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.

The Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority (NNRDA) was founded a decade ago as an initiative of Moving Nevada Forward: A plan for Excellence in Economic Development 2012-2014, the state’s economic development plan. The NNRDA represents Lander County, Eureka County, Elko County, and White Pine County.

Comprising public and private members who are integral to the future of Northeastern Nevada, the NNRDA’s footprint encompasses a massive area of almost 40,000 square miles, representing 36 percent of the state.

Essentially a private/public partnership, NNRDA members are from the four represented counties, which include five communities within those counties who are members. On the private side, members include leaders in mining, hemp farms, hospitals, and other large-scale enterprises, while community partners include local chambers of commerce and similar groups.

Regardless of status, all members are important to building the area’s economic growth and sustainability.

Known for its mining, Northeastern Nevada remains the fourth-largest gold-producing area in the world.

Exempt from many taxes – including corporate (under $4 million annual revenue), and without personal, state, warehousing, inventory, or franchise taxes – the area is almost “recession-proof,” putting Northeastern Nevada in an ideal position for economic growth and prosperity, says Sheldon Mudd, Executive Director of the NNRDA since 2017.

While mining remains king in the area, Nevada is also known for its rich agricultural heritage. The state produces everything from livestock to crops that include alfalfa, corn, oats, and barley.

“We still try to maintain and take care of those industries the best we can. But to piggyback off of those, two of our target industries are directly related: value-added mining, and value-added agriculture,” says Mudd.

With value-added mining, almost all resources mined locally leave the state for further processing, something the NNRDA is trying to change. This is especially important, with lithium being mined nearby, and a vanadium mine getting ready to come online in the region. Since both elements are used in batteries powering electric vehicles (EVs), demand will increase as EVs become more commonplace.

The goal is to have these products and many others, including agricultural goods, refined, utilized, or manufactured in the State of Nevada, not elsewhere, so jobs are created and money goes back into local economies.

Making this even more vital is the recent creation of a large industrial hemp farm, with raw product being shipped elsewhere for additional processing.

To address the issue, Mudd and the NNRDA are speaking to related businesses and encouraging them to set up manufacturing in Northeastern Nevada. This includes speaking to mattress makers and building material companies who utilize hemp in their production to encourage them to manufacture products locally, as well as to livestock slaughterhouses and beef processing plants.

“What we are looking for is anything we can do to essentially have an end product before it leaves the state,” says Mudd. “To complement our existing industries, we term it value-added agriculture or value-added mining.”

For companies, setting up processing or manufacturing facilities in the area is a win-win, since it means being closer to resources and having lower costs for transportation.

The NNRDA is focused on other industries, too, including warehousing/distribution and logistics. Located in the middle of the Western United States, transportation is readily accessible via main and business routes such as the US-93 and I-80 BL.

From a base in the region, a truck traveling 60 miles an hour (96 km/h) can be in any major metropolitan service area in the Western United States within just 10 hours, including Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, or Portland.

Other sectors focused on by the NNRDA include aerospace and defense. Located in San Diego since the late 1960s, the elite TOPGUN program – a nickname for the Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program (SFTI) – was relocated to the Naval Air Station Fallon (NAS Fallon) in Western Nevada in the 1990s.

For many years, starting in 1951 and continuing until 1992, parts of Nevada were used as nuclear testing grounds by the U.S. government. The state is also home to the highly classified Area 51 airbase, used for the development and testing of state-of-the-art aircraft and weapons technologies.

But although the state has a long history of aerospace and defense, none of it is in Northeastern Nevada, something the NNRDA is working to change.

“We want to see more of that happen here for two reasons,” says Mudd. “Number one is we have a vast amount of land that’s wide open and free, and the second reason is that because of this, security measures can be maintained far easier out here. You put somebody out in the middle of nowhere testing equipment or planes, the chances that somebody’s going to stumble upon them – or that a housing development is going to go up next to them – is highly unlikely. So we are trying to target aerospace and defense as well.”

