (Golder member of WSP)
• Keynote Panel: Understanding and Addressing How Climate Change Can Impact Your Operations and Mine Planning - Sean Capstick Rachel Wyles (Golder Members of WSP), and Charles Dumaresq (Mining Association of Canada)
• Climate Change in the Mining Industry: Where We Are Now and Where We Are Heading - Samantha Barnes (SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc.)
• Climate Change and Human Health Risk Assessment - Stacey Fernandes (Canada North Environmental Services)
• Lithium Brine Resources - A Novel Prospect For Saskatchewan - Eric Pelletier (Matrix Solutions Inc.)
• NexGen Energy - Overview of the Rook 1 Project - Luke Moger (NexGen Energy Ltd.)
• Foran Mining Corporation - McIlvenna Bay: A Carbon Neutral Copper Mine in Saskatchewan - Denis Flood (Foran Mining Corporation)
• Pilot-Scale Constructed Wetland Treatment System Performance at a Former Uranium Mine - Jime Harrington (Ensero Solutions)
• Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage: Meeting Global GHG Targets With a Saskatchewan-Made Solution - Erik Nickel (Petroleum Technology Research Centre)
• Adaptive / Risk Management of Off-Site Brine Migration - Alexis Harvey, Greg Potter, Qiong (June) Lu (SNC-Lavalin Inc.)
• Adaptive Water Management and Climate Change Resiliency Through Probabilistic Simulation - Denise Champman (Okane Consultants)
• Analysis of Surface Water Quality at Legacy Uranium Mines in Saskatchewan - Qiong (June) Lu, Alexis Harvey (SNC-Lavelin Incl), David Sanscartier (Saskatchewan Research Council)
• Use of Real-Time Conductivity Data From Autonomous Sensors to Delineate Effluent Distribution on a Boreal Lake Downstream From a Saskatchewan Milling Operation - Maira Peixoto Mendes (University of Saskatchewan)
• Integrating Multiple Data Sreams to Refine a Conceptual Site Model - Nathan Brandner (Barr Engineering Co.), Kyle Grimard (Nutrien)
• Community Driven Program at the Decommissioned Beaverlodge Site - Alyse Swerhone, Victor Fern (Cameco Corporation)
• Engaging Virtually and Meaningfully with Diverse Groups - Nicola Lower (Environmental Resources Management)
• Regulatory Developments in Canada's Climate Change Efforts - Rangi Jeerakathil (MLT Atkins LLP)
• Regulatory Update from the Ministry of Environment - Wes Kotyk (Ministry of Environment)

Sponsors

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The Saskatchewan Mining Association, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Trade and Export Development and the Saskatchewan Industrial and Mining Suppliers Association presents the Virtual Saskatchewan Mining Supply Chain Forum, on the rescheduled dates of December 2 & 3, 2020.

This Forum is the primary mining supply chain event in Western Canada that brings together the Saskatchewan mining industry and local suppliers to enhance their global competitiveness and expand markets.

Click here for more information and to register for the Forum. 

NOTE:  SMA Members will be sent a separate link to self-register for a complimentary registration.

• SMA Public Notice on COVID-19
• COVID-19 Enhanced Safety Measures for Saskatchewan Mining Industry
• COVID-19 Safety Infographic for Children
• SMA COVID-19 Precautionary Measures at Corporate Offices
• SMA COVID-19 Precautionary Measures at Mines and Mills
• SMA COVID-19 Precautionary Measures for Mining Work Camps
• SMA COVID-19 Precautionary Measures at Exploration Work Camps
• Government of Saskatchewan COVID-19 information
• Government of Canada Coronavirus (COVID-19) information
• Video: A look at Saskatchewan Mining Industry's Response to COVID-19

The 11th Annual Saskatchewan Mining Supply Chain Forum co-hosted by the Saskatchewan Mining Association, the Saskatchewan Industrial and Mining Suppliers Association and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Trade and Export Development took place April 3 and 4, 2019 at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon, SK.

The Forum provided information on current mining operations and projects in Saskatchewan and the related supply chain opportunities for manufacturing companies.

Click here for the Agenda.

Following are presentations from the Forum:

Tom Olson, The Mosaic Company - Next Generation Technology and Innovation

Mike Elliott, BHP - Jansen Project digital strategy

Jeff Wagner and Josh Dodd, Nutrien - Potash Operations, Capital and Procurement

Peter Haugen, The Mosaic Company - Operations/Project Updates

Matthew Wood, Western Potash Corp. - Western Potash Milestone Project

Rhea Brown, SaskPower - SaskPower's Path to 2030

Thomas Papst, K+S Potash Canada - The Saskatchewan Mining Supply Chain Forum

Brian Beverage, MNP - Block Chain Technology Overview for Mining Industry

Diane Cameron, Natural Resources Canada - Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

Terence Stechysin, Competition Bureau Canada - Bid-Rigging, Collusive Behavour & Compliance

Troy Baril, Miller Thomson - Prompt Payment Workshop

Brian Warbey, Saskatchewan Ministry of Finance - PST Workshop

SMA Environmental Forum 2018 is a professional development opportunity for environmental practitioners in the mining industry, consulting businesses, post-secondary researchers and government. With changing regulations and evolving technology it is important for environmental professionals to keep current, and move forward, in developing and identifying best practices related to environmental sustainability.

Following is the Agenda along with the presentations:

2018 Environmental Forum Agenda

Ayres-Oct 18 B-10:30-1100

Banks_Lamb-Oct 17-A-1530-1600

Bellmore-Oct 18-B-1600-1630

Boisjoli-Oct 18-1100-1130

Borchardt-Oct 17-A-900-930

Brehm_Judd-Henrey-Oct 17-A-1400-1430

Cator-Oct 18-A-1030-1100

Chad-Oct 18-A-1530-1600

Chambers-Oct 17-A-1030-1130

Drake-Oct 17-B-1600-1630

Etmanski-Oct18-A-0930-1000

Fernandes_Lucas-Oct 18-A-1400-1430

Ferris_Ferguson-Oct 18-A-1430-1500

Freistadt-Oct 18-B-0800-0830

Han-Oct 18-B-1530-1600

Hecker-Oct 17-A-1100-1130

Heffner_Skinner-Oct 17 -B-0830-0930

Hinz_Fullarton-Oct 17-A-1130-1200

Jean-Oct 17 B-1500-1530

Jeerakathil-Keynote-Oct 17-1200-1230

Kambeitz-Oct 17-B-1100-1130

Kempenaar-Oct 18-A-0830-0900

Kenke-Oct 17-B-1130-1200

Ketilson-Oct 18-B-1130-1200

Larsen-Oct 18-A-1600-1630

LePoudre-Oct 18-B-0900-0930

McCullum-Oct 17-A-0830-0900

McLoughlin-Oct 17-B-1030-1100

Nikl-Oct 18-B-0930-1000

Page_MacBride-Oct 17-B-0930-1000

Pedler and Meadows 2018 SMA paper_FINAL

Pedler_Meadows-Oct 17-A-1330-1400

Podaima-Oct-18-B-0830-900

Pollock-Oct-17-B-1530-600

Povalyaev-Oct 17-B-0900-0930

Proulx-Oct 18-A-1330-1400

Riess-Oct 17-A-1600-1630

Rykaart-Oct 18-A-0900-0930

Schabert-Oct 17-A-1500-1530

Searcy_Benson Oct 17-0930-1000

Tallon-Oct 18-A-1100-1130

Traylor-Oct 17-B-1330-1400

Webster-Oct 18-B-1330-1400

Wittrup-Oct 18-A-0800-0830

Wittrup-Oct 18-B-1400-1430

Yates-Oct 18-A-1130-1200

Zwarich_Message-Oct 17-B-1400-1430

Following is the 2018 SMA GeoVenture Blog August 19 - 24
Day 1 Orientation and Welcome BBQ, August 19, 2018

GeoVenture 2018 kicked off with an Orientation Workshop which included Introductions; Itinerary review; Curriculum Link Outline; Introduction to Rocks and Minerals; Overview of Saskatchewan Mining Industry; distribution of curriculum-related material.

