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Mining Supply and Services Sector

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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SAMSSA looks to expand, bids DeStefano farewell – by Colleen Romaniuk (Sudbury Northern Life – December 6, 2019)

https://www.sudbury.com/

The Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA) held their AGM on Dec. 4 at Dynamic Earth

A Sudbury-based mining supply industry group has its eyes on pan-Northern and global expansion. The Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA) held their annual general meeting on Dec. 4 at Dynamic Earth.

In welcoming members from North Bay, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, and Thunder Bay, the association reaffirmed its intention to support Northern Ontario businesses on a global scale and to generate leads for their member companies.

SAMSSA is currently working to increase their visibility both in the North and around the world. They’ve recently initiated an in-coming and outgoing export program and completed a trade mission to Nevada. From Jan. 12 to 17, 2020, SAMSSA is planning another trade mission to Santiago, Chile. Members are being encouraged to register to explore the market towards establishing a footprint on the ground.

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The world beats a path to Sudbury: International delegations dig the Nickel City for its mining expertise and regreening story – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – October 16, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The City of Greater Sudbury has rolled out the red carpet no less than 10 times this year for international trade delegations coming to see the city’s expertise in mining and hear the story of the environmental remediation of its once-devastated landscape.

The payoff has been low-key but still very significant, according to organizers who have worked to entice these groups by teaming up with government, the mining and supply companies, and post-secondary educators.

“The key word is ‘partnerships’ because these are happening from many different partners from all levels of government,” said Scott Rennie, a business development officer with the city, who is also the project manager for Northern Ontario Exports.

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World’s largest ore chute created in Sudbury – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – August 6, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A manufacturing shop in Greater Sudbury has created the largest ore chute in the world, which will soon be shipped out and installed in one of the largest copper and gold mining operations in the world, the Rio Tinto Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.

The massive steel chute, as big as a house and with built-in safety features, was manufactured at Variant Mining Technologies in Lively. It is the prototype for several other chutes that will be installed at the mine in the coming months and years.

An ore chute is a device that allows chunks of rock (muck) to be transported by force of gravity from one level of the mine to another level. The chute is used to control the flow of muck, or waste rock, so that haulage equipment such as scooptrams, ore trucks or even underground rail cars can be loaded quickly and safely.

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MacLean Engineering prepares to show off Sudbury test mine – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – August 1, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Less than a year after purchasing a test mine property near Lively, MacLean Engineering is preparing to use the former Mining Technologies International (MTI) facility to showcase its various battery-electric and remotely operated mining vehicles there.

MacLean purchased the property in September 2018 on the former MTI industrial site on Magill Street in the Walden Industrial Park (Lively) area of Greater Sudbury. The test mine is less than 10 kilometres from MacLean’s sales and service centre in Sudbury’s South End.

MacLean’s Sudbury general manager, Stella Holloway, said the mine property needed to be brought into compliance with several provincial regulations with respect to mining operations and health and safety. MacLean has even set up an agreement for mine rescue services, she said.

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Sudbury’s SAMSSA’s Dick DeStefano to retire July 31 – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – June 2019)

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

The founder and driving force of SAMSSA is packing it in after 16 years at the helm of the mining supply and service association.

Dick DeStefano, executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association, was all set to retire 16 years ago when Paul Reid, a business development officer with the Sudbury Regional Development Corporation, pitched him on developing the potential of the city’s mining supply and service companies.

“We’re trying to diversify the city and we’ve got this collection of companies in the city’s industrial parks that have no profile, no mandate and don’t know where they’re going,” DeStefano remembers Reid telling him.

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Sudbury: ‘Sudbury would have stayed invisible’: Dick DeStefano on his 15 years as head of SAMSSA – by Casey Stranges (CBC News Sudbury – May 9, 2019)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

A long-time advocate of Sudbury’s mining sector is calling it a career. After 15-years as head of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSAA) Dick DeStefano announced he is retiring.

The goal of the organization is to champion local service and mining equipment providers in Sudbury. DeStefano told CBC News that the group was able to create a “continual flow of information and awareness” of the sector.

“When we finally discovered there were over 25,000 people working in the industry and 8 per cent of the population in Sudbury worked in the supply industry alone and was generating something like $5 billion in sales, it seemed to be obvious to me that we really had a business that collectively was very powerful,” DeStefano said.

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Mining association no longer just about Sudbury: SAMSSA undergoing major changes to broaden reach – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – April 8, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA) is undergoing some major changes to broaden their reach. Among those changes will be a complete name change and new outreach strategy.

The mining service sector in Northern Ontario isn’t just about Sudbury, anymore, so it is making major changes to position itself as the unified voice for the whole of Northern Ontario.

“We want to be a pan-Northern Ontario association,” said Paul Bradette, director of business development. “The board had discussed this with members last September and approved a growth strategy.” He added the acronym has diminished, adding most people wouldn’t know what it stood for.

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THE DRIFT: Miner and designer balances dual roles: Sudbury’s Alicia Woods finds passion in mining industry – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – April 5, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

When Alicia Woods was vying to enter the mining industry, she knew that name recognition would at least get her foot in the door, but it would take hard work to prove she deserved to be there.

Woods is the daughter of Paul Marcotte who, along with his brothers and father, founded Sudbury-based Marcotte Mining Machinery Services in 1979, designing and manufacturing underground utility vehicles.

As a kid, Woods loved hanging around her dad in the shop, and it was her long-time dream to one day work alongside him in the industry. “He never made me feel like it wasn’t an industry for me,” she said. “I never once felt that it wasn’t for girls.”

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THE DRIFT: Smart helmet to improve safety, efficiency: Jannatec’s wearable device to roll out this spring – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – March 26, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

When it hits the market this spring, Jannatec Technologies’ smart helmet will function a lot like the modern smartphone – one communications device that incorporates multiple uses.

But the wearable gear is being designed for use deep underground to provide miners with higher visibility, radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging, proximity detection, biometrics monitoring, photography and video capabilities, and more.

“We try not to think of it as a helmet,” said Mark Burnett, an account representative with Jannatec. “We try to think of it as a platform that’s going to offer (mining) operations different capabilities and solutions that they may need to fit their unique problems, which is why it’s going to be a multi-faceted platform.”

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Sudbury mining supply guild honours long-time mine builder: Cementation’s Roy Slack entered into SAMSSA Hall of Fame – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – December 13, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

In his more than three decades in the mining industry, Roy Slack has led countless mine builds across the country, yet even today, he’s still left enthralled by the massive amount of engineering that goes into constructing a mine.

“Every time I drive by a headframe, every time I take a trip down a mine, I’m in awe,” said Slack, president at Cementation Canada. “I still haven’t quite figured out how it all gets done.”

Slack has been integral in shaping how mines have been built over the last 30 years. For his dedication to the industry, he was recognized by the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA) on Dec. 10, earning a place in the organization’s Hall of Fame.

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