Now that we are done with the CIM, we can turn our attention to international events. Seems as though every second news item is about the Australian attitude to uranium mining. I find it all totally confusing. Do they want uranium mining or not? Do they want to export uranium? Do they want clean air and Koyoto compliance? Or are their politicians jumping on and off bandwagons faster than the politicians in Canada and the United States? So I called on an old friend in Australia to explain. Here is his unabashed reply:

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At the CIM exhibit I chatted to a young Quebec engineer working for a large mining equipment manufacturer. He told me of his adventures in selling and supplying equipment to mines in the heart of Africa. It was a tale of incompetence and corruption, including bribing border guards, paying for services not rendered, and delays beyond comprehension. But they make money, so do the mines, and so do the border guards. Then I returned to my hotel room and the following e-mail that extols the fascination of the continent. I reproduce here without permission. It may just induce you to expand your mining operations in spite of it all.

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My nomination of the best technical paper on the CIM conference proceedings CD: Design and construction evolution of the Kemess Mine tailings dam by T. Martin, G. Lysay, and S. Davidson. Here is a case history that is informative and well illustrated, and proves methods that could well be applied elsewhere. Even if you are not a tailings junkie, as I am, the story embeded in this paper makes it worth seeking out and reading. I make bold as to repeat part of the abstract (somewhat edited for readability):

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The CIM conference is over, so it is time to nominate the best and worst papers. My pick is biased by the fact that I select from only those presentations I attended. And in these times when three and four sessions are running concurrently, I can get to but a limited number. I will scan the conference proceedings CD and write about the gems thereon in the weeks ahead, but for now, here are the best and worst of the presentations I attended.

The winner, in my opinion is Preparing for Mine Closure by A Coutts, New Brunswick Mine, Xstrata Zinc. Here is the paper abstract:

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