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IMDEX exercises Flexidrill option, adds COREVIBE and MAGHAMMER to offering

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IMDEX has exercised its option to acquire Flexidrill and its patent-protected drilling productivity technologies, COREVIBE™ and MAGHAMMER™, it said.

The transaction is expected to be completed in January 2020 by the payment of NZ$3 million ($1.95 million) cash, which will be followed by further payments of cash and IMDEX shares.

Earlier this year, the company entered into a secondary option period to acquire the company from March 2019 – December 2019 to acquire the companies as it conducted further product development and testing, while establishing its supply chain and manufacturing requirements.

IMDEX Managing Director, Bernie Ridgeway, said: “The investment proposition is compelling. COREVIBE (pictured) has consistently delivered substantial drilling productivity benefits in hard ground conditions at our test site in New Zealand and in client trials. We are confident this new technology will be a step-change for the minerals drilling industry globally and deliver significant earnings for IMDEX.”

He said the company’s focus for COREVIBE during the rest of its 2020 financial year was to further introduce the technology to clients.

Ridgeway continued: “Further development of MAGHAMMER at our test site is also progressing well and we are on-track to commence client trials in Q3 2020 (September quarter of 2020).”

“We will provide further updates regarding these technologies with our H1 2020 results announcement in February 2020, however, we anticipate these technologies will provide recurring rental revenue from FY 2021,” he added.

COREVIBE uses high frequency energy pulse assisted drilling for wireline coring and provides a significant advancement in core drilling productivity. This unique technology can deliver significant benefits to clients including: higher penetration rates – up to 90%; reduced hole deviation; fewer inner tube blockages and associated tripping; and longer drill bit life, according to IMDEX.

IMDEX undertook successful trials at the company’s test site in New Zealand, which concluded the COREVIBE generated a productivity gain of 33% over conventional coring. These results were also validated by SGS, a leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, and client trials in diverse locations and conditions, it said.

MAGHAMMER uses a new hybrid drilling technique, which combines rotary diamond drilling with fluid driven percussive drilling to achieve higher penetration rates compared to conventional coring.

The technology enables an entire drill hole to be completed with a coring rig where RC and diamond drilling is required, according to IMDEX.

Benefits for clients include: the ability to drill deeper faster and with lower cost – MAGHAMMER is not affected by water intrusion and is only limited in depth by the pullback capacity of the rig; rapid drill case setting; lower rig mobilisation and demobilisation costs; and a safer operating environment with substantially less dust than compressed air RC drilling, IMDEX says.

The first iteration of MAGHAMMER will be targeting high speed pre-collar drilling through barren rock to the coring zone. This eliminates the need for multiple drill rigs at site and, accordingly, the MAGHAMMER will significantly reduce the cost of drilling these targets, according to IMDEX. Additional development of the MAGHAMMER will provide geological samples.

IMDEX’s drill and blast technology gains traction

Explosives and blasting, IoT, Mineral exploration, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , ,

IMDEX, known for its technical sensing capabilities in exploration, is looking to lock in non-cyclical global revenue streams through the development of technology for drill and blast applications.

The company, in an update last week, said its BLAST DOG™ technology remains on track to increase mine to mill efficiency for clients globally and it was conducting trials in multiple commodities with global resource companies.

To date, successful trials have been undertaken in Nevada, USA, and in Queensland, Australia; with additional trials planned in Chile and Australia in the first half of 2020, IMDEX said.

“The company continues to have strong support from industry partners including: Orica; Anglo American; Teck Resources; and METS Ignited and expects to generate revenue from the drill and blast technologies in the 2020 financial year,” it said.

In addition to updating the market on its BLAST DOG technology, the company also revealed details about drilling productivity technologies COREVIBE™ and MAGHAMMER™.

Back in January 2018, IMDEX revealed it had an exclusive option agreement to acquire Flexidrill and its patent protected drilling productivity technologies, the COREVIBE and MAGHAMMER.

“The company has been progressing the development of these technologies based on strong demand from drilling contractors and resource companies,” IMDEX said, adding that it undertook successful trials at the company’s test site in New Zealand, which concluded that COREVIBE generated a productivity gain of 33% over conventional coring. These results were also validated by SGS, a leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, according to IMDEX.

