Behind the Scenes with Bryan
By Bryan Ulrich
Behind the Scenes with BryanApr 28, 2021
Episode 153: A conversation with Joe Scalia
Joe is an Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University. Amongst other things Joe and I discuss cover design and longevity and the need to get more engineering students interested in tailings.
Episode 152: A conversation with Dr. Ashok Ghosh
Episode 151: A conversation with Rens Verburg
Rens is a Technical Fellow with WSP and a geochemist with more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry.
Episode 150: A conversation with Carlo Cooper
Carlo and I chat about the capabilities of is software and how it's making TSF design simpler and better.
Episode 149: A conversation with Carlos Hubner
Carlos is the RTFE at the Cobre Panama mine which is owned by First Quantum Minerals. The mine is currently under shutdown orders by the Panamanian government. Carlos and I discuss the challenges of maintaining a tailings facility that is in hiatus.
Episode 148: a conversation with Lindsay Newland Bowker
Lindsay is an expert in risk management and Executive Director at World Mine Tailings Failures. We discuss here amazing career, and her involvement in tailings which came to her later in life.
Episode 147: A conversation with Justin Walls.
Justin is an Associate Partner and Principal Civil Engineer at SRK in Johannesburg, South Africa, specializing in mine closure. Justin and I discuss his approach to closure projects.
Episode 146: A conversation with Tim Fitton
Tim Fitton is an independent tailings/geotechnical engineer in Australia, running Fitton Tailings Consultants. Amongst other things Tim and I discuss tailings beach slope prediction.
Episode 145: A conversation with Marcelo Llano
Marcelo is a geotechnical engineer with Red Earth Engineering Pty Ltd, now a part of Geosyntec. In this episode Marcelo discusses the material point method (MPM) and the consequences of getting dam breach analysis wrong.
Episode 144: A conversation with Vikram Yadav
Vikram Yadav is an Associate Professor in the chemical and biological engineering department at the University of British Columbia and the Director, MEL Program in Sustainable Process Engineering. He is also the Co-Founder of Tersa Earth Innovations. The company is advancing unique biological technologies that extract toxins, metals and metalloids from mine water.
Episode 143: A conversation with Greg Beischer
Corporation (AEMC) is working on a large-scale nickel project in Central Alaska to safeguard America’s energy future, stemming from the heightened demand for electric vehicles (EV). The demand for nickel is skyrocketing because of its use in EV batteries. AEMC believes nickel will be the main limiting factor on
America’s ability to transition fully to EVs because it is vulnerable to supply disruption of nickel and therefore must develop its own, domestic sources.
Greg has forty years of experience. A geologist and mining engineer technologist by trade, Greg has studied everything from exploration to mineral extraction and environmental control.
Greg’s natural business acumen led him to found Millrock Resources in 2007. Greg also previously worked with
INCO Ltd, the world’s leading nickel producer and the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, where he forged connections across Alaska. Mr. Beischer is the past President of the Alaska Miner’s Association, sits on the Board of Alaska’s Resource Development Corporation, and serves on the Alaska Minerals Commission.
Episode 142: A conversation with Mike Ravella
Mike Ravella is the Chief Innovation Officer at Veracio. In this episode we discuss Veracio’s research, innovation and technology for the mining industry.
Episode 141: A conversation with Sabrina Dias
Sabrina is the founder and CEO of SOOP Strategies. We talk about her amazing career and what SOOP does for their clients. SOOP offers mining and sustainability expertise services to the extractives sector. You can find out more about her and her company at https://www.soopstrategies.com/
Episode 140: A conversation with Matthew Gialich from Astroforge
Matt is the co-Founder and CEO at AstroForge, an ambitious company who was partnered with Elon Musk's SpaceX in hopes of mining platinum group metals from a near-earth asteroid. Matt and I discuss this seemingly sci-fi journey into space mining.
Episode 139: A conversation with Marco Arreta
Marco is the Head of Geotechnical Department - Line Creek Operation for Teck Resources. Marco is researching the shear strength characteristics of waste rock and rock fill.
