Western migration: northern companies establish saskatchewan mining presence.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: Schauenburg Industries Ltd, Jannatec Technologies

It was during a trip to Toronto about a year ago that Wayne Ablitt and Don Croteau realized they were both thinking of expanding into western Canada with their respective companies, Jannatec Technologies and Schauenburg Industries Ltd. But with expansion comes considerable expense, not to mention the challenges of breaking into a new market.

"We stopped and looked at each other and said, 'Why not do something together rather than duplicate things?" recalled Croteau, managing director of Schauenburg's North Bay office.

So Croteau and Ablitt devised a plan to bring the two companies together, sharing costs and resources, and a year later, D3 Mining Solutions is ready to debut from its Saskatoon office.

Joining the partnership are suppliers Porcupine Canvas out of Timmins and Maslack Supply out of Sudbury, along with a Winnipeg-based dome manufacturer. The companies will retain their individual identities and home locations, but will operate in Saskatchewan together under the umbrella company D3 Mining Solutions.

Each company brings something unique to the consortium: Sudbury's Jannatec specializes in two-way radio technology, while Schauenburg manufactures ventilation ducting. Porcupine Canvas makes bags and cases for mining equipment, and Maslack provides replacement parts for industrial and mining equipment.

The idea is to present Saskatchewan companies with solutions to their mining conundrums through a range of diversified but complementary product lines.

"One of the things we realize is that we need to look outside of the Ontario market," Croteau said. "The mines here, right now especially, are in a little bit of slow downturn, but there's a lot more outside of Ontario in the mining industry in other markets, and out west is potash."

Used primarily in fertilizer for food crops, potash is booming in Saskatchewan. According to the Saskatchewan Mining Association, the province is the world's second largest potash provider.

Potash mining has slowed down as well, noted Croteau, but it's still a big market that has, until now, remained untapped by and of the Northern Ontario partners.

"Probably one of the most wonderful things in all this is, with this expansion into this new company, we're bringing a bunch of companies together from the local market of Northeastern Ontario out to the Saskatchewan market, and hopefully we can replicate the successes that we've had in our current market," said Ablitt, Jannatec's president.

Through its...