RUC and its technology partner, InSig Technologies, have successfully deployed their first remote controlled underground jumbo drill from surface.

The achievement, made with an Epiroc S2 Jumbo at the Dacian Gold-owned Mount Morgans underground mine in Western Australia, will provide the contractor with the ability to drill for longer and take better advantage of the dead time over shift change, it said.

“The technology, combined with long life drill bits and existing OEM technology on the rigs, such as auto drill, will result in massive gains in productivity, predictable drilling and more cuts per week,” RUC said. “RUC believes they could gain up to five extra cuts per week drilling in ideal conditions.”

The surface remote-controlled Epiroc S2 jumbo via a retrofitted bespoke control system represents “a first”, the company added. It follows the installation of a reliable underground Wi-Fi network at the mine.

In addition, InSig Technologies have already started development on conversion packages for the Epiroc Simba S7 and Epiroc Simba E7 platforms, RUC reported.

“This technology runs on the same universal network that is used for our communications, environmental monitoring, remote loaders and control systems,” the company explained.

“RUC would like to thank InSig Technologies for their continued support in advancing RUC’s vision of becoming the next-gen leader in digital mines and the most advanced mining contractor in the game,” it added.