Drill maker set to expand again.

A hot international mining market has meant big business for many industry suppliers, including North Bay's Rotacan, which is months away from completing the construction of a new 30,000-square-foot facility on the property it shares with parent company J.N. Precise.

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Rampant international demand for its proprietary rotary blast hole drill bits has found Rotacan finally ready to cast out into its own dedicated facility after spending four years sharing increasingly cramped quarters with its parent firm.

"We've outgrown the facility we have right now," says Ken Perrin, operations manager for J.N. Precise and Rotacan.

"Markets are extremely buoyant for us. We feel we could sell an awful lot more product, not only in the geographical areas where we're selling now, but in other parts of the world, so we need to up the platform size for production."

With a price tag of "several million dollars," the new plant began construction last fall, and work has continued on the facility throughout the winter. It is now half complete, with the walls and roofing having recently been finished. Local contractor Kenelex is currently working with various sub-contractors to see to the installation of plumbing, electricity and various other internal systems in anticipation of occupying the site within the next three months.

Through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, the provincial government is also lending a hand with the project by providing the company with a $1.5 million interest-free loan for three years. Intense supply and demand in the mining sector means that both companies are working at full capacity in the 76,000 square foot facility. In order for either firm to expand further, a new facility is needed.

"J.N. Precise is growing as well, and it's basically pushing Rotacan out and saying, 'It's time to leave the nest and go out on your own,'" Perrin says.

Success has come quickly for Rotacan, which has achieved $4 million in sales within four years largely as a result of open-pit mining throughout Western Canada, the western United States and various South American countries.

By establishing a new facility, the company will be able to add to its 21-person employee base by as many as 30 additional workers within the next three years.

The new building will also allow for a metallurgical laboratory and a heat treatment furnace. This process helps to harden the bits through heat induction, giving them more durability Such work had previously been done by a southern Ontario company, and by moving the process in-house, Perrin says the company is strengthening control over its own supply chain.

"It's definitely a positive move for us as both companies continue to grow," Perrin says.

"We know that if we want to continue this way and continue to grow our business substantially, we have do something."

In recent years, the company has branched out in recent years to Santiago, Chile, where it has established a sales and distribution office.

By NICK STEWART

Northern Ontario Business