Tag Archives: DDH1 Drilling

An evolution in ‘hands free’ exploration drilling

5th August 2024Automation, Mining equipment, Mining servicesAustralia, DDH1 Drilling, EVO Multi-Load, Evolution Drill Rigs, Evolution FH2000, Evolution FH3000, exploration drilling, hands-free drilling, John Slattery, mine safety, Perenti, Queensland, rod handling, Sandvik DE840, Sandvik DE880, South32Daniel Gleeson

Evolution Drill Rigs out of Queensland, Australia, believes it has come up with a cost-effective and time saving solution to one of the most labour-intensive parts of the exploration drilling operation: handling drill rods.

Its Evolution EVO Multi-Load drill rod handling system is a true “hands free” diamond drill rod & casing handling and storage system, according to General Manager, John Slattery, explaining that it has been designed to work with most current exploration drill rigs, including the Evolution FH2000 & FH3000 and Sandvik DE840 & DE880 drills.

Evolution is not the first to come onto the market with a hands free rod handling system – readers may be thinking of Boart Longyear, Epiroc, Major Drilling, MEDATech Engineering’s Borterra division and others here – but Slattery is convinced the EVO Multi-Load system has the potential to make the biggest market impact.

“By choosing to design a system to work in conjunction with existing rig designs, the drilling contractors are able to utilise existing equipment with a few small changes,” he told IM. “Rather than invest in completely new drill rigs and handling systems, they can save significant capital outlay by investing in the EVO Multi-Load system.”

The other benefit of working with the existing rigs is the increased efficiency of rod tripping operations by using the existing rig main winch, he explained. “The ability to trip rods in 9-m lengths on deep holes during bit changes and ‘Navi-runs’ is a significant time saving method when compared to tripping rods in either 3-m or 6-m lengths as some other rod handling systems are limited to,” Slattery added.

The company already has one company speaking to these benefits too, with South32 recently running a 12-month trial of the EVO Multi-Load prototype at the Jessica and Cararra exploration projects in the Northern Territory of Australia. The company conducted this trial with its contract partner DDH1 Drilling, owned by Perenti, and said it was a “success” with plans to deploy the system on other South32 exploration projects in its 2025 financial year. South32 also provided funding to support Evolution’s prototype field trial and ensure the equipment was suited for ongoing use.

Slattery said the company’s ongoing testing of the prototype rig – in the workshop and the field – had led to an ongoing improvement plan ahead of commercialisation.

“Our engineering staff have worked closely with our customer DDH1 Drilling during the EVO Multi-Load development and our workshop team continued this during the testing phase and field trials,” he said. “We identified some areas for improvement during the workshop testing, which were incorporated into the rod loader prior to the field test: the sequencing of adding and removing rods from the loader has simplified the operation and helped with productivity.

“We have a few more updates in the pipeline to streamline the tripping process and increase overall productivity.”

This process has been aided by collaboration with DDH1 Drilling, according to Slattery, allowing the company to understand the contractor’s methods and requirements for handling rods during deep coring and directional drilling. “This allowed us to further develop our concept into a working prototype,” he said.

DDH1 Drilling’s experience with the use of several other types of drill rod handling system has allowed Evolution to benchmark operational cycle times against competitor products and confirm the productivity of the EVO Multi-Load system, he added.

Outside of the top head drive multi-purpose drills the Evolution system has already been designed to work on, there is the prospect of expanding this list further with a few small tweaks.

“In regions outside of our native Australia, such as Africa and South America, there is a large existing fleet of multi-purpose drills that could most likely use the system,” Slattery said.

This speaks to the faith Slattery has in the global potential of the system.

“We believe the majority of the drilling contractors and mining companies are interested in improving the operational safety around drilling projects in general, and drill rod handling is a big part of that,” he explained. “The EVO Multi-Load drill rod handling system has been designed around the needs of deeper core and directionally drilled holes, large volumes of drill rods, as well as the need to deal with different pipe and casing sizes. These more complex drilling programs are normally undertaken by the larger mining companies that have been calling for reduced human involvement in the drill rod handling process for some time.”

He concluded: “Our system has been designed to work with a range of rod and casing sizes and is flexible enough to be used on any brownfields exploration drilling program that involves the need to drill deep holes.”

Perenti completes DDH1 acquisition, establishes Drilling Services Division

6th October 2023Explosives and blasting, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining servicesAusdrill, DDH1 Drilling, drilling, Drilling Services Division, Mark Norwell, Perenti, Ranger Drilling, Strike Drilling, Swick Mining ServicesDaniel Gleeson

Perenti says the DDH1 Limited scheme of arrangement has been implemented today, with the ASX company now having acquired 100% of the issued share capital of DDH1.