Episode 138: A conversation with Ken Rahal
Episode 137: A conversation with Satish Rao
Satish Rao is a business advisor and a mining expert helping shape the future of sustainable growth for the industrial economy. Currently, he serves as a managing director at Clareo, a global strategy firm, where he focuses on energy, resources, and materials.
Rao helps businesses transform to meet future decarbonization, ESG, sustainability, and growth objectives. He has advised some of the world’s leading resources, energy, and advanced materials companies
such as BHP, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Baker Hughes, BP, Castrol, GE, Exelon, Owens Corning, Boise Cascade, and Essity.
Episode 136: A conversation with Alex Pienaar
Episode 135: Snoop does the tailings rap
Episode 134: A conversation with Michael Ingwersen from Circular Mine
Michael and I primarily discuss the goals of his company, Circular Mine, which is to reduce/eliminate mine waste primarily by finding viable uses for it. You can find out more about Circular Mine at www.Circular Mine.com
Michael spoke about a project with AMIRA that is looking for sponsors. To be a sponsor you need to be a member of AMIRA. If anyone is interested, you could reach out to Silvia Black at silvia.black@amira.global
Episode 133: A conversation with Walter Weining.
Episode 132: A conversation with Dana Bennett
Dana is the interim president of the Nevada Mining Association. She is also the past president.
Episode 131: A conversation with UCAL Davis student Brahian Roman
Episode 130: A re-broadcast of a conversation with Bill Kappel from Applied Weather Associates
I happened to run into Bill recently in Belo Horizonte. This was a really good episode. Among other things, Bill and I discuss probable maximum precipitation (PMP) estimation, especially in data limited areas. Bill had an article on this topic in The Journal of Dam Safety, Volume 17, Issue 2 of 2020. You can find out more about Bill's company at www.AppliedWeatherAssociates.com
Episode 129: A re-broadcast of my interview on the Mining Minds podcast
In this episode, I am interviewed by the guys at the Mining Minds podcast. Mining Minds are a group of friends in Northeastern Nevada who all work in the mining industry. I highly recommend you listen to their podcast.
Episode 128: A rebroadcast of my interview by Rob Tyson
I was a guest on Rob Tyson's podcast: DIG DEEPER. Here is what we discussed.
Episode 127: a rebroadcast of my conversation with Shawn Steiner
Shawn and I discuss in situ testing
Episode 126: A Conversation with Aniseh Dadashi, PhD student at the University of Alberta
Episode 125: My son interviews me.
In this episode the tables are turned on me, and I let my journalist son ask me the questions for a change.
Episode 124: A conversation with Dale Rucker from HGI
Dale is a hydrogeophysist with HydroGeophysics Inc. We talk about challenges and prizes for using geophysics in mining projects. You can find out more about his company at www.hgiworld.com, or contact him directly at dale@hgiworld.com
Episode 123: A conversation with Heather Kaminsky
Heather is with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). She is the self-professed oil sands "Queen of Clay". She is working towards her own Vision 2030 - where by 2030 fluid fine tailings in oil sands are no longer a concern as reclamation methods will have been found and implemented to return the tailings pond to a useable boreal ecosystem.