Currently, 87 percent of Nevada is actually federal land belonging to the U.S. government. Nearby Lander County is looking to change that, and have lands transferred so they can be used for car testing.

This was motivated by the area’s Battle Mountain playing host to the World Human Powered Speed Challenge (WHPSC), which featured recumbent riders reaching jaw-dropping speeds of almost 90 mph (about 145 km/h).

For the NNRDA, being recently designated an Economic Development District by the Economic Development Administration means access to greater funding, along with infrastructure and development opportunities.

Moving forward, some of the Authority’s biggest goals include infrastructure projects, increasing access to existing rail, making natural gas more available, and increasing power infrastructure. Just last year alone, the NNRDA responded to about 50 requests for information from interested businesses.

“Our number one goal is trying to bolster our infrastructure so that we have the capacity to meet the demands of companies who are calling us,” says Mudd. “A lot of manufacturers that come to us have larger power demands, anywhere from 5 MW to 20 MW, and our small power companies are not always able to offer that, so we have to bolster our power.”

Together with increasing power requirements, Northeastern Nevada is facing challenges with housing. Recently, Mudd emailed officials saying that if they can get a thousand homes in their area, housing prices would be taken care of for the next two to three years; in larger centers like Las Vegas, a thousand additional homes would barely have an impact. “People want to move to Northeastern Nevada because it’s very outdoorsy and Wild West, with traditional American values – but they simply don’t have a place to live.”

Although the area’s development was based on gold, Mudd and the team at the NNRDA realize times are changing, and the area cannot continue to rely on a single industry, especially one that is not renewable and will inevitably run out.

Embracing diversification of other economic industries and establishing and encouraging companies of 50 to 100 employees apiece, is the key to future success. “We know the future is automated and digital, and we are trying to bolster that.”

The post Good as Gold and Getting Better<p class="company">Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Originally known as the Sudbury Area Mining Supply & Service Association (SAMSSA), the not-for-profit association underwent a rebranding in 2020, changing its name and logo to its new “MineConnect” identity. With a strong presence, it made sense for MineConnect, now the voice of Ontario’s mining sector, to look to its neighbours in the south for the benefit of both countries. Seeing similarities and growth opportunities between mining in Sudbury and Nevada – one of the world leaders in mining gold, silver, and lithium – MineConnect USA was launched in October 2021.

Contracted by the Northern Ontario Exports Program through Ontario’s North Economic Development Corporation (ONEDC, which comprises Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins, North Bay, and Thunder Bay), MineConnect USA is managed on their behalf.

Working to promote economic development partnerships across Northern Ontario including mining supply and service, MineConnect established a legal body in the United States. Using the tagline “Ontario’s Mining Supply & Services Association. In Nevada,” an office was established in Elko. The main city of the Elko Micropolitan Statistical Area, its economy, spearheaded by gold mining, is legendary.

Led by Strategic Development Director Sheena Hansen, the Elko location of MineConnect serves as a legal presence for banking and other services. Hansen’s role is to help mining’s service-and-supply companies make inroads in the market and assist them with their presence at trade shows or B2B meetings.

“Sheena works with the companies to identify what their goals are for the Nevada market, and what their best bet is based on their products and services. This includes what’s lacking in the market, and the best approach for what they’re trying to achieve. She helps guide that process,” says MineConnect Executive Director Marla Tremblay.

Essentially, it’s about connecting to the right opportunities, opening doors, and making the process of Canadian companies doing business in Nevada much easier and more streamlined.

Instead of having to rent a location in Nevada, Canadian businesses have office space ready-leased at the Shared Business Center (SBC, formerly under Barrick Gold), with boardrooms and desks, providing a Nevada address so they can bid on projects and a suitable venue to meet with prospects.

“The purpose of the pilot project is to represent a cluster of northern Ontario mines and side companies,” says Trembley. Although the schedule was pushed back because of COVID, the goal is to have a minimum of 20 Northern Ontario companies in the program.

