Boart Longyear, one of the world’s leading diamond driller technology and service companies, recently announced the expansion of its technology development activity at the NORCAT Underground Centre in concert with the opening of NORCAT’s new state-of-the-art surface facilities at the centre.

The global diamond drilling industry is experiencing increased surface and underground exploration work that is forecasted to continue over the long term in Ontario and globally. With this increased activity, Boart Longyear is focused on continued technology investments and training/recruiting diamond driller assistants to meet the market demand.

“We are excited to build on our strong partnership and offer Boart Longyear enhanced services and resources enabling them to continue in their product and technology development and training of would-be diamond drillers seeking career opportunities in the growing exploration market. On that latter point, our partnership with Boart Longyear to develop and deliver the Ontario Diamond Driller Assistant Common Core provides our trainees with a unique opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience with Boart Longyear’s industry-leading equipment,” cites Carole Charron, Assistant Manager – Operations and Technology Testing at the NORCAT Underground Centre.

Boart Longyear has a proud heritage of over 90 years of innovation in Northern Ontario, including several renowned inventions from the world’s first impregnated-diamond drill bits in the 1970s to the recently launched high-productivity XQ™ wireline drill rods and TruScan™.  TruScan™ is a fully integrated, rugged and mobile imaging and geochemical technology housed in a mine-specification trailer that can operate in the most challenging greenfield environments and within the relative comfort of a core yard.  Boart Longyear first announced its Technology Development site at NORCAT, joined by NORCAT’s CEO, Don Duval, in 2016 at MINExpo in Las Vegas.

“Mining companies and geologists are rapidly learning the advantages of having access to tools and services that provide quick and accurate geological data right on-site,” said Mike Ravella, Vice President of Geological Data Services at Boart Longyear. “NORCAT has been a fantastic partner in enabling Boart Longyear to actually demonstrate that the time to collect the geological data can be drastically reduced, significantly lowering the cost of mineral exploration.”