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Mining Supply and Services Sector

Marcotte, Smith in Sudbury hall of fame – by Ben Leeson (Sudbury Star – December 10, 2014)

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

Many years after he passed away, Paul Marcotte helped his daughter, Alicia Woods, get started in the mining industry.

Wood was only 13, a Grade 8 student, when Marcotte, who helped found Marcotte Mining Machinery with his father and brothers in the late 1970s, lost his life unexpectedly in 1992, at just 37 years of age.

“Growing up, I would go to work with him and I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” Woods recalled. “But then he passed away and his company was sold to another company in southern Ontario, so I honestly thought that opportunity would not be there.”

She did take an alternate route initially and pursued a career as a teacher, but eventually found part-time, then full-time work in the mining supply and service sector.

Woods now works as sales director for MacLean Engineering, which designs and builds heavy equipment for the mining industry. She also founded Covergalls, a company specializing in workwear for women.

“You’re a young, 20-something female walking onto a mine site and it’s like, ‘What does she know about mining?'”

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Sandvik to relocate global mining facilities to India, China – by Pratim Ranjan Bose (The Hindu Business Line – December 3, 2014)

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/

KOLKATA, DECEMBER 2: – In October, Sandvik announced a plan to set up its sixth manufacturing base in India at $ 45 million (approximately 280 crore at current exchange). But that may not be the end of the investment proposals to the country.

According to Kobus Malan, President emerging markets, Sandvik Mining, the company is also relocating number of its global mining equipment facilities from USA and Europe to India and China as part of a two year business reorganisation plan that will be completed in the next fiscal.

“A number of factories in Europe and USA are to be closed down. They were acquired during the 10-year long mining super cycle when chasing orders were a priority,” Kobus Malan, President emerging markets, Sandvik Mining told Business Line on Wednesday.

Malan could not offer details of the factories to be relocated to India and China. He was in the city in connection with International Mining and Machinery Exhibition (IMME).

With commodity prices plummeting Sandvik is focussing on cost efficiencies and shifting its operations to the growth markets of India and China.

“We have formed a focussed group for the emerging markets of India and China,” he said adding that as the business process is on course to be streamlined further India (along with China) may get more investments.

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Boldly Building a Silicon Valley in Canada… for Mining – by Joe Lee (Tech Vibes.com – December 1, 2014)

http://www.techvibes.com/global

Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Montreal, and Vancouver are all recognized tech clusters in Canada. But the story around a new hub in Sudbury, Ontario can be traced back to a round of golf between Kirk Petroski, the CEO of Symboticware, and Dick DeStefano, the Executive Director of SAMSSA (Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association), where Petroski urged DeStefano to speak to MaRS about mining innovation.

As some VCs and consultants have argued, building the next Silicon Valley means a community should not try to replicate the Valley, but that the community should work towards differentiation and being the best in a specific domain. By all accounts, Greater Sudbury, home to approximately 160,000 and a major producer of nickel, is on its way to becoming the Silicon Valley of underground mining technology.

While the formation of the cluster may be an anomaly, the growth trajectory and development direction are not. These two points became abundantly clear when DeStefano, a self-professed disciple of Harvard Business School’s Michael Porter’s theories, shared his vision of turning Sudbury into an underground mining ecosystem and his journey as one of the pioneers.

Builders, Leaders and Feeders

“In 2001, I took myself out of retirement, researched the Sudbury community, and looked at companies. I tracked them down and invited them to get together. Only six people showed up to first meeting,” DeStefano recounts the early days of his mission to focus Sudbury’s talent and energy in mining supply and technology.

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Suppliers face loss-making deals as miners tighten screws – by Silvia Antonioli and Sonali Paul (Reuters India – November 26, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

LONDON/MELBOURNE Nov 26 (Reuters) – Mining companies, compelled to cut yet more costs as metal prices fall, are ratcheting up pressure on suppliers of everything from diggers to diesel, forcing them to agree to financing deals and even loss-making sales to secure business.

The mining sector’s huge supply chain — which builds equipment, maintains machinery and even feeds and clothes workers — has benefitted from the industry’s decade-long boom. But commodity prices have worsened almost relentlessly since their 2011 peak, thanks to weaker demand and growing output, and that has meant tough times for both miners and their suppliers.

