Tag Archives: raiseboring

RUC Mining, Barminco keep Panoramic’s Savannah nickel restart plan on track

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Panoramic Resources says underground development at the Savannah nickel project in Western Australia is moving ahead as planned, with both its raisebore contractor and contract miner striving towards the ASX-listed company’s first half 2021 restart goal.

In a progress update, the company said mining contractor, Barminco, had completed the 468 m horizontal underground development drive, connecting with the vertical ventilation shaft to complete Fresh Air Raise (FAR #3) development at Savannah North, in late September.

Since then, specialist raiseboring contractor, RUC Mining, has been setting up the raisebore rig on the surface and installing the reamer head at the 1675 RL, which was developed to intersect into the existing FAR #3 raise.

“This complicated and critical task was completed safely and efficiently as planned,” Panoramic said on October 19. “RUC is tasked with the FAR #3 back-reaming, which commenced over the weekend and expected to be completed in the March 2021 quarter.”

A total of 354 m will be back reamed at a diameter of 3.85 m, according to the company. This is planned to provide sufficient ventilation to support future full-scale mining operations from Savannah North in line with the Mine Plan released in late July.

Managing Director and CEO, Victor Rajasooriar, said: “We now have a firm foundation to recommence underground pre-production development next month, to complete ventilation works for Savannah North and complete areas of capital development to lay further groundwork for a potential restart of operations. This work will be concluded towards the end of the March quarter 2021 and we expect to be in a position where the project is capable of being restarted in the first half of 2021.”

The Savannah Mine Plan outlined a mine life of around 13 years, with the majority of ore sourced from the Savannah North orebody. Average annual production for years 1-12 would be 8,810 t of nickel, 4, 579 t of copper and 659 t of cobalt in concentrate, with all-in costs for these years of $5.27/lb of payable nickel, net of copper and cobalt by-product credits.

Redpath hits Americas raiseboring pilot hole record in Quebec

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Redpath Mining says its raiseboring division has recently completed a record 875.1 m pilot hole at an underground mining operation in Quebec, Canada.

The record-breaking hole, carried out with the Redbore 90EX raise drill, was completed well ahead of schedule and broke through with an accuracy of 0.03% (260 mm) over the length of the hole, Redpath said.

“With this first phase of the raise complete, Redpath Raiseboring strengthens its own record for longest pilot hole ever completed in the Americas,” the company said, explaining the previous record of 845 m, also held by Redpath Raiseboring, stood for over a decade.

Once complete, this 875.1 m raise will be the largest, by volume, raisebore ever excavated in the Americas, and third largest ever globally, according to the company.

“As with all records, this fresh America’s accomplishment is meant to be broken,” Redpath said. “Redpath Raiseboring is nearing completion of a 1,009 m pilot hole slated for breakthrough toward the end of September, also in Canada.”

Alamos Gold to hit new highs after reaching new depth at Young-Davidson

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Alamos Gold says it has completed the lower mine expansion at Young-Davidson, in Ontario, Canada, with the successful commissioning of the Northgate shaft.

The lower mine expansion project was designed to boost underground production at Young-Davidson from 6,000 t/d to 8,000 t/d as the existing mid-mine infrastructure was replaced with the new lower mine infrastructure.

The project involved Cementation using large diameter raiseboring technology to establish the new shaft at Young-Davidson as part of an engineer, procure and construct contract.

Alamos Gold says the newly constructed lower mine infrastructure is larger, highly automated and more productive, with the transition expected to drive gold production higher and costs lower starting in the second half of 2020.

John A McCluskey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alamos Gold, said: “This marks a significant milestone for Young-Davidson and turning point for Alamos as we transition from a reinvestment phase to a period of strong free cash flow growth.

“I would like to congratulate the entire team at Young-Davidson for this historic achievement, which will unlock the full potential of the operation. With a 13-year mineral reserve life, large resource base, and significant exploration potential, Young-Davidson is well positioned to deliver solid free cash flow over the long term.”

In addition to the Northgate shaft (pictured), the underground crusher and conveyor system have also been successfully commissioned, Alamos Gold said. Mining rates are expected to ramp up through the second half of the year to 7,500 t/d by the end of 2020.

