Short Courses
Understanding and Mitigating Geotechnical Risk for Mining Operators
FULL DAY – October 1 | 09:00 – 17:00
Short Course Abstract:
An educated workforce is a safer, more engaged workforce. Individuals involved in tailings structures—whether in the field, operations, engineering, leadership or regulatory compliance—make risk decisions daily, sometimes without even realizing that they are doing so. With the increasing scrutiny on tailings structures due to recent failures and subsequent changed tailings management standards, it is more important than ever that all personnel working in any aspect of tailings understand the associated risks, regulations and social license of designing, building and operating tailings facilities.
This course is designed to introduce geotechnical concepts to non-geotechnical people. Participants will gain exposure to:
- Identifying geotechnical risks in the field
- Implementing risk mitigation strategies
- Applying risk management strategies including governance
- Navigating regulatory compliance and international standards
- Leveraging innovation
The course will further emphasis the criticality of communication amongst all groups involved in tailings management.
Short Course Objectives:
To provide an understanding of tailings management and risk to non-geotechnical engineers.
Target Audience:
All non-geotechnical people who are involved in tailings facilities. No prior geotechnical experience is required, just a commitment to safety, and responsible tailings management.
Facilitators:
Tanys MacGowan, Beryl Mining Services
P.Eng. – PRINCIPAL ADVISOR, GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING, TECHNICAL COMMITTEE CHAIR
Tanys has over 25 years of experience in geotechnical engineering where she has held the roles of Engineer of Record, Geotechnical Engineering Advisor, Director of GeoServices and Director of Digital Innovation. She has led several diverse teams of specialists composed of Hydrologists, Geologists, Geotechnical Engineers and Technicians. She has worked for both Operating Companies and Design Engineering Firms where she successfully managed the design of one of the largest tailings dam structures in oil sands history. Tanys remains at the forefront of dam decommissioning and authored one of the first approved dam decommissioning plans in oilsands history.
She has presented and authored several papers on pitwall stability, tailings dams, emergency response and an overview on geotechnical engineering in the oilsands. She is passionate about advancing risk management through governance, education and digital and data advancements. When spare time permits, you’ll find her learning more about the psychology behind leadership where she has taken courses at Harvard, Oxford and MIT to help her better understand the influence of human nature on how organizations can achieve their goals, including those on risk management.
Brad Strueby, Beryl Mining Services
P. Eng. – PRINCIPAL ADVISOR, MINING & TAILINGS
Brad has 34 years of experience in the mining industry and has worked for some of the largest resource companies in Canada including Syncrude Canada Limited, Petro Canada (secondment), Cameco Corporation, Suncor Energy (secondment) and Teck Resources.
Over the span of his career Brad has managed several technical and mine operations teams and has been involved in an array of projects including Geo-environmental, Geotechnical and Mine Engineering, Technology Development, Major Projects and Joint Venture Management. Brad is an active member of the Canadian Institute of Mining and is the current Chair of the Surface Mining Society.
Craig Simpson, Beryl Mining Services
P.Eng. – PRINCIPAL ADVISOR, MINING
Craig has over 33 years of experience in mining engineering with 13 years in uranium, coal, industrial minerals and 21 years in oil sands. His experience includes mine planning and design, mine operations, safety system implementation, project management and execution and mine closure planning. For 25 years Craig has held a variety of leadership roles including 17 years of managing technical planning teams in oil sands.
He has held the overall accountability to develop integrated mine plans that showed the impacts of strategic decisions on the life of the mining asset. Craig is passionate about collaborating with other technical teams and business units to achieve a corporate-wide, integrated view of the best result arising from a series of scenarios. Craig excels at communicating integrated mine plan outputs, providing results, risks, opportunities and costs allowing senior management to make informed, data-driven decisions.
