Mining companies and mining supply businesses in northern Ontario are networking and making deals at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto.
They created the Northern Ontario Mining Showcase (NOMS) booth to showcase what Northern Ontario has to offer the mining world.
“There’s a lot of distance between many of us as suppliers at the mine sites,” said Jamie Pow, head of business optimization for The Bucket Shop.
“This is one of the rare times we get together.”
This year, PDAC is expected to attract more than 30,000 participants from more than 130 countries. The City of Temiskaming Shores took the lead in NOMS, the largest PDAC convention pavilion.
“Northern Ontario offers the world. It’s not even so much that the exhibitors are bringing people in,” Temiskaming Shores Mayor Jeff Laferriere said.
“People come and want to come in and find out what’s going on.”
The storefront helps the business to increase sales and exports. Since its inception in 2015, the FedNor-funded pavilion has nearly tripled in size and helped companies create more than 900 jobs and generate more than $100 million in sales.
Mining companies and mining supply businesses in northern Ontario are networking and making deals at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto. (Delivered)
“Not only do they meet new customers, but they also meet new companies that can help supply the materials they need for their businesses,” Laferriere said.
Politicians and other dignitaries from Northern Ontario join more than 110 mining and supply businesses and organizations at the pavilion to highlight the wealth of products, services and investment opportunities the region has to offer.
“One of our goals was to expand our dealer network in South America,” said Ruf Diamond President Darryl Adams.
“This year was the pinnacle of demand and interest and overall attendance at our booth.”
Adams shows off the “fat truck,” an all-terrain amphibious, all-purpose beast of a vehicle built to withstand the harshest conditions. It can be used for mine rescue, product delivery or transport to the mine site.
“We’ve generated significant interest in places like Argentina,” he said.
“My assistant was gathering information about a mine in Brazil where they need help with dewatering… They’re quite interested because they were telling us that the access point to these surface areas is almost like working with water. It’s very, very dangerous to try to launch a boat in the embankment, which is just pure mud.
Mining companies and mining supply businesses in northern Ontario are networking and making deals at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto. (Delivered)
While at the conference Monday afternoon, the Ontario government announced it is awarding more than $3.7 million through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) to 11 mining companies for supplies and services in Northern Ontario.
This money is intended to promote innovation, workplace safety, business development and job creation in the mining industry.
“Our government continues to send a strong signal to the world that Northern Ontario is open for business and we are using every tool at our disposal, like the NOHFC, to attract businesses and support economic diversification in the mining sector,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of northern development.
Details of which companies are receiving support can be found here.
The conference started on Sunday and ended on Wednesday.
