“The single biggest change is that we’ve engaged our upstream strategy,” states President and CEO Steve Hightower, “and we’ve started Hightower EV Solutions, where we’re putting [electric vehicle] charging stations throughout the country.”

In the fuel industry lingo, ‘upstream’ gas or oil production refers to companies involved in the identification, extraction, and production of raw materials. It is a broad category that covers surveying, drilling, manufacturing, oil sands mining, and other activities. ‘Downstream’ refers to post-production fields such as retail and distribution.

HPC’s upstream work centers on crude oil and liquid natural gas. Core downstream services include bulk fuel deliveries for commercial vehicle fleets, supply chain and inventory management, and emergency fuel supply. The company provides bulk fuel that goes into new cars coming off assembly lines at Honda, Nissan, and General Motors plants and also has clients in the sports, retail, utilities, government, manufacturing, and education sectors.

Given the surging popularity of electric cars, its move into the electric vehicle (EV) market makes good business sense. Launched a year and a half ago, Hightower EV is the third company to operate under the HPC umbrella. The other two are Hi-Mark Construction Group, which works on water and wastewater facilities in the Midwest and Eastern U.S. and HP Energy, which tackles infrastructure projects that enhance energy efficiency. Hi-Mark and HP Energy are both thriving, along with their parent company, Steve reports.

Hightower EV can design, build, and install electric vehicle infrastructure. In partnership with various tech companies, the turnkey service provider has worked on roughly 12,000 EV charging units nationwide.

“In some cases, we’re providing charging as a service. We go in and make an investment, say, for a retailer. We would actually bring the [EV charging] units in, and we would own them. We would do a profit share with the retail service station or hotel if they didn’t want to do the initial investment due to lack of early traffic. We would take on the risk,” he says.

For all the attention on EVs, HPC has no intention of abandoning gas and diesel.

“We focus on our customers where they’re at. We are a strong liquid fuels organization. That’s our core. That’s what built us. We don’t shy away from it. We try to bring in clean fuels and biofuels that are more ecologically friendly. Electric is a new fuel for vehicles, and our customers have expanded into that area, so we expanded with them,” Steve explains.

Unlike fossil fuels, biofuels are derived from living plant material. Ethanol, made from corn, is a common biofuel in North America, while fuel made from sugarcane is ubiquitous in South America.

The company’s business-to-business (B2B) fleet card continues to be one of its most popular offerings in the gas and diesel space. Used to purchase services and/or products, the card is accepted at thousands of gas stations and truck stops across the U.S.

The popularity of the fleet card “is growing tremendously. We’ve got over 300,000 cards in the marketplace right now, all commercial B2B. It’s saving many of our customers lots of money, and it’s growing very rapidly,” he says.

Hightowers Petroleum Company remains vigilant to the threat posed by COVID. While not as deadly as it once was, the virus has not been eradicated. “We’ve maintained a pretty strict protocol. We’re probably one hundred percent back to work. We are a critical business. People need to have fuel in the marketplace. We try to be pretty strict, based on lessons learned relative to mask-wearing in our facilities and common areas,” Steve says.

Now that the pandemic has hopefully peaked, trade shows and industry events that were shuttered or conducted online have reopened to the public. In recent months, he has been traveling a great, visiting trade shows in person to meet peers, promote the company, and network.

Another thing that has not changed since the last profile is the company’s ownership structure. The firm remains “one hundred percent” family-owned, states Steve. His son, Stephen Hightower II works as its chief operating officer, while his daughter works on contracts. Other family members, including a nephew, are also employed by the company.

“I’m extremely proud. If something were to happen to me, I know the business would continue to move forward,” he says.

Hightower family members participate in an array of business and community organizations, including the fuel marketing association SIGMA, the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, the National Petroleum Council, the Cincinnati Opera, and the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE).

The company has ISO 14001:2015 certification for Environmental Management and ISO 9001:2015 certification for Quality Management. “When you talk about ISO, it’s not just words. It’s how you operate your business, how you document your business, how you continuously improve your business. We have customers that require, through their ISO procedures, that we are also ISO. A lot of the [original equipment manufacturers] require that. So, we have to maintain our ISO, our quality standards,” Steve states.

In addition to ISO, “We have continued to develop our ESG (environmental, social and governance) program that looks at ways in which we can reduce our environmental impact. Part of that would be Hightower EV Solutions. One initiative is to reduce carbon emissions, but there’s the social side of that as well. We’re continually making sure we’re doing the right thing by our communities—not just investing in our communities, but participating in the communities,” he says, adding, “Our company maintains its values of being an honest and socially responsible organization that has a reputation of working hard.”

Asked if he finds it odd that a company built around fossil fuels is so concerned about the environment, he says no. “It’s important for our company to remain relevant and forward-thinking. We know our customers. As they began to be forward-thinking, we also had to be forward-thinking. We never want to be the last horse and buggy on the street,” he explains.

HPC is not looking to get into hydrogen, touted as an up-and-coming miracle fuel for vehicles by some proponents. “I believe that the U.S. made a bet on electric as a primary fuel,” Steve says.

He anticipates that hydrogen will eventually make a mark in some parts of America, depending on federal government infrastructure funding. It is far too early for the company to get involved, given the nonexistent state of hydrogen infrastructure, and the company’s commitment to EVs.

In addition to the Middletown headquarters, HPC maintains offices in South Africa, New York, Michigan, and Washington, DC. The company has approximately seventy-five employees across all its companies, a number Steve believes will grow significantly once federal funding for infrastructure projects kicks in.

It follows a certain process when it comes to new hires. “Each and every time we go out, we look for the best possible person that we can. We don’t ask them about their politics. We don’t look at their color. We don’t look at their sexual orientation. We look at their qualification, abilities, attitude,” he says.

The result is HPC’s diversity, of which he is proud. The company is one of the leading African American fuel firms in the country. “We know there’s a level of uniqueness in our diversity, and there’s not much diversity in this industry. We’ve hopefully done a lot of things right,” he says.

Given the company’s ownership structure, it is not surprising that he describes Hightowers’ culture as family-oriented. “You have to be compassionate to your employees and their needs because they have families as well. My employees want the best for their families as well, their kids. Things happen, and when things happen, you have to be compassionate and understanding and try not to be strict or unreasonable when someone has a personal issue. You’ve got to support them, help them take care of it any way you can.”

Not counting COVID, he cites fuel shortages as the biggest challenge facing HPC at present. Global shortages and rising fuel prices are concerns that keep the company on its toes.

Still, Steve offers an upbeat forecast. “We really feel we can operate in the neighborhood of half-a-billion dollars. I am moving very hard to get to $1 billion over the next twelve months. That’s the ambitious part of me.”

Increased upstream business will likely drive this growth, he says. After reaching the billion-dollar mark, there is a new set of goals he wants to achieve. “Half a decade into the future, we want to be a global energy organization. At that point in time, then I can begin to look at possibly resting a little more,” he states, with a laugh.

The post This Gas and Diesel Downstream Wholesaler Goes Upstream and Electric<p class="company">Hightowers Petroleum Company</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Recognizing the strength of the province’s mining sector, not-for-profit MineConnect works on behalf of its many members, advocating for their innovative products and services to potential customers around the world, including the United States out of its new location in Elko, Nevada. Although the distance between Sudbury and Elko is more than 2,000 kilometers, the two locations have plenty in common. Both share the spirit of entrepreneurship and are incredibly rich mining areas, contributing billions of dollars to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of both areas—$5.5 billion annually in Ontario alone. Thousands of jobs are supported directly through mining and related activities.

Indeed, mining is a key driver of the economic engine fueling both Canada and the United States. Seeing a need to connect Canadian mining suppliers to U.S. mining companies, MineConnectUSA was launched in Elko in late 2021. And like its Canadian counterpart, it has become a tremendous success.

Promoting Northern Ontario
Mining is a sector founded on partnerships and requires complementary companies and technologies to be successful. To keep up with mineral demand, many mines are stepping up production. This requires key suppliers, which is where MineConnect comes in, putting mining businesses in touch with providers of everything from automation and software solutions to electric vehicles, health and safety specialists, environmental and consulting solutions, mine contractors, transportation and logistics, and more.

