Tag Archives: DI650i

Sandvik looks to shape the surface drilling electrification conversation

“We are showing what technology can do today.”

These were the words Mats Eriksson, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, during the Capital Markets Day in Tampere, Finland, last week when describing the launch of Sandvik’s latest battery-electric concept surface drill rig.

This rig is representative of more than just technological advances in the mining industry, also acting as a tangible example of Sandvik’s efforts to become a leader in the surface drilling space.

It has been four years since Sandvik announced this ambition, with the company having made significant headway on achieving this goal.

Sandvik doubled its order intake for rotary drills from 2019 to 2022. Over this three-year period, the company launched the Leopard™ DI650i down-the-hole (DTH) drill rig to support fully autonomous drilling operations and went on to capture major autonomous drilling contracts in Latin America, Australia and Finland.

The OEM is looking to at least double its surface mining revenue from 2022 to 2028. Key contracts in 2023 from Boliden and MACA have already provided early positive momentum towards such a goal.

There is potential for Sandvik to steal a march on its competitors in this space – companies who have already been able to automate the largest blasthole drills in key markets in the Americas and Australia – by leveraging the electrification expertise it has built up underground.

This was highlighted by Eriksson last week and was reiterated further when IM spoke to the company’s experts in Tampere in front of the second battery-electric surface concept rig.

The concept vehicle is the first in its size class, capable of drilling DTH holes up to 229 mm in diameter and blending the autonomy of battery with the continuous endurance of power cable, Sandvik says.

Dan Gleeson, IM Editor (centre), with Petri Virrankoski, President of the Surface Drilling Division (left), and Lauri Laihanen, Vice President, R&D of the Surface Drilling Division (right)

Flexibility and optionality are the name of the game, with the rig equipped with a battery able to carry out seven hours of tramming or one hour of drilling based on Sandvik research, plus plug into electrical infrastructure with a  37-mm diameter, 180-m-long tethered cable.

Lauri Laihanen, Vice President, R&D, Surface Drilling Division, Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, told IM at the Sandvik Capital Markets Day event last week: “The main benefit of this battery-electric solution is the ability to tram independently for up to seven hours.

“When you need to move the rig after drilling a certain portion of the pit ahead of blasting, you can disconnect the cable and tram the rig away from the pit independently without worrying about managing the cable logistics. Then, when you have carried out the blasting and explosives loading process and are ready for the next drilling sequence, you can tram back without recharging in between.”

Petri Virrankoski, President of the Surface Drilling Division, added: “The application where these drills are used is somewhat different to rotary drills. To a degree, they are used in production drilling, but in a very dynamic way – carrying out pre-splits or blasthole patterns on smaller benches, for example.

“They need to manoeuvre around more, so there are more demands placed on them from a flexibility and cable management perspective.”

There are other potential benefits Laihanen talks up – the ability to carry on drilling or tramming during “black outs” and, on mine sites where cable-electric equipment is already used, connect the rig to the grid after diesel-electric blasthole drills and cable shovels have started up (to avoid power surges).

“For some of our frontrunner customers that have already adopted electrification on surface and have the infrastructure in place, they would only need to add one transformer to lower the voltage level from what their larger pieces of equipment are working off to start using this rig for drilling and tramming,” he added.

This type of talk – more practical than conceptual – is representative of Sandvik ‘making the shift’ when it comes to electrification in surface mining.

It has only been just over a year since the company unveiled its first electric concept rig, based off a much smaller top hammer drill rig meant for urban construction, but the understanding of what it may take to electrify these large rigs has grown tremendously.

“From a technology development and demonstration point of view, it is crucial to understand the framework that you have from the lower and upper end of the drilling portfolio,” Laihanen said. “This helps you track it with the customer base and finalise your productisation plan to hit that 2030 goal of having an electrified offering for the whole range.”

Eriksson says the company is confident in being able to offer electric surface drilling products across its range by 2030, with Sandvik’s continued advances in underground mine electrification spurring this on.

