Swick to develop underground mobile drills

The DeepEX rigs can drill 2000 metres vertically down and up to 3000 metres horizontally, with Swick aiming to reduce cost exploration from underground compared with surface drilling.

According to Swick, underground collar locations enable quicker results, shorter holes, reduced costs, and less crew members leading to less accommodation requirements.

The company sees underground mobile drills as having “potential to create (an) additional market for Swick”.

Swick’s 2020 financial year annual general meeting said the company is building its rig fleet capacity to meet increased demand and is also anticipating improved profitability for its drilling business.

Swick has also appointed Orexplore Technologies managing director Jason Marinko as part of the company’s growth strategy.

Orexplore is a scanning technology that provides digital core analysis and converts physical rocks into a 3D digital twin.

“Looking forward, our strategy is centred on growing and developing Swick’s two distinct businesses – the drilling business, which is the driver of our earnings, and the mineral technology business, which has the potential to disrupt the multi-billion dollar a year minerals analysis industry,” Swick chairman Andrew Simpson said.

“Given their distinct teams, targets, and value propositions, the board commenced a strategic review to consider the optimal corporate structure for these businesses.

“We concluded that a demerger has the potential to unlock the greatest value for Swick shareholders, which is targeted for the third quarter of financial year 2021.”