BWE Drilling - Mining Outlook - Issue 16

Diversified Strength in Drilling

Diversified Strength in Drilling BWE Drilling brings together the strengths and legacies of three respected drilling companies into a unified, forward-focused organisation offering specialist services. We get the full story of this powerful evolution from CEO, Darren Guild Writer: Ed Budds | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold

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ustralia remains one of the most advanced and competitive global mining markets, supported by the diversity of commodities produced domestically.

Historically, there has usually been one standout commodity driving activity, however several are performing strongly at present, including gold, iron ore, and critical minerals used in batteries and related technologies.

“There is a great deal of activity across the sector and demand is strong, but client expectations of contractors are higher than ever, particularly in relation to performance and safety,” introduces Darren Guild, 2 | Mining Outlook Issue 16

CEO of BWE Drilling (BWE).

“It is a very busy market, and there has also been a noticeable shift in the drill and blast segment, which is our largest area of drilling activity.”

In the past, many earthmoving contractors subcontracted all drill and blast work, whereas now quite a few carry it out themselves.

“We are also seeing mining clients, particularly major iron ore operators, bringing drill and blast operations in-house. It’s a cyclical market, though, and over time that work often moves back out to contractors. Overall, it’s a dynamic and constantly evolving space,” he observes.

Built on more than 15 years of

trusted expertise, BWE delivers innovative, reliable solutions across Australia and has evolved into a leading mining services company headquartered in Osborne Park, Western Australia (WA).

With a fleet of over 50 drill rigs and operating through its three diversified drilling service offerings, the company delivers comprehensive drilling and blasting, water well, and exploration drilling services to the mining and construction industries across Australia.

JOINING FORCES BWE is the new name for the business, which originally started out

BWE DRILLING ASIA PACIFIC

as Dynamic Drill and Blast (Dynamic) in 2011.

It later acquired two additional drilling companies – Orlando Drilling (Orlando), which specialises in exploration drilling, and Well Drill, which focuses on water well drilling.

“For a period, Dynamic, Orlando, and Well Drill all continued to operate under their existing names and functioned independently. Most of the original owners stayed on, so the directors of the parent company were effectively the founders or previous owners of those individual businesses,” Guild recalls.

In mid-2024, Australian Food Super (AFS) launched an on-market

takeover and acquired 99 percent of the shareholding.

At that point, the existing Dynamic board exited, a new board was appointed by AFS, and the search began for a new CEO. Guild subsequently took up the role in December 2024 with a mandate to consolidate the businesses.

“One of the clearest priorities was to bring the group together under a single brand. When I first joined and started speaking with clients, it became clear that many of them only knew one part of the business,” he explains.

“For example, drill and blast clients often had no awareness of our

exploration or water well capabilities.

Because the businesses had operated so separately, they were not actively supporting each other in winning work.”

REBRAND AND REBUILD The gradual rebranding process of BWE was intended to achieve two things. Externally, it reset the business in the market as a diversified drilling services contractor able to provide drill and blast, exploration, and water well drilling.

Internally, it reinforced the message of one team working together rather than in three separate silos.

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“We also began consolidating operations, including combining locations in Perth and Kalgoorlie and rationalising infrastructure, such as reducing our two workshops in Perth down to one,” Guild adds.

“From there, I worked with the board to map out a plan we now call ‘Journey to 2030’, an ambitious growth strategy aimed at reaching AUD$200 million in turnover by the end of the decade.”

Contextually, the business delivered AUD$72 million in FY25 and has seen a 36 percent increase in revenue in FY26.

To support this growth, BWE identified five core pillars; the first is growth and reputational rebuild, which centres on strengthening the new brand.

Two further pillars focus on systems – one around its accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, and the other around the operational systems used across the three businesses.

“Another pillar is capital and asset management. Because the businesses had previously operated independently, they did not share equipment, which created obvious inefficiencies,” he expands.

The final pillar involves people and culture, bringing everyone together as one team.

As such, BWE now shares services across commercial, finance, and human resources – functions which are aligning standards across the entire brand.

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“Ultimately, it all comes down to execution – delivering our work exceptionally well for clients whilst also generating strong returns for our owners” – DARREN GUILD, CEO, BWE DRILLING

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GROWTH AND EXPANSION OPPORTUNITIES In terms of the next stage of growth for the company, BWE’s journey to 2030 is focused on strengthening its position in WA whilst expanding into the eastern states of the country, particularly in the copper and gold markets, which are performing strongly.

“We are also open to opportunities in coal, potentially through acquisitions, as part of our longerterm ambition to become a national contractor,” Guild sets out.

As such, the company still expects most of its growth to come from the drill and blast business, where it is currently tracking a pipeline of more than AUD$2 billion in work, which will be the main driver of this fresh new expansion.

One of the advantages of drill and blast is that it is tied to production, so even if commodity prices soften, mines often continue operating.

