Gold miner Silver Lake Resources has appointed Swick the preferred tenderer for underground drilling at its Mt Monger operation near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, with three rigs set to begin work in August.
It marks a return to familiar territory for Swick following a three-year hiatus after the Luke Tonkin-overseen Silver Lake awarded the gig to a competitor in 2016.
Meanwhile, Northern Star Resources has increased the scope of work for Swick at the Jundee mine (also in WA), from nine to 14 underground rigs.
In addition, Swick has been awarded a three-year contract extension by Barrick Gold for its Nevada joint venture gold operations in the US with Newmont. Swick, which has been servicing Barrick since 2013, will increase rig numbers at the US operations from eight to 10.
Swick pointed out that by the end of September it would have at least 22 rigs operating at international operations (including the US, Portugal and Spain), equating to about one-third of its current fleet.
