IM 2022 September 22 | Page 86

SHAFT SINKING
DMC Mining Services expanded its vertical development fleet recently by adding a fifth piece of equipment to its offering for clients in Chile .
This version of the BBM-1500 equipment incorporates the latest elements of innovation and technology available in the market to deliver a service with the highest standards of safety , quality and efficiency to customers , DMC says .
For the excavation of vertical and inclined slot holes in underground mines , Herrenknecht developed the Boxhole Boring Machine ( BBM ) in 2011 . It drills faster , safer and more economically than previous methods and equipment , it claims .
The BBM-1500 MI-052 , with its new design , offers multiple improvements based on the recent experiences obtained in the operation of its four Boxhole machines already available in Chile since 2019 , DMC explained .
The BBM-1500 MI-052 performs raise excavations with diameters of 1.5 m and lengths up to 70 m .
excavation , minimising deviations and allowing excavation of rock at angles up to 60 ° inclination . This machine can reach a performance of over 1.5 m / h in good quality rock and does not require a concrete slab for installation , according to DMC .
Boxhole technology uses feed tubes of a similar diameter to the excavation , which sees the rock of the raise walls confined both during the feed and the removal of the tubes and reaming head . In addition , this excavation method can incorporate downward mechanised lining without exposing personnel , which , in turn , protects and provides a longer life span to the excavation .
DMC ’ s boxhole equipment , which is unique in Chile , has developed 16 “ chimneys ” and one shaft with full mechanised shielding , while demonstrating the highest standards in safety , quality and performance , the company says .
Recently , DMC steered a BBM1500 to complete its first bore hole at the Codelcoowned
Additionally , it has navigation cylinders that always monitor the direction of the
The BBM-1500 MI-052 performs raise excavations with diameters of 1.5 m and lengths up to 70 m , DMC says
El Teniente mine in Chile , where a 46 m excavation was completed .
means Cementation Canada is likely to offer it on any shaft sinking work it bids on going forward .
“ If the project has a fibre network to act as the communication backbone , we will be recommending it ,” Kohtakangas said .
This is unlikely to be the only digital initiative
that comes into the company ’ s shaft sinking remit .
With Insig Technologies , the Australia-based underground mining technology company , now fully embedded into the Murray & Roberts Group , Kohtakangas is expecting Cementation Canada to benefit from the advances the mining-centric digitalisation , electrification , interoperability and automation solutions company is making across various group companies .
“ Insig have been working on many applications across the Murray & Roberts mining

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84 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2022