Mineral exploration is driving the expansion of Thunder Bay's Wisk Air Helicopters.
The company is tacking a 3,600-square-foot addition onto its existing 4,800-square-foot hangar and office space on the south side of Thunder Bay International Airport.
Along with a new hangar bay, the $1 million investment will have a pilots' room and planning centre attached. A slew of new technical features will be installed including an automated flight tracking system allowing customers to view weather conditions and flight planning.
The new shop will have in-floor heating and eventually have solar panels and geo thermal heating added in the next two years.
"The exploration group is driving this part of the economy since the forestry industry has stalled," said Wisk Air president Mark Wiskemann.
"But exploration companies across Ontario and Canada seem to be cashed up quite well."
The 24-employee company provides a variety of services for clients such as ferrying equipment and personnel into remote locations for junior miners, assisting the Ministry of Natural Resources with forest fire suppression, and doing forestry survey work with large scale photography for companies like AbitibiBowater.
"The company is expanding but it's a little bit of nervous time this year because of the economic downturn. But we signed a contract for this 5,000-square-foot hangar but I think it's going to be a normal year," said Wiskemann.
In early April, Wisk Air converted part of the Valhalla Inn parking lot into a temporary heli-pad at the Northwestern Ontario Mines and Mineral Symposium, giving mining execs and prospectors a sightseeing tour of Thunder Bay aboard one of his five Bell helicopters.
Wisk Air's coverage area extends across Canada, but they are well-established in northwestern Ontario with sub-bases in Dryden, Red Lake and Brandon, Man.
Hauling geologists, drill rigs and supplies into remote bush camps in northwestern Ontario and in Far North and to places like Nunavut where they've been supplying Newmont Mining at their Hope Bay project has been the staple of Wisk Air's business for three decades.
"Newmont are doing high-resolution target drilling, so we're moving drills in steady."
McFauld's Lake and the Ring of Fire mining camp is in Wisk Air's backyard and he expects activity will pick up after the spring break-up in mid-May.
Some of their regular clients include Newmont, Hydro One and Ministry of Natural Resources for their wildlife and woodland management.
"We've been here 30 years and know all the managers in the fire management system and they know us by reputation. When they're in an emergency situation and we have aircraft available, we send them out."
They are also working with Matrix Helicopter Solutions, a large Western Canada logistics outfit that moved into Thunder Bay in recent years to provide field support for exploration companies operating in McFauld's Lake.
The Thunder Bay International Airport Authority would like to see more mining-related business set up shop on their undeveloped land. Like many Ontario regional airports, they are making moves to establish a light industrial park for both aviation and non-aviation-related business.
The airport has 81 acres on the north side that is partially serviced back when Confederation College opened its Aviation Centre of Excellence earlier this decade.
Airport business development manager Ed Schmidtke said there are a number of mining suppliers that find being at the airport is attractive since they start and finish their day by air.
"The proximity makes a lot of sense."
The authority is working on a city zoning amendment to expand land uses and install more water and sewer services because of the real estate interest from mining-related organizations.
One major client they landed last year Activation Laboratories Ltd. which spent $1.2 million to renovate a former Confederation College aviation school hangar into a full-service assay facility.
Despite the wave of layoffs and mill closures, Ontario Prospectors Association executive director Garry Clark is encouraged by what he's seeing on the exploration front for this field season, especially among the 400 attendees at this spring's mineral symposium in Thunder Bay.
Many junior miners like Premier Gold, Rainy River Resources, Skybridge Development, Kodiak Exploration and Sage Exploration have cash left over for advanced projects from Red Lake to Geraldton and are anxious to get to work.
"It's amazing they all have cash in the bank and all want to move their resources forward or at least find more gold."
In talking with prospectors, Clark is surprised at how many are being approached by companies looking to option properties, "which is something I wouldn't have thought is going on, just like wouldn't have expected 400-plus people here."
Clark said it's hard to predict if the measure of exploration activity is a bellweather of an improving economy. "Obviously gold (price) is up because everything else is down, and exploration is up because gold is up."
But it's not just gold and precious metals they're chasing.
Magma Metals has a good higher grade platinum-palladium play outside of Thunder Bay with mineralization similar to the Lac des Iles mine. And there are still prospectors and juniors still looking for copper and zinc.
Many local suppliers like drilling companies and consultant-geologists like Clark have dropped their rates as junior miners have sought to preserve cash to concentrate on their best properties.
"I think it will be constant there are a few people that are going to be paid a little less but there's work out there for people," said Clark.
www.wiskair.com
www.tbairport.on.ca
www.ontarioprospectors.com
