Source: Muggle head
By: Rowan Dunne
Date: Aug 30, 2023
Three companies in Ontario are receiving over $2 million from a federal government organization for continued development of projects that could potentially make the national mining industry more sustainable.
Member of Parliament for Sudbury Viviane Lapointe and Nickel Belt’s MP Marc G. Serré announced the development on Wednesday and the funding will be provided to Sudbury’s private companies MIRARCO Mining Innovation, RIINO Inc. and Symbioticware Inc.
The funds are being distributed through the Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA) network established by the Government of Canada in 2021.
MIRARCO will be receiving $287,000 for its project involving the extraction of battery metals from pyrrhotite tailings and RIINO will be getting $780,000 for the company’s zero-emission monorail haulage system project aimed at mitigating material transportation challenges in the mining industry.
Symbioticware will receive $1 million for its “Internet of things+AI software solution for mining powered by satellite connectivity such as SpaceX,” which will involve developing AI models capable of predicting equipment failure. The software will be tested at mining sites in Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut.
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MICA is managed by Canada’s Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation and funds a wide variety of different mining projects. The network was founded through a $40 million investment from Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund.
“Their work will lead to generational opportunities, truly becoming game-changers for mining activity around the world. These investments will have a lasting impact,” said Lapointe.
Symbioticware entered a $3.9 million partnership with the SpaceX subsidiary Swarm Technologies in March aimed at combining their technologies to create a platform capable of monitoring mining equipment in extremely remote locations around the globe.
“The platform we are developing will make the mining industry’s future more clean, safe and efficient. The support we received from MICA has been instrumental, and we are looking to see the positive impact of this initiative on the technology ecosystem of Sudbury and Canada overall,” said Symbioticware’s Founder and Executive Chairman Kirk Petroski.
Sudbury is home to the Crean Hill project, a past-producing nickel mine (1900-2002) acquired by Magna Mining Inc. (TSX-V: NICU) (OTCQB: MGMNF) last November that the company plans on reviving after a recent economic assessment indicated strong potential for continued mineral extraction. Based on the assessment, Magna believes the site will have a 15-year life going forward.