The mine produced 188,000 oz of gold in 2019 at mine site all-in sustaining costs of $1,047/oz, Alamos said.

Sandvik out to capture southern Africa market share with new Rhino 100 raiseborer

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Having helped Raising Australia slash slot-raise production times, improve productivity for its customers and significantly increase its own revenue, Sandvik Mining & Rock Technology’s highly mobile Rhino 100 ‘plug-and-drill’ raiseborer is ready to take southern Africa’s mining sector by storm, the mining OEM says.

The Rhino raiseborer, manufactured by TRB-Raise Borers in Finland but equipped with Sandvik tools and distributed by Sandvik, was developed in response to customer requests for a different approach to the raise drilling and blasting sequence, according to Sandvik, which says the Rhino 100 is a leap forward in mobility and drilling speed.

According to Saltiel Pule, Sandvik Mining & Rock Technology’s Business Line Manager for Underground Drilling in southern Africa, the key to the Rhino 100’s mobility is being self-sufficient.

“This unit carries all its own components, from rods and cables to hydraulics and the raiseboring head,” Pule said. “Pulled by a specially adapted double-axle John Deere tractor, no other transportation equipment is needed to move the rig.”

Together with fast set-up times and high drilling productivity, the Rhino 100 is an integrated solution that allows mines to meet ambitious drilling targets, according to the company.

“Outriggers stabilise the machine so there is no requirement for a concrete pad before setting up,” he said. “This means that the machine can be set up in as little as 10 minutes, compared with the few days it takes to cast and cure a concrete pad before use.”

He adds that no roof bolting is required either, as the Rhino 100 is equipped with an inclinometer that provides the operator with the necessary x and y coordinates, which the surveyor can confirm before drilling starts.

The Rhino 100’s productivity is further enhanced by its high drilling speed; with penetration rates of about 2 m/h, it can progress drilling at more than double the rate of conventional methods, Sandvik says.

“The rod-handling arm enhances health and safety underground, especially by preventing back and finger injuries,” Pule says. “By carefully manipulating and changing rods without them needing to be placed on the ground, the automated arm also avoids dust and rock chips getting into the threads. This helps maintain the workflow and keep the whole process running efficiently.”

The 52-t Rhino 100 – at 3.1 m wide and 3.4 m high – has been designed to fit comfortably into standard mine haulage, with easy mobility from one tunnel or stope to the next, the company said.

Judging by the number of enquiries from major mining players, Pule says the unit looks to have a promising future in southern Africa’s mining sector.

Record hole in progress at Northam Platinum’s Zondereinde: Master Drilling

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Master Drilling says it is in the process of drilling a world record hole at Northam Platinum’s Zondereinde platinum group metals mine, in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa.

The contractor has its flagship RD8-1500 raisebore rig on site at Zondereinde and is busy drilling the 4.8 m, 1,420 m deep hole at the operation, it said today.

Master Drilling said: “The project doesn’t just beat all previous drilling benchmarks, but also has very stringent accuracy requirement that requires the latest in Measurement While Drilling technology.”

While Master Drilling did not add any additional details in the news post, Northam Platinum said in its full-year results presentation for the year ending June 30, 2019, that planning and preparation for raiseboring the No.3 shaft at the Western Extension project at Zondereinde was in progress. It added, in a presentation last month, that pilot drilling for the raisebore was at 760 m.

Northam is targeting steady state platinum group metal production of 50,000 oz/y from the Western Extension, which it hopes to achieve in its 2025 financial year.

Master Drilling’s RD8 rig has been used at various mine sites across South Africa and is capable of drilling 8.5 m in diameter and over 1,500 m deep, the company said.

Rhino raiseborer has Raising Australia reaming ahead, Sandvik says

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The arrival of the Rhino 100 mobile raiseborer has seen Raising Australia, part of the Byrnecut Group, slash slot-raise production times, improve productivity for its customers and significantly increase its own revenue, according to Sandvik.

‘Slot raises’ play a crucial role in the development of many underground mines in Australia, Sandvik says. Created by raiseboring machines, these wide-diameter holes provide void spaces in the stope into which blasted ore can expand, improving fragmentation.

