Chief operating officer Barry Palmer has taken over as CEO of North American Construction Group following the sudden departure of Joe Lambert after nearly two decades with the company.
NACG is in the process of acquiring Western Australia-based Iron Mine Contracting for C$115 million to increase its exposure to what Lambert described last month as a $20 billion Australian contract mining and drilling market.
It previously bought Queensland-based MacKellar Group in 2023 for $395 million and Palmer, himself a 40-plus-year NACG veteran, was appointed regional president of the group’s Australian base. He started with NACG in 1982 as a heavy equipment operator and became COO in 2024.
Lambert became CEO in 2021 after serving as COO for nearly 10 years. He originally joined NACG as mining general manager.
Lambert got his first class mine manager’s ticket in Western Australia after earning a mining engineering degree in South Dakota, USA.
New York Stock Exchange-listed NACG’s share price is down more than 26% in the past 12 months, capitalising the company at about US$450 million. The price has risen by more than 11% in the past month.
NACG says it has started a search for a new CEO.
Chair Martin Ferron said Lambert had led the company to “new levels of geographic and commodity diversification while also navigating through unprecedented challenges”.
“In no small part due to his leadership, NACG is now very well positioned to be a strong competitor in the civil construction, mining and earthworks markets throughout North America and Australia,” Ferron said.
Palmer said a “solid foundation” was in place for growth.
