Swick Mining Services Ltd. (ASX:SWK)

[QualityStocks]

Swick Mining Services, one of Australia's largest mineral drilling contractors, is focused on providing high quality, high value underground and surface drilling services to a broad array of different mining concerns in precious/base metals, in addition to other commodities. The company specializes in underground diamond drilling, and has a reputation for pioneering innovative rig designs that deliver improvements in productivity, safety, versatility, and value.

The company aims to further expand its presence from Australia to Canada and the USA, capitalizing on the large underground mining market in the North American region. Swick's leads the market with strong engineering acumen and dedicated R&D focus, providing drilling services to many of the world's largest mining companies, including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Glencore, Newmont, Barrick, Vale, Gold Fields, Newcrest, Goldcorp, and Agnico-Eagle Mines.

In the six month period ended December 31, 2011, revenue from continuing operations increased 27% to A$69.3 million and net profits after tax from continuing operations increased 184% to A$4.4 million. Net operating cash flows increased 9% to A$11.3 million, bringing the cash balance to A$13.3 million at December 31, 2011. The Company reduced its debt balance by 43% to A$19.3 million. After making substantial improvement in its financial position, the board approved a A$0.5 cents per share interim dividend.

With superior personnel and equipment, as well as a no-nonsense approach for catering to the client’s needs, Swick stands out as the first choice in the mineral drilling services sector. Precious/base metals and raw commodity inputs are growing more attractive in a global economy that is less certain, and Swick is poised to generate substantial shareholder returns by taking advantage of increased mining activity.