ABOUT US
Meet The Team
The Company
Evolution Drill Rigs is a privately owned company which commenced operations in 2010. The four Directors of the business have been involved in the exploration drilling and equipment manufacturing industry for many years and have brought those years of experience into this new venture. The Directors are all actively involved in the business operations and the equipment design.
The Evolution FH3000 was the first drill to be developed with the prototype drill being delivered to Orange based Pinnacle Drilling in early May 2011, with field testing and commissioning completed in late May. The drill successfully completed a broad range drilling program including an 1800 meter hole using HQ sized drill rods and an RC drilling program with holes averaging around 350 meter depths. The field testing included actively sourcing feedback from the Pinnacle drill crews and operations staff as well as other industry leading drilling contractors. After evaluation of the feedback a number of improvements and additional options were identified and implemented into the subsequent drills. Some of the additional options developed were a complete folding walkway and stair system to reduce the manual handling of heavy items and improve set up times on new drill sites. An option for a second L11-18SC water pump was included allowing up to 500Lpm @ 1800Psi water flow. A hydraulic powered generator was also included with a 5Kva continuous rating. To date a total of ten Evolution FH3000 drills have been delivered and have completed a broad range of drilling programs, deep directional holes with multiple intersections, SQ core drilling program and large diameter breakout through holes. The Evolution FH3000 has proven drilling capacity and reliability.
Three smaller model drills have been added to the Evolution range, the FH2000, FH1300 and FH1000. These drills are in an advanced engineering stage and ready for building. Details of these drill rigs are included on our Products
page.
Evolution Drill Rigs repair and maintenance workshop has been busy with a wide variety of projects including complete rig overhauls and routine or annual scheduled services and Insurance repairs. All repair and overhaul jobs are quoted and based on a Scope of Work for the project which has been developed based on the customer requirements for the job and is agreed with the customer prior to commencing the project. Contact the Evolution Drill Rigs team to discuss your repair and maintenance requirements.
Our Staff Members
General Manager: John Slattery
With over 30 years experience in the drilling industry in Australia and overseas. John’s experience covers many facets of exploration drilling including operations, field and workshop maintenance of drill rigs and associated equipment. He has held senior management positions with an industry leading company, including capital equipment sales, drill rig production and product line management. John has also been heavily involved development of new products and industry leading safety features and bringing these products to market.
Sales Manager:
Andy Turner
Trade Qualified Motor mechanic specializing in heavy equipment and trucks with over 20 years experience in the drilling industry. Andy’s roles include Maintenance Manager for a large drilling contractor responsible for a fleet of 80 drills and approximately 350 pieces of associated heavy equipment, in remote locations in Australia and Africa. He has developed and implemented maintenance programs and budgets. Andy has also managed equipment manufacturing workshops and Capital Equipment sales of new equipment.
Engineering Manager: Graham Little
Completed both Bachelor of Technology and Honour Degree in Mechanical Engineering, as well as being a Trade qualified Fitter & Turner. Graham has in excess of 30 years experience in drill rig manufacture, maintenance, design and modification. He has also held Engineering Management roles leading engineering teams of up to 20 personnel and been responsible for research and development of new products, upgrades of existing equipment and production engineering, with an emphasis on the development of industry leading safety features.
Workshop Manager:
Peter Quinn
Trade qualified Mechanic with approximately 20 years experience in the drilling industry in Australia and South East Asia. Peter has extensive operational knowledge with Supervision experience in multi-rig drilling programs as well as workshop personnel and maintenance management. He is highly experienced in maintaining and trouble shooting a broad range of mechanical equipment. Peter has also been involved in the development and delivery of training packages for drilling equipment operation and maintenance for Australia and the South Pacific