Drilling
Standing out in a saturated market
The drilling landscape follows many of the same market cycles as the mining clients it serves. When mining is hot, the wave of entrepreneurial spirit floods into the sector; new companies spring up and new drills are purchased. When mining slows down, however, it often leads to a saturation of machines on the market, which is where Québec finds itself now. Drilling demand is limited in large part by the extent to which companies have the capital to invest in exploration, but many drilling companies in the province are finding innovative ways to attract work.
Diafor, a diamond drilling company based in Riviere-Heva that opened in 2020, has found success in taking on projects in the battery metals sector. “I know of drilling companies that were sent home halfway into 10,000m+ drilling projects because they were working on a gold project that was not fully financed, or that the companies pulled the budget from drilling in order to preserve base cashflow, since the beginning of the present crisis,” said president Mathieu Dionne.
On the other hand, when confronted with poor conditions at a target for a battery metals project, Dionne witnessed a “never-seen-before level of commitment” from the client given their strong capital backing. He attributes this project as a contributing reason towards the Val-d’Or Chamber of Commerce’s decision to distinguish Diafor as a top young company at its 2022 gala.
For Yuri Alexandre, president of Dynamitage Castonguay, a drilling and blasting contractor that works with producing mines, the best way to ensure a steady workflow is to be able to offer services on demand in a strapped market. “The market has changed significantly post-pandemic,” Alexandre explained. “Cost is still a factor but no longer the main consideration, as mines must produce for an increased demand worldwide. The need in the market for over a year has been for equipment, manpower, and the ability to do a good job.”
“I remember being in the DRC when a driller recognized the Fordia logo on my suit. There, in a very remote place, they had been trained to drill by people from Val-d’Or.”
Régis Côté, Regional Director, Fordia
Suppliers of drilling solutions such as MBI Global place priority on expanding their product offerings, particularly in mining ecosystems like Québec in which many contractors in the province take pride in building their own machines rather than purchasing them, making it all the more important to have a unique value-add. In addition to offering autonomous drilling and data collection solutions, MBI Global has worked on rod handling systems to increase safety in underground mining operations. Daniel Misiano, the company’s president, believes this serves as a differentiating factor in the market and allows for a more diverse labor pool: “These innovations open the workplace up for more diversity, as you no longer need to lift heavy weights, for example. It is a goal of ours to attract more women into the mining industry.”
Fordia, a subsidiary of Epiroc that offers diamond drilling tools, drilling equipment, accessories, and services, aims to differentiate itself through offering solutions that assist its drilling clients in reducing their environmental footprint. “I began talking about the importance of reusing water and treating it effectively a decade ago. Back then, people laughed, as we have thousands of lakes in northern Québec, and water did not seem to be a problem,” recalled Régis Côté, the company’s regional director.
Back then, Fordia was working on a way to treat the water for rigs to make the process more efficient. The company sold its first unit in 2013 and continued to improve upon the system. “Now, the equipment can treat 45 gallons of water per minute with the water coming clear out of the system after 10 seconds. It operates on a closed circuit and can recover nearly 90% of the water used,” Côté acknowledged.
Looking ahead, David Bradley, co-owner of RJLL Drilling, hopes to see further environmental steps made within the mining sector. “Where I think the industry could make a real difference is in minimizing fuel usage,” he explained. “We have electric cars, so where is the first electric drill?”
These innovations have a cost, and in Québec there are drilling companies forgoing environmental or safety-related adaptations to remain cost-competitive, lowering the pricing environment for their market peers as they do. Yet over time, changes being made today – from using rod handling solutions to switching to biodegradable fuel – will likely become industry standards.
Image courtesy of O3 Mining
“There are great ideas in Québec's drilling ecosystem, but innovation has a cost, and the price of drilling in the region remains very low compared with other jurisdictions.”
Mathieu Dionne, President, Diafor