Tag Archives: Boart Longyear

Paradigm Shifters qualify for round two of Canada’s Crush It! Challenge

Comminution of minerals, Environmental, IoT, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining industry recognition, Mining services, Mining software, Mining techniques, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A group of companies called ‘The Paradigm Shifters’ has made it to the next round of a challenge aimed at reducing the amount of energy that crushers and grinders use in the mining process.

The Crush It! Challenge is spearheaded by the federal government (Impact Canada), in cooperation with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), and Goldcorp.

Crushing and grinding account for upwards of 50% of mine site energy consumption and up to 3% of all the electric power generated in the world.

iRing Inc is the lead partner within The Paradigm Shifters and has coordinated the effort with proposal partners to respond to the challenge, it said.

The company explained: “Essentially the team proposes to bring together the processes and technology that could reduce or even eliminate the need for expensive primary crushers, and reduce the energy required by secondary crushing (potentially eliminating it as well) and grinders in both mines and quarries globally.”

The Crush It! Challenge has several qualifying rounds and, if successful in getting to Round 3, then the team will be eligible to receive C$800,000 ($605,397) in seed funding to further prove the concept over a one-and-a-half-year period. At the end of that period, if the team wins the chance to move forward, the project would be eligible to receive an additional C$5 million in funding to commercialise the products and concepts.

The Paradigm Shifters team consists of:

  • iRing Inc (North Bay) Challenge Project Lead – Drill and blasting software;
  • Nexco Inc (North Bay) – Producer of the energy-variable explosive product;
  • Boart Longyear (North Bay and global) – Global supplier of market leading drilling products and services;
  • Paige Engineering Ltd (PEL) (North Bay) – Design and fabrication of explosive manufacturing and loading equipment;
  • Seneca (Montreal) – Explosive plant engineering, design and build;
  • Maptek (Denver and Global) – 3D laser scanner/fragmentation measurement capabilities, and;
  • Bomon Capital (Toronto) – Long term financing should the team succeed.

The savings that could accrue to mines and quarries annually is C$12.8 billion (25% reduction) to C$25.6 billion (50% reduction), according to iRing.

“If all mines in the world adopted this solution, it would represent a reduction equivalent to 7-13% of all the carbon released in Canada, and 20-41% of Canada’s contribution to meeting the Paris Accord agreement.”

iRing will use its software, Aegis, to design the blasting patterns based on the fragmentation requirements. Boart Longyear will deploy recently developed high speed diamond drilling technologies and instrumentation solutions to quickly and accurately drill and validate high-quality blast holes, while using significantly less energy. iRing said: “Boart Longyear’s drills utilise drilling data logging to interpret rock density and strength etc, while drilling.”

The company continued: “With Seneca’s help, Nexco will build a demonstration plant that will produce an energy-variable explosive mixture that can be fuelled while being loaded into the blastholes, and the blast energy would be based on the ore strength information provided by Boart Longyear’s drills and iRing’s software.”

Troy Williams, Vice President of Development of iRing, said: “The challenge will provide a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to reach the mining industry and demonstrate that it is possible to produce consistent results from the blasting operations.”

PEL will design and fabricate the explosive manufacturing and loading equipment required to change the explosive’s energy during loading, according to iRing. Energy reduction is done by adding additional water content into the explosive formulation during loading. Maptek’s laser scanner, meanwhile, will be used to verify fragmentation results by scanning the muck pile and producing a 3D point cloud which can be analysed for a measured fragmentation distribution. Those results will be used by Aegis to further calibrate the fragmentation models.

Mark Sherry, President of iRing, said: “We are really excited by this opportunity as it is directly in iRing’s wheelhouse. The Paradigm Shifters bring together the best in the industry when it comes to drilling and blasting. By working together, we will create a paradigm that is more efficient, effective, cleaner, and safer”.

Boart Longyear’s TruScan receives plaudits at South Australia awards ceremony

Base metals, Coal technology, Energy minerals, Gem stone mining, High tech minerals, Industrial minerals, Mineral exploration, Mining equipment, Mining industry recognition, Mining services, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , , , , ,

Boart Longyear says its onsite core and chip scanning technology, TruScan™, recently received the Premier’s Award in the Mining Equipment, Technology, and Services sector for Excellence in Innovation: Productivity Improvement at a ceremony in Adelaide, Australia.

