Gold mining in China
With a gold mine in Inner Mongolia and a copper mine in Tibet, China Gold International Resources Corp. has continued to build shareholder value through production growth and corporate expansion. CEO Xin Song consistently seeks ways to increase the company's resource base and to acquire and develop new projects both in China and internationally. In June, China Gold purchased shares in Zambia-based copper producer China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Ltd. for an aggregate price of $155.2M. With more than 25 years of experience in the mining industry in both exploration and resource development, Song has pushed his company to the top of this year's list.
2011 revenue: $327,687,141
Five-year growth: 69,396%
2011 ranking: 2
Video surveillance systems
With customers in more than 60 countries, Avigilon designs, manufactures and markets HD surveillance systems for use in college campuses, transportation systems, health-care institutions, public venues and infrastructure and manufacturing sites with a full suite of security products. Avigilon president, CEO and founder Alexander Fernandes has more than 20 years of experience leading companies that develop, build and market high-end digital imaging products, software and hardware. Founder of QImaging, which he sold in 2002, Fernandes' success continues to grow. Avigilon designs and manufactures all of its hardware and software, which allows clients to customize their own surveillance systems, in Canada.
2011 revenue: $60,033,220
Five-year growth: 27,987%
2011 ranking: 3
Gold mining
With two mines in Nicaragua, B2Gold Corp. was founded in 2007 by the former executive and management team of Bema Gold Corporation. B2Gold's current president and CEO Clive Johnson had been involved with Bema and its predecessor companies since 1977 and was instrumental in Bema's transition from a junior exploration company to an international intermediate gold producer. Currently developing assets in Nicaragua, Colombia and Uruguay, B2Gold Corp. is responsible for three world-class gold discoveries; Refugio and Cerro Casale in Chile and Kupol in Russia.
2011 revenue: $222,873,128
Five-year growth: 9,836%
2011 ranking: n/a
Precious- and base-metals mining
Nevsun Resources Ltd.'s Bisha Mine in Eritrea, East Africa, is a large precious- and base-metal volcanogenic sulphide deposit that went into commercial gold-silver production in February 2011. "Our success is driven by a good team of people, working with a great deposit," said CEO Cliff Davis, who began his relationship with Nevsun in 1994. For its first two years, the Bisha Mine produced low-cost gold, and for an additional three years it has produced high-grade copper concentrate. Bisha plans to expand exploration in the area based on the belief that there could be additional deposits.
2011 revenue: $541,744,530
Five-year growth: 7,440%
2011 ranking: n/a
Premium printing services
Jukeboxprint.com founder and CEO Loredo Rucchin has put the finishing touches on his company's newest product: embossed wooden business cards. Jukeboxprint.com offers high-quality business card products and the latest, most innovative print products. For Rucchin, having a younger team has helped maximize the company's use of social media, which powers much of their business operations. He attributes the success to them, even though many have never worked in the print industry. He hires them, trains them and makes sure the work environment is productive. "It's a fun atmosphere, filled with young, energetic people," he said. "We're in our own zone."
2011 revenue: $2,215,633
Five-year growth: 4,331%
2011 ranking: n/a
Software for utility-specific mobile field force management
Clevest Solutions provides software for mobile workforce management and smartgrid operations exclusively for electric, gas and water utilities. By automating fieldwork in the utilities industry, Clevest seeks to improve response times, productivity, safety and accuracy. It also manages smart-grid operations and maintenance, meter reading and vehicle location monitoring. President and CEO Thomas Ligocki founded the company after 15 years in the mobile workforce management industry. He has just finished the first phase of a major technology initiative to modernize the delivery of electricity to members in nine counties in central Georgia.
2011 revenue: $12,200,000
Five-year growth: 3,386%
2011 ranking: 11
New cancer therapies addressing treatment resistance
Founded by Dr. Martin Gleave, now chief scientific adviser, and Scott Cormack, president and CEO, OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals develops drugs for the treatment of cancer and specializes in combating cancer treatment resistance. Custirsen, an experimental drug that is designed to block the production of proteins associated with cancer treatment resistance, has seen consistent success in clinical trials that have shown it to help make tumour cells less resistant to standard chemotherapeutic drugs. OncoGenex continues to push forward with its trials, each time increasing the company's accredited success and paving the way for further advancement in the development of new cancer treatments.
2011 revenue: $5,435,544
Five-year growth: 2,759%
2011 ranking: n/a
Junior gold producer
Rusoro Mining Ltd. had been a gold producer and explorer operating in southern Venezuela for some time before it went public in 2006. The company holds a 50% interest in its largest gold producer, the Isadora mine, but that ownership is now in peril: the other 50% is owned by the government of President Hugo Chavez, who stated in August that he intends to nationalize the gold industry in the country. The news, which effectively ousts Rusoro president and CEO Andre Agapov from operations in the country without any promise of compensation, sent Rusoro's stock plummeting, prompting them to commence arbitration proceedings against the Venezuelan government before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
2011 revenue: $106,152,330
Five-year growth: 2,726%
2011 ranking: 4
Industrial properties
Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust co-CEOs Steve Evans and Darren Latoski believe relationships are key to sustainable business. For Latoski, it comes down to trust. "You do what you say and you say what you do," he said. Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust acquires, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of income-producing industrial properties in primary industrial markets across Canada. The company's strategy is to balance the maintenance of the properties it owns with accretive acquisitions carefully chosen based on quantifiable upside potential. Buying well, managing well and delivering results with honesty are what he says has brought his company success.
2011 revenue: $34,933,000
Five-year growth: 2,062%
2011 ranking: n/a
Silver exploration and development
Operating mines both at home in Canada and in countries such as Peru, Argentina and Chile, Silver Standard Resources Inc. has seen some notable recent success under the leadership of president and CEO John Smith, who has more than 30 years of experience in the industry. In September 2012, the company reported that assay results from recent drilling at the company's Pirquitas mine in Argentina revealed significant mineralized silver and zinc deposits. Silver Standard recently stepped up operations at Pirquitas with the addition of a third drilling rig. The investment seems to be paying off, and the future looks promising for this company.
2011 revenue: $146,218,705
Five-year growth: 1,751%
2011 ranking: n/a
