Can you provide an update on some of the key developments that occurred at CEMI in 2022?

In 2022, we initiated our new Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA), which creates a network of SMEs, and helps accelerate them and their products into the marketplace. We also have membership levels for mining companies who want to be able to see all the opportunities that are out there to follow within the MICA Network. The purpose of the Network is to help SMEs identify the key players in the mining innovation space. In addition, we try to bring in cross-sector innovators to work with mining SMEs. Mining SMEs are not the only people doing innovation that is useful to the mining sector. Most of the innovators in the other sectors do not know very much about mining, so we have to go find them, but even when we identify good solutions, many innovators are already busy in their own sectors. We try to link their technologies to our existing mining SMEs who already understand the mining market, so we achieve our primary objective which is to make innovations in the mining industry happen a great deal faster. Can you provide an overview of the Sudbury mining ecosystem?

Sudbury is still a very dynamic environment in its own right, and it now focuses upon the global mining ecosystem. It is difficult, if not impossible for any small company to build itself up into a much larger company solely relying on the Ontario or even Canadian market. Mining companies in Canada are very slow adopters of new technology and many other jurisdictions are much more dynamic, adopting new solutions much more quickly - especially in Chile and Peru. So, while we have a very strong research and innovation ecosystem, innovative SMEs will find it easier to expand their businesses in the global marketplace than they will in the Canadian marketplace. Several companies have recognized this, and the most successful SMEs based in Sudbury have built their businesses abroad. What are the primary reasons technology companies fail to effectively commercialize and scale technology for mining?

Often, companies are underfinanced, which is why CEMI is working on project funding, but also, very small companies do not have all the skillsets they need within the organization to make the successful leap into a commercially viable product themselves. So, in addition to the project funding that we offer, we also provide an assessment of the skills gaps that exist within an organization, and we try to find the consultants they need. Where do you see investment flowing and where are the critical gaps at the moment?

Mining is on the heavy end of the heavy industry spectrum. We have seen hundreds of millions of dollars go into software development, which has been very commercially successful. However, we do not need another 50 apps on our phones to survive. To meet the needs of a global population we have to address the looming climate crisis. This means producing many more of the metals and minerals needed for electrification at a price that defeats carbon. When it comes to capital allocation, investors still prefer to have an investment in a product or service that has relatively low risk. We are no longer in a low-risk environment, however, and the greater risk is to fail to accomplish the transition to a low carbon economy and suffer the enormous economic consequences. It is not acceptable for the investment community to stay close to low-risk, retail investments; they have to make a shift to help solve the global challenge of the day – by investing in the innovations that can help produce the millions of tons of raw ore resources we need to implement genuinely sustainable management of the resulting waste streams.

The green transition can be killed in two ways: either through producing an insufficient supply of the energy metals needed for electrification, or by producing those metals at such a high price that they fail to drive carbon out of the economy.