The problem is traditional raiseboring machines used to drill slot raises are cumbersome to transport and have high demands for labour and time, according to Sandvik. “It can take two to three days of preparation before drilling begins, resulting in potential bottleneck and delays in production.”

In 2014, a team from Raising Australia travelled to Finland to inspect the Rhino 100, developed by TRB-Raise Borers and distributed by Sandvik. Mounted on rubber tyres, the Rhino 100 could travel under its own power within a mine, required just one operator, and could begin boring within 45 minutes of arrival on site, Sandvik said.

Raising Australia initially went down the route of developing and trialling its own mobile raiseborer, but, in 2016, General Manager, Mark Hanigan, inspected the latest generation Rhino 100 and realised it was what the company needed, Sandvik said. After working with TRB to tweak the borer to allow for additional drilling angles, Raising Australia took delivery of its first Rhino in September 2017.

“That first Rhino went straight to [Saracen’s] Carosue Dam Operation, near Kalgoorlie, and it’s been there ever since,” Hanigan says. “The previous contractors were drilling 150 m/mth, and we have achieved up to 400-m-plus a month. Between October 2017 and December 2019, we drilled just under 5,000 m, so we’ve doubled their output.”

After the initial success, Raising Australia ordered another two Rhino 100s. The first arrived in August 2018 and was sent to Northern Star’s Jundee gold mine, in Wiluna, Western Australia. The next was delivered in October 2018 and has been a campaign machine, travelling to a range of customer sites. The company has since ordered a fourth and fifth machine, which are being delivered in 2020 and are expected to be immediately put to work on major mining projects, according to Sandvik.

One of these rigs was recently commissioned on a 36 m long hole at Gold Fields’ Invincible operation.

Hanigan says the impact of the Rhino 100 on Raising Australia’s business has been significant. “We have significantly increased our revenues since 2017 when we took delivery of the first Rhino, and we’re hoping the next two Rhinos will help us grow again,” he says.

“The benefits for our customers are also huge. It used to be drilling the slot rises that would hold up the development process. Now, they can bring the stope online when they want and not have to wait for the hole to be drilled.”

In fact, so fast is the process with the Rhino 100, one of the biggest challenges for Raising Australia has been convincing clients that it will live up to its promises, Hanigan says.

“Every time we get a new client, we will tell them how it works and what it delivers, and they will be sceptical. That’s until they actually see it and their minds are blown,” he said.

Jarko Salo, Managing Director for TRB-Raise Borers, says the positive experience of Raising Australia is common among Rhino 100 customers across the globe. In one case, a Brazil miner reported productivity gains of up more than 90% due to more efficient working techniques enabled by the raiseborer.

Salo attributes the success of the rig to the ground-up approach taken during development. The needs of underground miners inspired the creation of the first mobile raiseborer and TRB has continued to be responsive to feedback.

“Right from the beginning here in Finland we have listened very carefully to our customers and produced designs that fit their needs,” he says.

Mark Hanigan says the key advantages for Raising Australia are the time and labour savings the Rhino offers over conventional raiseborers. While it takes a team of two people between two and three days to prepare a traditional raiseborer for duty, a single operator can tram the Rhino into the mine and be drilling within a matter of minutes. As well as slot raises, the Rhino 100 can be used to drill ventilation shafts, drainage shafts, escapeway shafts, ore passes and back fills, according to Sandvik.

Another key advantage of the Rhino 100 is safety. With older-style raiseborers, the operator is generally in the open less than 5 m from the hole being drilled and must drill deep into the rock before erecting a muck chute, according to Sandvik.

“With the Rhino 100, the muck chute opens and closes,” Hanigan says. “You open it up, push through the rod, and when you’re ready to start drilling you can close the chute up. It covers the hole, stopping the dirt cuttings flying out and hitting the operator. The Rhino 100 also removes the exposure of the operator to the risk of flying debris as you’re 6-7 m away from the work area and operate from within a cab.”

Raising Australia has recently begun taking advantage of the plug-‘n’-drill feature of its Rhino rigs, according to Sandvik. This allows for the quick change of drilling modules to permit down-reaming or conventional raiseboring. The module attaches to the borer, allowing for drilling even when access to the lower level in not possible, according to Sandvik.

