Boart Longyear has been recognized as the 2009 recipient of the Olympic Dam “Vendor of the Year” award for 2009 from BHP Billiton. In commenting on the award, a BHP spokesperson notes, “Boart Longyear has been operating at Olympic Dam for approximately 10 years, and in FY09 has displayed admirable performance in key evaluation criteria including safety, community, customer responsiveness and operational performance with their underground drilling services.”

Boart Longyear is a 120-year-old company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Adelaide, South Australia, with offices and operations in Asia Pacific, North and South America, Europe and Africa. The company provides drilling services and drilling products for the global mining industry, and also has a substantial presence in drilling for other purposes, including water exploration, environmental and oil sands exploration. With nearly 7,000 employees worldwide, the Boart Longyear conducts contract drilling services in more than 40 countries.

Diane Bettess, Asia Pacific Drilling Services general manager of Boart Longyear, says, “We are pleased to have received this prestigious award from BHP Billiton in recognition of our industry-leading safety programs and superior client service. This award is the result of the hard work and dedication of all our employees at Olympic Dam and our continued focus on meeting the needs of the major mining companies. We look forward to continuing to perform critical drilling services for BHP Billiton at Olympic Dam in South Australia, as well as other locations throughout the world.”