The day finished off with a Drill and Grill dinner at Saskatoon Inn attended by SMA Board members.

Day 2 Potash - Solution (Mosaic Belle Plaine and Potash Interpretive Centre), August 20, 2018
By John Nicholson, St. Joseph High School, Saskatoon and Majak Mapiour, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon

We had a nice breakfast at the Saskatoon Inn and boarded the bus for the Mosaic potash mine at Belle Plaine. This mine is the largest solution mine in the world and produces more potash per year than the United States. It also generates its own electricity and consumes as much natural gas per year as the city of Moose Jaw. The 64 km2 mine site has about 1900 km of underground pipes that pump hot water down 1500 m to dissolve the potash. Belle Plaine mine consumes 19 000 L per minute (24/7) and all is kept on site.

What is potash?
Potash is the name given to potassium compounds and potassium containing materials, the most common of which is KCl. The name comes from the middle Dutch potaschen which means pot ash, referring to its original production of soaking wood ash in pots. The name of the element potassium comes from potash. Potash ore is a mixture of KCl, NaCl, Fe2O3, clay and other trace salts.

Potash Mining
There are two ways to mining potash: conventional mining and solution mining. In Mosaic Belle Plaine solution mining is used. Natural gas is burned to turn water to steam. The steam is put through two turbines to generate electricity. 90% of power needed to run the plant is produced on site and the rest is supplied by SaskPower. The steam exits the turbines as hot water, which is then pumped into the cavern to mine KCl. The recovered brine solution from underground is sent to either the refinery or the cooling ponds.

In the refinery, the brine solution is pumped to the evaporators (8 in total), where steam is used to evaporates some of the water causing the NaCl to settle out of the solution. Then the stream is directed to the crystallizers to recover KCl.  Subsequently, the wet KCl is dewatered, dried, sized, compacted, and/or stored. The cooling ponds use natural evaporation to settle out the KCl. Two dredges are used to recover the KCl from the ponds.

Potash Interpretive Centre, Esterhazy, SK
After our drive from Belle Plaine Potash Mine, we arrived in Esterhazy at about 7:00.  We were treated to a wonderful, homemade Ukrainian supper of perogies, cabbage rolls, and Grayson sausage at the Esterhazy Bowl Arena. Socializing and interacting with the others in our group was a very nice touch to the evening as we all sat together at one large, square table, where we were served our supper.

We then walked over to the Potash Interpretive Centre. Outside of the centre there was a tall, 20 foot statue of a miner and an old train car out on the front lawn.  When we entered the centre, we were greeted by our tour guides who were retired employees of the mine.  We learned about the backbone of the Esterhazy economy, which is potash.  

The interpretive centre is a great place to go to learn about the history of the potash industry and how it is important not only to the people of the area, but also all around the world.  The information was displayed through murals, maps of the local mines and the patterns they used for mining, a life-sized diorama of the area being mined, miniature models of the equipment used, and videos.  

We learned about the construction of the mines and how the technology has changed throughout the years. Where once there was a lot more physical labour, many of the mines operations are carried through by computers and automation. Safety measures are also considered more effectively than in the past.

The Potash Interpretive Centre is an excellent place to visit to experience what a working potash mine is like, without actually being able to visit a mine.
          

Day 3 Potash – Conventional Underground (Mosaic Esterhazy K1 & K2), August 21, 2018
A Mine Called K1
By Melanie Charnetski, Eaton School, Eatonia; Lanna Abbott, Lumsden High School; Violet Dubitz, SMA

Now this is the story all about how,
We learned about mining underground.
We’d like to take a minute,
Just sit right down,
We’ll tell you how we became the queens of a mine called K1.

In Southeast Saskatchewan, born and praised,
In Esterhazy is where spent one full day.
Gearing up, maxin’, descending all cool,
Traversing the tunnels, gettin’ all schooled,
When a couple of guys, who were up to some good,
Took us on a tour of their neighbourhood.
We got in some good sights, and we weren’t even scared,
Brad said, “Take as many potash samples as you dare.”

We whistled for a ride, and when it came near,
We thought to ourselves, “What a career!”
If anything we could say this trip was rare,
And we thought, “Time for the mill, yo holmes, to the stairs!”

We arrived at the mill around 12:08,
And we learned about size and importance of grade.
They showed us their kingdom, our tour was done,
Thank you, best wishes to the mine called K1!

Mosaic Esterhazy K2
Michelle Peters, Thom Collegiate High School, Regina and I (Mick Rissling, Martin Collegiate High School, Regina) decided to express the processes we learned about traditional underground potash mining and potash chemistry from the Esterhazy K2 mine in song form. You may wish to listen to it by itself or as an accompaniment (or epic song battle) to the song done by our colleagues in their K1 mine experience. Enjoy!

Esterhazy Rhapsody (sung more-or-less to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen)
Is this the real life?
Is this nerd fantasy?
Down in K2 mine,
3.3 x 103 feet from reality.
Open your eyes,
there are no skies to see.
I am just a poor teacher,
I need some good PD.
Because it’s easy come, easy go,
we’ll again be high but now we’re low.
The one way that the fans blow really, really matters to breathe.
To breathe.

Mosaic, protects a man.
Put a hard hat on his head,
Safety trained so he’s not dead.
Mosaic, K3 just begun,
To no longer have to throw water all away
Mosaic, oooooh
Still need to make it dry.
If I’m not up the shaft this time tomorrow
Come on down, come on down, I’ll be in the refuge.

Clocked in, time to descend
My ears poppin’ all the time.
Steel-toe boots caked with brine.
Good-bye everybody, I’ve got to go
Gotta leave surface behind and face the face.
Mama, ooo (there is no way the wind blows)
The pressure is real high,
I sometimes wish I’d never come down at all.

We see high-grade potash in the rock,
Dig it out, send it up, will you do the miners’ tango?
Blades spin as fast as lightning, with PPE it’s not frightening
Esterhazy, Esterhazy,
Esterhazy, Esterhazy,
Esterhazy Mosaic Co. Mosaic Co.!

