With two major contracts soon to start – including gold exploration on behalf of one of the biggest names in the Australian Resources Industry – Ophir Drilling in Orange, NSW is gearing-up for some long days and even longer nights.
“With two drill sites soon to be operating simultaneously, I’m getting ready with the right people and the right equipment” said Bryce Lord, Managing Director of Ophir Drilling. “When we’re operating 24/7, I need efficient lighting towers”.
Nearly ten years ago, Bryce purchased two Allight lighting towers. “They’ve been brilliant – worked real hard and racked up some serious running hours” he explained. So for the upcoming drilling contracts, he decided to upgrade these existing units.
“Both towers had original metal halide globes, which were great then, but now each engine has completed over 12,000 hours, they weren’t running as efficiently as they once did” Bryce told us. So with the assistance of Stewart Kidd, Allight NSW Territory Manager, Bryce chose to get the machines fully serviced by the Allight Service Department and upgraded to LED Lights. He also added bespoke night-lights under the hood for easy maintenance after sundown.
“With both engines now purring sweetly, plus with LED globes placing less operating strain, they burn less fuel” he happily reported. “And the LED Globes distribute the light nice and evenly across the entire drill site, helping my crew optimise productivity and maximise safety”.
There’s a new tower on the way too!
It’s vital that Ophir Drilling keeps operating day and night, so with two contracts about to start, Bryce also ordered a brand-new tower to complement the upgrades. Tailor-made at the Allight manufacturing facility in Perth, Western Australia, his new lighting tower is made to the specifications perfect for night drilling.
Special features on Bryce’s new lighting tower include LED Lights plus a special AC Conversion that produces 240 Volts. “It’s excellent for remote location drilling – they can run all sorts of machinery off this tower. Essentially, it’s an efficient and effective lighting tower plus a powerful 240v Gen Set at the same –an extremely versatile all-rounder” said Stewart.
Before moving into Sales at Allight, Stewart once worked in the finance industry, so he appreciates the intricacies of machinery finance as well as good customer service. In this case, when the delivery time was delayed, Stewart used his experience and business-finance networks to help facilitate the deal. By smoothing the waters, he helped arrange inter-state delivery of the new tower to the NSW drill-site where it’s needed.
“I managed to pave the way and keep both the bank and the client happy” said Stewart.
PICS: Marcus West, Allight Head of Production, with the new LED Lighting Tower as it leaves the Allight Perth manufacturing facility, bound for Ophir Drilling, NSW
Also Ophir Drilling Manager on-site with one of the upgraded machines – fully serviced and still running smoohtly after nearly 15,000 hours.
