Federal government needs to protect critical minerals industry as China tightens grasp
National Post – The federal government needs to protect Canada’s critical minerals industry, according to a Parliamentary report which details how failing to do so could have major consequences as next-generation technologies take up a growing share of the global economy.
This determination comes as experts push for Canada to outline a framework to develop and protect critical minerals that includes everything from incentives for investment to national security protections aimed at guarding against foreign takeovers of Canadian assets.
Greg Rickford, Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, said China’s efforts to control strategic minerals “frequently” comes up in conversations with mining executives and others.
China for decades has invested heavily in acquiring strategic mineral assets in Africa and elsewhere, and now possesses as much as 80 per cent of global processing capacity for rare earths. It also refines around 80 per cent of battery chemicals.
Simon Moores, managing director of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, told the committee that China is likely to possess 67 per cent of global capacity to build lithium-ion batteries by 2030. North America will have just 12 per cent of the market.
Pierre Gratton, head of the Mining Association of Canada, said upstream mining companies have been in regular conversation with downstream manufacturers, including battery makers, in an effort to lock down new buyers for products like lithium and cobalt.
Jeffrey Kucharski, professor at Royal Roads University, told the committee that developing these supply chains will ensure that industries such as defence industry and clean energy sector have the materials they need.
Gratton is urging federal policymakers to create a framework to develop and protect Canadian supply chains for batteries and other products, and recommended the federal government establish a $250-million program over five years to incentivize investment in demonstration projects.
The minerals — which include magnesium, lithium and cobalt — are used to make electric car batteries, mobile phone components, solar panels and guided missiles.
The committee made five key recommendations, including new revisions to the Impact Assessment Act, the regulatory review process for major projects that was amended by the federal government. The current review process, the committee said, “imposes barriers and represents a serious financial risk for reputable mining companies to move forward with new projects.”
At the same time, the capital-intensive nature of mining lesser-known commodities, or to build downstream capacity for those minerals, will require investments in infrastructure by both provincial and federal governments, the committee said. Ottawa more generally needs to deepen ties with Europe, the U.S. and Japan as a way to strengthen non-Chinese supply chains.
Researchers creating new “breathing” lung model to study illnesses like COVID-19
McMaster University – An interdisciplinary team of researchers from McMaster and SickKids are developing a cutting-edge lung model that can better respond to viruses and drug treatments, giving scientists a tool to advance research in lung conditions like COVID-19, cystic fibrosis and allergens for asthma and air pollution.
The new bioengineered lung model will replicate key features of the human lung, including specialized cells, surrounding blood vessels and life-like immune functions.
“To better prepare for future pandemics, more sophisticated human lung models are needed to study disease and treatments with more precision. Our lung model platform will improve clinical trial designs for COVID-19 and beyond, with broad applications to drug development, immunology and developmental biology of the lung,” says Boyang Zhang, an assistant professor in chemical engineering who is leading this work at McMaster in collaboration with leading experts Jeremy Hirota and Karen Mossman from McMaster, and Amy Wong from SickKids and the University of Toronto.
Indigenous water treatment operators have voices amplified by new platform
University of Calgary – A platform for Indigenous water treatment operators across Canada launched in January is quickly gaining the attention of those in the federal government making decisions about investing in drinking water in Indigenous communities.
The platform known as Water Movement (WM) allows these water treatment operators to connect, ask questions and access a video library that features tutorials on a wide variety of topics, from managing treatment plants to tips on testing chlorine residue in water.
WM was initiated by Bita Malekian, who received her bachelor’s degree from the Schulich School of Engineering. It is supported by the Calgary Professional Chapter of Engineers Without Borders.
Since the platform launched, the data analytics team and WM’s board of directors noticed frequent topics on the platform’s discussion board, such as communities losing trained operators to larger municipalities, largely due to lack of competitive wages and funding.
On behalf of these operators, WM requested an audience with federal Minister of Indigenous Services Marc Miller to discuss calls to action, which include:
The calls to action quickly turned into an advocacy campaign. After creating its own TikTok account, WM posted a video that gained half a million views.