It’s just a mixture, gotta separate it
it’s just a mixture, from the Elk Point Sea.
crystalline compounds, evaporation processes.
K-C-L , K-2-O, just let it go.
so-di-um - electrons let it go - let it go!
so-di-um - electrons let it go - let it go!
so-di-um - electrons let it go - let it go!
We will not let you go (never)
Never let you go let me go
Never let me go ooo
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
O chemistry-a differential density-a help-a-me-a let it go!
Flotation has aeration and ions for me.
For me
For me

So you think you can split me and sell me by size?
So you think you can dissolve me and leave me to dry?
Oh baby, I just need to be compacted, baby.
Just gotta get sold, just gotta get shipped outta here.

Ooh yeah, ooh yeah,
Potash really matters,
Botanists can see,
Potash really matters, to plant chemistry.

All the ways the food grows.

Day 4 Coal  - Westmoreland Coal Poplar River Mine and Castle Butte, August 22, 2018

The sleepy group of 2018 GeoVenture participants awoke to a beautiful crisp yet sunny day in the lovely community of Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan.  After a brief meal at the local restaurant we ventured out to ‘meet the giant’ nearby, Mr. Edouard Beaupre.  Standing over 8 feet tall was an impressive statue of his likeness, but nowhere near the size of ‘Great Gus’.

Great Gus is the smaller of two giant draglines that are the backbone of the Westmoreland Poplar River coal mine.  With a boom arm measuring 140 meters and a reach of 110 meters, this behemoth moves earth like a champ.  If this were parked at one end of Mosaic stadium it could reach the goal post at the other end! It has the power to dig a typical basement in two swipes of its giant bucket, with each swipe carrying 70 cubic meters.

Upon arriving at the Westmoreland facility, we signed in and were given a very thorough orientation and safety talk, complete with a professionally produced animated video.  We all donned our Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and off we went to board the bus.  The first stop was to see the coal seam and get out to walk in the pit.  We were treated to seeing the water truck go by and water the coal in an effort to keep the dust down.  We were also given bags to collect our very own coal samples, and had a group picture taken in front of the coal.

The seam of coal is typically about 4 meters deep, and is covered by about 30 meters of overburden.  It is the job of Great Gus to remove this overburden.  The giant loaders and haul trucks do the rest.  We watched a truck get loaded while we were there, hauling away about 140 tons of coal which is about 5 bucket loads from the loader.  We then followed the truck out of the pit up a ramp that has a maximum grade of 6 percent.  This means that for every 100 meters of travel, the ramp can only rise by 6 meters…but when you are hauling that much weight it is a pretty good feat.  Upon leaving the coal pit, the trucks travel approximately 5-10 minutes to the hopper where they unload all that coal so it can be loaded into the train for delivery to the power plant.

At the loading station, trains come to the plant to be loaded with coal destined for the power plant.  After the coal is hauled from the pit to the hopper, the truck unloads the coal and it is crushed to a more uniform size around 6 inches.  Then it is loaded onto a series of train cars (21 in total), and hauled to the Sask Power coal generating power plant.  This plant has two turbines and each one has a capacity of 315 megawatts.  The 630 megawatts of power generated at this plant represents about 20 percent of the total power that the province of Saskatchewan uses.  Two locomotives are owned by the company, and each of the rail cars holds about 90 tons for a combined total of about 2000 tons per train.  That coal is typically used by the power plant in about 3 hours, after its been crushed at the plant into a fine dust so it can be sent to the furnaces for combustion to power the turbines.

Our bus headed out to take us to see the dragline next, appropriately named Great Gus.  Another dragline is the 400 foot dragline, but at the time was undergoing an 18 million dollar service and was not operational, but it is the largest dragline operated in Saskatchewan.  The main purpose of the draglines are to remove the approximately 30 meters of overburden, and access the coal seam, but the dragline doesn’t actually dig the coal.  We all had an opportunity to see the spare 100 ton dragline bucket, and had another group picture done in front of this giant ‘shovel’.

We were able to see the dragline from two angles, and after leaving the second pit we headed to the main facility again to tour the maintenance shop.  Maintenance is one of the largest expenses for the company (after wages) and preventative maintenance is performed on all the equipment regularly.  All equipment is washed before it is worked on, and the mechanics are generally all journeymen heavy duty mechanics.  The last part of our tour consisted of a lunch with many of the company leaders and it gave us an opportunity to ask many great questions. The knowledgeable staff made the tour not only safe and informative, but also exciting.  We learned about their drone technology for mapping the site, the GPS technology that the operators use, and some more history of the company, both at this mine and others that they operate.

One thing that was stressed throughout our entire tour was the importance of site remediation and reclamation.  Westmoreland works consistently with local land owners and government to ensure all regulations are being met.  They reclaim all land to a state very similar to what it was prior to the mining, and most of it is returned to farmland and eventually sold to local farmers once the coal has been removed.  The entire operation was impressive to see, very educational, and certainly gives us educators who were on the tour a lot to talk to our students about.

Castle Butte
By Debbie Peterson, Kyle Composite School and Lee Jacobson, North Park Wilson School, Saskatoon

Coming across the flat prairie from the southern part of Saskatchewan, we followed the long road into a wide open valley formed by glacier melt water channels. It was flat except for a tall castle which appeared before our eyes. It was in the middle of nowhere and rose up tall, dry, orange, brown, and beige with sage, dust, and some grass around it. It was full of horizontal and vertical lines covering the whole surface. Upon further examination, there were some caves around the base. Why was it here? What made the lines crossing the surface of the castle? We needed to interpret the geology of this formation.

Our guides Svieda and Pam were a wealth of information sharing that the Castle was indeed formed during the Upper Cretaceous period where the land was mostly covered by rivers, streams and swamps. Sediments deposited at the bottom of the water 75-55 million years ago created the sedimentary rock. As the surrounding rocks were eroded away, a butte was left behind (a butte is a flat-topped hill of soft rock with a hard-protective rock on top). The soft rock does not erode due to the hard-top surface. In the sedimentary rock, there is sandstone and traces of iron. The iron shows up in horizontal bands that create protruding ledges as the sandstone erodes. The vertical lines covering the butte are a result of water and weather eroding the sandstone. 

Some of our group walked around the circumference, some explored the caves, and others climbed the top to enjoy the beautiful vista. There was an opportunity to express our artistic talents on paper showing our impressions of the wonderful Castle Butte.

Day 5 Uranium - Cameco Cigar Lake and Orano Canada McClean Lake Mill, August 23, 2018

Cameco Cigar Lake Mine
By Karen Kennedy-Allin, Weyburn Comprehensive and Shelly Stamm, Central Collegiate, Moose Jaw

We started the day by meeting down in the lobby of the Saskatoon Inn at 5:45 am.  Even though it was so early, we were all on time!  We divided ourselves into cars and Pam lead us in a convoy to Westwind Airlines.  We checked in and waited our turn to board.  Breakfast was waiting for us on the planes.

 
The flight was beautiful, although it was a bit smokey to start with due to the fires in BC.

Pam gave us a lesson about the Athabasca basin while we were on our way.  Click here  and here to see geological maps of Saskatchewan and the Athabasca Basin similar to what Pam was showing us. 

We arrived at our northern destination about an hour and a half later.  It was interesting to note that the runway was a dirt runway, but it was a smooth landing nonetheless.  At that point, we were welcomed by a friendly employee of Cigar Lake Mine.