The awards, presented during the Premier’s Awards ceremony on November 30, are organised by the Government of South Australia’s Department for Energy and Mining, and recognise areas of excellence by leading resources and energy sector companies and organisations in the areas of diversity, working with communities, and innovation, Boart says.

Peter Kanck, Senior Manager of Technology Development & Integration, who accepted the award on behalf of Boart Longyear, said: “It’s an honour to be part of this exciting technology and to see TruScan recognised for the positive impact it is making on the mining community.”

TruScan is able to scan and photograph a full tray of core and provide geochemical data within 25 minutes of the core being brought out of the ground, Boart says. Normally, analysis involves collecting core on pallets, transporting it to the laboratory, and then the laboratory schedules the core for analysis. Once core analysis is complete, the results are returned back to the geologist, which can take days to months.

“Because TruScan delivers geological data results onsite the same day, the turnaround is dramatically shortened and substantial cost savings are realised for both exploration and mining companies,” Boart says.

TruScan is already being used in exploration activities in Australia and Canada with plans to roll out in other parts of the world.

Boart offers TruScan as an independent service to mining clients or the technology can be bundled as a part of a drilling services agreement.

Licensing and permitting: ensuring a successful diamond core drilling programme

Base metals, Coal technology, Energy minerals, Environmental, Gem stone mining, High tech minerals, Industrial minerals, Mineral exploration, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , , , ,

The only thing consistent about licensing and permitting is how inconsistent and variable it is from place to place, says Boart Longyear’s Thomas Feehan*.

Laws, regulations, permits, licensing, and requirements can be different based on the country, state/province, city, and land ownership. Consequently, there is little information about the broader topic of licensing and permitting to help ensure a successful diamond core drilling project.

Risks

Designing and planning a drilling project is a complex exercise. Many risk factors should be considered to mitigate issues that could impact productivity and/or budgets. These include permitting and licensing, which could ultimately impede the success of the project. After careful planning, there is a healthy amount of cautious optimism that everything has been properly addressed and planned for, however, there is always that small chance something was missed.

The risks are costly if your project doesn’t have everything in place when it comes to licensing and permitting.

While it doesn’t happen very often, paying a drilling contractor stand-by rates waiting for a project that’s been scheduled, but not properly authorised or permitted, takes money from the project.

How much more exploration could have been achieved with the money lost by paying for services and support that can’t happen because a project is delayed on a technicality – usually paperwork?

There’s a risk of reputation as well. Costly mistakes aren’t great for anyone’s career or a company’s reputation.

Challenges

While Boart Longyear is no expert in licensing and permitting, the experts are out there. We maintain working relationships with local consulting and engineering firms and you should too. When planning a diamond core exploratory drilling project, it is highly recommended that you ensure all licence and permit requirements are met before the drill crew and necessary equipment mobilises.

Additionally, careful planning for the size of the drill pad for the permits and figuring out the logistics of accessing a site can save time and money later. That way, a budget estimate for all aspects of the work can be adequately prepared to complete a project safely and effectively.

Drill pad layout can be critical to a safe, smooth, and successful drilling programme. A drill pad setup where safety or productivity is compromised can result in wasted expense and possibly lead to an accident. Not having permits with the right amount of surface disturbance for the project is a risk that can be mitigated with communication. A miscalculation in required disturbance area can lead to holes being removed from the scope of the project to remain in compliance with regulators.

Working diligently with all stakeholders in the permitting application process helps ensure the exploration/project team(s) and the environmental/permitting team(s) are on the same page. A simple oversight or misunderstanding can possibly delay site mobilisation or start-up. Ideally, these conversations should happen early in the planning stages of the drilling programme.

One of the biggest challenges of licensing and permitting for a diamond core drilling project is timing. Depending on workload and resources, government entities are not typically known for their speed. Early planning and working with experts can ensure the timing of licensing and permitting doesn’t affect your project start date. Obtaining most permits and licences takes longer than expected in most cases. Proper planning and early submission to agencies are highly recommended.

