11th November 2021

WALLIS DRILLING SELLS RIG TECHNOLOGIES BUSINESS TO ORICA

Wallis Drilling (Wallis or the Company) is pleased to announce the sale of its RIG Technologies Reverse Circulation Logging While Drilling (LWD) business to Orica, the world’s largest provider of commercial explosives and innovative blasting systems. The transaction delivers a strong return on investment and will enable Wallis to accelerate the growth and development of its primary drilling business for clients.

Key Points

The RIG Technologies business includes, downhole behind the hammer geophysics sensors(Gamma-Ray and Gyro), drill rig based sensor platforms and a cloud based data management system.

• Wallis and RIG Technologies commenced as a joint venture in 2016. Wallis acquired the entire business in 2019.
• Wallis successfully grew RIG Technologies and invested in the ongoing development of its leading LWD capabilities and associated products.
• RIG Technologies’ product suite is in the early phase of commercialisation and is being utilised by large resource companies.
• The transaction delivers Wallis a solid return on its investment and provides significant upside sales exposure over the next five years under Orica stewardship.
• Following the sale, RIG Technologies now forms part of Orica’s orebody intelligence category, within its digital solutions portfolio, alongside its recent acquisition of Hopper Industrial Group(HIG).
• RIG Technologies personnel, including 33 engineers, technical and field staff, will integrate into Orica. The business will continue to be led by original partner and director Tim Hopper with its operational and manufacturing activities remaining in Western Australia.
• RIG Technologies will independently continue to develop and deliver world-leading instrumentation and cloud-based technologies to help the mining industry obtain real-time geophysical and LWD data.
• Wallis and RIG Technologies will retain a five-year technical partnership to ensure continued testing and real-time deployment of the tools and other associated products in a field operating environment.

Commenting on the sale, Wallis Drilling Chairman, Graeme Wallis, said it enabled RIG Technologies to leverage its first mover advantage and is overwhelmingly the best option for all stakeholders.

“The timing is right given where we have positioned the RIG Technologies business. Orica has the financial resources, global customer base and distribution network to market and scale its product suite.

“For Wallis, the sale allows us to increase the rate of investment in our main drilling business. In recent years, strong organic growth has been accelerated by the design, manufacture and deployment of our leading range of Wallis RC and Mantis autonomous drill rigs.”

Wallis Drilling CEO, Mark Crumby, added:

“Wallis has a successful history of innovation and commercialising new technologies for the mining industry. The development of RIG Technologies’ product suite and its subsequent sale to Orica, is another example of this success.

“Our ongoing partnership with RIG Technologies means Wallis will continue to provide our customers with this industry-leading technology.

“We are looking forward to focusing on the growth of our primary drilling business and delivering value to our customers through our extensive industry experience, custom-designed rigs and our commitment to quality and safety.”

-ENDS-