VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 9, 2013) - Energold Drilling Corp. (News - Market indicators) ("Energold" or "the Company") is pleased to announce record high annual revenue in 2012 of $141.5 million across three business divisions, representing a 6.0% increase over 2011 revenue of $133.5 million, despite a challenging year for commodities overall. Notwithstanding the downturn in mineral drilling activity in mid-2012, the Company achieved gross margins of 22.9% for the full year and has reduced revenue seasonality compared to previous years when it did not enjoy the benefits of the energy and manufacturing divisions. Adjusted net earnings^** for the year was $2.3 million or $0.05 per share. A conference call is planned for today, April 9, 2013 at 4:30pm Eastern time. Dial-in numbers are 647-426-1845 or 1-866-782-8903. Please call in 15 minutes before to ensure participation.

Fourth quarter 2012 revenue totalled $25.7 million compared to $35.3 million in the same period in 2011. Historically, this is the slowest quarter for the Company. Gross margin for the quarter was 8.1% on a Company-wide basis.

The Company enters 2013 in an excellent financial position with a strong balance sheet including cash and cash equivalents of $28.5 million.

2012 Annual Results Comparison ($CAD ,000s except per-share amounts and metres drilled)

* EBITDA - Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (see non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) financial measures).
** Adjusted Earnings - Excludes earnout payment and non-cash items which include accretion expense on debenture, finance cost related to sales-leaseback finance lease, share-based payments, foreign exchange, dilution and equity gain/loss on IMPACT, impairment/write-down of assets, gain on acquisition.

MINERAL DRILLING DIVISION

Revenue during the course of 2012 was negatively impacted due to reduced exploration spending from the junior mining segment as challenging capital market conditions continued to weigh on their ability to raise money for exploration. Management believes the majority of the reduction in junior mineral exploration occurred in the second and third quarters. In the current market, the majority of our revenue will come from major and intermediate companies.

For the full year 2012, mineral revenue decreased to $80.4 million, down 24.0% compared to $105.8 million in 2011. Average revenue per metre in the mineral segment was $188 in 2012, compared to $181 in 2011. During the fourth quarter 2012, mineral drilling revenue decreased to $15.0 million from to $27.1 million in the fourth quarter 2011, a decrease of 44.6%. The decrease in revenue compared to the same period last year is due to reduced demand for drilling services as a result of the lack of financing of junior mining companies to fund exploration work. Gross margin decreased to $3.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, down 57.0% compared to $8.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, primarily due to increased cost in materials. During the fourth quarter, metres drilled in the mineral segment dropped to 86,600 metres from 134,500 metres in the comparative quarter of 2011. Notwithstanding this drop on a year-over-year basis and being a period of reduced activity due to the holiday season, the fourth quarter mineral metres were only slightly lower than the third quarter level of 92,300 metres where the division benefits from three full months of activity, indicating increasing stability in the segment following a challenging mid-2012 period.

Fourth Quarter and Year-to-Date Metres Drilled

At December 31, 2012, the Company had approximately 133 rigs in its mineral drilling fleet, with three tracked mounted rigs on order from the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Dando Drilling International ("Dando"), located in the United Kingdom. The Company is continuing its efforts to penetrate the Asian market both from an organic and external approach. The Company's S rigs are particularly suitable in parts of Asia where there are low labour costs and a lack of infrastructure. Regional governments are widely encouraging new natural resource development and the Company is capturing these opportunities through Dando. Management considers this region as potentially one of the most important growth markets. Challenges remain with a number of governments in the region in their early stages of developing mining policies which have held up exploration funding and spending. Energold's diverse fleet and global reach allows management to act quickly on new opportunities as they arise.

ENERGY DRILLING DIVISION - BERTRAM DRILLING CORP.

The Energy division drilled 630,600 metres in 2012, compared to 444,400 metres in 2011 from the date of acquisition of Bertram in July, 2011. Revenue generated in 2012 was $47.1 million, with $8.2 million coming in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to $3.8 million in the same period in 2011. Negative gross margin of 26.8% in the fourth quarter reflects typical retooling and setup costs.

