Biography

Al Shpyth is the Executive Director of the IMII. Al brings more than 25 years of consulting, government and industry experience related to mining and the minerals sector to the IMII. A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan (in 1986), he obtained his masters degrees in environmental studies from York University (in 1991) and in environmental law and policy from the Vermont Law School, where he graduated with highest honours, in 2014. As a consultant, Al worked on environmental assessments and feasibility studies for mining projects in Saskatchewan (potash), British Columbia (copper) and Manitoba (silica sand). While with the Government of Saskatchewan, Al was the lead author of the government’s Position Paper on Proposed Uranium Mining Developments in Northern Saskatchewan in the mid-1990s, and helped to set the public policy framework for approvals of the McArthur River, Cigar Lake and McClean Lake projects. He also conceived of and created the Northern Mines Monitoring Secretariat and Environmental Quality Committees to facilitate community involvement in the regulation of the uranium mining industry in northern Saskatchewan. In industry, Al held a number of progressively more responsible positions within Uranerz Exploration and Mining Ltd. and Cameco Corporation in areas as diverse as public affairs, human resources, special projects (ISO 14001), policy and systems development, government relations, information systems & technology, and business technology services. His work for Cameco was both national and international in scope, having been seconded to the Canadian Nuclear Association in Ottawa as director, environmental and regulatory affairs, and represented the company as their first managing director in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan.