THE EDITORIAL PAGE The constant search for mining efficiency

When 37 of the world’s developing nations got together at the United Nations in New York last June and decided they wanted to get the best advice on how to use computers to help them find and develop their mineral resources, they naturally wanted the best teachers they could find. So who did they turn to? Why Canada of course.

This country of 24 million souls employs 125,000 in its mining industry, producing 12% of the nation’s gross national product each year. It is hardly surprising then that the world beats a path to our door with corporations like Scintrex, Barringer Magenta, Watt, Griffis & McOuat, Paterson, Grant & Watson and many others recognized worldwide as the experts in their respective fields, with the track records to prove it. And computers have become an important tool in their work.

Canadians, better than anyone in the world, know how to find and develop mines. But that’s the crux of the matter. You don’t see anyone in Canada claiming to be the experts in mining productivity improvement, employee motivation and technological innovation. Companies like Inco, Lornex, Westar, Falconbridge and others have made excellent progress in these areas, but there is still a long way to go to make our mines as efficient as they can be through more automation.

We may be experts at finding and developing mines, but when it comes to managing those mines Canadians fall short of their potential. Not to say that our mine managers and engineers are not top-notch professionals. They are. But put simply, they do not have the financial support or the support of the unions to introduce and implement new computer technology into the mines that will improve productivity and cut costs.

Mining executives regularly commit tens of millions of dollars to mineral exploration but balk at the idea of committing hundreds of thousands of dollars for mining-related research — an activity which has a much higher probability of success, Michael Bapty of Bapty Research in Kimberley, B.C., told delegates at the annual CIM meeting in Montreal last May.

Corporate spending on research and development in mining is meagre at best and now federal Science and Technology Minister Frank Oberle says the federal government is going to pull the plug on its already less-than-adequate 40% funding of all mining-related research done in our universities. This is where the eggs of new technological ideas are laid. The government move is an attempt to force mining companies to get more involved in R&D spending.

So when 50-70 representatives from 37 developing countries come to Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont., for two weeks next month to learn from our accomplished exploration experts, with chequebooks in hand, we should join our professionals in welcoming the visitors with open arms.

Perhaps then our mining executives who are in control of the corporate purse strings will take notice, for this is a good example of what can become of our industry by being the best we can be.

We made the point last week in this space about the industry’s foot- dragging attitude toward research. Nothing has changed. Research is still a key to survival.