In early October, at the TERRATEC workshop in Hobart, Tasmania, TERRATEC successfully completed the factory acceptance testing of a custom TR3000 Raise Boring Machine (RBM), which will be deployed at Glencore’s George Fisher underground mine, in Queensland, Australia.
Manufactured at the workshop in Tasmania, the TR3000 RBM is a highly robust piece of equipment, designed for ease of operation and maintenance, providing a high level of reliability. The unit has a nominal boring size of 3.0 m in diameter and 400 m in depth and has a standard pilot hole diameter of 311 mm.
It has a maximum pilot drilling torque of 78,000 Nm, reaming torque of up to 237,000 Nm and breakout to 266,000 Nm. The maximum down thrust force is 1,600 kN with up thrust being 4,500 kN. The total installed power on the machine is 360 kW.
The RBM has a modular design, which makes disassembly of the major components (for inspection, transport or repair) very easy to achieve.
The derrick configuration includes a powerful near-ground loading pipe loader that results in a very low profile in relation to drill string length. Rotation is powered by a hollow shaft hydraulic motor, affording protection to the drill string when operating at near maximum capacity, as well as unrestricted flow of flushing water through the drive train into the drill pipe.
Custom features incorporated on this machine also include an upgraded proprietary gearbox design, which allows for some flexibility in alignment when raise boring and adding drill pipe, and powered wrenching at the drive-head and work-table to make adding and removing drill strings a safer operation.
TERRATEC has numerous RBMs currently working around the world, chiefly in Australia, Canada, the USA, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Argentina. These include the company’s range of RBM, down-reaming drills and box holing rigs, as well as combination of those in the form of universal boring machines, all of which have been recognised for their innovative high-performance design.
TERRATEC’s experienced engineering and field service team can assist buyers from the planning stage, including custom design specifications, assembly and operation of RBMs on site, and lifetime servicing and maintenance support.