Exploration drilling company Geodrill in February announced that it had been awarded significant multi-rig, long-term drilling contracts with multinational gold miner Endeavour Mining.

The West Africa-based gold mining company has numerous production and exploration activities in the region.

The contracts with Endeavour are for a total 350 000 m of exploration and mine reserve drilling across the miner’s key West African operations for a period of two years. Geodrill will commit up to ten drill rigs from its existing fleet to these projects.

The contracts are expected to generate revenues of $31-million. Geodrill currently has a fleet of 71 drill rigs operating in West Africa, Egypt and Peru.

“This third significant contract win, within a relatively short timeframe, and again with a key, valued top-tier gold producer, underscores the strength of our reputation and [is] an endorsement of our drilling expertise in our core geographic region and beyond,” said Geodrill president and CEO Dave Harper.

“Most importantly, these contracts add top-line revenue growth this year, extending through to 2024, which will provide an even stronger base [from which] to build on,” he commented.

Meanwhile, Geodrill’s results for the year ended December 2021 – released earlier this month – were positive, with the company reporting that it generated revenue of $115.2-million representing a 40% increase year-on-year. It also increased its net income to $14.1-million or $0.31 a share representing an 88% increase year-on-year. Further, its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation amounted to $29.5-million, or 26% of revenue, representing a 55% increase, compared with 2020.

“We ended the year with strong fourth-quarter earnings and exceeded our financial targets in fiscal 2021, setting the stage for further growth and momentum in 2022. We delivered strong top- and bottom-line performance driven by market share gains achieved by attracting new customers and deepening existing relationships across our business, improving on every key metric,” said Geodrill CFO Greg Borsk.

“This improved financial performance demonstrates the exceptional financial operating leverage we expect to deliver as sentiment for the exploration and mining industry continues to improve.”

Harper added that the company entered 2022 with the highest rig count in Geodrill’s history and had expanded its geographical footprint. Further, in less than two months, it had announced “over $130-million in new drilling contracts”.

“Not only will these contracts drive future revenue, they signal that Geodrill continues to be a driller of choice in its core geographic territory of West Africa and beyond. “This accelerated growth is all against a backdrop of the global economy in which there is increasing investor interest in gold, driving exploration budgets.”

He concluded that the company remained confident of maintaining “top-line performance momentum” underpinned by strong utilisation rates, drilling activity and the strength in commodity pricing.