Tag Archives: contract drilling

Capital receives underground drilling boost at AngloGold’s Geita mine

Mine operation news, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , ,

Mining service company Capital has been awarded two new three-year contracts at AngloGold Ashanti’s Geita gold mine in Tanzania.

Included in these contracts is the continuation of surface delineation and open-pit grade control drilling services, plus underground grade control and delineation drilling, with an expanded scope for underground drilling activities.

The award, Capital says, is subject to final contract execution and relevant government approvals. Both contracts are due to commence on April 1 and are anticipated to generate revenues of $65 million over the contract term.

The underground contract will use nine rigs, including five from the existing fleet together with an additional four new rigs, which have been secured and are currently in transit to the site. The surface delineation contract will use the existing fleet of five rigs.

Capital has been providing drilling services at Geita since 2006.

Jamie Boyton, Executive Chairman, said: “The awarding of the contracts at the Geita Gold Mine maintains our long-standing relationship with AngloGold Ashanti and is in line with our strategy of focusing on long-term mine site contracts with premier clients, underpinning the sustainability of our business. The contracts, which have been expanded from the previous contracts, reflect the Capital team’s excellent operational performance in safely delivering drilling services at the site since 2006.”

Major Drilling’s drilling dominance aim strengthened with new Manitoba office

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Major Drilling has opened a new office in Manitoba, Canada, as it looks to expand its contract drilling services and streamline its operations.

Completed at the end of 2020, the new 29,000 sq.ft (2,694 sq.m) operations head office houses an enlarged maintenance shop, parts warehouse and administrative offices. It also includes a 3.2 ha storage yard.

“We are proud of our long history in Manitoba,” Barry Zerbin, General Manager of Canadian Operations, said. “With our expanded space in Winnipeg, we can better serve our clients throughout the country and continue the specialised drilling results we are known to deliver.”

The new building stands over 8.5 m tall among developments inside the ‘CentrePort’ 8,094 ha inland port and foreign trade zone. The zone is home to North America’s largest tri-modal World Trade Center located in Rosser, part of the Winnipeg metro area, Major Drilling says.

The CentrePort campus positions Major Drilling well logistically. The geographic centre of Canada is mere kilometres from the new building where the shop, maintenance, and support staff supply crews, drills and parts across the country. The new building adds to the already strong and established framework of Major Drilling branches and shops throughout Canada including locations in Flin Flon, Sudbury, Rouyn, Timmins and Yellowknife, the company says.

The new Winnipeg location services Major Drilling’s Canadian operations with 24 offices for administration office staff, the human resources, safety and operations departments, and country managers. The maintenance team, with over a dozen employees, is housed in a 743 sq.m shop containing four full-sized bays with over 7.5 m in ceiling clearance to service all rig types in the Major Drilling fleet. The warehouse team works in a 650 sq.m facility containing inventory and spare parts. The building can also accommodate in-house training schools for additional crews coming aboard to meet client needs.

From left to right: the new Winnipeg branch location includes an 743 sq.m shop containing four full-sized bays with high ceiling clearance to service all rig types in the Major Drilling fleet; 24 offices for administration office staff; and a 650 sq.m foot facility containing inventory and spare parts

Zerbin says the expanded space allows the Winnipeg Branch to service Major Drilling’s clients in the province which include Hudbay Minerals in Flin Flon/Snow Lake; Vale in Thompson; 1911 Gold in Bissett; and Yamana Gold in Monument Bay. It also increases capacity for clients across Canada such as Foran Mining, Nighthawk Gold Corp and Sabina Gold & Silver.

Manitoba is a long-established operations area for Major Drilling. In 1998, the company completed the acquisition of the Midwest group of companies in Canada, which operated for more than 70 years of in central Canada and the Arctic. Midwest was one of the largest drilling companies in Canada with over 115 drills (80 surface, 35 underground).

The new Winnipeg office is opening just as the mining industry enters a projected upcycle in activity, according to Major Drilling.

“In 2021, Major Drilling continues its strategy of dominating specialised drilling across the globe,” the company said.

Swick lays groundwork for growth with A$15 million financing

Explosives and blasting, Mining equipment, Mining finance, Mining services, , ,

Australia-based drilling and mineral analysis service contractor Swick Mining Services is planning to raise A$15 million ($10.2 million) to provide it with the flexibility to pursue future organic and inorganic growth opportunities for the business, Managing Director Kent Swick says.

The ASX-listed company plans to issue shares to new and existing shareholders to raise this cash and has also provided existing shareholders with an opportunity to raise an additional A$2 million as part of its share purchase plan.

Kent Swick said: “By delivering on our strategy Swick is well placed for growth in financial year 2020, underpinned by our strong order book. We are also seeing additional opportunities to increase our rig fleet utilisation both in Australia and abroad, with a target of 70 FTE (full-time equivalent) underground rigs in work by financial year end, up from an average of 53.6 in FY19.

“This additional funding ensures Swick has the financial flexibility to pursue future organic and inorganic growth opportunities for the business. We are grateful for the strong support received from our existing institutional shareholders and are pleased to welcome several new institutional holders on to our share register.”

In June, Swick said it had recently won drilling contracts with the Barrick Gold and Newmont Goldcorp-owned Nevada Gold Mines JV, Silver Lake Resources and Northern Star Resources.

Mitchell to keep drilling south at BHP’s Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium mine

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Mitchell Services has been awarded a contract extension at BHP’s Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium mine in South Australia, which means it will continue with its underground drilling work until April 2020.

Under the varied terms of the deal, which comes on the back of a sustained period of strong drilling performance, the company will provide up to eight underground rigs and will continue to play “an integral part in BHP’s plans to expand into the high-grade southern area of the mine as part of a broader growth strategy at Olympic Dam”, it said.

Mitchell previously announced a material contract extension and scope increase in relation to its underground drilling contract back on September 5. This highlighted that the company would provide up to seven underground rigs and that the contract would be extended to April 2019.

In its latest results, BHP reported that underground operations continue to progress into the Southern Mine Area of Olympic Dam, with record development kilometres achieved and the mine’s third decline becoming fully operational in the December quarter of 2018.