The majority of revenue and activity is typically generated in the first quarter primarily due to weather factors. The fourth quarter carries some revenue contribution, although the period is typically used for preparation and retooling of equipment to meet specific client requirements of the upcoming Q1-2013 program. The majority of the activity in the quarter took place in Northern Canada in the oil sands region, although costs associated with retooling equipment to meet client specifications for Q1-2013 resulted in the Company recording those costs in Q4.

Oil sands operations accounted for over $7.2 million of the fourth quarter revenue and $31.1 million (approximately 66.0% of revenue generated in the Energy segment) of full year revenue in 2012, generated from three programs conducted on behalf of major operators. Geothermal and geotechnical drilling activity accounted for $1.0 million of revenue during the fourth quarter and $9.0 million (approximately 19.1% of revenue generated in the Energy segment) of year-to-date revenue.

Throughout 2012, the Energy division experienced seasonal swings in activity where it was very active during the first quarter of 2012 working primarily on oil sands projects and also conducted seismic drilling in Northern Canada and the United States. Early in the second quarter, the oil sands projects were completed and the equipment and personnel was demobilized. In the third quarter, the Energy division had once again mobilized rigs into the oil sands but the weather severely restricted activity. As a result, certain crews and equipment were again demobilized to wait for the ground to freeze. In the first quarter of 2013, activity ramped up as is typical for the period and the Company is beginning to realize revenue associated with ongoing work in the oil sands region.

MANUFACTURING DIVISION - DANDO DRILLING INTERNATIONAL

In 2012, the manufacturing division earned revenue of $13.9 million compared to $14.2 million in 2011. For the fourth quarter 2012, revenue decreased to $2.5 million from $4.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. The decrease in revenue relates to fewer products delivered at the end of the quarter. Gross margin during the fourth quarter was $0.6 million, down from $0.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. Lower gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2012 was due to increased costs combined with a lower margin product sales mix in the period.

Dando has started to benefit from the implementation of a more structured approach to both procurement and assembly operations while still allowing customer requests to be met when called for. In 2012, Dando launched the Multitec 9000, which has a genuine multipurpose application from water well drilling to reverse circulation sampling and wire line coring. Dando will continue to develop this platform as it will offer an extremely compact and very cost effective solution to all sectors of the market.

During the year, Dando manufactured and shipped two 6-tonne drilling rig packages for geotechnical and water well applications to Africa and the Middle East; four 12.8-tonne mineral exploration rigs complete with tooling packages to Ghana and Indonesia; five large 40-tonne water well drilling rig packages to Nigeria; and, two Multitec 9000 rigs to Uganda and Zambia. Significant other bids have also been successful including six large 40-tonne water well drilling rig and tooling packages and two orders for the Multitec 9000 rigs.

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

After a year of transformative expansion in 2011, 2012 was a transitional year where economic uncertainties such as news of slowing growth in emerging markets and the Eurozone crisis resulted in reduced financing opportunities for many junior and intermediate miners. This negatively impacted the market for drilling services. With one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry, a variable cost structure based on contract revenue, and diversified business lines, Energold is well positioned to weather the current mineral downturn and to achieve organic and external growth across the sector.

With operations in key markets generating positive cash flow coupled with growth in the energy and manufacturing divisions, management is cautiously optimistic for the year ahead. Management will continue to monitor costs and deploying capital to specific areas of growth. In recognition of Energold's achievements, the Company and its CEO won the prestigious 2012 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Metals and Mining category and was cited amongst the "Profit 200 Fastest Growing Companies" and the TSX Venture "Top 50".

Energold Drilling Corp. is a leading global specialty drilling company that services the mining, energy, and manufacturing sectors in 22 countries. Specializing in a socially and environmentally sensitive approach to drilling, Energold provides a comprehensive range of drilling services from early stage exploration to mine site operations for both metals and energy sectors and has an established drill rig manufacturer, Dando. Energold also holds 6.98 million shares of IMPACT Silver Corp., a profitable silver producer in Mexico.

On behalf of the Directors of Energold Drilling Corp.,

Frederick W. Davidson, President, CEO