ENERGOLD

IOS

A SENSITIVE APPROACH TO DRILLING ENERGOLD

The operation, which is headquartered in Vancouver, has seen growth from some six drilling rigs in 2006 to more than 240 in 2015, in some 25 countries across the world, explains CEO Fred Davidson.

“Energold was initially founded as an exploration company, which pushed itself forward through its small, highly portable drilling rigs but, when the global recession hit, it was decided that we needed to move beyond frontier drilling to become a much more diversified and global solutions provider, for customers across the mining, oil and gas, water and geotechnical industries,” he points out.

“This we have successfully achieved but alongside our growth, minimising social and environmental impact has remained a critical part of what we do here: we are proud to be at the leading edge of our industry while maintaining high levels of commitment in these areas.”

Today internationally recognised for its approach, Energold provides a comprehensive range of drilling services from early stage exploration to on-site operations for minerals, metals and energy sectors. It has also become an established drill rig manufacturer. The company embarked on the implementation Global specialty drilling company Energold may have propelled itself to the leading edge of its sector with steely determination in recent years but its explosive expansion has also seen an unyielding refusal to compromise on social or environmental impact. Written by Abigail Saltmarsh

Endeavour Magazine | 83

of its strategic goal by acquiring UK-based Envirodrill Ltd in 2009.

This was followed by the takeover of Dando Drilling International Ltd, also in the UK, and then Canadian Bertram (AB), both in 2011. These moves brought manufacturing and energy services expertise into the fold, broadened the company’s range of products and services, and saw a substantial increase in its international footprint. “Looking back 15 years, we had about 12 people working for the company – now we have around 1,100.

We provide a comprehensive range of drilling services, from early stage exploration to mine site operations, and we are present in North America, South America and Central America, as well as Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.” Energold first made its name with its mobile drilling rigs. Aiming to conduct exploration programmes in remote locations, with limited infrastructure and access to heavily forested areas, the company came to

the conclusion that existing mineral drilling technologies and services available in the market were inadequate.

It developed a new specialised drilling rig, which manages to be highly mobile while leaving almost no environmental footprint. “What we came up with was the concept of building a modular rig, where the pieces are simply carried in down paths no wider than one metre in heavily forested areas (which means we do not have to create a road infrastructure) and are then assembled on site,” says Mr Davidson.

“These rigs are very effective but it was a case of educating our customers to show them that what we were offering them could be efficient and yet manage to leave an area of disturbance of no larger than 4m by 5m at the end of the project.” Local people are employed to assist on projects and here, again, Energold’s insistence on social responsibility is paying off. Members of the local community can be taken on to transport the rig and to assemble and disassemble it, among other duties.

If they show aptitude during the project they may then be provided with an opportunity to become drillers and drill supervisors. “It is so much better to have a community participating in a project so they have a real understanding of it and so we can comprehend their needs. But it also gives us the opportunity to train local people up and employ nationals, which has enormous benefits for the company. These people speak the language and have a real awareness of the local issues - in Mexico we now employ about 400 nationals.”

Other examples Energold’s emphasis on corporate social responsibility saw it donate materials for the construction of a muchneeded bridge in Haiti. It also created three wells within impoverished communities, which were suffering from a lack of water supply, in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Whether dealing with local communities, members of staff or the company’s broad customer base, honest dialogue is always vital, according to Mr Davidson. “We try to keep the lines of communication open, from the driller right up to senior management, within Energold, and

ENERGOLD which has enormous benefits for the company. These people speak the language and have a real awareness of the local issues - in Mexico we now employ about 400 nationals.” Other examples Energold’s emphasis on corporate social responsibility saw it donate materials for the construction of a much-needed bridge in Haiti. It also created three wells within impoverished communities, which were suffering from a lack of water supply, in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.

Whether dealing with local communities, members of staff or the company’s broad customer base, honest dialogue is always vital, according to Mr Davidson. “We try to keep the lines of communication open, from the driller right up to senior management, within Energold, and then liaising with the customer as often as possible to ensure that if there is an issue it is resolved quickly.”

As the company moves forward it also sees more partnerships and projects with non-profit and nongovernmental organisations worldwide on water related projects. Through Dando and the company’s relationship with the UN and the World Bank this is already an area of key focus in countries within Africa and the Middle East.

“We are seeing significant growth in water,” Mr Davidson stresses. “I don’t believe we have ever realised our potential in this area before but with the softening in energy we have come to understand that we can redeploy some of our rigs in this way. We are also seeing more activity in geotechnical, especially in Europe – in the UK, of course, with projects such as HS2.”

Geographically, there may well be European growth for Energold in the future, along with further expansion in Asia, Africa and North and South America. There are also possible takeovers on the horizon, Mr Davidson admits. After all, he points out: “A bear market is an ideal market for acquisitions – and Energold is much better financed than many of its competitors.”

The company will continue to invest in its people and its technologies, and as it does it will continue to seek both high efficiency and low environmental and social impact.

“We like to retrain and redeploy our people as necessary because that makes the company as a whole stronger and more efficient,” he insists. “It is a huge market out there and our aim is to continue to grow. “We have seen success so far by being flexible and our goal is for this to continue – and within the next five years we have forecast that we will be number two in our sector worldwide.” then liaising with the customer as often as possible to ensure that if there is an issue it is resolved quickly.”

As the company moves forward it also sees more partnerships and projects with nonprofit and nongovernmental organisations worldwide on water related projects. Through Dando and the company’s relationship with the UN and the World Bank this is already an area of key focus in countries within Africa and the Middle East. “We are seeing significant growth in water,” Mr Davidson stresses. “I don’t believe we have ever realised our potential in this area before but with the softening in energy we have come to understand that we can redeploy some of our rigs in this way. We are also seeing more activity in geotechnical, especially in Europe – in the UK, of course, with projects such as HS2.” Geographically, there may well be European growth for Energold in the future, along with further expansion in Asia, Africa and North and South America. There are also possible takeovers on the horizon, Mr Davidson admits. After all, he points out: “A bear market is an ideal market for acquisitions – and Energold is much better financed than many of its competitors.” The company will continue to invest in its people and its technologies, and as it does it will continue to seek both high efficiency and low environmental and social impact.