Mining Supply and Services Sector – Page 13

Outlook 2012: We’re a mining hotspot [Sudbury] – by Heather Campbell (Sudbury Star – March 29, 2012)

September 7, 2018March 30, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

According to SAMSSA source, Stan Sudol, the demand for resources in developing
nations, like China, will continue to place upward pressure on commodity prices,
and Canada is the top country in the world for mining project development. It is
estimated that over the next 25 years, we will need to dig out of the ground as
many minerals as has consumed since the beginning of time.
(Stan Sudol, Mining Analysist)

The booming mining sector has the suppliers and service companies scrambling to keep up with the demand and opportunities.

Dick Destefano, Executive Director, Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA), said the group has switched gears from connecting his members with work to helping them meet the overwhelming demand.

The organization represents the interests of 115 members providing the largest concentration of expertise in mining supply/products and services from within the most recognized centre of excellence worldwide. For the past nine years SAMSSA has been monitoring the mining sector and Destefano predicts that we are not even close to finishing the super cycle.

Councillor pleads to keep biz in city [Sudbury industrial parks upgrades] – by Mike Whitehouse (Sudbury Star – March 23, 2012)

September 7, 2018March 23, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

The city should borrow up to $60 million to carry out its industrial lands strategy, Ward 8 Coun. Fabio Belli says.

Addressing a group of irate businessmen in the Elisabella Street industrial area of New Sudbury, Belli said every possible solution should be on the table for the city to help local businesses expand and create jobs — including going into debt.

The group of a dozen irate property owners along Elisabella had gathered to mull a 50-50 cost-sharing proposal for improving services that would see many of them going into debt themselves.

The Elisabella and Lasalle Boulevard area is the first of seven industrial areas the city plans to upgrade, banking on growth in the construction and mining supply and service sectors. The area has more than 450 acres of land zoned M3, of which 250 acres are vacant.

How about ‘Buy Canadian’ for resource projects? – by Jim Stanford (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2012)

March 14, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Jim Stanford is an economist with the Canadian Auto Workers union, which represents both the workers at the Hitachi factory in Guelph and the closed Caterpillar factory in London.

How refreshing it was to open Monday’s Globe and Mail and actually see good news from the Canadian manufacturing heartland. Greg Keenan reported on the expansion of Hitachi’s factory in Guelph, Ont., that makes enormous trucks for mining operations; the plant is doubling output and employment.

Ironically, while the Ontario-made trucks are sold to mining operations across the Americas, Europe and Africa, it doesn’t supply trucks to the biggest mining project in the world, right here in Canada: Alberta’s oil sands. Those super-sized trucks, unfortunately, are imported – from companies such as U.S. heavy equipment maker Caterpillar. It’s a lucrative business: Caterpillar’s Alberta distributor, Finning International Inc., reported record Canadian revenue of almost $3-billion last year (up 30 per cent).

No good deed unpunished [Mining supply and services labour shortages] – by David Robinson (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – March 2012)

April 5, 2015March 13, 2012

Dr. David Robinson is an economist at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Canada. His column is from Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. drobinson@laurentian.ca

Good news can be bad news. For the mining supply sector, labour shortages in the mining industry promise good times. They signal that the market is growing, and they almost guarantee there will be growing demand for labour saving equipment and services. They also promise labour shortages for supply firms.

The signs of a labour shortage for mining are everywhere. In Western Australia, mining companies are advertising that they will take workers with no experience. Ads promise high-paying jobs and training for professionals with experience in other industries. The government recently ran a pilot program offering $5,000 to unemployed people to move to Western Australia to take up unskilled mining jobs. The mining industry expects it will need 50,000 to 70,000 people over the next 10 years.

In Canada, a 2010 study by the mining industry concluded that 100,000 new workers will be needed by 2020. With strong international demand, that number could be 40 per cent higher.

BESTECH among nation’s best – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 14, 2012)

September 7, 2018February 14, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Marc Boudreau’s parents, Roger and Solange Boudreau, were skeptical when he and lifelong friend Denis Pitre left secure jobs at Falconbridge Ltd. about 17 years ago to start their own company.

Monday, the co-owners of BESTECH announced that the company they started in 1995 was named by Queen’s University’s School of Business as one of Canada’s 50 Best Small and Medium Employers.

The company was ranked No. 41 on the list, which appears in the March issue of Profit magazine, now on newsstands.

Boudreau told a small crowd of employees, dignitaries and his proud parents that his company has become a success because it has lived up to its mission statement.

“We’re here, we’re part of the community, the community is important and that is the focus” of BESTECH, Boudreau said after a short ceremony.

