< Previous30 For daily news follow CMM on Facebook and X Artemis Project works alongside executives to embed GRP into organizational culture, offering guidance, frameworks, and metrics to translate intention into measurable results. When leadership champions inclusion, the impact cascades across teams, projects, and operations. A GAME CHANGER, NOT JUST A PROGRAM Artemis Project is not only a consulting service or training program – it is a game changer demonstrating that inclusion drives business performance. Over the past five years, we have proven that women-owned businesses are strategic partners capable of delivering high-impact solutions. The GRP program is the culmination of this work: a structured, measurable, and scalable framework that positions inclusion as a driver of supply chain performance and industry innovation. By taking lessons learned from Canada to a global stage, Artemis Project is reshaping the narrative around women in mining, moving from stereotypes to strategic collaboration. CALL TO ACTION The mining sector stands at a pivotal moment. Companies can continue with conventional approaches, relying on traditional supplier networks, or they can embrace gender-responsive procurement as a driver of performance, innovation, and resilience. The opportunity is clear: engage women-owned businesses, integrate GRP standards, and measure the impact on operational efficiency, innovation, and supply chain strength. The result is a stronger, more competitive, and sustainable mining industry that thrives on diverse perspectives and empowered suppliers. CONCLUSION Five years of Artemis Project’s work prove that women-owned businesses are transformative for mining supply chains. From operational efficiency and innovation to risk mitigation and sustainability, these enterprises deliver measurable outcomes that benefit the entire sector. With the launch of mining’s first Gender- Responsive Procurement program, Artemis Project has established a standard for inclusion that drives business performance. From Canada to Australia and beyond, our vision is clear: by 2030, 1,000 women- owned businesses will be integral to mining operations worldwide, creating a sustainable, high-performing, and innovative supplier ecosystem. Inclusion is not a compliance exercise – it is a performance strategy. And the future of mining will be stronger, more innovative, and more resilient because women-owned businesses are at its core. M HEATHER GAMBLE IS THE FOUNDER OF ARTEMIS PROJECT, AN AWARD-WINNING ENTERPRISE SALES LEADER, AND LEADER IN GENDER RESPONSIVE PROCUREMENT IN MINING. TODAY, HEATHER LEADS ARTEMIS PROJECT, AN AWARD-WINNING COMPANY AND CANADA’S LEADER IN GENDER RESPONSIVE PROCUREMENT (GRP) SOLUTIONS FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY. ARTEMIS CONNECTS WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN STEM WITH MAJOR MINING COMPANIES, CREATING INNOVATIVE GO-TO-MARKET MODELS THAT TRANSFORM SUPPLY CHAINS INTO ENGINES OF EQUITY AND INNOVATION.Visit us online at www.CanadianMiningMagazine.com 31Visit us online at www.CanadianMiningMagazine.com 33 FEATURE By Trang Tran-Valade, P.Eng., PMP Energy & Resources – Mining Sector Leader, Stantec Consulting Ltd. The clock is ticking on Canada’s mining workforce and supply chains – but bold strategies, innovative solutions, and next- gen talent could secure the sector’s long-term future. Engineering the Future: Building Resilient Supply Chains and Talent Pipelines The mining industry is navigating a twin challenge: maintaining resilient supply chains in an era of global disruptions, while weathering a “grey wave” of retiring talent and a stubbornly persistent skills shortage. Woven together, these threaten to constrain growth just as demand for minerals and metals is booming. Let’s explore how the mining sector is adapting its supply chain strategies and talent pipelines, what educators and organizations are doing to help, and strategies – including new partnership models – and actions to secure mining’s future. THE “GREY WAVE” HITS MINING Veteran workers are retiring faster than new talent is entering the workforce. This is creating a widening skills gap. As experienced miners depart, they take with them decades of “know-how,” and there are simply not enough trainees coming up behind them to transfer that knowledge. In Canada, the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) notes an alarming trend – the proportion of workers under the age of 25 decreased by half (from 12% to just 6%) over the last 35 years. Meanwhile, surveys paint an even bleaker picture with an overwhelming majority (66%) of Canadian youth (aged 15 to 30) saying they would not consider a career in mining. On a global scale, in a recent Ernst & Young (EY) report, 70% of young respondents in mining regions like Canada, Australia, and the