UBC's Norman B. Keevil Institute is poised to advance best practices in mining in Mongolia and around the world.
Mongolia, a country of roughly three million people, stands on the precipice of economic escalation. A landlocked country between China and Russia, its traditional agriculture-based, nomadic economy has been infused with capital from the development of the Oyu Tolgoi mine in the south Gobi Desert.
Slated to commence commercial production in January 2013, Oyu Tolgoi, a joint venture between Turquoise Hill Resources and the Government of Mongolia, is the largest financial undertaking in Mongolia's history and is expected to account for approximately one-third of the country's gross domestic product. Copper production from the mine is expected to reach 450,000 tonnes annually.
Mongolia has been making headlines as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
“The feeling of optimism in the capital is palpable,” says UBC Professor Julian Dierkes, of the Institute of Asian Research and an expert in mining regulation in Mongolia. “The well-dressed young people of Ulaanbaatar are filled with energy and charm and are poised to escalate in economic terms.”
No wonder these young people are excited about their future. The government agreement with Oyu Tolgoi stipulates the mine will employ 90 per cent Mongolian nationals during operations and provide educational scholarships for local students.
In March 2012, to help ensure the success of the operating agreement, UBC’s Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering and the Institute of Asian Research signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mongolia’s Ministry of Education, Culture and Science aimed at advancing cooperation between UBC and Mongolian universities to promote best practices in mining.
One of the goals of the MOU is to implement a 2+2 exchange program with the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST). The program involves two years of university study in Mongolia and two years at UBC, resulting in a Bachelor of Applied Science degree.
As part of the agreement, partners will seek industry support to assist Mongolian nationals in obtaining Master of Engineering degrees at UBC. And the agreement also facilitates collaboration of Mongolian university faculty with those at UBC for joint seminars and meetings.
Finally, the MOU articulates International Partial Tuition Scholarships that will enable Mongolian graduate students to pursue research-based masters and doctoral degrees at UBC at a cost similar to that of domestic students.
Through an earlier agreement between UBC and MUST, the Keevil Institute has been training engineers for the Oyu Tolgoi Mine as well as for the Mongolian Mining Corporation — one of the largest coal companies in the nation — through the UBC Certificate in Mining Studies program. Currently, 47 Mongolian nationals are enrolled in the program and plan to graduate in 2013.
During the summer of 2012, six UBC professors travelled to the Oyu Tolgoi mine site and delivered brief courses on mine design and planning, rock mechanics and asset management.
“This is UBC's opportunity to make an indelible impact — not by mimicking what others are doing but by building on our expertise and experience and sharing those strengths globally,” says UBC Professor Bernhard Klein, Head of the Keevil Institute. “Our faculty has tremendous strength not only in the technical aspects of mining but also in sustainability as it relates to governance, communities and health, corporate social responsibility and environmental-impact mitigation. Sharing best practices for sustainable growth behooves us as global citizens operating in a global context.”
The MOU will also benefit UBC mining engineering students.
“The collaboration with Mongolia enables us to show mining as a global industry embedded in a community context,” says Klein.
UBC students will gain a better understanding of how to work with local communities, develop best practices in new mines and work in developing countries — all within a social, cultural, political and environmental framework.
“The same challenges faced when developing mining projects in Canada are faced in other parts of the world. There are expectations of high environmental standards, healthy and safe mining practices, and benefits to communities,”says Klein.
With 1,200 of the world’s mining exploration companies located in British Columbia, and most headquartered in Vancouver, it is highly appropriate for UBC to be engaged in this area of education and global citizenship.
“We have an extremely strong link with the Canadian mining industry and we are poised to benefit industry as well as the development of Mongolia with best practices," says Klein.
According to Zorig Davaanyam, a Mongolian national and PhD student investigating energy-efficient mineral processing technology at UBC, “Mongolia needs people trained in western standards and technology to run the mines.”
He notes that mining bacculaureate degree programs available in Mongolia focus more on academics and less on practical applications than western programs, and many courses don’t have affiliated laboratories. Also, collaboration between academia and industry is less developed.
“Without industry connections, Mongolian students miss out on the invaluable applied learning that programs like Engineering Co-op and Engineers in Training provide,” says Davaanyam. “Hands-on learning and industry experience are essential for developing the necessary skills for Mongolians to be employed at top levels.”
As far as the overall UBC partnership is concerned, Dierkes says, “We are extremely fortunate that our colleagues in mining are concerned with the social and political impact of mining while also deploying their technical expertise. This concern is at the roots of a very productive interdisciplinary collaboration on questions of governance.”
“Engineers have the opportunity to make the world a better place — not just through technical training, but with regard to social license,” says Dierkes — social license meaning a project’s ability to earn and maintain the approval of the people who live and work in communities associated with mines.
UBC, SFU to further global sustainable mining practices through $25M Institute
The University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University will lead an international coalition to help developing countries benefit from their natural resources in environmentally and socially responsible ways.
The establishment of the Canadian International Institute for Extractive Industries and Development (CIIEID), funded by a $25 million grant from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), was announced last October, with the goal of sharing Canadian expertise in extractive industries. The selection of UBC and SFU to operate the Institute was announced November 23, 2012, by the Honourable Julian Fantino, Minister of International Cooperation.
In 2008 alone, exports of oil and minerals from Africa, Asia and Central America were valued at $1 trillion. Canadian companies, many headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., dominate the world’s mineral exploration, and Canada relies heavily on its own resource industries.
UBC’s research and education in the extractive sector spans nearly a century, with a strong emphasis over the past decade placed on sustainable development and corporate social responsibility through its Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering. SFU’s Beedie School of Business offers Canada’s longest-standing Executive MBA program for sustainable mining and houses the Responsible Minerals Sector Initiative, fostering global dialogue for the extractive sector.
Building on the respective strengths at UBC and SFU and in partnership with École Polytechnique de Montréal, the CIIEID will offer developing countries best-practices knowledge in extractive technology, public policy and regulations, and health and education outreach in order to empower industry, governments and nongovernmental organizations to reduce poverty while protecting the environment.
“Through CIIEID, we will be able to share UBC’s extensive experience in outreach efforts in developing countries, such as the Global Mercury Project, which has already helped improve the health of artisanal miners in Latin America,” says Professor Bernhard Klein, Head of UBC’s Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering.
One of the first tasks of the CIIEID is a strategic analysis of the sector, delivery of educational courses in Canada and overseas, and two conferences. Initial activities will focus on countries in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
In small mining towns in Colombia, artisanal gold miners are using mercury and cyanide to extract minute quantities of gold. In the process, toxic chemicals are released into the environment and contaminate local food sources, as well as foods such as bananas and shrimp, which are exported globally. The Global Mercury Project (GMP), partially funded by the United Nations and led by UBC Mining Engineering Professor Marcello Veiga, is working with mining communities around the world to address technical issues that will increase production while improving the health and working conditions of miners.
For additional information, visit www.globalmercuryproject.org. For a video of artisanal-mining research in Ugandan salt mines, visit youtu.be/7c088qqasB0.