GEOLOGY-RICH CANADA // NATURAL RESOURCES
Industry stats show that the mining of minerals and stones is the prime industry in over 150 Canadian communities and a significant employer of Canadians. The minerals industry (excluding oil and gas) is estimated to directly employ about 10,000 people right here in Alberta. Non-energy minerals excavated and mined in Alberta today include sand and gravel (production value of $289 million), sandstone and other building stone ($6 million), iron and magnetite, and gold. Salt and limestone continue to be the leading non-fuel minerals while other Alberta products include industrial and metallic minerals, diamonds, ammonite and other precious stones. “By the numbers, Canada is first in potash, second in uranium and niobium, third in nickel, gemstones, cobalt, aluminum and platinum group metals,” explains Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC). “We are fourth in indium and sulphur and, as a surprise for some, fifth in diamonds, titanium and gold.” According to MAC’s most recent report, the industry directly employs 426,000 workers across the country in mineral extraction, smelting, fabrication and manufacturing, and indirectly employs an additional 208,000 working with more than 3,700 companies supplying engineering, geotechnical, environmental, financial and other services to mining operations. Proportionally, the mining industry is also the largest private sector employer of indigenous peoples, providing over 16,500 jobs.
“To be brutally honest about it, we have been in an up cycle for more than a year but it’s not a great time. We’re not booming but we’re healthy.” Two random examples also happen to be interesting reflections about the significance of Canadian minerals and stones: the vital importance of obscurely-known potash and the surprising importance of Canadian diamonds. It’s a little-known fact in routine Canadian business life that about 95 per cent of potash is used for fertilizer in agriculture and the remaining five per cent is used for commercial and industrial products such as soap. Canada is the number one potash-producing country (contributing more than 35 per cent of global production) and Nutrien is the world’s largest producer of potash.
However, for various key reasons (mostly internal), the importance of minerals and stones often continues to fly under the Canadian radar.
“We have an integrated network of six potash mines throughout Saskatchewan which produced almost 13 million tonnes last year,” says Nutrien spokesperson Will Tigley. “Our potash industry continues to grow and innovate every year. We’ve entered a recovery phase in our commodity cycle with strengthening potash prices and reached record global demand of potash at an estimated 66 million tonnes last year. Our largest markets for potash are in the U.S. followed by Brazil and then China.
“It’s one of the few sectors of the Canadian economy where Canada can claim global leadership,” Gratton adds. “Even though minerals and stones were not as impacted by the Alberta downturn as some other industries, we do face our own unique challenges.
“A lot of this growth is responding to the need to replenish nutrients removed by record global harvests and increased recognition of balanced soil fertility in developing countries. Safety is driving some of the innovation and technology we use in our mining operation,” he says.
Internationally, Canada is acknowledged as one of the largest producers of minerals and metals, accounting for $97 billion (or 19 per cent of the value) of Canadian goods exports in 2017 and selling a diversified array of minerals and metals abroad.
ABOVE: PIERRE GRATTON, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE MINING ASSOCIATION OF CANADA (MAC).
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JULY 2019 // BUSINESS IN CALGARY // BUSINESSINCALGARY.COM