Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

New mining plays, such as iron ore in the Labrador Trough region and chromite development in Northern Ontario are expected tobring significant economic benefits to Canada. These sites were found through extensive exploration activities. Many geologistsbelieve Canada still has a great deal of untapped mineral potential, especially considering that the mix of commodities thatcompanies are looking for continues to change over time. Nevertheless, the mineral stocks in our current mines are finite. Tosustain and grow the industry in the future, exploration must be undertaken at a constant, continuous rate.Sustaining exploration activity, in turn, requires just the right mix of ingredients, including; promising geology, public investment ingeo-science and transportation infrastructure. In an effort to improve the efficiency and quality of transportation infrastructure, theproposed project intends to produce and test a drilling barge for remote exploration sites. The overall project goal is to design anddevelop a portable, collapsible solar-powered transportation barge for exploration drilling.The company, founded as a spin-off of Phoenix Industrial, began by developing practical resources and curriculum in-class andweb-based courses for the mining industry under direction of the Ministry of Labor. This included designing and fabricating heavyindustrial hydraulic training benches and industrial motor balancing training units. More recently, the company has even developedIphone and Ipad applications for industrial training. The company's roots are in industrial solutions and are eager to expand intothe mineral exploration market. This strategic direction has been put forth by Shannon Lafreniere, General Manager.