NRT is flexing for growth in Manitoba

In Saskatchewan, the autumn winds are blowing colder and colder, and the nip of frost is in the air. For Northern Resource Trucking, the winter season usually brings big business. Mines are roaring back to life after extensive maintenance in the summer months, and the frigid weather creates a need for more propane up north. COVID-19 threw a bit of a wrench into the gears this year, causing many mines to close their doors for longer than normal. But if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that businesses need to be flexible.

Northern Resource Trucking takes flexibility seriously. The company was developed with the sole purpose of servicing the growing uranium industry in northern Saskatchewan, but its partnership with Saskatchewan First Nations set it apart from its competitors. This partnership kept business in northern communities, created jobs for those who wanted to stay in the north, and provided investment opportunities that kept money in those communities. NRT has expanded steadily since its inception 34 years ago. Now it serves Cameco and Orano, SSR Mining’s Seabee gold mine with their ice road, Federated Co-op for fuel and propane, and New Gold in Ontario, among others.

Northern Resource Trucking’s unique business model has garnered recent attention in Manitoba as well. The First Nations Mining Economic Development (FNMED) Inc. has combined the forces of nine Manitoba First Nations with the transportation experts at Northern Resource Trucking to create Piwapisk Hauling Limited Partnership, a powerful new partnership in natural resource development. These partners are Bunibonibee Cree Nation, Chemawawin Cree Nation, Norway House Cree Nation, Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, Sagkeeng First Nation, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, God’s Lake Narrows First Nation, Marcel Colomb Cree Nation, and Mosakahiken Cree Nation. Together with Northern Resource Trucking, their vision is to develop a sustainable and productive mining economy in the First Nation communities of Manitoba. Exploration in Manitoba is looking very promising from gold and diamonds to sphagnum peat bogs, and FNMED and NRT are ready for it!

In fact, NRT is so invested in Manitoba’s mining and transportation future that it has opened a new Winnipeg branch, which is developing business in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. NRT now hauls industrial chemicals from Winnipeg to various points in western Canada; Lime from Faulkner to the Rattan Mine; hazardous waste from various points in Western Canada to a processing site near Winnipeg; grinding media from Kamloops to Pure Gold mine at Red Lake, Ontario; propane for FCL and Superior Propane to various points in southern Manitoba and northwestern Ontario; and various types of freight from Winnipeg to Western Canada and from Western Canada back to Winnipeg. Where five years ago the uranium industry made up 95 per cent of Northern Resource Trucking’s revenue, today it is down to 59 per cent as NRT continues to expand and diversify.

As exploration in Manitoba continues to expand, Northern Resource Trucking looks forward to growing with Manitoba businesses looking to provide supplies and equipment to resource development projects in the north and across Canada. NRT’s one-of-a-kind experience and expertise in northern transportation and First Nations partnerships will provide an edge over the competition. The winds may be blowing colder these days, but in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Northern Resource Trucking is stretching, flexing, and ready to grow. 6

Saskatoon Office P: (306) 933-3010 F: (306) 242-3156 E: nrtinquiry@nrtlp.com

La Ronge Training Center P: (306) 425-2148 F: (306) 425-5311 E: rmihilewicznrttc@sasktel.net

Winnipeg Office P: (204) 235-4013 F: (204) 233-2929 E: dgravatt@nrtlp.com