Bird's-eye view: Thunder Bay geomatics firm scans for new aerial opportunities.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: THUNDER BAY

A trip to the world's largest mining show may soon bear fruit for a Thunder Bay geomatics firm, once heavily invested in the forestry industry.

No question, forest resource planning and data-gathering is still the bedrock business for Sumac Geomatics, but the 21-employee firm wants to pursue more clients in mining, agriculture and land development.

CEO Todd Domney said the company name change from Sumac Forest Information Services to Sumac Geomatics is a reflection of how they now view themselves and the widening client base they are targeting.

This past March, Sumac made its first appearance as an exhibitor at the trade show of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's annual conference.

"A big part of it for us was trying to understand what the mining industry needs or wants. Truthfully, the timing couldn't have been worse for us," Downey chuckles, about the current industry down-cycle, "but we were extremely pleased with how the show went."

They came off the floor with "four or five" requests for quotes, but what was more encouraging was the number of mining service companies looking to potentially partner with Sumac.

"In chatting with the mining companies, there seems to be a lot more interest on the environmental side," said Domney.

Sumac has found work as a subcontractor to mine engineering firms in flying mine site tailing ponds with their unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to provide volume metrics, often used in permit applications to expand these facilities.

Providing precise images and interpreting what they see, Domney believes, is the clear competitive advantage they have built up over two decades of accumulated experience in photo interpretation and GIS technology.

"What we found with our clients is that (experience) matters a lot. We've been working in the engineering space and ensuring that we're doing things to the highest possible remote sensing standards," said Domney.

"If it's a tailings management facility and you get it (the volume metrics) wrong, there's hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. You've definitely got to make sure you have your technology down and know exactly what it's doing and giving back to the clients."

Domney, who began in forestry as a timber cruiser, established Sumac with partners Dave Carr and Tom Shields in 1996.

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A major swing for the company occurred in late 2011 when Sumac was subcontracted for a company that entered receivership. Sumac acquired their...