*This article was written by Boart Longyear‘s Thomas Feehan. Feehan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology, a Master’s Degree in Hydrogeology, and a Master’s Degree in Business. He has 28 years of experience in mining with 24 of those years specialising in drilling programmes, lithium brines, mineral exploration, geotechnical/slope stability investigations, mining-related hydrogeology, mine dewatering and water resources

 

Boart Longyear to exhibit sonic drilling tech at US convention

Base metals, Coal technology, Energy minerals, Industrial minerals, Mineral exploration, Mining equipment, Mining techniques, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , ,

Boart Longyear has chosen this year’s Groundwater Week exhibition as the appropriate setting to display its advanced sonic drilling technology which employs the use of high-frequency, resonant energy to eliminate or minimise friction in subsurface drilling applications.

Its highly productive LS™250 sonic drill rig will be on show at the event. This features the MiniSonic™ head, making this rig part of the third generation of sonic rigs that utilise this patented technology.

“This is the perfect rig for a wide variety of drilling projects,” Fred Hafner, Sonic Drilling Specialist for Boart Longyear said. “We see our clients using the LS250 rig for sonic drilling in all sorts of environmental, geotechnical, dewatering, geo-construction, and mining activities.”

Boart was the first US firm to use sonic equipment for environmental drilling, with this technology now being used in a wide variety of soft ground and shallow drilling applications. Sonic drilling is shown to be faster, with less than 1% drill deviation, and is more accurate than conventional overburden drilling. It also creates more efficient penetration, reducing waste up to 80% and resulting in maximum core recovery.

After incorporating over 20 years of driller experience and refinement gained from use in its Drilling Services operations, the LS250 became the first MiniSonic rig the company has offered for outside capital equipment sales. The sonic rig technology has now been successfully used in the field for more than three generations and in several countries. The LS250 is CE-certified to conform to Europe’s strict health, safety, and environmental standards. The rig is versatile and, with the lowest ground pressure in its class, can carefully access fragile terrains and hard-to-reach drill sites.

Groundwater Week is hosted annually by the National Ground Water Association, attracting professionals from all sectors of the groundwater industry, including water well drilling contractors, pump installers, scientists, researchers, engineers, equipment manufacturers, and suppliers. This year’s exhibition will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Las Vegas Convention Centre on December 5-6.

Boart Longyear on quantifying drilling efficiencies and why metrics matter

Base metals, Coal technology, Energy minerals, Equipment maintenance, High tech minerals, Industrial minerals, Mineral exploration, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , , , ,

The mining sector continues to look for ways to improve efficiencies and lower costs and drilling companies are following suit.

The best drilling contractors know it’s all about providing maximum value to the customer. Drilling the metres is only one part of the equation and other metrics provide guidance to total value.

To quantify drilling efficiencies, something must be measured. Which metrics mean the most and provide the best information on finding ways to improve performance and increase a mining company’s return on investment?

This article by Boart Longyear’s Robert Buro* focuses on the key metrics in exploration diamond core drilling: safety performance, schedule, price, and quality core recovery.

Safety performance

Safety is first and foremost. It’s a moral responsibility to provide the safest working conditions and a safety culture where each and every employee knows they have the right and the responsibility to stop any unsafe work. Boart Longyear’s investment in robust environmental, health, and safety (EHS) programmes pay off with consistently improving incident rates (having fewer reportable incidents) and lowered severity ratings of the incidents that occur.

An incident can be categorised as recordable or lost-time, but the severity rating is a key factor that insurance companies consider. This is their first indication of the actions and culture a contractor brings to the site. An ancillary benefit of improving incident rates is a lower insurance rate and these tangible cost savings from drilling safely are passed on to the client.

For customers, a contractor’s safety performance also affects the mine’s safety performance record. If there’s a haul truck incident, it doesn’t affect the drilling contractor, but if the drilling contractor has a recordable or lost time incident, it affects both the safety performance of the drilling contractor and the customer (mine site) because it happened on the mine’s property.

