Boart Longyear Wins Mining Magazine Award for Record-Setting Australian Sonic Bore Hole

SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A Boart Longyear (ASX: BLY) (www.BoartLongyear.com) crew that successfully completed the deepest hole drilled in Australia using a sonic rig – 212.00m (695 feet) – has earned the company an award from Mining Magazine.

Boart Longyear's Eastern Australian Territory team set the new depth mark last June 17 with a LS600T sonic rig and using a 4.75-inch conventional coring system and overriding with 6-inch casing. The bore hole was drilled at Nhill, 374Km (223 miles) northwest of Melbourne.

Mining Magazine readers voted the project as the winner of the 2014 Mining Magazine surface mining (soft rock) award, which will be presented during the 2015 SME Annual Conference & Expo and CMA 117th National Western Mining Conference, to be held in Denver in February. The Mining Magazine awards are given annually to celebrate outstanding new technologies, innovations and initiatives within the mining sector.

"We are very pleased that Mining Magazine and our peers in the industry recognize the tremendous accomplishment of our team," said Alan Sides, Senior Vice President of Drilling Services for Boart Longyear. "Even more importantly, our crew's efforts reflect Boart Longyear's continual pursuit of innovations to meet the challenges of the market."

Boart Longyear is at the forefront of deep-hole sonic drilling, which allows for continuous, undisturbed and high-quality core samples, minimal environmental impact and reduced waste by up to 80 percent relative to conventional methods.

Its client at the Nhill site is a joint collaboration between Deep Exploration Technologies Cooperative Research Centre (DET CRC), Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of Victoria. DET CRC is an Australian government-funded research organization dedicated to delivering more successful, cost-effective, safer and more environmentally friendly ways to drill, analyze and target deep mineral deposits.

The previous Australian depth record for this sonic drill, also set by Boart Longyear, was 206.00m, which was accomplished using the same drilling method at Menindee near Broken Hill in New South Wales.

About Mining Magazine

Founded in 1909 by Herbert Hoover, Mining Magazine is the single definitive guide to mining. Mining Magazine offers in-depth, technical insight into all operational aspects of mining. The title is designed to inform and assist mine management with decisions on mining techniques and technologies, as well as issues affecting their workforce, logistics and supply chains.

About Boart Longyear

Celebrating its 125th year anniversary in 2015, Boart Longyear is the world's leading provider of drilling services, drilling equipment, and performance tooling for mining and drilling companies globally. It also has a substantial presence in aftermarket parts and service, energy, mine de-watering, oil sands exploration, and production drilling.

The Global Drilling Services division operates in over 40 countries for a diverse mining customer base spanning a wide range of commodities, including copper, gold, nickel, zinc, uranium, and other metals and minerals. The Global Products division designs, manufactures and sells drilling equipment, performance tooling, and aftermarket parts and services to customers in over 100 countries.

Boart Longyear is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in Sydney, Australia. More information about Boart Longyear can be found at www.boartlongyear.com. To get Boart Longyear news direct, visit http://www.boartlongyear.com/rssfeed.

Contact: Monika Portman
Director of Corporate Communication
Phone: +1 801-952-8451
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Boart Longyear

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