Shortly after the video went viral, a letter was shared with Miller to address the calls to action from water treatment operators. The letter prompted a formal meeting with the minister, water treatment operators and WM’s board of directors.
With more than 2,100 users actively engaging on the platform, and in anticipation of 100 new training videos, WM has since secured 12 expert operators throughout Canada to continue building the video library.
WM is consulting with the Schulich School of Engineering to support software development and innovations for both its website and an upcoming mobile app to allow for offline streaming.
Flood water: toxins from the riverbed
Eurasia Review – A University of Saskatchewan professor contributed to a review of previous scientific studies on river sediments, pollutants and contamination from flooding as well as a study of recent extreme flood events in Germany.
During floods in the more industrial regions of Europe, North America and Asia, old sediments can be churned up by fast-flowing water. In the process, the pollutants bound in them are released and contaminate flooded areas.
Professor Markus Brinkmann of the University of Saskatchewan’s School of Environment and Sustainability was part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Goethe University and RWTH Aachen University along with other partners.
Their review, which Brinkmann headed along with a junior research group leader, describes the risks involved when old river sediments bind with pollutants that entered the rivers through mining or industrial wastewater. They showed which pollutant loads were measured after various floods, which test systems were developed for different pollutants and how different sediments behave when water flows at high speeds.
It describes the risks for drinking water production, the influence of temperature on pollutant intake by fish and methods for assessing the economic costs associated with pollutants being mobilized in this way.
Canadian hyperloop company says ultra-high-speed travel between Calgary and Edmonton is feasible
CBC – A feasibility study looking at an ultra-high-speed transportation line between Calgary and Edmonton has been completed by Canadian hyperloop company TransPod.
Completing this study moves the project into the next phase of investment and research and development, said TransPod co-founder and CEO Sebastian Gendron.
The Toronto-based company’s ultimate goal is to have Albertans shuttling between Calgary and Edmonton in train-like pods — at speeds up to 1,000 kilometres an hour — through magnetic tubes. A one-way trip would take about 45 minutes. It would carry a mix of passengers and cargo. Tickets would cost between $90 and $150.
The study forecasts the project to cost an estimated $22.4 billion, or $45.1 million per kilometre, along roughly 350 kilometres of unique track. It also forecasts an additional cost of $6.7 billion for fixed infrastructure-like stations.
The company hopes to have a test track constructed and complete high-speed tests from 2022 to 2027, with construction of the full inter-city line between Edmonton and Calgary to begin in 2025.
The company expects to have private funding secured for the first portion of the line by the end of the year. It said initial investment proposals for a total amount of $1 billion have been shared with the Alberta government, with which it signed a memorandum of understanding in August 2020. That MOU supported the company doing additional feasibility studies, provided transportation data and identified suitable land for a test track.
Study findings indicate hyperloop transportation between the two cities would help reduce the province’s carbon emissions by 636,000 tonnes per year. The project is expected to create 140,000 jobs.
Michigan mine wants to reduce local farmers dependence on global potash supply
Farm Progress – A U.S. potash mining company breaking ground on a new mine this fall says it is looking to reduce Michigan farmers dependence on imported potash by mining at home.
Michigan Potash and Salt Co. (MPSC) will mine the Borgen Bed, which lies a mile and a half below the surface and covers 15,000 acres, for potash. It will use solution-extraction technology for its mine, which is expected to come online in 2024.
The new potash wells will be drilled straight and then directionally from a central location on 2.5 surface acres to cover more than 250 acres of deep subsurface deposits.
Hot water is circulated through deep geothermal wells in the Borgen Bed. It is then pumped to the facility where the enriched water – which contains potash and salt — is boiled. When water is boiled, potash and salt crystals are formed, which are harvested, cooled, compacted and crushed to size and stored.
The water is recaptured and recycled back through the system to re-enrich. The closed-loop system allows for about 90 per cent of process water to be recycled.
The solution-extraction technology to be used was brought to Michigan by the Pittsburg Plate Glass’ kalium team, based out of Canada. It merged into the Mosaic company, which operated the potash mine until it was sold to Cargill in 2014, when Cargill ceased the facility’s potash production in favour of mining salt. MPSC’s vice president of MPSC potash marketing and governmental affairs says Mosaic saw it as too small an asset to continue operating compared to its Canadian operations.
