April 2013
Supply Post Western Canada Edition · www.supplypost.com
Page 1
Front Page Story
A Blueprint For Positive Change “It’s an honourable challenge to achieve the right balance between growth and development, while maintaining the positive traditions of the past.”
Duz Cho Construction, a key supplier of road construction, site preparation and reclamation services to the mining and oil & gas industries, provides a legacy of success for its people. By Ronald Mullins
T
he history of many Canadian, First Nations’ communities is one of unique cultures and traditions. But accompanying these traditions have been a number of challenges. Fortunately, for an evergrowing number of these special peoples, this is changing. One of the communities where positive change is certainly evident is the Village of McLeod Lake, located north of the city of Prince George, British Co-
lumbia. It is here that the McLeod Lake Indian Band, a small but vibrant community whose people are part of the TseK’ehne, or People of the Rocks, call home. Today the McLeod Lake Indian Band is led by Chief Derek Orr, a proud, young, energetic man. “Our people have had their challenges over the years but it is my duty to help them overcome and be leaders,” stated Orr. “We were a nomadic tribe of hunters
“Today, our responsibility is to protect these same lands while benefiting from its bountiful natural resources.”
To establish and maintain a key position in the heavyconstruction industry, requires reliable equipment and proactive business relationships with heavy equipment suppliers.
and gathers living off the abundance of the land, and today our responsibility is to protect these same lands while benefiting from its bountiful natural resources.” Now in his second term as Chief, Orr grew up on the ‘tough’ streets of Prince George, but early on he was determined to make a difference in the lives of his TseK’ehne people. As a young adult, Orr enrolled in college, obtaining a degree in business management. Following graduation, he headed home and in 2008 was elected Band Chief. Chief Orr’s goal was to further develop the business of the McLeod Lake Indian Band into a significant economic force within their traditional territorial lands.
McLeod Lake is located within the confines of the Rocky Mountain Trench and is on the doorstep to the mineral, energy and natural resource rich northeast region of the province. It is within this region that the pro-active McLeod Lake Indian Band established Duz Cho Logging in 1988, a company capable of harvesting over one-million cubic meters of timber annually. The success of Duz Cho Logging was followed by the creation in 2003 of Duz Cho Construction, with head offices in nearby Chetwynd, and the purchase of Summit Pipeline Services in 2004. Wind. Coal. Copper. Gas. Duz Cho Construction is a key supplier of road construction, site preparation and reclamation services to several significant mines in the region. Additionally, they are an integral player in site preparation, site decommissioning and site reclamation for the regional oil and gas industry. With the development of the area’s wind-energy, Duz Cho has been instrumental in road construction and infrastructure development as well as site preparation for this burgeoning industry. Their first windenergy project, the 48 tower, 144 megawatt Dokie Ridge Wind Farm, was fully operational in 2011. This past fall saw them wrap up work on the 79 tower, 156 megawatt Capital Power Corporation’s Tumbler Ridge Quality Wind Energy project. They have recently 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 kilometers of 12 meter wide roads, tower site excavation, foundation work, and 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, Duz Cho North East Mining Division. 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 Construction Equipment iron including 700, 460 and 330 series excavators and a fleet of 35 and 40 ton ar-
ticulated haulers. 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 Volvo EC380D tracked excavators and Volvo A35D and A40F articulated haulers are restoring depleted natural gas-well sites back to their original rugged mountain condition. Production. Performance. Challenge. Establishing and maintaining a key position in the heavy-construction industry requires reliable equipment and pro-active business relationships with heavy equipment suppliers. Jim Humphreys, Duz Cho Construction’s General Manager, was very straightforward, “We are very satisfied with the support provided by Volvo Construction Equipment and Great West Equipment. We have had a longterm, valuable relationship with Tim Martin, Dillon Healy and the Great West team, and in my opinion nobody can touch Volvo for production and performance.” As First Nations’ face the challenge to provide a legacy of change for their peoples, perhaps Chief Derek Orr sums up the blueprint he has established for the McLeod Lake Indian Band best. “It’s an honourable challenge to achieve the right balance between growth and development, while maintaining the positive traditions of the past.” To date, these TseK’ehne people, under the guidance of Orr, have certainly achieved that. b