The National Research Council (NRC) is the Government of Canada’s premier research organization supporting industrial innovation, the advancement of knowledge, technology development and fulfilling government mandates.
Our multidisciplinary capabilities, unbiased view, world-class facilities, national network and cross-sector relationships make us uniquely positioned to help introduce transformative innovation into complex mining systems.
Operating nationally with close to 4,000 employees working from over 20 state-of-the-art research facilities from coast to coast, NRC can leverage its expertise to speed up innovation development and deployment in various industry sectors.
Areas of expertise
NRC’s multi-year R&D approach connects technology developers, suppliers, integrators and producers in collaborative projects defined with a deeper understanding of end-user requirements, challenges and pathways toward commercialization. We channel a critical mass of capabilities through programs designed around priority industry challenges, leveraging these core capabilities:
- Chemical, mechanical and systems engineering
- Advanced sensors and diagnostics
- Online analysis for process control
- Material science and tribology
- Mine tailing and drainage impact reduction
- Multi-scale modeling and computer simulation
- Techno-economics
Specialized services
- Predicting acid-rock drainage and metal leaching through evidence-based models and numerical simulations
- Optimizing mine-waste disposals via modeling and numerical simulation
- Scaling up lab- & pilot-scale ARD-ML testing to the field
- Micro-CT characterization
- Other programs
Unique equipment
Key Facilities:
- ARD-ML lab to measure rock properties such as water-contact angles, porosity and morphology and reveal the processes of acid-rock drainage and metal leaching
- Photo-electron microscopes (XPS); X-ray diffractometer (XRD); PSD analysis; Chemical imaging (hyperspectral FTIR/IR); Chromatography; Optical spectroscopy
- Molecular Biological Tools: PCR, quantitative PCR; Functional probes; Taxonomic targets; DGGE, RFLP, SSCP, microarrays; Next-Generation-Sequencing (NGS)
- Optical technology labs: lasers (pico, nano, microsecond pulsed solid state and fibre), interferometers, Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) equipment, micro computed tomography x-ray system, specialized software
- Infrared spectroscopy, Laser ultrasonics, micro-CT, ICP-AES
Key Research Priorities
Advanced mining technology Active
Key Topic(s)
Real-time analysis and intelligent process control; innovative separation technologies and advanced mineral characterization; material wear and corrosion management, advanced manufacturing, and integrated predictive maintenance.
Environmentally sustainable processes and practices Active
Key Topic(s)
Prediction and prevention of acid rock drainage (ARD) and metal leaching (ML), waste valorization and greener processing; contaminant removal and novel water reuse and recycling solutions; physical, chemical and biological remediation and reclamation techniques.
Cleaner energy systems and markets Active
Key Topic(s)
Bioenergy for remote mining operations; benchmarking, transforming and testing raw materials for battery-grade energy storage applications.
High Efficiency Mining Active
This priority establishes co-investment opportunities for stakeholders along Canada's mining value chain to develop and deploy new technology to increase production at a lower cost.
http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/solutions/collaborative/hem.html
Key Topic(s)
- Process Technology and Optimization
- Improving Equipment Durability
- Techno-Economic and System Analysis
- Wear and Corrosion
- Predictive Maintenance
Partners & Collaborators
Canadian oil sands and hard rock mining companies; mining equipment, technology and services suppliers; universities, government labs and departments; other research centres and enablers
Benefits
Improve, develop and commercialize practical technologies - diagnostics, separation and materials - and demonstrate the value of process integration specifically applied to gold, nickel, copper and oil sands that increase economic recovery from Canadian lower grade ores and improve equipment cost-of-ownership.
Ultimate Outcomes:
- Increased reserve of economically recoverable gold, nickel and oil sands in Canada
- Reduction in maintenance and operating costs
- Increased BERD from mining industry
Intermediate Outcomes:
- Improvement in lower grade ore recovery for Canadian mining operators
- Early sales and market take-up for systems/products
- Reduction of operating costs for mining operators
Immediate Outcomes:
- Solutions validated at mine sites
- New licensed process, wear and maintenance technologies
- Process integration demonstration
Environmental Advances in Mining Active
This priority focuses on decreasing CAPEX, OPEX and liability costs for Canadian mine operators and OGDs and by leading to increased international market capture by Canadian mining equipment, technology and service providers.
