London-listed mining services company Capital has posted a 16.6% year-on-year increase in revenue to just under $90-million for the quarter ended June 30.

The revenue generated in the quarter also represents an 11.2% increase on that generated in the first quarter of the year.

The company’s drilling revenue for the quarter increased by 14.2% year-on-year to $60.1-million, as well as by 15% compared with the first quarter of the year.

Mining revenue in the reporting quarter was $18.1-million – which is 26% higher compared with the same quarter of last year and 0.5% higher than the first quarter of the year.

Revenue from the laboratories operations increased by 14.6% year-on-year to $11-million, which was also 12% higher than the first quarter of the year.

The company’s fleet utilisation for the quarter, of 72%, was broadly in line with the same quarter of last year, but increased on the 66% fleet use rate of the first quarter of the year.

Capital says increased rig counts at the Belinga iron-ore operation, in Gabon, and the Nevada Gold Mines, in the US, helped to boost the fleet utilisation of the group.

The company’s total rig count increased to 127 over the quarter, compared with 124 at the end of the first quarter. Capital expects to add another nine rigs before the end of the year.

The monthly revenue for every operating rig averaged $211 000 in the quarter under review, which is 15.3% higher compared with the same quarter of last year and 4.5% higher compared with the first quarter of the year. The company attributes this increase to the ramp-up of high-quality contracts and a continued focus on efficiency at more established sites.

In the first half of the year, Capital achieved 9.8% revenue growth at $169-million, compared with the first half of last year, despite its fleet utilisation rate decreasing by 8% over the period.

The company’s latest contract involves one year of grade control drilling at Barrick Gold’s Lumwana mine, in Zambia.

Notably, Capital is on track to deploy 21 Chrysos PhotonAssay units in respect of a five-year contract it has in place with Barrick in Nevada.

NEW INVESTMENT

Capital has, meanwhile, also completed a $7-million strategic investment into Eco-Detection, acquiring a 22% stake in the company.

Eco-Detection’s Ion-Q platform is the world’s first fully autonomous multiparameter laboratory-grade water analysis system. This continuously monitors water quality, transmitting proven laboratory-grade measurements in real-time directly from site, thereby eliminating the need for manual sampling.

The secure, validated data and analytics enable more informed management and operational decisions leading to faster response times.

Capital says this technology holds significant growth potential across multiple sectors including the mining industry, supporting exploration and mining activity by providing critical data for compliance and remediation reporting, monitoring down-hole water quality and delivering real-time contaminant alerts to improve response times to leaching from tailings dams and other storage facilities.

Additionally, it can aid community relations through monitoring of the local environment and waterways.

Capital remains on track to generate between $355-million and $375-million for the full year, with more positive momentum on ramped-up projects expected in the second half of the year, particularly at Nevada Gold Mines and Lumwana.