South Island Year End Brief

Posted December 22, 2022

Our South Island operations have completed yet another busy productive year, with successful completion of projects, great meters, growth and excellent team moral. We would like to thank our team for all their efforts, commitment and hard work this year.

Reefton

A big congratulations to the crew who completed yet another successful remote Heli drilling project. Lead by Supervisors Paul and Sam working up in steep West Coast terrain on Heli-portable sites for our client Reefton Gold.

This project came with challenges our crew managed very well, from difficult drilling conditions, living in portable fly camps out in the bush with minimal reception to contact family and steep access to sites. The team also accomplished very impressive deck builds to give themselves a level Platform to work off. 

Macraes

Another busy year was completed at Macraes lead by Supervisors Paul and Nathan with 2 rigs drilling on the Surface and 2 rigs working Underground drilling a total of 17,639m throughout the year. On the Surface there was a very successful program completed with PQ packer testing and multiple vibrating wire piezo installs from depths of 200m to 400m with 6 holes in total. This was a good learning opportunity for the crew to grow their knowledge and competencies with testing and installation. Our underground crew have done an excellent job given the challenging ground conditions especially in Golden Point underground, where the crew adapted and adjusted drilling methods to suit the challenging ground condition to maximize core recovery.

Cromwell

The Project that keeps on growing! The year started with 1 Diamond rig single shifting to now 4 diamond rigs operating 24 hours and 1 RC rig. We have secured a yard in Cromwell, equipped with an office block and workshop. The drill crew lead by Supervisors Kane and Andy have drilled over 25,000m for the year, big well done to the crew for achieving these meters in some harsh conditions over the winter season. Our Cromwell team has grown rapidly, we have on-boarded a high number of experienced drillers and driller assistants, as well as new green hats, building a strong solid team.

Completed Projects

Our team have also successfully completed a number of projects throughout the top of the South Island, with targets met and projects finished at Barrons Flat, Barrytown and Westport.

We are proud to have completed another busy successful year, a big thank you to all our crew for their efforts, hard work, dedication and upholding our company values. It is now time to enjoy the festive season with family and friends and relax with a beer or two. We have another busy year ahead of us with Alton Drilling being appointed as drilling contractor for Federation Mining in Reefton, and ongoing work at Macraes and Cromwell.

Merry Christmas to all, enjoy a well-deserved Christmas and New Years break.

Chris Carter

South Island Operations Manager