Heavy Machines are key to future development
The history of many First Nations’ communities in Canada is one of unique cultures, traditions and often changes. Thankfully, however, many of the issues currently facing a growing number of these communities are “positive” in nature.
In the Village of McLeod Lake , B.C., for example, the McLeod Lake Indian Band, (a small group whose people are part of the TseK’ehne, or People of the Rocks), is instrumental in helping make its community one of the more progressive regions in the province in terms of mining and infrastructure development.
Under the leadership of Chief Derek Orr, the McLeod Lake Indian Band’s people have created Duz Cho Construction (with its head office’in Chetwynd, B.C.), a key supplier of road construction, site preparation and reclamation services to several large coal mines in the region as well as a number of gold, copper, molybdenum, lead and zinc mines.
McLeod Lake is located 150 kilometres north of Prince George in the north-central region of the province within the confines of the Rocky Mountain Trench and is on the doorstep to the mineral and energy resource rich northeast region of British Columbia. A significant geological area, The Trench separates the Rocky Mountains on the east from the Columbia Mountains and the Cassiar Mountains on the west and stretches 1,600 kilometres (990 miles) from the Flathead Mountains of Montana to the Laird River, just south of the British Columbia/ Yukon border. This area is often referred to as the province’s center of mining, oil and gas exploration as well as hydroelectric and wind energy development.
It is within this region that the pro-active McLeod Lake Indian Band established Duz Cho Logging in 1998, a company capable of harvesting over one-million cubic metres of timber annually. The success of Duz Cho Logging was followed by the creation of Duz Cho Construction, with head offices in nearby Chetwynd in 2003, and the purchase of Summit Pipeline Services in 2004.
Wind. Coal. Copper. Gas.
Along with the managed growth of Duz Cho Construction, the company has developed a very positive business relationship with Volvo Construction Equipment and their local dealer group, Great West Equipment.
Duz Cho Construction is a key supplier of road construction, site preparation and reclamation services to several large coal mines in the region as well as a number of gold, copper, molybdenum, lead and zinc mines. Additionally, they are a key player in the site preparation, site decommissioning and site reclamation for the regional oil and gas industry.
With the development of the area’s wind energy sites, Duz Cho has been instrumental in road construction, infrastructure development as well as site preparation. Their first wind energy project, the 48 tower, 144 megawatt Dokie Ridge Wind Farm was fully operational in 2011. Currently, they are winding up work on the 79 tower, 156 megawatt Capital Power Corporation’s Tumbler Ridge Quality Wind Energy project and have begun preliminary site surveys and preparation on the proposed 100 tower, Dokie Ridge II Wind Farm.
On the Tumbler Ridge Quality Wind Energy site alone, Duz Cho was responsible for over 22 kilometres (14 miles) of
12 metre (40 ft) wide roads, tower site excavation, foundation work, crane pad construction as well as back filling and all site and area reclamation. Here the company’s fleet of Volvo excavators, articulated haulers, motor graders and skid steers were instrumental in achieving on-time, on-budget completion.
Coal mining in this part of the world is a very robust industry with production averaging in excess of 35 million tons per year. “Mining in this area is a 24 hour, 365 day a year job and a number of the area’s major mining companies are counting on us to be there when they need us,” states Wade Caven, Divisional Manager, North East Mining Division. “We need reliable and productive equipment that is cost effective and Volvo delivers that for us.”
Staying with the mining theme, Chris Leatherdale, Divisional Manager, North West Mining Division is heading up Duz Cho’s involvement at one of the province’s newest copper/gold mines, the 1.6 billion dollar Thompson Creek Metals’ Mount Milligan project. Leatherdale is leading the 120 man Duz Cho team in the construction of the mine’s massive tailings storage facility which involves moving up to 20 million cubic meters of mother-earth. To get the job done, they are utilizing up to 45 pieces of Volvo iron including 700, 460 and 330 series excavators and a fleet of 35 and 40 ton articulated haulers.
When asked if their Volvo fleet was getting the job done, Leatherdale was very affirmative in his reply, “I have nothing but good to say about Volvo and Great West. We believe 100% in the Volvo product and know that it is what has allowed us to stay competitive in the mining industry. We just wish they would build some bigger equipment. Like 80 and 100 ton solid frame trucks and a large dozer line. We’ve told them, if they will build ‘em… we will buy ‘em.”
Just to the northwest of the nearby community of Tumbler Ridge, Duz Cho is working on site reclamation for Talisman Energy. Here a combination of two new Volvo EC380D tracked excavators and a fleet of six Volvo A35D and A40F articulated haulers are restoring depleted natural gas-well sites back to their original rugged mountain condition.
Production. Performance. Challenge.
In speaking with Jim Humphreys, Duz Cho Construction’s General Manager, he was very straightforward, “We are very satisfied with the support provided by Volvo and Great West Equipment. We have had a long relationship with Tim Martin, Dillon Healy and the Great West team. They are always there when we need them and go above and beyond expectations just to keep us up and running. It’s because of them that every piece of Volvo equipment that we have in our inventory performs for us. Their excavators, especially the large 700 series are excellent and what can I say about the ‘wiggles’ (articulated haulers), they are the best. Nobody can even touch Volvo for production and performance.”
As First Nations’ communities work to provide a legacy of change for their peoples, perhaps Chief Derek Orr sums it up best, “It’s an honorable challenge to achieve the right balance between growth and development, while maintaining the positive traditions of the past.” To date the McLeod Lake Indian Band, under the guidance of Orr, has certainly achieved that.
Information for this article provided by Volvo Construction Equipment.
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