ECUADOR - Energy & Mining
Director of Operations, Globexplore
Bio
Armando Lucero got his start in the drilling industry in 2006 and has held several field and management positions in his career. He is a professional engineer and holds a degree in industrial and production applications. He has several years of experience in the areas of operations, maintenance, logistics, and administration. He has spearheaded the company’s growth into specialized drilling services such as True Man-Portable and deep-hole drilling, among others.
More than having the best rigs and support equipment, Globexplore owes its great success to its experienced and dedicated team.
Globexplore has earned over 50 positive letters of recommendation from many of the most respected mining and exploration companies in the world. What have been the main secrets of its success?
We have always focused on being a customer service-driven company. While this sounds simple, our success is a reflection of a deep corporate culture with many moving parts that all move in the same direction towards exceeding our clients’ expectations. Over many years we have built a team driven by performance and quality directed with the sole purpose to serve and fulfill our clients’ needs and help them find the next ore deposit. We are a service provider that solves problems and challenges for our clients rather than create them. We consistently provide our clients with the highest quality equipment, supply chain, and experienced professionals that complete every hole, on time and on target. Every client we have worked for would hire us again and recommend our performance. There are few drilling contractors that have a rock solid, reliable reputation like this. We invest in the most modern rigs and support equipment in our industry and pay our team higher wages and bonuses to train, retain, and attract the best people. Many of our long-term clients rely on Globexplore because we truly are versatile experts in performing the seven various drilling techniques commonly needed. A drilling company’s performance can literally make or break the success of a drill campaign, project, or even entire companies. There are many drilling companies that might offer different types of drilling, but there are few that can actually verify their productive, quality performance with over 50 letters of recommendation on each one of these specialized drilling techniques. In fact, we are not aware of another one.
What has been Globexplore’s strategy to attract and develop specialized talent in this industry?
Investing in the best rigs and support equipment is worthless without having the most talented and experienced team to operate and service them. We invest heavily in training and building our team from the ground up. Our team is motivated by knowing they have the opportunity to grow with the company. We pay salaries and bonuses above the standard, and we care about our team and their families. Our team knows that a career in mining and especially drilling can be cyclical and unreliable as contracts come and go. Therefore, with our consistent stream of contracts, even during the down turns in our industry, our team appreciates the stable and secure work we provide them with. We increased the size of our fleet by 33% during the last downturn to meet client demand. We thrived because our clients were extremely concerned about their budgets and completing their drill programs on time and within budget is more crucial and important than in good times. We treat every client and every contract as if it was the only one we have. This is how dedicated we are for our clients’ success, and in return this keeps our team securely employed even during downcycles.
More mining companies now have higher environmental standards. What efforts has Globexplore made to meet these standards in recent years?
We have invested in newly advanced technologies in hydraulics and engine performance that is providing us with more power to drill deeper with less risks in deviation and getting stuck in complicated ground conditions while at the same time burning significantly less fuel. We are also recirculating and using less water consumption. Our polymers and drill muds are completely biodegradable and non-harmful for the soils and ground water. Our drill pad mats and trays under every rig do not allow one drop of engine oil or coolant into the soil. We enter and leave every drill site as if we were never there. We are already testing technologies and plan to be running “Tesla-type rigs” by 2030.
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