Tag Archives: drilling

Exploration drill rig use on the up, IMDEX says

Mineral exploration, Mining equipment, , ,

New mineral exploration rig use figures released today by IMDEX show continued strong activity in most major mining regions internationally.

The combined Australia/New Zealand region continued to be a standout, with rig use at 82% of capacity despite the number of rigs available increasing by 13% over the past year.

Reflecting that growth, IMDEX says March-quarter revenue for its Asia Pacific region including Australia is up 28% on the same time last year.

The rig use snapshot, contained in an IMDEX presentation to the Macquarie Australia Conference on May 4, examines the state of rig use in April this year and updates a similar assessment conducted by IMDEX at the same time last year.

IMDEX used the Macquarie presentation to reveal an overall March-quarter revenue increase of 29% compared with the same time last year.

A further regional breakdown showed revenue in the Americas was up 35%, and Africa and Europe was up 20%.

The rig count figures, of surface and underground coring and RC rigs, showed that rig use was at 62% of capacity in Canada, up from 46% at the same time last year, South America was at 50% (39%), Africa 73% (54%), Europe and the Middle East 48% (39%), and Asia 46% (37%).

Rig use was down in the US at 57%, compared with 72% last year, and Mexico and Central America 42% (44%).

Globally, the rig use figure stood at 56%, up from 46%.

IMDEX Chief Executive Officer, Paul House, said the size of the global rig fleet had decreased from April 2021, as older rigs were retired and new, safer rigs were being commissioned, but resource companies had committed to more exploration and higher standards of HSE, and drillers had committed to buying more rigs.

He said a skilled labour shortage, the replacement trend, rig transfers and a lag between purchase and delivery were responsible for a decrease in the overall size of the global fleet, but these were short-term constraints.

Drillers were buying more rigs as the industry continued to grow, he added.

“The pleasing aspect of our business activity to date is that even in this period of transition of the rig fleet, IMDEX has recorded a 29 per cent increase in third quarter revenue — a result which has outperformed the market,” House said.

The fundamentals driving the sector remain unchanged, he said.

Strong commodity prices were being driven by increasing demand and decreasing reserves, there was an increasing demand for battery metals, strong capital raising across all commodities, and an increasing demand for secure, real-time rock knowledge data and solutions to support remote and automated operations.

“The commitment to growth in exploration by all participants in the resource sector is high and reflects both the positive underlying fundamentals and the sense of urgency required,” House said.

“Execution, however, is likely to take place over a longer period of time than planned, leading to a longer growth cycle.”

Boart Longyear helps drillers recover more core with LF 160 drill rig updates

Mineral exploration, Mining equipment, , , , , ,

Boart Longyear is updating its LF™160 surface coring drill rig with, among other things, an inner tube that will allow drillers to retrieve a full 6-m inner tube out of the rod string using the wireline winch.

In addition, Boart is adding foldable walkways and Cummins Tier 3 engines to add efficiency and safety to its LF 160. When paired with the FL262 FREEDOM™ Loader, the LF 160 combination is, the company says, ideal for contractors who want to target sophisticated surface drilling exploration contracts that stipulate some of the highest safety standards, without compromising on productivity. The FL262 Freedom Loader is an innovative rod loading system that requires no intervention from the driller’s assistant to trip and align rods or connect to the top drive head.

The company introduced its LF 160 and FREEDOM™ Loader during MINExpo 2016.

The 6-m inner tube, coupled with the capability of handling full PQ inner tubes, means the LF 160 delivers more operating efficiency, reducing the frequency of retrieving the inner tube, which in turn decreases downtime, the company said.

Erik Gaugh, Product Manager – Capital Equipment, said: “Compared to a standard 3-m system, the 6-m inner tube system can deliver efficiencies of up to 50% for deeper holes. We anticipate the 6-m system to be a game changer for many of our customers.”

Foldable walkways are available on the LF 160T (truck) and are integrated on both sides of the rig with railings and kick plates, the company explained. The walkways provide safe access to the elevated rig platform on the truck chassis and eliminates the need for fall arrest protection. The walkways hydraulically fold in and out without the need for manual manipulation to further reduce the potential for hand injuries, Boart explained.

