Tag Archives: RVDS

Raising Australia achieves Rotary Vertical Drilling System record at Wira Shaft

Base metals, Mine shafts and equipment, Mineral project development, Mining techniques, Precious metals, , , , , , ,

Byrnecut Group’s specialist raise drilling company, Raising Australia, has announced a new Rotary Vertical Drilling System (RVDS) record at the BHP-owned Prominent Hill operation in South Australia.

A total of 702.6 m of development over 324.19 hours makes the pilot hole at the Wira Shaft the longest single unit pass, top to bottom using a MICON RVDS, Raising Australia says.

The previous record set in 2013 was surpassed late last month as part of the shaft sinking project at Wira.

Byrnecut was awarded the Wira shaft work when the mine was under ownership of OZ Minerals – which recently became part of BHP.

BHP noted in its full year results to end-June 2023 that the Wira shaft mine expansion project was under construction. The hoisting shaft is expected to extend the mine life to at least 2036 and may provide access to potential mineralisation outside the current mine plan, it added.

The RVDS is a pre-programmable, self-steering device for drilling vertical holes. It consists of two modules integrated in the lower part of the bottom hole assembly between the drill bit and the first string stabiliser. A read-out unit consisting of a pressure transducer, an interface unit and a computer in the driller cabin complete the system.

In more than 450 projects around the world the RVDS has proven its reliability and accuracy, according to MICON, with, on average, the RVDS pilot holes deflecting less than 0.1% over the drilling distance.

Murray & Roberts Cementation hits the accuracy mark on Platreef ventilation shaft development

Explosives and blasting, Mine shafts and equipment, Mineral project development, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , ,

Murray & Roberts Cementation is helping Ivanplats deliver the Platreef project in South Africa through the provision of drilling services at the ventilation shaft.

The dual purpose use of the new ventilation shaft at Ivanplats’ Platreef project required extreme pilot hole accuracy, according to Murray & Roberts Cementation.

The vent shaft, or Shaft 3, which meets horizontal development at a depth of 950 m, also needs to be equipped with a hoist and rope guides to carry personnel in the case of emergency. The rope guides for the hoist require the shaft to be drilled vertically within tight parameters. According to Dirk Visser, Senior Project Manager at Murray & Roberts Cementation, this meant offering the client minimal deflection of the pilot hole using a continuous steering tool.

“Using the well-proven German-designed-and-manufactured Micon, Rotary Vertical Drilling System (RVDS), we were able to achieve the set parameters required for a rope guide installation,” Visser says. “The worst deflection was no more than 0.05% – or 452 mm – and, by the time we bottomed out, the deviation was only 0.02% or 226 mm off centre over a final drilling depth of 950 m.”

Micon’s specialised RVDS is a continuous self-steering tool working on a close loop system which steers the tool using two-axis gyro inclination sensors that activate the hydraulic steering system. It can determine in real time if there is any deviation from the vertical course, and communicate this information to the operator on surface via pressure waves in the drilling water by converting the pressure waves into information through transducers, according to the company.

The Murray & Roberts Cementation drilling team not only ensured accurate directional results, but also optimised the performance of the RVDS. By keeping an eye on key variables like voltage levels and water cleanliness.

Visser highlights that drilling to these tolerances with this highly technical equipment demands a very experienced team. On this project, for instance, the most ‘junior’ person has worked with the RVDS for 15 years, while another member has 28 years of experience in raiseboring.

Platreef is owne 64% by Ivanhoe Mines. A 26% interest is held by Ivanplats’ historically disadvantaged, broad-based, black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) partners, while a Japanese consortium of ITOCHU Corporation, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, and Japan Gas Corporation, owns a 10% interest in Ivanplats.

In May, Ivanhoe Mines said that underground development work had been focused on the vertical development of waste passes between the 750-m, 850-m and 950-m levels, and lateral development towards the orebody, as well as lateral development required for underground infrastructure on each level including access to the bottom of Shaft 3 on the 950-m level. Shaft 3, with a diameter of 5.1 m, is currently being reamed with approximately 150 m of 950 m completed to date, it said. Planned completion was scheduled for the December quarter of 2023.

Platreef’s commercial production is expected in 2024, with Shaft 2 now expected to be commissioned in 2027. The initial scope of the phased development plan is to fast-track Platreef into production, starting with an initial 700,000-t/y underground mine using the existing Shaft 1 and a new on-site concentrator. Platfreef, Ivanhoe says, is projected to be Africa’s lowest-cost producer of platinum-group metals, nickel, copper and gold.

Cementation, Sandvik and Micon achieve flexible raisebore-based sinking at Solvay Chemicals #5 shaft

Energy minerals, Explosives and blasting, Mine shafts and equipment, Mineral project development, Mining industry recognition, Mining safety, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Cementation Americas has announced the completion of the full faced raisebored raise at Solvay Chemicals #5 shaft in Green River, Wyoming, USA.

The project required the company to complete a 22 ft (6.7 m) diameter shaft, complete with concrete liner, from surface to a depth of 1,506 ft (459 m).

Concrete liner thickness increased as the depth of the shaft increased, so the initial concept was to complete a pilot slash raise with a raisebore drill and then slash from the top down to achieve the differing diameters to accommodate concrete liner thickness, the company explained. Cementation instead proposed a full face raisebored shaft solution with variable diameters for each section.

“We worked closely with Sandvik to design, engineer and manufacture a reaming head that could be diminished in diameter rather than manufacturing different diameters of outside wings,” Cementation said. “Final design allowed for five diameter options; maximum of 26.67 ft (8.1 m), down to 24.48 ft, in increments of 6.6 in (168 mm). The 26.67 ft. diameter reamer consisted of 12 individual sections, 46 cutters and weighed 136,000 lbs (61,689 kg).”

Following completion of 68 ft deep collar excavation and lining, Cementation’s Strata 950 Raise Drill was set up over the collar and a 16 in diameter pilot hole was drilled with Micon’s rotary vertical drilling system (RVDS). When the completed pilot hole was surveyed, the total deviation from vertical was found to be less than 4 in over entire length of pilot hole, according to the company.

Based on the pilot hole survey, it was determined that the first leg of the shaft would be reamed to 26.13-ft diameter for 588 ft of shaft, followed by 25.02-ft diameter for the next 285 ft of shaft and 24.47-ft diameter for the final 535 ft of shaft to surface.

Reaming of the shaft was completed on April 24 and the Cementation shaft crews are now in the process of completing the shaft lining.

This raise was one of the largest ever pulled in the Americas and was completed without incident, the company noted.

Its success was the result of a collaborative effort by all parties involved by providing the best technical solution for the Solvay Chemicals #5 Shaft, which is part of the company’s trona operations in Green River.

Pictured is the Solvay reaming head at the Sandvik workshop in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada