Awards and Prizes

Canadian Mining Games

The University of Toronto was the venue for the Canadian Mining Games, which took place at the beginning of the Mining Millennium 2000 meeting. Taking part in this event were 144 mining and metallurgical engineering students representing nine Canadian universities. For the second year in a row, Laurentian University students won the competition.

Laurentian placed first with a score of 1,470 points, 255 points ahead of second-place University of Toronto, and 290 points ahead of third-place University of British Columbia. Laurentian has the best overall record at the Canadian Mining Games since their inception 10 years ago, placing in the top three during eight of the last nine years, with three gold, four silver and one bronze.

For more information, contact Lionel Rudd, Laurentian University’s School of Engineering, at telephone (705) 675-1151, ex 2256.

Safety Trophies

For the second consecutive year, the winners of the John T. Ryan National Safety Trophies competition recorded reportable injury rates of 0.0 in each of the three categories. The winner in the metal mines category for 1999 was Cameco Corp.’s McArthur River uranium mine and Key Lake mill in northern Saskatchewan. The top mine in the select category was the Fundy Gypsum Co. in Nova Scotia. In the coal category, there was a two-way tie between Fording Coal Ltd.’s Genesee operations in Alberta and N.B. Coal’s mine in New Brunswick. The trophies were presented on March 10 at the Mining Millennium 2000 convention and trade show in Toronto.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction

The achievements of Canadian corporations, governments and other organizations to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions were recognized on March 2, 2000 at the Museum of Civilization in Hull, Que. The 1999 Leaders Awards Ceremony was organized and hosted by Canada’s Climate Change Voluntary Challenge and Registry Inc. (VCR Inc.), a private-public partnership.

The award winner in the Mining Sector was Cominco Ltd. of Vancouver, BC. Since 1989, Cominco’s Canadian operations have reduced their CO2 emissions per tonne of metal produced by 35%, as well as the carbon energy consumed per tonne of metal produced by almost 34%. From 1989 to 1999, Cominco’s global warming potential decreased from 457,717 to 303,594 CO2-equivalent. These reductions were achieved through the implementation of various energy-efficiency initiatives including operational improvements; monitoring and targeting energy cost centres; investment in more energy efficient equipment and new process technology; and employee training, recognition and awareness programs.

Honourable mentions went to Falconbridge Ltd., Inco Ltd. and Luscar Ltd.