“We just finished the first hole with that module last week and it was magic,” Hanigan said recently. “It drilled a 1.1 m diameter escape way in one third of the time of a normal raised drill.”

Salo says he has been pleased to witness Raising Australia’s journey with the Rhino 100: “Raising Australia and Byrnecut showed great vision in understanding the competitive advantages that mobile raiseboring provides early on,” he says.

Master Drilling lays groundwork for record breaking hole

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Master Drilling is set to break a drilling world record having recently commenced collaring for a 1,420 m pilot hole at a South Africa platinum mine.

The 4.6 m diameter hole is being sunk as part of an expansion project at the mine. It will help lead to the development of a rock hoisting shaft equipped with steelwork, according to Master Drilling.

Master Drilling said it was using its RD8 raisebore rig for the project. This rig, which has been operational since 2015 and used at various mine sites across South Africa, is capable of drilling 8.5 m in diameter and over 1,500 m deep, the company added.

The current construction schedule at the mine indicates the holing of the pilot during the first week of May 2020, some eight months from the collaring date.

The previous longest pilot drilled to date was 1,180 m, according to the company.

TERRATEC helps bring fresh air to Buriticá gold project

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TERRATEC has celebrated the successful completion of a 300 m deep, 4.1 m diameter ventilation shaft at the Continental Gold-owned Buriticá gold project, in Colombia.

Peruvian mining contractor INCIMMET deployed a custom-built TR2000 Raise Boring Machine (RBM) to excavate the shaft in what TERRATEC said were challenging ground conditions. This put the machine through its paces during its first bore at the mine, the company said.

Located approximately two hours’ drive northwest of Medellin, Buriticá is a large high-grade gold deposit encompassing an area of about 75,000 ha in Antioquia. The mining complex, which is in the early stages of development, is Colombia’s first modern underground mine and was designated as a Project of National Strategic Interest by the Colombian government, in November 2015. When in production, it is expected to be Colombia’s largest gold mine, producing 253,000 oz/y of gold. First gold is expected by the end of the year, according to Continental.

TERRATEC said: “Arguably the biggest challenge for the mine development project is the area’s geology. Ground conditions at the Buriticá complex largely consist of andesite-porphyry, diorites and monzodiorites with intrusive hydrothermal gaps within the volcanic and sedimentary sequences. These mixed and fractured conditions provided a challenge both to the integrity of the reamer and the capability of this robust machine.”

Mineralised gaps, which are frequently associated with the development and alteration of clay minerals, required constant monitoring of the excavation and appropriate advance rates to provide good progress in this difficult terrain, according to the company.

“Not all raiseboring equipment is capable of working with such robustness in these conditions,” TERRATEC Regional Raiseboring Operations Manager, John Alejos, said. “Without doubt, this changing terrain is almost impossible to drill at such depths and such diameters. Only a team as strong as this, with the technical support of our on-site staff, is able to carry out such a task successfully and not without difficulties.”

Custom manufactured at TERRATEC’s workshop in Tasmania, Australia, the TR2000 RBM was designed for ease of operation and maintenance, while providing a high level of reliability. The unit is designed to “comfortably” execute raises of up to 500 m at 2.4 m diameter and larger ones up to 4.1 m diameter (of shorter depths), according to TERRATEC. It has a maximum pilot drilling torque of 42,000 Nm, a reaming torque of up to 209,000 Nm and breakout to 236,000 Nm. The maximum down thrust force is 665 kN with upthrust being 4,150 kN. The total installed power on the machine is 360 kW.

TERRATEC has numerous machines currently working in the Americas in Canada, USA, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Argentina. These include the company’s entire range of vertical mining drilling equipment, including RBMs, Down-Reaming Machines and Box Holing Rigs, as well as a combination of these in the form of Universal Boring Machines.

Barminco and Sandvik in mobile raiseboring world first

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Barminco, part of the Perenti Group, says it has become the first company globally to have taken delivery of a mobile raiseboring machine with uphole, downhole, and back reaming capability.

The hardrock underground mining services provider has been using Sandvik’s new Rhino 100 Mobile Raise Boring machine for 18 months in Ghana and three months in Australia, and has now added a module enabling back reaming capability to the machine.