In Canada, MineConnect is based in Greater Sudbury’s state-of-the-art NORCAT Centre, at 1545 Maley Drive. Founded in 1995 by visionaries from business and academics at Sudbury’s Cambrian College, NORCAT was created to fill the need to educate, support, and promote skilled workers, innovators, and local entrepreneurs in Northern Ontario.

In the years since its creation, NORCAT has grown to become a multinational organization offering multiple services, programs, and resources, including skilled labour training and workforce development, innovation in mining, and mining technology, all within a collaborative environment focusing on making a positive impact in the lives of others, their future careers, and Canada’s economic prosperity.

NORCAT is proud of its long-standing membership with MineConnect, going back years to when it was SAMSSA. According to NORCAT’s Chief Operating Officer Jason Bubba, MineConnect’s valuable contributions to the mining sector cannot be overstated.

Initially, NORCAT’s mandate was focused on introducing innovative mining training and development solutions at a faster pace than academia. In the 1990s, the organization advanced even further with the acquisition of the NORCAT Underground Centre. An operating underground mine, it is a unique innovation and training centre.

Used for hands-on training and gaining experiential mine skills, the NORCAT Underground Centre also serves as a place for businesses—from startups to small and medium-sized and international companies—to “showcase innovative and emerging technologies in an operating mine environment,” according to NORCAT. Over the years, the Centre has become the destination for the future of the mining industry.

“MineConnect’s mandate in promoting Northern Ontario mining suppliers to the national and international markets really aligns with NORCAT’s regional innovation Centre mandate, whereby we also support Northern Ontario mining suppliers, help suppliers demonstrate technologies in our underground centre, and then promote those suppliers through exposure,” says Jason Bubba. “So both MineConnect and NORCAT definitely have some synergies in terms of our own mandates.”

Shared vision
Part of NORCAT’s mandate is to support and represent mining supply companies in Northern Ontario, home to a vibrant mining supply sector and lots of new, home-grown mining technology. For networking and other opportunities, MineConnect continues to advocate for these companies, says Bubba. “We have been a strong supporter of MineConnect since their establishment some years back,” he says. “And when they decided to branch out into the United States with MineConnectUSA in the Elko area, NORCAT was also investigating business in the region as well, starting to dip our toes in the water and build some relationships in the U.S. So partnering with MineConnect in their co-location down in Elko, Nevada was an attractive initiative for us.”

Some companies who are part of the MineConnectUSA initiative also use NORCAT’s services, particularly the NORCAT Underground Centre. One such business is Hard-Line. Established in 1996 in Sudbury, Hard-Line has grown to become a leading supplier of mining industry technologies, including teleoperation, automation, and remote control. For the past seven years, Hard-Line has used NORCAT’s Underground Centre to test its products in real-world situations. “Hard-Line is a good example of some of the synergies here, where they use NORCAT as their test bed for their underground autonomous vehicle technology,” states Bubba, adding, “and at the same time, we’re part of the MineConnectUSA co-location hub.”

The Nevada initiative
For MineConnect members, the location in Elko serves as a valuable base to do business, taking professionalism to a whole new level. Before MineConnectUSA was created, Canadian companies who wanted to showcase their products to an American market were limited; starting their own office in Elko required high costs of entry such as renting space, hiring staff, and overhead. Through MineConnect, these same businesses now have a physical and mailing address, signage, access to meeting space, and much more.

“It’s certainly easier when you have a location, and someone says, ‘Can we meet?’ and we meet at the MineConnectUSA office in Elko with shared boardrooms and various offices there,” states Bubba. “It’s a lot more convenient and a lot more professional as well.”

For MineConnect’s corporate and associate member companies (https://mineconnect.com/members/) who wish to do business in the U.S., being a part of the association also helps to take the risk out of expansion. Through MineConnect, members have the opportunity to generate leads and build relationships at a fraction of the cost, but with all the benefits of having their own office in Elko. Now that the worst of COVID is over, NORCAT and other Canadian mining supply and service companies are making more trips to Nevada, secure in the knowledge that they can work with business prospects from a real office, instead of a hotel lobby or a restaurant.

Strong leadership
One reason for MineConnect’s success, says Bubba, is the people spearheading the association. In Elko, it is under the direction of Strategic Development Director Sheena Hansen, who works to identify objectives, needs, and direction for the U.S. market and connect Canadian companies to the needs of mining operations in America.

“Sheena has been amazing in terms of making those connections that you need,” says Bubba. “As a business that’s been in the mining industry for nearly 30 years now, we know the players in Canada and Ontario, but when you go into a new jurisdiction, you want to understand their culture in general and their culture in the mining industry as well. [It is important to] understand what works for the mining industry in Nevada and who those key players are, those key contacts.” If he says he will be in Nevada for a week and asks who he should meet, Hansen steps in to help, arranging connections with key stakeholders in the state’s mining sector. “Sheena has been great at fast-tracking that process for us and making those connections in the community.”

There are, says Bubba, similarities between Sudbury, Ontario, and Elko, Nevada. There are many mines within a few hundred kilometers both east and west, many of them remote, yet they all require various services, solutions, and technologies, the kind provided by MineConnect members. The organization’s robust networking and support systems help these companies gain a valuable foothold. And while NORCAT may not be in exactly the same business at MineConnect, it continues operating as a platform for mining supply sector companies to utilize its operating mine for testing new products.

“There are a lot of synergies between how the mining supply sector can access NORCAT to help them with their mining supply technologies and access industry introductions to international mining companies and how, in the same way, MineConnect can do that and more on the networking side,” says Bubba. “We look forward to 2023, leveraging MineConnectUSA’s office, and thank Sheena for her connections and knowledge in the mining industry. We are going to really leverage that so we see even more growth in our U.S. partnerships and relationships with mining companies in Nevada.”

The post Bridging Suppliers and Customers<p class="company">MineConnect</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Soon after the company was founded in 1983, Jannatec released its first product, an innovative Radio Cap Lamp solution. Known as the Johnny Light, the combined lamp/radio remains a best-seller, incorporating the next radio offering from telecommunications giant Motorola being released in mid-2023.

A platform integrating a radio, proximity system, and third-party Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) chip, it was Jannatec’s first Internet of Things (IoT) device long before the term ‘IoT’ was widely used in the mining community.

Today, the Johnny Light works hand-in-hand with Jannatec’s vehicle platform to create a safe and proven system to safeguard personnel and vehicles.

SmartView
Continually growing its product line, Jannatec has emerged as one of the world’s foremost mining safety technology specialists. Besides a range of smart helmets and cap lamps, collision avoidance systems, communications devices, and Mesh intercom products from Sena Industrial, the company is becoming known for its SmartView line.

Described by Jannatec as “the most advanced underground wireless communication system (in mining), SmartView enables mining and other industries the ability to monitor their equipment in real time, enhance worker safety, and help achieve a solid return on investment.

“Our SmartView platform is where the company is going in the future; that is the driver for us,” says Rey Boucher, who was recently promoted to President, with Jannatec’s co-founder Wayne Ablitt becoming Chief Executive Officer.

For customers, SmartView is ‘evergreen,’ suggesting it will have lasting appeal, and other products can be easily incorporated, such as a vehicle backup camera, proximity system, or other modules which have value propositions. With five existing modules, the company has plans for future modules which can be sold alone or integrated with SmartView.

“Jannatec has many new solutions that can work autonomously, or be added to the SmartView platform, such as tire pressure monitoring, fatigue management, and onboard weighing,” says Sales Manager Marc Brunet.

“We’re working on a SmartView 2.0 platform, which will be dockable, and we’ve been able to add to our Jannatec Advanced Warning System (JAWS) clientele list. We’re in conversation with many mines about how the implementation of a CAS system would look—like doing a traffic assessment before deployment—to minimize slowdowns or stoppages.”

Growth through acquisition
Seeking to expand Jannatec’s services and coverage saw the company acquire Hamilton, Ontario-based Mobile Communications Services Ltd. (MCS) last July, increasing its staff to 27. Previously, Jannatec had an office in Saskatchewan but closed it in favour of agents and dealers.

