Golder Associates acquired the Marston group of companies, a full-service mining consultancy that specializes in mine planning and geologic services for open pit and underground coal, metals, oil sands, and industrial mineral mines. The acquisition boosts Golder's global capabilities in mining by expanding its mine planning and resource evaluation capabilities in energy minerals, particularly coal and the Alberta oil sands. It also expands opportunities to provide Golder's traditional services — including geotechnical engineering, mine waste management, environmental services and permitting, and reclamation and closure — to new clients in the world's major coal-producing regions.

"The combined services of Golder Associates and Marston provide tremendous advantages to all our mining clients by creating one of the largest and most distinguished groups of geology and mine planning professionals in the business," said Brian Conlin, president and CEO of Golder Associates Corporation.

The complementary talents and similar cultures of Golder and Marston will be of particular benefit to the coal and Alberta-based oil sands industries, the company said, which require the full spectrum of mine planning, scheduling, geotechnical, and environmental services. Other synergies, such as both firms' resource evaluation expertise, will enable them to assist metal mining companies across the globe.

Marston President Richard Marston said, "Golder's global offices, infrastructure, and world-class technical depth add exceptional leverage to Marston's core services in resource and reserve analysis, mine planning, and feasibility studies, as well as coal supply consulting and information management."

The acquisition will also allow employees of Marston, which was founded as a family business in 1977 and grew to 84 employees in three countries, to participate in Golder's broad-based employee ownership model. Marston will join the existing Golder offices in Denver and Calgary, Alberta, while also retaining its existing locations in St. Louis, San Antonio, Texas, and Newcastle, NSW, Australia.