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Mining Supply and Services Sector

Future looks bright for Sudbury mining – by Brian Bigger (Sudbury Star – April 1, 2018)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Brian Bigger is the Mayor of the City of Greater Sudbury.

I would like to provide an update to the community on my very productive and successful trip to Toronto for the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference at the beginning of last month.

PDAC, as always, is an opportunity for companies working in all aspects of mining to come together, showcase what they have been working on to government representatives, stakeholders and investors. This year in particular showed great signs of enthusiasm in the industry and once again Greater Sudbury’s presence was very prominent in the mining world.

In fact, more than 80 companies and organizations from Greater Sudbury were on display and approximately 750 Sudburians were in attendance. Representatives from around the world were amongst the 25,000 attendees.

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Sudbury mining cluster grows its global position – by Dick DeStefano (Canadian Mining Journal – February 2018)

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Michael Denham, the new CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada, recently acknowledged the fact that small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent 99.8% of all Canadian companies, produce 66% of jobs in the country and represent more than 50% of Canada’s GDP.

Denham noted that, in an era of globalization and increasing numbers of “free trade agreements,” we need more SMEs generating more growth to sustain our economy.

While this applies across multiple sectors, it is especially valid in the most sophisticated underground technology centres in Canada. In northern Ontario, the 500-plus mining supply and service companies based there employ 23,000 people – double the number of direct mining occupations in northern Ontario – and are an important component of wealth creation and innovation.

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Mining Super Cluster Denied But Doesn’t Deter Regional Expansion – by Dick DeStefano (March 2, 2018)

https://samssa.ca/

Dick DeStefano is the Executive Director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA).

I am disappointed by the Canadian Federal Government’s recent decision to ignore a request by CEMI and CMIC and multiple partners to grow our mining and related sector in Canada. It was not chosen as a priority in their Super Cluster competition and remains on the fringe of the government agenda.

But the results will not deter the existing cluster to move its agenda forward in the next years and expand its presence in the global market. A significant effort has been invested in establishing a viable infrastructure and cooperative effort by multiple partners within Northern Ontario and that effort will continue as we move forward.

It’s not a lack of information because our review indicates that over 20 profiles have been published in the past two years and the case study recently released by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities illustrates the shift from an extractive mining sector to a world class mining intelligence sector.

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Mining equipment company develops global reach: RDH Mining Equipment acquired by German-based SMT Scharf Corp. – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – February 21, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

RDH Mining Equipment has joined a larger family, which its management says will mean more opportunities to grow as a company and more markets to expand into. The mining equipment producer announced in a news release Feb. 7 it was acquired by German-based company SMT Scharf for $8 million.

“We were approached by Scharf and they said they were interested in making a deal,” said Neil Edward, chief financial officer for RDH Mining Equipment. “We had visited them in Germany to continue discussions back in October to discuss our two businesses.”

The company is located in Alban, about an hour southeast of Sudbury and supplies mines with mobile equipment. SMT Scharf produces rail transport systems for the mining industry.

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Making mine inspection safer: North Bay drone company inspecting underground cavities – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – December 12, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mining companies have been adopting drone technology to survey and map mineral resources above ground, but sending the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) below surface is still an emerging concept.

It’s an area in which SafeSight Exploration believes there’s lots of room for competition, and in which the North Bay company is quickly making a name for itself. The company was the overall winner during a North Bay Pitch event, hosted by the Northern Ontario Angels, in November.

“The idea and the concept and the work towards applying drone technology to an underground setting have been around for a couple of years, but it’s still very much an open space where there is no dominant player,” said SafeSight’s president and founder, Mike Campigotto.

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[Norm Tollinsky] Journalist honoured for mining industry coverage – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – December 5, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal writer and founding editor Norm Tollinsky inducted into Mining Hall of Fame

It was a night of firsts at the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA) annual general meeting. The first time a woman will be president and the first time a journalist has been inducted into the Mining Hall of Fame.

Norm Tollinsky, editor of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, was presented with the honour on Dec. 4 at Dynamic Earth. He and the journal were lauded for 12 years of covering stories specific to the mining industry and bringing stories of the hard work and innovation coming from it.

Taking the podium, he thanked everyone for the honour, adding there was no greater feeling for a writer than being appreciated by the readers.

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Batteries improve air quality in underground mines (Nickel Institute – May 22, 2017)

https://www.nickelinstitute.org/

Ventilation currently represents around 50% of underground metal mines’ overall energy costs. Producers are looking to go deeper and still remain economic, while also eliminating fine diesel particulate matter from the underground work environment.

Couple these aims with the need to achieve clean-energy targets and it’s clear that there are a myriad of drivers for the introduction of battery-powered vehicles that are engineered for life underground.

“Interest is coming from two sources,” says Jani Vilenius, director of research and technology development, PA Rock Drills and Technologies, at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, one of the first OEMs to introduce a battery-propelled drill rig. “Battery technology is being applied more widely in other industries and, for that reason, its applicability in mining is also being questioned, creating a technology push.

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[Minalytix] From computers to mountain summits – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – November 17, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mining software guru shares inspirational tales from globe-spanning career

One wouldn’t think a computer science degree and a career in technical support would lead to climbing mountains and flying planes over Africa or shooting rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) in Mongolia. For Robert Patterson, it did.

And he was happy to talk about how obtaining a degree from Laurentian University led to all that and the founding of his current business, Minalytix, a mining software company, during a Nov. 16 talk hosted by the Sudbury chapter of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum.

