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Mining Supply and Services Sector

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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How Swedish Mining Automation Group is sparking digital disruption in the Canadian mining sector – by Laura Mullan (Gigabit Magazine – December 04, 2018)

https://www.gigabitmagazine.com/

Business Sweden Canada with partners from the Swedish mining industry has created SMAG to help the mining sector evolve into a more sustainable and innovative industry

Mining is often cited as one of the last remaining industries to be disrupted by technology, but that is changing quickly.

From driverless trucks to robotic drills, digitisation is quickly bringing a new measure of safety to mines. It’s also boosting the efficiency of how we obtain the precious minerals needed to make everything from modern cars to devices. In the coming years, mining automation is primed for explosive growth, and it seems that one Nordic country is set to be at the epicentre of it all.

Sweden may be a small mining nation but when it comes to mining technology, it’s considered to be in a league of its own. Looking to collaborate and foster innovation in the mining sector, six Swedish mining technology firms have joined forces with Business Sweden to create the Swedish Mining Automation Group (SMAG).

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Chilean delegates pay a visit to Sudbury’s mining sector – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – December 3, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury got a chance to show off the latest mining innovations being incubated to new and longtime business partners from Chile.

A group of 18 delegates from several mining companies sponsored by Pro Chile, an export promotion association, were in the city the week of Nov. 19 to visit Sudbury-based mining supply companies, take a tour of the NORCAT test mine in Onaping, and check out the Centre for Mining Excellence facilities at Laurentian University.

Scott Rennie, project manager of Northern Ontario Exports for the City of Greater Sudbury, said tours like this are not unusual, but they are becoming more frequent. “There are a lot of well-established ties with Chile in Sudbury, and a lot of our mining supply companies already do work there and want to do a lot more work.”

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Electric Vehicle Revolution Goes Underground With Mine Truck – by Niclas Rolander (Bloomberg News – November 14, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Electric vehicles are reaching global markets far and wide — and deep. Swedish mining equipment maker Epiroc AB now aims to electrify all its underground machines within five years.

The manufacturer on Wednesday launched a new range, including what it says is the largest battery-powered vehicle for mining below the Earth’s surface: a 42 ton-capacity truck that can haul blasted rock through narrow tunnels. It’s part of the company’s latest series of mobile excavators, including drill rigs and loaders, designed to cut emissions and lower energy costs for miners.

Reducing the use of diesel fuel could have significant cost benefits for the industry: as much as 40 percent of an underground mine’s energy outlay is spent on powering gigantic ventilation systems to remove pollutants from tunnels. The push for electrified mining got a further boost last month from an industry lobby, the International Council on Mining and Metals, which plans to minimize the impact of underground diesel exhaust by 2025.

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Which mining supercycle? – by David Robinson (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – August 20, 2018)

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

Growing talk of a new supercycle for mining is encouraging, but a totally different kind of supercycle may be more important for mining supply firms.

The supercycle of the first years of our new millennium was a sustained period of rising commodity prices, supported by population growth and infrastructure expansion in emerging markets. The broader economic boom collapsed with the global financial crisis of 2007–2008.

The mining sector saw an orgy of investment and acquisitions that left major players over-extended and created excess capacity that held prices down for years. The past decade was nothing like a slump. Global output of metals continued to rise, only prices dropped. It is an oddity of GNP accounting that increased production can appear as lower GNP when prices drop.

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Mining suppliers say tariffs not dampening Canada-U.S. trade – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – June 28, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Business as usual, but cross-border trade difficulties offer opportunities for Canadian companies to diversify international dealings

Trade tensions between Canada and the United States are not stopping Canadian mining companies from looking south for business opportunities, but they are also looking at markets abroad.

The third annual Northern Ontario Exports Forum in Sudbury on June 27 saw around 200 delegates gather to discuss markets abroad, including Africa, Latin America, Mexico and Europe.

Even though heavy tariffs are being imposed on Canada by the U.S., particularly on steel and aluminium imports, many delegates and speakers said they were concerned, but business is going ahead.

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