8 8 Page 8 Page 8 Contd from pg 6 contributions felt globally Fifth Sudbury has a world leading nonproft innovation centre the NORCA T Innovation Mill As part of its innovation centre NORCA T has an operating mine designed to enable entrepreneurs design devel op test and showcase new technolog ies in an operating mine environment In addition the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovations CEMI also located in Sudbury delivers viable in novations to improve safety produc tivity and environmental performance and helps mining companies achieve better operational performance for a faster rate of return CEMI was established in 2007 with a mandate to lead innovatio n by in troducing new practices procedures tools techniques and technologies to help generate a signifcant improve ment in the performance of mines Sixth Sudbury s mining and min ing support sector have developed strong exportoriented approach to mining that serve as Sudbury brand ambassadors These Sudbury brand ambassadors play a critical role to demonstrate the capabilities charac ter and ambition to the global mining community One of the leading voices for Sud bury s brand is Sudbury Mining Solu tions Journal Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal reports on the leading edge develop ments to help drive mining s future On its homepage Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal says this about its mission There isn t a hard rock min ing problem in the world that can t be solved by the mining industry experts from the Sudbury area W e do it all And that is what the Sudbury Mining Solutions is all about competence innovation solutions People from all over the world come to fnd min ing solutions in the Sudbury area W e write about the people and companies that make it happen Seventh Sudbury like other North ern Ontario communities has a liv able and health y community and is an important factor to attracting invest ment and talen ted employees that fuel growth and job creation in multiple sectors Back in the 1970s Sudbury s chal lenge was to create a diversifed econ omy with mini ng as its backbone and innovation and service fuelin g a con sistently productive econom y they didn t sufer from the dislocations caused by the booms and busts cycles Sudbury has transformed itself into a regional centre for innovation and entrepreneurship with a more stable and diversifed economy and a coop erative and integrative business and industrial community that works to gether to inspire excellence and pro ductivity It was a long process W ay back in 1984 the Or ganization for Econom ic Cooperation and Development OECD developed an international case study on how Sudbury was transforming itself from a lar ge re sources dependent area to one that set a course for selfreliance and sustain ability for the future The Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association SAMSSA emer ged as an important advocate and strong champion for innovation and diversifcation at a tim e when the industry was making signifcant investments to enhance productivity reduce environmental impa cts and promote technological advancement W orking with the city and other lev els of government SAMSSA helped the mining supply and service sector in and around Sudbury to connect and compete globally through tar geted export assistance programs W ith the emer gence of private not for proft or ganizations NORCA T and CEMI Sudbury have built a solid reputation for promoting entrepre neurship and supporting innovation productivity and the comme rcializa tion of new tec hnology for the mining sector Other examples of innovation in Sudbury include the establish ment of the SNOLAB a worldclass science facility located deep under ground in V ale s Creighton nickel mine that is advancing research in under ground science and sub atomic particles Soon the Sudbury mining cluster will see projects like the Noront nickel mining in the Ring of Fire using the existing nickel smelting capabilities In the long run fuelling demand for nickel will be the gaining public ac ceptance of the electric car and the need for producing electric car bat teries and innovations that we at this moment are researching And the incred ible story of the Sud bury mining cluster will conti nue into the future Clients can access the NORCA T Under gr ound Centr e to test pr oduct pr ototypes in an active undergr ound envir onment INNOV A TION ORGANIZA TIONS T AKE LEAD Page 9