Future federalfunds for research in doubt

The federal government is still undecided on whether to begin discussions to renew the popular Mineral Development Agreements (MDAs) with eight mineral-producing provinces.

The agreements were the main impetus behind the industry’s record $213-million research and development expenditures in 1987. Many of those MDAs, which totalled tens of millions of dollars with each province, expire this year.

That according to Pierre Perron, associate deputy minister of Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR), who made the comment while fielding questions before an estimated crowed of 225 international mining industry representatives, here this week to attend the first Technology Trends symposium co-sponsored by EMR.

“The mining industry is less important now to the over-all economy than it used to be and has to compete more and more with the other needs of the country,” Perron said. “Ministers are still discussing the future of the MDAs and it will be some time before it is settled.”

Research into and development of new technologies is one of the major reasons why the Canadian mining industry has posted stunning productivity gains in recent years. Productivity has increased by an estimated 50% since the early 1980s, according to Dr Marc Denis Everell, assistant to Perron.

“I’ve spoken to many of the CEOs in the industry, and sometimes we don’t say thank you enough to those people,” said Gerald Merrithew, minister of state for forestry and mines, during the opening remarks of the symposium. “The CEOs deserve a good deal of congratulation for improving technology in the industry and improving productivity.”

In Australia, which has a mining industry very similar to Canada’s, it is estimated that every mining operation has to improve productivity each year by 4% just to remain competitive with operations in other, less-developed countries, which are coming on strong in the global mining sector. That, according to Dr Robin Batterman, group consultant for Technological Resources, CRA Ltd. of Australia. The same could probably be applied to operations in Canada, he says.

Not only are the MDAs with the provinces important to the mining industry, but so is the establishment of several centres of excellence at Canadian universities and other research institutions. Since Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced last January the federal government’s intention to help fund research in various centres of excellence, the mining industry has proposed a number of candidates in each part of the country.

A centre for mining automation and robotics has been established in Montreal as a joint effort by McGill University and Ecole Polytechnique, and a centre of excellence in mineral processing has been formed at Laval University. A centre of excellence in chemical process metallurgy is proposed in Ontario and a centre of excellence in surface mining is proposed in Alberta.

“A lot has been accomplished across the country in recent months,” says Henry Brehaut, senior vice-president of Placer Dome Inc. and a spokesman for the Mining Industry Technology Council of Canada.

“There are a lot of entities out there searching for the same R & D dollars. Whether we win or not, we have done a lot to establish networks of communications for the exchange of technological information and collaboration within the industry.

“We are now spending our dollars more effectively,” Brehaut says, “but there is still not nearly enough money in the system. Once the base metals industry gets back to profitability, they will start to carry their weight. But right now we do not have the institutions, the research people or the funds that will lead to us being where we want to be in the year 2000. We’ve got a long way to go yet.”