42 42 Page 42 For 15 years the Sudbury Area Supply and Services Association SAMSSA has been a major advocate for North ern Ontario innovative supply and services sector Beginning in 2003 SAMSS A out lined its mandate to provide the most innovative and highest quali ty min ing supply products and services for domestic and worldwide markets It has been a pleasure watching the shift to exporting and how SAMS SA brings more mining intelligence workshops trade shows and forums that expose our members to ever in creasing mining camps and business opportunities said Dick DeStefano Executive Director SAMSSA It has been a great experie nce also seeing the shift to advanced technolo gies becoming an essential activity as electrifcation big data integration remote monitoring and advanced un der ground communication is rapidity changing how we will mine in the fu ture DeStefano added SAMSSA s mandate is to Maximize sales opportunit ies do mestically and globally Utilize onsite visits and virtual channels to actively promote SAMS SA members in active mining centers Encourage members to develop product and service enhancements through continual research and devel opment Provide a onestopshop for min ing and related clients Develop a comprehensive digital cat alogue of member suppliers products and services for worldwide distribu tion Encourage members to attend at least two trade shows per year Provide relevant educationa l oppor tunities to all members which will im prove their understanding of export ing their product and services globally Provide a multilingual and interac tive web site for members as well as global and domestic customers and Utilize partnerships and other agen cies to assist and encourage awareness of SAMSSA SAMSSA is a nonproft or ganiza tion with 140 members managed by a board of fve industry leaders from Northern Ontario in the private sector educational institutions fnancial sec tor and special agencies in mining ex hibitions and centres that are partners in creating an awareness of the min ing technology expertise available in Northern Ontario At their last AGM SAMSS A an or ganization that values innovation voted for Alicia W oods as its frst fe male president for the years 201820 W oods previously served as treasurer and vicepresident Alicia has plenty of experience in the mining and min ing supply and services sectors being the general manager of Marcotte Min ing and president of Cover galls she brings a history in the industry and new insights to the table It is an excitin g opportunity because it shows other women what is pos sible W oods said It s a symbol that industry is open to women and that it s growing with women in senior leadership positions That s the grati fying part inspiring women to think about mining and wanting to reach for more Alicia will be joined by new board member Michael Gribbons vice president of Sudburybased Maestro Digital Mine Gribbons is an entrepreneur who un derstands the new paradigm in the 21st century and has helped grow his company s sales to 80 mining com panies globall y I look forward to working with SAMSSA and its mem bers and bringing a global vision to assist other members and the industry in our mining cluster he said Alicia and Michael will be joined by Ricky Lemieux president of Rock T ech as vicepresident Dave Rector president of Rector Machine W orks in Sault Ste Marie as secretary and Jef Smith execut ive vicepresi dent of Manitoulin T ransport as director Among it s membership SAMSSA has companies that have expanded their reach from Ontario to the world MacLean Engineering for example headquartered in Collingwood On tario now serves mining companies in 23 countries MacLean Engineer ing has been developing under ground mining equipment for over 45 years Three years ago MacLean started electrifying mining vehicles by retro SAMSSA a major contributor to innovationleadership shar ed globally Dick DeStefano Executive Dir ector SAMSSA SAMSSA President Alicia W oods Contd on pg 43 Page 43 ftting the conventional feet of min ing vehicles they had been producing since the 1970s They began by elec trifying a MacLean bolter In Canada MacLean Engineering has ofces in Sudbury Ontario Thomp son Manitoba Creighton Saskatch ewan and V aldOr Quebec The company has a presence in just about every mining camp globally and em ploys about 600 individuals Another innovative SAMSSA mem ber is W ipW are from North Bay Ontario recognized internationally for its expertis e in fragmenta tion and explosives technology W ipW are has developed automatic real time fragmentation analysis W ipW are invented optical granulom etry at the University of W aterloo in Ontario Canada more than 30 years ago with the creation of WIEP W a terloo Image Enhancement Process later renamed W ipFrag The commer cial introduction of W ipFrag in 1986 positioned the company as the indus try leader in optical granulom etry of fragmented material W ipW are designs and manufactures industry leadin g photoanlay sis soft ware and hardware that ofers real time analysis of materials in the feld laboratory online production settings for under ground and surface mining quarries aggregate production for estry coal industries and many more W ipW are ofers stationary and mobile systems for conveyors haulage trucks and sitespecifc locations W ipW are s Photoanlaysis systems have helped companies worldwide save millions of dollars by preventing equipment downtime improving productivity enhancing personnel health and safety and optimizing processes This year T om Palangio Snr was inducted into the SAMSSA Hall of Fame at its AGM Inductions into the SAMSSA Hall of Fame are an important part of the AGM For the past 10 years we have honoured a signifcant number of private sector founders and entrepre neurs who have built companies that have created a signifcant number of meaningful jobs and wealth for the industry and communities where they live and work Kirk Petroski former president of SAMSSA and now president of his own IT company Symboticware re cently won a multimillion dollar contract from V ale as it rolls out its te lemetry technology to every Canadian mine the Brazilian corporation owns During Mexico Mining Day at the 2017 Prospectors and Developers As sociation of Canada convention a his toric agreement was signed between the emer ging mining State of Guer rero and the Sudbury mining technol ogy cluster The initiative began when Marc Ser re Liberal Member of Parliament for Nickel Belt attended the 13th Annual PanAmerican Plenary Assembly in December and connected with inter ested Mexican ofcials in mining who wanted to partner with a mini ng lead er who would closely work with the emer ging mining centre in Mexico SAMSSA is always looking for op portunities for its members and imme diately saw the value of a relationship The Greater Sudbury Development Corporation which has a mandate to expand the city s mining supply and service sector also agreed to embrace the opportunity to develop close ties between the two mining regions Ian W ood director of economic de velopment said It has been increas ingly apparent that within the global mining sector the Sudbury mining cluster has become a magnet for part nerships and shared market intelli gence The Guerrero mining cluste r is the number one Mexican state in geo logical potential over the next 10 to 15 years according to the Mexican Geological Services There are seven mining companies and local suppli ers in Guerrero that are committed to responsible mining and expand ing economic and social development through training and human capital formation The GSDC SAMSSA and Guerrero have identifed potential opportunities to work togethe r for mutual economic beneft SAMSSA is now in a restructuring phase and has seconded Paul Bradette former Director of International trade missions at the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines for at least one year and assisting Dick DeSte fano in expanding the membership throughout northern Ontario and globally fnding new markets The focus this year will be Nevada and British Columbia s Gold Coast The SAMSSA web site has been en hanced and has special resources for our full time corporate members and contains more services and functions SAMSSA looks to expand membership SAMSSA T reasurerV ice President Ricky Lemieux Contd from pg 42