Douglas Morrison, president and CEO of the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation in Sudbury, says he is pleased that the federal budget included funding for technologies that would improve the mining industry. The budget, released Nov. 5, included $2.3 billion in new money and tax incentives targeted at Canada’s mining and critical minerals sector. The budget also included $424.4 million over four years for the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy and it specifically mentioned NORCAT in Sudbury. The Canadian government plans to spend $4.5 million to help the facility expand its underground innovation centre, giving companies a place to develop and test technologies. It’s all great news for CEMI, which helps move mining-related research into market-ready solutions. CEMI has several partners across the country, including the Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator. “For decades as a country, we’ve invested heavily in research and development, but much less investment in innovation and commercialization,” said Morrison. He said technologies developed in Canada need to be commercialized here. Otherwise, the country will lose out if these companies look elsewhere for investment. Morrison said that, across the globe, mines are searching for solutions to improve productivity. Canada can help. “Making investors more aware of the kinds of technologies that are being developed will actually enhance the development of mineral resources around the world,” he said. “It’s actually to our benefit … to seek to export that technology to other countries to accelerate the rate of mineral development around the world. And that’s what we hope to do.” It’s one of the reasons Morrison wanted to join the board of directors of the Critical Minerals Institute, a global think tank and hub for the critical minerals ecosystem. Experts from around the world Board members are experts from around the world. “We need to begin to invest in making sure that the innovations that are developed here are commercialized in Canada and then can be exported to the benefit of Canada around the world,” he added. Canada is recognized by experts around the globe as a major innovator, but Morrison said the last major transition in the industry was 45 years ago. “That was initiated in Sudbury … by Inco Ltd. and it changed the face of underground mining around the world.” But Morrison said the mining industry is still using technology platforms for ore production and mine waste management from the 1980s. “There’s no other sector of the economy that’s relying on 40-year-old technology platforms for its future success,” he said, adding there’s a huge transition that must take place if a new, lower-carbon economy is to be achieved. “Expansion of road networks, expansion of power corridors, these are all desperately important for the north, and therefore for the ability of Canada to develop mineral resources in the north,” he added. Morrison said mining companies are looking for solutions for how to change the way they manage tailings and waste management, how they can regulate temperature as they dig deeper underground, and automation.
