Lassonde tells of Soviet trip

Definitely not bullish on the economic fortunes of the Soviet Union, Franco-Nevada Mining (TSE) President Pierre Lassonde provided an entertaining look at mining in that nation at a recent luncheon of the Toronto branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM).

Lassonde was part of a 14-member delegation that toured Soviet mining facilities in August. Upon his return to Canada, he recorded his observations in a paper which he forwarded to a limited number of colleagues. Extracts from that paper have since appeared in numerous publications, including The Northern Miner (T.N.M., Oct. 21/91).

Lassonde, who authored The Gold Book a few years ago, said he undertook the trip to learn firsthand what the next 5-10 years hold for the Soviet mining industry. He is planning a revision of his book about the world gold industry and wants to add a chapter on Soviet mining.

“I’m not that optimistic,” Lassonde told the 240 CIM branch members and guests in attendance. (He titled his address “From Russia with luck.”) In the former communist country, he visited the gold fields of the Soviet Far East, the city of Norilsk (platinum, palladium, nickel and copper production) and Moscow. A slide show accompanied his observations on mining and Soviet life in general.

Gold production in the Soviet Union, he said, will likely decline during the next 5-10 years by 30-40%. The Soviet Union slipped last year to third place in world rankings behind the perennial production leader, South Africa, and the U.S.

Output of platinum and palladium, he forecasts, should remain stable until the mid-1990s, when the Norilsk operations start to run out of high-grade ore. Getting answers for questions, Lassonde said, proved frustrating. “State secret’ is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. fifth amendment,” he remarked. Among the problem areas he cited are an apparent lack of concern for miner safety and the environment, hoarding of supplies, and the age and state of repair of much of the mining equipment.

On the positive side, Lassonde commented favorably on mining technology developed by the Soviets. In particular, he mentioned one machine used in the placer gold fields which drills, recovers and samples the rock material. Lassonde was invited to deliver the Toronto branch’s Twelfth Hamilton Lecture, part of an annual series established by a forerunner of The SNC Group and inaugurated in 1980 for the CIM branch. The lectures honor the Hamilton brothers for their contribution to the Canadian mining industry.