The international community of mine shaft sinkers do not gather very often, so when they do, there is a lot of ground to cover. Prior to the Shaft Design and Construction conference held last week in Toronto, they had not met since 2012, and only two times prior in the last half-century. The 44 technical papers presented at the conference – many of them case studies – covered an array of projects, but the shaft sinking project at BHP’s Jansen property in Saskatchewan was the undisputed star of the show.