Island quarry has become largest in Canada.In the unorganized township of Meldrum on the western point of Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island is a Canadian island in Lake Huron, the world's largest freshwater lake island. Geography and geology With an area of 2,766 km² (1,068 square miles), it is the 174th largest island in the world, and Canada's 31st largest island. lies a Lafarge Canada Inc. quarry. It is the largest in the country. Like the tides on the Mississagi Straits in front of the plant, business has experienced the market's ebb and flow the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively. See also: Ebb through the years. When quarry manager Perry Newman started with the company 24 years ago, head office expected the site would only be opened for 50 years, but today's current assessment brings positive news of another 50 years of activity. "Going from a new operation in the 1980s to the largest in Canada in 24 years is pretty amazing," Newman boasts. Through the years, sales reflected the activity of construction companies and steel manufacturers, otherwise known as their customers. "If the steel industry is going well, we do well," he says. The operation is part of the aggregates, concrete and asphalt division of Lafarge. An estimated six million tonnes of dolomite dolomite (dō`ləmīt', dŏl`ə–). 1 Mineral, calcium magnesium carbonate, CaMg (CO3)2. rock (limestone) was crushed, sized and shipped from the company port last year. Cargo ships carry the product into the Great Lakes Great Lakes, group of five freshwater lakes, central North America, creating a natural border between the United States and Canada and forming the largest body of freshwater in the world, with a combined surface area of c.95,000 sq mi (246,050 sq km). destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. for Cleveland, Chicago or Detroit, to the Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal that runs 42 km (27.0 miles) from Port Colborne, Ontario on Lake Erie to Port Weller, Ontario on Lake Ontario. As part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the canal allows ships to avoid Niagara Falls by traversing the Niagara Escarpment. for southern, eastern Ontario and Quebec customers and through to the Sault Ste. Marie Sault Sainte Marie — pronounced "Soo Saint Marie" (IPA /su seɪnt məˈɹi/) — is the name of two cities on the Saint Marys River, which forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. locks up to Thunder Bay. Sales spiked 17.3 percent in 2003 alone, and have continually escalated with demand. Rock extracted from the quarry is known to be "quality stone" and therefore demand for the material is ever increasing. Approximately half their business comes from States side. The rest comes from various locations in Ontario and Quebec. In the 1980s, Lafarge Meldrum was quarrying 400,000 tonnes of rock annually but those numbers began escalating in the new millennium, once Asia stopped exporting steel to North America. It gave the Canadian industry a chance to strengthen their international position, Newman says. Newman started out with the company as a labourer, maintaining and operating fuel trucks, then moved over to the operating division, and on to hoisting. From there, he was groomed for a foreman's position, promoted to assistant manager, and presently is the general quarry manager. He says the company is strong on building leaders from within. The assistant manager, Mark Wicket, was brought up through the ranks at the same time as Newman. In fact, many of the company staff leaders have worked their way to their positions. Newman says there is an equal number of academic leaders in the plant, which makes for a balanced perspective on how the daily activities should be carried out. "When the company takes guys out of the school of hard knocks The School of Hard Knocks is an idiomatic phrase meaning the (sometimes painful) education one gets from life, often contrasted with formal education. It is a phrase which is most typically used by a person to claim a level of wisdom imparted by life experience, which they consider and (puts them into a working setting with academics), they find one complements the other." Only a handful of employees live in Meldrum Bay. The rest come in from various communities on the Island. An estimated 76 unionized employees and 18 non-union full-time members work at the plant. www.lafargecanada.com By KELLY LOUISEIZE Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. |
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