CED SFM Series: 6x6 Mobile Drilling Rigs Built for Remote Mineral Exploration
OUR DRILL RIG IS ONLY USEFUL IF IT CAN REACH THE TARGET.
Mineral exploration has a mobility problem.
Some of the world's most interesting gold, copper, lithium and critical mineral exploration targets are not conveniently located beside sealed roads, workshops and established mining infrastructure.
They are deeper into the bush.
Across desert.
Up mountains.
Beyond washed-out tracks.
Inside frontier exploration regions where moving conventional drilling equipment can become an operation in itself.
And that creates a simple problem:
It doesn't matter how capable your drill rig is if you can't get it to the drill pad.
CED developed the SFM Series around that reality.
The concept combines specialised exploration drilling equipment with rugged 6x6 mobility, support vehicles and modular trailer systems to create something bigger than an individual drill rig.
It is an exploration system.
What Is the CED SFM Series ?
The CED SFM Series is a family of mobile drilling and exploration support systems developed by Cylinder Exploration Drilling for projects where access, mobilisation, logistics and equipment utilisation matter.
Rather than looking at the drilling rig in isolation, CED has approached the problem from the perspective of the complete exploration operation.
How does the rig reach the target?
How do the rods get there?
Where does the compressor go?
How are drilling consumables transported?
What about water?
Diesel?
Spare parts?
Tooling?
Support equipment?
And once the hole is finished, how quickly can the operation move to the next pad?
Those questions led to the development of a coordinated SFM fleet covering drilling and field support.
The CED SFM Series
CED SFM7200 — Surface Diamond Drilling
A highly mobile 6x6 diamond drilling system developed for surface mineral exploration where conventional drill mobilisation can be difficult.
CED SFM7300 — RC / Air Core / Auger Drilling
A versatile mobile exploration platform developed around Reverse Circulation, Air Core and auger drilling, giving exploration teams multiple drilling capabilities from the SFM concept.
CED SFM7400 — Water Well Drilling
A mobile 6x6 water well drilling system designed for projects requiring drilling capability in remote areas and difficult terrain.
CED SFM7500 — Underground Drilling
The underground-focused member of the SFM family, extending the concept into underground exploration and mine drilling applications.
CED SFM7600 — Exploration Support Vehicle
Because drilling rigs don't operate alone. The SFM7600 is designed to transport the equipment, tooling, consumables and supplies required to keep exploration operations functioning.
CED SFMTS — Modular Trailer Systems
Purpose-built trailer systems configured around project requirements, including compressors, water, diesel, drill rods, tooling, spare parts and drilling consumables.
Together, they form a coordinated exploration fleet.
Why Build an Exploration Drill Rig Around a 6x6 Platform?
Traditional exploration equipment often creates a compromise.
Large drilling equipment delivers capability but can become difficult to mobilise.
Smaller equipment improves access but may sacrifice drilling performance or require significant additional logistical support.
The SFM concept is CED's response to that challenge.
By integrating drilling and support equipment with a capable 6x6 exploration vehicle platform, the objective is to improve mobility without forgetting why the equipment is there in the first place:
to drill.
For remote exploration programmes, 6x6 mobility can offer significant advantages across difficult tracks, sand, mud, uneven terrain and areas where conventional support vehicles may struggle.
It also creates an opportunity to standardise a fleet around a common mobile platform.
That matters when an exploration programme starts covering serious distances.
SFM7200: Mobile 6x6 Diamond Drilling
Diamond drilling provides geologists with continuous core and detailed geological information, making it fundamental to mineral exploration and resource definition.
But getting a conventional diamond drill into remote terrain can require substantial logistical preparation.
The CED SFM7200 combines surface diamond drilling capability with the mobility of the SFM 6x6 concept.
It is designed for exploration programmes where moving efficiently between drilling locations matters just as much as drilling performance.
The SFM7200 is particularly relevant to remote:
Gold exploration
Copper exploration
Lithium exploration
Nickel exploration
Critical minerals exploration
Greenfield drilling
Resource definition programmes
The concept is simple: take serious diamond drilling capability further into the field.
SFM7300: RC, Air Core and Auger Drilling on 6x6 Mobility
Early-stage exploration programmes frequently need to cover ground quickly.
That is where Reverse Circulation drilling, Air Core drilling and auger drilling become extremely valuable.
The CED SFM7300 brings these drilling methods into the SFM platform.
For large exploration licences, this creates an extremely interesting proposition.
A mobile exploration team can move between targets while maintaining access to multiple drilling methods depending on the programme and configuration.
Air Core can support rapid shallow exploration.
RC can advance the programme into deeper and more intensive geological testing.
Auger can provide another option for shallow sampling and investigation.
The SFM7300 is therefore not simply about mobility.
It is about mobility combined with drilling flexibility.
SFM7400: Water Well Drilling Where Water Is Actually Needed
Remote mining and exploration projects need water.
So do communities, infrastructure projects, camps and industrial operations operating away from established services.
The CED SFM7400 takes the same 6x6 philosophy and applies it to mobile water well drilling.
The ability to move drilling equipment through difficult terrain can be particularly important when water exploration itself is taking place in areas with limited infrastructure.
Instead of treating water well drilling as separate from the wider remote-access challenge, the SFM7400 brings it into the same modular equipment family.
SFM7500: Taking the SFM Concept Underground
Mobility doesn't stop mattering when mining moves underground.
The CED SFM7500 extends the SFM concept into underground drilling, providing another specialised platform within the wider series.
Underground drilling brings its own challenges: restricted access, confined operating environments, equipment movement and demanding production schedules.
The SFM7500 has been developed around those realities while remaining part of the broader CED approach to integrated exploration and drilling equipment.
