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GOING WHERE NO OTHER DRILLING COMPANY HAS GONE BEFORE
GOING WHERE NO OTHER DRILLING
COMPANY HAS GONE BEFORE
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Energold Drilling Corpo-
ration has definitely gone
where no other drilling
company has gone before.
Unsatisfied with the way
mining companies were ap-
proaching exploration in
third-world countries, En-
ergold became concerned
with the lack of sensitivity
to local environments and
communities. Thus began
pursuit to design a more
environmentally-friendly
rig. Since its inception as an
exploration company, Ener-
gold has grown to become
one of the most environmen-
tally and socially conscious
drilling companies world-
wide. In the past five years,
their focus has remained on
leaving the smallest possible
ecological footprint as a re-
sult of their drilling endeav-
ours and creating a sense of
sustainable community in
the places they work. This
outlook and strategy has led
to Energold winning a num-
ber of awards in its young
life, including PROFIT 100
– Canada’s Fastest Growing
Companies (2009-2011) the
TSX Top 50 and Business in
Vancouver’s Top 100 (2007-
2011 inclusive).
With the help of a talented
team of engineers, Energold
developed a unique rig de-
sign that would be less dam-
aging to local environments.
“We developed, in conjunc-
tion with others, a rig that
could be broken down into
di�erent pieces and moved
in manually, by canoe, air-
plane, pick-up truck, how-
ever you want to do it,”
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Energold gives back
to local economies by
training locals to operate
the drilling equipment.
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explains CEO of Energold
Drilling, Fred Davidson.
He explains the rigs them-
selves are very simple to op-
erate and they are specially
designed to be installed and
set up on site very quickly.
There’s no real secret be-
hind Energold’s success.
The unique, component-
driven, and portable nature
of their drilling rig allows
them to explore parts of the
world that were previously
inaccessible. Starting out
with one rig eight years ago,
Energold now boasts a fleet
of about 240 rigs over 95 of
which are its modular rigs .
A UNIQUE RIG DESIGN When they first started out,
Energold observed the im-
pacts of the rigs and drill-
ing practices of other com-
panies on the environment
and local communities.
“We’re working in a lot of
places where it’s impossible
to get a rig into the sites
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without having to build a road. The road can be a kilome-
ter or two long and in many cases, it goes through farmers’
fields causing severe damage, not to mention the wait time
it takes companies to get road building permits” says Da-
vidson.
While some financial compensation may be provided for
the physical damage created, Davidson says the companies
never really compensated locals for the “emotional damage
created by the roads and subsequent drilling.”
“At the same time, you’ll see the locals standing there
watching the gringos driving a bulldozer and pulling a ten
ton rig across their field. Nobody from the community is
able to participate,” Davidson says.
This is where Energold is di�erent, their rigs and drilling
expeditions overseas operate primarily with local labour
forces. Davidson says they not only hire locals, but they get
them to bring in the rigs onto their traditional trails so the
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fields and pastures are not
disturbed. “It’s a good way
of dealing with social alien-
ation of the community that
results from mining and ex-
ploration,” he says.
Furthermore, Energold’s
rigs take up less space. The
rig only occupies a space of
about 3.5 meters by 3.5 me-
ters as opposed to the 15
meters by 15 meters of oth-
er, bulkier traditional rigs
with their ancillary equip-
ment. Energold recently
acquired Dando Drilling
Drilling International in the
UK, a highly-regarded engi-
neering groupthat helps the
company continuously im-
prove and upgrade rig de-
sign and productivity.
“We’re always looking at
making them safer and
more convenient,” says Da-
vidson.
Energold also works with
Atlas Copco, and Core Boss
who Davidson says are
“very proactive in terms of
designing and redesigning
equipment that meets our
specifications.”
Davidson says Energold
also consults and debriefs
the drilling crews when
the come out of the
fields, taking their
ideas to engineers
in order to make
the rigs more
e�ective.
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Engaging local communities
and creating industry
Currently servicing mining
and energy sectors in the
Americas, Africa, and Asia,
Energold operates 240 rigs
in 23 countries, Davidson
describes the whole indus-
try as “exciting.”
“Every country has its own
stories and adventures,” he
says.
According to Davidson, the
exploration industry has
underspent in the past 20
years and as result, Ener-
gold is venturing into re-
mote and often volatile re-
gions. “Mining companies
are realizing the low hang-
ing fruits are gone and have
to head to the frontiers to
replenish their reserves.”
What further di�erentiates
Energold is their commit-
ment to community build-
ing and local engagement.
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Engaging local communities
and creating industry
Currently servicing mining
and energy sectors in the
Americas, Africa, and Asia,
Energold operates 240 rigs
in 23 countries, Davidson
describes the whole indus-
try as “exciting.”
“Every country has its own
stories and adventures,” he
says.
According to Davidson, the
exploration industry has
underspent in the past 20
years and as result, Ener-
gold is venturing into re-
mote and often volatile re-
gions. “Mining companies
are realizing the low hang-
ing fruits are gone and have
to head to the frontiers to
replenish their reserves.”
What further di�erentiates
Energold is their commit-
ment to community build-
ing and local engagement.
“What’s exciting is that
we’re able to give people
who have no hope a job and
a career and going forward,
we’re creating industry
where there never was and
that’s very satisfying,” says
Davidson.
When employing locals, En-
ergold’s policy is to “push
down” the skill set and
train them to work with
the equipment. Whereas
the employee would not ex-
perience culture shock or
a language barrier working
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While Energold does
much of its work in
remote places, they
ensure they do as little
damage as possible to
local environments.
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in their own backyard, Energold also receives
the benefit of this local knowledge and access.
“It works for us because they know how to
work in that culture and it works for them
because we can give them a high-skilled, good
paying job,” says Davidson.
MOVING FORWARD As the company moves forward, there are a
number of opportunities in frontier mining,
oil sands drilling,geothermal and even water
well drilling. The oil shortage has left compa-
nies searching for new ways to excavate de-
posits in various places and Energold thinks
they have just what it takes to tap into the oil
industry.
“Our fleet is designed to exploit existing de-
posits. Most people are unaware that most oil
sand deposits are going to be done from un-
derground and not from open pits. More and
more, the rigs that we’re putting into the field
are capable of drilling to those depths and
those target ranges for the oil sands,” explains
Davidson.
And of course, Energold hopes to do this by
leaving as small a footprint as possible. En-
ergold has also made its way into the water
well sector with the help of Dando,one of the
leading water well equipment providers in the
world. Dando in particular, is one of the UN
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and World Bank approved
water well comtractors in
Africa. Energold operates in
many third-world countries
where clean water is an on-
going critical issue.
Part of the recent string of
acquisitions included Ber-
tram International Cor-
poration, which added sig-
nificant capabilities for
Energold into the oil sands
coring and seismic oil/gas
drilling industry in Alberta,
Canada. The niche sector
attracted Energold because
of its higher margins, syn-
ergies on equipment and
human capital, and a signif-
icantly larger overall mar-
ket. Whereas worldwide
expenditure in mineral ex-
ploration only now exceeds
$16 billion a year, The big
oil giants like Shell or Im-
perial Oil can easily spend
that a year between them.
Energold has a five-year
plan. Their objective is
to become a global drill-
ing company that is not
strictly bounded to drill-
ing for minerals, energy, or
water. Energold wants to
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help drill it all, and gener-
ate a good profit at it for
their shareholders. As the
world demands more com-
modities, there is a pressure
to provide drills quickly. In
the next five years, Ener-
gold hopes to triple in size,
which will further assert
their international presence
and expertise in the ever-
growing field. Davidson be-
lieves he has just the recipe
to ensure Energold’s suc-
cess: “You have to develop
the right attitude, the right
training, and the right skill
sets. We continue to seed
new markets as natural re-
sources become more scarce
and clients need to go o� the
beaten path for the next big
discovery.. The Energold in-
vestment logic is simple, in
a gold rush, one can do very
well selling plenty of shovel
and picks.
For more info www.energold.com
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For more information www.energold.com
As seen in March issue of JARKS BUSINESS CANADA magazine at www.jarks.ca