I skipped the CIM sessions on hard technology and opted instead for the session on oil sands mining–what is happening north of Fort McMurray beside diving ducks?

The four presentation were as entertaining and informative as conference presentations come.  First the story of the Axe Lake project which when it comes into production will be Saskatchewan’s first oil sands operation–all on the far east side of the Athabasca Basin just where, about 110 million years ago, the rivers poured down into an inland sea.  So the “oil” is trapped in nice clean sands.  Unlikely to be any fine tailings from that operation; no MFT to bedevil the covering of the ponds.

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The CIM Edmonton conference kicked into high gear this morning with a plenary session chaired by some TV and radio announcer that everybody but me seemed to know.  He was amusing but finally threw up his hands in despair trying to summarize the many talks & questions on every aspect of human nature in mining conceivable. He noted that the speakers had covered every aspect of philosophy including the philosophy of mining. Neither insightful nor helpful as we all know that philosophers have failed for thousands of years to capture the truth - although they have spoken long and eloquently thereon.

I submit that what we heard this morning was simply evolution in action–Darwin would have been proud to see his principles so eloquently implemented in one sector of human endeavour: mining.  We start with the mining of diamonds, as the engineer from De Beers noted so that we get something to induce the ladies to love.  Then we moved through the Teck Cominco presentations to third graders on how their beds would collapse if there were no metals mined to hold up the bed posts. 

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