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Safety, Innovation and Productivity - Excore leads the way Performance-improvement and cost-savings challenges within the drilling industry have never been greater. On the job safety is critical and any operation trying to remain competitive in today's market needs innovative solutions to ensure contracts are completed economically and on time. |
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Confirming the future of Zambian copper A recent addition to the ranks of Zambian deep drilling firms is Blu Rock Mining Services, formed in March, 2007 and already proud owners of five Atlas Copco core drilling rigs. After many years of depletion, drilling for replacement of copper ore reserves is essential to the long term future of the local mining industry, and is currently carrying a high priority. |
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Atlas Copco exploration rigs prove reserves The current range of exploration drill rigs from Atlas Copco Christensen offers great benefits to contractors in the industry. This is evident in South Africa, where Zaaiman Exploration Drilling is operating 35 rigs in mainly coal and platinum exploration. For Zaaiman, Christensen rigs are powerful, with enough torque to drill deep and with high productivity. |
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Excore optimizes performance for Drillcorp Core in the box determines exploration drilling company revenues and driller’s wages. Not surprisingly, drillers are always looking for diamond drill bits with faster penetration rates and longer service life. The efficiency of the drilling tools is often a decisive factor in maintaining productivity and profitability, even when rock conditions change. To meet these demands, Atlas Copco developed Excore as the next generation of diamond drill bits, offering superior bit life and penetration rate. Prelaunch testing of Excore was rigorous, with thousands of metres drilled in six different countries under a wide range of conditions. |
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New record depth for CS14 core drilling rig The mining industry in China is growing rapidly to fulfil huge demand for iron ore, coal, gold, silver and other metals. The country is already a major mineral producer,and is both a consumer and a world trader of its mining products. In Guizhou province, which is rich in gold resources, extensive mineral exploration drilling is underway using Atlas Copco CS14 rigs, one of which recently set a new record depth for a core drilling rig. |
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Grade control at Kemi mine Kemi mine is a crucial part of the Outokumpu stainless steel making operation at Tornio in Finland, now known as the Outokumpu Tornio Works (OTW). Equally, accurate grade control is crucial for the economic operation of the Kemi mining and processing system. For the grade control drilling function, the mine relies on an Atlas Copco Diamec U6 APC core drilling rig, which is drilling up to 12 km every year. |
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Reverse circulation drilling in Australia The technique of reverse circulation (RC) drilling is rapidly gaining ground as the method of choice for obtaining consistently high quality rock samples with speed and efficiency. Until recently, drillers have had to modify existing rigs for RC drilling of deep exploration holes. Now, Atlas Copco has developed a completely new concept in its Explorac 220RC reverse circulation rig, providing exploration drillers with the only RC drill rig on the market that is truly tailor made for the job. |
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Diamec MCR in Australia The Diamec MCR (Mobile Carrier Rig) was developed to improve rig flexibility and mobility. The first standard product was based on a Diamec U6 PHC or APC carrier, both of which are well proven components. The Diamec MCR has more flexibility, and reaches further in wider angles. Setup and moving of the rig is much shorter, taking only 25% of the time when compared to a traditional Diamec rig. As the Diamec MCR moves by itself, the drilling contractor does not have to rely on mining operations equipment for moving the unit, and as all components such as power unit and control unit are fixed on the rig, no disassembly is required. |
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Reverse circulation technology wins in Brazil The prolonged run of high prices for nickel and its by-product cobalt on the London Metal Exchange (LME) has sparked a worldwide revolution in the nickel sector. New mining projects are being started, and existing operations expanded, to supply heavy demands from emerging markets such as China and India. In Brazil, the portfolio of nickel-related projects is valued at US$4 billion. To identify and define new reserves, and then to extract the nickel ore, is a complex task for which the start point is generally an exploration drilling project. Reverse circulation (RC) drilling using Atlas Copco Explorac R50 technology has been introduced at Votorantim Metais to speed things up. |
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Thin wall core barrels improve productivity Vale Inco’s ore body exploration in the T-1 shaft at its Thompson minesite in Manitoba, Canada is a situation where Atlas Copco has been quick to respond to the customer’s need for innovative products and after market services for exploration in extreme conditions. To satisfy the rigorous demands of this project, Atlas Copco supplied a capital, consumable, and total care solution. Highly productive double tube thin wall core barrels with light weight wireline drill rods, complemented by high performance diamond bits, were chosen to optimize the mobility and ergonomics of the Diamec U6 core drilling rig design features and realize the full productivity efficiencies of the complete package. |
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Groundbreaking technology in the Valley of Gold During the early part of the 20th century, major discoveries in precious metals were made in the Québec region. These included coppergold at Rouyn-Noranda in 1922 and gold at Val D’Or in 1925. Subsequently, many mines were developed in ore bodies discovered near these communities, all of them located along what is known as the Cadillac fault. However, exploration drilling conditions have always been difficult, testing contractors and equipment to the limit. The introduction by Atlas Copco of its BT rods, with a rated depth capacity of 2 600 m, has produced a marked improvement in results. |
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