Drill Rig Finance

Drill rig finance is equipment finance secured against the rig itself, usually written as a chattel mortgage with the term matched to the rig's working life. RC, diamond, aircore and blast hole rigs are all financeable, new, used and at auction, along with the compressors, boosters, rod handlers and support trucks that make a drill crew work. We arrange it for drilling contractors across WA and Australia, structured around the drilling contract behind the purchase.

Rigs are a specialist corner of equipment lending. The purchase prices are serious, the machines work remote, the hours climb fast, and the businesses buying them are paid on drilling contracts rather than steady monthly invoices. A lender who knows the asset class reads all of that as normal; a lender who does not reads it as risk. Placing the deal with the right one is most of the job, and it is the same whole-of-job approach we take across mining and civil equipment finance.

Rigs we finance

• RC and grade control rigs, truck and track mounted
• Diamond core rigs, surface and underground
• Aircore and slimline exploration rigs
• Blast hole and production drills
• Waterwell, dewatering and geotechnical rigs
• Compressors, boosters, rod handlers, support trucks and light vehicles

The support gear belongs in the plan from the start. A rig without its compressor, rods and support truck does not drill a metre, so we fund the crew as it will actually operate, bundled where that is cleanest or structured separately where it is not.

Exploration drilling, read properly by lenders

Exploration work has a rhythm that generic credit assessment misreads: programs are won in campaigns, meterage rates and shift patterns drive revenue, the counterparties range from major producers to early-stage explorers, and the rig fleet flexes with the program book. None of that is a problem when it is presented properly. A contract with an established miner carries obvious strength; a program for a smaller explorer needs the surrounding story, the pipeline, the operator's history and the rig's redeployability, to do more of the work.

That is the case we build before any application is lodged: the rig, the contracts and the trading position framed the way a credit team needs to see them. It is the difference between a decline from a lender that did not understand drilling and an approval from one that did.

Used rigs, high hours and honest structuring

Drill rigs are built to be rebuilt, and the used market is where much of WA's fleet changes hands. Lenders that know the class assess hours, maintenance history and component condition rather than just the build year, and the practical constraint is the rig's age when the loan ends, which shapes the term. Auction purchases need the finance lined up before the hammer falls. Private sales need ownership verified and encumbrances checked. We structure the term and any balloon against the rig's realistic working life and rebuild cycle, and we will say plainly when a rig's age makes the finance more expensive than it is worth.

The rig is half the job. Mobilisation is the other half.

A new program means crews, consumables, fuel and accommodation moving before the first claim is paid. That gap is funded with working capital, not with the rig loan: an overdraft, an equipment-backed line, or invoice finance against certified claims. The full picture, mobilisation, progress claims and rental buyouts, lives on our mining services finance page, and the claims side specifically on invoice finance for mining contractors. Contractors adding rigs regularly should ask about a master asset finance facility, and you can model any rig repayment with our equipment finance calculator.

Why drilling contractors use us

Bankers first, brokers second. Rockwall was founded by two former commercial bankers, so the deal is assembled by people who know how the approving credit team will read it.

Access to more than 40 lenders. Through our Finsure accreditation we reach the specialist funders that actively write rigs, high-hour machines and contract-backed purchases, alongside the major banks.

Based where the drilling is. We are Perth-based, in the middle of the WA exploration and mining economy, and we structure deals around programs, claims and mobilisation because that is how drilling businesses get paid.

Licensed and accountable. We are MFAA members and Credit Representatives (579184, 579182 and 580433) of Finsure Finance & Insurance Pty Ltd.

Your drill rig finance specialist

Rowan Edwards, co-founder. Rowan is a former commercial banker and Credit Representative 579182, and he runs Rockwall's drill rig finance work personally. He structures rig deals around the drilling contract and the crew behind the machine: the rig, the support gear and the mobilisation funded as one job. More on the team.

Frequently asked questions