Vale (Canada)

ABSTRACT: Vale Base Metals has been operating many underground mines in the Sudbury Basin for over a century and all mines have experienced a significant increase in the number of major seismic events over the last decade. Various mitigation strategies have been developed at Vale's North Atlantic Operations in Ontario to manage and control the risks associated with seismicity and rockbursts. The mines have seen a significant increase in the number of large seismic events, but the overall trend of rockbursts is decreasing. This paper will focus on Seismic Risk Management Strategies developed over the last decade, including both strategic and tactical control measures. Examples will be given in the paper to demonstrate the effectiveness of control measures over the last decade. Recent developments in Seismic Hazard Assessment for burst prone ground conditions are also presented in this paper. Although the strategies presented in this paper can be applied to other deep hard rock underground mine operations that face similar challenges with burst-prone ground conditions, they should be applied with caution and tailored for site specific conditions. 1. INTRODUCTION Vale Base Metals has operated several underground mines in Sudbury for over a century, and currently five mines are active (Coleman, Creighton, Copper Cliff, Garson, and Totten Mines). Numerous mining methods have been employed including cut and fill, post pillar cut and fill, and sub-level caving, however, currently the primary mining method employed is open stoping. The primary rock mechanics challenge at these operations is seismicity and rock bursting. Figure 1 shows a recent rockburst at one of the mines which was associated with a large seismic event. Seismicity has been observed to be primarily linked with: • Late stage of extraction: sill and diminishing pillars • Brittle and high strength rocks (UCShost > 200 MPa) • Mining depths between 1.5 and 2.5 km below surface • Lack of confinement due to higher extraction ratio • Presence of seismically active geological structures A Seismic Risk Management Plan is an important element at any seismically active mine and is also a legal requirement in some mining jurisdictions. The following main items are key requirements: • Responsibilities • Microseismic Monitoring & Data Analysis • Seismic Hazard Assessments • Hazard Mitigation Plans/Strategies • Training This paper will focus on two key requirements described above: Hazard Mitigation Strategies and Seismic Hazard Assessments.

The rapid expansion of digital infrastructures and interconnected systems has intensified the demand for robust, adaptive, and intelligent network security mechanisms. Traditional security management approaches characterized by static rule sets, manual policy updates, and reactive incident responses are increasingly inadequate for addressing the complexity and dynamism of modern cyber threats. This study proposes a Model for Strengthening Network Security Through Intelligent Policy Automation and Compliance Systems, which integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) to create a proactive, self-adaptive security framework. The model automates policy enforcement, compliance verification, and threat mitigation through data-driven analytics and real-time decision-making. The proposed architecture employs a multi-layer design, consisting of a policy management layer for automated rule generation, an intelligence layer for anomaly detection and behavioral analysis, and a control layer that leverages SDN controllers for dynamic network configuration. By integrating ML algorithms with continuous monitoring systems, the framework enables context-aware security adaptation, ensuring that network defenses evolve in tandem with changing traffic patterns and threat landscapes. Furthermore, compliance with regulatory standards such as GDPR, ISO/IEC 27001, and NIST frameworks is maintained through automated auditing and policy validation mechanisms, reducing human error and ensuring consistent governance. Simulation and evaluation of the model demonstrate significant improvements in threat detection accuracy, response speed, and policy consistency compared to traditional rule-based systems. The framework’s intelligent automation minimizes manual intervention while enhancing transparency and accountability through explainable AI (XAI) mechanisms. This research contributes to the advancement of autonomous cybersecurity ecosystems, promoting resilience, scalability, and trust in digital enterprises. Future developments will explore federated learning, blockchain-based policy verification, and integration with quantum-safe security protocols to further strengthen adaptive, compliant, and intelligent network security management.