SFM7600: Because the Drill Rig Can't Carry Everything
This is where the SFM concept becomes much more than a collection of drill rigs.
A drilling operation needs support.
The CED SFM7600 Exploration Support Vehicle is designed around transporting the equipment required to keep drilling moving.
Depending on configuration, that can include:
Drill rods
Drilling consumables
Spare parts
Tooling
Pumps
Water
Diesel
Maintenance equipment
General exploration supplies
A remote drilling operation becomes considerably less mobile if the rig can reach the pad but everything supporting it cannot.
The SFM7600 is designed to help solve that problem.
SFMTS: The Trailer System Behind the Fleet
Then there is the CED SFMTS modular trailer system.
These trailers can be configured around specific operational requirements rather than forcing clients into a single standard layout.
CED can develop trailer solutions for:
RC drilling consumables
Diamond drilling consumables
Air compressors
Water
Diesel
Drill rods
Tooling
Spare parts
General exploration support equipment
The objective is organisation as much as transportation.
A well-designed support trailer means equipment has a designated place, drilling crews can find what they need quickly and mobilisation between drill sites becomes easier.
In remote drilling, seemingly small efficiencies accumulate quickly.
Remote Exploration Is a Logistics Operation
People often think about mineral exploration in terms of geology.
Drillers tend to think about it slightly differently.
Because before you can test the geology, you have to get everything there.
The rig.
The compressor.
The rods.
The bits.
The muds.
The diesel.
The water.
The spares.
The crew.
Then you need to keep all of it supplied while the programme advances.
This is why CED sees remote exploration drilling as both a drilling challenge and a logistics challenge.
The SFM Series has been developed around both.
Complete RC and Air Core Packages
Take an SFM7300 RC or Air Core operation as an example.
The rig alone isn't enough.
CED can build the package around:
SFM7300 + compressor + drill string + RC/Air Core consumables + sampling equipment + critical spares + support trailer + operators.
The compressor can be matched to the drilling requirements.
The consumables can be selected around the planned metreage.
Critical spares can be identified before mobilisation.
The trailer can be configured around the equipment being carried.
Experienced drilling personnel can be provided where required.
Instead of purchasing individual pieces of equipment and trying to integrate them later, the objective is to develop the complete drilling system before it reaches site.
Complete Diamond Drilling Packages
The same philosophy applies to the SFM7200.
CED can combine the diamond drilling system with:
Drill rods
Core barrels
Inner tubes
Diamond bits
Reaming shells
Drilling muds and fluids
Pumps
Critical spare parts
Tooling
Consumables trailers
Experienced diamond drillers
Supervisors and mechanical support
Again, the rig is only one part of the operation.
Equipment Matters. Operators Matter More Than Many People Realise.
CED continually emphasises one point with clients:
The quality of the operators can dramatically affect the performance of a drilling programme.
A capable drilling rig operated badly can become an expensive problem.
Experienced operators influence:
Drilling productivity
Core and sample recovery
Equipment reliability
Consumable life
Preventative maintenance
Fuel usage
Downhole decision-making
Downtime
Ultimately, cost per metre
This becomes even more important in remote jurisdictions where technical support and replacement equipment may not be immediately available.
CED can therefore provide experienced drillers, supervisors, mechanical personnel and operational management alongside SFM equipment.
Built for Frontier Exploration
The geography of mineral exploration is changing.
Demand for new supplies of copper, gold, lithium, nickel, rare earth elements and other critical minerals is pushing exploration companies into increasingly remote and underexplored regions.
Africa.
Australia.
South America.
Central Asia.
The Middle East.
And frontier mineral exploration jurisdictions worldwide.
These are exactly the environments where mobility and logistical independence become valuable.
The next major mineral discovery may not have a road leading directly to it.
Your drilling system needs to be ready for that.
From One Drill Rig to a Complete Mobile Exploration Fleet
This is ultimately what separates the SFM concept from simply mounting a drilling rig on a vehicle.
CED is developing an ecosystem.
SFM7200 — Diamond.
SFM7300 — RC / Air Core / Auger.
SFM7400 — Water Well.
SFM7500 — Underground.
SFM7600 — Support.
SFMTS — Trailers and logistics.
Then CED can add the compressors, pumps, drill strings, consumables, spare parts and personnel required around them.
The result is a configurable mobile exploration drilling fleet built around the realities of remote operations.
DRILL. SUPPORT. MOBILISE. REPEAT.
That is the SFM philosophy.
Reach the target.
Establish the drilling operation.
Keep the equipment supplied.
Complete the hole.
Mobilise.
Then do it again.
For exploration companies managing large licences or operating in difficult-access environments, reducing the friction between those stages can have a significant impact on overall drilling productivity.
One Supplier. One System. One Objective.
CED does not want to simply sell another drill rig.
We want to understand the exploration programme.
Where are you drilling?
What are you targeting?
Which drilling method is required?
How deep are the holes?
How many metres are planned?
What does access look like?
What equipment needs to move with the rig?
Who will operate it?
Once those questions are understood, CED can configure the drilling and support package around the project.
Rig. Vehicle. Compressor. Trailer. Consumables. Spares. Operators. Support.
One coordinated exploration system.
Planning a Remote Mineral Exploration Programme?
If your next exploration target is somewhere conventional drilling equipment doesn't particularly want to go, that's exactly where the CED SFM Series starts making sense.
Talk to Cylinder Exploration Drilling about your project location, drilling method, expected depths, planned metreage and logistical challenges.
CED can develop a complete mobile drilling package around the requirements of the programme.
GET TO THE TARGET. START DRILLING. KEEP MOVING.
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