Recently, re-evaluating and refocusing Jannatec, part of the Schauenburg International Group, the team decided that growing by acquiring similar companies made more sense. “This allows us to have a springboard to sell all our wares, including the other product the company had before,” says Boucher.

The move is paying off, with the company expanding into Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe, including Hamilton, Toronto, St. Catharines, and Niagara Falls. The company also has plans to grow into mine-rich Sudbury, and expand its sales, service, and manufacturing capabilities.

“With Jannatec MCS, we’re expanding our B2B (business-to-business) into new customer segments and a new area,” says Ablitt. “We’re moving into the B2C (business-to-consumer) space, as until now our core business has been in the development and deployment of security and communications equipment for heavy industry, particularly mining in mines.

“With the new location in the Greater Toronto Area, we can reach new customers there in the industrial and service sectors and offer them our systems for collision avoidance as well as other communication solutions for distance measurement.”

A partner in MineConnect
For years, Jannatec has enjoyed an association with MineConnect, previously known as SAMSSA (Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association). The relationship has helped the company provide products to MineConnect USA, which is based in Elko, Nevada, and mining players worldwide.

Sudbury and Elko are home to multiple mines, making for a natural fit with mining-related service, supply, and solution companies like Jannatec wishing to connect to the American market. Additionally, Jannatec added a well-connected third-party representative to get out the word about the company’s many essential products.

“MineConnect has been great, giving us contacts and knowing about events going on that we should participate in,” says Brunet. “Last year was the first year of MineConnect USA’s existence, and we’ve been invited back for a second year.”

Having a presence at MineConnect USA’s headquarters in Elko, including an office and banners, is helping Jannatec enlarge its customer base and increase orders for its leading safety and communications technologies and products.

“It’s all about awareness,” says Boucher. “Nevada companies became aware of Jannatec. They were somewhat aware before, but it was basically B2B, and just happened through contacts. It was very difficult to work that way, but through MineConnect, they’re aware of us all the time.”

A mission of mining and more
Refocusing the company mission, the executive team at Jannatec plans to see the business grow fourfold. Firmly established in mining, Jannatec is eyeing sectors outside of its current vertical—including construction, paving, and shipyards—that can benefit from state-of-the-art safety solutions like SmartView, supported by the recent Jannatec MCS acquisition.

“We want to be that IoT company that’s there for communication safety in different verticals, and I think we’re well-placed in what we offer,” says Boucher.

Besides mining, many other industries will benefit from Jannatec’s products, such as tire pressure and temperature monitoring, which make work safer and can save customers time and money.

“It’s expensive to change a tire on a machine, so giving the operator that information, or having him relate it to the mechanic, makes sure no safety issues occur,” says Brunet. Tire monitoring is especially important when drivers are transporting heavy loads on roads.

To make hauling more efficient, Jannatec’s technology includes onboard weighing, so drivers don’t have to wait for a truck scale to know exactly how much they are moving. Through a small in-cab or Smartphone display, drivers can find out the precise weight of loads, even the amount per axle, so trucks can be loaded optimally and are not overweight.

“If you give permission to the loader, he can see your data and how much he’s put in a truck that’s equipped with the system,” says Boucher. “Anything that will help the operator and feed him data to make better decisions.”

Decades of innovation have seen Jannatec become the leader in safety communications for mining and other demanding sectors. Although they’re not mandated yet, the company hopes that one day Jannatec’s Johnny Light, SmartView, and other products will be required on mine sites.

“That would be the ideal outcome, although it doesn’t necessarily have to be our solutions in place,” says Boucher. “As long as it adds to the safe operation of equipment and workers are out of harm’s way, we’ll support any initiative brought in by mining governing bodies.”

The post In Search of Safety, Mining Gets Smart<p class="company">Jannatec Technologies</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Hawe Hydraulik (the company name is pronounced ‘Ha-Vee’) was launched in Munich in 1949, shortly after the end of the Second World War, and now has subsidiaries in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Hawe Hydraulik Canada, based in Mississauga, Ontario, is well-stocked with a wide array of hydraulic valves including pressure valves, check valves, flow valves, and directional seated valves. The Canadian subsidiary also offers pumps, electronics, and engineered solutions.

“Here in Canada, we have engineering and sales, and we also have inventory but we don’t have any production,” says Marcos Antunes, Hawe Hydraulik Canada’s sales manager for Ontario. Products sold by Hawe Hydraulik Canada are manufactured in Germany.

The Mississauga operation has a service center with a test bench where valves are put through their paces. Engineered solutions and customized designs are also offered along with comprehensive customer support. In addition to the Mississauga headquarters, the company has sales offices in Quebec and British Columbia and employs roughly forty people in total.

Hawe Hydraulik Canada primarily works with original equipment manufacturers and businesses, not individual homeowners with do-it-yourself renovation projects. The company’s products “are not a commodity, but very niche,” says Antunes.

Its flagship wares include its PSL (for fixed-displacement hydraulic systems) and PSV (for variable displacement) proportional directional spool valves. The valves “control the direction of movement and the velocity of individual or multiple hydraulic consumers actuated simultaneously,” says the company.

“The PSL and PSV—it’s the same valve, just the configuration is changed,” Antunes explains.

PSL-type valves are typically used in constant pump systems while PSV-type valves are often used in variable pumping systems. PSL/PSV valves are compact, lightweight, and robust, can handle pressures up to 420 Bar, are energy efficient and are designed as part of a modular system. Such valves are commonly found in equipment and machinery used in construction, forestry, agriculture, and drilling.

Hawe has introduced a proportional directional spool valve called MICK. This product “is a combination of the proportional directional spool valve type PSL and specially designed 8/3-way diverter valves which are flanged-mounted on the PSL sections,” explains Hawe literature.

The PSL sections proportionally control the flow rate and the downstream diverter valves distribute it to the individual consumers. Up to three dual-acting consumers can be supplied by one valve section.

The MICK valve can be actuated manually, or via electro-hydraulic, hydraulic, or pneumatic means. The PSL sections of the MICK valve proportionally control the flow rate while the downstream diverter valves distribute the flow. MICK valves offer multiple benefits, according to the company, including energy efficiency and built-in safety features. MICK valves are also lighter, less expensive, and take up less space than more conventional valves.

“With regular valves, you are going to need two or three valves to control the same number of actuations you can control with the MICK valve,” adds Antunes.

Hawe also sells hydraulic pumps and a range of electronics including programmable logic valve controls, proportional amplifiers, and line connectors to be used with its products. “We can provide radio systems and mobile controllers including displays, sensors, and cameras,” he says.

Products can be enhanced with controller area network (CAN bus) technology. This refers to linking intelligent devices and microcontrollers in an industrial system to facilitate communication without a hosting computer. A PSL valve meshed with a CAN system will produce a “very dynamic valve,” that also offers precision, spool feedback and less wiring as only one cable is required for each valve, making for speedier installation.

Far from being overly complicated, a PSL/CAN set-up is “a plug and play solution. Usually, we adjust the parameters on the test bench, so when the customer receives it, they don’t need to do any setup in the field,” he adds.

A CAN lite option lacks spool feedback but has the same minimal wiring requirements.

Hawe uses these high-tech tools to create what it calls ‘smart systems.’ “I would say a smart system is where you have a PSL CAN valve, then also an electronic pump where you can control the pressure and flow. When you put these products together, you have a very efficient and precise machine. It’s a very smart system with a lot of automation integrated into it.”

Plenty of other companies within the same space sell valves, pumps, and associated technology. As to how the company differentiates itself, Antunes points to the quality of its wares.

“Our valves are probably five to ten percent more efficient than the competitors’. The way we machine and build our valves makes them more efficient than others,” he states.

Beyond the products themselves, Hawe Hydraulik Canada has a reputation for value-added services, he continues. Far from just being a distributor of German-made goods, the Mississauga subsidiary can tackle special projects based on customized designs.

