Australian based mining technology firm Minnovare says it has secured significant investment from two “highly regarded” private equity firms which it hopes will help propel the company into the international market. Minnovare’s key product, the Azimuth Aligner, it says, “is delivering unprecedented efficiency to the underground drilling process, by substantially reducing rig set-up time.”
The company has secured funding from Jolimont Global Mining Systems (Jolimont Global), a private equity group that invests in high growth mining equipment, technology and services companies, and Viburnum Funds, an Australasian focused mid-market private equity investment manager with extensive experience in mining and oilfield services investment.

Minnovare co-founders Callum McCracken and Mick Beilby said the investment would principally be used to expand the company’s reach internationally. “We are obviously thrilled with the investment from two such highly regarded firms, which is a terrific vote of confidence in Minnovare,” McCracken said. “This partnership will help us expand more aggressively into the global mining and civil markets, and offer the benefit of the Azimuth Aligner to many more customers.” Launched in March 2012, Minnovare’s Azimuth Aligner enables a drill rig operator to achieve correct orientation in up to 90% less time compared to traditional labour intensive manual alignment methods – which typically include a string line, plum bob and surveyor.

In addition to providing significant productivity gains, the Azimuth Aligner is a critical enabling technology for the introduction of autonomous, semi-autonomous and remotely operated rigs. The cumulative effect of these technological advances is faster, more accurate, and better value exploration and production drilling for mining operations and a stronger customer service offering for drilling services providers. McCracken said there had been an overwhelmingly positive response to the Azimuth Aligner in a short period of time, but there was now a much larger market to address. “Our ultimate aim is to be the partner of choice for mining companies and drilling contractors who are looking to increase accuracy and efficiency and reduce their down time. We see great opportunity within Australia but certainly we also now have our eyes firmly on overseas markets.”