Following the completion of the transaction, Perenti has now become one of the largest drilling services companies globally, increasing growth opportunities for the business and its people.

When the deal was announced back in June, Perenti estimated it would create the ASX’s leading diversified contract mining services company, with a pro forma market capitalisation of circa A$1.3 billion (pre-synergies and potential re-rate), positioning Perenti for potential ASX200 inclusion. Perenti added that 85% of its revenue base will be from production and resource definition (rather than exploration), with the company holding a modern fleet with over 190 rigs from DDH1 and 99 from Perenti – one of the largest drill fleets globally.

Mark Norwell, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Perenti, said Perenti is pleased to welcome the DDH1 team members who are joining the Perenti Group today and looks forward to working together to continue to deliver value and certainty for all our stakeholders.

“The acquisition of DDH1 is a very important milestone in the continued growth and evolution of Perenti, and we are very pleased to welcome the circa 2,000 DDH1 employees, their four highly respected brands of DDH1 Drilling, Strike Drilling, Ranger Drilling and Swick Mining Services along with their expansive client base into the wider Perenti Group. DDH1 leverages and builds on nearly 40 years of drilling expertise that our Ausdrill brand holds, enabling Perenti to establish a stand-alone Drilling Services Division of significant scale and global relevance. Perenti is now one of the largest drilling services contractors globally offering a complete range of underground and surface drilling services, including specialisation in deep directional drilling.

“With the completion of the acquisition, we look forward to demonstrating the significant value proposition that the combination of Perenti and DDH1 can offer to all our stakeholders, and we expect to provide the market with consolidated financial year 2024 guidance in November.”

Perenti looks to create ASX’s leading diversified contract mining services company with DDH1 buy

26th June 2023Explosives and blasting, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining servicesDDH1, DDH1 Drilling, Mark Norwell, mining contractor, Perenti, Ranger Drilling, Strike Drilling, Swick Mining Services, Sy Van DykDaniel Gleeson

Perenti has entered into an agreement under which it will acquire 100% of the issued share capital of DDH1 Limited, a surface and underground mining contractor, subject to satisfaction of conditions.

DDH1 brings significant capability across a range of specialised surface and underground drilling services that complement Perenti’s existing service offering, Perenti says. This will see it benefit from increased scale, and the ability to leverage the operational and financial strengths of both companies. This will enable improved margins and increased free cash flow, which will accelerate the delivery of our FY25 financial targets.

Following the completion of the transaction, which is subject to DDH1 shareholder approval and other conditions, Perenti will become one of the largest drilling services companies globally, increasing growth opportunities for the business and its people, it says.

Perenti estimated that it would create the ASX’s leading diversified contract mining services company, with a pro forma market capitalisation of circa A$1.3 billion ($868 million, pre-synergies and potential re-rate), positioning Perenti for potential ASX200 inclusion. Perenti added that 85% of its revenue base will be from production and resource definition (rather than exploration), with the company holding a modern fleet with over 190 rigs from DDH1 and 99 from Perenti – one of the largest drill fleets globally.

In 2021, DDH1 combined with Swick Mining Services to create, they said, a global scale mineral drilling business with a balance of surface and underground services.

Mark Norwell, Managing Director & CEO of Perenti, said: “This is a compelling transaction that represents an exciting next step in delivering on Perenti’s purpose, to create enduring value and certainty, by building a portfolio of complementary high quality businesses.

“Perenti has a long history in drilling from its Ausdrill heritage and Barminco Diamond Drilling business and understands the attractiveness of the market.

“The long-term outlook for a sustained production cycle needs increased drilling spend to ensure mining reserves are not diminished, and drilling is becoming more complex, resulting in larger programs and demand for specialist services.

“DDH1 is a highly respected Tier 1 global operator, with significant capabilities across a complete range of specialised surface and underground drilling services, that are complementary to our existing clients and service offering.

“We have a clearly articulated framework against which we assess all investment opportunities, with this transaction addressing our key assessment criteria in relation to strategic attractiveness, fit within Perenti and value creation potential.”

Following the transaction, the DDH1 business will form part of a newly created Drilling Services Division, which will also comprise Perenti’s existing Ausdrill business. Sy Van Dyk (current Managing Director & CEO of DDH1), will be appointed as President of the newly created division. Each of the four existing DDH1 brands, DDH1 Drilling, Ranger Drilling, Strike Drilling and Swick Mining Services, will be maintained and led by their existing leadership teams, with a focus on providing a consistent offering and customer continuity.

Perenti hopes to close the deal in October based on its indicative timetable.