EXCITEMENT FOR SASKATOON REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

SRAR “The View”, July 2010, Vol 10 Issue 7

There are plans for a new Mining Centre for Excellence that will provide a good fit with the College of Engineering and Geology Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. Saskatoon has a chance to step to the forefront of mining development in the world, matching research and development with it's world classs mineral deposits. There is really no other mining development center anywhere else. Hatch Engineering and AMEC Engineering are already at Innovation Place and their synergy with a New Center for Excellence provides further impetus to get this project underway.

In mining, BHP Billiton already has a 10 Billion dollar mine planned and they have acquired Athabasca Potash's 6 billion dollar planned mine as well. The number of jobs that are likely to be created during construction is in the tens of thousands of man years. Fortune Minerals is on the leading edge of new technology leading to new and much more environmentally friendly mining and ore separation techniques.

Fortune Minerals has purchased land to the West of Saskatoon and plan to concentrate the ore at the mine site in the north and then send the ingots to Saskatoon for processing.

The implications for Saskatoon's infrastructure including transportation and electrical will also mean large numbers of jobs.

Biotechnology is another hidden gem for Saskatoon. Animal and plant genomics is quickly transforming the way plant products are used. Safflower (genetically altered sunflower) is used for the production of insulin... right here in Saskatoon. Synchrotron's beam line expansion underway underlines the growth in these areas.

With 1042 new business licenses in Saskatoon last year, we are the Entrepreneurial Capital of Canada.