UNDERGROUND DRILLING
special equipment controlled by operators
underground at each rig. With the Epiroc solution,
the operation of several production drill rigs is
controlled by one operator from the above ground
control room along with one drill runner
underground. The control room operator manages
the process with the help of video cameras
mounted on the Simba drill rigs. Integrated
sensors on the rigs send data to the control
dashboard, allowing the operator to monitor
performance and status in real time.
“Instead of one machine, the operator now
controls six drilling rigs at once from a control
station. And starting from October 1st [2019], the
second operator, who is located in the same
control station, takes control of four additional
drilling rigs. Today, this is the world’s largest
teleremote project for production drill rigs,”
shares Artyom Yakovlev, Head of production
excellence department at Apatit JSC Kirovsk
branch.
In addition to the safe working conditions for
operators, another advantage of the Epiroc
solution is that there is no longer a need to stop
the drilling process to remove personnel for
ventilation after blasting. Apatit estimates that the
implementation of Simba Teleremote has
increased the drilling units’ productivity by 20%.
Apatit’s Kirovsk branch also implemented
Epiroc’s telematic system Certiq to gather, analyse
and communicate vital equipment data from the
drilling units. With this system, machine utilisation
data is closely monitored and results for one rig
holds values up to 95% and more.
“Epiroc’s ABC Total system is another important
part of the remote control system. Currently, Apatit
is testing remote transmission of drilling plans
from the geological and mining information
system directly to one of the Simba drill rigs. Thus,
an unprecedented level of automation is achieved,
improving drilling accuracy and minimising
possible human errors. Apatit is able to perform
automatic drilling of both a single drill hole and an
entire ring without operator intervention.”
Apatit has decided to further outfit their Simba
drill rig fleet and is now set to equip its second
underground mine, Rasvumchorrsky, with
teleremote drilling.
Secondary break drilling
MacLean Engineering’s secondary breakers have
been proving their worth in Africa, with a number
of machines safely and effectively eliminating ore
flow blockages and releasing trapped reserves
above the draw point. Built for the tough
underground mining environment, these machines
provide the solution to attacking high boulder
hang-ups without endangering mine workers,
according to MacLean. The HBIS-owned Palabora
copper mine in South Africa, is proof of this, where
three MacLean hang-up rigs have been working
underground for over 15 years.
Palabora endorses MacLean’s
commitment to promoting safety
and productivity in the
underground environment, through
purpose-built, rugged and reliable
mine vehicles, MacLean says. The
SB8 and SB12 Secondary Breakers
(993MR, previously) are part of
MacLean’s Ore Flow suite, a
leading ore recovery fleet in global
underground hard-rock mining,
and these rigs have brought down
thousands of hang-ups at the
operation, ensuring smooth
running of both the mine and its mill, and a safe
and sustained block cave operation, according to
the company. For lower hang-ups in a drawpoint,
or oversize rocks on the ground too large for
scoops to handle and too disruptive to get rid of
with concussion blasting, the secondary reduction
rig, the Blockholer, solves the problem and
ensures production isn’t held up, MacLean says.
The past few years have been exciting for
MacLean’s branch in Africa. Petra Diamonds
ordered a BH3 for its Koffiefontein diamond mine,
in Free State Province, South Africa, with the
company’s success showcasing increased safety
used as a “proof point” to secure another order for
a BH2, according to MacLean, this time from the
Kimberley Ekapa Mining joint venture, in the
Northern Cape. Palabora then placed an order for
two secondary breakers for delivery in 2020.
“Both Koffiefontein and Kimberley mines echo the
same message of improved safety, increased
production, and long-term savings in
infrastructure upkeep due to the inclusion of
MacLean secondary breaking units in their mining
cycle,” MacLean said.
The two-stage process of their conventional
approach to reduce oversize and bring down hangups
(drill with one machine and manually load
explosives by hand) has now been combined into
a single-stage process with the Blockholers. This
process eliminates the need for manually loading
explosives, thus improving operator safety, and
reduces damage to the draw point infrastructure.
“In addition, these units are used by both
mines as utility drills to drill off cubbies as well as
eye bolt holes due to their mobility and selfsustaining
drilling capabilities of diesel power,”
MacLean explained. “This versatility makes the
MacLean Blockholers an invaluable tool to the
mines.”
Moving to Australia, in its HY2020 results
presentation, Orica says it is progressing with its
underground automation program. The global
explosives and blasting leader reports that it has
already conducted successful trials of a fully
mechanised and semi-automated (teleremote)
drawpoint hang-up blasting solution which was
MacLean Engineering’s secondary breakers
have been proving their worth in Africa, with a
number of machines safely and effectively
eliminating ore flow blockages and releasing
trapped reserves above the draw point
described as a customer-led technology collaboration.
The trial saw an advanced MacLean Blockholer,
BH3, attached with MacLean’s latest Ore Flow
Innovation, Auto Explosive Loader (AEL) for
loading wireless charge, and equipped with
teleremote control successfully load Orica
WebGen™ wireless initiating systems and
explosives at Newcrest’s Cadia East underground
panel cave gold mine in New South Wales. The
solution eliminates exposure risk to employees by
removing them completely while also improving
production rates. Newcrest stated: “With the
WebGen wireless technology, the teleremote unit
is able to clear drawpoint hang ups in a single
pass without placing people in high risk
situations.”
China’s drilling market for mining
This year, the tunnelling market in China has been
struggling with fewer big new public projects. That
said the underground mining market has been
performing well for both coal and metallic/
industrial minerals mines, which all means good
demand for supply of drilling jumbos and rock
drills. China is keen to ensure self sufficiency of
resources while at the same time increasing the
mechanisation of its underground operations and
reducing manual labour for safety reasons. There
is also a tendency towards using more bolting
machines. This application was previously
ignored, or if bolting was done, it was done
manually, is now being increasingly mechanised
so there is more and more manufacture of
bolting/anchoring machines.
Komatsu Mining-owned Montabert is the
leading supplier of premium rock drills to the
Chinese market, supplying most of the major
Chinese OEMs of drill jumbos including Siton,
Kaishan Group, Zhangjiakou Xuanhua Huatai
Mining and others. Siton told IM: “The most
important characteristics of drilling and
production jumbos in China are reliability,
32 International Mining | JUNE 2020