Mining the moon, they hope

If we can mine natural resources underground or underwater, then why not in outer space?

That is the kind of thinking that will rule this week as some of Canada’s top engineers gather in Toronto for the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum’s (CIM) annual conference. One of its ongoing mandates is to make sure Canada keeps its historical leg-up in mining technology and innovation.

Rightly or wrongly, there is a perception Canada has lost some ground in recent years as other countries have poured ever-more dollars into research and development, and the CIM wants to make sure Canada remains a mining leader.

“We’ve seen a decline in Canadian R&D and innovation over a couple of decades. We’ve said in mining that that doesn’t work for us. If we’ve lost ground, that’s unacceptable,” says Jean Vavrek, the CIM’s executive director.

Financial Post