UNDERGROUND DRILLING
As more and more mines are being
developed from surface using declines
developed from box cuts or worked out
open pits, the importance of rapid development
to get to the ore faster is as high as it has ever
been, both for major contract miners and owner
operators. Drill jumbos need to be extra robust to
be able to operate around the clock but at the
same time new innovations such as teleremote &
battery technology are also entering the
development drill market, enhancing safety and
productivity.
Mine Master based in Wilków, Poland is a
proud member of the newly unified GHH Group,
which recently brought together under this brand
GHH Fahrzeuge GmbH (Germany), GHH Mining
Machines (South Africa) and Mine Master, as well
as various partner companies, all of which are
part of Germany’s Schmidt Kranz Group. Mine
Master for its part has been supplying drilling
machines to the global market for more than 40
years. The company designs, develops and
manufactures face drills, long hole production
drills, roof bolters and special application
machines and has been working in close
collaboration with strategic customers to further
develop and improve its offering to be more fitfor-purpose
than before. The company told IM
that its core focus is on safety and productivity
where the products are constantly evolving to
complement the group’s load and haul and utility
Drifting
along
Paul Moore reviews some developments in the underground
drilling space, from the key players in the Chinese market to
secondary breaking drilling and news from the global majors
offering and support the direction of GHH Group
being a total solution provider for various mining
applications around the world.
Mine Master machines are made for
underground hard rock, soft rock mining and
tunnelling applications and are prevalent in low
profile room and pillar and narrow vein
operations as well as some mass mining
operations like block caving, cut and fill and sub
level stoping, from the low profile platinum and
chrome operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe
to mass mining operations in India, the room and
pillar copper mines in Poland as well as potash
and salt mines in Europe with over 1,400
machines currently operating in the field.
In 2019, Mine Master ventured into a new
project in Russia where five Face Master 2.3
drilling rigs are destined to work in LLC
Bashkprskaya Med copper mine, belonging to
UMMC - Ural Mining & Metallurgical Company.
The first two machines went through an extensive
and intensive trial. The machines were used for
drilling blastholes at the face, as well as drilling
holes and installing Split Set friction roof bolts in
the roof of the mine. The equipment operating
regime was two 12 h shifts a day, seven days a
week. Over a four month period the rugged
machines, together with skilled operators, proved
to be very efficient, complying with the pre-set
stringent KPIs. Another Face Master rig series –
the single boom FM 2.3-1B is currently working in
The bolter Roof Master 2.0 AR D/E is now
working in a copper mine of KGHM and was
developed in co-operation with Mine Master’s
long term partner JH Fletcher. It is used for
bolting in a wide range of seam heights
the Korbalikhinskiy Rudnik mine of UMMC.
Russia will also be a destination for the new
drilling rig Face Master 2.8 ATEX launching later
this year. Made in full flame proof configuration,
ATEX-certified, it is equipped with 6/12 telescopic
feed and is designed to be stripped and slung
down the shaft to be reassembled for operation.
The machine will be used for drilling blast holes
at the face as well as drilling holes/installation of
Split Set friction roof bolts including in locations
where the presence of methane is very likely.
Again the operating regime is 24/7 so reliability
and robustness are crucial.
Some Face Master 1.7 drilling rigs are heading
to Oreks Metal Mining Co in Turkey. These
machines, planned to replace the existing fleet,
are standard rigs with a robust design proven
already in many other locations in the world –
Mine Master has sold more than 170 machines of
this type.
Moving to Africa, Mine Master has been
working closely with one of the key platinum
mines in Zimbabwe on increasing safety
standards by improving the headings of its mine.
The successful customer collaboration resulted in
a specialised machine, which will serve as a roof
scaling rig. It is a completely tailor-made Roof
Scaler 2.0 SB for the specific customer
applications. The machine is equipped with two
booms – one consisting of a basket with FOPS
canopy, allowing for an inspection of the integrity
of the hanging wall, and for marking areas
requiring scaling, and the second boom is
equipped with a hydraulic breaker – a feature
which allows scaling of the roof safely, by using
remote control. The machine will be equipped
with thoughtfully designed safety solutions to
meet the high standards required by this
customer. The Roof Scaler 2.0 SB has a low
tramming height of 2 m allowing for movement
between areas with low seams. At the same time
it has a large coverage area of 6.2 m in height
and 7 m in width. The machine is due to start
operation in the mine later this year.
Another customer collaboration that resulted
in a customised rig has been operating since
December 2019 in one of the KGHM copper
mines. A bolter Roof Master 2.0 AR D/E, made in
co-operation with Mine Master’s long term
partner JH Fletcher, is used for bolting in a wide
range of seam heights from 2 m up to 8.5 m. It is
designed to perform installation of mechanical
anchors as well as resin bolts. A vacuum root
pump helps to maintain a dust-free environment
for the operator. The machine has been working
four shifts a day for five days a week and Mine
28 International Mining | JUNE 2020