It is worth, therefore, noting some of the numbers that came out of the Capital Markets Day from the underground load and haul division.

Brian Huff, Vice President of New Technologies for the Load and Haul Division within Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, said the company had won more than 75% of the tenders it had been involved in from January-October this year, with more than 15% of the company’s load and haul order intake over this period representing battery-electric equipment.

One can also add sales of the company’s underground battery-electric drills, which started to be offered to the market from 2016, to these numbers.

The company’s Test Mine in Tampere, which IM visited last week, has played a key role in this growing Sandvik underground battery-electric population, and the recent announcement that Sandvik will look to replicate this on surface with the Sandvik Test Pit – some 40 km away – is another indicator of how serious the company is about becoming an open-pit drilling major.

Virrankoski explained: “If you look at the peak capabilities that have enabled us the successes underground, one of these is the Test Mine. This has been helpful for testing and developing not only the drill rigs, but also tooling, digital tools, automation, rock drills, etc.

“It became pretty clear about four years ago that we needed a similar capability for surface.”

This location just outside of Tampere was chosen due to the “good rock” availability, the ability to offer significant scale where the company could test out all boom and rotary drill rigs up to the DR413 class at the same time as providing customer showcases both on electrification and automation, the ability to cross-fertilise underground learnings from the existing Test Mine with surface drilling developments, and the continued development of existing and new Sandvik surface mining engineers.

The Sandvik Test Pit, which has previously served as a quarry, will be developed by its own drilling plan

The company already has multiple rigs, both boom and rotary, at the site – which is still being setup for testing – with the new electric concept rig expected to soon join it.

“The next action after that is to begin customer trials next year,” Laihanen said. “We have had preliminary discussions with several customers, but we need to finalise our own internal development testing before locking in these trials.”

This is indicative of the emphasis the company is placing on surface mining and the opportunity it has to shape the battery-electric conversation in the surface drilling space.

“For us, it is important to have a physical specimen to have these conversations with customers,” Laihanen said. “When you have something available, it makes the conversation around capabilities and limitations a lot easier, taking these discussions to a whole new level.”

Virrankoski added: “This will lead to a conversation around maintenance processes, the skills requirements, the service models, etc.

“Having a machine that can play in a real-life sandbox is very different to showing a model on a screen.”

Sandvik has laid its surface drilling marker down. The market will now decide if this is the direction it wants to move in.

Sandvik Leopard DI650i drill rigs make first appearance in Namibia mining industry

Namibia-based KODO Drilling has taken delivery of the country’s first Sandvik Mining and Rock Solution’s Leopard™ DI650i surface drill rigs, which are set to go to work at an open-pit gold mine.

The rigs will be used as part of KODO Drilling’s down-the-hole (DTH) production drilling remit at the mine. The units arrived at the mine site in early November 2022.

According to Andries van Wyngaard, Territory Manager and Acting Managing Director at Sandvik Namibia, the contract is an important step in the company’s expansion strategy. Over the past year, its field service department has grown to seven trained full-service technicians in-country.

“As Sandvik Namibia gears up to support more equipment sales into the local market, we are grateful to KODO Drilling for their confidence in our innovative products and committed service,” van Wyngaard says. “With the values of KODO Drilling and Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions so closely aligned – including safety and service excellence – this is a perfect fit.”

The DI650i, a diesel powered crawler mounted intelligent DTH rig, is designed for demanding production drilling applications in surface mining, according to van Wyngaard. The self-contained unit is equipped with an ergonomic iCAB operator’s cabin, fixed boom, dry dust collector and drill pipe changer – incorporating a modern design and layout.

“The rig comes with a range of new or redesigned components to boost its productivity,” he says. “It has the capacity to drill a wide variety of hole sizes from 90-165 mm. We have also run trials in Namibia with our RH560 hammer and we’ve seen exceptional performance – drilling holes from 115-203 mm.”

KODO Drilling Director, Vilho Hanghome, says his company’s progress is based on its constant drive to deliver innovative services and perform within a safe and environmentally sustainable manner.