“Our valves are probably five to ten percent more efficient than the competitors. If a customer calls me and says, ‘Hey, I have a machine here. I need to do this and that function. I need to operate at this speed.’ We go and visit them and collect all the information … We can provide not only the valve but also the controls, the filtration system, the pumps. We can do the start-up and commissioning for them and give advice regarding the hydraulic system, how to improve its efficiency,” he explains.

“We have design capabilities in Mississauga so we can integrate all the components to get the results that the customer wants. Instead of working individually with each brand, let’s say a radio system brand and a sensor brand and the customer needs to put [things] together, we do it for the customer. We integrate everything. We say we’re going to use this radio system with those sensors with this valve, and we make a system capable of handling all the [input] coming from those products.”

Hawe Hydraulik established its first North American subsidiary in Huntersville, North Carolina in 1997. Like its Canadian counterpart, the North Carolina facility supplies valves, pumps, parts, technology, and service.

Hawe Hydraulik Canada traces its roots to 1989, and the launch of a firm called Hydra-Fab. Hydra-Fab became a Hawe Hydraulik distributor in 1999 and was then acquired outright by Hawe and recently rebranded.

The company counts several high-profile companies as customers, including Komatsu (manufacturer of mining, industrial, forestry, and construction equipment), Kovatera (which makes utility vehicles for underground mining operations), Nuhn Industries (an agricultural equipment manufacturer), and Variant Mining Technologies (which specializes in loading chutes, wireless controls, underground rail hauling equipment and other mining-related products).

Hawe Hydraulik Canada works closely with the North Carolina subsidiary for certain projects and industry events.

“We do some shows in partnership with our colleagues in the USA. For big shows in Vegas or other types of shows, we do a partnership and go together because [companies from] both countries go to see those shows. But also, we have trade shows [in Canada] that we only do ourselves because it’s mostly Canadian customers,” explains Antunes.

Like every business around the world, Hawe Hydraulik Canada has had to deal with the COVID virus. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the company’s supply chain in addition to threatening the health of workers.

“When I need third-party products, mainly electronic parts, it’s been kind of a nightmare for us… but because we have a lot of partnerships, we were able to overcome some big challenges,” he states. Being flexible and nimble “is also something we are good at,” he adds.

The company is looking to expand its presence in new sectors such as wind energy. Wind turbines often rely on hydraulic systems to function, which is where valves come into play.

The Mississauga facility is currently being renovated and expanded and discussions are underway about launching a product training program. “We are working right now to bring someone from Germany to give our customers training. We would invite customers to go to our facility and do the training here. The idea is to bring a test bench from Germany so customers can do in-class training. Then they can go to the shop and play around with the valves and understand how they work,” says Antunes.

The company can also conduct training at a customer’s worksite if demand warrants—all part of Hawe Hydraulik Canada’s devotion to top-notch products, client satisfaction, and the power of hydraulics.

The post Grace and Growth Under Pressure<p class="company">Hawe Hydraulik Canada</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

And here’s the good, surprising part: A&M’s services consistently improve operational efficiency and profitability for clients while fulfilling the growing demands of environmental stewardship that all in the industry face.

A&M Remediation has a long history of environmental stewardship. The company started life as A&M Reforestation in 1983, which is where its President and founder, Paul Thususka, met many of those who still work for the company today. They brought the same work ethic and drive to mining, stand-out qualities that caught the attention of a mine supervisor in 2012.

As Thususka whimsically recalls, “He saw what our team was doing with tree planting and said they could use some help underground in a logistics form, but what he really meant was, he didn’t have a problem with logistics, he had a problem with garbage.”

Finding new focus
Visiting the underground mine, Thususka was confronted with the reality of day-to-day refuse: water bottles, oil pans, and other discarded materials which make an already dangerous and harsh work environment even tougher, not to mention the environmental challenges they create.

As a result, A&M developed some specialized equipment and a process that would not only solve the garbage problem for this mine, it would lead to a future full of opportunity that would take the company into multiple mines, enabling it to expand the service and make a positive impact on a wide swathe of the industry and the environment alike.

A&M Remediation has come a long way from tree-planting, but the mission behind its services remains the same: to improve operational performance, profitability, and environmental outcomes for its clients by taking on tasks that may have been overlooked and doing them with enthusiasm and vigour.

Manager of Staff Development and Support Jake Geale explains it simply, “The gist for us is, if we can help the mine run more smoothly and efficiently, we’re taking on those tasks.”

A breadth of services
A&M’s comprehensive services include waste management: the capture, separation, compaction, and management of a variety of materials including, but not limited to, wood, plastic, batteries, e-waste, hazardous waste, and waste oil. Similarly, A&M offers asset recovery, workplace organization, bin management, latrine/refuge maintenance, mould remediation, compliance reports, dust suppression, and invaluable logistical support.

“I’m not sure there’s another comprehensive waste management program that checks all those boxes,” says Operations Manager Chris Hendsbee of A&M’s willingness to take on the responsibilities that companies or individuals can’t or won’t.

For the team at A&M, it’s personal: they are consummate outdoor-ers and caring members of their communities who understand the importance of preserving and protecting the environment, while simultaneously balancing industrial priorities. They also have the drive to see it through.

“We brought young, idealistic, hardworking individuals who thrived in adverse conditions and had a deep care for the environment into mining. We cared about the environment and we were willing to push the limits in that regard,” says Hendsbee.

At the end of the day, A&M takes pride in a job well done; in this case, there’s a lot to be proud of. The team is shining a light on a resolvable challenge that was always an unchecked box on a long to-do list before A&M’s foray into the market.

As Hendsbee says, “Mines generally don’t know what they spend on things like waste management. We do studies and we know how much time, money, and labour hours our clients are saving when they have us in their mine.”

Those savings amount to millions of dollars and go a long way to supporting green initiatives and improving the reputation of the industry. They also generate impressive results from a sustainability standpoint. To date, A&M has reduced landfill waste volume by 94 percent, diverted more than 100,000 litres of waste oil from waste streams and groundwater, captured 97 percent of waste materials (industrial and domestic) in its processes, improved shaft efficiency between 17 and 30 percent, and achieved a 24:1 haulage rate on-ramp of waste material. Moreover, A&M is able to eliminate MOL orders related to waste management.

“When you’re talking about garbage and reducing the volume, you’re reducing the amount of handling that has to be done,” says Hendsbee. “Garbage doesn’t make money. Waste doesn’t make money. Producing more, manufacturing more, delivering more—our services facilitate a lot of that.”

Bigger than waste
What A&M offers goes far beyond waste. Further to improving its clients’ performance and environmental outcomes, a secondary goal is to bring trust back to the relationship between industry and First Nations including a better understanding of their history, culture, and beliefs to preserve the environment for these and future generations.

A&M has positioned its work in the context of the “94 Calls to Action” of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Thususka explains that this has “allowed us to extend our reach into industry in a different manner to make a difference and it really feels like we’re doing something.” The effects have been far-reaching.

This is where Director of First Nations Outreach Steven Miller comes in to bridge the gap in knowledge and shine a light on the truth, as reconciliation is not possible without it. A&M is doing its part to communicate the truth through training programs, job fairs, and growth, and through development activities at the individual and organizational levels.

“We’ve got to walk softly and speak gently,” says Miller. “The past is the past, you can’t change it, but our future—not only for us but for generations to come—depends on today’s decisions and tomorrow’s planning.”

For Miller, that means “Mutual benefit, from employment opportunities to business opportunities; trying to build relationships between individuals at A&M and individuals from First Nations; also between A&M the organization and the First Nations as an organization; and trying to find ways that we can benefit one another.”

He adds, “If you examine the history of mining—and the waste it produces—to help the industry grow, you’ll see that people want clean air, a clean environment, and clean water. And when a company has a vision of how to help the industry look better, that’s a stepping stone.”

Miller, like many others, recognizes that A&M is a unique business doing innovative things to help reconciliation between First Nations and Settler communities, as well as seeking out harmony between industry, the environment, and the community.

Culture transformed
Offering unique services takes a unique approach and a culture of continuous improvement, hard work, and reflection. At A&M that includes a commitment to safety, diversity, and the cultivation of a positive work environment as the foundational pillars of success.