BESTECH [Mining supply company] Best foot forward – by Alan Swaby (Business Excellence Magazine – January 23, 2012)

September 7, 2018January 25, 2012

This article is from Business Excellence Magazine

http://www.bestech.com/

This Canadian engineering company is making its mark in the mining industry with a contribution to energy saving and the environment. Alan Swaby talks to co-CEOs Marc Boudreau and Denis Pitre and to the corporate services/sales & marketing manager Pat Dubreuil.

Aficionados of Doctor Who will be familiar with the Tardis concept – a deceptively small exterior encompassing a surprisingly large interior. In engineering terms, the Canadian company BESTECH is not dissimilar.

Started in 1995 by Marc Boudreau and Denis Pitre, the business initially offered electrical engineering services to the various mining operations found in and around the Sudbury region of Ontario. Since then, though, year-on-year growth in the order of 30 percent per annum has been achieved through the addition of more skills and operating divisions. Now you can find civil, structural and mechanical engineers working alongside their electrical counterparts and providing a full blown engineering and project management package.

Mining-based Sudbury is the Luckiest City in North America – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – January 23, 2012)

September 7, 2018January 23, 2012

This column was published in today’s Sudbury Star , the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. It is the start of a monthy mining column for the Sudbury Star.

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and columnist who blogs at www.republicofmining.com ; stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

Last year the global population reached seven billion. More than half of us now live in urban centres and experts estimate that figure will climb to 70% by 2050. China is witnessing the largest rural to urban migration in the history of mankind in its stampede to industrialize and modernize. China also has become the world’s second largest economy and currently needs to build the equivalent of two cities the size of Toronto and Sydney Australia every year to accommodate this rapid growth. India, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia and other developing countries are following in its footsteps but at a less frenzied pace.

According to a recent study by McKinsey & Company, “up to three billion more middle-class consumers will emerge in the next 20 years compared with 1.8 billion today, driving up demand for a range of different resources.” Notwithstanding the current depressed prices of some metals, most analysts feel that the current mining commodity super-cycle will last for decades. It is estimated that over the next 25 years, we will need to dig out of the ground as many minerals as consumed since the beginning of time.

NEWS RELEASE: [SUDBURY-BASED] BESTECH REACHES 100 EMPLOYEES

September 7, 2018January 4, 2012

January 3, 2012

BESTECH recently welcomed its 100th employee to the team, which is a significant milestone for the Northern Ontario engineering firm. Demonstrating that BESTECH does not plan to slow down any time soon, company representatives anticipate an additional 30% growth in employees for 2012.

Their hundredth employee is a true testament to BESTECH’s impressive growth since its inception in 1995. From its early days as a startup, BESTECH Co-CEOs Marc Boudreau and Denis Pitre operated the business out of a modest single office space on Lorne Street, which has magnified to 14,000 square feet, and the firm now comprises a total of four locations in three cities: Sudbury, Timmins and Toronto. These developments occurred as a result of continued expansion servicing various sectors.

BESTECH’s achievement of the 100-employee milestone would not have been realized without its supportive clients who fuel its growth, excellent employees who make BESTECH a great place to work, and visionary and supportive management that keeps the entire organization on track and leads the firm in the right direction.

Mine firm [Dumas Mining] digs deep – by The Daily Press (Timmins Daily Press – December 24, 2011)

December 30, 2011December 24, 2011

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Dumas spreads Christmas cheer locally and internationally

A local mining company stepped up locally and internationally to help people in need this holiday season. Employees from Timmins-based Dumas sponsored gifts and events for families in their areas.

For example, this year staff in Timmins raised $10,000 to buy Christmas gifts for 55 children, and the crew at the Yauliyacu mine site in Peru supplemented corporate donations to sponsor the year end celebration for children at the tiny village school.

In Timmins, the tradition started in 2008 when Dumas staff decided to rally together to help local underprivileged children. They contacted Child Family Services and collected enough money to buy Christmas gifts for 10 children. Over the years, the amount raised and number of children supported has grown.

Last year, gifts were purchased for 30 children and Christmas dinner was sponsored for a whole family.

Consulting sector buzzing – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November, 2011)

September 7, 2018December 4, 2011

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury.

Euro zone debt, American stagnation and a slowdown in China paint a picture of economic doom and gloom, but Northern Ontario’s mining engineering consulting firms have never been busier.

Sudbury and North Bay staff with Hatch, Stantec, Wardrop, AMEC and Knight-Piésold are busy working on projects across Canada and around the world, and are bullish about the next few years.

The engineering consulting sector in northeastern Ontario constitutes an important sub-section of the region’s mining cluster, employing upwards of 600 engineers, scientists, technicians and administrative staff.

