Industry leaders look to strengthen future of Saskatchewan’s mining sector

Industry leaders from across the province gathered on Wednesday as Saskatchewan’s largest mining conference gets underway. Hallee Mandryk reports.

Nearly 3,000 people representing the province’s mining sector were under on roof at the 18th annual Saskatchewan Mining and Supply Chain Forum.

“I think just the relationships, the mining community is very small. When I say the mining, I mean the suppliers and the mining companies together because everybody works together to identify solutions to problems and the relationships that are built at places like the Mining Supply Chain Forum that really help our industry be more globally competitive,” Pam Schwann, president of the Saskatchewan Mining Association said.

This year marked an all-time record for attendance and saw the most vendors compared to previous years, with 380 trade show booths. Schwann said the mining industry in the province is seeing a lot of success at the moment.

“Saskatchewan leads Canada in the amount of capital expenditures in mining. So, we have more mining investment in Saskatchewan, close to $7 billion more this year than Ontario, than Quebec, than B.C. So, Saskatchewan is where it’s at for mining right now and that’s another reason we’ve seen the success of this event,” Schwann said.

• Get the latest news from Saskatoon, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

As the industry continues to grow, so does the demand for workers. Schwann shared that across the globe, there is a steadily growing demand for a variety of roles within the mining sector.

“We need a skilled workforce, particularly trades, industrial millwrights, industrial electricians, particularly in specific engineering areas. Engineers, geological engineers, nuclear engineers, the University of Saskatchewan is going to be really important in that capacity. But the real crunch is on the skilled trades right now,” Schwann said.

While those at the forum spoke to the current success the mining industry is seeing, the vice president of mining and operational excellence for Cameco, Dale Clark, said that it’s far from just luck. Many of those in attendance have seen the ebbs and flows that the industry has experienced, and now folks are using that experience to create more security as they build toward the future.

“The market hasn’t always been as hot as it is today. So that takes time. It takes time to ramp up processing people and equipment. So really, a lot of our attention is focused on preparing the people and the equipment to be able to operate reliably well into the future,” Clark said.

Clark said while concerns about meeting the workforce demand are top of mind for many, the future is still looking bright for Saskatchewan’s mining sector, so long as the challenges are addressed early.

“We see the increasing demand. It’s there, and the supply needs to come along with it. Saskatchewan has amazing resources and uranium deposits available to help meet that in a safe, reliable, secure way. But we need to prepare them and to prepare our future assets. It takes a lot of time. So we need to prepare today to be ready to meet the demand in the 2030s and 2040s,” Clark said.