So, 2016 ended for “AK-NIET BURGA” on a very good note. Our team managed to perform a tremendous amount of drilling work – about 220 thousand linear meters by RC method. The staff of the company doubled. The drilling equipment fleet was significantly updated – 3 drilling rigs, 3 compressors and several support vehicles.
The financial condition allowed us to fulfill our obligations to banks ahead of the schedule. We gained new competencies and experience, increased the productivity and strengthened the management system. Another achievement was the industry workshop held by us in autumn together with SRK Consulting. Its participants – heads and geologists of mining enterprises from Kazakhstan and Russia – received valuable information on RC drilling method, shared pros and cons of its practical application. nother topic discussed was the prospect for the KAZRC code which allows Kazakh geologists to work under new rules, helping, among other things, to develop the RC drilling market. Our guests highly praised the quality of the event content, proposed to develop and expand this format of communication. I hope with time, such meetings will become a peculiar club of likeminded people.
We worked very fruitfully on the development of the newspaper “Drilling Solutions”: conducted surveys of our readers, expanded the subject matter of the publication, strengthened the Internet feed and launched the English version. The latter is especially important, as today more and more Western specialists are involved in the domestic geological exploration sphere who are replenishing the ranks of our readers. The interest in the newspaper has noticeably increased on the part of advertisers who evaluated its attractiveness as a marketing tool taking into account the readership of the publication. We were able to achieve all this only due to your support and dedication to your occupation! Moreover, we have new goals and big plans ahead of us. Starting from 2017, “AK-NIET BURGA” was transformed, and your humble servant with my team will continue to work under the new flag – “DRILLING SOLUTIONS”, in cooperation with “AK-NIET BURGA” LLC. The main goal of “DRILLING SOLUTIONS” is expansion of our business outside of Kazakhstan.
We have increased competencies in the domestic market and are ready to win a new large and promising drilling market. We have already begun to provide RC drilling services in Russia and are open to any requests from potential customers. Now the task is to increase the physical infrastructure with emphasis on reliable and high-quality sampling systems. We will invest in the research and development of these major units of drilling rigs.
My trip to Australia was a good impetus in this area. The experience of this country testifies that RC drilling can be inexpensive and very effective. We were able to study the work practices of Australian drilling companies, talked with designers and manufacturers of drilling equipment. Moreover, preliminary partnership arrangements have been reached with two Australian drilling companies that have experience outside the “green continent”. This opens up opportunities for cooperation in the most complex projects, including core drilling. One more focus is strengthening of our logistics team which the smooth operation of drilling crews largely depends on. After all, the main value of a drilling contractor in the eyes of the customer, apart from quality, is the ability to meet the agreed deadlines and the drilling rate. In addition, “DRILLING SOLUTIONS” will continue its activity in arranging workshops on topics that you are interested in and inviting international experts with long-term practical experience as speakers. And of course, we will continue our mutual communication on pages of the publication.
For your convenience, we have decided to combine trademarks for the newspaper and the Company, and therefore, starting with this issue the newspaper will be published with the updated logo. Since 2017, we have increased the periodicity of the publication which will now be issued four times a year. We want to communicate with you our readers – more often and we encourage you to actively participate in development of the newspaper, share your thoughts and articles. Write to us. Let us together make “DRILLING SOLUTIONS” a useful informational platform for specialists of the mining industry.
We are open to any of your questions and suggestions!
Marat Nugmanov
Editor-in-chief of DS,
Founder of the Group of Companies
“DRILLING SOLUTIONS”