The demand for metal commodities is expected to rise over the next two decades, and Greater Sudbury is well placed to reap the spinoffs, according to the president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC).
Pierre Gratton, who was joined by Ontario Mining Association president Chris Hodgson at a luncheon sponsored by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce Aug. 25, said $130 billion is expected to be invested in the country's mining industry over the next five years.
With its strong service and supply sector and educational institutions standing by to train the next generation of miners, Greater Sudbury can be a major beneficiary of these investments, Gratton said.
"You have the advantage of having the largest integrated mining complex in the world with one of the largest nickel-copper-sulphide deposits in the world," Gratton told a crowd gathered for the event.
"You've got major companies like Vale and Xstrata who've shown the capacity that large companies like these two have with billions of dollars being invested in the region in the next number of years with new projects and environmental studies."
Canada is expected to see "unprecedented" demand for commodities in the next 20 years, as developing countries like China, India and Brazil start expanding and demanding a more modern, Western lifestyle, Hodgson said.
However, it currently takes an estimated 10 to 15 years to develop a new mine, due to the environmental permitting process. Time is ticking if Canada wants to take advantage of this growth.
"We have a window of opportunity that we need to take advantage of," Hodgson said.
"We accept our responsibility to ensure that the impacts we're going to have are mitigated and managed; we accept that as part of the equation," Gratton added. "But we do ask that our government do this in a way that's efficient."
In meeting this new demand, Canada, and Ontario, will face some additional challenges, including, like other trades, worker shortages.
Gratton suggested aboriginal workers could be a panacea to the problem, noting that aboriginal training programs and agreements for employment with the mining companies are now being implemented. Women and new Canadians are additional demographics that have yet to be tapped into.
On a provincial level, Hodgson believes Ontario is being given a golden opportunity. With some of the most stringent safety requirements and environmental standards in the world, the province has an advantage over its competitors.
The OMA has set out a list of 10 recommendations it is lobbying the government to implement. At the top of the list is reducing mine development times.
"If mining is going to take place, it should take place here where our citizens can achieve that benefit," Hodgson said. "Now is the time we get at it. We can waste the next 10 or 15 years talking about it, or we can try to shorten those development times."
This article was written by Northern Ontario Business reporter Lindsay Kelly. Northern Ontario Business is Northern Life's sister publication.
-Posted by Heidi Ulrichsen