“Elsewhere, we’re seeing solid demand in exploration, although we want to maintain a balanced fleet rather than overexpand, because greenfield exploration is often one of the first areas to be scaled back when commodity prices fall,” he notes.

In the water well business, whilst BWE does not expect significant growth in rig numbers, it sees strong value in continuing to deliver a highquality, reliable service to Tier 1 clients.

“Ultimately, it all comes down to execution – delivering our work exceptionally well for clients whilst also generating strong returns for our owners.”

BUILDING THE PORTFOLIO BWE recently announced that, over the last couple of months, it has secured AUD$185 million in new contracts, encompassing work that spans both WA and the Northern Territory (NT) – a significant milestone as, historically, the company had only ever operated in the former.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN YOUR CONNECTION TO THE DRILLING AND MINING INDUSTRY? Darren Guild, CEO: “My connection to the industry dates to my childhood as my father was involved in drilling, so I grew up around it. I was born in Kalgoorlie and lived in both Kambalda and Leonora, which are mining towns in the Goldfields of WA. “Back in the 1970s, I used to go to work with my father during the school holidays when I was six or seven years old and spend time around the sites. You definitely couldn’t do that these days, but it meant I was exposed to drilling from a very early age.

“Initially, I chose not to go into drilling. I joined the Australian Army, served there for a period, then left to become a police officer in WA in the early 1990s.

“Whilst I was waiting for my intake, I went back to Kalgoorlie and took a job as a drilling offsider, which was only supposed to last about four months. Almost 30 years later, I am still in the industry.

“I have since worked predominantly with drilling and blasting contractors, as well as a couple of earthmoving contractors, gradually progressing through management roles and culminating with becoming CEO of BWE.

“We have now expanded into the NT, and our next step is to push into Far North Queensland. We have just appointed an Operations Manager based in Townsville to support that move,” Guild informs.

There is a strong concentration of metalliferous mines in the region, and it is also where the coalfields begin, which the company is not opposed to

embracing, particularly the extraction of metallurgical coal.

“We are building towards a truly national footprint with a number of copper and gold assets. The AUD$185 million in recent wins is spread across multiple commodities, including gold and iron ore, and that diversification is a deliberate part of our growth strategy,” he excites.

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“We do not want more than 50 percent of our portfolio tied to any single commodity, so if there is a downturn in one area, we are better placed to work through it.”

Of that AUD$185 million, some of the work came from extensions with existing clients, whilst a significant portion came from new client wins.

BWE is now working with Tier 1 contractors such as BHP and Rio Tinto, as well as gold producers including Northern Star Resources and Vault Minerals, alongside a range of emerging junior explorers.

“Altogether, these wins reinforce both the depth of our pipeline and the diversity of our revenue base across multiple commodities,” Guild enthuses.

CREATING A LEGACY Guild tells us how he wants to build a business that is respected for how it operates.

“Personally, I would like this to be my last role, but to achieve that, we need strong safety performance, 8 | Mining Outlook Issue 16

“Giving people a level of involvement and making sure they have a voice and a place to build a long-term career is central to the legacy we want to create” – DARREN GUILD, CEO, BWE DRILLING

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consistent delivery, and a reputation for doing what we say we will do,” He acknowledges.

Another key priority for BWE is maintaining an environment where people want to build long-term careers.

Indeed, one of the company’s core strengths is the number of long-term employees within its team.

“At the moment, we have eight or nine people on the 15-year board, around 20 on the 10-year board, and a large number on the five-year board as well,” he remarks.

This marks a significant achievement in what is currently a very tight labour market, where people can be tempted to move for a small increase in pay.

BWE is trying to address this through the employee value proposition it is developing and by making the company a place where people genuinely want to work.

“A big part of that has been

involving people in the process of shaping the company’s future, from developing the new name and logo through to building our strategy.”

As such, around 30 people were involved in the strategy sessions that helped BWE create its ‘Journey to 2030’ strategy.

“Giving people a level of involvement and making sure they have a voice and a place to build a long-term career is central to the legacy we want to create,” prides Guild.

BWE wants to be regarded as a larger contractor but still retain a family feel and shared sense of connection, which is important to the company.

Currently, BWE has a head office in Perth and a separate workshop about 30 minutes away, but over the next two years, the plan is to consolidate those into one location so that everyone is working together under one roof.

“Ultimately, we want our people to enjoy their work and being a part of the business,” Guild concludes enthusiastically.

Every successful company is built on more than just products and services – they are built on a clear sense of purpose and shared beliefs.

With a clear vision of where it wants to be in the near future, BWE looks set to move from strength to strength as it maintains an upward trajectory towards continued growth and prosperity.

Tel: 08 6404 2798 info@bwedrilling.com.au

www.bwedrilling.com.au

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Tel: 08 6404 2798 info@bwedrilling.com.au www.bwedrilling.com.au

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