Can you introduce our readers to ASDR and provide an overview of the services your company offers the mining sector?

ASDR was founded in 2006 with four employees and has managed to grow to more than 300. We provide services to the mining, forestry, industrial, and municipal sectors, but mining remains our core specialty and currently comprises about 90% of our business. Our key differentiator is our ability to deliver turnkey solutions to our clients with utmost cost certainty. All of our centers of excellence have seen significant growth. Our water treatment group, specialized in modular and permanent water treatment plants, as well as our industrial services group, specialized in maintenance work during shutdowns, have more than doubled their revenues in the last few years. The engineering and project management group provides critical multidisciplinary engineering services and senior project managers to deliver our projects. With manufacturing completing the mix, ASDR is vertically integrated from design to delivery, which allows us to simplify procurement cycles and reduce project execution times for clients while maintaining high standards for health and safety and quality thanks to our shop fabrication and modularization methodology.

ASDR announced the acquisition of ECO Technologies in May 2022. What was the motivation driving this decision?

ASDR acquired ECO Technologies to help expand its water treatment and management expertise. This acquisition not only expands our geographic footprint into the New Brunswick and western Canadian markets, but it also augments our end-to-end water treatment services. For example, it will stabilize our dredging service by allowing icebreaking activities and the environmental services to happen further into the winter.

What are the unique benefits to ECOMUD as a water treatment technology?

ASDR collaborated with Eldorado Gold to develop and commercialize ECOMUD, an innovative solution for the treatment of sludge and water generated from mining drilling and construction-related activities. ECOMUD is a key step for sustainable drilling, as it can reduce water consumption by 90% thanks to its ability to recirculate water back to the drill. Furthermore, ECOMUD is unique in its ability to treat water in accordance to stringent government regulations prior to discharge. To date, we have implemented this technology at several large operations with great success. There are currently five units in circulation. A “LITE” version of ECOMUD that is better suited for remote locations and underground applications will be released to the market shortly.

To what extent are mining companies in Canada willing to adopt new technologies?

Mining companies in Québec have progressed a lot over the past decade, and they are a lot more open to new solutions, especially in pursuit of sustainability. For example, ASDR has a product under development called ECOZONE, which helps remove an ammonia residue in water generated from dynamite blasting during operations. The ECOZONE trials on Eldorado Gold’s underground water have been promising and will continue at larger scale. On the other hand, we do run into instances in which cost is the determining factor of concern for clients.

Has ASDR faced challenges regarding the current shortage in skilled labor?

One of the draws for ASDR is that we have several offices in Canada, including in Montreal, which can be attractive for many prospective employees. We also offer very competitive wages and benefits. Generally speaking, the ever-increasing salaries help make the industry more competitive in attracting talent.

What is the company’s growth strategy, and what prospects excite you about the coming years?

ASDR does business differently. We focus on seeing the bigger engineering picture, which then enables us to provide more precise, tailored solutions. One of the key ways we do this is through strategic acquisitions. ASDR targets acquisitions approximately every two years. We have acquired companies such as ECO Technologies and TerraTube, which have helped us expand our offerings and grow our talent base. This acquisition mindset will continue to shape our growth strategy into the future, and we remain very excited about the prospects in our end-to-end water treatment and turnkey project solutions and to expand our presence throughout the country.