MPSC says it can supply all of Michigan with its 300,000 tonnes of annual potash consumption, and it will have easy access to markets in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and states out east. It can also potentially ship across Lake Michigan to serve Wisconsin.
7 years later, 2 engineers face discipline for actions
CBC – Seven years after Canada’s largest tailings spill, the two engineers involved have been found in breach of their professional codes of conduct by the Engineers and Geoscientists B.C. (EGBC).
The results of disciplinary hearings for former engineer Stephen Rice and engineer Laura Fidel were released by EGBC in July. A panel imposed a maximum fine of $25,000 against Rice, who resigned in 2018. Rice also agreed to pay $107,500 in legal costs to the association and is no longer permitted to practise as a professional engineer in the province.
A separate discipline hearing panel found that Fidel also committed several acts of unprofessional conduct. A penalty hearing has yet to be scheduled in the Fidel case.
The panel found that both Rice and Fidel demonstrated unprofessional conduct in the course of their work at the mine. Rice was censured for not properly overseeing Fidel, the more junior, inexperienced engineer — and allowing Fidel to act as engineer of record for the dam’s tailing storage facility. Other allegations were dismissed.
A disciplinary hearing is scheduled to proceed later this year for a third individual. The allegations in that case remain unproven.
In 2014, a four-square-kilometre tailings pond breached at Mount Polley mine in central British Columbia, leaking vast amounts of water and effluent into Polley and Quesnel lakes and Hazeltine Creek.
More than 17 million cubic metres of water and eight million cubic metres of tailings effluent — containing toxic copper and gold-mining waste — flowed into lakes and streams that served as a drinking water source and sockeye salmon spawning ground in the province’s Cariboo region.
The 40-metre-high tailings dam was built on a sloped glacial lake. That weakened its foundation.
After the Mount Polley disaster, EGBC says it took steps to improve dam safety in B.C., including producing professional practice guidelines for overseeing dam foundations.
Public hearing held for proposed carbon dioxide pipeline
Dakota Gasification Company – The North Dakota Public Service Commission (NDPSC) held a public hearing to consider a carbon dioxide pipeline being proposed by Dakota Gasification Company.
The Dakota Carbon Pipeline would be used to carry carbon dioxide captured at the Dakota Gas’ Great Plains Synfuels Plant to well sites for underground sequestration.
Carbon dioxide is a product of the facility’s coal gasification process. Approximately two-thirds of its production is being captured and sent via pipeline to the Weyburn and Midale oilfields in Saskatchewan for enhanced oil recovery.
The 6.8-mile pipeline is part of a project under review by Basin Electric that would facilitate the capture and sequestration of additional carbon dioxide.
The project would be a step toward the state’s goal of being carbon neutral by 2030.
The pipeline would cross land currently impacted by coal mining and reclamation activities and other utility development. Pending permitting, pipeline construction would begin in early fall of 2021 and be completed by the second quarter of 2022.
Trigg set to flourish in budding SOP sector
Mining Journal – Trigg Mining is working to bring more sulphate of potash (SOP) mining to market using solar energy.
The potash market is dominated by the cheaper, more commonly found muriate of potash (MOP), such as BHP’s Jansen deposit in Saskatchewan.
SOP has a niche as a premium mineral fertilizer for high-value, chloride-sensitive crops such as fruit, cocoa and coffee beans.
“It increases drought tolerance and helps plants become much more efficient with water uptake,” Paterson said.
“With increasing climate change and drought issues, and the salinity of our soils … we need to be using smart fertilizers that are efficient and nutritious.
Trigg Mining has three SOP projects in Western Australia. CEO Keren Paterson described its Lake Throssell brine SOP project.
“There’s no open pit or rock waste dump,” she said of the contrast with traditional surface mining.
It relies on mineralized brine from aquifers.
“It will be harvested using solar energy through the evaporation process and produce a very clean fertilizer for sustainable agricultural outcomes.”
In May, Trigg established an initial inferred resource for Lake Throssell, of 14.2 million tonnes at 10.3kg/m3 SOP, indicating the scale and grade to underpin long-term production.
