jULY/AUGUST 2018 BCBusiness 71 bcbusiness.ca
Vancouver-based Teck
(No. 2 in this year's Top
100) is rolling out. A few
steps from the faux shovel
lies an augmented reality
simulator developed with local virtual
and augmented reality studio LlamaZoo.
It allows users to see exactly what a min-
ing development would look like and what
infrastructure a company would need at
various stages for a prospective site.
As Teck embraces the advancements
that new technolo€y can bring to a long-
standing industry, the same reasoning
that's always won the day is well repre-
sented. "You always want to be focused on
business value; that's where our approach
starts," says Greg Brouwer, general man-
ager of technolo€y and innovation. "That
approach often means scanning and look-
ing out there externally at what di‰erent
groups are doing, and seeing where there's
an opportunity for us to embrace and
incorporate some of those technologies."
In 2017, gross revenue from B.C. min-
ing operations surveyed by PwC Canada
reached $11.7 billion, a surge of almost
35 percent over the previous year. PwC's
50th annual survey of the industry
included 15 operating mines and seven at
the exploration, permitting or environ-
mental assessment stage.
"When you think of mining, you think
of mechanization, but there is a lot of
technolo€y involved," says Mark Platt,
Vancouver-based partner and B.C. region
mining leader with PwC Canada. "If you
can improve by 0.01 percent what you get
out of a pit, it can be huge for a company."
Another Vancouver-headquartered
mining titan, Goldcorp (No. 10), has
invested heavily in innovation, looking
within and elsewhere for answers. In-
house, the gold producer holds an annual
Dragons' Den–like competition to help
develop new ideas. Goldcorp, which has
already brought autonomous drilling to
its operations, has plans for fully auto-
mated equipment that would be able to
drill, blast and shovel on its own.
These changes don't only help save
money, they allow the companies in ques-
tion to present plans to governments and
Indigenous communities more e‰ectively.
"There's more pressure from govern-
ments, First Nations and regulatory enti-
ties to use technolo€y because it can lower
the environmental footprint," explains
Luis Canepari, Goldcorp's vice-president
CHOOSE PAINTILLIO AT THE
RIVER ROCK CASINO RESORT
FOR YOUR NEXT MEETING!
