SCIENCE

Courses

McKenna Geotechnical leads short courses on closure planning, landform design, and sustainable mining. These courses provide registrants with the tools and case histories they need to complete their own designs and plans. For nearly 20 years, founder Gord McKenna has been staging the courses at international conferences, academic institutions, and at client locations.

The courses are customized to suit a particular mine or the interests of the group. They can be given at the mine site, lecture hall, office boardroom or hotel meeting room. The courses are typically one to two days, and attendance can range from 10 to several dozen practitioners or students. The courses usually involve working through the basics of design and plans, the state of practice today and the ideal practices of tomorrow, and discussing real-life case histories. One or two exercises accompany the courses so teams can put their learnings into action.   

These courses complement Gord’s previous experience as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta and at the University of Saskatchewan. Contact McKenna Geotechnical to learn more about how your staff or students can benefit from the courses.

June Pollard, an engineering geologist at the University of Alberta who often lectures alongside Gord McKenna at the University of Alberta

Available Short Courses

  • Closure planning and landform design – a broad introduction
  • Landform design for mine reclamation – focused on dumps, tailings, and end pit lakes
  • Successful reclamation – going beyond traditional practices
  • Oil sands tailings and tailings technology – how things are done and evolving practices
  • The future of mining – moving the industry toward sustainability

Sample of Courses Given

  • Successful Reclamation – CIM Calgary ’99 – Calgary 1999
  • Landform design checklist – CEMA – Fort McMurray 2003
  • Geostatistics for hydraulic conductivity – Syncrude Canada – Fort McMurray 2004
  • Landform design for oil sands tailings – Canadian Geotechnical Society – Calgary 2006
  • Landform design – Tailings and Mine Waste ’08 – Vail 2008
  • Oil sands geotechnique – BGC Engineering – Vancouver 2008
  • Landform design – Tailings and Mine Waste ’09 – Banff 2009
  • Landform design for oil sands – Syncrude Canada – Fort McMurray 2010
  • Oil sands geotechnique – BGC Engineering – Vancouver 2010
  • Landform design – Tailings and Mine Waste ’11 – Vancouver 2011
  • Landform design – BGC Engineering – Vancouver 2012
  • Oil sands geotechnique – BGC Engineering – Kamloops 2012
  • Landform design – ICARD 2012 – Ottawa 2012
  • Future of Mining – Mine Closure ’12 – Brisbane 2012
  • Landform design and closure planning – University of Alberta Mining Engineering – Edmonton 2013
  • Landform design – University of Alberta, LRIGS – Edmonton 2013
  • Landform design and covers – CLRA ’13 – Whitehorse 2013
  • Landform design and cover – Tailings and Mine Waste ’13 – Banff 2013
  • Landform design for oil sands – oil sands company client course – Calgary 2013
  • Landform design for oil sands – oil sands company client course – Calgary 2013
  • Mine closure seminar – BGC Engineering – Santiago 2013
  • Oil sands geotechnique – BGC Engineering – Vancouver 2014
  • Landform design and closure planning – University of Alberta Mining Engineering – Edmonton 2014
  • Landform design and covers – Seminar on Cold Regions- Cover Systems and Mine Closure – Whistler 2014
  • Landform design for oil sands – oil sands company client course – Calgary 2014
  • Hot Topics in oil sands tailings management – International Oil Sands Tailings Conference – Lake Louise 2014
  • Landform design and closure planning – University of Alberta Mining Engineering – Edmonton 2015
  • Landform design and reclamation for northern mines — Northern Latitudes Mining Reclamation Workshop – Juneau 2015
  • Landform design for oil sands – oil sands company client course – Calgary 2016
  • Landform design and closure planning – University of Alberta Mining Engineering – Edmonton 2016
  • Soft Tailings Capping Workshop — oil sands company client – Calgary 2017
  • Introduction to Closure Planning and Landform Design – University of Alberta Mining Engineering – Edmonton 2018
  • Landform Design Short Course – gold mine client – Northern Ontario 2018
  • Design and Assessment of Mine Waste Structures – University of Alberta 2018
  • Landform Design Short Course – oil sands company client – Calgary 2018
  • Landform Design Short Course – metal mine client – Northern Ontario 2018
  • Landform Design and Closure planning – University of Alberta Mining Engineering – Edmonton 2019