Suppliers News (March 26, 2007)

Fasken Martineau Continues Expansion

Canadian law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin and Ottawa-based firm Johnston & Buchan will merge to give Fasken Martineau a higher profile in Canada’s capital — a market rife with government clients.

The announcement comes about six weeks after Fasken Martineau partnered with U.K. law firm Stringer Saul, a specialist in mining, technology and Alternative Investment Market (AIM) finance.

The Johnston & Buchan merger is the latest in a series of moves by Fasken Martineau to expand its presence in markets that the firm’s Calgary, Johannesburg, London and Ottawa offices serve.

“Merging with Johnston & Buchan allows Fasken Martineau to bring a highly respected Ottawa practice onboard that offers our clients expertise in communications and trade law and an intimate knowledge of the federal government and the regulatory environment,” says David Corbett, managing partner of Fasken Martineau.

Johnston & Buchan has been in business for 26 years and was seen as a good fit, as the partnership enhances Fasken Martineau’s ability to serve “federally-regulated clients in both official languages.”

Johnston & Buchan is usually ranked in the top tier of Canadian communications law firms by legal publications Chambers and Lexpert.

“Fasken Martineau’s unique structure and entrepreneurial approach is the right cultural fit for Johnston & Buchan and our clients,” says Robert Buchan, a founding partner of Johnston & Buchan.

He added that Fasken Martineau offered “complementary areas of expertise such as labour, employment, finance, tax and litigation in Canada and internationally.”

Laurence Dunbar, another Johnston & Buchan partner, will become co-chair of Fasken Martineau’s expanded communications practice as of April 1.

Johnston & Buchan employs 13 lawyers, more of whom practise communications law than at any other law firm in Canada.

Fasken Martineau has about 640 lawyers practising law at offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, London, Johannesburg and New York.

Major Posts Best Q3 in a Decade

Moncton, N.B.-based Major Drilling Group International (mdi-t, mjdlf-o) rode continued, unprecedented demand for drilling services to a 54% jump in revenue and a corresponding spike in profit in its third quarter of fiscal 2007.

Major earned $5 million or 22 per share after a loss on discontinued operations for the three months ended Jan. 31, 2007 — Major’s first net profit in a decade during its third quarter — a time when companies generally do the least drilling.

In the previous year’s third quarter the company posted a net loss, after a gain on discontinued operations, of $700,000 or 3 per share. Revenue leapt 54% to $90.1 million in the third quarter of 2007, from $58.4 million during the same period in 2006.

“We also had our best revenue month ever in November. Shorter than expected shutdowns, generally improved pricing, and an increased number of rigs in the field contributed to these strong results,” says Francis McGuire, president and CEO.

McGuire noted that drilling programs that would usually end during November were extended well into December.

“Also, January was exceptionally strong with early startups in most of our operations,” McGuire says.

The acquisition of the Longstaff group, which carries on drilling operations in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, also helped the company.

“Nickel, copper, gold, silver, uranium and zinc prices remain well above economic thresholds for exploration,” McGuire says.

Given the company’s favourable financial position, it decided to put more cash into capital expenditures, buying 11 new drill rigs at a cost of $14.5 million.

Major Drilling’s Canada-U.S. operations generated $30.3 million in revenue during the quarter, up $12 million or 65.6% from $18.3 million for the same period last year.

In Canada, improved winter conditions allowed early startups for most contracts. Last year, warm weather slowed the development of the winter roads required to gain access to many project sites, which caused delays or cancellation of some projects.

In Latin America, revenue for the quarter was $29.6 million, up 91% from $15.5 million in the previous year’s third quarter. The growth was driven primarily by strong demand in Mexico, Chile and Argentina.

In Asia, Australia and Africa, drilling operations reported revenues of $30.2 million, up 22.3% from $24.7 million last year. This growth was led by Tanzania, where revenue almost doubled, as well as by revenue from the new African acquisition. Revenue grew moderately in Indonesia and was flat in Mongolia and Australia.

For the 9-month period, earnings climbed to $41 million or $1.77 per share compared with $17 million or 75 per share. The results included a $12.2-million gain from discontinued operations, specifically the sale of the company’s manufacturing division and ceasing operations in China.

Meanwhile, revenues increased by about 26% to $286.4 million from $227.5 million, with more than half of that coming from Latin America.

Major Drilling Group has operations in Canada, the U.S., Latin America, Australia, Indonesia, Africa and Mongolia.

ABB to Supply Mill Drives

Swiss company ABB, a provider of power and automation technology, has an order from U.S.-based FFE Minerals to supply drive systems for semi-autogenous (SAG) and ball mill main motors.

The mills will be part of an expansion project at the Zangezour copper mines, located in the most southern province of Armenia. The new mills will help increase production there by 50%.

The contract is worth about US$4.6 million.

ABB will deliver two drive systems. One is a fixed-speed ball mill drive with a 6,400-kilowatt motor running at 200 revolutions per minute (rpm), with an excitation unit. The other is a variable speed, dual-pinion SAG mill drive that includes an ACS 6000 multidrive, two synchronous motors (4,500 kilowatt, 160-213 rpm) and a converter transformer.

Installation and commissioning of the equipment will take place in the first quarter of 2008.

The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 107,000 people.