About Us

Company History

Milt Collum, affectionately known as Muk, originally formed a drilling company to conduct seismic drilling in the Rocky Mountain Region and was successful enough to sell his holdings there to a large geo-physical company. At that time, there existed ample opportunity to join the growing lignite-coal industry in his home state of Texas to which he was eager to return. From a base of operation in Fairfield, Texas, MHC X-Ploration became involved in lignite, uranium, and seismic drilling from South Texas to the Dakotas and from New Mexico to Mississippi.

As industry evolved, MHC X-Ploration moved to Tyler and came to specialize in serving the mining industry and groundwater consultants. Many of our projects involve exploration drilling and coring, permit application support, and aquifer dewatering and depressurization projects.

MHC X-Ploration provides a broad range of drilling services such as:

• Monitoring wells
• Dewatering wells
• Sub-surface soil sampling
• Strata coring

Safety

Statistics show that water well drilling can be a hazardous occupation — one with a high rate of injury. MHC X-Ploration believes that it doesn't have to be that way.

MHC X-Ploration's individual company statistics, calculated by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), show that our Employer Modification Rating (EMR) is excellent in comparison with the industry's average.

Our philosophy on safety is simple: When you have patient, experienced, and courteous employees who keep their equipment in "top-notch" shape, you automatically manufacture a safer drilling site. MHC operators, to whom MHC X-Ploration gives credit for all its success, are thoroughly trained in accordance with applicable OSHA and MSHA standards.

Equipment

MHC X-Ploration's diverse fleet of equipment allows us the flexibility to drill deep or shallow and with a variety of techniques in dry or swampy conditions.

• Truck mounted air/mud rotary rigs with various depth capabilities
• All terrain vehicles (ATV) mounted mud or hollow stem auger rigs
• Truck mounted hollow stem auger rigs
• Geoprobe® direct-push equipment
• All necessary support equipment such as water trucks, backhoes, and trailers

Projects

• Texas and Louisiana Lignite Mining Industry
• Mine area permit expansion
• Exploration drilling and coring
• Regulatory compliant ground-water monitoring wells
• Mine support dewatering and depressurization water well construction
• Solid Waste Management Industry
• Landfill expansion permit support
• Regulatory compliant ground-water monitoring wells
• Scientific Research Projects