Procon Mining & Tunnelling Ltd.

Expertise and elbow grease┬áProcon Mining & Tunnelling Ltd. has become a leading provider of mining contracting services in North America and beyond, dispatching its labor force and equipment to remote locations to aid the exploration and mining activities of small and large clients alike, Keith Regan learns.  When Ed Yurkowski and Jim Dales formed Procon Mining & Tunnelling Ltd. in 1992, they set out to create a contract mining firm that would offer experienced, safe and efficient services to the mining industry in Canada, the United States and in some cases, overseas.  Seventeen years later Procon is one of the top firms in its category, employing as many as 1,200 people during peak times, many of them deployed to remote mining camps where they mine ore that helps keep the economies of the world running. Lately those economies have slowed to a crawl and Procon is feeling the impact. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre a cyclical industry in any conditions. We have our share of ups and downs, but in an economy like this one weÔÇÖre definitely feeling the effects,ÔÇØ says Dales, who serves as vice president of the Vancouver-based company. Because it markets its expertise in mining and tunneling and not a specific specialty for retrieving a certain type of metal ore, Procon is widely diversified. That has helped smooth out the rollercoaster economic ride somewhat. Procon helps customers mine potash, gold, diamonds, platinum and a range of base metals. ÔÇ£Gold is the one thing that will often stay up high when the economy is down, but on the other hand, demand for diamonds has dropped significantly,ÔÇØ he adds. Dales says Procon has reacted by working hard to be competitive in the down market to help customers be more competitive themselves. ÔÇ£If we can find ways for them to reduce their costs and be more efficient, we can stay working ourselves,ÔÇØ he says. Some benefits of the slower economy include lower fuel and equipment costs and a more abundant supply of labor, which means the company can choose the most experienced and qualified, which in turn enables crews to do more work in the same amount of time. ÔÇ£The more full services we can provide, the longer weÔÇÖll be asked to stay on a job site,ÔÇØ Dales adds, noting that in some cases Procon will have a crew on a mining companyÔÇÖs property for a decade or longer. Those properties are often remote mining camps where Procon dispatches labor and equipment, often flying materials and equipment into areas where roads are limited. ProconÔÇÖs services include building above-ground infrastructure, contract mining, underground excavations, civil tunneling and related construction services, and the company has access to resources necessary to make any size project feasible. Its 250-piece fleet of underground equipment includes drill jumbos, scooptrams, haul trucks, mechanized bolters, and shotcrete equipment.The nature of the workÔÇölong stretches of intense work in distant locationsÔÇöhas traditionally made it difficult to recruit younger workers into the contract mining labor pool. The relatively high salariesÔÇöDales says some workers can earn a full yearÔÇÖs pay in eight to nine monthsÔÇöhas helped counter that, but Procon and other companies have recognized the need to help find, develop and train the next generation of mine workers. Procon has worked with its clients to develop long-term training programs for workers entering the field and is also taking part in the British Columbia provincial governmentÔÇÖs Mineral Exploration and Mining Sector Labour Shortage Task Force, which is also seeking creative ways to address the need for more mining workers. ÔÇ£The average age of the contract mining labor force might be close to 50, so there is definitely a need to attract more young people and get them trained so that they can help bring about the next wave of innovation and creativity.ÔÇØProcon has not dramatically altered the services it offers clients, choosing to stick with what it does best. Often that means ramp-access mining, though it often works with clients to develop additional techniques or expertise as needed on a specific job. After successfully operating its own equipment-refurbishing facility in Edmonton for several yearsÔÇöhelping to extend the life of its fleet of equipment, which helps reduce costsÔÇöthe company has begun to offer those services to other companies, including the many oil and gas concerns in the region. ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs one way that weÔÇÖre diversifying, by putting that service out into the marketplace a bit more,ÔÇØ says Dales. Procon has also moved into the safety arena aggressively. The company forged a joint venture with SAFEmap International, an Australia-based provider of safety systems, to create SAFEmap North America. The company launched within the past year and Procon markets the system to mining and other concerns. ÔÇ£We like their system and we use it ourselves; we definitely see a need out there in a lot of industries for a better way to approach safety,ÔÇØ Dales says. The SAFEmap system is behavior-based and trains employees to evaluate all the day-to-day risks they face and make decisions about their work approach. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs about trying to give people the ability to evaluate risks on their own and make the right decisions.ÔÇØProconÔÇÖs main market focus is North America, with most of its work taking place in the western and northern reaches of the US and Canada. ÔÇ£The big advantage we have in our market is our ability to offer a Canada-wide workforce and a large diversified equipment fleet on demand to our clients.ÔÇØ Procon has also done overseas work for its North American-based clients. It recently wrapped up work on a gold mining project in Greenland, an endeavor that had it on that island for close to seven years.  ÔÇô Editorial research by Jason Moore┬á