While his lighthearted talk spanned his entire life, peppered with many self-deprecating stories, the message was clear: do a job well, never stop learning and have some fun with your life.

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Mine ventilation goes digital – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – November 7, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Maestro Digital Mine creates a digital solution to assist in deep mining

What to do when technology no longer fits the needs of an ever-changing industry? Reinvent it and bring it to the 21st century, of course.

It sounds like a no-brainer, but in the case of ultra-deep mining, technology once used on surface plants is being taken further underground and mining companies are discovering the negative effects, making them less reliable.

Ultra-deep mining presents many logistical and technical problems the current technology is not designed for. While mines are able to go deeper than ever before, there are many issues like worker heat stress, increasing temperature, barometric pressure and humidity which require higher cost ventilation monitoring and control systems.

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Battery tech is the new gold for Kirkland Lake – Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 2, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

California’s Artisan Vehicle Systems chooses northeast town for Canadian assembly, R & D hub

A leading edge California manufacturer of battery-powered underground mining vehicles is putting down roots in Kirkland Lake.

Artisan Vehicle Systems announced Oct. 31 that it’s building a 60,000-square-foot Canadian headquarters featuring a service centre, vehicle assembly shop, and product research facility in the northeastern Ontario gold mining town to be closest to its biggest customer, Kirkland Lake Gold.

The company is talking about creating 60 jobs over the next two years as they put shovels in the ground within a year-and-a-half to build a state-of-the-art “Centre of Excellence” in the Archer Drive business park.

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[Jannatec Technologies] Technology for deep underground – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – October 13, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

As early as next spring, Jannatec Technologies could debut the first components of its wearable technology, which will help cool underground miners, monitor their vital signs and enhance their overall health and safety.

A contributor to the Ultra-Deep Mining Network, the Sudbury-based company has been working for three years on the technology that will allow miners to work in mines that descend to 2.5 kilometres or more.

As mines get deeper, temperatures are hotter, miners are more isolated, and it takes longer to ascend to surface. Companies like Jannatec are developing technology to combat the heat, isolation and other challenges miners may encounter.

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Remote loader invented by former Flonners garners interest – by Christopher L.Istace (Flin Flon Reminder – October 10, 2017)

http://www.thereminder.ca/

A former Flin Flon couple is literally breaking new ground with an invention that is keeping safe miners who are cleaning and loading blast holes in a mine’s rock face. Nine years after establishing their Sudbury, ON-based consulting firm, Rod and Clara Steele received a call from a manager at the nearby Vale Canada’s Coleman nickel mine.

An employee at that site had been killed by a 14-tonne slip of rock that had fallen on him at the mine face, more than 4,200 feet underground. The manager had promised the dead man’s daughter he would do whatever he could to ensure a similar accident would not happen again.

Before then, TesMan was consulting with mines in the design and development of technologies to improve underground mining practices. The company’s team of mining, mechanical and electrical engineers had devised software and equipment to improve industrial safety and productivity.

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Robots under Swedish forest breathe life into ancient mines – by Eric Onstad (Reuters U.S. – October 4, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

GARPENBERG MINE, Sweden (Reuters) – Hundreds of meters below the lush forests of rural Sweden, one of the world’s most ancient mines has been transformed into one of the most modern.Sensors linked to robotic equipment in Boliden’s Garpenberg zinc mine – which has been in operation since the 13th century – feed data to operators above ground as screens blink and flash in a nearby control room.

Boliden is at the forefront of a global transformation in which mining companies are exploiting huge amounts of data being crunched by computers to dramatically boost productivity and cut costs.

The advances at Garpenberg, however, have only scratched the surface in exploiting the new technology. Fully automated mines are on the horizon. “We have a way to go. There’s a big possibility of working 24 hours a day with more automation,” said Jenny Gotthardsson, general manager at Garpenberg.

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$5M for Timmins mining supply firms – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – September 27, 2017)

http://www.timminspress.com/

TIMMINS – The importance of the mining supply and service sector for Timmins and the rest of Ontario was highlighted Wednesday when the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation came to town with more than $5-million worth of investments in the Timmins area alone.

The news was announced by Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle, who is also the chairman of the NOHFC board, which was meeting in Timmins this week. He made the announcement at the OK Tire Mining Division shop on Laforest Road, which was one of the grant recipients.

“Around the world, Ontario has a reputation as a global mining hub,” said Gravelle. He said there are 39 mines operating in the province, making it the leader in Canada. This includes 17 gold mines, 10 base metal mines and one diamond mine, he said.

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NEWS RELEASE: Mining Suppliers Trade Association Offers New Branding, Renewed Focus

https://mstacanada.ca/

TORONTO, Sept. 18, 2017 /CNW/ – Formerly known as the Canadian Association of Mining Equipment and Services for Export – (CAMESE), the association has rebranded with a new look and a host of new services to support members of the mining supply and service industry.

“We are very excited about our new branding and renewed focus on our member’s business priorities,” said Ryan McEachern, MSTA CANADA’s Managing Director. “With the volume of change in the sector over the past 35 years, we wanted to ensure our association was laser focused on supporting our members. Our job is to provide the tools and services they need to help grow their businesses in Canada and around the world.”

Announced at the TMX Broadcast Centre, MSTA CANADA will take a renewed focus to the Mining Service and Supply Sector by delivering enhanced value and services to its membership. “We listened to our members who told us we needed a new approach to supporting their business objectives, and we’ve done just that,” said McEachern. “We have redefined our organization to better reflect the unique needs of our members.”

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