U.S. indicated little interest in mining jobs. Such disinterest has translated into plummeting enrollment in mining-related education. Fewer than 2% of engineering undergraduates in Canada are in mining or mineral engineering streams. Most engineering undergraduates gravitate to civil, mechanical, electrical, or other disciplines. In the U.S., the number of mining engineering graduates has fallen 39% since 2016. Meanwhile, the financial and technology sectors are aggressively courting engineering graduates, siphoning talent away from mining. These statistics paint a stark picture of the “grey wave” washing over the industry. If current workers retire without successors in place, companies risk losing critical expertise in mine planning, geology, process and non-process infrastructure, maintenance, operability, and safety. Looking ahead, MiHR forecasts that the Canadian mining industry will need to hire roughly 191,000 new workers in the next decade just to meet baseline demand and replace retirees, and as many as 256,000 in a high- growth scenario. Those numbers represent nearly the entire current mining workforce. Clearly, business-as-usual approaches to recruitment and training will not suffice. SUPPLY CHAIN STRAIN AND STRATEGIC SHIFTS The talent crunch also negatively impacts the supply chain side of the business. Modern mining depends on complex supply chains for equipment, spare parts, chemicals, and services. When key procurement and logistics experts retire, or when on-site engineers who understand those supply lines leave, it becomes harder for a company to anticipate and mitigate supply disruptions. 34 For daily news follow CMM on Facebook and X The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities of lean, just-in-time supply chains. Mines in remote regions faced critical delays in equipment and materials. Some suppliers declared force majeure, unable to fulfill contracts. This disruption forced mining companies to rethink their sourcing strategies. For years, miners (like most industries) had optimized their procurement for cost and efficiency, holding minimal inventory on hand and relying on a concentrated set of vendors, often overseas. That works well in stable times, but it left little cushion for a crisis. Mining companies are adopting new supply chain strategies to become more resilient against both global shocks and ongoing labor constraints. Key adaptations include multi-sourcing critical inputs to reduce dependency on a single supplier or region, building buffer stocks of mission- critical items, investing in digital supply chain “twins” layered with live global events data to simulate disruptions and plan contingencies (turning a previously reactive process into a proactive one), and strengthening oversight of suppliers to promote ethical and resilient practices. These strategies mark a shift from efficiency to resiliency, enabling operations to withstand future supply chain shocks. STRENGTHENING THE TALENT PIPELINE Tackling the skills and labor shortage requires a proactive and multipronged approach. To replace the retiring generation and attract new talent, the mining community of owner/operators, service providers, suppliers, and educational institutions are working more closely together than ever. A core part of the solution lies in reforming the “talent pipeline” from universities into industry. Mining engineering and geoscience programs, which shrank or even closed during the past decade’s downturns, are now in the spotlight. Universities are being encouraged – and funded –to expand enrollment and modernize curricula to meet industry needs. For example, Laurentian University in Sudbury has long been recognized as Canada’s Mining University; for good reason as it hosts specialty schools for mines and minerals (Goodman School of Mines, Harquail School of Earth Sciences, and Bharti School of Engineering) focused on recruiting and producing graduates ready to serve the mining industry. They have initiatives such as expanding mining- related programs, modernizing curricula, promoting mining careers to youth through outreach and scholarships, emphasizing mining’s role in the clean energy transition to attract purpose-driven students, and partnering with Indigenous communities and immigrant organizations to diversify the workforce. Other universities across Canada (and globally) are following suit with new initiatives: more scholarships for mining disciplines, partnerships with mining companies for internships, and clearer marketing to students that mining careers can be rewarding, high-tech, and aligned with global sustainability goals. This last point is crucial: changing the perception of mining among young people. Mining’s role in enabling the energy transition – supplying the critical minerals for EVs, wind turbines, and smart grids – is a story