Shares in mining equipment and services firms have plunged 22 percent this year, worse than the 13 percent fall experienced by metals and mining companies overall.

“Traditionally, the industry has taken all the risk and service providers have had a jolly good time. Now we demand that they partner in our risk,” said Mark Bristow, chief executive of Africa-focused gold producer Randgold.

Competition among suppliers has been stiff for the last few years, as mining firms began to come under pressure from investors to cut back. They have already slashed a total of $20-25 billion in costs, according to Ernst & Young.

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Northern Ontario Mining Cluster Maturing into “Four Pillars” – by Dick DeStefano (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 2014)

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 November 2014 issue of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal.

It is quite evident that the Northern Ontario Mining Cluster has developed as a “mature cluster” based on studies by major agencies and institutions who study this concept.

SAMSSA is 11 years old and is now one of the most sophisticated mining supply clusters globally because it continually meets all the established criteria. In many cases it goes beyond the standard definitions.

What is unique is that the model operating in Northern Ontario has four dynamic clusters working in partnership making it viable and distinct.

It all began in 1991 when Paul Krugman took Alfred Marshall’s work of 1890 and then Michael Porter’s of 1990 which popularized his manifesto called The Competitive Advantage of Nations. The concept of cluster development has a long history. SAMSSA took the best parts and implemented their own design.

The distinctiveness of SAMSSA is the four pillars that hold it together. The first pillar is the historical presence of mines that extract, mill and refine. The history of the Sudbury basin along with the gold fields in Timmins in this region have proven to be an asset.

The second cohesive part or pillar is the existence of over 500 mining supply and service companies within the boundaries of Northern Ontario.

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Studies confirm mining as an economic driver – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – November 6, 2014)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Timmins Chamber of Commerce president Al Thorne said he can only be encouraged by the fact the province has helped to finance a couple of in-depth reports that are favourable to Ontario’s mining industry.

One of those studies outlines the value of the gold mining industry, while the second identifies the economic importance of the mining supply industry.

Timmins is considered a leader in both of those sectors. The first report, recently released by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), outlines the economic impact for the creation a new gold mine in Northern Ontario. It was authored by Peter Dungan and Steve Murphy of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

The second report, produced by the Canadian Association for Mining Equipment and Services (CAMESE) and released last week, looks at the challenges and opportunities for the mining supply and service sector in Ontario.

It also recommends more tracking of the economic impact of the mining supply and service sector to better understand its importance. The reports were released just in time for the Meet The Miner’s event held at Queen’s Park. The event is held annually to keep the government apprised of the contributions and concerns of Ontario’s mining industry.

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Mining supply, services sector contribute 41K jobs: Study – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – November 05, 2014)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

In 2011, Ontario’s mining supply and services sector contributed $3.9 billion to the province’s gross domestic product, and sustained around 68,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to to a new study published by the Canadian Association of Mining Equipment and Services for Export (CAMESE).

CAMESE managing director Jon Baird said the study’s finding are historic, because economic contributions from the mining supply and services sector had never been studied to such a degree.

“Nothing was known, or next to nothing was known about the economic impact of mining supply before this survey,” Baird said. The association partnered with PricewaterhouseCoopers to analyze questionnaires it sent out to 913 supply and service companies across Ontario.

The Pan Ontario mining supply and services sector economic impact study determined 41,000 people in the province are directly employed by mining supply and services companies, while another 27,000 people rely on the sector indirectly, as suppliers or service providers themselves.

Around 78 per cent of the companies that responded to the survey reported doing some business outside of Ontario, while 70 per cent of respondents did business outside of Canada.

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News Release: New survey of ‘hidden’ supply sector nearly doubles mining contributions to Ontario’s economy

www.camese.org

October 28, 2014

The industrial sector providing equipment, supplies and services to the global mining industry, generates 68,000 jobs across Ontario, contributing billions to Ontario’s GDP.

Markham, Ontario – A new economic impact survey reveals information previously lacking about the mining supply and services (MSS) industry, which The Conference Board of Canada has called a ‘hidden’ sector, not directly measured by Statistics Canada.