A school bus was waiting to take us to the mine site.  The views were spectacular!  We had seen many of the lakes from the airplane, but it was even better up close.  We noticed that the trees were not quite as tall as trees further south.  This is likely due to the colder climate and soil conditions compared to further south.

Our orientation was led by the manager of the site, Jeremy Breker. During the presentation he emphasized safety above all.   

Cigar Lake has a unique resource.  It has the highest grade uranium mine in the world.

Jeremy gave us an overview of what we would be seeing and we were on our way to put on or PPE.  We had booties, steel toed rubber boots, a white Tyvex jumpsuit, helmet and safety glasses.

All of our tours have involved two people from the mine to lead our groups.  One person describes what we are seeing and the other person follows behind answering questions and makes sure no one gets left behind.   

We were taken to the elevator shaft which was also referred to as “the cage”.  The ride down was exciting and quite smooth.  Our tour guides took us to several places including a refuge station that also serves as a lunch room.  Workers must clean their boots before entering and remove their safety helmets, gloves and wash their hands before entering the eating area.  

The ore is mined from underneath the ore body using high pressure water jets.  This was developed by Cameco and is referred to as the jet boring system or JBS.  More detailed information on this method can be found here. We got to see exactly where this occurs while we were touring underground.  We also got to see the area where the engine for the jets of water are kept.  They use 15000 psi to retrieve the ore.

Once the ore is removed from the ore body it goes to a slurry tank – which we also got to see.  From there it is ground up more to make it easier to move to the surface. Once we returned to the surface, we were taken to the building that the trucks enter to load the slurry that is then moved by truck to McClean Lake for milling.

Our tour guides answered all of our questions and were very patient when they had to re-explain some of the processes more than once. After the tour we loaded up the bus and headed to McClean Lake to see the milling process.

Orano McClean Lake Mill
by: Michelle Wall, Scott Collegiate, Regina and Carolyn Bowler, Sask Polytech, Moose Jaw

After waking up bright and early, the group split up to get on our planes for the ride to Cigar Lake. The tour of the uranium mine was fantastic as you just read above.

A delicious lunch was provided, and then we were on our way to the Orano Processing Facility located at McCLean Lake.
 
Our bus driver took us through some beautiful countryside full of lakes and black spruce/jack pine forest.
 
We arrived at the plant, and had coffee and the best fruit tray and snacks while the entertaining Monsieur Vincent Laniece (Gen. Mgr.) gave us an overview of the facility in his charming French accent.
 
Having a Frenchman in charge ensured that we were dressed to the nines in the latest safety fashions. Red coats, baby blue hats and purple gloves rounded out our ensembles.
 
Then we were off to the JEB Tailings Management Facility, an impressive 120m hole in the ground that used to be a mine from 1994-1997. Now, the wastes from the plant flow into the pond and settle on the bottom to consolidate into a big plug. Pumps draw water from the bottom to be recycled into the plant. The TMF was designed to ensure that all water flows into the pond from the surrounding area, and around the tailings. The inviting turquoise water is currently at an elevation of 436m. They were in the process of adding a liner made of bentonite clay to the upper portion of the pond to ensure that water flow continues to flow into the pond and not into the environment as the pond rises to its maximum capacity elevation of 450m which will be enough to hold all anticipated tailings from Cigar Lake. The liner also helps to prevent plants from gaining a foothold, which further prevents any wildlife from settling on the pond. With plenty of surrounding lakes to choose from, stray birds have never been a real issue.
 
 We headed back to the plant to learn how the plant deals with the 14-16 truckloads of uranium sent from the Cigar Lake mine each day. An impressive safety record and the array of devices for monitoring alpha, beta and gamma radiation made for a relaxing entry into the plant.
 
First stop - unloading the trucks. The 12% uranium slurry is vacuum suctioned out of the bottom of each truck container and sent to the pachucas for storage. This area had the highest levels of radiation in the whole plant, so were weren't allowed to enter.

From the pachucas, we went to the leaching area where acid is used to extract uranium, and a variety of other metals, from the slurry. There is a lot of monitoring of the waste stream at this point because elements like selenium (which is toxic to fish at levels measured in parts per BILLION) can be present. As fishing is the main recreation of a lot of the workers here, they make sure that nothing will harm their pastime!
 
We also learned that a large amount of hydrogen gas can be released from the clay at this step, and the plant had to overhaul their equipment to make sure H levels stayed below the explosive range. Several backup systems make sure the levels stay low, even during the heat of summer.

Day 6 Diamond presentation & SRC Lab Tour, August 24, 2018
by: Renee Mahajan

Check out Renee's blog on the diamond presentations https://mixcord.co/acapella/p/EmN4Fvc34Bqn7omJwJR_Ig/

The 50th Annual Emergency Response Mine Rescue Skills Competition took place on Saturday, June 2, 2018 in Moose Jaw at Mosaic Place and Moose Jaw Exhibition.  Here are the results.

The Competition Guidelines can be found here. Click here for the Mine Rescue Manual.

The SMA ERMRC Newletter The Scoop can be found here

Saskatchewan Mining Week May 27 - June 2, 2018. 

Following is a list of Mining Week activities.

Monday, May 28 – Pierre Gratton, President & CEO, Mining Association of Canada will make a luncheon presentation to the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce to be held at the Hotel Saskatchewan Radisson Plaza in Regina. https://www.apegs.ca/Portal/Pages/event-details-7/33477

Tuesday, May 29 – Pam Schwann, President, Saskatchewan Mining Association will make a luncheon presentation to members of the Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce at the Bella Vista in Humboldt. https://www.humboldtchamber.ca/events/details/mining-week-in-saskatchewan-2073

Wednesday, May 30 - Kyle Leadbeater, Superintendent, Dry End Production, K+S Potash Canada will make a breakfast presentation to the Moose Jaw and District Chamber of Commerce at Grant Hall Hotel, Moose Jaw. https://www.mjchamber.com/home

Wednesday, May 30 – Women in Mining/ Women in Nuclear Networking Event with keynote speaker the Honourable Bronwyn Eyre, Minister of Energy & Resources to be held at the Saskatoon Club, Saskatoon. http://wimwinsk.com/event/2018-wimwin-sk-mining-week-networking-event/

Wednesday, May 30 and Thursday, May 31 – ‘Core Days’ in partnership with Keewatin Community Development Association, Northlands College and the Ministry of Energy & Resources. Events include: Technical Discussions, Core and Rock Sample Displays, Long Term Service Awards, Mineral Exploration & Mine Service Tradeshow, La Ronge. http://www.kcdc.ca/coredays/

Thursday, May 31 – Larry Long, Vice President Operations, Potash, Nutrien will make a breakfast presentation to the North Saskatoon Business Association to be held at the Saskatoon Club in Saskatoon. http://nsbasask.com/event/nsba-mining-week-breakfast-may31-18/

Thursday, May 31 – IMII’s 5th Annual “Let’s Talk Minerals!” to be held at the Saskatoon Inn & Conference Centre, Saskatoon. http://www.imii.ca/events/events-details/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=208&cHash=8208d01a9013b9e560a50c3419b8d7a6

Friday, June 1 – The Honourable Bronwyn Eyre, Minister of Energy & Resources will make a breakfast presentation to the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce to be held at the Radisson Hotel, Saskatoon. http://members.saskatoonchamber.com/events/details/saskatchewan-mining-week-breakfast-4100

Saturday, June 2 – 50th Annual Emergency Response/Mine Rescue Skills Competition at Mosaic Place and Moose Jaw Exhibition Park, Moose Jaw.

