Innovate to survive, CIM plenary told

“Innovation … represents a revolutionary change in operating style for an industry that is known for the conservatism of its management. We have no choice but to take drastic steps. Vive la Revolution]” C. George Miller, Managing Director The Mining Association of Canada

Revolution in mining. That theme was central at a plenary session presented at the 89th annual general meeting of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in Toronto.

Although revolutions in any endeavor are looked on as harbingers of better times, the revolution in mining is a matter of survival, the cim delegates were told. George Miller, Managing Director of The Mining Association of Canada, stressed the need for technological innovation in order to remain competitive.

“It calls for alert and sophisticated management, management that is willing to take some risk in order to become more competitive faster than the next mine,” he said.

One of the keys to successful innovation is research — a fact all the plenary speakers emphasized. K. C. Hendrick, president of Noranda Minerals told the session that the mining industry should increase research spending by 10 times from current levels. This, however, “would still be well down from the 3%-6% applied by our competitiors in plastics,” he stressed.

Mr Hendrick presented a chilling, but all too well known, history of the metals industry from its boom days in the 1960s to the present state of depressed prices, oversupply and intense foreign competition from substitute products such as plastics, ceramics and other synthetics. The industry, however, is also characterized by “a market where designers will have the capability to create materials to meet the specific needs of any given application,” he said quoting George Jewett, a metals consultant. To do that, the mining industry must commit even more funds to research which will examine consumer needs and design metal products suited to meet those needs.

Mr Hendrick explained that the industries which manufacture metal substitutes are characterized by a long history of research, financial strength to continue funding such programs and integration capable of reaching the end-user of the product. “Does this description fit the mining and metal companies you know?” he queried. “I believe it does not.”

“The writing is on the wall,” Patrick MacCulloch, vice-president mining and minerals at BP Canada said. “We have no choice but to engage in research and development for increased productivity if we are to survive as an industry.” One of the initiatives being undertaken by the Mining Association of Canada inorder to implement these ideas is the creation of the Mining Industry Technology Council of Canada. Headed by Mr MacCulloch, the council will seek practical solutions to research and development needs.