More recently, IMDEX conducted client trials with the COREVIBE in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. “These trials were successful and supported the results achieved at IMDEX’s test site,” the company said.

Further trials with another large drilling contractor in Arizona, USA, are scheduled for late July 2019 and IMDEX expects to have COREVIBE units on rent in the current September quarter, it said.

Development of the MAGHAMMER at IMDEX’s test site in New Zealand is also progressing and the company intends to commence client trials in the second half of 2020, it said.

“The first iteration of the MAGHAMMER will be targeting high speed pre-collar drilling through barren rock to the coring zone,” IMDEX said. “This eliminates the need for multiple drill rigs at site and accordingly, the MAGHAMMER will significantly reduce the cost of drilling these targets. Additional development of the MAGHAMMER will provide geological samples.”

On the basis of continued positive development of the drilling productivity technologies and ongoing successful client trials with COREVIBE, IMDEX said it anticipated exercising its option to acquire Flexidrill in December 2019.

IMDEX Managing Director, Bernie Ridgeway, said: “We have an exciting pipeline of new technologies and connected devices to support our growth strategy. The new technologies have the potential to grow our core business by enhancing technical leadership; and extending our capabilities into the larger adjacent mining market, to create an additional non-cyclical revenue stream.

“Our new technologies – including the COREVIBE, MAGHAMMER and BLAST DOG – have the ability to deliver important advancements in drilling methods and mining workflows. New deposits are likely to be deeper and under cover; and resource companies are embracing innovation to achieve greater productivity. These new technologies position our company to benefit from changing industry dynamics.”

 

IMDEX sticks with Flexidrill acquisition plan as drill tech trials continue

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IMDEX has entered into a secondary option period from March 2019 – December 2019 to acquire New Zealand-based companies Flexidrill Ltd and Flexidrill Construction Ltd, and the patent-protected technologies COREVIBE™ and MAGHAMMER™.

IMDEX’s decision to progress the COREVIBE and MAGHAMMER towards commercialisation is based on strong demand from drilling contractors and resource companies, together with successful trials at IMDEX’s test site in New Zealand, it said. COREVIBE trials – validated by SGS, a world leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company – concluded a productivity gain of 33% over conventional coring.

The secondary option period will allow IMDEX to conduct further product development and testing, while establishing its supply chain and manufacturing requirements, Imdex said.

In relation to COREVIBE, IMDEX expects to trial commercial prototypes with clients by the end of its 2019 financial year. MAGHAMMER commercial prototype trials will follow in the first half of 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

“The consideration to enter the secondary option period was varied from NZ$5 million ($3.4 million, 50% cash/50% IMDEX shares) to NZ$3 million in IMDEX shares to allow for NZ$2 million cash being applied to additional investment in product development,” Imdex said. There are no other variations to the original option agreement or extended option agreement, as announced in January 2018 and September 2018, respectively, the company said.

“Should IMDEX choose to exercise its option to acquire Flexidrill in December 2019, the COREVIBE and MAGHAMMER are expected to provide additional global revenue and earnings during financial year 2020 and be earnings accretive within 12 months of the exercise date,” the company said.

IMDEX’s Managing Director, Bernie Ridgeway, said: “We are pleased to further progress the COREVIBE and MAGHAMMER technologies towards commercialisation. These unique technologies have the potential to deliver substantial economic and productivity benefits to our clients globally, which is becoming increasingly important as new discoveries are likely to be under ground cover, deeper and require more drilling.

“It is widely recognised within the industry that drilling costs represent approximately half of global mineral exploration expenditure. Reducing these costs has been a major challenge, which is likely to intensify given increasing safety standards, environmental restrictions and greater average hole depths.”

Flexidrill Construction said its MAGHAMMER technology followed successful deep hole field tests it carried out in the oil and gas industry. “It is a unique, magnetic down the hole hammer, compatible with any rotary rig and designed to drill open holes in virtually any formation, hard or soft,” the company said.

It can operate with any drilling fluid (including viscous bentonite solutions) so is ideal for overburden, often without the need for casings. This system is not affected by ground water, so flooded formations are also not a problem, according to Flexidrill Construction.

COREVIBE, meanwhile, offers productivity improvements through high penetration rates, extended bit life and reduced tripping of inner tube for blockages, IMDEX has previously said.