CMIC News update - December 2011 - 2
Changes in the Exploration Camp
We are very happy to welcome Alan Galley to the CMIC Secretariat, as the newly-appointed Exploration Research Director. Alan's experience and expertise will be critical in moving forward the projects that the Exploration Committee has been working on.
Alan has over 30 years experience in researching mineral deposits and managing mineral deposit research. He joined the Geological Survey of Canada in 1983 as a research assistant. Upon completion of a doctoral degree in 1994 he was elevated to research scientist, and became a senior research scientist in 2003. During this time Alan developed an expertise in ore systems responsible for the formation of seafloor massive sulfide deposits, and coordinated the completion of three multi-disciplinary minerals-related research projects. He became head of the Mineral Deposit and Applied Geophysics subdivision in 2003, and director of the Central Canada Division in 2005. His other hat during this time was as minerals director for the GSC, through which he helped generate and guide three major national minerals programs. Alan left the Geological Survey of Canada in 2011 to pursue a consulting career.
At this time, we would also like to recognize and thank Dick Tosdal who has provided support to the Exploration Committee for much of the past two years. Dick (in collaboration with François Robert and the rest of the EIC) has been instrumental in helping the industry come to consensus on the path forward for Canadian exploration industry innovation. We are very appreciative of his efforts on our behalf and wish him all the best for the future.
CMIC-EIC Research Initiatives: An update
By Alan Galley, Exploration Research Director
The Exploration Innovation Consortium held a number of workshops over the last year to define the research required by the industry in order to make mineral exploration more effective and efficient. The result was the recognition that exploration innovations had to occur in three principal directions: detection and vectoring towards deeply buried ore bodies within established mining districts, discovery of mineral deposits within remote terranes and those under glacial surficial cover. Although discovery of deeply buried ore bodies can be said to be a global problem, the challenge of exploring in glacially covered terranes, and those affected by both glacial cover and permafrost in remote terranes can be considered to be specific to Canada's North, or at least Nordic terranes.
The challenge was put out by the EIC partners to Canada's university research community to come up with a strategic approach that would result in a focused, long term effort to help solve these exploration challenges. This was presented as an opportunity for university researchers across Canada to develop a networked approach towards recognizing multi-parameter "footprints" to various types of ore deposits being explored for in Canada. Recognizing the overlapping geological, geophysical and geochemical overprints that result from metal-bearing fluids circulating in the earth's crust would result in more effective use of known exploration methods, and the requirement to find new techniques to more efficiently detect these alteration systems and vector towards economic mineralization.
A group of Canadian university researchers are now well along in developing a multi-year cooperative research development grant (CRD) named "Footprints" that will see the National Science and Engineering Research Council partner with the CMIC Exploration Research Consortium to develop multi-disciplinary research projects on a selected number of known mining sites in Canada.
In parallel with the Footprints project are two other initiatives. There is a general consensus among EIC partners for the requirement of a helicopter portable drill rig that will allow more efficient evaluation of the exploration potential of covered terranes. Such a machine would take bedrock samples below surficial cover in areas of interest defined through airborne geophysical surveys. The use of a self-contained drill apparatus carried from site to site by helicopter would have minimal impact on the environment, and allow more flexibility in exploration programs carried out in remote and mountainous terranes.
Finally, the call for innovative thinking in developing new exploration methods was answered by Advanced Applied Physics Solutions (AAPS) based at the University of British Columbia cyclotron facility in Vancouver. AAPS has put forward a proposal to develop a down hole sensory array that would use the natural bombardment of the Earth by sub-atomic particles known as muons. The varying density of subsurface features (such as very dense massive sulphide bodies, or much less dense alteration zones) may be imaged by recording changes in muon pathways through these phenomena over a period of time. AAPS is in the final stages of developing a proposal for consideration by the EIC partners.
For further information and expression of interest, please contact Alan Galley at a.galley@cmic-ccim.org
Dick Tosdal
CMIC-Exploration was fortunate indeed that Dick Tosdal took an interest right from the beginning in the creation and implementation of the Canadian Mining Innovation Council. Since 2007 Dick has been instrumental in formulating and guiding the complex process of integrating Canadian exploration and university community thinking towards the creation of an industry-led, national research organization. And since 2010, Dick has also been a critical actor of the development of the Exploration Initiative, known as Exploration Innovation Consortium.
Dick came to CMIC with a wealth of knowledge in both mineral deposit research and in leading a world class research organization. He received his M.Sc. from Queens University in 1978 and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1988. From 1978 until 1999 Dick held various research positions at the United States Geological Survey, where he developed a reputation as a top flight mineral deposit researcher. In 1999 he became director of the Mineral Deposit Research Unit at the University of British Columbia. He both directed research and supervised students on 5 continents on diverse ore systems that included intrusion-related Au, Carlin, porphyry, epithermal, VMS, carbonate-hosted polymetallic systems. He also directed research on the integration of geology into geophysical inversions, and volcanology of kimberlites. During his time at MDRU, Dick became a naturalized Canadian citizen and now holds joint American-Canadian citizenship.
In 2009 Dick left MDRU to take up an international consulting career. By this time he had already acquired a deep interest in the process of creating an industry-led national research initiative that would help network and focus Canada's research community towards exploration innovation. Dick developed coordinated and led a number of workshops involving the exploration and university communities. In early 2010, he became a critical contributor of what became CMIC's Exploration Innovation Consortium (EIC), by spreading the word through exploration and investment conferences, provincial open houses and personal contacts. This has resulted in a core group of 25 companies and associations becoming EIC partners. Dick's vision and insights were also instrumental in the development of EIC's 10 year R&D program and of the first three initial projects for CMIC.
Dick will continue to maintain an interest in seeing CMIC-EIC solidify its gains and continue to grow in its role of initiating and coordinating Canada-wide mineral deposits research.
PDAC's Mineral Exploration and Mining Virtual Career Fair
In partnership with the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), the PDAC is pleased to announce the launch of the Mineral Exploration and Mining Virtual Career Fair, live February 8th and 9th.
This will be an exceptional opportunity for you to connect with job seekers across Canada and internationally, without the limitations of travel, and the costs of a traditional career fair.
The fair goes live on February 8 and 9, 2012 and will remain open until February 17. It features a personalized virtual interactive 3D booth, along with an online, real-time chat forum that will enable employers to interact with job seekers via either written, audio or video messaging.
It is available in both French and English to employers in the mineral exploration and mining industry. Those who register will be able to design their booth according to their company image, and will have the ability to gather detailed job seeker information from the post-fair activity report.
There are a variety of different packages to fit your recruitment budget, and early bird pricing is available. There are limited numbers of booths at each package price, so to ensure your spot for this exciting event please register before the deadline, January 26, 2012. PDAC corporate members can enjoy a 10% discount off the regular rate.
To register for the fair please visit www.mineralexplorationminingvirtualcareerfair.ca
For more information about the fair please contact the PDAC Student Liaison, Krishana Narinesingh knarinesingh@pdac.ca at your earliest convenience.