that needs to be told more loudly Visit us online at www.CanadianMiningMagazine.com 35 and proudly. If students passionate about climate solutions and sustainability view mining as part of that mission rather than as opposed to it, a career in mining becomes much more attractive to them. Industry groups and governments are helping too. In Canada, MiHR has run awareness campaigns (like the “Mining Needs You” initiative) to promote mining careers and diversity in hiring. The federal Critical Minerals Strategy, along with provincial programs, are allocating funding for skills training in mining-related fields. At the same time, mining companies are investing in upskilling existing employees and improving workplace culture to retain talent. Flexible rotations, remote work options, better work-life balance, and strong safety commitments help reshape mining’s image. NEW MODELS OF COLLABORATION: INTEGRATED TEAMS AND PARTNERSHIPS To address immediate skill gaps, mining companies and engineering service providers are exploring collaborative models of project delivery that leverage external expertise more deeply than in the past. For example, the concept of integrated project teams is gaining traction in mining projects. These collaborative models bring together owners, engineering firms, contractors, and suppliers into unified, “What’s in the best interest of the project?”, teams. The benefits are tangible: faster decision-making, better alignment, reduced handoff delays, and real-time knowledge transfer across phases. By embedding specialized consultants and technical experts into the core team, companies can scale capabilities without expanding permanent headcount. Engineering service providers like Stantec play a central role in these models – supporting operational readiness, digital integration, and technical execution with flexible, multidisciplinary teams. In a constrained labour market, these models offer a practical way to maintain project momentum and quality without overextending internal resources. Addressing supply chain resiliency and the labor shortage in mining is not an either/or proposition. The industry must tackle both in tandem. The good news is that many of the solutions complement each other. A more technologically advanced, diverse, and well-staffed workforce will be better at managing resilient supply chains. And more resilient supply chains (with modern tools and processes) will ease the jobs of our workforce, making mining a less stressful and more attractive sector to work in. To build a resilient and future-ready mining sector, industry must double down on talent outreach and education, elevate training and mentorship programs, embed flexibility and redundancy into supply chains, invest in supply chain technology and analytics, leverage external partners strategically, explore integrated and collaborative delivery models, and commit to ethical and sustainable practices and community engagement as core strategies. Mining has always been about resilience – digging through adversity to unearth value. Supply chain vulnerabilities and workforce attrition are already impacting operations, project timelines, and long- term competitiveness. Companies must act decisively: diversify sourcing, invest in digital supply chain tools, and build redundancy into procurement strategies. At the same time, they need to rethink how they attract, train, and retain talent – especially as retirements accelerate and younger professionals choose other industries. Engineering service providers, universities, and mining firms must collaborate more intentionally, whether through integrated project teams, targeted education pipelines, or shared innovation platforms. The path forward requires execution, not aspiration. Mining’s future depends on how quickly and effectively we respond to these converging pressures and challenges. M TRANG TRAN-VALADE IS AN ENTREPRENEURIAL AND DRIVEN LEADER AT STANTEC WITH OVER TWO DECADES OF INNOVATIVE MINING PROJECTS DEVELOPMENT, MANAGEMENT, AND OPERATIONS EXPERIENCE ACROSS CANADA AND INTERNATIONALLY. A RECOGNIZED AND AWARD WINNING COMMUNITY AND INDUSTRY BUILDER, SHE’S PROVIDED HER EXPERTISE TO BOTH LOCAL AND NATIONAL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS SUCH AS THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGY, AND PETROLEUM (CIM), WOMEN IN MINING, AND WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, ACROSS AN ASSORTMENT OF SYMPOSIUMS AND COMMITTEES.38 For daily news follow CMM on Facebook and X FEATURE By Tom Yingling, President & CEO, First Canadian Graphite Inc. Graphite may be the unsung hero of the clean-energy revolution, powering everything from EV batteries to aerospace composites. First Canadian Graphite is turning this critical mineral into a strategic advantage, bridging Canada’s resource strength with