As of its announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Friday, EDMS said it had five of its surface rigs in the coal and coal gasification sectors, with another two due to be mobilised this week to existing clients.

“Negotiations continue for another five rigs to be mobilised before the end of January 2009 on long-term contracts,” EDMS said.

“Given the change in focus of this division, GOS Drilling, our surface arm is relocating from Cobar to Rutherford, New South Wales in the Hunter Valley.”

The move to Rutherford will kick in January 5 once the new premises are ready.

EDMS has been affected by scaled-back mining operations at CBH’s Endeavor mine and Perilya’s Broken Hill South operations, as well as the deferral of underground exploration at Glencore’s CSA copper project and, as of yesterday, the closure of the Eloise copper mine near Mt Isa.

The company said its surface fleet, which has been mainly used in metal mines, had seen a drop-off in demand with surface rigs stopping operations during the past eight weeks.

At the company’s annual general meeting in early November, the company said it was reducing its workforce to counteract the downturn.

On Friday, EDMS said reducing cash costs had resulted in “substantial” headcount reductions which are continuing.

The company currently has around 150 employees.

The company said despite the downturn, its labour hire, pumps and contracting divisions continued to perform well.

Shares in EDMS remain at 9c this morning.