APGO's Field Notes Newsletter

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March 2, 2017

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

APGO
On behalf of Council, I am pleased to introduce Mr. Louis Kan as the new CEO at APGO. Louis is a professional accountant by training (C.P.A., C.A., C.F.E.), and joins APGO following a distinguished career with the Ontario Provincial government, CPA Ontario, and as a private consultant. While with the Ontario government, Louis held management and Director positions with the Auditor General's office, Elections Ontario and the Office of the Legislative Assembly. Later, he spent 10 years with the Office of the Registrar at CPA, and during that time was part of a core group that lead and managed the successful unification of the various groups of accountants in existence at the time (CA, CGA, CMA) into one professional regulatory organization (CPA Ontario, with over 87,000 members). READ MORE

Come see us at the 2017 PDAC Convention!

APGO
APGO will be at the 2017 PDAC Convention — March 5-8, 2017. Come see us at Booth #851, South Building of the MTCC.

WHAT'S NEW

Disclaimer: The events and media articles featured in Field Notes do not express or reflect the opinions of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario, or any employee thereof.

Source Water Protection

Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
Ontario borders four of the five Great Lakes, which provide drinking water to over 75% of the province's population. Of the remainder, 1.6 million people depend on private wells that draw water from underground aquifers, while the rest get their drinking water from more than 250,000 inland lakes and 500,000 kilometres of rivers and streams. In May 2000, seven people died and more than 2,300 became ill in the Bruce County town of Walkerton when its drinking water system became contaminated with deadly bacteria from manure that had been spread on a nearby farm. The town's water-treatment plant had failed to remove this contamination. After the outbreak, the Province established the Walkerton Commission Inquiry to report on the cause of the contamination and recommend measures to protect sources of drinking water across the province. READ MORE

IN THE MEDIA

Disclaimer: The media articles featured in Field Notes do not express or reflect the opinions of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario, or any employee thereof.

A snapshot of mining R&D activity in Ontario

Canadian Mining Journal
As part of its "Innovation Agenda," the federal government announced last year that it would invest $800 million over four years to support research and innovation in five key sectors of Canada's economy. The identity of those sectors is still uncertain, but with the funding expected to flow starting this year, we'll soon find out if mining is one of them. What is certain is that Canada's mining sector could use more investment: We only spend about $550 million annually on mining R&D and innovation compared with $2.8 billion in Australia. READ MORE

Agnico Eagle eyes hovercraft to look for gold in Nunavut

CBC News
Agnico Eagle is hoping a pair of hovercraft will allow the gold mining company to conduct year-long exploration in Nunavut's Kivalliq region. The company is planning to ship two hovercraft this summer to its Meadowbank gold mine north of Baker Lake, NU. The one-year pilot project still needs approval from the Nunavut Impact Review Board. If the regulators approve, a couple of three-tonne hovercraft with a total price tag of under $3 million will be on their way to Baker Lake via sealift later this year. READ MORE

Cementation to pitch their disruptive technology 'shark tank' style

Bay Today
A strong mining sector is vital to the strength of North Bay's and the Canadian economy. Yet a recent study suggests mining operations worldwide are 28 per cent less productive than just two decades ago. It has never been more important to introduce new ideas and disruptive innovation to a crucial sector that has been slow to adapt. So, Integra Gold and Goldcorp are partnering on #DisruptMining to showcase individuals, groups and companies using exponential technology and disruptive concepts to tackle the vast challenges faced by the mining industry. READ MORE

Final group of Indigenous learners graduate from Northern College Mining Program

Timmins Today
Northern College held a graduation ceremony for the final of four groups of Indigenous learners who graduated from the Underground Hard Rock Miner Common Core program recently at the Timmins Campus. Five students completed the latest intake of the 14-week training program, offered in partnership with Wahgoshig First Nation and Primero Mining Corp. READ MORE

Orangeville area faces 'significant water quantity threat'

Orangeville.com
There is enough drinking water in the Orangeville area to go around right now, but the future isn't quite as clear. With studies showing the area is facing a "significant water quantity threat," engineering consulting firm B.M. Ross and Associates has recommended Amaranth, East Garafraxa, Mono and Orangeville form an alliance to both monitor and conserve their respective groundwater supplies for the future. "Water quantity problems do not exist at this time. There is a risk of problems occurring in the future," the consultants reported. "The conditions that could cause problems to occur will likely develop over a long period of time." READ MORE

Laurentian University team wins mine rescue challenge

Northern Ontario Business
A student team from Laurentian University's Bharti School of Engineering in Sudbury has won the 2017 Intercollegiate Mines Emergency Response Development (MERD) competition in Golden, CO. The Laurentian team placed first in the first aid and field competitions, in addition to the overall competition. Held over two days, the competition presents students with mock disasters created in an underground mind to train collegiate mine rescue teams in a realistic emergency search and rescue setting. It included a field competition where teams had to put out an actual underground fire, a technician test, and a first aid test. READ MORE

Is California's extreme drought finally over? In a way, yes

Digital Journal
According to figures released recently by the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center, the nearly six-year-long drought in California has ended for 83 per cent of the state. Northern California is completely clear of drought conditions and this is also the first time in four years that no part of the state is under "extreme" drought conditions. But there are parts of Southern California where drought conditions are still lingering around, especially in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Imperial counties, reports SF Gate. READ MORE

Quake alert: Risk of 'big one' heightened for Vancouver Island

CHEK News
Seismologists at Greater Victoria's Pacific Geoscience Centre are on high alert, closely monitoring any unusual earthquake activity The reason? They're about to enter a period of heightened seismic activity where they can expect thousands of tremors in a short period of time. "About every 14 and a half months, give or take a couple of months, there's about a two or three week period where we're recording tremor, like a slow extended earthquake," explains Bird. READ MORE

Study determines why uranium persists in groundwater at remediated mining sites

HazMat Magazine
A recent study led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory helps describe how the contaminant cycles through the environment at former uranium mining sites and why it can be difficult to remove. Contrary to assumptions that have been used for modelling uranium behaviour, researchers found the contaminant binds to organic matter in sediments. The findings provide more accurate information for monitoring and remediation at the sites. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. READ MORE