Having a headframe on the local horizon is beneficial to the regional economy.
The Ontario Mining Association's (OMA) economic impact study – Mining: Dynamic and Dependable for Ontario’s Future – indicated about 75 per cent of the services and supplies purchased by an Ontario mine are acquired from companies within the province. About 31 per cent of total purchases are made within 100 kilometres of mine sites.
A Northern Ontario Mining Supply and Services study prepared by Doyletech Corp. in 2010 indicates that the size of this business in Northern Ontario is $5.3 billion annually employing about 23,000, with concentrations in Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins and Thunder Bay.
For the Sudbury region, the study pegs the mine supply and service industry at $3.9 billion annually employing 13,800 people.
Only 11 per cent of purchases by Ontario mines are made outside of Canada and about 14 per cent come from Canadian companies located outside of Ontario. Part of the reason mining has such a positive influence on other sectors of the economy is because approximately 90 per cent of its expenditures are made inside Canada providing company revenues, employees’ salaries and government taxes.