Recognizing mining excellence: mining association inducts pair into Hall of Fame.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: SUDBURY

Both Rick Lemieux and Bob Morin were born in small towns, both demonstrated an aptitude for working with machinery at a young age, and both saw ways to make improvements in the mining industry, which helped their respective companies achieve success around the globe.

For these accomplishments, the two were inducted into the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Services Association (SAMSSA) Hall of Fame Dec. 4.

SAMSSA executive director Dick DeStefano said the organization's board was unanimous in this year's choices. The awards acknowledge dedication, hard work and ingenuity in the field of mining.

"We're honouring men and women who take companies and build them and live in our community and are here to create jobs and wealth," DeStefano said.

Lemieux, who founded Rock-Tech and RDH Mining, showed an early fascination with machinery, and at the age of 17 entered an apprenticeship as a heavy duty mechanic at a local John Deere dealer, before transitioning into the mining sector as a maintenance supervisor for a mining contractor.

In 1985, he went into business for himself, bringing on his son, Ricky, to help. He quickly learned that determination and hard work were the keys to success.

"Before we knew it, dad was getting contracts with the local wood mills as a diesel and hydraulic repair specialist," Ricky said. "And not too long after the mining industry caught wind that he started out on his own, they started calling him for his services, as he was known as one of the best jumbo drill technicians in the mining industry"

Lemieux started reselling existing equipment after making his own safety, productivity or reliability improvements. By the 1990s, he began manufacturing his own products and by the end of 1999, his first electric diesel hydraulic drillmaster jumbo was ready for launch. His mining equipment is now operating on every continent.

Lemieux sold RDH in 2011, but not before producing a machine of which he was most proud: a battery-operated motor, which he believed would help address ventilation challenges, while making the mining environment safer and cleaner, Ricky said.

Now retired and pursuing other interests, Lemieux said he misses the relationships he forged with friends, partners and competitors. He attributes his success to a few simple lessons: if you're doing a job, do it right, and never burn a bridge.

"If you want a company to grow, you've got to go after it and you can't let go," he said.

Like Lemieux, Bob Morin, general...