Cost Per Target: Directional Coring Earns its Place in Mine Services

8 June, 2026

Stop pricing the metres. Start pricing the target.

That reframe sits at the heart of this feature in the new Australasian Drilling on directional core drilling moving from deep exploration into mine services work. It is a useful shift for any contractor scoping grade control, infill or resource definition, and AZIWELL's Australia GM Hamish Haliday makes the case plainly.

The technology in question is Aziwell's AZIDRILL system, and the pitch is straightforward: fewer holes, fewer total metres, and far less re-drilling when targets are missed. Conventional coring drifts off trajectory as depth increases, especially on narrow or steeply dipping structures, and the re-drills, re-collars and pad extensions that follow eat straight into program margin. Price in those avoided metres, plus the pad clearing, permitting and rehab they trigger, and directional often delivers a stronger return than conventional coring on complex or deeper targets.

A few operational details matter for contractors weighing this on a tender. It does not need a special rig. AZIDRILL runs in almost the same configuration as a standard core barrel, no special adapters or dedicated gear. If your rig runs a conventional barrel effectively, it can run AZIDRILL. That means directional capability can be added to a scope without rig modification. The rig operation stays with you. Aziwell positions as a third-party tool hand, the same model as Sperry, Baker Hughes or Weatherford in oil and gas. They provide the tooling and the systems to plan and track the borepath, but your drillers run the rig.

The tool is only in the hole when a correction or steered section is needed, so for the bulk of the program your crew operates under normal coring parameters. Liability splits along familiar lines. Operator error sits with the contractor, mechanical failure sits with Aziwell, and undisclosed ground conditions sit with the principal, the same as any drilling contract. The commercial framing is the part worth carrying into your own tenders. As Hamish puts it, look at cost per target, not cost per metre. That gives contractors a way to defend the line item when a client balks at the rate, and a way to push back internally when a program is being scoped on cost-per-metre logic even though the target is the actual deliverable.

One practical note: Aziwell is booked into mid-2027, which limits short-notice mobilisation, so this is one to factor in at planning, not as a late add.

Read the full article in the Australasian Drilling Magazine