Safety programmes ensure that wherever a Boart Longyear driller or driller assistant goes to work, the client can expect the same safe results. That consistency and value in safety is a big reason clients choose Boart Longyear™ Drilling Services. The safety commitment, culture, and programmes at Boart Longyear align with their own, and client-specific programmes are easily embedded as Boart Longyear employees are well-versed in adopting and working within the highest safety standards.

Price

When evaluating a contract’s value, it’s tempting to assume the hourly prices from the drilling contractor represent the total cost. This negates the value proposition of a well prepared, resourced, and time-sensitive contractor. There are additional costs to consider such as support staff including safety personnel, geology staff, and drilling programme managers, as well as costs for drill pad construction, water hauling, supervision, drilling mud, surveying, and equipment rentals.

While these costs aren’t in direct control of the drilling contractor, inefficient safety and operating practices can impact these additional costs and can easily overrun any initially perceived savings.

Schedule

A key metric affecting cost is the number of feet or metres drilled per shift. An estimate of feet/metres per shift is used to calculate the schedule based on the number of shifts required to complete the drilling programme. The customer uses this calculation to schedule onsite support personnel, support equipment (dozers/helicopters etc.) and any other services for the programme (camp/fuel etc).

When the drilling contractor drills more efficiently, thus completing the drilling programme in a shorter amount of time, the customer can leverage savings on their support costs. If the drilling takes longer and the schedule isn’t met, costs go up as a result of the drilling contractor being onsite longer to accomplish the required feet/meters. That’s the key metric – the footage based contract stays the same, but costs go up if the drilling contractor takes longer to achieve the feet/metres needed. The drilling contractor still gets paid roughly the same amount, but the customer’s costs go up.

A recent example of this had a Boart Longyear crew jump into an unfinished project after the initial, lower-priced contractor struggled to complete what should have been a six-week project. At week eight and only third of the way complete, Boart Longyear was called in and completed the remaining drilling for the project in only four weeks.

Boart Longyear Drilling Services is currently measuring all the different increments that make up a 12-hour shift to find efficiencies in each of those individual steps – bit on bottom, charging the rods, wireline time, shift changes, transportation, mud programmes, etc. By measuring each step in the drilling programme, additional efficiencies can be identified and savings shared with the customer.

For example, wireline activity takes up a significant amount of time during each shift. It’s necessary to retrieve the core, but how can we do it faster – how can we pull the tube faster without damaging the hole or slipping core? Can we figure out a way to make the tube head drop faster without knocking the crown off the bit when the tube lands?

This is part of Boart Longyear’s commitment to Operational Excellence, a programme in place using the Hard Work Cycle – achieving drilling efficiencies through continually looking for ways to improve processes and think outside the box.

Downtime can be a big schedule issue and directly affects the fixed costs of having support equipment and personnel onsite during the drilling programme. Minimising downtime is a key goal. From the contractor’s perspective, the loss of billable time directly impacts the bottom line.

The lack of production also adds unbudgeted costs to the client’s programme, a clear lose-lose situation. Having a solid preventable maintenance programme and an adequate inventory of critical spare parts is a positive hedge against what can occur.

Boart Longyear Drilling Services has protocols and processes for what’s called a ‘rig-down’ status. It is all-hands on deck to get the issue resolved. Whether it’s a hydraulic failure, an engine has gone down, or some other breakdown like a staffing issue, there’s a sense of urgency to ensure the customer is served in the best possible way.

Whether it’s mechanical or otherwise, the protocol is to get the issue resolved within 24 hours. If that means someone or something needs to get on a plane, that’s what happens to keep downtime to a minimum. A good preventive maintenance programme helps, but it’s what you do in the face of a breakdown that matters.

Quality core recovery

Core recovery is the end product. It’s ultimately what the customer is paying for, so this metric is key to measure the drilling programme’s success. If there’s not quality core in the box, there’s no value to the customer. In the end, the data from that core is the value to the mine. If core recovery is insufficient, so is the value provided.

Drilling and retrieving quality core depends on the expertise of the driller and the condition of the tooling and equipment. First, the driller’s knowledge and understanding of the ground conditions is imperative. This information guides the driller’s decisions in selecting the correct equipment, tooling, bits, etc. to smoothly drill, penetrate quickly, and recover the core intact.

