INNOVATION: CMIC and CEMI offer joint submission to federal government

SUDBURY, Ont. – The Canada Mining Innovation Council (CMIC) and the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) propose the creation of a clean resources supercluster called, CLEER (clean, low energy, effective, engaged and remediated) in a joint submission to the federal government’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative. The CLEER supercluster will transform the mining sector’s productivity, performance, and competitiveness. This will be achieved by tackling global challenges of water, energy, and environmental footprint, with bold targets of 50% reduction in each area by 2027. CLEER will engage the mining services and supply sector (MSS) and anchor mining companies, accelerate collaborative innovation, stimulate investments exceeding $5 billion with the objective of growing small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs), improving industry productivity, initiating export pathways, and creating more than 100,000 jobs. The 2017 Federal budget has made $950 million available over five years, starting in 2017-18, to support a small number of business led innovation superclusters that have the greatest potential to accelerate economic growth. In May, the Hon. Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, opened the application process for the Innovation Superclusters Initiative. Innovation superclusters will create good jobs for Canadians, help businesses succeed in the marketplace, and foster stronger collaboration between the private, academic and public sectors. Applicants of this initiative will be informed at the end of August 2017, if they are invited to proceed to the full application process. If successful in the application process, this CLEER Supercluster will make Canada a global leader in both clean resources and clean technology development as well as in the responsible sourcing of metals. This is essential for clean growth in sectors including solar panels, battery electric vehicles, smart grids, and wind turbines. In essence, clean resource development in Canada is indispensable to growth in clean tech and to the clean economy of the future. The supercluster is an industry led, multi-stakeholder consortium comprised of four existing clusters, which, combined, represent an initial eight resource companies, 12 post-secondary institutions, 42 SMEs and 25 other support organizations. To date, the CLEER supercluster has attracted a total investment of $376 million of cash and in-kind from a combination of mining equipment and supply companies and resource companies. CLEER is seeking to leverage this investment with $185 million in ISED funds. CLEER will focus on the technical themes that are critical to the industry, and that will allow all the organizations in the current ecosystem to participate and play their part in transforming the industry. In collaboration with other mining companies, we have identified these strategic innovation themes:

• Energy technologies:renewable energy generation and storage; mine electrification; battery-electric vehicles; ventilation; automation; sensors and sensor-based sorting; advanced comminution; and, standards and guidelines.
• Water technologies:water conservation technologies; water treatment technology; and, water quality sensors.
• Environmental footprint reduction technologies:mapping; land reclamation and remediation technology; and sensors and sensor-based sorting.
• Smart technologies:sensors; data analytics; pattern recognition; predictive analytics; high performance computing; artificial intelligence; and, mine digitization and digital communications.

Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada, states that “The CLEER Supercluster will help Canada become the leading supplier of sustainably sourced minerals and metals the world needs, and the technologies the world needs to best extract them. This is especially important in the transition to a low carbon future, which will only increase the demand for our products. Through this project, industry and governments can be powerful partners in achieving this vision.” To learn more about this CLEER Supercluster application and how to get involved, please contact us. Additional information will be available at www.CEMI.ca and at www.CMIC-CCIM.org.