Page 50 B y K e vin V inc ent A s C anadians c on tinue t o bask in their newf ound fr eedom t o smoke mar ijuana and c onsume a pletho r a of cannabis pr oduc ts another g r een in v estmen t goldrush is qui etly tak ing plac e acr oss nor th w est er n On tar io M ake no mistake about it cannabis and the C anadian mining industr y ar e ine x tr icably r ela t ed T he ar ea nor th of the Gr ea t Lakes c ommonly r ef er r ed t o as nor th w est er n On tar io has emer ged fr om the smokey w or ld of r ec en t cannabis in v esting as the new dar ling of mining en thusiasts H ighr etur n in v est ors appear t o ha v e e xhaust ed their appetit e f or canna bis and ar e r edir ec ting their a tt en Where the East me ets the W est N or th w est ern O n tario tion back t o C anada s sear ch f or min er als and metals A nd t o tha t end majors juniors e x plor a tionists geolog ists and pr os pec t ors ar e spending a lot of time in the nor th w est with good r eason A c c or ding t o the P r ojec t M anager of M ining S er vic es f or the T hunder Ba y C ommunit y E c onomic D ev elopmen t C or por a tion John M ason the r eg ion is in the middle of a per f ec t st or m W e ar e seeing pla y ers fr om A ustr a lia S outh A fr ica and other ma tur e mining jur isdic tions suddenly pour ing in t o nor th w est er n On tar io said M ason T he list is impr essiv e I t includes Bar r ick G old which has just appr o v ed a sig nifcan t change a t the Hemlo M ine e xpec t ed t o e x t end tha t pr op with ha ving our w agon hit ched t o pr ecious metals like palladium and gold tha t w on t c ome as a sur pr ise t o an y one ar e doing v er y w ell said M ason in an in t er view with M ining Lif e He sa y s C anada c on tinues t o be a str ong jur isdic tion f or pr ecious met als and in v est ors ar e c onstan tly look ing f or w or ld class deposits G old and palladium c on tinue t o pr o vide str ong inc en tiv es f or domestic c ompanies as w ell M ason e xpec ts the nor th w est t o see another t w o or thr ee gold mines ac c eler a t e in t o pr oduc tion in the ne x t 35 y ears a much shor t er time hor iz on than his t or ically has been the case W hether it s a c ompan y c oming in fr om another jur isdic tion or an e x isting c ompan y tr ying t o get t o the Page 50 C anada s ne w est mining pla y gr ound er t y s pr oduc tion hor iz on or the ac quisition of the New mon t f or mer ly G oldc or p R ed Lake pr oper ties b y E v o lution M ining of A ustr alia or the billion dollar deal tha t sa w I mpala P la tinum Hold ings Limit ed ac quir e Nor th A mer ican P alladium T he other sig nifcan t tr end of c ourse is w e ar e blessed Page 51 Page 51 fnish line the big guy s like Bar r ick and Newmon t ar e t estimonials t o ho w w or ld class these deposits ar e ther e s no getting a w a y fr om tha t Nor th w est er n On tar io is indeed blessed as M ason sa y s with ma tur e mining r eg ions including Hemlo R ed Lake F or t F r anc es and the st o r ied emer genc e of the R ing of F ir e Not only tha t the r eg ion is also home t o near ly 500 suppliers and ser vic e pr o viders tha t g iv e nor th w est er n On tar io additional clout when it c omes t o a ttr ac ting ser ious in v estmen t dollars G eolog ists ar e alw a y s optimistic mused M ason but r ec en tly w e v e seen a number of IPO s and shar e of er ings tha t ha v e been o v er sub scr ibed and tha t s a good thing I t s one sympt om of the fac t w e ma y be tur ning the c or ner a little bit T ha t k ind of insigh t is g iving juniors and geolog ists a sense of optimism not just in nor th w est er n but nor th east er n On tar io as w ell t w o of C ana da s most pr olifc mining r eg ions T he other fac t or tha t makes both the nor th w est and nor theast r e g ions a ttr ac tiv e is the a v ailabilit y of boots onthe g r ound e xper tise in the f or m of suppliers and ser vic e pr o viders who deliv er a sense of c omf or t t o major c ompanies k no w ing tha t their in v estmen ts ar e in good hands T he T hunder Ba y CEDC and C anadian T r ade Ex will be hosting the CEN C AN Expo in T hunder Ba y S ep 10th and 11th wher e suppliers and ser vic e pr o viders in the mining f or estr y and en er gy sec t ors will ha v e the oppor tunit y t o net w or k a t wha t pr omises t o be the biggest sho w of its k ind in the r eg ion F or mor e inf or ma tion be sur e t o visit John Mason P ro je c t Ma nager of Mining S er vic es Th under Bay C omm unit y E c onomic D e v elop ment C orp or a tion h ttpsc encane xpo ca M ason sa y s another tr end tha t bodes w ell f or the mining sec t or is the in v estmen t e xisting c om panies ar e mak ing in their w or k f or c es t o elev a t e r et en tion C om panies ar e spending big dollars in tr aining b y e xposing their key personnel and sk illed tr ades t o the la t est t echnolog ies and min ing methods m i l l e r g r o u p c a 7 0 5 6 4 7 4 3 3 1 B U I L D I N G M A I N T AI N I N G Y O U R C A N ADI A N I N F R A S T R U C T U R ES S I N CE 19 1 7 INFRASTRUCTURES ROAD MAINTENANCE CUSTOM CRUSHING SCREENING P A VING RESURF ACING ROAD REHABILIT A TION T AILINGS DAM CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION BRIDGE BUILDING EAR THWORKS SITE DEVELOPMENT SHOTCRETE EMULSIONS W A TERPROOFING MEMBRANES P ASTE FILL MUNICIP AL SER VICES EXPLORA TION SUPPOR T LANDSCAPE MA TERIAL RET AINING W ALL SYSTEMS MINE RECLAMA TION CONCRETE SUPPL Y DESIGN BUILD FINANCE N or th w est ern r egion a ttr ac tiv e with b o ots onthe gr ound e xp er tise