
A ‘Rock Solid’ Business
MacLeod Resources Limited is a 'rock solid' company in Cape Breton experiencing breakthroughs in new markets. Areas near the beautiful Bras D’Or Lakes, Cape Breton were actively quarried for marble in the late part of the nineteenth century. As the industrial age evolved, Nova Scotia was found to be rich in various minerals.
With the objective of seeing commercial development happen in Nova Scotia, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) requested in 1999 to have the quality and quantity of marble deposit found in River Denys, Inverness County, defined through surveys and drill holes. Shortly thereafter, Christopher Trider and Richard Sanderson founded MacLeod Resources Ltd. in 2000 and acquired the property and mining rights in River Denys. Named after previous landowners, MacLeod was incorporated to develop a marble quarry and processing facility. The company is still working to create a dimension stone industry for Cape Breton through the strategic development of MacLeod’s brand of Canada’s Marble. Local geologists now estimate the deposit to be one billion years old, and continuously visit the quarry as new zones are revealed.
Business Result Achieved: Prosperity
In 2002, MacLeod Resources Limited announced that it was expanding its processing facility with the help of NSBI and the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC). The $2-million expansion will allow the company to finish and polish its own stone, keep the production process within the province’s borders, and grow its export markets in natural stone.
The completed expansion will also double the plant’s workforce to 20 full-time employees, and will also help increase the company’s export revenues, which ultimately contributes to the province’s growing economy.