Ground has officially broken on a new Metso Service Center for mining equipment in Prince George.
Metso is an equipment manufacturer for the mining sector, based out of Helsinki, Finland.
The Metso Service Centre, located at 1055 Legacy Road, will be able to service the company’s full product portfolio, and will also offer warehousing capabilities for spare and wear parts.
“When you look at the landscape of mining in British Columbia, you’ve got the historical, like the operating mines, but you’re also looking at the future, where we’re actually going to see growth in mining,” said Justin Ayotte, Metso’s VP of Service and Sales for Canada.
“If we look at the golden triangle and everything, Prince George made the best possible place for us to choose this location.”
Ayotte added Artemis, who recently opened the Blackwater Mine south of Vanderhoof, is a big customer of the company.
“Being able to invest in the locality, and bring back into the communities where our customers are operating is one of the key things we want to do at Metso,” he said.
“I think it’s absolutely incredible, anytime you can get a global leader like Metso coming here, investing in Prince George and investing in Boundary Road,” said Councillor Brian Skakun, who was serving as Acting Mayor today.
“We put a lot of money and political capital into Boundary Road and this area a decade and a half ago, and it’s so good to come here and celebrate with them on the ground breaking.”
Lheidli T’enneh First Nation Chief Dolleen Logan said she’s excited about the project, but the key is the training it will provide.
“Not only are they supplying and building and making and installing all the equipment in the mining companies, we do not have any in our core territory, but neighbouring nations do have mines,” she said.
“They’re talking about training people on how to run it. To me, it’s an opportunity to not only First Nations, but anyone who wants to start a company to come, go to school, get trained, and be able to maintain these mines that are coming in.”
According to Ayotte, the service center will likely be fully operational in the first quarter of 2026.
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