The first year saw a good number of mining supply and service companies apply. These businesses were evaluated, not only by Northern Ontario counterparts and stakeholders but also by representatives from Nevada, to ensure that selected companies would fill gaps rather than duplicate existing mining supply and services from local companies.

In MineConnect’s first year it has selected a cluster of 10 companies to make inroads into the Nevada market. The aim is to give these Northern Ontario businesses a soft landing and help them not only sell to the American market but find opportunities for expansion.

For some, this means finding a partner in the U.S. for their mutual benefit. Others may be looking for a local distributor and forming a relationship, which is much easier when a company has a base in Nevada. Some businesses are seeking to open a storefront in Elko, using the opportunity with MineConnect to test the market.

And if these mining-related companies determine over a year that there isn’t a market for them, the program will still be a success, since these companies weren’t required to invest huge amounts of money and energy.

“It mitigates the risk,” says Tremblay. “If it doesn’t make sense for them, this is an easy way to figure it out. And then they’re out, and we bring in a new company.”

Due soon to begin the second round of applications, MineConnect aims to have them completed in June for a start in fall, 2022.

When discussing MineConnect, Sheldon Mudd has high praise for Paul Bradette. A respected trade and investment specialist at the Ontario Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, Bradette originally served as Executive Director. The concept for MineConnect came out of conversations between Nevada and Bradette in 2015, with the concept fully defined by 2017.

“Paul’s end was to expand Northern Ontario business into the Nevada market, to help with their export programs and so forth,” says Mudd, Executive Director of the decade-old Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority (NNRDA), which represents Lander County, Eureka County, Elko County, and White Pine County. “From my end, it was a matter of simply getting supply chain products and essentially offering them locally.”

Visiting the Sudbury mining district – known as the Ring of Fire – Mudd was taken by the number of manufacturers and service providers available in the area. “And I couldn’t believe that we, being one of the largest and most profitable mining districts in the world, did not have that level of support right here in Northeastern Nevada,” he says.

“We’ve got great manufacturers and great service providers, but it was not anywhere near the level I saw there. And so my primary goal was to essentially define what we were missing in the area, what the gaps were, and then try to recruit companies to fill the gaps because, quite frankly, we’re missing a lot and have to procure products from a long way away. Any time we do that, of course, the money leaves a state and we don’t get it back.”

Discussions between Mudd and Bradette made both men realize that MineConnect would be a win-win for both Northern Ontario and Nevada. To ensure that local businesses in Northeastern Nevada would not be negatively affected by potential competition, a policy was instituted within MineConnect to identify gaps, rather than duplicating existing supplies and services.

“So, by filling these gaps and getting these companies in here creating more jobs, that would actually support the local small businesses and local providers, because every person comes into Nevada places to eat, shop, get automotive care, and so forth,” says Mudd.

With the framework together and grant money allocated, the original goal was to launch MineConnect in the fall of 2020 at the MINExpo International in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, COVID hit, and everything was delayed until the spring of 2021 when the border slowly began re-opening.

To date, participation in the program has been overwhelming.

One reason, says Mudd, is increased efficiencies. If a Nevada mine operator can procure equipment in days from a Canadian instead of weeks or months, they have much less downtime and are more productive.

On the Canadian side, businesses benefit from having a local presence in Nevada’s vibrant mining community, and some of the money remains in Canada. Additionally, shipping costs and delays at customs are virtually eliminated.

As for the future of MineConnect, Mudd and Tremblay hope the business incubator will see at least 10 companies going through the process and setting up a presence in Nevada every year.

