Energold Drilling - 3Q 2017 Results

Yesterday Energold Drilling released its 3Q 2017 report. Firstly, let me look at the drilling prices reported by two Energold's main divisions: Mineral and Energy:

source: Simple Digressions

The chart on the left shows mineral drilling prices. And it is easy to spot that in 3Q 2017 the prices went up but the increase was much less impressive than in the case of two other drillers I discussed earlier on this blog (Geodrill and Orbit Garant). I guess this slight increase may be explained easily - Energold offers its services at much higher prices than Geodrill and Orbit. Let me compare these prices (as of 3Q 2017):

• Geodrill: CS$129 per meter
• Orbit: C$105 per meter
• Energold: C$153 per meter

Well, Geodrill operates only in Africa so it is hardly comparable to Orbit and Energold. However, Orbit, operating mainly in Canada, bids 31.3% below the prices Energold bids (this company is active mainly in Central America and Mexico where 57 rigs operate (out of the total 140 rigs owned by the Mineral Division)).

So, Energold is expensive, compared to Orbit.

As a result, Orbit drilled 404 thousand metres in 3Q 2017 while Energold only 76 thousand metres. Or, using different metric, Orbit delivered a gross margin of C$4.7M while the Mineral Division of Energold delivered a $1.3M.

Let my readers arrive at their own conclusions which driller offers more efficient strategy...*

* I would be very cautious about formulating a final conclusion - it can be tricky