Spotlight on Manitoba mining industry

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This article was published 07/11/2023 (998 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With all the talk about Manitoba’s mining industry being on the cusp of a new era of growth, it’s perhaps fitting that the province’s annual two-day mining conference — on this week at the Victoria Inn — will also get a reset of its own.

After the province decided to end its operation of the event in 2018 — around the same time that it slashed the budget of the mining branch — the management of the conference has evolved into a not-for-profit, volunteer-run enterprise.

While those volunteers have done a good job with registrations at about 700 and a 20 per cent increase in exhibitors this year compared to last year, the industry players in Manitoba realized that it needed to do more.

Stacy Kennedy, the head of Manitoba operations for Vale in Thompson and the president of Mining Association of Manitoba Inc. (MAMI), announced at the conference on Monday that starting next year, MAMI will be taking over management of the conference.

MAMI also introduced a new public awareness campaign for the provincial industry — Uncover Prosperity: Producing Our Green Economy — that will be launched across the province in January.

“To say these are unprecedented times is an understatement,” said Kennedy.

The $170 million spent on exploration in the province last year was a record amount and industry officials believe this year was strong as well.

With all the renewed activity and enthusiasm for the industry, it’s worth remembering there are still only four companies operating mines in Manitoba — Vale, HudBay, Tanco and PADCOM’s new small potash mine.

But there is growing anticipation about a number of promising discoveries that could turn into mines in the near future including Alamos Gold’s property in Lynn Lake and Callinex Mines’ high-grade copper, zinc and gold resource near Flin Flon.

But even with solid momentum in the industry, MAMI made an important discovery of its own this year — Manitobans don’t know much about the industry and many are negatively predisposed towards it.

A survey the organization commissioned this year found that 89 per cent of Manitobans were not informed about the mining industry, 44 per cent disagreed that Manitoba’s mining industry makes a positive contribution to the province and 48 per cent do not believe a growing mining sector is good for the province.

“We need to change the face of mining,” Kennedy said. “Mining is worth knowing about. We need to get people interested. We need a pipeline of talent and investment and we need to be competitive. We’re now in a position to do something about (it).”

John Morris, the executive director of MAMI, said, “It’s time the industry takes its rightful place” when it comes to running the annual conference.

He said in the past the association did not have the capacity to take on such a project but it now does, with membership on the increase and a greater understanding from the industry players about the potential at stake and need to raise public awareness and understanding of the industry.

Jeff Young, an instructor in the department of Earth Sciences at the University of Manitoba and one of the volunteer group that has been putting the conference on for the past couple of years, said the volunteer group has done a lot of work organizing the conference, called the Central Canada Mineral Exploration Convention (CCMEC).

But he said there have been times when that volunteer leadership group had to carry debt for a time, something that is not ideal for the management of such a large event.

And with an increasing number of players active in exploration in the province, increasing partnerships with First Nations and the fact that the industry association, in collaboration with the province, is taking a leadership role probably bodes well for the positive momentum to continue.

An illustration of that momentum is the increasing demand for access to funding through the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund that’s administered by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce which just announced $1.46 million in funding for seven projects that will leverage a total of $8.7 million in total investment.

Chuck Davidson, the president of the chamber, said since it began the fund has dispersed $11 million that has been put towards projects that have invested a total of $69 million.

“Demand is increasing, and we’re getting good results,” he said. “The feedback we get is that the fund fills a gap. It helps de-risk some projects.”

While increasing public awareness is good for many reasons, Kennedy said the industry is starting to be a disconnect with the future workforce that the industry will need.

“We struggle with capacity,” she said. “Having the people to do the work is one of our biggest challenges.”

The province’s new minister of Economic Development Investment Trade and Natural Resources, Jamie Moses, told conference attendees that the new provincial government was committed to supporting the industry.

Kennedy was enthusiastic about that and about the general prospects for mining in Manitoba.

“I’m ecstatic about what’s to come,” she said.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca