companies
32
06.13
B
ack in 1986, that first 24R machine was de-
ployed on a contract for Impala Platinum and,
by the end of the same year, Pretorius had in-
vested in a second rig, an RD2000, which was soon
put to work at De Beers’ Premier mine (now owned
by Petra and renamed to Cullinan). Pretorius – who
had previously worked at mines such as Elandsrand
and Western Deep Levels and for specialist geotech-
nical contractor RUC Mining – recalls that the first
few years were not easy. By the early 1990s, how-
ever, Master Drilling had achieved a critical mass
and growth started to speed up, with the first cross-
border contract – at the Shabanie mine in Zimbabwe
– being undertaken in 1992.
The Zimbabwe assignment was followed by a con-
tract even further afield. In 1993 the company started
drilling at Barrick’s El Indio mine in Chile, thus be-
ginning a strong relationship with Latin America that
continues to this day and which has resulted in the
Group operating not only in Chile but also in Brazil,
Peru, Colombia and Mexico, in all of which it has
subsidiary companies.
Currently, Master Drilling also operates in several
countries in Africa, notably Zambia, Mali, Burkina
Faso and the DRC, where it is presently deploying to
the Kibali gold project. It has undertaken contracts in
Europe and has also just completed its third contract
in the Middle East after previously working in Yemen
and Iran. It has traditionally not targeted Asia but this
is expected to change and the Group recently regis-
tered a subsidiary in China.
Over the years, the primary focus on raiseboring
has been broadened to include more conventional
drilling, such as blasthole and grade control drill-
ing, as well as exploration drilling, with a key ac-
quisition in this respect being that of Australian-
owned drilling company, Drillcorp Africa, in 2006.
According to Master Drilling’s Technical Director,
Koos Jordaan, the diversification into ‘slimhole’
drilling was taken in full awareness of the fact that
this is a field where the barriers to entry are fairly
low, resulting in intense competition from a multi-
tude of small operators.
“We are differentiating ourselves by offering a so-
phisticated ‘one-stop’ service and by targeting ‘blue
chip’ clients, who demand the highest standards of
safety and environmental care, which smaller opera-
tors cannot always meet,” he says. “We’re also invest-
ing heavily in the latest technology. The truth is that
our local drilling market is relatively low-tech, com-
Master Drilling
leads
the way in raiseboring
Master Drilling’s biggest machine, the Wirth HG380 SP, working
at Lonmin’s Rowland Shaft.
The small unassuming town of Fochville on the West Rand would appear, at first glance, to be totally un-
remarkable but it is, in fact, the headquarters of a South African mining services group – Master Drilling
Group Limited – with a global reputation in the highly specialised field of raiseboring. Founded by current
CEO Danie Pretorius in 1986 with a single 24R Robbins rig, the Group now operates worldwide, has a fleet
of drilling machines, including conventional drill rigs, numbering over 160 units and listed on the JSE at
the end of last year.
Modern Mining’s
Arthur Tassell recent visited the Fochville facilities and also a site
at Marikana where the Group’s biggest raiseborer – an XXL class Wirth machine weighing 107 tonnes – is
currently in operation.
