Major mining event in Sudbury heads underground for the second time

Mining Transformed tradeshow was held in Onaping in NORCAT's Underground Centre, the world's only underground tech exhibition. (Amanda Hicks/CTV News)

The second Mining Transformed event was held in Greater Sudbury this week.

The two-day event run by NORCAT includes more than 40 vendors in the mining industry.

The tradeshow was held in Onaping in NORCAT's Underground Centre, the world's only underground tech exhibition.

Greg Major, NORCAT director, said the unique venue makes it special.

"This isn't just a gymnasium or an arena," Major said.

"This is products in an operating mine where mining companies can come see what the future is."

He said industry leaders can experience products in a real-time format.

"Just because I call you and say, 'I've got a great product and it's going to fix your concerns or problems you may have on your site', it means nothing" Major said.

"I can send you all the data, but until you see it in an operating mine and that's what they're doing here, just showing their product operating in a dark environment."

One company showcasing products was SafeSite Exploration Inc., based in North Bay.

Brett Smith, global vice-president of sales, said the company's main goal is to develop technology that can access areas inaccessible by humans.

"Our main goal is to be able to develop technology that's able to get hard, high-risk data from areas of the mining," Smith said.

"In case there's an incident or unstable ground or unsure of an unknown void."

Products included a drone and a remote-controlled device equipped with a front and back camera that helps with mine rescues. Smith added another goal is to make mining appealing to young people.

"We believe if you make mining interesting and more fun and you get to understand that it's a safe environment and you can use technology, we're going to get a lot more young children, young kids that are now in college looking to get into mining," he said.

Mining Transformed is held every two years.

NORCAT said planning has already begun for the next one in 2026.

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