The investment will consist of an initial purchase of 6.6 million Swedish krona ($A1.1 million) worth of shares in Stockholm-based Orexplore and an ongoing research and development commitment of kr33.2 million over five years.

Half of the ongoing investment will be applied to a convertible debt structure while the other half will increase Swick’s equity ownership in Orexplore to 52%.

Orexplore is a mineral analysis and measurement technology company that has created a patented portable x-ray mineral scanner that is in the design and development stage.

The scanner is expected to allow accurate, real-time assay and structural analysis in the field and has the potential to perform rapid, exact analyses of the elemental composition in ores, greatly reducing sampling lead-time and bringing both environmental and economic benefits at the prospecting stage.

“I am very excited by the development of this technology and when commercially realised, this could potentially be the most significant development in the drilling industry since the invention of the hydraulic, top drive drill rig,” Swick managing director Kent Swick said.

“The ability to provide detailed sample information to the client’s technical team as the samples are extracted will add enormous efficiency to the mining industry and greatly increase the chances of exploration success.”

Swick also entered into other agreements with Orexplore, which provide Swick with certain marketing rights over Orexplore products, as well as research and development services to develop additional products for application in Swick’s core markets.