Major Drilling incurred a loss of $400,000 (or 2 per share) on revenue of $38.6 million for its fiscal third quarter, though that’s an improvement over the year-earlier loss of $4 million (37 per share) on revenue of $20 million.
The improvement is attributed to contracts with Freeport Indonesia at its Grasberg mine and Ivanhoe Mines at its Turquoise Hill project in Mongolia.
Freeport’s decision to expand drilling at Grasberg augurs well for Major Drilling’s fourth quarter and beyond, says President Francis McGuire.
Major added four rigs to its fleet to meet the needs of the specialized drilling market, which caused capital expenditures to rise by $4.3 million. Also, shutdowns over the holiday season hampered revenue.
Earnings before income tax, interest, depreciation and amortization for the quarter amounted to $2.3 million (14 per share), compared with a year-earlier loss of $1.3 million (12 per share).
Geneva-based Socit Gnrale de Surveillance (SGS) is consolidating all of its member companies under one banner.
Four companies have joined SGS in recent years, namely Commercial Testing & Engineering, XRAL Laboratories, Analabs and Lakefield Research. These will now operate exclusively under the banner of SGS’s Mineral Services Group.
“The combined strength of all these organizations means we can now provide clients with the technical services they need at every stage of their operations,” says Scott Morrison, executive vice-president of SGS.
Vancouver-based Gemcom Software International, which provides software to mining companies, has formed an alliance with the African arm of KPMG Consulting.
The two firms will jointly create software that interprets geological and mining data.
“This integrated platform represents a first for the African mining community,” says Ian Jones, vice-president of Gemcom’s European, Middle Eastern and African divisions. He added that the new software will ultimately encompass all technical, as well as commercial, aspects of mining.
KPMG is associated with SAP, a major German-based information technology organization that provides commercial systems to companies around the world.
Gemcom established its software in 1985, and today it is used at more than 1,000 mine sites in 75 countries.
Three companies — Beny Sofer & Sons of New York, N.Y., and Rosy Blue and Backes & Strauss, both of Antwerp, Belgium — have formed a partnership to distribute Canadia-brand Arctic-mined diamonds in Europe and the Far East.
The partnership, known as Tri-Star Worldwide, will also be responsible for product branding and marketing.
The diamonds will be supplied by Arslanian Cutting Works in Yellowknife, N.W.T.
Canadia diamonds were introduced in May 2002 by Beny Sofer & Sons and are certified by the government of the Northwest Territories.
Canada’s first diamond mine is Ekati, about 300 km northeast of Yellowknife. It employs 650 people and produces 3-4 million carats of gem-quality rough diamonds each year. This is equivalent to nearly 5% of world diamond production by weight and 6% by value.
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