The Sandvik Leopard™ DI650i down-the-hole (DTH) drill rig has earned its stripes in the southern African surface mining sector, particularly in high-capacity production drilling applications, the OEM reflects just over six years since its global debut at the 2018 edition of Electra Mining Africa.
When Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions first brought the Leopard DI650i to market, the message was clear: the company had ushered in a tool that would constitute a strong challenger for a market leadership position in the larger than 6 in (152 mm) segment, which was previously dominated by a competitor. Some six years later, the Leopard DI650i has surpassed expectations with a high uptake in markets across southern Africa and the world at large, Sandvik says.
“In southern Africa alone, we have over 60 machines operating in the field, which is remarkable,” Trinity Nkosi, Sales Engineer, Surface Drills Department at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, says. “Over the years, we have had a positive uptake, especially in South Africa, with coal, platinum group metals and iron ore among the key recipient commodity markets to date.”
Scalable automation, ease of maintenance and efficient operation are some of the drill’s value propositions that have made it popular in the market, according to the company.
The Leopard DI650i features scalable automation packages to fully automate systems and increase overall productivity. iDrill onboard automatics cover all steps of the automated drilling cycle, ensuring consistent high-quality drilled holes, the company claims. It is also compatible with AutoMine® Surface Drilling to enable fully autonomous fleet operation from a control room.
“The machine’s ground-level access for daily service and maintenance tasks has led to up to 20% more availability compared with conventional DTH rigs at a similar technology level,” Nkosi says. “The modular design of the machine further allows for easier repair or replacement of components.”
To provide context, an Australian lithium operation has seen an improvement in availability, largely due to ease of maintenance, resulting in 1,900 hours of drilling in four months. Despite the tough 400 MPa rock, the mine achieved a penetration rate of about 23 m/h – completing close to 400 m/d – drilling 203 mm holes.
Increased efficiency is yet another principal design benefit that has propelled the Leopard DI650i to the summit of the DTH market, Sandvik says. Thanks to the intelligent control technology applied in both the compressor and the hydraulic system’s cooler fan, customers can expect to reduce their fuel consumption significantly compared with conventional DTH rigs.
“Up to 15% less fuel consumption per hour is achievable largely due to our efficiency-driven design of minimising recirculation of hot air to coolers and having an energy-on-demand principle across the entire machine,” Nkosi says. “In addition, the compressor management system reduces compressor load for non-drilling activities, thus reducing fuel consumption.”
The intelligent control system of the machine contributes to high levels of operational precision and efficiency. For example, Sandvik’s aligning system guarantees parallel direction holes while the GPS technology allows for pinpoint accurate hole placement. The one-hole full cycle drilling automatics with auto collaring and rock detection minimise hole losses and maximise drill bit life.
Nkosi concluded: “Based on these capabilities, the machine has proven its performance clout at several mines in southern Africa. For example, a coal mine in South Africa has seen an improvement in average penetration rate of 60 m/hr in a sandstone rock formation where hardness is between 60 and 80 MPa, drilling 165 mm diameter holes. In fact, the mine drills close to 1,000 m of holes per day.”