The study, executed by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the Canadian Association of Mining Equipment and Services for Export (CAMESE) is based on the activities of 913 companies that consider themselves mining suppliers in 2011.

Jon Baird, the outgoing Managing Director of CAMESE says: “Finally we have proof of the important economic contribution of Ontario’s mining suppliers, supporting not only the province’s mines, but servicing mining activity worldwide.”

Mining supply activity occurs throughout Ontario. While one-third of the companies’ head offices are in Northern Ontario, 21 percent are in the Greater Toronto Area and nearly half are in other parts of the province.

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Money for mine researchers in Sudbury – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 27, 2014)

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

Two Sudbury research organizations received almost $900,000 in funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. on Friday for projects that will make mining safer for workers and more economically viable.

About $784,000 will go to the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation to help develop a mobile canopy system that will make it safer for workers to tunnel into ore bodies and will almost triple the rate at which they do it.

Another $100,000 was announced for a diesel emission reductions research project being conducted by the Canadian Mining Industry Research Organization (CAMIRO) to test filters to protect miners from diesel fumes underground.

The funding was announced by Premier Kathleen Wynne in the Vale Cavern at Science North. Wynne said the two projects will help create and retain as many as 500 jobs, and pave the way for new mining operations that will create many more jobs in the long term.

She made the announcement the day after convening a full cabinet meeting at the Willet Green Miller Centre and attending at $1,750-a-plate dinner to boost the coffers of the Ontario Liberal Fund.

Wynne also attended a Franco-Ontarian Day ceremony on Thursday and jogged early Friday morning in the fog along the Jim Gordon Boardwalk, leading a group of students from Laurentian University, many of them members of the Young Liberals Association.

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Northern companies establish Saskatchewan mining presence – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – September 16, 2014)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

It was during a trip to Toronto about a year ago that Wayne Ablitt and Don Croteau realized they were both thinking of expanding into Western Canada with their respective companies, Jannatec Technologies and Schauenburg Industries Ltd. But with expansion comes considerable expense, not to mention the challenges of breaking into a new market.

“We stopped and looked at each other and said, ‘Why not do something together rather than duplicate things?’” recalled Croteau, managing director of Schauenburg’s North Bay office.

So Croteau and Ablitt devised a plan to bring the two companies together, sharing costs and resources, and a year later, D3 Mining Solutions is ready to debut from its Saskatoon office.

Joining the partnership are suppliers Porcupine Canvas out of Timmins and Maslack Supply out of Sudbury, along with a Winnipeg-based dome manufacturer. The companies will retain their individual identities and home locations, but will operate in Saskatchewan together under the umbrella company D3 Mining Solutions.

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Jackleg drill contest highlights mining expo in Sudbury – by Staff (Sudbury Star – September 7, 2014)

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

The North America Mining Expo will feature the newest in mining technology and equipment Wednesday and Thursday. But when it came to hard-rock mining decades ago, you couldn’t beat the jackleg drill for sheer utility.

The dexterity of some Sudburians and some visitors will be tested Wednesday at several jackleg drilling competitions being held the first day of the mining trade show at Hanmer Centennial Arena.

The first competition will get under way shortly after the 10:30 official opening of the show, which will feature more than 300 exhibits.

Mayoral candidates will face off against the media to see who can come closest to hitting the mark in large pieces of rock placed on the arena grounds.

Seven of the nine mayoral candidates had agreed to participate by Friday and show organizers, Canadian Tradex, were looking to contact and sign up an eighth candidate. The winner will take home a giant statue of a jackleg driller, courtesy of contest sponsor Boart Longyear Canada.

The more serious competitions will get under way about 1 p.m. with the world’s only Ladies’ Invitational Jackleg Competition (novices only). Ladies’ regional champion Tina Pellerin, of Aecon Mining in Timmins, will take on all-comers for the provincial title of Ontario Queen Jacklegger and cash awards.

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Managing Mining Intelligence – the SAMSSA Solution – by Dick DeStefano (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal -September 2014)

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 September 2014 issue of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal.