The Rhino 100 is a fully mechanised and self-contained electro-hydraulic mobile raiseborer designed for slot raising in underground mining. Up until now, a back reaming module had not been used anywhere in the world on this rig, Barminco said.

Mick Radi, Barminco’s General Manager of Mining, said the new module – which had already been deployed at AngloGold Ashanti Sunrise Dam gold mine, in Western Australia – would enable safe, efficient upward and downward drilling providing maximum flexibility for clients.

“We are thrilled Barminco is offering a world first for our clients. The new plug and play back reaming module gives us the capability to quickly change from an uphole slotting machine to a conventional back reaming raisebore machine,” he said.

“The mobile carrier enables the Rhino to be totally self sufficient with no requirement for other fleet to assist in rig moves. Fast set up times and high drilling productivity is helping us to derisk our clients production plans and increase the certainty of meeting targets.”

Radi said the company had been successful using our Rhino 100 Mobile Raise Boring machine on its client’s sites in the Goldfields region of Western Australia and its plan was to keep the machine in this region where there is demand for this capability.

“The addition of this new module is just one of many ways Barminco is providing innovative solutions for clients, such as AngloGold Ashanti,” he said. “We have been working with AngloGold for 14 years and by providing this new capability we are helping them improve their operations to be even more efficient and safe.”

Bryan Watson, Manager Mining from AngloGold Ashanti, said the module was already making a significant difference on site.

“This new piece of equipment saves us time, is safer, and will assist us achieving production targets at Sunrise Dam,” Watson said. “We appreciate Barminco’s approach to working with us as a client to help us achieve more efficiencies on site.”

The down drilling module drills a pilot hole at 279 mm, up to a depth of 200 m. This can then be reamed to a diameter of 660 mm or back reamed to a diameter of 1.06 m. Back reaming can be achieved to a depth of 100 m with hole angles at a maximum of  15° dump, and 30° to either side from vertical.

The setup time for the machine is two hours, compared with a three to four day set up for a conventional raiseboring machine.

Master Drilling continues down technology path amid global uncertainty

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Master Drilling Group included details of its remote drilling technology, commissioning of the Mobile Tunnel Borer (MTB) and the first phase of its shaft boring system development within its latest financial results release.

Reporting “reasonable results” for the six months ended June 30, 2019, which included a 3.8% year-on-year increase in revenue to $70 million and a 5.6% jump in headline earnings per share, the company’s CEO, Danie Pretorius, said Master Drilling had worked hard on stabilising new operations and growing its presence in new territories.

“In the face of continued uncertainty and volatility, which has inevitably impacted on business performance, we have remained committed to our strategic journey of diversifying our presence across geographies, commodities and sectors,” he said, adding that the company saw new business opportunities in Russia and Australia.

Even with only a slight increase in earnings and revenue, Master Drillings new business pipeline encompassing all geographies remained “solid” at $297.1 million, the company said. Its order book totalled $198.6 million at the end of the period.

Pretorius added: “While political and economic factors continue to shape our operating environment, at Master Drilling we continue to spearhead technological development, stabilise our global footprint and explore new business opportunities. As a result, the business remains stable and well positioned to benefit from an improved global economic climate.”

Master Drilling, one of the largest rock boring and drilling services providers in the world, spends the bulk of its capital spend on capacity expansion, some of which has begun to yield positive results, such as remote drilling technology, the company said.

“Having completed testing of this (remote drilling) technology in South Africa, Master Drilling has successfully implemented it in Mexico and Peru,” the company said. The test in South Africa took place 3 km underground at AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng gold mine, the world’s deepest gold mine. This saw a raisebore machine operated remotely.

Meanwhile, the commissioning of the MTB at Northam Platinum’s Eland mine, in South Africa, is currently underway, with underground drilling having already commenced, the company said. This follows testing at a quarry just outside of Rome, Italy, last year.

The first phase of the company’s shaft boring system – a new shaft sinking system (reported on in the annual shaft sinking feature in IM September 2019) – is also in the process of commissioning, the company said.

“This bears testament to Master Drilling’s unwavering commitment to technology development and testing, which will continue to be a key focus during the remainder of 2019,” the company concluded.