CIM Vancouver Branch is pleased to invite you to our Annual Student Night

The CIM Vancouver Branch is pleased to invite you to our Annual Student Night Dinner

Please note in accordance with the BC Provincial guidelines, all attendees will be required to show proof of full vaccination before they enter the event.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Caius Priscu, P.Eng

$20,000 in Student Awards, Book Prizes and Education Grants

Title: Cruise ships, ferries, and tailings dam safety – Are we learning?

Master of Ceremonies: Laurie Reemeyer, MBA, P.Eng

Date: November 18th, 2021

Location: Pinnacle Hotel Vancouver Harbourfront

Reception Start Time: 5:30pm

Dinner: 6:30pm

Student Night is CIM’s Vancouver Branch premier annual event. The aim of Student Night is to connect our UBC, SFU, and BCIT Students within the Mining and Earth Sciences programs with Industry Professionals for an evening of excellent networking and the presentation of thousands of dollars in scholarships, awards and prizes for Graduate and Undergraduate Students.

Bio: Dr. Caius Priscu, P.Eng, is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer with over 30 years of experience in the mining and water resources industries. He is a Director and Co-founder of Priscu and Associates Consulting Engineers Inc. independent consulting firm in West Vancouver, BC, Canada. He is also an Adjunct Professor with the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at UBC, where he teaches three courses in mine waste management and tailings dam safety. Dr. Priscu’s background is in both Civil and Mining Engineering, with a career focus on the planning, design, construction, operation and closure of tailings storage facilities and water retaining dams. Over the last decade, he has been concerned with dam safety, risk management of dams, and the development of standards and guidance for safe design and operation of mine waste management facilities. Caius has been a tireless volunteer and true supporter of many technical not-for-profit organizations, including Mining Association of Canada (MAC), the International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM), Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM), the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD), and the Canadian Dam Association (CDA), to name a few. He is a past member of the Board of Directors (2008 – 2011) and Chair of the Honours and Awards Committee (2019 to date) of the CDA. He holds a Ph.D in Mining Engineering from McGill University, in Montreal, Canada.

Abstract: Effective and safe management of tailings storage facilities (TSFs) is a key topic of discussion in the mining industry today. The criticality of effective stewardship of tailings facilities has recently gained increasing recognition and triggered much effort on the part of the many mining companies across the world. The mine waste management practice area, is changing dramatically after several recent major tailings dam failures across the world. For the last decade or so, the focus has been to eliminate such catastrophic, unfortunate events. Nevertheless, as we all know, risk is never zero for surface TSFs, even though we’d like to believe so. Therefore an integral part of a high quality TSF safe management is to look at “what if” scenarios, be prepared to respond in cases when things do not go according to plan. Operational readiness, training, corporate culture, responsibilities and emergency planning all converge to ensure we are prepared for unforeseen situations and mitigate the risks appropriately and to a full extent. In this presentation, a parallel is drawn to some real-life case studies from the maritime industry and its own unfortunate events, and what we – in the mining industry - could learn from. The presentation will close with some thought-provoking messages and words of wisdom to pass on to the students and the younger generations, as they progress and advance in their careers. All based on true events, and the personal experience of the speaker

Note: If you have any questions or concern about this event please don’t hesitate to contact me at neda.mining@yahoo.com