A partnership between the federal government and Memorial University in St. John’s, Nfld., is designed to strengthen research capacity in Atlantic Canada.
Under the agreement, Natural Resources Canada will lend Memorial University a secondary ion mass spectrometer for analyzing mineral deposits and metals. Memorial is noted for its metallurgical and materials research.
“This important piece of equipment will greatly enhance Memorial University’s capacity in the area of minerals, metals and materials research,” says Axel Meisen, the university’s president.
Memorial will upgrade the spectrometer, which will be used by engineers, earth sciences researchers and graduate students over about 10 years. Any information gleaned from research employing the spectrometric equipment will be shared with NRCan for use in its programs in mining and metal processing research.
The research at Memorial could lead to better analyses and new mineral developments.
“We are building a partnership that will increase our knowledge of mining and metals, and eventually bring new technology to the marketplace and economic opportunities to the region,” says NRCan Minister John Efford.
The spectrometer is owned by the Canada Centre for Mineral & Energy Technology (CANMET), a division of NRCan. CANMET will allow the equipment to be housed at Memorial’s Inco Innovation Centre, which is partially funded by the federal government.
“Our success is, in part, the result of collaboration with researchers from both the public and private sectors,” says Meisen. “They have contributed to the birth, growth and development of our university.”
New funding for the Inco Innovation Centre will result in the hiring of 40 new researchers at Memorial. Inco will use half the area for mining and processing research related to its nickel project at Voisey’s Bay in Labrador, including a scale-model processing plant.
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