Laurentian Uni to Add Open-Pit Mining Research Chair

Thanks to $1.25 million in investment from IAMGOLD, the Bharti School is about to create the country’s first research chair in open-pit mining. While most of Canada’s mines are underground, IAMGOLD is currently developing an open-pit gold mine roughly 180 kilometres north of Sudbury, home to the University.

By creating a research chair in open-pit mining, both Laurentian and IAMGOLD hope to better prepare and train today’s mining students for opportunities in the future. It will also help Laurentian attract top students from Canada and abroad.

“This investment represents a critically-important enhancement of our research capacity at the Bharti School,” said Bharti School of Engineering director Dr. Ramesh Subramanian. ”This new Research Chair will attract more cutting-edge knowledge to our mining engineering programs, and will certainly augment our international reputation in mining.”

IAMGOLD president and CEO Steve Letwin noted that there is currently a shortage of trained and qualified mining professionals in Canada, adding that the new research chair would help to rectify that situation.

“The future of the mining industry depends on our ability to step up the pace of innovation and this has to start with educational programs and research opportunities specializing in advanced mining techniques,” he said. “With the development of our Côté Gold project in northern Ontario as an open-pit mine, it’s gratifying to know that we will be both helping to address the serious shortage of skilled mining professionals in this country and creating job opportunities for our future mining engineers.”

The money from IAMGOLD will fund the research chair position in full, making it the first research chair at Laurentian to receive the entirety of its funding from a private sector partner.

With the search for the new research chair expected to start soon, the school plans on having a successful candidate in place by July.

Image Credit: John Lappa

By Richard Barnes