Modern Mining May 2015

COMPANIES

where it has several rigs working for Mopani Copper Mines, the DRC (where it has four machines working at the Kibali gold mine of Randgold Resources) and Mali (where it has a single raise boring machine working for Randgold Resources with another on the way). In South and Central America, Master Drilling is working in a number of countries, including Peru, Chile, Brazil, Mexico and now Colombia. Roughly half of its raise bor- ing fleet is deployed in Latin America, which also accounts for 50 % of its revenue. In its recently published results for 2014, Master Drilling reported a 24 % year-on-year improvement in revenue to R1,43 billion (from R1,15 billion in 2013), an 18 % increase in headline earnings to US$17,98 million and a 32 % improvement in headline earnings per share. It also reported an improved safety per- formance with zero fatalities and a healthy order book with a value of US$216 million. By the end of the financial year, it was operating 139 drill rigs of various types worldwide. These results are impressive given the weak state of mining globally. Pretorius told the media/analyst group that the reasons for Master Drilling’s resilience related to its geographic diversification, its machine diversification (it operates not just raise borers but also a range of other machines, including conventional ‘slim- hole’ drill rigs) and its diversification across commodities (it is currently working on gold, copper, platinum, iron ore and polymetallic projects, among others). Pretorius noted that Master Drilling’s policy was to limit its exposure to a single commodity

1 100 m. We believe this latest contract prob- ably represents the largest scope of raise boring work per cubic metre yet seen in the mining field. It represents a landmark in the history of large diameter raise bored shafts.” Master Drilling’s remote operated shaft sup- port unit and inspection device will be used to line parts, or even the full depth of the shafts, either during or after the raise boring process. In comparison to its competitors’ sys- tems which can only go down to 350 m, Master Drilling claims its system can line up to a full 1,5 km deep. The inspection device has the capability to scan the geometry of the execution and identify the lithology. This is important to determine the stability of the shaft during or after construction. Addressing the media/analyst group attend- ing the inauguration of the RD8, Pretorius said Master Drilling’s raise boring fleet now num- bered 100 machines, roughly three times the number operated by each of its two closest competitors. He said the company was cur- rently operating in 10 countries, mainly in Africa or Latin America, and that it liked to add one new country per annum to its geographi- cal footprint. He also revealed that Master Drilling – whose South American headquarters is in Peru – had just been awarded a contract in Colombia for a hydro-electric scheme. “We believe Colombia, along with some nearby countries, is going to be one of the expansion hubs for the group,” he said. In Africa Master Drilling is active not only in South Africa, responsible for just over a third of its revenue, but also Zambia,

The extensive stores facility at Fochville which serves Master Drilling’s global operations.

26  MODERN MINING  May 2015