“Our goal is at least an 80 percent success rate, and I’m hoping the mining industry here in Nevada sees this as a beneficial tool for supply chain and service procurement,” says Mudd. “I hope the Canadian businesses who are participating see this as a useful option and opportunity to gauge and enter the Nevada market. And so I just hope this becomes a continual, steadily operating organization until we get to a point where we’ve essentially recruited all the people that we need to ensure our mining industry stays operational. And that, by then, every business in the Sudbury basin has looked at it, tried it, either been successful or determined Nevada is not a good market for them. And I hope it continues to operate steadily so that at some point it’s determined it’s not needed anymore.”

The post Mastering Mining and Building Bridges<p class="company">MineConnect USA</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Headquartered in mineral-rich Sudbury, Ontario, Jannatec Technologies has made a name for itself with mining companies in Ontario and across Canada, and will soon be doing the same in the United States through its association with MineConnect.

A long-time member of MineConnect – the voice of Ontario’s mining supply sector – Jannatec has established wide-ranging business relationships through its ties with the association. MineConnect was known as the Sudbury Area Mining Supply & Service Association (SAMSSA) until it underwent a rebranding.

Recently, the association decided to set up MineConnect USA. Based in the world-famous gold mining city of Elko, Nevada, MineConnect USA, together with MineConnect, will keep advancing the important role its members play in this vital sector.

“We were eager to participate,” says Mark Burnett, Jannatec project manager, of the decision to be part of MineConnect USA. “The opportunity to grow our business in that area is really exciting.”

For Jannatec, the new U.S. location means the Ontario company will have a local presence and the ability to provide services and generate business in the Elko and Nevada area.

“We see no reason why our products can’t work in a state and mining area like Nevada, which is similar to Ontario in the number and diversity of its mines. There are still a lot of mines that aren’t in the 5G or LTE Wi-Fi area, who still use old-school, leaky-feeder communications underground.”

Unique products

Established in Sudbury in 1983, the company is led by Chief Executive Officer Wayne Ablitt, one of the founders.

With a handful of employees, Jannatec Technologies began applying its knowledge of radio communications to mining applications. This started with the company’s first product, the Johnny Light, a combination lamp and radio made rugged for the mining industry.

Later versions saw other technologies incorporated into the product. Through innovative design, Jannatec eliminated the need for individual radios, tags for tracking, and assorted other devices to be lugged underground by miners by continuing to incorporate these into one single device.

“We’ve become experts in incorporating many devices into one, so miners are not carrying multiple devices and they can’t lose them,” says Burnett.

Burnett notes that cap lamps are mandatory for underground mining. Ruggedly designed, Jannatec’s product line today includes The ONE Cap Lamp, the TWO GO Cap Lamp, the Johnny Light Series Radio Cap Lamp, and the ENSO Generation 1 Smart Helmet, the JAWS Proximity Detection application, the SCAS Collision Avoidance system, portable and mobile radios, and more.

Unlike anything else on the market, the ENSO Generation 1 Smart Helmet is customizable, comes in different colours, and can be equipped with high visibility LED lights for superior visibility, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tagging, SENA Industrial’s hands-free Mesh communications and rechargeable batteries. Future versions will incorporate a camera where images and video can be transferred via USB to a computer or streamed live depending on available infrastructure, enabling operations to have the capabilities of a ‘connected worker.’

Communications and safety

To make its products, Jannatec continues working with industry giant Motorola, using its high-quality radio components. In the 2010s, Jannatec began expanding its offerings, moving from communications and technology to proximity detection technologies, and is now moving forward with collision avoidance, which has become an increasingly talked about requirement.

“I think a lot of people when they hear the name ‘Jannatec’ might think we are a communications company – but a larger part of our company now is safety,” says Burnett. “We are more of a safety company than a communications company, especially now that we have proximity detection and offer collision-avoidance systems. The things we offer take advantage of communications but also provide a much safer work environment.”

As safety becomes a bigger part of the mining industry, so do devices made to protect people and machinery. Demand for these systems has resulted in Jannatec creating new and innovative projects like JAWS, the Jannatec Advanced Warning System.

