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Province drops $1.4 million for mining service and supply companies

Bounty will be spread amongst 12 projects across the North
mario_leveille
Mario Léveillé, president of Nor-Arc Steel Fabricators, is among the mining service and supply business owners to receive provincial funding. (File photo)

The province is providing $1.4 million to support 12 projects that will boost the mining service and supply sector in Northern Ontario.

In a May 2 news release, the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines said the funding would help to create 20 new, full-time jobs.

A list of the companies and their allotted funding follows:

NorArc Steel (Earlton) is receiving $187,833 to design and build a mobile aggregate mixer unit that is expected to lead to phase one of commercialization.

Timberock International (Elliot Lake) is receiving $250,000 to design a Narrow Vein Bolter, a smaller scale mechanized piece of underground mining equipment designed for ground support operations in narrow vein drifts.

Drillco (North Bay) is receiving $105,940 to design, engineer, assemble and test the first prototype of a large diameter hole back reaming tool. This tool would be used for specialized 20-inch diameter drill holes required for mining operations.

Paige Engineering (North Bay) is receiving $25,000 to manufacture a "Compact Hose Feeder" a specialized piece of equipment that delivers explosives through a loading hose to drill blast holes at any angle.

Di-corp (North Bay) is receiving $60,265 to develop and research a new patented process aimed at enhancing drill string product lines, which can withstand operating pressures of up to 3,000 to 4,000 meter depths in the process of deep hole drilling for the mining industry.

High Grade Controls (Sudbury) is receiving $250,000 to build on the success of their current Vigilante Air Quality System ("Vigilante AQS") to develop a new enclosure, new technology, memory enhancements, and multiple communication protocols to increase operational efficiencies of the ventilation system, as well as to meet health and safety regulations in the mining sector.

Aeonyx Research Corp. (Chelmsford) is receiving $45,725 for the development of the next generation of the company's Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) system which will have applications in metal detecting, unexploded ordnance (UXO) detecting, archaeology, mineral prospecting, and civil engineering. The new product will be the AeonyxC4 system, a compact and lightweight metal and UXO detector that will increase production rates, equipment reliability and data quality.

Rock-Tech (Lively) is receiving $250,000 to design a Shaft Jumbo, a mechanized drilling machine used in hard rock mining, with improved technology, a modular frame and single boom design that will allow for usage in several shaft dimensions. It will also have a proximity safety detection system that will increase operator safety.

MineIQ (Sudbury) is receiving $41,000 to develop software that will collect data from the numerous existing software systems and unify the display of all the data on maps, visual diagrams and charts/graphs for increased control. Mobile apps will allow managers to receive alerts and reports and will enable foreman to enter tasks and track productivity, improving safety, productivity, and providing an innovative new way for mines to conduct business.

Key Logic Inc. (Sudbury) will receive $44,040 to develop/retrofit headsets that can withstand the harsh underground mining environment. Funding will also be used to introduce a new technology to the mining industry called KLVision, which will create 3D maps of mines.

National Mining Safety Training Centre (Capreol) will receive $92,400 to develop a helmet that will include a powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) and encompass a built-in communications system to improve the safety of underground workers.

BioNorth Solutions (Thunder Bay) will receive $48,264.82 to mass produce environmentally friendly kits containing bacteria which can be used to neutralize and remove oil-based contaminants.

Ontario's leading-edge mining supply and services sector employs more than 40,000 people and has an estimated direct economic impact of $6.6 billion.