EXPLORATION AND SAMPLING
core drilling rig for surface applications that meets worldwide safety standards. Not only that, it is capable of taking 6 m cores instead of the previous 3 m size, enabling exploration drillers to extract more samples per shift.”
The control panel includes functions such as, constant penetration rate, hydraulic operation and improved rod centraliser. The operator panel has a swing away capability enabling the operator to improve his or her operating position.
Atlas Copco’ s latest underground core drilling rig Diamec Smart 8 which the company says“ is expected to set a new standard for safety in underground mineral exploration and boost longterm productivity thanks to a new softwarehardware combination.”
The rig features a new rod handling system which is fully integrated into the rig’ s upgraded RCS( Rig Control System) platform.“ Thanks to new integration of the rod handling system it can now be operated from a safe distance,” says Ebrahim Nikafroozi, Global Portfolio Manager, Exploration, and Product Manager at Atlas Copco.“ Positioning is more flexible and we have also increased the reliability of components which are longer lasting and better tuned to the working conditions.”
The Diamec Smart 8 consolidates functions in the main control system and enables automated wire drilling, which simplifies the process of extracting core barrels from the inner tube. Nikafroozi explains:“ Deep hole core drilling is not an easy job. Fatigue is a high risk factor and operators are often exposed to hazard near the drill feed. Operators can now feed drill rods in a horizontal position, which means there is less
The new rotation unit on the Atlas Copco Christensen 140 is two-gear driven with a hydraulic shift at the control panel. The rotation unit includes an improved seal which prevents contamination
manual labour involved in handling heavy components. With RCS now very much the brain of the machine, all parameters can be set in a much simpler way.”
This will be especially appreciated by core drillers who often work eight- to tenhour shifts, manually extracting core barrels every 3 m to depths of 1,000 m or more.
Additional features on the Diamec Smart 8 include a new hardware package for flushing control that has been equipped with an electromagnetic flow meter.“ This allows for better control of flushing and ensures there are no moving parts. Maintenance needs are reduced and new pressure sensors give customers higher accuracy and better equipment reliability over time,” Nikafroozi adds.
Drill rig for better reconnaissance
Last October, Nevada Exploration completed the commissioning of its Scorpion drill rig, a truckmounted, small-diameter reverse-circulation drilling rig designed to provide low-cost, earlystage drilling at NGE’ s gold projects in Nevada’ s highly prospective covered basins.
Nevada has produced more than 200 Moz ounces of gold, produced primarily from the less than half of the State made of up of areas close to where the bedrock is exposed in mountain ranges. Nevada’ s leading geologists believe there is likely an equivalent amount of gold still waiting to be discovered in the remaining more than half of the State where the bedrock is covered beneath its valley basins. NGE says it is the only company 100 % focused on advancing new technology to explore for gold in Nevada’ s covered basins, and believes that significantly reducing drilling costs is a critical step towards discovering the next major gold deposits in Nevada.
“ Traditional drilling is prohibitively expensive for widespread use at early-stage projects, and as a result, explorers are often limited to testing only small numbers of drill targets. The exploration industry is currently embracing less expensive drill sampling methods such as rapid air blast( RAB) and small-diameter reversecirculation( RC) drilling with the goal of improving the odds of making a discovery by being able to test more drill targets for less money.
FEBRUARY 2017 | International Mining 19