In addition, Boart Longyear operates a robust drilling fluids management plan. The mud programme incorporates the driller’s knowledge of the ground condition and the challenges it presents. Understanding the ground condition and the equipment, the driller tunes into his drill using his instrumentation and the feedback the rig provides to analyse what is happening downhole. For complicated and technically challenging ground conditions, where core recovery is not going as planned, Boart Longyear drillers leverage the experience of the drilling fluids company. Reputable drilling fluids providers can send out an engineer to check the drilling fluids systematically.

The old saying that two heads are better than one is key to solving core recovery issues. The two teams work together to figure out what changes to the fluids and drilling equipment are necessary to get the quality core recovery and penetration desired.

The driller also has to know his equipment, watching the gauges and listening to the rig, recognising when it’s doing the job and when it isn’t. When encountering a core block – when the core just doesn’t want to penetrate up into the barrel – the driller can continue drilling, but all he’s doing is grinding up the core.

Instead of drilling five feet and getting four inches of core recovery he can stop and look for answers. This is a big step for drillers who are paid according to productivity. Drillers are programmed (you could even say they’re wired) to get the most productivity. It takes a smart and knowledgeable driller to stop going after the feet/metres and deliver maximum value by stopping to focus on core recovery. In difficult ground, it’s best to pause and evaluate the core barrel assembly, drilling technique, and the drilling fluids programme. That practical approach ensures value to the customer.

The role of innovation and new technology

Through the years, new innovative technologies have helped improve drilling efficiency. For example, the Genuine Q™ Wireline core retrieval system introduced by Boart Longyear back in 1953 revolutionised the diamond drilling industry. The system increased productivity on the work site and made tripping core from the bottom of the hole safer for the drilling assistant. The advantages of the genuine Q™ system quickly generated industry-wide adoption of Boart Longyear’s wireline technology.

Boart Longyear consumables have been equally innovative. The recently launched XQ™ wireline coring rod threads are stronger, last longer, and provide easier make and break for improved productivity and bottom line savings.

The high productivity coring system features a W-Wall™ coring rod which is 30% lighter – increasing depth capacity and reducing driller fatigue when manually tripping rods. The new NXQ™ and HXQ™ W-Wall coring rods feature patent-pending, double-upset tubing, with faster wireline tripping speed. The Quick Descent™ head assembly and the industry-leading Longyear™ colour series diamond coring bits are also examples of recent innovations that improve productivity. Each system component increases shift capacity and productivity, delivering increased efficiencies.

Industry-leading top drive coring rigs and hands-free rod handling equipment offers both productivity and safety. Answering the demand for innovative rod handling, the FREEDOM™ Loader and top drive coring rig combinations provide simple and fast rod tripping that is 100% hands-free.

Additionally, Boart Longyear has invested in an Operational Excellence team and platform for continuous improvement to develop the next generation of efficiency and productivity enhancements in the mineral exploration industry. A key component of the Operational Excellence mind set is the Hard Work Cycle and reporting. The Hard Work Cycle reporting includes meeting with clients to go over feet/metres per shift, any downtime hours and the cause. Reviewing the metrics with our clients and showing areas where we can improve productivity on our side and theirs provides a unique and compelling transparency.

For example, measuring all of the aspects of a drill site might give visibility to the number of hours of lost drilling/productivity resulting from site access issues. Blasting, ventilation issues, and cage delays are examples of issues affecting productivity that are controlled by the client, but working together minimizes their impact and increases drilling efficiency.

Why drilling metrics matter

The beauty of measuring drilling metrics is that you have data to discuss what’s happening on the drill site and look for ways to improve efficiencies and lower costs. Boart Longyear knows that it’s all about providing the maximum value to the customer.

The biggest metric that might impact whether you win additional contracts is, “Are they happy with the outcomes of the drilling programme?” Was the project completed safely, on schedule, providing quality core that provided the information necessary to make decisions about future exploration or mine development? Were any issues resolved to their satisfaction and transparent reporting provided?

Drilling metrics matter because key performance indicators measure how well a customer was served. Measuring what was delivered quantifies the customer’s satisfaction and provides goals for future projects.

