Major Drilling’s Philippines branch achieved a significant milestone—10 years of safe operations without a Lost Time Injury (LTI). In 2025, the branch surpassed 4 million LTI-free hours by emphasizing proactive safety standards, ongoing training, and open communication. This achievement reflects a sustained commitment to workplace safety and operational discipline, setting a benchmark for the mineral drilling sector in the region.
Major Drilling Philippines (known locally as MDGI Philippines Inc.) supports mineral exploration and development projects across the country, providing specialized services such as coring, reverse circulation, underground, and geotechnical drilling. The branch has grown alongside the industry’s evolving requirements, applying global best practices in safety and technology while maintaining a strong local workforce.
Global Context: Scale and Specialized Expertise
While the Philippines branch celebrates its safety record, Major Drilling Group International enters 2026 with expanded capabilities worldwide. Founded in 1980 in New Brunswick, Canada, the company has evolved from a regional contractor into a global leader in specialized drilling services. Today, it operates across six continents, offering a broad range of specialized drilling services—supported by technology-driven tools for data capture and analytics.
“We’re proud to be part of this great company and bring our branch’s impressive safety record and cohesion to the greater team,” Daniel Paradis, General Manager of the Branch, said. “This creates productive days for clients and helps us keep our particular focus on safety best practices and social responsibility.”
Safety and Fiscal Strength
In fiscal 2025, Major Drilling reported $727.6 million in revenue and invested $72.5 million in fleet modernization, while achieving a Total Recordable Incident Frequency Rate (TRIFR) of 0.74, its lowest in 45 years. These results underscore the company’s emphasis on operational discipline and a safety-first culture.
A major contributor to recent growth was the integration of Explomin Perforaciones in late 2024, adding 92 drills and expanding Major Drilling’s fleet to more than 700 rigs. This acquisition strengthened the company’s presence in South America and increased exposure to copper-focused regions such as Peru, supporting complex drilling programs across multiple jurisdictions.
Driving Innovation: Major+ and AI-Assisted Core Logging
Alongside geographic expansion, Major Drilling has advanced its Major+ innovation platform, combining drilling services with imaging, surveying, and AI-assisted logging. In partnership with KORE GeoSystems, the company introduced a drillside imaging unit that captures high-resolution core photos and uses AI to produce rapid logs, including RQD measurements. Early pilots at G Mining Ventures’ Tocantinzinho project in Brazil demonstrated improvements in decision-making and data consistency.
How It Works
The system integrates a ruggedized imaging station at the drill site, equipped with high-resolution cameras and lighting to capture consistent core photographs. These images are processed through KORE GeoSystems’ AI engine, which applies depth referencing, segmentation, and automated calculations such as RQD and fracture counts. The workflow eliminates manual logging delays by generating preliminary logs within seconds, accessible through a secure cloud platform.
Benefits for Geologists and Project Managers
Traditionally, core logging is labor-intensive and subject to variability in measurement and interpretation. By automating key steps, the AI-assisted system improves accuracy, repeatability, and auditability. Geologists can validate geological models in near real time, reducing the lag between drilling and decision-making. For project managers, this translates into greater agility—holes can be extended, shortened, or redirected while drilling is still in progress, optimizing resource allocation and reducing unnecessary meters drilled.
Impact on Cost and Scheduling
The ability to make informed decisions at the rig site has direct implications for project economics. Faster logging reduces downtime, while improved data quality minimizes the risk of costly errors in resource modeling. For remote projects, where logistics and mobilization costs are significant, these efficiencies can represent substantial savings.
Industry Implications
Beyond operational gains, AI-assisted logging supports data standardization across projects and jurisdictions. Images and logs are indexed, searchable, and depth-referenced, creating a digital audit trail that meets the growing demand for verifiable geodata in compliance reporting and due diligence. The system also enables remote collaboration, allowing experts to review core images and logs from anywhere in the world**,** a capability that became particularly valuable during recent global travel restrictions.
Future Developments
Major Drilling and its technology partners are exploring integration with predictive analytics and geological modeling software, aiming to link real-time logging with dynamic resource models. This could allow drill programs to adapt continuously based on evolving geological interpretations, further reducing uncertainty and improving project outcomes.
Workforce Diversity and Sustainability
Major Drilling employs more than 6,000 people worldwide and invests in workforce development through programs such as Core College and training on new technologies. Its sustainability framework, formalized in 2020, addresses greenhouse gas tracking, water stewardship, community engagement, encouraging women in mining, and partnerships with Indigenous groups. A 2025 idling policy aligns with industry efforts to reduce emissions.
Outlook for the Philippines and Beyond
The Philippines branch’s decade-long safety record illustrates how structured programs and practices can deliver measurable results at the site level. As global mining increasingly targets deeper and more complex deposits, and as sustainability and safety standards rise, drilling contractors capable of integrating technology with skilled execution will play a critical role in project success.
For Major Drilling, this means continuing to combine scale with specialized expertise, embedding data and automation into workflows, and maintaining safety performance that meets the expectations of mining partners worldwide.
Visit majordrilling.com to learn more about the company's services.