“It’s driven by the engagement of our workers and the creation and caretaking of all our policies and practices,” says Manager of Health and Safety Programs and Training Daryl Bransfield. “This fosters buy-in to sustain a healthy work culture.”

Embedded in the culture that A&M is creating is the conscious determination to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. As Geale says, “We’re making efforts to work with all demographics that are underrepresented in the mining industry, including women, BIPOC folks, the LGBTQ+ community, and newcomers to Canada.”

The team at A&M understands that diversity in perspectives and skills is the key to innovation, and paired with passion and a commitment to continuous learning, the sky is the limit to what can be achieved: a success that’s being shared with communities.

Since 2012, A&M has also found many other ways to give back to the community. In addition to being an employer of choice, the company is a sponsor of community events, sports teams, local organizations, and local conservation efforts.

A&M has proved that you can have good intentions at heart, protect the environment and the communities you call home, offer fulfilling careers to employees, and still drive profitability for clients.

The goal now, Thususka jokes, is “world domination,” which will begin with expansion across markets and industries. In so doing, A&M will exponentially grow its positive impact on its clients, the environment, and the communities with which it works in Canada and beyond.

The post Establishing Harmony Between Industry and the Environment<p class="company">A&M Remediation</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Creating and nurturing a diverse and respectful workplace essentially comes down to one thing: making everyone feel welcome. Commonly referred to as Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) and more recently Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I), it is crucial in today’s workplace, from the boardroom to the office, from the shop floor to the warehouse.

Unlike bygone days when employers would look around the boardroom and comment on the need to have more women, minorities, or other underrepresented persons among their ranks for the sake of appearance and to deflect criticism—the dreaded ‘tokenism’—DE&I is a genuine means of empowering others, regardless of their ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion, or education. Instead of seeing our differences as obstacles, DE&I recognizes them as strengths and platforms for learning from one another.

All about respect
In her recent book Everyone Included: Improve belonging, diversity and inclusion in your team, author Helen May pulls no punches outlining the importance of DE&I, and how it needs a re-evaluation in today’s unpredictable business culture.

Holding several senior corporate leadership roles over the years, May was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as an adult and knows what it’s like to be perceived as ‘different’. Now she’s passionate about D&I to positively transform organizations and improve the lives of employees.

“A culture of belonging is going to be absolutely critical to business continuity,” she writes in Everyone Included. “The evolution of organizations will require the individual employee to take centre stage, within a space where psychological safety is high, everyone feels included and the unique talents of all are maximized. Belonging is an innate, human need as critical as our need for food, water and shelter. It has never been more important for us to find a sense of belonging in the world and a refuge in the middle of a chaotic environment.”

People, not boxes
According to May, the importance of Diversity and Inclusion programs continues to grow, particularly among younger workers who want to be recognized for their uniqueness, and refuse to be put into “convenient boxes.”

Many of the principles behind D&I and DE&I—respecting others, recognizing differences, and creating a positive and nurturing environment—have real benefits. A business with a healthier balance of men and women, a mix of ethnic backgrounds, and greater age diversity has been proven to outperform competitors and enjoy better decision-making. These benefits apply to all sectors, including resources, which has been working to challenge misconceptions for years.

Today, practically every type of business is in need of workers, and mining, oil and gas, and related industries are no exception. A 2021 analysis conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) predicts that by 2040, less than 20 years away, Australia’s mining sector will need 29 percent more metallurgists and 21 percent more mining and Geotech engineers than it had in 2020.

First, address the workplace
Far from being an Australia-only problem, the lack of resource sector workers is a worldwide issue.

Just last November, The Mining Association of Canada (MAC)—which has served as the voice of Canada’s mining industry since 1935—posted comments on a draft MAC received of proposed equity, diversity and inclusion protocols. The draft came just six months after mining giant Rio Tinto released its 85-page Report into Workplace Culture at Rio Tinto. (www.riotinto.com/-/media/Content/Documents/Sustainability/People/RT-Everyday-respect-report.pdf?rev=db65caa21e6843508b890790fcc8abc4). In all the years that this writer has covered business and the resource sector, this is the first report that comes with a Content Warning about stories of bullying, sexual harassment, and racism.

Instead of sidelining these issues, the report, to Rio Tinto’s credit, takes them head-on. Engaging Elizabeth Broderick & Co. (EB & Co.) to conduct an external expert review (the Project) of the company’s mining culture as part of its existing Everyday Respect Taskforce (ERT), the purpose of the Project “was to identify workplace challenges such as bullying, sexual harassment, racism and other forms of discrimination; and to make recommendations which could strengthen Rio Tinto’s workplace culture and ensure sustained cultural change.”

In total, 10,303 people were voluntarily surveyed worldwide in 10 different languages, with dozens of written submissions, and group and confidential listening sessions. The report found that mining, a male-dominated sector, is rife with systemic bullying, sexism, racism, and harassment on worksites. Locations in Australia (52 percent) and South Africa (56 percent) “were the most likely to experience this damaging pattern of behaviour.”

Among women, especially younger females 34 and under, reports of sexual harassment were common, with 34.4 percent of women under 25, and 38.7 percent of women 25 to 34, experiencing sexual harassment in the last five years.

Higher rates of sexual harassment were reported among female mine workers in Australia, especially on Fly-in-Fly-Out (FIFO), Drive-in-Drive-Out (DIDO), and residential worksites. Additionally, Rio Tinto workers who identify as LGBTIQ+ also reported “significantly elevated rates” of sexual harassment, racism, and bullying compared to employees who do not identify as LGBTIQ+.

Racism also emerged as a significant issue across many mine sites. Although some employees said that they hadn’t experienced or seen racism in the workplace, others spoke of frequent “negative and persistent experiences,” and how these incidents affected their work performance and self-esteem. Some said that racism and sexism were “normalized” in some parts of the company, “which made it particularly hard for women from Asian, Black North American, African, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Indigenous and First Nations backgrounds to progress.”

Breaking barriers
As the act of making all persons feel welcome is the foundation of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, issues of racism, sexism, bullying, and harassment must also be addressed to foster an open workplace culture. Far from being just an “image problem,” potential workers who associate with marginalized groups are far less likely to apply for jobs where they suspect they will be ridiculed based on their gender or race.

This is especially important today, as the Canadian Mining Labour Market 10-Year Outlook 2020 (/mihr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/MIHR_National_Report_web2.pdf) from the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) forecasts the need to hire about 79,680 workers by 2030, most of them in production.

From mine sites to onshore and offshore oil and gas, DE&I is essential to future success. Challenging conscious and unconscious biases and outdated norms of the past will help recruit new workers, create environments where everyone feels appreciated, and mobilize the energy and strength that comes from many voices in harmony.

The post Putting People First<p class="company">Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Resources</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

During that time, a number of innovations and technology solutions were developed, but this was nonetheless a hard time for the sector, and many solutions faced difficulty being adopted and integrated into mining. Vice President of Business Development and Commercialization Charles Nyabeze feels that there are commercialization service gaps faced by these technologies, as they are translated from a service into a commodity or product of use to the industry. These gaps vary but they have challenges in common, such as a lack of access to capital or a support network that can move the innovation forward.

As Nyabeze says, “It takes an ecosystem to raise up an innovation,” so MICA was created to support such an ecosystem and help close solutions gaps. In its earlier days, the initiative made a case with the government of Canada that, through its investment in MICA, the mining innovation ecosystem could be utilized to create a national network of innovators collaborating to move innovations forward in a meaningful way. This relates to its goal to mobilize Canadian-made technologies, so they can be integrated into mining operations on a local, national, and global level, thereby creating more marketing opportunities for Canadian solutions.

Since last year, MICA has successfully secured six cross-country partners, all of which have been carrying out various network development activities in their areas and working to recruit more members into MICA. These six partners include the Bradshaw Research Initiative for Minerals and Mining in British Columbia, InnoTech Alberta, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, MaRS Discovery District in Ontario, Groupe MISA in Quebec, and College of the North Atlantic in Newfoundland.

MICA now sports close to one hundred members spread across various mining companies, educational institutions, and individual members. It has also gained about one hundred and six technology projects, and eighty-one applications have been submitted for the project application process. The initiative is also engaging in various market activities, including international opportunities, and creating pathways for emerging solutions in Canada to reach the global market.

