Tag Archives: TBS Mining Solutions

Collar Keeper System exceeds expectations in latest Western Australia field trial

Explosives and blasting, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , ,

Aquirian Limited says its wholly owned subsidiary, TBS Mining Solutions Pty Ltd, has completed the final in-field trials of its Collar Keeper® System.

The field trials were conducted at a gold mine in the Mid-West of Western Australia, on a blasthole track rig in both wet and dry conditions. The trial included full production testing over the course of seven continuous shifts irrespective of ground conditions, it said.

Over the course of the trial, 254 production holes were drilled including 30 wet holes in difficult ground conditions where The Collar Keeper System eliminated the requirement for costly and time-consuming collar piping, according to Aquirian. In addition, the system achieved significantly reduced drilling time for the wet holes, seeing greater than 50% improvement in drill yield in these areas. Importantly, the system maintained full hole depth across all the holes removing the need for any re-drills.

“This post-drill hole quality represents a significant shift in operational benefit for the industry, removing costly rework in redrills and duplication of blasthole dipping throughout the drill and blast cycle,” the company said. “With the improvement in drill cycle times, drill yield and the elimination of re-drills experienced during the trial, it is expected the Collar Keeper System will make a notable impact on reducing CO2 intensity per drill hole produced.”

Just last month, TBS entered into a binding technology Memorandum of Understanding with MACA Mining Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of MACA Ltd, looking at collaborating on the development and commercialisation of the Collar Keeper System.

Greg Patching, Executive Director Business Development & Innovation, said: “We are again thrilled with the performance of our Collar Keeper System in a variety of typical drilling conditions. The system’s ability to improve overall drill time across the holes and, more importantly, deliver repeatable quality blastholes irrespective of conditions was fantastic.”

TBS has entered preliminary discussions with several clients for the Collar Keeper System with commercialisation to begin in the September quarter of 2022. The company is targeting implementation on 12-15 track rig units by June 2022, generating revenue of approximately A$125,000-$200,000/mth ($88,836-142,107) on an ongoing basis. The current commercialisation focus will target approximately 200 blasthole track rigs operating on mines (excluding quarries) in Western Australia alone, noting that thousands of these rigs operate on mines globally.

David Kelly, Managing Director, said: “This is a really exciting time for Aquirian as we work towards realising the commercialisation of the Collar Keeper System. It will not only make a step change impact on cost and quality for our customers, but it will also introduce a new and significant revenue stream for the company into the future.”

MACA to collaborate with Aquirian’s TBS on Collar Keeper developments

Explosives and blasting, Mining services, , , , , ,

Aquirian Ltd’s wholly owned subsidiary, TBS Mining Solutions Pty Ltd, has entered into a binding technology Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MACA Mining Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of MACA Ltd, related to collaborating on the development and commercialisation of the Collar Keeper® System.

MACA is an ASX-listed contracting group providing services to the mining and construction industries. It specialises in contract mining and crushing, civil construction and infrastructure maintenance, and mineral processing solutions.

The MoU marks a significant milestone in TBS’ strategy to develop and commercialise its exciting technology, Aquirian said. The support and access to equipment in an operating environment, provided by MACA, is a crucial part of the development, prototyping and testing of the Collar Keeper System.

This patent-pending system is a combination of Aquirian-developed, retrofittable drilling apparatus combined with its existing Collar Keeper. The technology represents a step change in managing blasthole quality and is targeted to provide a unique solution to a range of different blasting environments with global applications, the company said.

Greg Patching, Aquirian Executive Director Business Development & Innovation, said: “We are thrilled to partner with MACA, and it’s exciting to see our technology pathway take another key step forward in terms of development and commercialisation for our customers, their clients and our shareholders.”

The initial focus for the Collar Keeper System will be on mines in Western Australia operating with smaller diameter holes in challenging ground conditions, where high-cost and time-consuming collar piping is traditionally used.

The traditional method of collar piping has not changed in over 40 years and introduces hazards as well as, cost, time and quality issues, and poor blast outcomes for clients, according to Aquirian.

In addition, the poor blasting outcomes lead to further downstream costs in load and haul, and the processing of mined material.

Last month, Aquirian reported it had successfully completed the Stage II prototype trial of Collar Keeper on an existing drill rig operating in a hard-rock gold mining environment in the mid-west of Western Australia. The trial successfully tested fitment to existing drill rigs and delivered marked improvements to drilling rates and drill hole quality, according to the company.

TBS, under the MoU, will be responsible for all design, engineering, testing and management of the Collar Keeper System from development through to commercialisation. It will maintain ownership of all IP associated with the development of the Collar Keeper System and ongoing commercialisation control and management.

MACA, meanwhile, will provide operational and site support to TBS for testing and refinement of the Collar Keeper System from development through to commercialisation. It will also receive Foundation Customer status from TBS for the system, including preferred commercial terms for the system and associated products for a period of three years from the date of commercialisation.