HIGH PROFILE
Masters of drilling and bolting
Poland ’ s Mine Master is 30 years old this year , with a unique heritage involving a leading mining company , a leading initial OEM investor and the foresight of a dynamic management team . Paul Moore takes a deep dive into its history , culture and evolution
On June 23-24 2023 , IM Editorial Director , Paul Moore had the privilege of being present at the 30th anniversary celebrations of Poland-based underground drilling and bolting major , Mine Master , having also attended the company ’ s 20th anniversary back in 2013 . The event saw a tour of its facilities in Wilkow , including a demonstration of the world first FLP-1410 autonomous low profile drill rig , as well as a celebration dinner for employees , customers , dealers and suppliers in the city of Legnica . This allowed a unique insight into a close knit company , known worldwide for its innovation , machine quality and robustness .
While Poland remains Mine Master ’ s top market , with over 900 machines having been delivered , it has slowly but surely been increasing its influence abroad – especially as the market has consolidated – and Mine Master is now one of the few premium players in face & production drills plus bolters aside from Sandvik and Epiroc . Beyond that it is world leading in low profile equipment thanks to its experience in copper and silver mining giant KGHM ’ s mines but also a lack of general focus on low profile among other leading OEMs . Outside of Poland , major markets have included Turkey with 79 machines , Estonia with 28 , Zimbabwe with 25 , India with 19 and a long list of others from Chile to South Africa and Kazakhstan . Like many others , it has lost the important Russian market . All together Mine Master has exported more than 300 machines to 20 countries .
In Poland , over 200 machines are operating today of which some 154 are Roofmaster bolters and 57 Face Master drill rigs . The bolter share of KGHM ’ s overall bolter fleet is over 90 % and for drill rigs over 60 %. Production output has also grown significantly – from 25 machines in 1994 to 32 in 2005 , 53 in 2012 and 73 in 2017 . Due to the financial crisis and the pandemic things flattened out a bit but the company still produced 72 machines in 2022 . Not only that but the depth of product offering has increased significantly – from five machine variants in 1994 to 17 today .
A tour of the factory was conducted by Sales Director and Management Board Member Witold Hnat , who explained that the process is similar for most of the machines – with pre-fabricated frames , partly pre-assembled carriers and canopies or cabs from external suppliers but everything is designed from the outset by Mine
The Mine Master 30th anniversary included a tour of the Wilkow factory
Master . Most customers today opt for enclosed cabs . The canopies or cabs can all be adjusted up and down by the customer in use based on local conditions – often the lowest position is used for tramming with the cab moved up for better operator visibility at the face . On the bolters the front end is supplied by J . H . Fletcher and connected to the carrier in Wilkow ; while for face and production drilling rigs the front end is all done in-house . For all machines , the hydraulic hosing , cabling and electronics including aircon system as well as all of the electronics fitting and testing is done in Wilkow . The company also offers a range of factory fitted automation options beyond the standard machines , including those with the operator assist Drill Monitoring System ( DMS ), the semi-automated Feeder Guidance System ( FGS ) and the fully automated Autonomous Drilling System ( ADS ) technology which to date is only on the FLP-1410 prototype .
One machine takes on average about three weeks to finish . All prototype and new machine development such as battery electric machine work is also done at the factory . In the main , the production is divided into machines for KGHM and those for export customers . On the battery electric machines the two that were delivered each had a different carrier – one with a conventional hydrodynamic carrier with torque converter and one a full hydrostatic system using technology from Poclain ; this was done to see which design worked best under battery power .
The growth of Mine Master has had a lot of do with continuous investment – in 2022 for example , R & D spend represented 7 % of overall sales and this focus has been consistent since the beginning . Investments in recent years include conversion of an older building into a new warehouse and parts storage building , a new assembly hall plus an all new welding robot from Japanese company Yaskawa Electric for building of the booms . Work that would have taken two hours can now be done in a few minutes . Next
12 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2023