The following remarks were heard from people who attended the Mining Automation Symposium, in Sudbury, Ont., Oct 15-16, 1986. We think they provide a good illustration of the diversity of opinion in the industry.
The discussion phase of the automation issue is good for government people because there is a lot of facilitating to do. But these jobs have a way of perpetuating themselves. If we are not careful nothing will get done and we’ll just keep “talking” about automation.
A mining executive for Teck Corp. said the situation is analogous to drilling a lot of exploration holes with meagre results, as was experienced at the Lamaque mine in Quebec. Since the mine went on for so many years (outliving the people who originally worked on the project), the Quebec government expected the mine would live for ever.
When Teck decided to shut it down last year because of lack of new ore, the government cried foul. “It would still be open if you had sunk some money into exploration,” the government claimed. The same can be said for exploring for ideas. It can end up being a waste of time.
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