Opportunity knocks.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: THUNDER BAY

Thunder Bay is digging deep into the mining supply and services game.

Last summer, the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) tapped John Mason, a provincial geoscientist with 36 years' experience, to become the city's first project manager of mining services.

The former regional manager of the Ontario Geological Survey's northwestern Ontario office is a well-known figure in Thunder Bay for his in-depth knowledge of the area's mining and exploration sector.

He'll parlay his expertise and contacts to fully capitalize on the region's mineral potential, and to bring greater visibility to what has been, literally, a quiet underground industry.

"My role is to maximize the benefit to the city and region."

One of his main goals is to boost the service and supply capacity on both the exploration and mining side.

"We're not a Sudbury or a Timmins. We're not a mining community. Headframes aren't about us, but we are a regional exploration and mining service sector."

There are only five producing mines in the region; however, of the close to $1 billion in exploration spending earmarked this year province-wide, about $475 million will be spent in northwestern Ontario.

Since being hired in June, Mason has been travelling the North attending prospector and mining symposiums, and meeting one-on-one with the miners to discuss opportunities and their immediate needs.

"I was sitting in Timmins beside a supply chain manager for Detour Gold. It was an interesting conversation. I knew it was a big project, but after sitting with him for a half-hour and realizing the extent of the equipment needed, it just blew me away."

The exploration sector in Thunder Bay has been a cottage industry in a city dominated for years by the forestry industry.

However, Mason estimates there are now between 80 and 100 service and supply companies involved in some aspect of exploration and mining, with a workforce of about 1,600.

"We have eight engineering firms in Thunder Bay that deal in mining - led by Genivar and Nordmin - and 21 exploration companies with offices in the city.

"It's absolutely mindboggling with staff doing headframes and hoist systems all over the world whether it's potash in Saskatchewan, gold in Red Lake or work in South America."

Mason cites several examples of local companies that once catered to the forestry sector that have transferred their bushcraft knowledge and services into mining. It's evident in a spring prospectors show that...