For more information on Saskatchewan Mining Week contact the SMA office (306) 757-9505; admin@saskmining.ca

The 10th Annual Saskatchewan Mining Supply Chain Forum will be held April 10 and 11, 2018 at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon, SK.

This Forum provides information on how manufacturers, construction, equipment and service providers can access mining supply opportunities.

Forum topics have historically included (yet to be finalized for this year):

• An overview of projects by Saskatchewan mining companies
• Information on opportunities to supply equipment and services to the mining industry
• The process and steps to become a supplier to the mining industry
• Separate sessions on topics such as maintenance, repair and operations for mine site personnel

For more information and to purchase tickets for the10th Annual Saskatchewan Mining Supply Chain Forum please use the following link: https://saskmining.wixsite.com/miningsupplyforum

NOTE:  Saskatchewan Mining Association members to contact the SMA office for registration to the event.

The 3rd Mine Safety Summit - Technical Aspects of Mine Safety was held on Thursday, March 1, 2018 in conjunction with the SMA AGM on Friday, March 2, 2018.

The format of the Summit utilized case studies from SMA member companies and included reviews of incident investigations, equipment/procedure evaluations, and best practice discussions. Member companies presented for approximately 20 minutes/presentation. The case studies were grouped into themes which relate to activities and conditions that have been, or have the potential to have been, associated with serious injury and/or fatality.

Following are the presentations:

Jason Belanger, Nutrien

Mary Lo, Orano Canada

Kirk Lamont, Cameco

Dave Lowe, K+S Potash Canada

Ben Stevenson & Robin Butler, BHP

Brent Bachtold, Mosaic

Ruo Xi Liu, Cameco

Garry Sawkey, K+S Potash Canada

Kathy Sovdi, Westmoreland Coal Company

Marc Carignan, Nutrien

Chad Binsfeld, K+S Potash Canada

Dustin Orosz, Mosaic

Following is a blog on the 2017 GeoVenture August 14 - 19, 2017. 

Day 1 Monday August 14th, 2017 - Orientation

Day 2 Tuesday August 15th, 2017 - K + S Potash Canada Bethune Mine, by Erika Bakker, Saskatoon Misbah School

Our first day took us to Saskatchewan’s newest mine – K+S Potash Canada in Bethune. We learned about a special kind of mining called “solution mining.” This is very different – but also similar – to conventional mining. The reason you would want to do solution mining over conventional mining is you can reach far deeper ore beds.

In solution mining rather than send people and machines deep underground, you send hot water. At first it is just plain hot water to dissolve both the potash – KCl, and the salt – NaCl. This creates the “pocket” to get started. After you have some space, you send down a brine solution of NaCl and water. This brine is so super-NaCl concentrated, that it cannot dissolve any more salt, only potash. This lets you take only the KCL and leave the NaCl behind. I was surprised to learn about the “diesel blanket,” they pump some diesel into the hole to coat the top, so the water doesn’t dissolve the top of the cavern!

Once you pump the water out of the hole, the process becomes similar to conventional mining. The potash is dried, compacted, and shipped out by rail car to happy customers all over the world… but not before they dye it PINK!

Day 3 Wednesday August 16, 2017 - Westmoreland Coal Poplar River Mine, by Todd Smith, Ecole Ducharme, Moose Jaw and Satindar Nijhawan, Saskatchewan Polytechnic Moose Jaw

What Lies beneath?

Our visit to Westmoreland Coal Company’s Poplar River Mine, was our chance to dig deeper into this important mineral resource that spurs the industry in the Coronach and Estevan area; not to mention provides the fuel to generate base load power for the majority of the province (630 Mega-Watts).

Arriving on site and seeing the scale of the operation surprised us. We traveled to a coal pit where we were able to lay our hands on the remnants of Saskatchewan’s tropical past. Some 300 million years ago, our province was covered in lush rainforest…hard to believe, if you have experienced a Saskatchewan winter! The vegetation was covered in sediments and compacted to create the coal that we now find in the South-East.

After the topsoil is stripped, the dragline removes some 50m of overburden to access the lignite coal seam. The seam is around 4 m thick and is removed from the ground by giant front-end loaders that work around the clock to supply coal to the power plant. While some pits are active, the engineers are hard at work mapping new and existing pits using drones to gain a better view and more accurate measurements. The information is fed in to the GPS units on the dragline to help improve efficiencies.

Once the coal has been extracted, the remediation process begins. This creates very little back log in the reclamation process and makes for a near seamless transition between mined and unmined ground. Habitat for wildlife is restored and the reclaimed land is used to provide hay for local farmers.

The rigorous work of extracting the coal means that preventative maintenance is necessary. While touring the mine, the diversity of jobs available was staggering. Mining engineers, Environmental engineers, Heavy duty mechanics, Welders, Safety officers and Heavy equipment operators are just some of the many job opportunities in the mining field.

After we wrapped up our tour of the mine, we came to the realization that Saskatchewan needs coal! It provides jobs, base load power, and drives our economy. With the increasing concern for “clean energy”, coal should not be a “four letter word”. Saskatchewan leads the world in Carbon Capture technology and coal is still the cleanest option to fill our power needs.

We would like to thank Westmoreland Coal Company and the staff at Poplar River Mine for hosting the SMA GeoVenture program, allowing us to tour the mine site and opening our eyes to the power of coal.

Coal – Todd Smith (17/08/2017)

    

PotashCorp Rocanville Underground, by Kunle Adelakun, Saskatchewan Polytechnic Saskatoon

I was privileged to have participated in the 2017 Geoventure program organized by Saskatchewan Mining Association. Here are some of the knowledge I can take to my class as an instructor. Saskatchewan is the heart of Potash mining in the world. The deposit of salts (NaCl and KCl) which precipitated from evaporation of ocean water thousands of years ago spread mainly across southern part of Saskatchewan and down to the northern US state of North Dakota and spread also into the two neighbouring provinces of Alberta and Manitoba. A good portion of the deposit in Southern Saskatchewan could be mined economically at the depth of 3,300 ft (1,000m) below surface using a conventional mining method while the deposit is mined in the area of the province where it is deeper than 3,300 ft (1,000) using solution mining method. There are eight operating conventional Potash mines and three solution mines in Saskatchewan as of today.

The conventional potash mining required sinking of two shafts into the potash bearing formation. One for providing fresh air into the mine and workers access and the other for exhausting the used air out of the mine and moving of raw potash from underground to the processing mill on surface. The potash is mined using a machine manufactured in Saskatchewan called continuous miners and network of extendable and permanent conveyor belt systems. The machine cuts a panel and then cuts 24 rooms in the panel leaving pillars that separate the rooms from one another. The materials that are cut are moved from the cutting face by the machine unto an extendable conveyor belt that extends as the machine advances. This process is repeated in all the production panels and throughout the life span of the mine. The Potash mining has been a huge boost to Saskatchewan economy since it started by creating a lot of employment opportunities and businesses to the contractors in the province and beyond. This tour has given me the opportunity to see how blessed our province is and how much opportunities do exist in our province especially in the mining industry.

PotashCorp Rocanville Mill, by Bernard Krogsgaard, Regina Christian School

Processing KCL

The volume of potash that is processed daily in Saskatchewan is astounding. It was a rewarding experience to learn about the milling techniques.

Initially, the extracted ore (a mixture of halite-NaCl and sylvite-KCL) is crushed to a particle size of 1 centimetre. This aids the separation of the KCL (approximately 30%) from the NaCl (approximately 70%).

A brine is added to the crushed ore in a ratio of 3:7, brine to ore. The brine along with the use of agitators, scrubs clay and other non-soluable matter from the ore crystals. Using a system of sieves or screens, these clay particles are drawn out of the solution. The remaining slurry is used to separate the KCL from the NaCl. It is a very interesting process.

Chemicals are added to the slurry (brine and ore). This is the flotation stage. These reagents attach to the KCL but not to the NaCl. The KCL with the reagents become hydrophobic (repell water) and have a negative surface charge. At the flotation stage, small air bubbles are released below the slurry. The rising air bubbles align to the KCL particles lifting them to the surface. Frother is added to the mixture to reduce surface tension and the KCL crystals (now separated from the NACl) get suspended on the solution and are skimmed off the surface.

Using centrifugal force the brine is separated from the KCL particles. The remaining moisture is removed from the KCL in dryers at a temperature of 200 degrees.

The KCL particles are sized to 'standard' for the international markets and 'granular' is for use in North America. KCL particles that are too big or fine pass through a machine for compaction into sheets which are then broken to produce the 'standard' or 'granular' sizes.

It is now time to ship the tons of potash that is produced hourly.

Separation Anxiety?, by Dave Little, Valley Manor School, Martensville

Imagine a Saskatchewan teacher on his summer holidays nervously poised to tour a facility which is hot, humid, dusty—and noisier than an out-of-control grade 8 classroom. Whatever could possess this fellow to undertake such an uncomfortable excursion in his free time?

Our story begins almost a kilometre below ground level at the Rocanville potash mine where this fertilizer is produced in quantities greater than anywhere else on the planet. The raw material containing this valuable mineral has rested here undisturbed for 400 million years until quickly mined and rapidly transported by conveyor belt to the bottom of the main shaft. Using a skip, it is transferred at rapid speed—a mere ninety seconds—from its subterranean resting place up to the towering main frame at the surface. Were this potash ore pure enough to be used as a fertilizer, there'd be no need for the hot, dusty, noisy building through which our intrepid teacher will tour.

Alas, the raw material contains only about a third of the desired potash (KCl), so this must be further refined to separate out much salt (NaCl) and other impurities. Thus our anxious Saskatchewan teacher steps into the maelstrom to witness the wonder of separation at the 1970's vintage Rocanville mill. Up and down stairways and through catwalks and hallways, he marvels as the process unfolds.The first step here is to crush the “muck” down to more manageable pieces. Add water and then introduce other chemicals which cause this strange brew to froth and foam and force the potash granules to the top while the salt precipitates to the bottom. A quick paddling sweeps away the KCl pieces from the surface of this soup and a belt speeds them away to a drier. After the drying, screening, and sorting processes, the potash—now pure enough to fertilize hungry crops around the world—is sped off. It soon arrives at either the rail loading facility (which can fill a railcar in ten minutes) or a storage hanger whose enormous size staggers the imagination.

At this point Mr. Saskatchewan teacher—thirst for knowledge assuaged—departs this fascinating locale to water his parched throat, wash the salty dust from his face, and relax in a more tranquil venue for the remainder of his holidays.

Day 5 Friday, August 18, 2017 - Cameco McArthur River, by Laurie Hawkins, Assiniboia Elementary School; Deb De Caux, Dinsmore High School; Tim Vanderhooft, Regina Christian School; David Plaskett, E.D. Feehan High School, Saskatoon; Ryan Gray, Creighton School

Since it was our first time flying into the north, our experience began quickly once we boarded the plane with West Wind Aviation to head to the Athabascan Basin. Once there we would explore the McArthur River Uranium Mine owned by the joint venture of Cameco and AREVA.

Our flight path allowed us to view many topographical transitions as a result of glaciers. As well, we were able to view the meteor impact ring which created Gow Lake, eskers, and drumlins.

After a brief overview of the mine, we learned about exploration. Using helicopters to look for graphite as well as probing on the surface, the exploration crew begins drilling and logging their cores from the top to the bottom. All cores are collected, analyzed, and accounted for. If the correct minerals aren’t found, they move on. We were astounded by the enormous cost of drilling for core samples; anywhere from $30,000 to $500,000 per hole.

The surface tour was very informative. Clearly, McArthur River operates self-sufficiently despite its distance from any other established populations. We had the opportunity to speak with McArthur’s own registered nursing team and their EMT/rescue teams. It was clear that the employees of this mine are well cared for day to day and in the event of emergency situations. We witnessed the technological advance and the increasing automation of systems in the mine as we were toured in the shop, hoist, and central control areas.

After the surface tour, we headed down the wooden shaft to 530m where we boarded vehicles to learn about the process. This cage is used to haul all the equipment that is taken down into the mine. The equipment that is too big to fit in the cage is taken apart and rebuilt down in the shops below. One thing we noted was the wet conditions as well as the cooler temperatures which remain constant all year round at about 12 degrees C. The collection level is at 640m below surface. The roads created below are uneven as they mine based on where the ore is. As they move to different sections, they use the freeze method where they bore holes in the earth in order to run brine into the ground to freeze the ground water. Once they feel as though they have succeeded, they run tests to ensure there are no leaks. Not only do they survey above ground, there are surveys done underground to find the ore body. Once the ore has been collected, it is sent down the road to the Key Lake milling location.

Safety is a very important aspect for the mine. From strict PPE equipment to wash stations, the employees take every precaution to ensure everyone’s safety. Of course the perception for many is the dangerous levels of radiation that employees are exposed to however with the PRISM monitoring system in many locations as well as personal monitors that each person must wear, employees are well below the government level of 50 mSv and even the company level of 20mSv. They use many different aspects to ensure safety such as remote control vehicles, wash stations, scanning the load prior sending it to the top to ensure the proper %, and of course training. Other safety aspects include mesh to protect them from falling debris and to make the structure safe and secure, spraying shotcrete to make walls stronger, and refuge stations every 500 m.

The highlight of the tour was the opportunity to actually see the unconformity! This is where the ore is actually encased. Only a small group of people ever get the opportunity to see this up close, but we have now joined this select group. Both we and the tour guides were excited to experience this together!

From start to finish, and in discussion afterwards, we all agree that a tour of the McArthur River uranium mine is a fantastic opportunity. Anyone who is afforded the opportunity to take part, ought to do so!

