Behind the Scenes with Bryan

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.

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.

Ken is the Director of Tailings Solutions at FLSmidth. Amongst other things, Ken and I discuss the current practices and trends in filtration and Ecotails.

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...

In this episode I speak with Alex Pienaar from Bentley Systems, specifically about their data management systems, iTwin IoT and sensemetrics.

Don't blame this on Snoop. It’s parody.

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 Bl...

Walter is a hydrogeologist based in Stantec's Brisbane office. Among other things, Walter and I discuss current and future trends tailings dam monitoring.

Dana is the interim president of the Nevada Mining Association. She is also the past president.

Brahian and I discuss his recent paper, "Non-Linear Dynamic Analysis of Filtered Dry Stacked Tailings Using the SANISAND-Sf and PM4Sand Constitutive Models". We also discuss a potential change to the CPT penetration rate to keep penetration undrained.

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

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.  

I was a guest on Rob Tyson's podcast: DIG DEEPER. Here is what we discussed.

Shawn and I discuss in situ testing

Aniseh is a geotechnical engineer and PhD student in the UAlberta Geotechnical Centre at the University of Alberta. She is studying the geotechnical and geochemical characteristics of blended tailings and waste rock.

In this episode the tables are turned on me, and I let my journalist son ask me the questions for a change.

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

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.

Sam and I discuss how his company uses satellite stereo pairs, along with various light spectrum to make their assessments, including their assessment of the Jagerfontein TSF failure.  You can find out more about their services at www.photosat.ca.  You can contact Sam at sam.rivet@photosat.ca

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 So...

Jurgen and I chat about the filtration equipment that his company manufactures and sells.  You can find out more about his company at www.bokela.com

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.  

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.  

Abigail is a graduate student at the University of Alberta's Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental program.  We talk about her recent paper, "COMPARING ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD FOR MINE CLOSURE AND RECLAMATION".  You can find the paper at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366781153_Comparing_adaptive_management_and_the_observational_method_for_mine_closure_and_reclamation 

Haley is a geotechnical engineer who recently completed her PhD at the University of Alberta.  Amongst other things, Haley and I discuss her CDA award winning paper titled, "A Failure Modes and Effects Analysis Framework for Assessing Geotechnical Risks of Tailings Dam Closure" which was published in the Journal "Minerals".