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26
MODERN MINING
May 2015
COMPANIES
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,
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
The extensive stores facility
at Fochville which serves
Master Drilling’s global
operations.