Episode 122: A conversation with Sam Rivet from Photosat
Episode 121: A conversation with Dawn Larsen from Epiroc Digital Solutions Canada
Dawn is the Digital Solutions Manager for Epiroc Digital Solutions Canada
To schedule a No-cost Digital Roadmap Strategy Session: dawn.larsen@epiroc.com Contact: Dawn Larsen, Epiroc Digital Solutions Canada 1-249-377-9983
Case Studies:
HudBay: Increased mucking rate by 7% Up to 15% increase in productivity
Fosterville: Expects to cut half the time off evacuations with Epiroc Digital Solutions’ Mobilaris Emergency Support https://www.epiroc.com/en-ca/customer-stories/2020/mobilaris-at-kirkland-lake-gold
Goldfields: Expect a 12-month ROI on Implementing Digitalization in the Mine https://www.epiroc.com/en-ca/customer-stories/2020/gold-fields-australia-modernization-program
Anglo Ahsanti Gold: +18 % improvement in productivity -38% reduction in lost time with logistics
Software Solutions Discussed in the Podcast:
Mobilaris Situational Awareness: https://www.epiroc.com/en-ca/products/digital-solutions/sustainable-and-safe-operations/mobilaris-situational-awareness
Onboard: https://www.epiroc.com/en-ca/products/digital-solutions/operational-performance/mobilarisonboard
Pocketmine: https://www.epiroc.com/en-ca/products/digital-solutions/operational-performance/mobilaris-pocketmine
Emergency Support: https://www.epiroc.com/en-ca/products/digital-solutions/sustainable-and-safe-operations/mobilaris-emergency-support
Short Term Interval Control, Planning and Scheduling: https://www.epiroc.com/en-ca/products/digital-solutions/planning-and-scheduling/mobilaris-scheduling
Event Automation: https://www.epiroc.com/en-ca/products/digital-solutions/connected-assets/mobilaris-event-automation
Enterprise Data Integration Platform: MineRP: https://www.minerp.com/enterprise-interoperability
Episode 120: A conversation with Jurgen Hahn from BOKELA
Episode 119: An interview of Nahyan Rana
Nahyan Rana is a PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo and a Geoscientist-in-Training at Klohn Crippen Berger, specializing in Engineering Geology and Remote Sensing for Tailings Dams. He has several publications about tailings. Amongst other thing, we discuss dam breaches and flow failures.
Episode 118: A conversation with Anita Beritson
Anita is a Partner and Director of Recruiting at the recruiting firm Brooks & Nelson LLC. She has a pretty amazing career which she shares with us, as well as a passion for a group she supports strongly, Women in Mining.
Episode 117: A conversation with Abigail Paul from the University of Alberta
Episode 116: A conversation with Haley Schafer
Episode 115: My holiday poem 2022
In this ode to my father, I hope I can evoke some wonderful memories from your own past.
Episode 114: Karen Chovan and Monica Ospina discuss their way of coupling technical and social aspects of tailings management.
Karen and Monica have a different way to couple social and technical aspects of tailings management. They have jointly launched their new Tailings Area of Social Risk (TASR) solution. The method looks to align tailings management with principles of social inclusion and participation, while respecting the scientific process to define the areas of risk.
Episode 113: A conversation with Lois Boxill
Lois is a geotechnical engineer working in the mining industry. Lois and I discuss her ideas on mine closure and much more.
Episode 112: A Conversation with Pascale Rouse from Itasca
Pascale is a geotechnical engineer with a PhD from the University of British Columbia. Pascale worked in academia for several years before joining Itasca. Amongst other things Pascale and I discuss numerical modeling of tailings facilities.
Episode 111: A conversation with Gavan Hunter
Gavan is a geotechnical/dams engineer based in Melborn, Australia. He is now working for himself at Hunter Geotechnical. Hunter and I discuss challenges and rewards of working in the industry.
Episode 110: A conversation with Jorge Macedo
Jorge is an Assistant Professor Geosystems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. Amongst other things, Jorge and I discuss the TAILENG program.
Episode 109: A conversation with Keith and Anuj from Partners in Performance
Episode 108: A conversation with Marcelo Llano
Episode 107: A conversation with Martin Griffin
Episode 106: A conversation with Arnoud Star Busman from Minehub Technologies
You can find out more about his work at www.minehub.com
Episode 105: A conversation with Dave Amori
Dave is the Vice President, Engineering at EFI Global. As VP of Engineering, Dave is responsible for the oversight of the engineering service line; product delivery, quality, training and mentoring, business development, and executive team liaison. This role also includes teaching continuing education classes to individuals in the insurance, engineering, and architecture industries on topics such as building construction, structural engineering, and building envelope investigations.
Dave and I discuss his career and his role in EFI Global as well as the importance of continuing your education throughout your career.
Episode 104: A conversation about the Fundao TSF with Tim Stark
Timothy D. Stark is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with an expertise in Geotechnical Engineering. Dr. Stark has been conducting interdisciplinary research and teaching on the static and seismic stability of natural and manmade slopes, such as dams, levees, floodwalls, and waste containment facilities, railroad geotechnics, geosynthetics and geomembranes, soil liquefaction during earthquakes, and stabilization and behavior of dredged material containment areas.
In this episode, Tim and I focus our conversation on the Fundao TSF failure and what lessons it has taught us.