When the Sudbury Area Mining Supply & Service Association (SAMSSA) was created in 2003 the founding fathers were looking for something of added value to assist member companies in improving their markets and business opportunities.

The idea of just having an association focused on a social environment offering coffee club meetings and the odd golf tournament and even a hard cover catalogue with direct mailing didn’t meet their needs in a rapidly growing digital age.

One of the most common comments was that the proliferation of industry news and global markets analyses was becoming overwhelming, contradictory and almost impossible to manage. In the process of developing this new service SAMSSA outlined its mandate which stated:

Mission – “Provide the most innovative and highest quality mining supply/products/services for domestic and worldwide markets.”

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Atlas Copco, Sandvik Chiefs Signal End to Mining-Equipment Woes – by Niclas Rolander (Bloomberg News – July 18, 2014)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Upbeat comments from Swedish mining-equipment makers Atlas Copco AB (ATCOA) and Sandvik AB (SAND) may be an early sign of a recovery for a business that’s been in a two-year decline as customers postponed investments amid slumping commodity prices.

“The downward pressure that we have experienced for quite some time is not there in the same way,” Sandvik Chief Executive Officer Olof Faxander said on a conference call with journalists yesterday. “There is stability at the current level, and that is a positive change.”

Faxander’s comments echo those of Ronnie Leten, CEO of Stockholm crosstown rival Atlas Copco, who said on July 16 he’s seen an improvement in demand for mining products late in the second quarter.

After a surge in mining investments, fueled by a decade-long boom in metal prices, BHP Billiton Plc (BLT), Rio Tinto Plc (RIO) and Vale SA (VALE3) are cutting investments, favoring cash handouts to shareholders instead. BHP, the world’s largest mining company, expects spending on new projects and exploration to have been $16.1 billion in fiscal 2014, 25 percent lower than in the previous year, and Rio Tinto last year lowered its capital expenditure by 26 percent to $12.9 billion.

“The fact that both CEOs feel a bit happier talking about it as a little more positive trend is clearly helpful, and it’s probably a bit earlier than I thought,” Alexander Virgo, an analyst at Berenberg in London, said in an interview. “We ought to be somewhere near the trough.”

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SAMSSA: Sudbury lagging in business development – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – July 05, 2014)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Sudbury is lagging behind other Northeastern Ontario cities when it comes to attracting new business in the mining supply and services sector, said the executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association.

Dick DeStefano said North Bay, in particular, has done more to attract small and medium sized mining businesses through tax incentives and new municipal industrial parks.

In a recent column, he challenged Sudbury’s municipal politicians – both current and upcoming – to develop a strategy to open the city for business. “What’s the political strategy to attract new business?” he asked.

North Bay, he said, reduced its industrial taxes by 66 per cent a few years ago, and eliminated its industrial development charges.

“I think it’s one of the tools we keep in our toolbox in terms of remaining competitive,” said Erin Richmond, North Bay’s manager of economic development. “We have to always think about different ways we can incent development.”

Last year, the City of North Bay took an extra step to encourage business development, and opened its new 600-acre Airport Industrial Business Park.

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Who Is Responsible for Industrial Parks In Sudbury? – by Dick DeStefano

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

Municipal elections are forthcoming and we need to hear the Mayoral candidates tell us what their plan is to attract new business enterprises to Greater Sudbury. I have heard the expression continually that “Sudbury is open for business” over the past years but I fail to see any clear public strategies that will increase the capacity for industrial space for new mining supply and service enterprises.

North Bay is very aggressive and our community may never catch up. Timmins has also grown its inventory of land and industrial space in the past few years.

I have been told that a number of private tracts are available on the Kingsway and Walden. A new 33 acre park called Silver Industrial Park recently announced its opening in Walden and said it will be serviced by 2014, but we as a community need to search for new clients. A concerted effort should be made in cooperation with the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation (GSDC). A task force of qualified individuals to spearhead the push to bring more sophisticated industries to Sudbury should be formed.

Sudbury is facing a number of challenges with a number of mergers and closures that are impacting the mining supply and service sector and this activity is slowing Sudbury’s ability to create new jobs and to replace displaced technical and professional experts needed in our community.

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