Attached to personnel, fixed hazards, and below-ground vehicles, JAWS uses a radio frequency transceiver to detect potential hazards and issue warnings, helping prevent accidents before they happen by enhancing worker and operator awareness. Since it operates as a standalone system, JAWS does not need any external infrastructure or power to function like a leaky feeder system (a standard underground communications system).

Ideal for underground and open-pit mining, the newly available SCAS (collision avoidance) system is also ideal for other applications, including improving safety and productivity in rail yards, warehouses, shipping yards, and many other areas where people and machinery work in close proximity.

The SCASII Collision Avoidance System, developed by sister company Schauenburg Systems out of South Africa – where collision avoidance is mandated – is becoming a very hot topic of conversation at many operations and Jannatec is already in the process of providing demonstrations to both surface and underground mining operations.

With safety becoming a bigger part of mining, companies, often industry giants like Vale – which has had a presence in Sudbury for over a century – have bought into the company’s proximity detection system. By partnering with Schauenburg Systems, Jannatec has increased its potential client base tenfold, since it can now provide safety systems for both surface and underground applications.

Despite considerable competition in the proximity detection and collision avoidance arena, Jannatec’s system boasts many advantages, since it suits virtually any operation.

“Our future is looking really bright in terms of what we can offer,” says Burnett. “It’s just a matter of getting out there, getting those leads coming in the door, talking to people about our solutions, and showing what our product can do.”

Safety, the flexible way

Recognizing that not every mining company has the same equipment or budget, Jannatec’s proximity detection and collision avoidance systems are flexible. Collision avoidance is costly, but it doesn’t mean it has to be implemented in one fell swoop. Clients can put in a proximity detection system and slowly build on it as needed, depending on the size of their fleet, their budget and any mandated timelines set by management.

“Depending on our clients, we look at their budgets, and what their plans are,” says Burnett. “Having a long-term relationship is what we’re looking for with all our clients. There’s so much variability in what the equipment is at the mine that we are the company which can go in and say, ‘whatever you have, we can put this system on it.’”

Opening new areas

With about 95 percent of its business in mining, Jannatec’s position in the sector is secured.

Nevertheless, refusing to sit still, the company is active in other areas, including construction and industrial communications, where the activities are ideally suited to “Smart Helmet” use.

“Part of our plan for growth is to extend our vertical markets in those areas,” says Burnett, adding that the company’s industrial line of communications is a natural for factories, manufacturing plants, and other facilities where workers can talk to one another without actually being linked to any type of network.

Since the company is in the business of safety and technology, Jannatec’s senior management keep their fingers on the pulse of new developments through LinkedIn, various publications, direct discussion with communication giants like Motorola and Ericsson and more importantly, by continuing to discuss the ever-changing needs of the mining industry with their clients.

With a relatively small staff of about 22, including an R&D department that works on software and a service team performing repairs, Jannatec has diversified itself accordingly with companies bringing in 4G, 5G, and other technologies. “We are always looking at how we can change and readjust our focus to make sure we are where our clients need us to be,” says Burnett.

As for many other companies, finding qualified staff is challenging. For Jannatec, this is especially true because of its location and the unique nature of its technology. “Not a lot of people know what leaky feeder communications systems are, or how to work with them and install and maintain them, so we train people from scratch,” Burnett says.

Loyal to its Sudbury roots, Jannatec’s radio lamps and proximity detection systems are in virtually every area mine. Not limiting itself to Ontario, the company also has clients in Manitoba, Nunavut, British Columbia and Labrador’s Voisey’s Bay. No matter the location, Jannatec professionally serves all customers, big and small.

“The big key that we stress with clients is that we are not looking to get a customer for one sale. If I get you as a client, my goal is to keep you forever. I don’t want to sell something to you and just walk away next year.

“I want to plan and see what you need next year and for the next five or ten years. We help clients plan their communications and their safety.”

The post Safety Matters<p class="company">Jannatec Technologies</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.