The company concluded: “Boart Longyear is committed to providing the safest, most productive, and most reliable rigs in the industry. The foldable platforms, 6-m inner tube system and Cummins Tier 3 engines are continued proof of that commitment.”

Capital captures surface production drilling gig at AngloGold’s Geita

Explosives and blasting, Mine operation news, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , ,

Capital’s Tanzania-based subsidiary, CMS (Tanzania) Limited, has been successfully awarded a surface production drilling contract with AngloGold Ashanti at the Geita gold mine in Tanzania.

The three-year contract will use five rigs from the mining service company’s existing fleet, together with the acquisition of one new rig during 2022, to continue provision of blasthole drilling services at the Geita mine, bringing the total number of rigs operating on site to 25.

CMS is an 80:20 joint venture between the mining services company and local company CK Washirika Limited. The joint venture, which is fully compliant with the local content law in Tanzania, demonstrates Capital’s commitment to building capabilities and supporting local communities, it said.

The new contract supplements the two existing three-year contracts, a surface drilling contract for exploration and grade control services and an underground contract for grade control and exploration drilling services, both of which were renewed in the first half of 2021 and are also fully compliant to local content laws in Tanzania.

This contract further cements Capital’s long-term relationship with AngloGold Ashanti, which started with the provision of grade control drilling services at the Geita site in 2006 and will now extend to 2025.

The production drilling contract started in December and is anticipated to generate revenues of $33 million over the contract term.

Jamie Boyton, Capital Executive Chairman, said: “The contract continues Capital’s delivery of production drilling to the site and reflects the team’s excellent operational and safety performance in providing drilling services to the Geita mine for more than 15 years. Importantly, the contract award also supports our strategy of building the sustainability of the business by maintaining the portfolio of long-term mine-site based clients.”

Kati makes biofuel drilling switch at Keliber lithium project

Energy minerals, Environmental, Mining equipment, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , ,

Oy Kati Ab, a drilling contractor, has started to use biofuel in the drill rig operating at Keliber’s lithium exploration site in Central Ostrobothnia, Finland.

Tapani Niskakangas, Acting Managing Director at Kati, said: “Taking the environment into consideration and minimising the negative impacts is a guiding principle for us at Kati as well as Keliber. When we learned that Neste MY Non Road Diesel™ was available also in northern Finland this autumn, Keliber was the first company we proposed to introduce it, and we received a positive answer right away.”

According to calculations made at Kati, the switch from regular fuel oil to biofuel makes it possible to reduce emissions by at least 50%. It is estimated that, during 2020, drilling at the Keliber work site generated emissions of 78.04 t of CO2e, of which 95.2% was caused by fuel usage. If biofuel had been used, the estimated emissions would have been 37.90 t CO2e or 51% less. The emission reduction (40.14 t CO2e) is equivalent to a 286,714.3 km journey by car.

Keliber’s CEO, Hannu Hautala, regards the fuel switch as a good example of sustainable operation, which Keliber is committed to: “We are continuously looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact and improve our operations when new possibilities emerge. I am happy about this opportunity to switch to renewable energy at the drilling site.”

Kati started to use biofuel at the Keliber site during the second week of December. According to Niskakangas, the switch was easy: the machines run on biofuel as smoothly as they do on fossil fuels. And there is an added safety benefit as biofuels do not endanger water organisms or human health. This more than offsets the additional 25% price tag for biofuel over fossil fuels, which translates into an increase of about 2% in the total drilling cost.

Niskakangas said: “Keliber is the first of our customers to use biofuel. We are interested in expanding its use, but its popularity has a lot to do with logistics. Today, we transport the MY renewable fuel from Kemi harbour to our storage tank in Kalajoki.”

Kati has been working with Keliber on its lithium project for some 20 years. In recent years, Keliber has had continuous exploration and resource drilling operations, and the annual total drilling has varied from 10-20 km.

The planned Keliber operations include lithium mine sites and a concentrator plant in Kaustinen, Kokkola and Kruunupyy, and a lithium hydroxide plant in Kokkola.