MEDIA RELEASE

49^th Annual Emergency Response/Mine Rescue Skills Competition . . . A Test with Great Success!

June 4, 2017 Saskatoon: Teams of dedicated and highly trained emergency response/mine rescue personnel from fifteen mine sites around the province tested their skills at the 49^th Annual Emergency Response/Mine Rescue Skills Competition held at Prairieland Park on Saturday June 3, 2017.

Underground and Surface Rescue teams displayed their highly qualified and proficient skills in 5 separate events, including Fire Fighting, First Aid, Proficiency Skills, Practical Skills and Simulated Surface and Underground Mine Problems.

The Overall winners of the 49^th Annual Emergency Response Mine Rescue Skills Competition are:

OVERALL

Surface Winner - PotashCorp Patience Lake Runner Up – Cameco Key Lake

Underground Winner – Mosaic Esterhazy K1 Runner Up – PotashCorp Lanigan

The Individual Event winners of the 49^th Annual Emergency Response Competition are:

FIRST AID

Surface Winner - PotashCorp Patience Lake Runner Up – Westmoreland Coal Poplar River

Underground Winner - PotashCorp Lanigan Runner Up – Mosaic Esterhazy K2

FIRE FIGHTING

Surface Winner – AREVA McClean Lake Runner Up – Mosaic Belle Plaine

Underground Winner – PotashCorp Allan Runner Up – Silver Standard Seabee

PROFICIENCY

Surface Winner - Westmoreland Coal Poplar River Runner Up – PotashCorp Patience Lake

Underground Winner – PotashCorp Lanigan Runner Up – Mosaic Esterhazy K1

PRACTICAL SKILLS

Surface Winner – Mosaic Belle Plaine Runner Up – Cameco Key Lake

Underground Winner – Mosaic Esterhazy K1 Runner Up – PotashCorp Allan

SURFACE FIELD PROBLEM

Surface Winner - Cameco Key Lake Runner Up – Mosaic Belle Plaine

UNDERGROUND MINE PROBLEM

Underground Winner – PotashCorp Rocanville Runner Up – Mosaic Esterhazy K1

The Saskatchewan Mining Association salutes these safety professionals who are a tremendous resource, both to the mines where they work and their home communities.

SMA Chair, Jessica Theriault presented the prestigious John T. Ryan National Safety Trophy for Select Mines to Mosaic Belle Plaine. The company had a most remarkable Injury Rate of “zero” – meaning they had no lost time injuries, or modified work injuries at their operations in 2016 representing almost 700,000 hours worked. This is a great safety achievement.

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For more information please contact:

Tracey Irwin, Manager, Communications and Membership, Saskatchewan Mining Association, (306) 591-7050

Saskatchewan Mining Week runs from May 28 - June 3, 2017.  Various events will be held throughout the week culminating with the 49th Annual Emergency Response/Mine Rescue Skills Competition taking place Saturday, June 3 at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon.

Click here for a Schedule of Mining Week Activities.  Following is information on events during Mining Week.

'Mining smarter - Creating value through Energy Management' presented by Deloitte - APEGS/Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce Mining Week Breakfast

'Tracking the Trends' presented by Deloitte - Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce Luncheon

'Medical & Recreational Marijuana in the Workplace Workshop presented by MLT Aikins

Women in Mining/Women in Nuclear SK Event presented by Marcotte Mining and creator of Covergalls Workwear

'The next 50 years: marking a major milestone for potash in Saskatchewan' presented by The Mosaic Company - North Saskatoon Business Association Breakfast

49th Annual Emergency Response/Mine Rescue Skills Competition

The Saskatchewan Mining Association, the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy and the Saskatchewan Industrial and Mining Suppliers Association presented the 9th Annual Saskatchewan Mining Supply Chain Forum April 4 & 5, 2017 at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon.

The Forum provided information on how manufacturers, construction, equipment and service providers can access mining supply opportunities.  The Forum included a tradeshow with over 200 exhibitors.

Attached is the Agenda. 

Following are the Forum presentations that were available to post:

SMA & SIMSA, Economic Impact of Mining Supply Chain

Bill Whitelaw, Glacier Media Group, Global Supply Chain

Dr. George Jergeas, University of Calgary, The Benevolent Dictatorship for Major Capital Projects

Mark Fracchia, PotashCorp, Operations Update

Eric Pacquet, AREVA Resources Canada, Operations Update

Darren Hrynkiw, K+S Potash Canada GP

Robin Goad, Fortune Minerals Ltd., Project Update

Bob Steane, Cameco Corporation, Operations Update

Paul Neufeld, Gensource Potash Corp., Project Update

Alan Pangbourne, Silver Standard Resources, Project Update

Tim Herrod, PotashCorp, Supply Chain Update

Grant Ring, SaskPower, Supply Chain Update

Sarah Thompson, K+S Potash Canada, Supply Chain Update

Kari Krueckl Lamont, Cameco Corporation, Supply Chain Update

Chris Dekker, STEP, International Opportunities

Randy Lott and Tomas Cabanillas, Economic Development Canada (EDC), International Opportunities

The full day Summit was held in conjunction with the SMA AGM in March.  The date of the Summit was March 2, 2017.

The format of the Summit included case studies from SMA member companies and reviews of incident investigations, equipment/procedure evaluations, and best practice discussions. The case studies were grouped into themes which relates to activities and conditions that have been, or have the potential to have been, associated with serious injury and/or fatality. Themes for this year’s Summit were:

• SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
• SHAFT SAFETY
• IMPROVING SAFETY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
• ELECTRICAL SAFETY

Following are the presentations from the Summit:

Tim Barnstable, PotashCorp Cory

Paul Cuthbert, BHP Billiton

Ed Dyna, Cameco Corporation

Dean Gerhardt, Mosaic

Brian Grossleg, BHP Billiton

Patrick Kurtz, Agrium

Mike Meadows, Mosaic

Dustin Orosz, Mosaic

Arnfinn Prugger, PotashCorp

David Scharbach, PotashCorp

Chad Sewell, AREVA Resources Canada

Dave Speerbrecker, Thyssen Mining

John Takala, Cameco

Mike Tomtene, PotashCorp Allan

Anastasia VanderMost, PotashCorp

Challenge of managing carbon emissions in Saskatchewan’s mining and mineral sector with carbon pricing seen by Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy

With stories recently appearing in the national media about the potential for the federal government to impose a carbon price nationally (The Globe and Mail, Ottawa to impose a national carbon price on the provinces, Sunday, September 18, 2016), it is timely the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy has published a policy brief (http://www.schoolofpublicpolicy.sk.ca/research/publications/jsgs-policy-brief.php) identifying the challenges such a move may present to Saskatchewan’s potash and uranium production.

The policy brief discusses the economic context in which greenhouse gas emissions from the province’s minerals industry should be measured in the policy debate over managing carbon emissions, as well as the policy landscape and considerations all governments should consider in coming to decisions on how to manage greenhouse gas emissions.

Saskatchewan Mining Week was held May 29 - June 4, 2016.  Various events were held throughout the week culminating with the 48th Annual Emergency Response/Mine Rescue Skills Competition, Saturday, June 4 at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon.

