Orexplore Technologies Ltd, a mining scanning technology company, made its debut on the ASX today following a recent demerger from parent company Swick Mining Services.
The company lists following a $2.4 million priority offer to Swick shareholders, at an issue price of $0.25 per share, which joins $12 million in seed funding contributed by Swick as part of the demerger – which all adds up to a healthy cash balance in the vicinity of $14 million.
The company share register indicates it has the support of a range of institutional, sophisticated and retail investors.
This next step in the company’s journey will allow it to accelerate its business and technology strategies, and focus on the commercialisation of its technology platform through targeted customer value propositions across the mining value chain.
“Resource characterisation is fundamental to the success of exploration, extraction and mine closure,” Orexplore chair Dr Alan Bye said.
“The mining industry is adopting digital sensors and analytics to improve productivity and Orexplore has the potential to add significant value to mining exploration and operations. We are excited to become a listed company and thank our shareholders for their support”.
The product
Orexplore has developed a non-destructive technology for resources companies to analyse core in a faster and more sustainable way. The product allows companies to ‘see through the core', which offers substantial time and cost savings, and the ability to make decisions more rapidly.
The company’s suite of scanning and modelling technologies delivers rapid 'drilled to insight’ decision support by connecting field core scanning technologies to remote decision makers mere hours after extraction and presentation.
Its flagship product, GeoCore X10, is a transportable X-ray rock mass scanning technology that converts drill core samples into a three-dimensional data set to provide a through-the-rock image of internal structures and texture in addition to elemental detections and density. The scanning technology makes use of Orexplore Insight software which converts the 3D data into a ‘digital twin’, which allows the user to interrogate the sample at a standard resolution of 200 microns.
The company fits into the trend of the mining industry going through a digital transformation, adopting digital sensors and analytics to improve productivity, following the rise in metals demand with the broadening adoption of electric vehicles.
Value proposition
Established in Sweden in 2010, and headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, the company is focused on accelerating market traction, and advancing the commercialisation of its non-destructive core-scanning technology.
“We are fortunate to be building on a strong base of advanced research and development from our origins in Stockholm,” managing director Brett Giroud said.
“With a healthy balance sheet, a rapidly advancing technology platform and a highly skilled team, we are well-positioned to create shareholder value as we build a global technology company”.
Orexplore managing director Brett Giroud
The company’s value lies in helping its mining customers unlock value by capturing what it describes as the global mega-trends sweeping the mining industry, beset by the challenges of diminishing exploration returns, operational pressures, challenging project techno-economics and workforce evolution.
It hopes to usher in a digital and automated transformation of the sector, with ESG principles at its core.