VDMA anticipates Germany mining tech sales drop in 2021

Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , ,

While demand for metals and minerals has boosted order intake for many original equipment manufacturers, the sales of Germany mining technology companies have lagged so far in 2021, according to the VDMA.

In 2020, the industry generated total sales of €3.38 billion ($3.83 billion), the organisation, which represents around 3,300 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies, said. From January to September 2021, sales were down 18% year-on-year at €2.8 billion, while exports in the January-August 2021 period were down 10.4% year-on-year at just under €960 million. Notable drops in export sales were observed in the EU27+UK, China, Russia and Australia, with increases in the USA and NM East unable to make up for that shortfall.

The industry expects sales to pick up by the end of 2021 and anticipates only a moderate decline of 5-10% overall, the VDMA said.

The most common export goods to all markets are, in descending order: crushing and grinding technology, deep drilling technology, mining and roadheaders and tunnel boring machines, the organisation noted.

Michael Schulte Strathaus, Chairman of VDMA Mining (pictured in the centre), expects sales numbers to improve, going forward, as the ‘green mining’ revolution continued to take hold.

“Without mining technology, nothing works in industry now and in the future,” he said at a press conference. “If we want to maintain our current standard of living, we need the corresponding raw materials.

“Only smart mining will lead to green mining. We see our opportunities in offering the best technology worldwide that contributes to resource-saving, efficient, ‘green’ extraction and processing of raw materials.”

Orica acquires Wallis Drilling’s RIG Technologies RC logging while drilling business

Mineral exploration, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, , , , , , , , , , ,

Wallis Drilling says it has sold its RIG Technologies Reverse Circulation Logging While Drilling (LWD) business to explosives and blasting systems leader, Orica.

The RIG Technologies business includes, downhole behind-the-hammer geophysics sensors (gamma-ray and gyro), drill rig-based sensor platforms and a cloud-based data management system.

Wallis and RIG Technologies commenced as a joint venture in 2016, with Wallis acquiring the entire business in 2019.

Wallis says it successfully grown RIG Technologies and invested in the ongoing development of its LWD capabilities and associated products. At this point, the product suite is in the early phase of commercialisation and is being used by large resource companies, the company added.

The transaction delivers Wallis a solid return on its investment and provides significant upside sales exposure over the next five years under Orica stewardship, Wallis said.

Following the sale, RIG Technologies now forms part of Orica’s orebody intelligence category, within its digital solutions portfolio, alongside its recent acquisition of Hopper Industrial Group, a group of geophysics companies that specialise in mining and groundwater technologies and services.

RIG Technologies personnel, including 33 engineers, technical and field staff, will integrate into Orica. The business will continue to be led by original Partner and Director, Tim Hopper, with its operational and manufacturing activities remaining in Western Australia.

Wallis said: “RIG Technologies will independently continue to develop and deliver world-leading instrumentation and cloud-based technologies to help the mining industry obtain real-time geophysical and LWD data.”

Wallis and RIG Technologies will retain a five-year technical partnership to ensure continued testing and real-time deployment of the tools and other associated products in a field operating environment, it added.

Wallis Drilling Chairman, Graeme Wallis, said the sale enabled RIG Technologies to leverage its first-mover advantage and is overwhelmingly the best option for all stakeholders.

“The timing is right given where we have positioned the RIG Technologies business,” he said. “Orica has the financial resources, global customer base and distribution network to market and scale its product suite.

“For Wallis, the sale allows us to increase the rate of investment in our main drilling business. In recent years, strong organic growth has been accelerated by the design, manufacture and deployment of our leading range of Wallis RC and Mantis autonomous drill rigs.”

Wallis Drilling CEO, Mark Crumby, added: “Wallis has a successful history of innovation and commercialising new technologies for the mining industry. The development of RIG Technologies’ product suite, and its subsequent sale to Orica, is another example of this success.”

(Photo Credit: ‘csfoto – Christian Sprogoe photographer’)

Epiroc to provide IAMGOLD’s Côté mine with autonomous blasthole drills

Automation, Explosives and blasting, IoT, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , ,

Epiroc says it has won a large order for surface mining equipment from IAMGOLD Corp in Canada that will optimise safety and productivity through advanced automation at its greenfield Côté Gold operation in Ontario.

