Energold Announces New Record Number Of Meters Drilled On Second Quarter 2011
(via Thenewswire.ca)
Energold Drilling Corp. ("Energold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has drilled another company record of 155,300 meters in the second quarter of 2011, up from the previous record of 125,800 meters in the first quarter of 2011. This also represents a 81% increase over the comparable period in 2010 of 86,000 meters.
Summary of Quarterly (Q) Meters Drilled
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| |Q2 - 2010|6 Months Ended|Q2 – 2011|6 Months Ended|
| | |June | |June |
| | |30, 2010 | |30, 2011 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|Meters Drilled|86,000 |140,400 |155,300 |281,100 |
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A substantial portion of the drilling continues to be the more competitively bid "brownfields" exploration, typically mine sites or near mine site drilling, however, an increasing portion of the drilling mix over the last few quarters has been shifting towards ‘frontier drilling' in areas such as West Africa and South America. New rigs currently being mobilized and arriving in the second half of the year will be dedicated primarily to servicing this market. As there is a lag between developing a new rig and transportation to the site, these new rigs should impact on the average rate per meter during the balance of the year and into 2012. Mexico experienced a significant increase in demand and productivity contributing to over 40% of the total meters drilled for the 6 months ended June 30th, with numerous rigs concentrated on a few major "brownfields" projects. Brazil, Central America and Peru continue to remain active and most recently Argentina showed increased demand from the prior year as more rigs are deployed to these markets. Africa's growth continues to be very strong with approximately one third of the fleet now located there with most programs devoted to frontier oriented projects.
At June 30, 2011, the Company had 115 mineral drilling rigs with 3 more under construction in response to continued demand for highly mobile drilling rigs and increased exploration expenditures in frontier drilling. The fleet includes 89 EGD Highly Mobile Surface Rigs, 7 Underground Rigs as well as a number of conventional rigs. Operational efficiencies and capabilities derived from the Company's continuous investment in research and development have been implemented through the retrofit of a number of the rigs to enhance their performance. In addition, promising field testing of new prototypes designed to expand the capabilities of our highly mobile fleet should add significant value by enabling the extension of services offered to our clients. The total rig fleet count now stands at 234 rigs, including 119 rigs from the recent acquisition of Bertram International Corp. ("Bertram") which comprises a mix of oil sands coring, shot hole seismic and geothermal drilling rigs.
As reported on July 25, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares of Bertram (Carbon, AB) on July 25, 2011. Bertram is currently drilling on numerous geothermal projects in the U.S.A. with a pipeline of energy projects scheduled for the fall and winter season.
The Company's manufacturing division, Dando Drilling International Ltd. (U.K.) ("Dando"), has experienced positive growth for the first half of the fiscal year. Dando shipped 19 drilling rig units to organizations in the mining and water well sectors. As previously announced, Energold is exploring the potential to expand into the water well drilling services business through the establishment of a new division. Based on recent market intelligence and the strong demand for water well drilling rigs recently recorded by Dando, especially in the African markets, there is an indication of a growing market for providing rigs and experienced crews able to efficiently and effectively carry out the increasing number of programs.
The financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011 will be released in the last week of August.
Energold Drilling Corp. is an environmentally and socially sensitive diamond drilling company, taking the lead on what is rapidly becoming the new standard for the mining industry. Energold holds 7 million shares of IMPACT Silver Corp., a profitable silver producer in Mexico.
On behalf of the Directors of Energold Drilling Corp.,
President, CEO
For further information, please contact:
Sunny Pannu - Investor Relations
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