More R&D money needed to keep Canada competitive

Speaking at the opening session of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy’s (CIM) ninety- first annual meeting here May 1, Brehaut said more funding for research is required to maintain Canada’s position as a major mineral producer.

Canadian mining companies currently spend about 0.6% of sales on research and development, he said. That should be increased to at least 1% and ideally to 1.5%

But Judy Erola, a former federal cabinet minister responsible for mines and also a member of the opening session panel along with Brehaut, said 0.6% is “totally unacceptable.”

“Is it not too little, too late?” she asked, adding that 1.5% of sales should be the minimum spent on research and development.

And following the panel session, Margot Wojciechowski of Queen’s University, said that Brehaut’s 0.6% figure probably overstated the real amount spent by the industry. She said that the 0.6% figure comes from Statistics Canada which only monitors the country’s largest mining companies. She suggested that a better estimate would be 0.2% of total sales. Total sales would be roughly equal to the total production value of minerals in Canada. In 1987, the last year for which figures are available, mineral production, not including oil, gas and coal, amounted to $17.7 billion.

Brehaut also noted that one or two of the largest mining companies accounted for a disproportionately large amount of the spending on research and development. Inco, for example, spends considerably more than 1% of sales on research and development.

Brehaut and Erola were two members of a 5-member panel session that opened the 5-day convention, the theme of which was Minerals for the Benefit of Canadians. Some 2,130 delegates registered for the event, about 100 more than last year.

Also on the panel were Cambior President Louis Gignac, Inco executive vice-president Roy Aitken and Peter Bedford, mine manager at Rio Algom’s Panel mine.

Brehaut said the industry must look outside for new technological ideas.

“Very few technological innovations apply to mining alone,” he said. “We have to look beyond our industry.”

He also said that co-operation on research and development between companies, now evident in a few research projects, must become more prevalent in order for the industry to benefit the most.

Following the convention, John Laffin, deputy minister of mines and energy for the province of Nova Scotia, was installed as the new president of the CIM succeeding Rene Dufour.

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