Ed Sage is a Geospatial Solutions Specialist and InSAR Scientist - Satellite Mapping at Viridien, an advanced technology, digital and Earth data company. Ed and I speak of many things InSAR.
Katherine is the User Success Manager for Geotechnical Analysis at Seequent. She and I discuss their GeoStudio software.
Rick is a Principal with Klohn Crippen Berger in Vancouver. He is a geotechnical engineer who says he works with hi clients to find practical and sustainable solutions to their challenges in the mining industry. You can read the article that Rick and I discussed here:https://klohn.com/news-and-events/kcb-featured-in-vancouver-geotechnical-society-magazine/?utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_medium=Social&utm_id=VGS_Magazine
Lakshmin is a senior director at NexWayv, Inc, a company that specializes in water management projects, especially dams of all sorts. Lakshmin and I discuss various aspects of ai.
Mike is the Founder and Senior Technical Advisor of Okane Consultants. Okane helps mining companies return the land responsibly and safely at the end of a mine’s lifecycle. In this episode Mike and I discuss practical lessons learned from work in mine closure projects.
Ben has been involved in the mining industry for the majority of his working life and has experienced the industry from some very different perspectives. Firstly working in base metal concentrators around the world (Australia, Indonesia, Ireland and South Africa) in technical and managerial roles. More recently he has worked for mineral processing equipment suppliers. During the pandemic he co-founded the Executive Micro-Certificate in Economic Leadership in Mining offered through MiningEd / BRIMM at the University of British Columbia. The program (a mini, mining focused, business course) is to enable better decision making across the mining industry and to encourage cross profession co-operation.
Jeremy is a Senior Associate / Senior Tailing Engineer at Thurber Engineering Ltd. in Calgary. He obtained his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, South Africa, specializing in geotechnical engineering, hydraulic engineering and project management.
Fifteen years of his career were spent working for the Fraser Alexander Group, an international specialist tailings contractor based in South Africa, in the fields of tailings design and operation, and solid and hazardous waste management. The next ten years were spent in environmental engineering consulting, environmental assessment, public accountability and sustainable development.
Since 2008 Jeremy has worked in Calgary, Canada for Thurber Engineering. His focus has been on tailings and geotechnical engineering, serving as project director, multidisciplinary team leader, reviewer or primary report author of a number of tailings engineering projects in the Alberta Oil Sands, across Canada and elsewhere internationally. Jeremy has authored over 60 papers in tailings engineering and related fields. He was appointed an Associate of Thurber Engineering in 2013, and promoted to Senior Associate in 2015.
Jeremy currently serves as Co-Chair of the Dam Integrity Advisory Committee (DIAC), convened by the Alberta Chamber of Resources.
Juan is a Senior Geotechnical Engineer at KCB Australia Pty Ltd. in Perth, Australia. Juan and I once again get together to hear about what he's been up to with tailings and geotechnical engineering.
Chelsea is the President of Elevate Civil Engineering, where she leads civil and geotechnical projects, such as tailings, dams, and mining infrastructure, with a focus on ethical practice and meaningful collaboration with Indigenous communities. Her work supports sustainable, culturally aligned outcomes that reflect both technical expertise and community priorities. Chelsea is also the founder of Co-Creation, a personal and professional development practice offering alignment-based courses and spiritual growth experiences designed to help individuals and organizations connect with intuition, purpose, and values-driven leadership.
In this episode I test Chat GPT on its knowledge of the current state of tailings management.
Mike is the Founder and Senior Technical Advisor of Okane Consultants. Okane helps mining companies return the land responsibly and safely at the end of a mine’s lifecycle. In this episode Mike and I discuss practical lessons learned from work in mine closure projects.
Caius is a specialist civil geotechnical engineer with over 30 years of experience in dams, embankments and earthworks, from concept studies to detailed engineering to construction management, operation and surveillance, closure and rehabilitation. He is also an adjunct professor at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering. Caius and I chat about his wonderful career and what he has learned along the way.
Scott has 30 years of technical and leadership experience in geotechnical engineering, with a focus on mining and dam safety. Scott has led multi-disciplinary design teams for complex structures, and served as senior reviewer for high profile, high consequence designs. Scott has managed an engineering group comprising multiple teams and up to 100 total staff, with direct responsibility for annual budgets more than $50 million. Scott led the implementation of the Mining Association of Canada’s Tailings Management Protocol within a large mining organization.
Jason is the Managing Director of Powerhouse Renewables in Perth, Australia. Powerhouse is seeing good results from some work they've completed with Rio Tinto. Powerhouse is unlike most renewables companies, they not only deliver renewable solutions but they also ensure that the energy transition is optimized through energy efficient technologies.
This is a lengthier episode, so buckle in for a long ride.
Mike is the Founder and now a Senior Technical Advisor to O'Kane Consultants. Mike is a fellow geotechnical engineer.
Okane helps mining companies return the land responsibly and safely at the end of a mine’s lifecycle. They believe in challenging the status quo and advocating for meaningful partnerships and positive outcomes for community stakeholders and Indigenous rightsholders. Their solutions help their clients achieve positive financial, environmental, and social outcomes from feasibility to relinquishment.
Debbie is a hardrock mining policy expert with over 30 years of hands-on expertise with the environmental and public land laws and regulations pertaining to mineral exploration and mine development.
She provides environmental permitting and government relations consulting services to mineral exploration and mining clients. She has a proven track record of successfully representing clients in legislative and administrative issues on the state and federal levels and in securing project permits for exploration and mining projects.
Since 1993, she has been an active participant in the legislative dialogue to change the U.S. Mining Law. She has provided testimonies at Congressional hearings on the National Environmental Policy Act, on abandoned mine policies, and the state and federal environmental regulatory framework applicable to modern mines. Most recently, she testified on behalf of the Women’s Mining Coalition in July 2021 and May 2022 before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources at hearings on the U.S. Mining Law.
Her legislative work in Nevada includes playing a key role in repealing a special state tax on federal mining claims, helping persuade legislators to abandon a legislative proposal to tax minerals prior to severance, and convincing legislators not to raise the tax rate on mineral, oil and gas, and geothermal energy production.
She is also one of the founders of the Women’s Mining Coalition and currently serves on the Coalition’s Board of Directors. She is a Certified Professional Geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists. Her professional memberships include the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America; the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.; and the Geological Society of Nevada. She has served twice as a trustee of the Northwest Mining Association (now the American Exploration & Mining Association).
Satish is the Managing Director, Clareo, a think tank that is involved in many industrial sectors. As their website says, Clareo is a leading global strategy consulting firm focused on solving complex challenges for the mining, energy, and food sectors. With over 20 years of experience, Clareo collaborates with Fortune 500 clients to develop innovative strategies that drive business transformation and growth.Satish and I discuss the panel discussion he took part in at the MIT Global Summit on Mine Tailings Innovation.
Sina is a geomechanics product manager at Rocscience. He led the development and improvement of Slide2 and Slide3, two of the most advanced software tools for LEM slope stability analysis as well as probabilistic and reliability-based approaches to geotechnical design.
Chad is an internationally recognized, experienced and competent geotechnical engineer, project and operations manager, executive and technical principal. His nearly 34 working years have benefited from a suite of various experiences and learnings, culminating in a career focused on geoenvironmental engineering, tailings engineering and tailings management. Chad and I speak current trends in the tailings world and provide some advice to engineering students and to those just coming out of school.
Allison has had a pretty amazing career, and now specializes in ESG, Sustainability, Community Engagement, Social Impact, Holistic Investments in Natural Resources & Energy, and DEI. Amongst other things, Allison and I discuss DEI and how it can improve our workplace.