How has Dynamitage Castonguay grown into the company it is today?

Dynamitage Castonguay was founded in Sherbrooke, Québec, 51 years ago as a construction and quarry contractor, but over the years built up extensive experience in the mining industry and expanded its business locations to Val-d’Or, QC and Sudbury in Ontario. We now service the mining industry across Canada, especially in the Abitibi, James Bay, Nunavik, Côte-Nord and Labrador areas. Today, we are a drilling and blasting contractor, as well as an explosives distributor, and have developed specific equipment, knowledge, expertise, and technologies to operate surface mines from clearing challenging overburdens to get to the bedrock, to the drilling and blasting that occurs around the pit, to production drilling and blasting for the excavation of ore and the explosives supply. Dynamitage Castonguay has developed this expertise with various commodities including iron ore, gold, lithium, copper, nickel, diamonds and more.

Which commodity sectors drive the most demand for Dynamitage Castonguay’s services?

We are seeing most demand coming from iron ore and gold mines, especially given the extensive deposits and expertise in Québec. While we are seeing significant demand for more newly popular metals such as lithium and graphite, these projects are still more challenging to develop into mines. For example, we worked on the Nemaska Lithium project, which unfortunately ran out of money. Québec Lithium, which became North American Lithium, also went bankrupt twice but has since been acquired by Sayona Québec, which we believe will have what it takes to make that project viable.

How does your company overcome certain regional drilling challenges?

Québec experiences all four seasons in quite an extreme way – harsh winters, hot summers. This is particularly impactful when mining at surface. We developed our equipment to work in all seasons anywhere in Québec. Another challenge in Québec is the topography. We are on the Canadian Shield, and the terrain can be tough, especially in the north. Again, Dynamitage Castonguay has equipped its machines with the necessary accessories to tackle this terrain and trained its personnel accordingly.

How has the market for production drilling evolved over the past few years?

The market has changed significantly post-pandemic. Demand for metals has gone up, supply chains have been interrupted, and labor challenges are more pressing than ever. Cost is still a factor but no longer the main consideration, as mines must produce for an increased demand worldwide. The need in the market for over a year has been for equipment, manpower, and the ability to do a good job. If you can offer this, you will be welcomed on a project, cost considerations being secondary matters as services are in such high demand.

Can you briefly mention the company's global footprint?

Dynamitage Castonguay mainly operates in Eastern Canada, but since 2016 we also cover the north of South America, where we work at gold mines in Guyana and Suriname. We have trained a very good team of local employees in South America to service our clients there. Our objective is to keep developing our international markets, but in specific niches such as only mining.

Looking ahead, what excites you about the next few years of mining in Québec?

To stay ahead, we believe in a combination of experience and ambition from the younger generation. Dynamitage Castonguay is a leader in surface mining in Canada, and we take this leadership role seriously. We try to stay aware of what is happening in the industry so we can be one step ahead. Québec has extraordinary mining potential, given its wealth of base metals and strategic metals. There are still so many discoveries to be made, but we have to do it in a cost-effective way.