BC Business
Environmental risks most often associated with resource exploration include scars left by open-pit mines or overflow from gushing oil wells. But in fact it’s not the exploration activity that does the most damage to the environment; it’s the transportation infrastructure needed to haul all the heavy equipment to remote locations.
Energold Drilling Corp. came up with a more environmentally responsible alternative to carving out swaths of jungle or forest. Its component-based portable drilling system is at the heart of its business model; the biggest piece weighs 350 pounds and entire rigs can be pieced together on-site.
“It’s an area that most other drilling companies haven’t touched,” says Russell Stanley, a mining analyst with Haywood Securities in Toronto who follows the company. “You can move it into remote regions where the infrastructure to support a big heavy rig in terms of roads doesn’t exist, or the area’s environmentally sensitive: mountainsides, dense jungles.”
Energold includes among its clients industry giants such as BHP Billiton PLC, Goldcorp Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp. In 2012 it was among the TSX Venture 50, and it was among Profit magazine’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, its most recently reported fiscal year, Energold recorded earnings of $26.4 million on revenue of $133.5 million.