The order includes several Pit Viper 231 and SmartROC D65 drill rigs for the open-pit gold development, which is currently under construction and expected to start production in the second half of 2023. The Pit Vipers will be fully autonomous, while the SmartROC D65 rigs are prepared for remote operation.

The order is valued at approximately SEK130 million ($15.1 million) and was booked in the September quarter of 2021.

“IAMGOLD, a returning Epiroc customer, is taking safety, sustainability and productivity extremely seriously,” Epiroc’s President and CEO, Helena Hedblom, said. “As IAMGOLD is preparing a new exciting mine project, we are proud to contribute to their success with our advanced machines and solutions for autonomous operation.”

IAMGOLD has previously employed different levels of autonomous drilling at its other operations using Epiroc Pit Vipers. It launched the first automated drill rig in West Africa with assistance from Epiroc back in February 2020 at its 90%-owned Essakane mine in Burkina Faso. This followed a series of automation steps carried out on the company’s fleet of Epiroc PV235 blasthole drills, beginning with the ‘Operator Assist’ phase back in 2016.

The Pit Viper 231 and SmartROC D65 surface drill rigs are built to face the toughest conditions while optimising productivity, safety and fuel efficiency, according to Epiroc. Advanced features include Epiroc’s telematics system, Certiq, which allows for automated and intelligent monitoring of productivity and machine performance.

Swick Mining and DDH1 Ltd to combine surface and underground drilling offering

Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, , , , , ,

Swick Mining Services and DDH1 Ltd have agreed in-principle terms to combine their businesses to create, they say, a global scale mineral drilling business with a balance of surface and underground services.

The conditional, non-binding indicative proposal is part of a planned all-scrip transaction where Swick shareholders would receive 0.2970 DDH1 shares for each Swick share held.

The proposed transaction values Swick’s Drilling Business at an enterprise value of A$115 million ($84.1 million). After deducting Swick’s planned A$12 million Orexplore investment and the net debt within the Drilling Business, the remaining equity value of A$99.3 million equates to the offer value of approximately $0.35 per Swick share.

Swick and DDH1 offer complementary drilling services and expertise, with long established successful track records working with a wide range of exploration and mining companies, they say.

“There is merit in a merger of the two companies, both in terms of cost synergies and scale benefits,” they added. “The combination is expected to realise meaningful synergies over time, with both sets of shareholders able to benefit due to the all-scrip consideration.”

The combination of the two Western Australia-based businesses will have a balance of surface (circa-60%) and underground (circa-40%) drilling from a combined fleet of 170-plus rigs, which generated approximately A$445 million in revenue and A$103 million in EBITDA in the 2021 financial year to June 30, 2021.

The proposed transaction is conditional on, among other things, negotiation of a binding Scheme Implementation Agreement between the parties, which is expected to occur shortly. The transaction is then expected to complete following the completion of the Orexplore demerger – anticipated to occur after a shareholder vote expected in December.

Swick’s Chairman, Andrew Simpson, said: “A combination of two market leading Australian drilling business – Swick and DDH1 – makes strategic sense and combines high quality, experienced expertise in underground and surface drilling. For Swick shareholders, the proposed transaction will enable them to benefit from their ownership in the enlarged group, while also realising value of the Orexplore business in the form of a new ASX listing.”

Swick’s Managing Director, Kent Swick, added: “We have grown Swick to become the largest underground drilling contractor in Australia with a market leading position, defined by solid margins and established top-tier clients throughout the years both in Australia and internationally.

“There is a strong commercial logic in combining the DDH1 and Swick businesses and being able to offer our customers a complete range of high quality and innovative mineral drilling services from the discovery phase, through to mining and completion. I am very proud that the team at Swick have built a business that has been recognised and valued by another high-quality peer.

“While the transaction is conditional, and there are still additional steps to undertake, the board will continue to act in the best interests of Swick shareholders.”

