The story
In November 2003 the Ontario Government by way of the Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council (OMICC) started to develop a "cluster approach" for the mineral resources industry within Ontario. This approach involved bringing together key stakeholders from Ontario's mineral sector-related industries, organizations, and government agencies. In 2006 the initial seed funding was provided by Vale Inco ($5 million), Xstrata ($5 million), Ontario Government ($10 million) and the City of Greater Sudbury ($50,000) in a combination of cash and in-kind contributions over the following three years. In 2007 CEMI was formally established as a not for profit corporation.
From Wikipedia’s article on Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4