Boart Longyear is putting down some diamond strong roots in Sudbury, choosing the city for their new development office.
In late September, the global developer and supplier of drill rigs announced at the Las Vegas MINExpo that the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT) is the new home of their surface and underground diamond drilling technology development office.
For their part, NORCAT is the only non-profit regional innovation centre in the world with an operating mine that’s used as a training facility and a test bed for mining-related products under development.
The mine helps small and medium enterprises, as well as global companies like Boart Longyear, to design, test, and showcase new technologies.
Boart Longyear has already started using the office and they are working on installing a diamond drill for work underground.
The Ontario government granted Boart Longyear $1.37 million in Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) funding for the work at the new office.
NORCAT's CEO, Don Duval, said it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.
“The fact that the big mining tech companies from around the world are using our facility will help tell our story to the target audience that needs to know what we do,” said Duval. “Boart Longyear is a company that's really dedicated to investing in new technologies and innovations to meet the needs of their clients around the world.”
Duval said he also anticipates the new office will create more jobs in Sudbury. Boart Longyear has confirmed that all the employees in the new office have been hired in Northern Ontario.
“Immediately, we have hired a site supervisor, a driller and a driller’s helper to start the research and development site. We will be employing a geochemist in the near future as well,” said Boart Longyear in their statement. “The jobs created on site are part of the project, but there will be additional jobs created by utilizing the local supply chain of service companies/vendors, technology companies, and universities.”
Boart Longyear is based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, with offices in Switzerland, Australia, Chile and Canada. The arrangement does not have a set time limit. Duval said there are several different projects that Boart Longyear will be working on at NORCAT.
Similarly, Duval said the Boart Longyear offices are just a part of NORCAT's upcoming growth with other projects to be announced in the near future.
“We’re going to hit it out of the park in the coming years, I guarantee it,” said Duval.
“We have a long history in Northern Ontario and are very active in exploration drilling in the Sudbury area in both drilling services and products,” said Boart Longyear in a statement. “Sudbury has a solid supply chain of technology companies and universities to support our research and development efforts.”