Attached is a schedule of Mining Week Activities and a new release.  

2016-mining-week-activities.pdf

2016 Mining Week Launch News Release

The Saskatchewan Mining Association's 50th Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday, February 12, 2016 at the Radisson Hotel Saskatoon.

 Attached is the Program.

2016-agm-program.pdf

To view original article click here

In the current market conditions, the mining industry will need to hire 12,900 new workers by 2024, according to the 2014 Saskatchewan Mining Industry Hiring Requirements and Available Talent Forecasts Report, released by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), in partnership with the Saskatchewan Mining Association (SMA) and the International Minerals Innovation Institute (IMII).

Demographics of the current Saskatchewan mining industry indicate that it has younger labour force, compared to the Canadian mining workforce, however retirements continue to pose a challenge to a stable labour market succession, with 12 per cent of the current mining workforce over the age of 55. Currently women and immigrants are underrepresented in the mining workforce compared to the overall workforce while aboriginal peoples comprise 10 per cent of the mining workforce.

MiHR’s available talent forecast shows that the mining industry can expect to attract about 6,900 new workforce entrants in 71 key mining occupations. The gap between the hiring requirements and available talent are largest in Technical Occupations, followed by Supervisors, Coordinators and Foreman and Professional and Physical and Science Occupations. While the gaps faced by the mining industry in Saskatchewan have narrowed for some occupations since 2011, employers are still struggling to match their recruitment needs with the skills of job-seekers in the province. For example, the employer survey deployed as part of this study suggests that Engineers are still among the top five most difficult occupations to recruit.

Fostering partnerships between industry and post-secondary institutions is an important strategy, particularly given the projected gaps between the need for skilled and educated workers and the supply of available talent. The collaborative partnership between the SMA and IMII is an example of how industry, government and post- secondary institutions can collaborate to align post-secondary training and education to career opportunities in the mining sector. Other strategies to attract and retain talent include promotion of career opportunities, increased participation of under-represented groups in non-traditional roles, developing mentorship and succession programs, identifying and grooming high potential employees for managerial and supervisory roles and incorporating leadership development in early career stages.

For further information contact:
Pam Schwann, Executive Director
Saskatchewan Mining Association
(306) 757-9505
pschwann@saskmining.ca

Saskatchewan Mining Week was held from May 24 - 30, 2015.

Attached is a Schedule of Mining Week Activities, News Release on Mining Week Launch and available speaker presentations.

2015-launch-news-release.pdf

2015-mining-week-activities.pdf

mihr-mining-week-presentation.pdf

pam-schwann-sma-sk-forum-presentation.pdf

peter-hall-edc-let-s-talk-exports.pdf

Click here to read our 2015 blogs

To view original article click here

Saskatoon: The Honourable Don Morgan, Minister of Education and, Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety along with Trevor Berg, President of the Saskatchewan Mining Association launched ‘Mining Week in Saskatchewan’ today at SIAST Kelsey Campus, Mining Engineering Technology Building. Mining Week in Saskatchewan runs from May 25 – 31, 2014.

“The theme of this year's Mining Week is ‘Mining for Food and Energy: Core to Saskatchewan’s and the World’s Economy,” said Trevor Berg, President of Saskatchewan Mining Association. “Growth in the mining industry is based on strong fundamentals aligned with the needs of emerging economies. With an expanding global population, the world needs more food, and potash helps supply that. And it needs more clean, reliable energy, and that's the connection to Saskatchewan’s uranium and developing clean coal technology” said Berg.

The Saskatchewan Mining Association initiated a new Education Outreach program this year called the “Digging Deeper Challenge”. Students in Grades 4, 7 and 9 to 12 were asked to submit a 2 minute video or PowerPoint Presentation on: What are the benefits of mining to you? What are the benefits of mining to your community? And what are the benefits of mining to Saskatchewan? The winners were announced and awards presented to students from the following schools: John Lake School (Grade 4/5) in Saskatoon, Outlook Elementary School (Grade 4), Ecole Massey (Grade 7) in Regina, St. Dominic Savio School (Grade 7) in Regina, and Wynyard Composite School (Secondary).

The Saskatchewan Mining Association will have dozens of events in communities across the province celebrating Mining Week, culminating with the 46th Annual Emergency Response/Mine Rescue Skills Competition, May 31 at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon.

For further information contact:
Tracey Irwin
SMA Manager, Communications and Membership
(306) 591-7050
www.saskmining.ca

To view original article click here

Saskatoon: This past weekend teams of dedicated and highly trained emergency response/mine rescue personnel from fourteen mine sites around the province tested their skills at the 45th Annual Emergency Response/Mine Rescue Skills Competition held at Prairieland Park on Saturday, June 1, 2013.

Underground and Surface Rescue teams displayed their highly qualified and proficient skills in 5 separate Events, including Fire Fighting, First Aid, Proficiency Skills, Practical Skills and Simulated Surface and Underground Mine Problems.

The Overall winners of the 45th Annual Emergency Response Mine Rescue Skills Competition are:

OVERALL

Surface Winner - Mosaic Belle Plaine
Runner Up – PotashCorp Patience Lake

Underground Winner – Cameco McArthur
River Runner Up – PotashCorp Rocanville

The Individual Event winners of the 45th Annual Emergency Response Competition are:

FIRST AID

Surface Winner - Mosaic Belle Plaine
Underground Winner - Mosaic Colonsay

FIRE FIGHTING

Surface Winner – Mosaic Belle Plaine
Runner Up – Sherritt Coal Poplar River

Underground Winner – PotashCorp Rocanvill
Runner Up – Mosaic Esterhazy K1

PROFICIENCY

Surface Winner - PotashCorp Patience Lake
Runner Up – Mosaic Belle Plaine

Underground Winner – Mosaic Esterhazy K2
Runner Up – PotashCorp Rocanville

PRACTICAL SKILLS

Surface Winner – PotashCorp Patience Lake
Runner Up – Mosaic Belle Plaine

Underground Winner – Agrium
Runner Up – Esterhazy K1

SURFACE FIELD PROBLEM

Surface Winner - Mosaic Belle Plaine
Runner Up – PotashCorp Patience Lake

UNDERGROUND MINE PROBLEM

Underground Winner - Cameco McArthur River
Runner Up – PotashCorp Cory

The Saskatchewan Mining Association salutes these safety professionals who are a tremendous resource, both to the mines where they work and the communities in which they reside.

At the Emergency Response/Mine Rescue Skills Competition Awards Banquet, Mosaic Belle Plaine was also presented with the Regional John T. Ryan safety trophy for the best safety performance in the Select Mine category in 2012. The John T. Ryan Award is a national safety achievement award that symbolizes excellence with respect to the safe production of minerals in Canada. Two individuals were also recognized for their long-time dedication to the mine rescue community. Mr. Jack Danylczuk was recognized as Emergency Response Person of the Year, and Mr. Nick Asmundson, one of the first certified mine rescue persons in the province, was recognized posthumously for his many years as a team member competitor, coach and judge.

For more information please contact:

Pamela Schwann, M.Sc., P.Geo.
Executive Director
Saskatchewan Mining Association
(306) 757-9505

Click here to read our 2013 blogs