“We’re anticipating Lake Throssell to be a multi-decade project with further growth in the pipeline with the additional lakes in the portfolio,” Paterson said.
NASA engineer slams idea that women shouldn’t ‘wear lipstick to the lab’
In The Know – A NASA engineer is wanting to open up the thinking about engineers’ appearances and what role that may play in discouraging some people from pursuing STEM professions.
Susan Martinez is a mechanical engineer at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center — a position for which few people are selected for. Based on her experiences, she believes there is a common misconception about the specific type of person who would fit in a STEM position.
“You can only look like this. You can only dress like this, you can only act like this — I think that’s terrible,” Martinez said about the “boxes” people feel need to be ticked to pursue engineering.
“I really, really would love to take this platform to a space where people can look at my profile and say, ‘I want to be just like her.’ I want to be able to be fashionable and still represent myself as a woman in STEM.”
“Allowing women to be fashionable or wear what they want and still not have their intelligence questioned, or maybe they can wear lipstick to a lab and that’s fine, without somebody looking at them funny, or telling them they don’t belong there, which are all things that have happened to me — it really eats at you in your heart and your brain,” she said.
“There are so many things that STEM can be if we have the space to let it be that.”
According to Martinez, the consequences of not allowing diversity within the STEM field could be disastrous.
“If we don’t have women, and everybody — non-binary, LGBTQIA+, everybody — the STEM community is going to die,” she explained.
“We can’t afford that in this day and age, in our climate. We can’t afford for something like that to happen.”
Why earthquakes are so devastating to Haiti
University of Miami – A combination of complex geology and construction practices explains the devastation left behind by the Aug. 14 earthquake that rocked the cities of Jérémie and Les Cayes on Haiti’s southern peninsula.
The powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake immediately drew comparisons to the powerful temblor that rocked the country’s commercial center, Port-au-Prince, more than 11 years ago.
Both earthquakes illustrate the complex geology at work that makes the island and, indeed, that region of the Caribbean so susceptible to tremors.
Haiti is located near the intersection of two, massive tectonic plates: the North American plate and the Caribbean plate. These plates move past each other over time, and a series of fault lines between them cut through the island of Hispaniola, which is divided by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
“It is a tectonically complex area,” said Falk Amelung, a professor of marine geosciences at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. “In addition to transform motion, Hispaniola is contracting by two to five millimeters a year in north-south direction, and it has subduction zones both in the north and in the south.”
The quake occurred along the central section of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone, a major system of left-lateral, strike-slip faults that run along the southern side of Hispaniola, according to Amelung.
“The recent earthquake increased the stress along the fault segments to the west and east of the rupture zone, making these segments likely sources of future earthquakes and increasing the seismic hazard for Port-au-Prince to the east,” Amelung explained.
But the catastrophe now being witnessed in Haiti is also as much a result of construction practices on the island. Many structures on the island are built using unreinforced concrete, which is adequate to weather the power of a hurricane but deficient when it comes to withstanding earthquakes, said Christian C. Steputat, a forensic engineer specializing in structural, geotechnical and materials engineering.
Even though other Caribbean nations have adopted strict building codes, Haiti still has no uniform building code to ensure that structures are earthquake-resistant, noted Steputat, who has worked on design and construction projects in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic recently ramped up construction standards for building projects on its side of Hispaniola.
The 2010 earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince led masons and others to improve their building practices, said Kit Miyamoto, CEO and president of Miyamoto International, a global earthquake and structural engineering firm.
His team of structural engineers visited hard-hit areas to help with damage assessment and search-and-rescue efforts. “Port-au-Prince building is much better than it was in 2010 — I know that,” Miyamoto said. “It’s a huge difference, but that knowledge is not widespread. The focus is definitely on Port-au-Prince.”
While his engineers were inspecting government water towers and the damaged offices of charities in the region, the Build Health International team was doing rapid assessments and repairs to restore the southern peninsula’s healthcare infrastructure.
The BHI team is made up of mostly Haitian engineers, architects, logisticians, contractors, electricians and plumbers.