Boart Longyear, the world's leading provider of drilling services, equipment and performance tooling, was awarded $1.37 million by Ontario provincial government to support research and development of a mineral exploration drilling site and drilling systems technology. The company will locate its newest research and development center in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

Facilities in North Bay and Mississauga, Ontario, are among the company's six global manufacturing locations.

According to company officials “investments by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation in projects like these have the potential to improve safety for drillers, increase efficiency, reduce drilling costs and create jobs once the products are commercialized.”

"We are grateful to the government of Ontario for its significant commitment to our efforts to improve safety, increase efficiency and reduce drilling costs," said company President/CEO Jeff Olsen. "Its investment will pay long-lasting dividends to the mining industry in Northern Ontario and around the world."

"The Ontario government is very pleased that Boart Longyear's management team has chosen the Sudbury region for its newest R&D facility," said Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines for the provincial government Chairman of the NOHFC. "It is a very significant step in building up our R&D mining cluster in Northern Ontario."

With the support of the NOHFC funding as well as a matching corporate capital investment, Boart Longyear will work at the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology to test and develop several proprietary technologies, including driller-deployable geochemical technologies and other new technologies that will increase productivity.