The Best Western convention centre was packed as many from around the mining industry converged on North Bay as part of Mining Week which will wrap up on Friday.
The future of mining was a key focus on this day as Past President of the Canadian Institute for Mining (CIM) addressed the large crowd Wednesday afternoon during a luncheon.
Michael Winship, who finished his term as president last week, talked about the challenges for mining and how the industry is looking at past trends and how important innovation is to the success of the up and down industry.
Winship says the industry continues to work on becoming safer and says mining has become a safer industry compared to both forestry and construction, which is a positive sign.
“Unfortunately fatalities are a reality and we want to continue to find ways to avoid critical injuries on the job,” said Winship.
He says the industry is working hard to try and create more diversity in the work force and he believes mining is under represented by women but insists the industry is becoming a leader in hiring First Nations workers.
“We need to make it easier for people other than middle-aged white people," said Winship about trying to create more hiring diversity.
While the industry has seen some improvement, there are still many challenges ahead.
“You see that taxes and royalties increase, while commodity prices and exploration success has dropped,” admitted Winship.
“There have not been many big discoveries in Canada recently and productivity is down.”
That’s why the Ring of Fire project - thought of as the next big Canadian mining project - is so important for the industry.
The Ring of Fire will be a hot topic on Friday as mining leaders and politicians will discuss the controversial issue during Friday’s deliberations finishing off with a session called “Spark the Fire,” which is expected to be an engaging debate about the future of the Ring of Fire project.
Former Ontario Premier Bob Rae was in attendance as the keynote speaker during a luncheon prior to the Spark the Fire event.
