UNDERGROUND DRILLING
Measured by the metre
Increased automation and analytics are the order of the day for the underground drilling sector, Dan Gleeson learns
The Epiroc, Boliden, Algoryx and Örebro University demonstration at Garpenberg, in Sweden, showcased a new boom recovery function which addresses the issue when two booms get too close to each other and therefore stop autonomous drilling
The push-pull dynamic of the mining technology market appears to have switched in recent years to the point where mining companies are now seeking out new underground drilling solutions from OEMs to test and trial.
The potential to increase efficiency and reduce risk are obvious lures for these companies.
One such example comes from Sweden where Epiroc, Boliden, Algoryx and Örebro University recently presented the results of an autonomous face drilling project initiative.
Earlier this year – and after three years of joint work – the partners presented the results at Boliden’ s Garpenberg mine in Sweden, with the demonstration highlighting several advanced features for improved safety and productivity.
Initiated in 2022, the Adaptive automation project took aim at developing autonomous face drilling through this partnership, funded by the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova.
The demonstration showcased a new boom recovery function which addresses the issue when two booms get too close to each other and therefore stop autonomous drilling – potentially leading to lost production time.
“ With the recovery function, we’ ve added a sequence where the booms slowly retract from each other and restart automatically – and continues from there on,” Douglas Hasle, Software Developer at Epiroc, says. Another new function shown was the bolt finding proof-of-concept where a scan of the environment around the rig is used to
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identify bolts, enabled by machine learning. This can automatically prevent drilling directly into a bolt, which could lead to drill damage.
Oskar Lundberg, Global Innovation Manager at Epiroc, said the ongoing deepening of mines is leading to rising costs and increased safety concerns for operators.“ These new functions help us move forward towards fully autonomous drilling,” he said, adding that some of these functions could be released in future Epiroc underground drilling updates.
Over the border in Finland, Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ latest iSURE ® drill and blast software, iSURE Geo for development drilling, was recently put through its paces at a mining operation.
Designed to be used with Sandvik i-series development and tunnelling drills, iSURE Geo delivers real-time on-board analysis of the rock mass using information gathered from the drilling data. It offers an easy-touse solution to optimise the excavation process, anticipate potential challenges and improve safety through accurate geological information, the OEM says. It also delivers improved understanding of the local geological environment for optimised underground development mining and tunnelling operations.
iSURE Geo takes full advantage of the drilling data through a rig-integrated onboard calculation and uses extrapolation, visualisation and export of data to produce geological mapping information, Sandvik says
International Mining | JULY 2025