THUNDER BAY -- Despite a slow recovery in the mining cycle, existing projects throughout Northwestern Ontario are renewing their commitments and the city is leveraging its position as an industry hub.
Thunder Bay Economic Development Commission mining services project manager John Mason noticed surging attendance at last week's Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention and with it, he saw renewed hope.
Mason pointed to Goldcorp's Musselwhite office operations, which have recently relocated to Thunder Bay. That complements the 28 per cent of the mine's staff that Mason estimates lives in the city. Goldcorp not only recovered profitability in the last quarter of 2016 but is reinvesting another $90 million in Musselwhite.
Mason anticipates it will mean more traffic through Thunder Bay's airport and the potential for business development.
"A lot of it is a cost piece so they don't have to fly people from the site repeatedly," he said. "They want to illustrate how they're such a strong employer and part of the fabric of Northwestern Ontario."
Gold's growth showed promise when it began rising from $1,130.80 per ounce in December but the rise in its value hasn't been consistent or as great as producers need it to be to attract surging investment. It closed at $1,222.40 per ounce on Wednesday
The metal's price is expected to rise slowly over the next year, however, Goldcorp isn't the only company digging deeper. Barrick Gold announced this week that the life of its Williams Mine near Marathon could see another 10 years of operation instead of the anticipated five.
While gold is still the region's rock, other market trends encourage Mason's optimism over regional development and Thunder Bay's role as its business base camp.
Palladium, for example, has risen from a low of $615.50 per ounce in October 2016 to $745 per ounce on Wednesday. North American Palladium's Lac Des Iles Mine is the closest to Thunder Bay, with an estimated 25 per cent of staff living in the city.
Those swinging commodity markets could also mean development opportunities for new mines. The demand for copper and zinc is expected to outpace supply worldwide, partly attributable to sharply-reduced values in the downturn. Copper has risen from $2.08 per pound in October 2016 to $2.64 per pound on Wednesday while zinc is narrowing in on tripling its January 2016 low point value of $1,062 per metric tonne to $2,749.59 per metric tonne on Wednesday.
Mason can see that price shift igniting mining development efforts in Ignace, Manitouwadge and possibly Marathon.
"Even Ontario has an issue with copper/zinc supply and we could remedy part of that explorers looking into these fertile areas," Mason said.
"The old saying, 'in the shadow of head frames,' -- in other words, where there has been past production in areas of high-potential rocks- - that's where we're likely to see more money being spent again."
