“Thanks to our broad offer, we are able to provide a full solution of development equipment for the mine,” says Dale Rakochy, Business Line Manager, Underground Drilling at Sandvik. “It’s a fully integrated battery technology where you don’t have to remove, handle or swap batteries underground, providing improved safety for operators and maintenance crews.” Goldcorp has already ordered the Sandvik DD422iE™ development jumbo, which produces zero emissions while manoeuvering between headings. Reducing the use of diesel-powered equipment underground leads to a positive impact on environment, health and safety as well as helps to reduce the need for ventilation.

Sandvik says of other features on this electric drill model: “Our simple point cloud scanning, iSCAN, automatically informs the drill of its exact position. This instantly available data enables you to optimise your drill pattern accordingly.  It comes fully integrated with iSURE, our industry-leading drill planning and analysis tool. By implementing common rail hydraulics, our 55% less-hose boom option reduces the length of hosing from 240 to 110 m, so you reduce your exposure to potential damages and spend less hours on maintenance. Revolutionary Sandvik driveline technology enables the battery to recharge during the drilling cycle, or recharge during downhill tramming utilising by its regenerative braking system. By drawing reserve power from the batteries during peak loads during drilling, the jumbo’s intelligent power management system helps you meet ever-increasing productivity requirements despite limited underground electric power capacities.”