Nyabeze cites conferences like Digitalization in Mining North America as one of many that MICA has been active in. It also has its own road shows, where Nyabeze and others speak to mining networks about innovation. “We need to get the word out about MICA and continue to raise its profile in the mining industry.”

In informal surveys, MICA has found four distinct areas that are the most important for mining companies and will continue to be areas of focus for the initiative moving forward. The first has to do with the environment which, Nyabeze notes, is inherently affected by mining. There are long-term liabilities associated with mining, so MICA is investing in technology—such as technology for water management and tailing systems—that will help to manage environmental impact.

This environmental focus also includes a social aspect, and MICA works to give mining a good reputation as to how it interacts with the environment. As mining will continue to be under government scrutiny in future, factors like air pollution, soil contamination, and water difficulties will also be important to address.

The second focus area is productivity since efficiency is critical in any mining operation. The type of automation that is used today is especially effective, so MICA wants to constantly increase efficiency to avoid downtime on projects. There is currently a big push to increase mining productivity globally, according to Nyabeze, and this goes along with the introduction of new technology into the market.

Safety is also an issue related to productivity, due to the moving parts in a typical operation, especially with another growing global demand for mining to produce more minerals and metals at a lower cost and in a cleaner fashion. While the current supply chain is ably meeting demand, future demand will no doubt be trickier, an eventuality for which MICA continues to prepare.

Nyabeze, and others in the industry, are looking forward to new technology related to energy—the third focus area—that will allow companies to be less grid-dependent, and one such technology might be small modular nuclear reactors. There is also a movement in mining circles to lessen energy footprints at the same time as applying alternate energy sources to power technology like vehicles and equipment.

“You need the biggest bang for your buck when you blast,” Nyabeze observes, so any new energy source must prove itself before it can hope for widespread use.

The fourth area has to do with smart digital technology. Digitalization is catching on in mining, and the switch away from analog is important, as is the integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence into decision support systems. These technologies will allow mining to be smarter and more responsive.

The call for a greater autonomous technology presence is also creating a desire for necessary communication infrastructure, and communications company Rogers is bringing its 5G network into the mining industry. “Riding the digital wave,” as Nyabeze calls it, will allow mining to take its operational efficiency to the next level.

The biggest block to MICA’s current goals is the availability of capital that can be put into emerging and mature Canadian solutions. Nyabeze notes that the initiative has identified $120 million as its funding need but is only able to allocate around $11.8 million. “The demand for capital is bigger than the supplies we have for it.” Nyabeze believes that Canada is risking leaving amazing technologies on the table that may find a home elsewhere, so capital is necessary to avoid this.

Furthermore, with companies acquiring market innovations, the regulatory environment in which mining operates requires these companies to use proven technologies. This, unfortunately, puts emerging solutions on the back burner. Nyabeze also feels that the connectivity between Canada’s innovation ecosystem and the mining industry is weak, a problem that MICA is working to address so that leading technology is not left out.

The mining sector is going both remote and deep in the future, so it will need the solutions put forth by MICA to be able to handle any difficulties related to this path. By the beginning of 2023, MICA will have made known the projects it will be funding, as well as its next call for proposals. Into 2023, it will be moving with the momentum of its approved projects and getting more ideas into the market for its next call, which will be the allocation of around $18.2 million.

Nyabeze expects that more people will get on board with MICA in the next year and into the future, as the initiative will be looking to increase global mining company knowledge and participation. It will be opening to international membership eventually and is working to build a strong national network of innovators.

“2023, for us, will be a year where we mobilize the innovation ecosystem across the country in a way that has never been done before to assist and grow the mining industry,” Nyabeze asserts.

The post MICA Adds New Partners & Projects to Ongoing Mining Innovation Work<p class="company">Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA)</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Since Resource in Focus Magazine’s feature on BESTECH/FROSKR in 2022, the companies have experienced strong growth and continue to diversify their offerings. BESTECH is currently focusing on an advanced geotechnical model and has taken on several major studies into the efficacy of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). With the support of other disciplines within the company—automation, power, electrical, structural, mechanical, and environmental—it will soon be expanding its international engineering work.

FROSKR President Kati McCartney affirms that the sister company has similarly expanded its client base and capacity in the last year, describing it as a mature startup that is scaling up to support BESTECH. The landscape has changed for the companies in the past twelve months as both look to engage in great projects across multiple industries. BESTECH’s Manager of Mine Engineering Services Lee Weitzel notes that BESTECH is a very well-rounded company with a senior workforce, possessing a depth of knowledge that surpasses many of its competitors.

Weitzel defines mining as a foundational industry that supports society, from cars to housing, products, and more. “If mining stopped tomorrow,” he says, “our civilization would disappear.”

Weitzel and McCartney agree that the public still does not quite understand how integral mining is to everyday life, and it involves far more than just extraction. As McCartney explains, “It’s everything that happens to get the metal out of the ground… and the full supply chain.”

Weitzel feels that a hidden value of mining has to do with how it can combat climate change, an increasing global stressor. The mining industry has a significant role to play through its worldwide extraction and modification of minerals such as cobalt, graphite, and nickel used to make the lithium-ion batteries that are required for battery-operated electric vehicles. Other aspects of this hidden value are the various companies that support mining operations, from technologies to researchers, regulators, human resources, and more, as well as the other industries that help mining function.

Weitzel expands on mining’s role in combating climate change by highlighting the role of BEVs in the mining workspace. These vehicles are part of a step change in the industry, as the challenge has always been to ventilate underground work areas for miners due to unhealthy diesel emissions. Now, by lessening the need for ventilation and using BEVs in these precarious locations, a company can lower electrical costs and add health benefits for its workers while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Mining is heavily involved in developing BEVs, especially as the global conversation around emissions has intensified with initiatives like the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27, held in November 2022. Combatting climate change via such moves as getting global warming to less than 2.5 degrees will not happen without emissions reduction, and every heavy industry must change to meet this goal.

However, the move toward battery power, solar panels, and wind turbines will not be able to happen without mining itself. McCartney also points out that local and global demand for minerals like lithium and nickel has increased by as much as forty percent in the past seven years, doubling the typical demand. This has led to something of a circular conversation, as McCartney sees it. “We need mining to slow climate change, but it can’t be done in the same ways it used to be done.”

Although mining is not a primary emitter—contributing to only about seven percent of global emissions—it is still one of the most energy-intensive industries, so special consideration must be made to how this energy is used for extraction. Using BEVs in mines will eliminate diesel equipment, a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Whether from a health or environmental or workflow standpoint, the overall impact of switching to BEVs makes sense in practically every way.

McCartney also explains that many mining companies today have expectations from both stakeholders and investors to decarbonize, and BEVs are a significant way to accomplish this. At BESTECH, Weitzel’s team shows clients the path to decarbonization that investors expect, so mining companies can make the change in lowering emissions.

Decarbonization efforts in the industry have jumped twofold in the past year alone, and some investors are even divesting from companies that are unwilling to hold these conversations. Investor confidence is critical toward financing battery material projects both in Canada and worldwide, Weitzel stresses. However, the mining industry is still having difficulty meeting greener efforts, resulting in investors turning away. Furthermore, climate change itself is affecting mining operations, especially in remote locations, as environmental changes like ice melting or permafrost are affecting mining infrastructure.

A further challenge for the industry is that workers are retiring and not being replaced in their positions, and mining is stressed by the lack of knowledgeable and experienced people. McCartney sees that much work from both the Ontario Mining Association and the Mining Association of Canada is looking to fill gaps in the industry in the next five to ten years due to spikes in demand. However, there are other gaps in non-traditional skill sets like IT and business that also need to be filled to secure funding for greener mining practices.

Amidst these struggles, mining has seen some crucial victories as well. In the past, huge changes to the sector were driven either by regulators or demand for supply; now, this power has shifted to investors and has emboldened companies to put strong environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) portfolios upfront to charge a premium at a time of high demand.

