Varel International, a leading manufacturer of drill bits and global supplier to the drilling industry, has completed the acquisition of the Rotary Percussion System (RPS) product line and assets of Renegade Tools. The line of high frequency, low impact percussion hammer tools complements the already robust suite of tools Varel supplies to the mining industry. This product line, under development since 2005, allows drillers to use traditional roller cone or PDC drill bits in air, mist, or foam fluid applications, increasing the rate of penetration through efficiently combining the complimentary forces of both rotary and hammer drilling.
“We are very pleased with the addition of the RPS technology to the portfolio of products Varel brings to the global marketplace” said Jim Nixon, President and CEO of Varel International. “RPS promises to enhance drilling efficiencies for our blasthole mining customers. We look forward to working with the team at Renegade to rapidly bring RPS to market.”
Speed Collingsworth, Varel’s Vice President for Mining and Industrial products discussed some of the advantages of the RPS technology, “In field testing in several different applications in the Western Hemisphere we have found that the RPS tools not only increase drilling rate by 25% or more but additionally deliver a straighter, cleaner drilled hole. A cleaner hole reduces the need for time consuming back reaming and a straighter hole improves rock fragmentation during blasting. Better rock fragmentation improves efficiencies at the crusher reducing costs.”
Joe Goebel, Co-Principal for Renegade expressed his thoughts on the transfer of Renegade’s RPS technology, “Varel’s unique position in the mining supply industry coupled with its global reach will accelerate the advancement of this new technology into the market. We have developed and evolved RPS over several years and look forward to working with Varel to take it to the next stage of delivering results for drilling customers worldwide.”
“Varel has the engineering, metallurgy, distribution, and supply chain assets needed to take RPS to the next level,” added Ross Bassinger, Co-Principal of Renegade. “Over the past year we have forged a great relationship with Varel that has allowed us to prove the commercial applicability of RPS. Over the coming quarters we will work with Varel personnel to evaluate candidate RPS applications and to fine tune the products to meet customer needs.”
Renegade Drilling Tools is a private drilling technology development enterprise based in Austin, Texas. The company focuses on providing solutions to the mining industry through its expertise in impact hammer development.