Major Drilling Announces Appointments of Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of North American Operations

MONCTON, NB, Dec. 10, 2013 /CNW/ - Francis McGuire, President and CEO of Major Drilling Group International Inc., is pleased to announce the promotions of Denis Despres to the new position of Chief Operating Officer, and Larry Pisto to the existing position of VP, North American Operations, where he will succeed Mr. Despres.

Mr. McGuire stated, "For many years we have been following a disciplined strategy of growing our capacity in specialized drilling, of diversifying our activities within the scope of our expertise, and of keeping debt to minimum levels.  This strategy has served us well.  Our diversification efforts have been particularly successful in North America and we see the opportunity to expand these services in a disciplined manner in many areas of our operations, while maintaining our strong balance sheet and our strong position in specialized drilling.  In this new role of COO, Denis will focus on developing those opportunities as well as supervising our existing regional global operations, where he will work closely with our CFO, Denis Larocque." Mr. McGuire continued, "I am also pleased to promote Larry to the position of VP, North American Operations. Larry has distinguished himself over the years as our General Manager of U.S. Operations, and will now have our Canadian Operations added to his responsibilities."

Denis Despres joined Major Drilling in 2010 after spending 20 years in the drilling industry. He is a native of Haileybury, Ontario. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Lakehead University, and a Masters of Business in Business Administration from Queens University.

Larry Pisto joined Major Drilling with its acquisition of Dynatec Drilling's U.S. operation in 2005. He has been General Manager of all of Major Drilling's U.S. operations since that time. He resides in Utah, and has 36 years experience in the drilling industry.

Denis Despres will join Denis Larocque, Jamie Gibson, the Vice President of Legal, and Ben Graham, Global Safety Director, in reporting directly to Mr. McGuire.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements, such as, but not limited to, those relating to worldwide demand for gold and base metals and overall commodity prices, the level of activity in the minerals and metals industry and the demand for the Company's services, the Canadian and international economic environments, the Company's ability to attract and retain customers and to manage its assets and operating costs, sources of funding for its clients, particularly for junior mining companies, competitive pressures, currency movements, which can affect the Company's revenue in Canadian dollars, the geographic distribution of the Company's operations, the impact of operational changes, changes in jurisdictions in which the Company operates (including changes in regulation), failure by counterparties to fulfill contractual obligations, and other factors as may be set forth, as well as objectives or goals, and including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition to exist or occur. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements by reason of factors such as, but not limited to, the factors set out in the discussion on pages 16 to 18 of the 2013 Annual Report entitled "General Risks and Uncertainties", and such other documents as available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All such factors should be considered carefully when making decisions with respect to the Company. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, including those statements that are incorporated by reference herein, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Based in Moncton, New Brunswick, Major Drilling Group International Inc. is one of the world's largest metals and minerals contract drilling service companies. To support its customers' varied exploration drilling requirements, Major Drilling maintains field operations and offices in Canada, the United States, South and Central America, Australia, Asia, and Africa.

SOURCE: MAJOR DRILLING GROUP INTERNATIONAL INC.

Francis McGuire, Chief Executive Officer  
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