http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/solutions/collaborative/eam.html
Key Topic(s)
- ARD/ML Prediction and Prevention
- Mine Effluent Treatment
- Environmental Friendly Extraction Process
- Mine Closure and Reclamation
- Sensing and Monitoring
Partners & Collaborators
Canadian hard rock mining companies; mining equipment, technology and services suppliers; universities, government labs and departments; other research centres and enablers
Benefits
Ultimate Outcomes:
- Decrease environmental costs
- Expanded product lines, commercialization and global market share by of Canadian technology and service suppliers
Intermediate Outcomes:
- New and improved application ready technologies
- Transfer of skills and expertise to industry
Immediate Outcomes:
- Incremental technology improvement
- Higher technology readiness through demonstration projects
- New technology adoption by industry
Key Projects, Programs and Initiatives
Industrial R&D Groups Active
These two multiparty industrial R&D groups are focused on the development of Canadian resources and materials for Energy Storage technologies. The overall goal of these initiatives are to enhance the development and deployment of VRFBs and Li-ion batteries by coordinating multiparty research projects to address risks in technology development, as well as providing a forum to share relevant pre-competitive information among the members.
Benefits
- Optimize anode formulations and demonstrate electrode performance in pouch cells to reach TRL 6 and to support technology adoption and qualification;
- Enable the cost-competitive and high quality production of lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate as precursor materials for LIB cathodes;
- Develop improved LIB materials influencing the cathode performance and lifetime.
- Lowering the cost of the Vanadium based electrolytes, which includes the optimization of the production process and the purity levels;
- Assisting VRFB developers in cost reduction of components such as electrodes and separators, while maintaining durability and increasing the battery size;
- Further reducing the risks in market acceptance through the establishment of accelerated testing, performance and lifetime protocols.
Areas of focus
- LiBTec - Graphite and Lithium Materials Supply for Li-ion Batteries
- VFBTec - Vanadium Electrolyte Supply and Processing for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries
Partners & Collaborators
- Canadian graphite and lithium mining companies, Material processing companies, Battery Materials suppliers, Battery cell and pack producers, Tier 1 and Tier 2 vehicle suppliers, Stationary energy storage developers
- VFRB Flow Battery Developers, Electrolyte Producers, Membrane Manufactures, Vanadium Mining Companies
Key Projects, Programs and Initiatives Active
- Carbon sequestration – seismic
- Advanced sedimentary rock characterization for CCUS and nuclear waste storage
- Reducing regulator barriers for alternative energy in mining vehicles
- Diesel Engine Emission Evaluation and Approval Plan
- Static and Dynamic Assessment of Rockbolts
- Hydrogen in Mining 1) H2 Roadmap 2) Guideline H2 End Use 3) CSR Gap Analysis
Benefits
This innovation is the intellectual property of the NRC.
Yves Quenneville is the business officer at NRC (514 496-8507) for more information on technology and intellectual property rights. The bolt, equipped with an ultrasonic sensor, will provide real-time information on the integrity of the bolt, the total load applied to the bolt or one of its sections, and the presence of elastic and plastic deformation. Using that information, it will be possible to make correlations with the mine’s geomechanical model, if applicable, and maybe even scale down the bolting pattern in some sectors. Furthermore, these new sensors, both economical and durable in the mining environment, will increase the level of safety in underground mining operations.
Areas of focus
Ground support
Advanced Separation Process Development and Evaluation for Water Management in Mining Active
The objective of this project is to develop processes that will enable the Canadian mining industry to manage water resources more effectively by maximizing water recovery and recycling and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of water treatment discharge and management. The project supports the Clean Innovation Engagement Strategy and the Water Management priority of the CanmetMINING 5-year research plan.
The project is designed to investigate and identify opportunities for improving water recovery, treatment and recycling in the mining mineral extraction operations as well as to develop, assess and de-risk technologies and processes for recovery and treatment process water streams in operations for mineral extraction.
Some of the technologies that are being investigated and evaluated include pressure driven membrane separation processes such as reverse osmosis, nano- and ultrafiltration, electro technologies such as electrodialysis and electrocoagulation, ceramic membrane based processes as well as vacuum mebrane distillation.
Benefits
The project contributes to reducing the impact of mining operations on Canada’s freshwater resources and helps improve water management in mining and mineral processing mineral processing plant performances such as mineral/metals recovery and concentrate grades.
The project will create processing tools to help mining companies to:
- Improve the recovery and reuse of water - opportunities throughout the mining lifecycle;
- Reduce contaminants discharge into the environment; and
- Improve the capacity for the recycling of water throughout the mineral and metal extraction process with the ultimate goal of a minimal liquid discharge (MLD) operation.
Areas of focus
- Climate Change
- Water Recovery and Recycling
- Flotation
- Mineral Processing
Partners & Collaborators
- Rouchert Inopor
- Hydro-Québec