As an example of a big win for mining, an ongoing project by global natural resource company Glencore that has been ongoing since the 1990s has recently found new life thanks to BEV technology. Now, the project can continue and be viable in areas dangerous to workers, and less cooling and power are needed to do the project at significant depth. This has resulted in hundreds of jobs in the Sudbury area.

Critical mining strategies from the Canadian government continue to drive economic prosperity, enabling the country to assume a position of global leadership. A national push to extract minerals and metals closer to manufacturer locations would also not only keep technology more local but would reduce the reliance on sourcing from poorer global socioeconomic regions or areas with unfavourable regulations.

Looking deeper into 2023, the future looks bright for mining, especially with the acceptance of BEVs. “As BESTECH introduces people to BEVs, it opens up a whole new market of battery-operated mechanics and a whole new opportunity for a generation to try a new trade,” Weitzel affirms, adding that BESTECH will look to continue diversification and take on more international opportunities and projects. Sister company FROSKR will be realigning with partners in mining that are supplying the green economy and strong ESG portfolios through both renewable energy and projects leading away from fossil fuels.

McCartney is also proud that BESTECH and FROSKR are currently in a good position to have more meaningful economic development conversations with Indigenous partners. Changes across the next five years will look at how mining will engage in meaningful and prosperous ways to operate on shared land and learn from past mistakes. Through it all, BESTECH/ FROSKR will look to support emissions reduction and grow capacity to help mining clients of all sizes to feed supply for demand in the market.

As McCartney emphasizes, “We don’t start the conversation about green economy and the transition away from fossil fuels without mining.”

The post Advocating for the Role of Mining in a Greener Tomorrow<p class="company">BESTECH</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Known as a major hub for mining and mine-related industries—and the fourth-largest gold-producing area on the planet—Northeastern Nevada is fast gaining popularity with manufacturers, warehousing and logistics, and many other sectors because of its prime location.

“One of the biggest things we promote is that from a logistics standpoint, our region is dead center in the middle of the Western United States,” says Sheldon Mudd of the Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority (NNRDA). “If a truck is driving 60 miles an hour for 10 hours, it can be in every major metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States west of the Rockies,” he says.

“To us, our positioning seems like a very lucrative asset. We’re centrally located in the western U.S., and from here you have access to 20 to 30 million customers within a day.”

Entering his sixth year as executive director of the NNRDA, Mudd has served as a Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force, worked as a geoscience database administrator, and spent time as a mining industry specialist, possibly the ideal kind of background for someone who leads the development authority.

Stepping stone to success
The State of Nevada is bordered by Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and California, making it perfect for many industries across the United States.

Founded over a decade ago, the NNRDA represents the interests of four counties: Lander, Eureka, Elko (Carlin, Elko, Wells, and West Wendover), and White Pine County (Ely). Both Elko and White Pine’s incorporated cities contribute to the organization.

The mission of the NNRDA remains to encourage and coordinate “the continual, diversified development and economic growth of the Northeastern Nevada region and all its entities,” according to the official website.

Representing 36 percent of the State of Nevada, the enormous footprint of the NNRDA—35,799 square miles to be exact—presents its share of challenges and opportunities. The area is long exempt from certain corporate taxes (under $4 million annual revenue) and many others, making it attractive to businesses. But while the population for the entire region of 80,000, which averages to two people per square mile, is attractive to some, it has its downside.

“We like the idea of big facilities, but there’s not necessarily a huge workforce to support that; to have such facilities we’ll have to rely heavily on automation and things like that,” says Mudd. But while unemployment is extremely low, the area simply doesn’t have enough people to supply companies requiring 500 or more employees.

Bring on the houses
For instance, Northeastern Nevada, like many other communities across America, struggles to keep up with housing and new construction. Working with the State of Nevada, Mudd is aiming for reciprocating licensing so builders can come into the area from neighboring Idaho and Utah to create more housing.

“I think if we had housing stock available we could easily recruit workers from southern Idaho, which is growing exponentially because a lot of Californians are moving into that area, and housing prices are going up,” says Mudd, who hails from Idaho and has himself seen many leave the state because of growing unaffordability.

Creating additional residential property in Nevada would see the NNRDA start a recruiting campaign to bring more people to the area.

Within its existing industries, Northeastern Nevada has many secure, well-paying jobs. Nevada Gold Mines, a joint venture between Barrick and Newmont, is one of the biggest companies and has hundreds of vacancies in their workforce. Additionally, the Ely State Prison near White Pine County is short of staff. Part of the issue is lack of housing near the facility, which is located some nine miles north of Ely.

“It all goes back to housing,” comments Mudd. “If we could put up a thousand houses in my region in the next year—which will never happen, but if it could—then we could start recruiting from outside areas, and would have better opportunities. But as it is, the workforce is a big challenge. I think if we had housing stock here—because we’ve already got the jobs—we could easily recruit from nearby states.”

Working with businesses
A great location, local and state incentives, minimal regulation, affordable land, multiple industrial properties, and support from the NNRDA are just a few reasons companies are seeking out Northeastern Nevada.

“We have more companies on the hook now than we’ve ever had before,” says Mudd, who is in talks with a steel-building manufacturer, a company that does hydrolysis—separating oxygen from water to retain the hydrogen for fuel—a railway tie company, and other manufacturers, including Solmax International Inc.

Based in Varennes, Quebec, Solmax is a global leader in sustainable construction solutions and geosynthetics. It creates high-performance geomembranes for aquaculture, infrastructure, water management, oil and gas, mining, and other sectors. In 2021, the company purchased almost 22 acres at the Northeastern Nevada Regional Railport and should start building a plant this year.

Showing support
Every county, be it Lander, Eureka, Elko, or White Pine, offers something unique. This includes municipal-owned industrial parks to meet the needs of different business types.

Sometimes, communities will sign over acres of developed industrial park land, once projects are built and guarantees are in place, and reduce hookup fees. This is in sharp, welcome contrast to prices in urban areas of a million dollars and more per acre. And unlike major centers, the thresholds for qualifications are far less costly and challenging.

Capital investments for manufacturing are significantly less by millions of dollars, and rural Nevada requires 10 employees, compared to 100 or more in big cities.

Along with its easy-to-navigate and information-packed website, the Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority has other initiatives. These include a small business course called the READY AIM Small Business Primer. Held in various locations around the region, the Small Business Primer covers important subjects, including business plans, licensing, marketing, lending and financing, and more.

About a year ago, the NNRDA took over the reins of Launch Rural Nevada, a program begun at the state level, and amped it up. This marks the fourth annual “entrepreneurial, pitch, education, and networking” event, where small business owners can get advice, discuss accessing capital, and connect with others in a hybrid format. Mudd is excited about the upcoming November 3^{rd program.}

“We hope to continue to enhance our local small business ecosystem, so we can see more investment dollars coming right out of Nevada, instead of necessarily having to recruit business and industry,” he says, “and create more confidence in the local small business space.”

Building a bright future
Along with interest from manufacturers, Mudd is in talks with site selectors for a major carrier handling warehousing and logistics. The company is eyeing Carlin west of Elko, which is nicely placed halfway between Salt Lake City and Reno.

“We’ve got some nibbles from those industries, and we’re hoping to see a lot more because, between logistics and aerospace and defense, those are the best potentials we have in this area,” he says.

The area continues its work with MineConnect—Ontario’s Mining Supply and Services Association—and is looking forward to a trade mission coming from Northern Ontario to Nevada in the spring to see what partnerships can be developed between local companies and underground mining equipment in Northern Ontario.

When asked about the future of his role in economic development, Mudd’s confident response is not what one might expect. “One thing I’ve always said is that my personal goal with this organization is to work it out of business. What I mean by that is, I want economic development to happen organically in this area to such a degree that we are no longer needed.”

Naturally, people ask Mudd if he’s really trying to work himself out of a job. His reply: there are plenty of businesses he can be part of. What he doesn’t like to see is economic development organizations in communities that frankly don’t need them, and serve more as a placeholder than anything else. “That’s my personal opinion, and that’s not what I want to be. We are here to do a job, and I want to do it well enough that, eventually, we’re no longer needed.”

