The 2017 Canadian Mining Expo gets started tonight with it’s traditional gala dinner in the McIntyre Ballroom and will provide two full days celebrating the skills, expertise and talents of Northern Ontario’s mining and mining supply and services sectors.
“They call it the Big Event for many reasons and looking around you can see why,” said Glenn Dredhart, the president of Canadian Trade-Ex, the company that puts on the Canadian Mining Event. “We are completely full again this year – last year we had 362 booths and this year we topped that we are at over 400 booths.
“We know that the industry is starting to turn around, the exhibitors are starting to feel it and they are getting many orders placed for their supplies and their services,” Dredhart said. “We have mining suppliers from as far away as Kenora and throughout Northern Ontario.”
“Everything you are going to see at the Canadian Mining Expo are top of the line products produced by Northerners," Dredhart said.
“We also have a number of senior executives from large mining and mining exploration companies that are here to see first hand what Timmins has to offer.
Things get started with the Gala Dinner tonight at the McIntyre Ballroom at 6:30 p.m.
The Gala Dinner keynote speakers are:
- Tony Makuch, President and CEO, Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.
- Duncan Middlemiss, President and CEO, Wesdome Goldmines Ltd.
- Peter Van Alphen, V-P, Operations, Tahoe Resources Canada
The Gala Dinner provides a great opportunity to hear the latest from some of the key players in mining in Ontario. It also is fundraiser for the Canadian Institute of Mining’s Porcupine Branch, that each year awards two scholarships to Timmins students who want to study mining and mining related programs at post secondary schools.
The mining show gets into full swing Wednesday.
A new event this year will be the excavator derby. The event is being held by Hood Equipment agents for Hyundai heavy equipment and takes place all day Wednesday beginning at 8 a.m. The competitors are vying for $5,000 in prizes; two passes to Stars and Thunder; and a $3,000 voucher to travel anywhere in the world.
The fan favourite Jackleg Drilling competition will also be held on Wednesday starting immediately after the conclusion of the Grand Opening Ceremonies just north of the McIntyre Arena
The Jackleg competition features the Ladies Novice; Mayor’s Challenge and Professional Miner’s Competition.
In the Mayor’s Challenge Councillor Joe Campbell of Ward 3 in Schumacher will challenge Mayor Steve Black and mayors from nearby municipalities for a chance to win a beautiful statuette carved by Tyler Fauvelle.
The Ladies invitational will feature Cambria Bryce of Kiss 99.3 and Amanda Dyer 92.1 FM.
The Billions in the Ground Investment seminar commences at 10 a.m. in the Sports Hall of Fame room on the second floor of the McIntyre Arena is designed for those who are looking to invest in mineral exploration and mining development projects.
Timmins businessman, Steve Kidd, the moderator will introduce discussion on the following investment opportunities featuring the following quest speakers:
- Peter Wood, V.P. Exploration and Chief Geologist, Zenyatta’s Albany Graphite project
- Greg Romain, President and CEO, Gowest Gold Bradshaw deposit, Timmins North
- Marc Utting, Vice-President, Investor Relations, Tahoe Resources
- Moe Lavigne, V.P. Exploration and Development, KWG, Ring of Fire 12 noon to 1 pm
- Martin Ethier, Project Manager, Brixton Metals, Langis project
- Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEO, Pelangio Exploration, Ghana mining projects
- C. Nigel Lee, President, and CEO, Sage Gold Clavos project,
- Judy Baker, CEO and founder of Argo Gold, Argo Gold Project
- Dirk Templeman-Kluit, VP Exploration Prosper Gold, The Ashley Gold project
Kimberly Norman from Northern College’s Haileybury School of Mines announced that her school now in its 105th year of mining education will host a job fair at the Canadian Mining Expo.
“The Haileybury School of Mines has achieved international recognition and today we get students from places like Norway, to Africa to Peru,” Norman said.
“HSM also recently, announced several new international mining programs and a partnership with Queen’s University for an online Bachelor of Mining Engineering Technology Degree,” Norman added.
One of the new international programs is a partnership to teach mining courses with Southwest College in Northern Ireland.
Increasingly more and more women are entry the mining field to meet the ever-increasing demand for people to work in mining. Nishnawbe Aski Development Corporation forum on women in mining to provide an insight of what women entry the mining field are likely to expect.