Despite the major trend in drug design based on the development of new molecular structures, the modification of existing and proven chemicals to improve their physiological activity is still of interest.For this reason, phthalazine (1) skeleton-based molecules are still of importance to researchers.Following the seminal studies of S. Biniecki (1) and his followers on Todralazine (2), a potent antihypertensive agent, as well as several hydrazine moieties containing analogs were developed and their physiological activities, once evaluated, were then followed by commercialization (Figure 1).This leads us to the proposed synthesis and evaluation of novel phthalazine molecules substituted by piperazine, known as the KB compounds.These novel molecules are comprised of several compounds reported under their respective KB-1, KB-2, etc. code-names.Due to potential commercialization and intellectual property agreements, up to now, these compounds have been subject to preliminary physiological evaluation under the code-name only.

To replicate a previously defined behavioral procedure to acclimate adult cats to temporary restriction in indirect calorimetry chambers and measure energy expenditure and respiratory quotient changes during acclimation. 8 healthy adult cats (4 spayed females, and 4 neutered males; mean ± SEM age, 2.5 ± 1.5 years; mean body weight, 4.8 ± 1.8 kg). Cats underwent a 13-week incremental acclimation procedure whereby cats were acclimated to the chambers in their home environment (weeks 1 to 3), to the study room (weeks 4 to 6), and to increasing lengths of restriction within their home environment (weeks 7 to 8) and the chambers (weeks 9 to 13). Cat stress score, respiratory rate, fearfulness (assessed with a novel object test), energy expenditure, and respiratory quotient were measured. Data were analyzed by use of a repeated-measures mixed model. Stress, based on cat stress scores, fearfulness, and respiration, peaked at weeks 4, 9, and 10 but returned to baseline levels by week 11. Energy expenditure and respiratory quotient peaked at weeks 10 and 11, respectively, but were reduced significantly by weeks 11 and 13, respectively. All cats returned to baseline by the end of the study and were deemed fully acclimated. Changes in perceived stress level, energy expenditure, and respiratory quotient at various stages of the acclimation procedure suggest that stress should be considered a significant variable in energy balance measurements when indirect calorimetry is used in cats. An incremental acclimation procedure should therefore be used to prepare cats for the temporary space restriction necessary for indirect calorimetry studies.

Food insecurity predicts poorer health, yet how it relates to health care use and costs in Canada remains understudied. Linking data from the Canadian Community Health Survey to hospital records and health care expenditure data, we examined the association of food insecurity with acute care hospitalization, same-day surgery, and acute care costs among Canadian adults, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. Compared with fully food-secure adults, marginally, moderately, and severely food-insecure adults presented 26percent, 41percent, and 69percent higher odds of acute care admission and 15percent, 15percent, and 24percent higher odds of having same-day surgery, respectively. Conditional on acute care admission, food-insecure adults stayed from 1.48 to 2.08 more days in the hospital and incurred $400-$565 more per person-year in acute care costs than their food-secure counterparts, with this excess cost representing 4.4percent of total acute care costs. Programs reducing food insecurity, such as child benefits and public pensions, and policies enhancing access to outpatient care may lower health care use and costs.

The Totten Mine project specified two parallel main return air fans locatedon-surface equipped with baffle silencers designed to attenuate the sound levels from the fan outlets. In late 2014, an acoustical study determined that the return air fans were responsible for a series of noise disturbances in a community situated approximately 9 km to the northeast. The results of the acoustical study also indicated that the silencers were significantly underperforming due to clogging with a combination of particulate and moisture drawn from the underground mine. During 2015 and the beginning of 2016, Totten Mine implemented a cleaning procedure to mitigate the underperformance of the silencers. Unfortunately, noise monitoring of the cleaning procedures indicated diminishing results over time. As a result, a temporary solution was identified and implemented in Q3 and Q4 of 2016 to allow adequate time for engineering and defining of a long-term solution. The proposed temporary solution, however, had the potential to become the permanent solution, subject to an evaluation of performance. This paper presents the results of the temporary solution evaluation, when compared to the baseline cleaning procedure. The temporary solution is then compared to the proposed alternatives that were to be part of a feasibility study for both capital (CAPEX) and operational (OPEX) cost evaluation. The resulting long-term solution to manage noise issues on mine return air systems, similar to the Totten experience, is also presented and discussed.