Underground and open-pit mining creates large amounts of waste, which is a serious environmental liability.
Photo: ©istockphoto.com/redmal

Something is growing in Copper Cliff, Ontario. Crops of corn and canola thrive in this former mining site near Sudbury, and lush vegetation marks a stark contrast with the desolate landscape that came before. What was once a tailings site of mine waste is now a striking example of the many significant innovations in green-mining technology and of Canada’s position at the forefront of sustainable mining practices.

Mining plays an important role in the economic prosperity and social development of Canadians. This is especially true in rural (often remote), northern and Aboriginal communities, where minerals and metals industries are among the largest employers or potential employers, offering a variety of short- and long-term job opportunities. In fact, mining has been crucial to Canada's overall development for more than a century. In 2009, the mining and minerals processing industries contributed more than $31 billion to Canada's gross domestic product and more than 307,000 jobs for Canadians. Today, the nation's prosperity continues to depend in no small part on mining activities, which sustain the economies and the communities of provinces and territories across Canada.

The mining sector has an impact even in areas that do not host mineral exploration and extraction. The Mining Association of Canada’s Facts and Figures 2009 notes that mining also contributes to the economy of Canada's larger cities: Toronto is a global hub for mining finance; Vancouver is home to the world’s leading cluster of exploration companies; Montreal houses important aluminum and iron-ore companies; and Saskatoon is a global centre for uranium and potash.

If It Can’t be Grown, It Has to be Mined!
Canada’s mining industry affects our daily lives. Without the mining industry, society would not have the battery or engine, the TV or computer, the phone or the BlackBerry. From toothpaste and cavity fillings to roads, bridges and skyscrapers, mining has enabled Canada’s prosperity and quality of life throughout its history. 

Mining is also key to the products of tomorrow. Rare metals such as rhodium, iridium, osmium, palladium and rhenium are in increasing demand for emerging technologies, alternative energy applications including traditional hydro, wind and solar technologies, and transportation alternatives including electric cars. Communications technologies such as iPhones, and even medical equipment such as X-ray machines and MRI machines all require rare metals.

The Benefits of Mining are Enumerable and Endless
The environmental performance of the mining industry has greatly improved over the last few decades. But as in every industry, more can be done. In this regard, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has been working with a number of partners on innovative technologies to reduce the footprint created by mining activities and to sustain a pristine environment and a competitive sector. The importance of the mining sector in Canada’s economy makes green mining innovation especially vital. With partners from the mining industry, the provinces and territories, academia and environmental non-governmental organizations, NRCan has been on the cutting edge of addressing mining’s environmental issues for some time. The multi-stakeholder Mine Environment Neutral Drainage (MEND) program, established in 1989, was an early effort to research best practices for preventing the release of acidic water from mine sites. The National Orphaned and Abandoned Mines Initiative (NOAMI), established by federal, provincial and territorial mines ministers in 2002, is another collaborative effort to explore options for long-abandoned mines. The most recent of these undertakings, the Green Mining Initiative (GMI), is the boldest.

Announced in May 2009, and subsequently endorsed by provincial and territorial mines ministers, GMI aims to spur innovation, promote environmentally responsible mining practices at every stage of the mining life cycle, and help create and take advantage of new market opportunities. This $8-million initiative is led by Natural Resources Canada in partnership with a variety of stakeholders, including federal and provincial ministries as well as key players from industry, universities and non-profit organizations.

Green mining is about finding innovative ways to minimize waste, transform it for other uses, and leave behind only clean water, rehabilitated landscapes and healthy ecosystems. Built on a solid foundation of technological innovation, the sustainable mining approach taken by the Canadian mining industry has already produced impressive results. The acid-related damage of mining activities has been dramatically reduced, thanks to new prediction, prevention and treatment methods. Mine closure methods have also been improved, including for current and new mines, which require closure plans and financial assurances provided upfront.

“The research and development, productivity and innovation record of the mining industry is stronger than its critics might think,” says Elizabeth Gardiner, Vice- President of Technical Affairs, at the Mining Association of Canada. “An innovative mining industry is a sustainable one.”

This reality is exemplified in the David Suzuki Foundation’s report Climate Change and Canadian Mining Opportunities for Adaptation (2009). This report highlighted the decline in greenhouse gas emissions by the mining sector and the new requirement for innovation in order to better adapt to a changing climate.

Equally important as innovation to the survival of the industry is public perception, in terms both of acquiring a social licence to operate and of ensuring that the mining sector attracts its share of the best and the brightest minds. “In large cities, there are few Canadians who are aware of the importance of the mining sector or what mining is doing,” says Dr. Louise Laverdure, Director of Green Mining programs for NRCan’s CANMET Mining and Mineral Science Laboratories (CANMET-MMSL). “Too often the only message they hear is the negative side of things, and they are concerned. We want to provide more information, as well as the science that explains what’s being done and why.”

Because all mining activities are interlinked, the Green Mining Initiative offers a holistic approach that addresses all steps of the mining process, from designing new mines and minimizing the environmental footprint to exploring a host of technologies and ensuring long-term maintenance.

This approach is based on four broad pillars of interrelated research: Footprint Reduction, Innovation in Waste Management, Mine Closure and Rehabilitation, and Ecosystem Risk Management.

Footprint Reduction
It all starts with reducing the footprint of mining. Underground and open-pit mining create waste, which can be an environmental liability and takes a significant amount of capital to manage. Footprint reduction addresses the issue of mine waste during both the extraction and processing of minerals.

A primary objective is to minimize the amount of waste rock that is unearthed as part of mineral extraction. The goal is straightforward: to find more sustainable ways to selectively extract the valuable minerals from the rock and leave the waste rock in place, minimizing the impact on the surrounding environment and the energy used.

The CANMET-MMSL experimental mining facility in Val d’Or, Quebec, is currently exploring explosives-free rock breaking methods — an alternative to explosives that could also minimize the amount of waste produced. One approach involves using electricity for heating the vein that contains valuable minerals. “When you heat the vein, it creates micro-stress, like small cracks in the rock, and then the ore breaks off in small flakes,” Laverdure says. “This is a promising method for reducing the amount of material that needs to be hauled to the surface.”

The development of technologies to reduce energy consumption at every step of mining is also being investigated in partnership with industry. For example, in collaboration with a Canadian manufacturer, CANMET-MMSL has contributed to designing the first worldwide hybrid mining vehicle for underground use, currently being tested in a Canadian mine. CANMET-MMSL is also investigating on-demand ventilation in underground mines to dramatically reduce energy consumption.