Epiroc combines large diameter drilling with small platform on Pit Viper 291

Automation, Equipment maintenance, Explosives and blasting, Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining services, Mining software, , , , ,

Epiroc has introduced the Pit Viper 291 blasthole drilling rig at MINExpo 2021, in Las Vegas, today.

The large diameter, single-pass drill delivers productivity, application flexibility and enhanced operator safety with autonomous drilling options, according to the company.

Epiroc’s Pit Viper 291 is designed to tackle larger diameter drilling in soft- to medium-ground conditions. Capable of 279-311 mm diameter holes with 38 t bit load capacity, the new rig brings, Epiroc says, unsurpassed performance to any drilling operation and further extends the Epiroc Pit Viper range.

With Epiroc’s Rig Control System (RCS), the Pit Viper 291 can be configured with scalable automation features. Options like AutoDrill and AutoLevel or the optional BenchREMOTE package allow an off-drill operator to run one or multiple units. The Pit Viper 291 is also capable of fully autonomous drilling with almost no human interaction with the drill for improved mine safety and productivity.

The Pit Viper 291 takes the Pit Viper series to another level with maximised force and torque for greater drilling efficiency and decreased downtime, the company says. The drill rig offers 356 kN of pulldown capacity, 156 kN of pulldown force and 11,000 ft-lb of torque.

Adrian Speer, Product Line Manager, Blasthole drilling, says: “The Pit Viper 291 is the perfect combination of large diameter drilling on a small platform. With proven performance throughout different regions and conditions, plus advanced autonomous features, the Pit Viper 291 will further exceed any drilling production requirements.”

For ease of maintenance, the deck layout on the Pit Viper series offers convenient access to all major service components. Ground level, fast fuel fill connections are standard, and optional ground level live sampling is available. Spool valves are also centrally located above the deck for accessibility.

Along with the larger diameter capacity, the Pit Viper 291 offers more than 100 different options to configure the perfect drill rig for the specific application.

Sandvik enables fully autonomous drill fleet operation with AutoMine AutoCycle

Automation, Communications in mining, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , ,

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions says it is enabling fully autonomous fleet operation of multiple Leopard™ DI650i drill rigs from a remote control room with the launch of AutoMine® Surface Drilling AutoCycle.

The AutoCycle capabilities expand the iDrill automated drilling cycle with autonomous hole-to-hole tramming, path planning, obstacle detection and geofencing.

“With the growing demand for surface drilling automation, we have developed together with key customers our new AutoCycle capabilities to enable fully autonomous fleet operation through the drilling cycle,” David Hallett, Vice President of Automation at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, said. “These capabilities include hole-to-hole tramming without operator involvement for continuous autonomous drilling through the entire pattern. From a control room, an operator can oversee the autonomous operation of multiple surface drill rigs remotely, improving operational safety and increasing productivity and fleet utilisation.”

The Leopard DI650i iDrill automated drilling cycle covers all steps from boom positioning, drilling and pipe handling to finishing the hole, and ensures consistent high-quality drilled holes, according to Sandvik.

AutoMine Surface Drilling with geofencing functionality sets the drilling area where remote operation is allowed. The system prevents movement of the rig outside of the defined area. Autonomous hole-to-hole tramming enables automatic drill rig relocation according to the drill plan, with an operator assigning the hole sequence using a touchscreen interface.

The AutoMine obstacle detection system can automatically stop the rig and interlock tramming in case of detected obstacles in the stop-zone to avoid collision.

“The AutoMine Surface Drilling safety system is made according to international safety standards, providing functionality to operate the autonomous drilling system with peace of mind,” Sandvik said.

AutoMine Surface Drilling AutoCycle, together with iDrill intelligent sequences, increase efficiency and productivity through consistent and accurate performance as well as the operator’s safety and comfort.

AutoMine Surface Drilling offers scalable automation with three remote operation packages:

  • ‘Line-of-Sight’ package is optimised for quick setup when an operator remains close to the drilling area;
  • ‘Control Room’ package includes enhanced features for locating an operator away from the drilling area into a control room; and
  • ‘Autonomous’ package includes all capabilities to enable AutoCycle with a fully autonomous operation for a fleet of Leopard DI650i drill rigs.