Tag Archives: Orano

Life in Mining Dependent Countries on the up, ICMM report says

Environmental, Mining industry recognition, Mining safety, Mining services, Sustainable mining, Water management, , , , , , , ,

The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) today launched a report which, it says, found that life in Mining Dependent Countries (MDCs) has improved significantly in the last 23 years.

The report analyses 41 social metrics grouped under 12 relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, across three quarters of these metrics, there has been significant progress made on socio-economic development. The metrics include neo-natal mortality, adult literacy, and access to electricity, with the findings showing the greatest progress has been made across health and well-being, access to quality education, clean water, sanitation and affordable clean energy. The countries with the biggest relative improvements include Bolivia, Botswana, Indonesia, Ghana, and Peru, the ICMM said.

“The research indicates that most mining-dependent countries, which are among some of the poorest in the world, continue to close the socio-economic performance gap with non-resource dependent countries,” the ICMM said. “However, governance matters. The research strongly suggests that the higher the quality of governance, the stronger the socio-economic progress observed in these countries. A stable, enabling environment has the strongest positive relationship with good socio-economic outcomes. The analysis indicates that countries that are more peaceful, have lower levels of corruption, and a vocal and active civil society with sufficient civic space are better able to translate natural resources into social progress. Having mining regulations and frameworks is an insufficient condition for good socio-economic outcomes and the analysis demonstrates that effective implementation is critical.”

ICMM’s Chief Executive Officer, Rohitesh Dhawan, said: “This report builds on the extensive research we conducted in 2018, challenging the notion that an abundance of natural resources in host countries damages economic and social progress. However, without strong resource governance and, most critically, effective implementation of mining regulations and frameworks, host countries are unlikely to feel the benefits of mining operations. The mining industry has a central role to play in this as a catalyst for change, supporting effective implementation of the frameworks needed to help deliver the UN SDGs.”

Orano’s Chief Executive Officer, Philippe Knoche, said: “Good governance contributes to a better sharing of economic benefits and a better acceptability of our activities. Uranium mining with its long-term operations plays a vital role in enabling clean energy. When produced responsibly, it contributes to the wealth of regions and countries. This is how Orano Mining sees its role as a responsible miner.”

Newcrest’s Chief People and Sustainability Officer, Lisa Ali, said: “Improving our performance as an industry – and working with governments, communities, civil society to do so – will help us to better contribute to sustainable growth and aid social progress.”

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)’s Chair, Rt Hon. Helen Clark, said: “The findings of the report are encouraging, and align with the EITI’s Principles, which state that the prudent use of natural resource wealth should be an important engine for sustainable economic growth. High standards of governance, transparency and accountability are a necessary condition, without which the developmental benefits of the resource sector will continue to be elusive. We, therefore, encourage governments and companies to consider how they can improve efforts towards transparency, including through implementation of the EITI Standard.”

The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI)’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Suneeta Kaimal, said: “In the wake of the pandemic, mineral-rich developing countries face rising poverty, increased corruption risks and growing debt. Good governance by countries and companies – disclosing critical information, ensuring open public dialogue, and promoting evidence-based decision making – is crucial to enabling sustainable, equitable recovery for citizens and a greener planet. ICMM can leverage its collective power to help producer countries harness growing demand for minerals associated with the energy transition, develop new models for benefit-sharing, reinforce lessons learned about good governance, and ultimately transform potential into prosperity.”

The analysis from this report can be used as a baseline of the status of socio-economic progress in MDCs prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICMM said. As countries look to rebuild to an even stronger position, the importance of understanding the linkage between effective resource governance and social progress will become increasingly important.

The report, ‘Social Progress in Mining-Dependent Countries: Analysing the role of Resource Governance in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),’ builds on the research undertaken in ICMM’s 2018 study, ‘Social Progress in Mining-dependent Countries.’

Orano, Ideon deploy cosmic-ray muon detector at McLean Lake uranium site

Energy minerals, Mine surveying, Mineral exploration, Mining services, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Canada-based Earth ‘X-ray’ start-up, Ideon Technologies, and Orano Group, one of the world’s top uranium producers, have deployed the world’s first cosmic-ray muon detector for use in industry-standard boreholes.

The EUREKA-approved research and development project, which is receiving advisory services and funding support from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program, will run from now through the end of 2021 at McClean Lake, an Orano uranium site in northern Saskatchewan, Canada.

Ideon says it is a pioneer in muon tomography, providing X-ray-like imaging up to 1 km beneath the Earth’s surface. The Ideon discovery platform integrates proprietary muon detectors, imaging systems, inversion technologies, and artificial intelligence to produce high-resolution 3D density maps of underground targets, it explained.

Orano’s imaging target is a high-grade, compact uranium deposit located at 300 m depth. Multiple borehole muon detectors are deployed down a single drill hole in a connected sequence, delivering progressive imaging results throughout the survey.

Orano and Ideon have been collaborating since 2016, when Ideon deployed its first-generation, large-format detectors at the McArthur River uranium mine in Saskatchewan, successfully imaging a high-grade uranium deposit under 600 m of sandstone. Since then, Ideon has completed a 50 times miniaturisation effort to create the first industry-standard borehole (<100 mm diameter), low-power (<10 W continuous power consumption), zero-maintenance muon tomography detector suitable for operation in the extreme environmental conditions of mineral exploration sites around the world, the company explained.

“We’re excited to move forward on this project with Ideon because we expect it to transform the very nature of how we explore,” Hervé Toubon, Research & Development and Innovation Director at Orano Mining, said. “Global uranium demand is projected to grow by up to 40% by 2025 and it is virtually impossible for us to detect high-grade deposits at depth using traditional geophysical exploration techniques. The subsurface intelligence we gain with muon tomography gives us the ability to accurately locate those anomalies while reducing the need for drilling and lowering our overall environmental impact. That value proposition is hard to beat.”

Gary Agnew, CEO at Ideon, said: “This deployment milestone is more than a decade in the making. We’ve spent seven years doing commercial trials in partnership with the mining industry and several years of system design and development, de-risking, and prototyping in the lab. Orano has been there right along with us for much of that journey, leading the way as a customer-driven innovator in the global energy transition. We are grateful for their enthusiasm, flexibility, trust, and willingness to break new ground with us.”

In addition to muon tomography models, Ideon will work with Orano to develop joint inversions with existing drill data and other geophysical datasets.

Ideon is currently implementing an exclusive early access program for borehole muon tomography. The company claims it is the only straight-line subsurface imaging technology available today, delivering the highest available resolution along with precise anomaly location information. Muon tomography uses a passive and free energy source (cosmic rays from space), offers the ability to image in noisy or conductive environments, and captures data continuously – improving imaging results over time, the company said.