*Robert Buto manages the global commercial strategy for Boart Longyear’s Drilling Services business

Boart Longyear on optimising the use of drill rig parts

Base metals, Coal technology, Energy minerals, Mineral exploration, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , , ,

Leading drilling products and services provider Boart Longyear believes a condition-based preventive maintenance programme based on frequent visual inspections is the best way to ensure operators get the most out of their drill rig parts.

It is aware companies work their drill rigs hard — sometimes 24 hours a day, seven days a week — but says running every drill rig part to failure or, conversely, replacing parts on a fixed and planned interval regardless of wear or condition are not the optimal ways to increase productivity.

“A lot of drilling companies run every drill rig part to failure, meaning they don’t replace anything on the drill rig until it fails,” Boart* says.

“At the other end of the spectrum, a truly preventive maintenance programme replaces parts on a fixed and planned interval regardless of wear or condition of the part. When following one or the other, neither of these philosophies is necessarily the most cost-effective philosophy.

“Running parts to failure can cause minor or major breakdowns. And it goes without saying, any breakdown, small or significant, costs money – lost productivity, jeopardising up-time contractual obligations, and lost drilling time waiting for replacement parts.

“Even though planning is critical, a strictly preventive maintenance programme also costs more by replacing parts regardless of condition and leaving some life of that part on the table. And just because the engine is running (typically gauged by service hours) – not all components are exposed to the same amount of wear. Some components are used more frequently depending on the type of drilling and the size and type of the borehole. Additionally, environmental factors can affect the wear on components and parts including the weather, dust, sand, cuttings, wet, damp, salty, atmospheric conditions (high and low elevations affect air density and can impact how components perform, age, and fail), and ground conditions are all factors affecting drill rig components.

“Taking it all into consideration, the life of different components can vary greatly.

“While regular and routine maintenance is important and definitely helps reliability, it can still be easy to miss tell-tale signs of wear and critical upcoming replacements. Replacing parts before running them to failure can help avoid larger breakdowns and costly downtime.”

Boart recommends “frequent, planned inspections in place of a comprehensive preventive-only maintenance programme where parts are replaced before they fail”.

A drill rig maintenance programme of regular inspections, planned preventive maintenance, and scheduled major maintenance/overhauls is the better way to lower and manage cost of ownership and keep machines running and drilling reliably, the company said.

Condition-based preventive maintenance

Boart says: “If you are not already doing it, a condition-based preventive maintenance programme based on frequent visual inspections can be implemented with the right checklists and change management processes for your field employees. Develop a routine for drill rig inspections or audits using standardised checklists as a guide to check condition and identify parts showing wear and near end of life. Next, the report is used to build a list of parts so you can place component orders and plan for downtime to maintain your rig.

“Taking the time to do an assessment to prepare, order, and plan for any future maintenance is the most cost-effective method to get the most out of your long-term assets.

“The key is taking the time to do an assessment of the condition of the rig, on a regular basis. Depending on the type of rig, the type of drilling, and up-time contractual obligations, you can schedule a mechanic to visit the rig on site, keep a mechanic on call, or take the drill rig back to the shop for major repairs/regular overhauls.”

The two goals of any drill rig assessment, according to Boart, are to:

  • Identify what is damaged or wearing out;
  • Build a recommendation to include the required parts to order and when and where (onsite or in a workshop) repairs need to be performed.

“Boart Longyear’s Drilling Services has daily, weekly, and monthly inspection checklists for all drill rigs. Checklists for regular drill rig inspections doesn’t need to be specific to the drill rig, you can use a general checklist that applies to all rigs,” the company says.

“To make it easier for our customers, there is a comprehensive spare parts list for every Boart Longyear drill rig in the Service and Parts Information Network (SPIN). SPIN is a real-time, online, drill rig parts catalogue so you can view and find genuine Boart Longyear parts and drill rig manuals, access interactive drill rig diagrams, and view parts manuals. SPIN also makes it easier to search and find the parts you need for your next service interval.

*This article was written by Dan Ernst, Product Manager for Capital Equipment Spares at Boart Longyear