Some of the biggest names in the mining industry were present on April 5, for Thunder Bay’s annual Northwestern Ontario Miners and Minerals Symposium.
The event, which has consistently attracted more and more people, has expanded this year to meet its overwhelming demand.
For the first time since its introduction, the conference has become a full two-day event.
As well, a dinner was included during its first day to give those in attendance an opportunity to celebrate the award winners.
“In terms of this conference, it’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger,” said Steve Demmings, CEO of the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission. “All the international names are here and the presentations are superb. But most important, the level of excitement is just remarkable.”
Demmings said he was introduced to companies who weren’t at the conference last year.
He said one undisclosed company with 36 employees has just bought a building in downtown Thunder Bay.
“Those are geologists and engineers,” he said. “Their average age is 38 years old.”
Event organizer Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association, has been involved in the exploration side of mining for more than 25 years and has witnessed the industry’s emergence in Thunder Bay.
“This year we had a waiting list of 12 to 15 (trade show exhibitors),” he said. “We’re past capacity of anything in Thunder Bay that we can set up in.”
The event has seen a 30 per cent increase on floor space from last year’s conference and had more than 80 booths.
“Next year, we’re not sure how we’re going to accommodate it,” Clark said. “One of the things were trying to do is get as large as possible.”
Clark said Thunder Bay’s mining and exploration sector is now more noticeable by locals and industry types than ever before.
“People know we are here.”
When he first started in Thunder Bay in the late '80s, he said there were several mining companies around, but they were rarely publicly mentioned — now it’s become a pretty common discussion topic.
Clark said that when he boards an airplane heading for Toronto, it’s not uncommon to see two or three industry people flying with him.
As well, out of the three tenants who occupy his office building, two of them are mining exploration companies.
“Just the general understanding of exploration and mining is a big driver in this town,” he said.
Demmings agreed.
“There’s certainly a lot of buzz in the mining side about a super cycle in the mining sector and I do think northwestern Ontario is so well positioned,” said Demmings.
To take advantage of this, Demmings said they’re very close in hiring a mining project co-ordinator, who will be responsible for the growth of the sector and ensuring that the city will realize its full potential.
“We are well through the process,” said Demmings. “We haven’t made an announcement yet, but we’re just completing it. We haven’t crossed the t’s, but it’s imminent.”
The ceremony portion of the conference saw four prominent prospectors from the region win the Lifetime Achievement Awards: Robert Cote, Dryden’s Sherridon Johnson, the late Ray Oja of Thunder Bay and Edward Onabigon of Pic Mobert First Nation.
Other awards include the Dan Calvert Distinguished Service Award, won by prospector Dave Christianson of Thunder Bay and the Bernie Schnieders Memorial Award, won by Lakehead University’s Victoria Stinson, a master's student in the geology department.
Montreal’s Osisko Hammond Reef Gold was recognized for the development of the project of the same name, north of Atikokan, and Toronto’s Noront Resources for its Eagle’s Nest base metal project in the Ring of Fire in the James Bay lowlands.
As well, the exploration team at Goldcorp took home the Bernie Schnieders Discovery of the Year Award for its high-grade Lynx Zone at the Musselwhite Mine, 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.
