Railveyor system hauls over 10 million tonnes at Agnico Eagle mine – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – December 6, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury mining supplier achieves milestone at Quebec mine

Sudbury’s Rail-Veyor® Technologies Global Inc. is proud to announce that the Railveyor™ TrulyAutonomous system operating at the Agnico Eagle Goldex mine in Val d’Or, Quebec, has hauled over 10 million tonnes of ore since installation and commissioning was completed in 2018.

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited announced in July 2022 that 1 million ounces of gold has been processed from the Goldex mine since 2013.

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Mining community mourns the death of Sudbury’s Dick DeStefano – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – July 28, 2022)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Sudbury man remembered as a visionary who united the mining supply and technology sector of Northern Ontario and helped grow it into a growing global concern

A Sudbury man who was regarded as a driving force in the development and eventual global reach of Northern Ontario’s mining supply and services sector has died. Community leaders across the North were saddened this week to learn of the death of Dick Destefano. He was 85.

DeStefano was born in Sudbury on March 31, 1937. He attended St. Charles College in Sudbury and Scollard Hall in North Bay. He played quarterback in high school and modestly admitted to being “a reasonably competent hockey player.” He is survived by his wife, Maureen, and his two sons, Joel and Devin.

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Northern mine supply companies encouraged to bet on Nevada – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – June 27, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury-based MineConnect now has a sister organization based in Nevada called ‘MineConnect USA’

MineConnect, the Sudbury-based organization that promotes Northern Ontario mining supply and service companies, is encouraging a new connection with the U.S. state of Nevada.

The campaign, which has been underway for a couple of years already, was highlighted at the recent annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association. That’s where former MineConnect executive director Paul Bradette of Sudbury talked about the value of Northern businesses connecting with the mining industry in Nevada.

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Exhibit showcases Northern Ontario’s mining might to the world – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – June 14, 2022)

https://www.sudbury.com/

More than 700 jobs and $80 million in revenue created over a 10-year period because of cooperative Northern Ontario Mining Showcase

TORONTO — A record number of Northern Ontario businesses have taken part in the annual Northern Ontario Mining Showcase (NOMS), which makes up the largest single exhibit at the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC).

The showcase, which is co-sponsored by FedNor and the City of Temiskaming Shores, has this year brought 130 different mining supply and mining technology companies to be part of the annual PDAC trade show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

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Fedeli to mining companies: ‘Get ready to double your size’ – by Staff (Bay Today – May 17, 2022)

https://www.baytoday.ca/

‘We have 66 mining and machinery companies located in our area, and each is poised to expand to accommodate the spectacular growth coming from the EV sector’

While on the campaign trail, Vic Fedeli, the Ontario PC candidate for Nipissing says he has been delivering the same message to the owners of area mining companies in anticipation of a continued boom in electric vehicle and ancillary investments in the north: they had better be prepared for growth.

He repeated that message, Tuesday, at North Bay’s J&J Machine Works where he met with Andy Walker, the company’s president. “What it means for North Bay and Nipissing is local mining companies — like J&J — that manufacture those products for the mining sector, I’m saying to all of them: ‘Get ready to double your size,’ because this is right at our fingertips, right now.

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The Drift: Conference aims to strengthen connection between critical minerals miners and electric vehicle makers – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 5, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

BEV In-Depth: Mines to Mobility will take place May 25-26 at Science North in Sudbury

Could Sudbury become a crucial hub for battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufacturing expertise in Ontario? A group of Sudbury partners believes so, and they’ll start to examine the possibilities later this month during the inaugural BEV In-Depth: Mines to Mobility conference, hosted by the city’s economic development department and slated to take place May 25-26 at Science North.

Over two days, stakeholders from across industries will gather to talk about emerging BEV technologies and the robust supply chain that will need to be in place to help the province usher in widespread EV adoption.

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NEWS RELEASE: Battery electric vehicles from Canada will lower diesel emissions in mining (May 2, 2022)

Canadian manufacturer Miller Technology becoming a global leader in battery electric utility vehicles for mining

NORTH BAY — April 29, 2022: Miller Technology is pleased to announce the first sale of its new battery electric utility vehicle for mining to the Young-Davidson Mine of Canadian mining company Alamos Gold Inc.

“This is a great day for Miller, for North Bay, for Northern Ontario and for Canada,” said Dan Bachand, the CEO of Miller.

Also joining the press conference at Miller was the Member of Parliament for Nipissing-Timiskaming, Anthony Rota, the Member of Provincial Parliament for Nipissing, Vic Fedeli, and the General Manager of the Matachewan-located Young-Davidson Mine, Léon Grondin-Leblanc.

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The Drift: Sudbury-made robotic arm automates load-wire-fire underground – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – August 4, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Unique consortium comes together to fine-tune TesMan technology

Clara and Rod Steele have been developing their robotic explosives-loading arm for the mining industry for nearly a decade, but as they inched closer to commercialization, they realized they needed help to push it that last stretch to market.

So, in early 2020, they assembled a group of mining companies, equipment fabricators, an explosives manufacturer, and engineering firms into a unique consortium to harness their wealth of expertise.

“As we went along, we had to get more energy in the team, because we’re a small team and we’re only learning to do one piece. So we needed to get other people involved to do the other pieces better,” said Rod, who co-owns Sudbury-based TesMan with Clara.

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The Drift: New identity, leader guide mine supply group into next chapter – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 3, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

MineConnect is taking a pan-northern approach to promoting mining in the North

Marla Tremblay is a doer. As far back as her economic development days in North Bay in the mid- to late 2000s, she’s had a knack for making things happen and deftly juggling multiple projects at once.

Between writing funding proposals and crafting strategic plans, she’ll happily coordinate the office potluck, drawing up a detailed list of what everyone’s bringing to the party.

“I’m that person,” Tremblay chuckled. “I’m the mother hen. I’m the one who’s organizing the details.” A long record of success doing what she does best made her the ideal candidate to become the next executive director of MineConnect.

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The Drift: Unmanned Aerial Services is ‘Spot’ on when it comes to robotics – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – April 12, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Matt MacKinnon didn’t intend to create a viral sensation last fall when he unboxed his semiautonomous Boston Dynamics robot dog and decided to take it for a late evening stroll on a downtown Sudbury street.

The founder and president of Unmanned Aerial Services (UAS) just couldn’t resist the the urge to test out the hand-operated controller and put ‘Spot’ through its paces on a set of stairs near his office. MacKinnon’s business revolves around advanced technology.

With a very specialized niche skillset, UAS uses small aerial drones to conduct inspections at underground mines and confined spaces in industrial plants. The growing 14-employee Sudbury-based company has offices in Val d’Or and Montana.

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Sudbury mining supply group stakes its claim in Nevada – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – February 4, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

MineConnect to establish incubator space for Northern Ontario companies to dive into southwestern U.S.

The mining industry in northern Nevada will have access to Canada’s largest concentration of hard rock mining expertise when MineConnect, Sudbury’s mining supply and service organization, sets up shop in Elko later this year.

The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority announced the signing of a three-year partnership with MineConnect to establish a business incubator space this summer to support the state’s mining industry.

The move maintains the momentum in relationship building between the two mining jurisdictions and this country’s expanding investment in Nevada’s robust mining industry, ranging from equipment manufacturing to gold mining.

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State of emergency: how vulnerable is the mining supply chain? – by Scarlett Evans (Mining Technology – May 21, 2020)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

The coronavirus pandemic has proven devastating not just to healthcare systems but also in its impact on manufacturing and financial markets. We examine the mining supply chain and see whether it is fit for purpose in the face of crisis, and look at what moves have already been made to strengthen the industry in the pandemic’s wake.

A statement released by Australian mining unions described the pandemic as the ‘most significant disruption to daily life since the Second World War’.

One doesn’t need to look far to see the reality of this claim, with borders closing and businesses grinding to a halt – the knock-on effects trickle down to reach every facet of home and industry life.

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Caterpillar Warns of ‘Severe and Chaotic’ Impact From Virus – by Joe Deaux (Yahoo Finance/Bloomberg – April 28, 2020)

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) – The world’s biggest maker of mining and construction equipment is predicting that the pain from the coronavirus crisis is far from over.

Caterpillar Inc. said the current quarter will be “more significantly impacted” by the pandemic after profits for the first three months of the year trailed analysts estimates. The Deerfield, Illinois-based company also shelved its traditional earnings forecast for 2020 as the fallout from the virus jolts customers in mining, construction and energy.

Caterpillar is taking steps to slash costs and pare production in the face of deteriorating commodity markets that stand to crush demand for the company’s signature yellow machines. BofA Securities Inc. analyst Ross Gilardi downgraded the company’s stock this month, and said that weakness in its energy business was “a problem that is not going away.”

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Steve Matusch, president of Ionic Technology Group, has died at 52 – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – March 13, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Steve Matusch, the founder and president of Ionic Technology Group in Sudbury, has died at the age of 52. Matusch died while in hospital on Wednesday, March 11, following an illness. He would have been 53 in November.

Respected and well-known throughout the Northern Ontario mining service and supply industry, Matusch founded Ionic Engineering Ltd. in 2000 with the goal of offering the best innovative solutions to problems faced by industry.

Ionic’s general manager, André Dumais, said five years ago, Matusch developed primary sclerosing cholangitis, which led to a rare and aggressive form of liver cancer in 2018. In an effort to combat the illness, Matusch had undergone a live liver transplant, an experimental surgery, in November.

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As MacLean Engineering’s electric mining vehicles start to be deployed in real-world applications, work at the company’s Sudbury test site is helping to forge the next phase in mining’s transformation – by Devin Arthur (Electric Autonomy – January 21, 2020)

https://electricautonomy.ca/

Last November, I visited a test site run by one of the world’s leading manufacturers of zero-emissions mining technology. MacLean Engineering’s Sudbury, Ontario facility is being used to test battery-powered electric mining vehicles, which the Canadian company has been working to develop since 2015.

The impressive site consists of a 300-metre long underground ramp and an excavated cavern, in which enormous electric vehicles are tested for levels of energy use and heat generation.

A deep history

Nickel and copper mining has been ongoing in Sudbury for over 100 years, so at this point many of its mines are quite deep. Typically, ventilation requirements for mines of a certain depth are significant.

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