Mine Gathering Is Display Of Diversity International Interests Have Come To Dominate Industry

A cross section of the hundreds of exhibitors at the Northwest Mining Association Convention Wednesday shows how diverse the industry has become.

It also shows the growing international tangent that connects the industry’s varied interests.

In one corner of the massive Agriculture and Trade Center, Steve Bills mans the Tonto/Dynatec display. He’s busy because the display features probably the most popular giveaway on the floor: jeweled earrings and a necklace. The enticing prize goes to the person who comes closest to guessing the actual number of M&M’s in a glass bowl.

Tonto sells large drilling rigs from its Salt Lake City headquarters and through its offices in Canada. For several years more than half of the sales have come overseas, mostly from South America.

Lately, the hot spot for drilling equipment has been Indonesia, the fast-growing island nation in Southeast Asia. With a trade representative from Indonesia here this week, the convention allows the company a great opportunity to network and find out how hungry companies are for drilling rigs.

“Seems like it’s going to be a good year,” Bills said. “This is a good way for us to find out what’s going on.”

While much of the equipment, consulting and engineering continues to flow where the mines are going - overseas - some companies at this year’s convention are coming from the opposite direction.

Tracey Rogers had the whole SURPAC Software International booth to herself, as the rest of her team was in Canada helping a new client. The Perth, Australia-based software company has clobbered the mining software market there, and now wants deeper penetration into North America, she said. “That’s why I’m here.”

The software helps companies decide if a mine is worth pouring millions into. The program creates a three-dimensional picture of the probable ore in the mine based on the rock samples taken from the site. Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla Mining Co. is a client, Rogers said.

The difference that separates SURPAC is that it now runs on Microsoft’s Windows 95, the only mine modeling system that does, she said.

“A lot of people in this business are still terrified of computers,” she said. “If we can make it easier for them by using a Windows-based system, it helps quite a bit.”

Many of the exhibitors here are mining companies themselves, looking for some exposure to potential investors. One such company, TVX Gold Inc. of Toronto, has its roots in international development, having started with one mine in Chile, said Boyd Timler of TVX Gold.

The company briefly considered moving its operations division to Coeur d’Alene this year, but decided against the plan.

Chile and South America continue to be the “hot spot” of many domestic mining companies looking to do business in more “miningfriendly” countries. But TVX Gold has expanded in the Czech Republic in Eastern Europe, which presents some nice opportunities for mining, Timler said.

The company, which produces about a half million ounces of gold, now looks to the Kamchatka area of the former Soviet Union as a great exploration target.

“There’s a lot of political risk there,” Timler said. “But we’re buying in on the project there at about $3 an ounce of gold. We think it’s worth it.”

The convention continues until Friday afternoon.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo