UNDERGROUND DRILLING
Looking into
longhole
Paul Moore focusses on underground production drilling
technology and updates, as well as contractor operated
fleets, and reviews some diamond coring and jumbo options
ersatility is important for any mining
equipment ranges and this is especially
true of underground production drilling
where the machines may be faced with a variety
of mining methods requiring different
approaches. There is also much demand for
automated operation in longhole drilling for
obvious reasons. Epiroc’s Simba long-hole
drilling rigs offer a variety of feed lengths,
positioning configurations, rock drills, and
optional automated features for underground
production drilling.
The company told IM: “If you look into
V
Epiroc’s portfolio of production drilling there is a
high focus from many customers in regards to
automation and the customers which has
ordered our Simba drill rigs also have even
more interest in going further with automation.
They see the potential of increased productivity
and increased personnel safety. Also we see a
decrease of short stops thanks to increased
utilisation of the Simba drill rigs with remote
access from a control room.”
The company added that automation and an
emission free working environment are the most
prominent trends in production drilling today,
and probably will be for some time forward.
“This is a step towards world environment
thinking and better personnel safety awareness.
It will also affect the entire industry since
mining work today is not as harsh, demanding
and hazardous as it used to be.”
Tele-remote control of Simba drill rigs is very
popular so the operator can control the drill rig
from a remote location, with e-tramming and
automatic drilling using digital drill plans so the
machine can be drilling unattended for a long
period of time.
Epiroc said it has seen an increase in
questions regarding emission free working
mining environments as in certain cases, this is
56 International Mining | JUNE 2019
becoming a demand not an option, and so this
also reflects the production drilling area even if
the drill rigs are standing still during long periods
of time for fan drilling. So naturally, mines that
are focusing on emission free working
environment are looking at the complete fleet of
rigs in their mine which means again battery
electric machines are a focus in drilling. Currently
Epiroc has second its Simba drills form part of its
second generation battery electric range that is
being rolled out in the market this year.
In terms of trends in machine demand Epiroc
told IM: “We basically deliver three types of
production drill rigs in Epiroc. Over time we
have seen an increase of the boom version of
Simba as this type has the benefits of being
flexible, robust and can be used for many
different type of drilling. As this rig has an
outstanding coverage area it can be used in a
large variety of tunnel size as it fits from
medium to large size tunnels. This rig can also
be tailor made for each customer in regards to
rock drill types, drill string and a long list of
smart options.”
Perseverance Drilling carrying
out fully stung rail drilling for
thin vein mining with Epiroc
Simba H157
Sandvik versatility in
ITH applications
Looking at the other leading
production drilling OEM, and
focussing in on one of its latest
models, Sandvik’s DU412i it
says “is the most versatile
automated ITH longhole drill in
the market, designed for
production drilling in mass
mining, drilling single longholes
in service support, and for slot
raising utilising the V-30 reaming head.” The
feed and carousel offering are optimised for
automation and all ITH applications are
standardised into one feed. “The Sandvik
DU412i offers versatility, where it is more
economical to drill different lengths of different
diameter holes in utilising just one machine
across the ITH applications.”
The Sandvik DU412i is equipped with the
new RH6250 rotation head, which is
instrumented and equipped with splined piston
for fast uncoupling of Cubex drill pipes. The
standard feed and carousel component system
allows fast modifications in the factory or in the
field. The feed is offered with fixed to hydraulic
swing open centralisers, pipe carousel capacity
variants from 19 to 33 pipes and feed cylinders
from 70 to 133 kN (feed force), allowing
mechanised drilling of up to 62 m holes with
Ø3”–4” pipes and up to 42 m holes with Ø3”–5”
pipes.
Integrated in the pipe carousel, the new pipe
arm system makes it possible to load pipes
directly into the carousel. The direct-into-feed
loading allows for hole depths longer than
carousel capacity in service support
applications.
Mounted on a compact type boom support,
Sandvik's DU412i it says is the most versatile automated ITH longhole drill in the market, designed
for production drilling in mass mining, drilling single longholes in service support, and for slot
raising utilising the V-30 reaming head