The post Big Area, Big Advantages, Big Ambitions<p class="company">Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Founded in 2016, the Calgary-based company has evolved from the nearly forty years of experience of its sister company, the Lorrnel Group. (The Lorrnel Group is a regulatory project-planning consultant that provides specialized solutions including pre- and post-construction services to oil, gas, forestry, aggregates, and local municipalities.)

AERIUM Analytics is the coming together of a team of subject matter experts in machine learning, computer vision, software development, remote sensing, geomatics, engineering, regulatory compliance, environmental sciences, GIS, and business operations to rethink how complex operations and environments are managed.

“Drones are not an industry, but a disruptive technology across multiple industries,” says President and CEO Jordan Cicoria. “The opportunities lie in using existing technology in new and creative ways to increase safety, decrease dependence on fossil fuels, and help modernize processes that have been around a long time.”

AERIUM Analytics develops industry-specific operations and wildlife management solutions for airports, mining operations, and other large industrial sites like tailing ponds for oil and gas operations. In these applications, drones can easily replace manual or carbon-intensive processes to save lives and money and protect biodiversity and the environment.

The company’s reputation is founded on operating in highly regulated industries with strict compliance in complex and ever-changing environments where it’s not afraid to ask, “How do you safely and effectively create programs to mitigate those risks and use these tools to the best of their abilities, across industries and applications?”

What is RoBird®?
One of AERIUM Analytics’ most revolutionary offerings is RoBird®, a proprietary wildlife management technology and bird mitigation tool. It’s designed as a flapping wing drone without propellers and acts as a deterrent to birds and wildlife.

According to Cicoria, RoBird® can be deployed “anywhere there is what we call a negative human-bird interaction. It mimics a female peregrine falcon.” This falcon is an apex predator feared for its prowess in hunting.

RoBird® is a safe and humane way to reduce bird populations in industrial settings and complex environments. It’s an effective and immediate solution to dispersing wildlife, but it’s also a long-term solution as it has been proved that with consistent operation, fewer birds return to these areas of operation.

Airports and aviation
Typically, drones are a nuisance for airports. In 2018, drone sightings caused the closure of Gatwick Airport in the UK just days before Christmas, during an extremely busy travel window, making it the most serious disruption at the airport since the Iceland volcano eruption in 2010.

As a pioneer in the RPAS space, particularly in airport management and regulatory compliance applications, AERIUM Analytics has performed over 2,500 flights at major airports across North America. The company conducts inspections of airport runways and perimeter security, replacing conventional methods, which consume much in the way of time, labour, and fossil fuels, and are costly and inaccurate by comparison.

By deploying drone technology, equipped with its next-generation, real-time detection software for foreign object debris (FOD) in place of physical inspections and traditional bird control and mitigation techniques, AERIUM Analytics can reduce emissions, aircraft damage, insurance claims, delays and downtime, protect biodiversity, and improve safety outcomes for birds and humans alike.

In 2019, there were approximately 20,000 reported bird-strike incidents in Canada and the U.S. and over 200,000 wildlife strikes with civil aircraft reported between 1990 and 2020. Between 2016 and 2021, RoBird® reduced bird strikes at Edmonton International Airport by 50 percent. In the first year of its operation at Grand Forks International Airport, there was a 67 percent reduction. 2021 saw an additional 50 percent reduction.

Further, the removal of inspection vehicles alone generates a saving in emissions equal to the annual electricity use of fifty-five homes. The reduced reliance on inspection aircraft eliminates the equivalent of up to ten million litres of jet fuel or the equivalent of 16,000 homes’ electricity usage. By securing even ten percent of the global airport market, AERIUM Analytics can remove 8,500 vehicles from service.

Energy and mining
AERIUM Analytics has also asserted itself as a valuable player in the energy sector, supporting bird deterrence and mine remediation activities by leveraging RPAS-derived mapping and through the delivery of wildlife management strategies.

Tailing ponds are attractive to migratory bird species as stopover points, and as such, they cause thousands of bird fatalities each year which threaten biodiversity and result in millions of dollars in fines. In over 4,000 deployments over four years, RoBird®’s dispersal encounters have effectively hazed wildlife in the measured zones away from the water, ground, and perch areas.

In a case study of a Northern Albertan tailing ponds site, RoBird®, in year one of its deployment, achieved a 75 percent reduction of bird mortalities, followed by a further 85 percent reduction the following year. That’s good for the environment, biodiversity, a company’s reputation and the bottom line.

Military and defence analytics
Data is an important aspect of military and defence operations, and AERIUM Analytics has partnered with the sector to collect and utilize data to identify security threats and inform strategic planning and coordination efforts.

Specifically, AERIUM Analytics is working with its partners on Project SkySensus, which is led by Arcfield Canada in partnership with Canadian UAVs, BVLOS InC and Foremost UAS Range, to research, develop and commercialize Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) technology in unmanned systems, and related hardware and software developments for application to the RPAS industry, its operational standards and training.

Project SkySensus research and development is growing AERIUM Analytics’ capacity to combine and compile terabytes of geospatial information and analyze and report this information in a more scalable and manageable fashion, doing so in a fraction of the time that conventional methods take.

Construction, forestry, and more
AERIUM Analytics is a national leader in the innovative utilization and integration of RPAS across industries, including the construction and forestry sectors. Its team of advanced pilots, geomatics professionals, and surveyors safely acquire data and ensure that deliverables are accurate, repeatable, and auditable.

Specific to forestry, AERIUM Analytics merges airborne LiDAR and photogrammetry with terrestrial LiDAR and conventional survey and has developed accurate and repeatable methodologies for fibre volumetric measurements, regrowth, site monitoring, road and infrastructure development, and maintenance.

What the future holds
With nothing but positive results and promise, AERIUM Analytics is looking to expand its reach and impact around the globe. The strategy to do that, however, has changed a bit in light of the global pandemic.

“We had just purchased the worldwide rights and IP to RoBird® in February 2020, right before the pandemic hit, so the plan was to start this back then. However, during the pandemic, we were able to solidify our work with our airport clients and were able to begin our penetration into the mining and energy industries. The pandemic made us realize that managing a global workforce would be more challenging than originally planned,” says Cicoria.

Since the goal was to take its services global, AERIUM Analytics has focused on growing its relationships in the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia, to expand its airport service operations (FOD and runway markings analysis) through a SaaS model, while also deploying 900 RoBird® devices in a hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) model over the next five years.

AERIUM Analytics will continue to offer service for complex pieces that are not able to be outsourced. As Cicoria explains, “We are going to be putting our tools in the hands of trusted partners to help expand the geographic reach even further.” This includes training, maintenance, and safety auditing to support its partners and ensure the quality and performance of service delivery.

The reason for this, Cicoria notes, is that “Having people all over the world just doesn’t make sense anymore, especially in a post-pandemic world. So it’s not out of necessity, but out of opportunity that we are looking at this transition, this pivot into producing solutions and technology, processes and expertise.”

Cleaner fuels
Another major focus for the future is hydrogen. As a green technology solutions provider, AERIUM Analytics is invested in the industry, particularly with its support for partners in the transition to carbon neutrality.

For Cicoria, “It’s kind of two-fold: first and foremost, we look at ourselves as a parallel or peripheral technology in the sense that we accomplish a lot of the same goals as what is happening in hydrogen. It’s all about the reduction of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions.”

AERIUM Analytics and its partners are looking at how they can collaboratively support the transition to hydrogen and how drone technology can assist these efforts, as well as how drone technology can leverage hydrogen as a fuel source to improve length of flight and facilitate the use of heavier, larger drones with more sensors onboard.

As a market leader committed to continuous improvement and innovation, AERIUM Analytics was an attendee at the Canadian Hydrogen Convention which was a perfect opportunity to showcase its offerings and find out how best to be part of the collective solution in transitioning away from fossil fuels.

“Half the challenge is just getting people in a room to think about new ways of doing things and what exists and how to do it. We’re a very small piece of a very big global challenge. We’re happy with our role in that but it’s about how we’re going to accomplish these goals together,” says Cicoria of AERIUM Analytics’ commitment to advancing clean fuels and technologies across industries and sectors.

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