The Coretrack chief executive, Nanne van 't Riet, thinks his fortunes will improve with a company that he says is finally making the transition from research and development into the commercial world.
It is less than a month away from securing its first "big contract" in drilling services, he says.
The contract would be for its GT3000 drill rig, which combines the attributes of the big-platform petroleum rigs and reverse circulation mineral rigs. Coretrack has built one of these so far, but intends to roll out six a year to account for the "massive shortage of rigs".