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Dec 19, 2023

This year's Canadian Mining Expo has 'new buzz', says Ontario mines minister

On this 30th anniversary year, the Canadian Mining Expo in Timmins is bigger

On this 30th anniversary year, the Canadian Mining Expo in Timmins is bigger than ever. It features four-hundred displays and thousands of people from around the world.

At the official opening, Ontario mines minister George Pirie said the show has a different buzz, with Ontario moving into the global electric vehicle revolution, which the region is at the heart of mining the necessary minerals. He says one mining equipment dealer told him they can't keep electric mining equipment on the shelves.

"They can't keep it on the shelves," Pirie reiterated "And that's the way this industry is going and the major corporations, they’re moving into this full bore. And it's fine to say you can't be green without mining, but it's also the way we mine."

Pirie says companies such as Newmont mine deep underground and the air there is clean.

The minister went on to say that his government's critical mineral strategy is going after the minerals that power all electric vehicles and equipment.

He spoke of the environmental benefit, and how the strategy is building a new provincial economy.

"We are building the communities both in Southern Ontario, Northern Ontario and the indigenous communities."

Pirie says we’ve left the era of Northern Ontario populations declining, and mining the fuels of tomorrow shows signs of the populations rebounding.