next-generation graphene technologies and global energy transition opportunities. Unlocking Canada’s Next Critical Mineral: First Canadian Graphite and the Future of Clean Energy Graphite has quietly become one of the most important building blocks of the clean-energy future. While lithium and cobalt often capture headlines, graphite – the largest single component of a lithium-ion battery by weight – is just as critical. With electric vehicle (EV) adoption accelerating worldwide, demand for battery-grade graphite is expected to more than triple by 2030. Yet, its importance extends far beyond energy storage. Graphite is also vital to nuclear reactors, aerospace composites, fuel cells, and advanced industrial materials. In many ways, it is the unsung hero of the clean-energy revolution –lightweight, conductive, strong, and essential. Canada, with its stable jurisdiction, renewable power, and environmental integrity, is ideally positioned to supply this critical mineral. I am proud to be at the forefront of that effort as President Zone 1 has three exposed high grade large flake graphite out crops. A First Canadian Grahite Exploration team, in Northern Quebec. Tom Yingling, President, is on the far right. Photos courtesy of First Graphite. of First Canadian Graphite Inc. (FCG) – a company advancing a high-grade, at-surface graphite project in Quebec, one of the world’s premier mining regions. FROM GRAPHITE TO GRAPHENE: A CANADIAN BREAKTHROUGH At FCG, we believe that innovation defines leadership. In partnership with Volt Carbon Technologies, our team has taken graphite from First Canadian Graphite and successfully transformed it into reduced graphene oxide (rGO) – one of the most advanced and valuable materials on earth. This is not theoretical science; it’s independently verified progress. The University of Waterloo, a global leader in materials research, confirmed that First Canadian Graphite-derived rGO, when blended into aerospace-grade epoxy composites, delivered a 40 to 60% increase in mechanical strength.Visit us online at www.CanadianMiningMagazine.com 39 To put that in perspective: • Aerospace-grade epoxies are used in aircraft fuselages, wind turbine blades, EV components, and defense materials. • A 40 to 60% increase in strength translates to lighter weight, greater efficiency, a longer lifespan, and improved performance. • These are exactly the breakthroughs industries are racing toward as they push for cleaner, lighter, and more sustainable materials. The implications are immense. Graphene sells for $100 to $200 per gram, and this validation gives our graphite a unique, value-added pathway that extends far beyond the battery market. This isn’t just mining – it’s materials science in motion. THE FIRST CANADIAN GRAPHITE ADVANTAGE What truly sets FCG apart is the combination of geology, jurisdiction, and timing. • High-Grade Mineralization at Surface: Berkwood hosts one of the highest-grade graphite deposits in North America, with mineralization starting right at the surface, lowering both capital and operating costs. • The Quebec advantage: The province offers exceptional infrastructure, renewable hydropower, and mining-friendly policies in a politically stable jurisdiction. • Independent validation: The University of Waterloo’s results confirm that our graphite’s crystallinity and structure make it uniquely suited for graphene production. • A tight corporate structure: With only 25 million shares outstanding, value creation directly benefits shareholders as we advance. Together, these elements position FCG to become a critical domestic supplier at a time when Western nations are seeking to reduce dependence on Chinese-controlled graphite supply chains. TWO TRILLION-DOLLAR MARKETS, ONE RESOURCE First Canadian Graphite is now strategically positioned in two global megatrends: • Energy storage revolution: Providing high-purity graphite for lithium-ion batteries powering EVs, grid storage systems, and electronics. • Advanced materials revolution: Supplying graphene- enhanced composites that deliver superior strength and conductivity for aerospace, defense, and renewable energy applications. Few resource companies can bridge these worlds. Our success in producing rGO and demonstrating its performance in epoxy composites gives FCG unique exposure to both the battery and advanced materials markets – two industries driving the clean-energy future. FROM RESOURCE TO REALITY: THE PATH FORWARD Our next milestone is the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Berkwood Project. This study will quantify the project’s economic potential and map our development path from discovery to production. At Zone 1, on surface graphite average grade 24.17%. This image shows reduced graphene oxide, performed at University of Waterloo (the spots in the background are substrate).Next >