This wasn’t always the case. Wardrop, now part of Pasadena, California-based Tetra Tech, started out with a three-man operation in 2001 and today has 50 employees at its Sudbury office. Stantec, formerly McIntosh Engineering, had one or two people in Sudbury in 2008 and now has 92, with approximately 100 more in North Bay.

SAMSSA’s Dick DeStefano Interviews Republic Of Mining’s Stan Sudol about Northern Ontario’s potential

September 7, 2018November 25, 2011

A November 24, 2011 $10 million gift to Laurentian's Engineering School from Stan Bharti, (centre holding cheque) chairman and CEO of Forbes & Manhattan, Inc. confirms Sudbury's status as Canada's pre-eminent centre for mining education, reseach and production.

Dick DeStefano is the Executive Director of Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA). destefan@isys.ca This column was originally published in the December, 2011 issue of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal.

Stan Sudol has one of the most active mining logs in North America: www.republicofmining.com It has recently been added to a Top Ten Mining Blog list by Australian Mining magazine. We asked Stan for his comments and views on Northern Ontario Mining and its technology cluster.

SAMSSA has been monitoring the mining sector for nine years now and with the exception of the crash in September 2008, the sector continues to grow. Why?

China, India and many other industrializing and urbanizing economies will continue to grow and place enormous demands on mineral production and the supply and service suppliers. We are still in a commodity super-cycle that will last much longer than previous ones. However, commodity super-cycles have temporary downsides as we saw in 2008.

China is witnessing the largest rural-urban migration in the history of mankind. Hundreds of millions of new middle-class consumers need all sorts of products and infrastructure services that can only be made with the minerals we dig out of the ground in Sudbury and Northern Ontario.

Have engineering companies found a secret for successful employee engagement?

November 1, 2011

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Mining in Ontario continues to face current and future human resource challenges due to industry growth and pending retirements from the existing workforce. Attracting and retaining employees for the right jobs in the right locations is a key strategy to be successful.

The Mining Industry Human Resource Council (MiHR) indicates Ontario’s mining industry will need between 5,578 and 17,000-plus new employees leading up to 2018. That range is based on different scenarios for global demand of metal and minerals. Ontario Mining Association President Chris Hodgson is a Director on the MiHR Board.

A recently released best employer study rates employee engagement as a key indicator for success in attracting in retaining workers. Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers in Canada study, which looked at 261 employers with a total of 112,000 employees, said the average engagement score for the top 50 companies was 78% while the average engagement score of the other companies was 58%.

Closing the [Canadian] innovation gap – by Carol Goar (Toronto Star – October 21, 2011)

October 29, 2011

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

The role of the provinces would be to target subsidies
at emerging industries (Premier Dalton McGuinty’s green
energy program is an example) and regional clusters
(biotechnology and life sciences in Toronto, high-tech
development in Waterloo, mining technology in Sudbury).
(Carol Goar – Toronto Star Editorial Board)

For roughly 30 years, Ottawa has been pouring taxpayers’ dollars into Canada’s “innovation gap” — and achieving precious little.

The government spends roughly $5 billion a year to induce business to invest in research and product development. Cabinet ministers regularly exhort corporate leaders for their unwillingness to use their earnings to leap ahead of their global competitors. Conferences are held, reports written.

Yet according to the latest statistics from the Organization for Economic Growth and Development, Canada remains at the back of pack in terms of private spending on research and development (16th out of 27 industrial countries).

This record of failure calls for a “fundamental reordering of how innovation, research and development are funded in Canada,” says the Mowat Centre in a provocative new study.

NEWS RELEASE: MassMin 2012 – Advancing the State-of-the-Art in Mass Mining

October 26, 2011

The 6th International Conference & Exhibition on Mass Mining
Held for the first time in [Sudbury] Canada June 11 to 14, 2012

MONTREAL, Oct. 26, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ – The 6th International Conference & Exhibition on Mass Mining, Advancing the State-of-the-Art in Mass Mining: MassMin 2012, will be held for the first time in Canada, from June 11 to 14, 2012. This premier technical mining conference will take place in Sudbury, Ontario.

After the US, South Africa, Australia, Chile and Sweden; it’s time for Canada to host this important conference for the first time. “Sudbury is one of the three key mining supply areas in the world and we are very proud to host this conference,” says Dr. Greg Baiden, International Committee Conference Chair, CEO – Penguin Automated Systems and Professor – School of Engineering Laurentian University.

MassMin 2012 local and international committees are composed of highly influential individuals directly involved in the transition from open-pit to underground mining. Sessions will be presented by companies such as Vale, Codelco, Rio Tinto, Subsea Massive Sulphides, Lunar Mining and Robotic Mine of the future.