Mineral Technology Council formed

A newly created, privately funded agency — the Mineral Technology Council of Canada — will act as an “information broker” for the mining industry in an attempt to match up the most promising research work with existing funding programs.

Mining Association of Canada President Walter Curlook announced the creation of mitec at the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy’s 89th annual general meeting in Toronto last week. The goal of the council is to reduce direct costs in mining by improving the effectiveness of research and development.

Pat MacCulloch, president of BP Canada and chairman of the council, says the need for co-ordinating and increasing research and development is necessary if Canadian mineral producers want to keep operating costs below those of competitors in other countries.

“But you can’t just throw money at research,” says Mr MaCulloch. “Our role is to be a broker … a broker of knowledge.”

A key role of the council will be to provide “networking” as well, so that remote mining operations, for example, will be able to “plug in” to the latest in research in productivity-improving technology that may be relevant to their operations.

Mitec, with an initial annual budget of $150,000, is partly funded by the mac. However, it is an independent organization governed by a board headed by Mr MacCulloch. Also on the board are Dome Mines President Henry Brehaut, Cominco senior vice-president Ted Fletcher, Noranda Minerals President Keith Hendrick, The Coal Association of Canada President Dick Marshall, Falconbridge vice-president Frank Pickard, Inco executive vice-president Mr Curlook and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan President Steve Harapiak.

George Miller, managing director of the mac, will be secretary of the council and William Jeffery, now Acting Assistant Deputy Minister for Energy Mines and Resources, will be its executive director.

The council will also consist of a technical advisory council and one or more affiliated research directorates.

Mitec’s mandate is to identify and give priority to the industry’s technological needs. It will work closely with research centres at universities, private industry and government and try to match appropriate programs with funding.

Mining-related research and development funding is currently done in a piecemeal manner, according to Mr MacCulloch, so mitec will establish and publish a comprehensive register of mining- related R&D projects and identify duplication that might be avoided.

Also, because many current research projects are funded by individual sponsors but address industry-wide requirements, mitec will urge co-operative funding for such projects among several sponsors.