“Having previously procured exploration rigs from Sandvik, we have valued the equipment quality and service we have received – as these have allowed us to deliver performance within budget to our clients,” Hanghome says. “We are therefore pleased to be investing in Sandvik’s state-of-the-art DTH technology and we will rely on their high level technical support going forward.”

Van Wyngaard says the contract shows KODO’s faith in Sandvik Namibia’s ability to support its DTH offering with aftermarket service. He points to the considerable interest the local market has shown in the delivery of the two rigs.

“After we signed off on the deal and sent the units off from our Khomanani headquarters in Kempton Park, many of our Namibian customers have noticed them on the road and posted excited comments online,” he says. “The mine where the rigs will operate is also looking forward to benefiting from the results of the new machines’ performance.”

Among the advantages the units offer is ground level access to all daily maintenance and service points. This makes for greater safety – as technicians do not have to climb around the machine. It also adds to productivity, as quicker maintenance means less downtime. Its silent and ergonomic cabin is a leader in the market, and boasts excellent visibility for safety and operability, according to the company.

Contributing to its low total cost of ownership are its intelligent hydraulic and compressor systems, which, it says, can deliver 38-42% improved fuel efficiency. Incorporating intelligent technology, the Sandvik DI650i rigs can accommodate scalable automation from on-board options to full automation systems.

Sandvik Namibia has made encouraging progress with recent equipment sales into Namibia, explains van Wyngaard, and he looks forward to a new era of engagement with both the surface and underground mining segments.

“Building on our long-standing relationship with KODO Drilling, we look forward to many more successful ventures with them and other customers,” he says.

Sandvik to equip Movitec with autonomous drilling solution at Codelco Rajo Inca

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions has received a large order in Chile for surface mining equipment and its AutoMine® Surface Drilling solution from Movitec, a contractor on Codelco’s Rajo Inca open-pit project.

The order includes two Leopard™ DI650i down-the-hole (DTH) drill rigs and two Sandvik DR412i rotary blasthole drill rigs, including AutoMine® Surface Drilling systems for fully autonomous operations.

AutoMine Surface Drilling is an autonomous solution for a wide range of Sandvik iSeries surface drill rigs, designed to improve safety, reduce costs and increase productivity. It enables an operator to control multiple rigs remotely from a comfortable location in line-of-sight or a distant control room – improving working conditions and safety, Sandvik says.

Sandvik iSeries drill rigs are equipped with iDrill technology, a scalable automation platform that provides automation options and digital services designed to speed up the production process and support mining operations. Performance and navigation iDrill technologies work together to produce accurately placed, consistently clean and precision-drilled holes – delivering improved fragmentation, downstream throughput and asset utilisation.

“We are pleased to work with Movitec and Codelco on this project,” Emilio Vega, Business Line Manager for Automation, Sales Area Andean and South Cone at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, said. “The AutoMine Surface Drilling solution will enable the customer to use the drill rigs to their full potential and boost productivity with capabilities for fully autonomous operations.”

The new order also includes one Sandvik D75KX rotary blasthole drill rig with added intelligence and improved operator ergonomics. Delivery will take place in two phases before year-end 2022, with fully autonomous operations ramping up in 2023.

“We thank Movitec for their well-placed confidence in the Sandvik brand and technology,” Patricio Apablaza, Vice President Sales Area Andean and South Cone at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, said. “We look forward to supporting them in increasing the safety, productivity, profitability and quality of their operations.”

In addition, Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions will also provide contractor Movitec with remote operation training and six months’ on-site service to ramp up support as they transition to autonomous operations.

David Hallett, Vice President Automation at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ Digital Mining Technologies Division, said: “We are excited to partner together with Movitec on their journey to adopt AutoMine Surface Drilling at Codelco’s Rajo Inca open-pit project. This project will play a significant role in establishing Sandvik’s position as a leading technology partner for autonomous surface mining within the Chilean and South American market.”

Codelco officially began the works of Rajo Inca last year, moving from underground mining to open-pit mining.