Kate Patterson, P.Eng., P.E., M.Eng.

Kate is a Senior Civil Engineer with over 17 years of experience in mine waste management with a focus in tailings and water strategic planning and design. Joining KCB in 2007 as a new grad, she has worked on all lifecycle aspects of tailings, water resource and environmental mining projects including baseline environmental studies, from concept to detailed design, impact assessment/mitigation and closure. She has also worked in multiple KCB offices.

She manages multi-disciplinary design teams for large tailings dams, and specializes in tailings technologies, tailings staging and planning, geotechnical, civil and hydrotechnical design, climate and hydrology assessments, climate change assessments, water balance assessments, dam breach and inundation studies, erosion estimation and protection, and closure design.

Awards

In 2020, Kate won the CIM-Bedford Canadian Young Mining Leaders Award for exceptional achievement and potential of young Canadian mining leaders.

Industry Involvement

Kate led a state-of-practice study on tailings management sponsored by the Mine Environment Neutral Drainage (MEND) Program and the Mining Association of Canada from 2015 to 2017. She is a member of the organizing committee of the Tailings and Mine Waste symposia, hosted yearly by Colorado State University and the University of British Columbia, and is involved in supporting other industry groups and initiatives like the Tailings Center and Society for Mining, Metallurgy, & Exploration (SME).

Education

Kate has a M.Eng. in Hydrotechnical Civil Engineering and B.A.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia. She is a Registered Professional Engineer in British Columbia, Arizona, New Mexico, Washington and Idaho.

Fun Fact

Kate, her husband, her 1-year-old daughter and her 13-year-old shepherd/husky dog enjoy camping and boating along the West Coast. Sometimes all four sleep in a small V Berth!