Drilling Division Overview

Valley Longwall International Global Drilling Division (VLI Global Drilling) is market leader in the supply of in-seam directional drilling services and associated technical support services to the world’s underground coal mining industry.

VLI Global Drilling, with it’s headquarters in Beijing, China and our sister company REI (www.reidrilling.com) with their headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA are the only group in the world that is designing and manufacturing in seam directional drilling systems, as well as supplying contract in seam directional drilling services and associated technical support across the world’s coal mining industry.

With Contract Drilling Services, Technical Support and Training Services now being delivered across 5 continents and 12 countries and manufacturing facilities established in Australia, the US and China to deliver a range of In Seam Directional Drill Systems, Drilling Tools and Associated Gas Management Products, the Valley Longwall Group is uniquely experienced and positioned to supply turnkey drilling and gas management services opportunities to underground coal mines throughout the world.

History & China growth

Once a number of smaller specialised companies, the VLI Drilling Division was established in 1996 when it purchased the NSW assets of the in seam directional drilling company, Strata Drilling. The fleet of three in seam directional drilling systems was initially deployed at Dartbrook Coal Mine in the Hunter Valley in NSW. With a desire for growth and expansion, other projects and drill systems were soon established.

With the purchase of AMT Drilling Australasia in 1999 and the addition of the technical ability of industry experts like Frank Hungerford to the expertise of the likes of Steve Finch, Chris Freer and others  within VLD, VLI was able to expand to a 12 rig fleet by the end of the 1990s. With operations in NSW, Queensland, the USA (in a joint venture with REI – Valley USA), and training and technical services delivery in countries like South Africa and China, VLI was already marching towards global placement of its products and services.

Initial entry into the Chinese coal mining industry took place in late 1997/98, when Valley Longwall was asked to intervene and assist with poorly performing UNIDO projects, and other ill conceived  equipment placements by a number of manufacturer’s and equipment suppliers, including Boart Longyear, UDR, Fletcher, AMT, John Finlay and Lincom.

This short lived and unsuccessful initial foray into the world’s largest coal industry, failed miserably due to ill conceived projects, using unsuitable equipment design in geologically treacherous conditions that had not been considered by other suppliers and project principals. However, that involvement in that era of development of In Seam Directional Drilling in China did sow the seeds for Valley Longwall’s highly successful involvement in the massive Chinese coal industry today.

When VLI re-entered the Chinese coal industry in 2000, the business plan and focus was on delivering a turn key product to the industry that was not only designed specifically for China’s conditions, but also took account of China’s logistical, cultural, geological, political, safety, mining and industrial requirements and conditions.

With the long term approach to recreating the in seam directional drilling industry opportunity in China, this approach needed a robust system of safety management supported by a system approach to equipment and services delivery.

VLI’s approach was to a total drill system that would allow for turn key operations on sites in any suitable mine in China. The VL 1000 Drill System approach was designed specifically for this application and consisted of supplying Chinese customers with a package that consisted of:

• A VL 1000 track or modular drill rig (depending on logistical capabilities of the mine).
• Attaching AMT’s DGS guidance tool as an integrated part of the equipment supply.
• MECCA Drill Rods.
• A Gas water Separator.
• Grouting Equipment designed to run off the drill rig.
• A full set of Spare Parts, Wear Parts and Consumables to manage the drill system in operation for 12 months (including basic essentials such as the first drill hole consumables like stand pipes and valves so that the Chinese could then source similar consumables in country).
• A full set of recovery equipment including over coring rods.
• Installation, commissioning and equipment testing on site in China.
• An extended training programme to train local Chinese drillers to a level of competence where they could continue to carry on drilling operations in their mine after training was complete.
• Long term technical support to assist our Chinese clients to manage their new equipment and utilise it in a safe and productive manner.

The last three items above, meant exposing our expatriate trainers and technical support personnel to long terms of working underground in Chinese Coal Mines. This meant applying robust safety management processes and risk management processes to ensure not only the safety of our own personnel, but with a significant aim to assist improving safety in Chinese Coal Mines and ensure Chinese Coal Owners utilised our drill systems in a safe manner.

To date, VLI is still the only western company in the world with long term exposure to working underground in the Chinese coal mines and we have managed this now over our 13 year involvement in China with no injuries and no incidents. An enviable track record given the inherent safety problems associated with coal mining in China.

With our latest round of drill system and services contracts, by mid 2010 we will have more than 40 drill systems operating in the Chinese Coal Mining Industry across 7 provinces and autonomous regions for a wide range of the largest coal bureaus in China. We will also have 5 drill systems delivering contract drilling services totalling more than 200,000 metres per year.

VLI is now using our global experience and our China base to step of into a number of other emergent market opportunities, including Russia, Eastern Europe, India, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. An exciting future beckons.