In a recent presentation to open pit mining personnel, Craig Watkins, Marketing Manager for the Cat® MineStar™ System, provided an example of how reducing process variability in blasthole drilling can reduce costs markedly. He explained that overdrilled holes reduce productivity and increase costs of drill consumables and maintenance. Overdrilled holes also lead to use of more explosives, which further increases costs. And just as with an underdrilled hole, an overdrilled hole makes for more work required to maintain grade on the bench.

At a gold mine in Brazil, a Caterpillar customer opted to use Cat MineStar Terrain for Drilling to reduce process variability in its drilling operations. Caterpillar states that the result was “a dramatic reduction in costs—not just in drilling, but throughout the operation.” After using Terrain for drilling for one complete drill and blast operation, the mine found that it had been overdrilling holes by an average of 1 m. With Terrain for drilling, the margin of error dropped to under 10 cm, reducing total drilling time by 6% over the course of a year—a savings of more than 1,200 hours. This also resulted in more efficient use of drill consumables and explosives for a cost reduction of $200,000.

The mine also improved its pattern spacing, increasing the accuracy of hole spacing and placement and resulting in more homogeneous blasted material. This translated into a 5% increase in rope shovel productivity, as well as reduced maintenance time and a 450-hour reduction in total excavation time. All this combined to save the customer an additional $250,000.

Increased drilling and blasting accuracy also improved hauling cycle times, reduced planned truck maintenance times, and had a marked impact on load consistency and cycle times. Overall, Caterpillar states that equipping just four drills with Terrain for drilling saved the customer more than $2.2 million annually.