Courtesy of Sandvik

While miners may be inclined to take a hands-on approach to production drilling, there are growing number of tools available to lend a helping hand.

Focused O
ptimizing underground production drilling means dif-
ferent things for different mines, but it has one thing in
common for all – minimizing the manual involvement in

drilling the drilling cycle.

Technology such as autonomous solutions or software can
optimize efficiency and productivity. However, Joe Dorian,
business line manager, underground drills at Sweden-head-
Modern technology is being used to quartered OEM Sandvik, observed that it can be more challeng-
increase the accuracy and productivity of ing to convince drill operators to use autonomous features than
it is to convince LHD or haul truck operators to use them.
underground production drilling “Due to the high level of precision required in drilling, oper-
ators seem to be more reluctant to let automation take over,” he
By Ailbhe Goodbody
said. “Convincing operators to use these intelligent features
can really improve operations.”
Sandvik provides a range of underground drills globally, as
well as digital offerings. Its iSURE (Intelligent Sandvik Under-
ground Rock Excavation) software produces data to optimize
the drill-and-blast cycle.
“iSURE allows a mine to get the most out of their intelligent
machines,” explained Dorian. “A lot of our customers opt for
Sandvik’s i-series drills, but many are still operating [them]
completely in manual. In some environments you can only drill
one to two metres at a time, so there is an opportunity to man-
ually correct your path after each blast, but it’s not an efficient
way to operate.
“When you start drilling more than two metres, you need to
make sure you stay on the drill plan so the tunnel progresses

46 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 15, No. 5

 drilling

efficiently. If you drill according to your operator’s eye, you can duced in early 2020, aims to digitize and automate drilling solu-
quickly end up off-track, wasting time and money. iSURE moni- tions. The program’s solutions include conversion to digitized
tors several data points in the tunnel to make sure each drill- touchscreen displays with drill analytics, a client portal, a digi-
and-blast cycle is optimized.” tal critical risks safety management system and hands-free hor-
iSURE users can also monitor and analyze drilling data, then izontal stacking rod handlers.
make improvements on drill-and-blast plane design. The Trailblazer team is also developing a narrow electric
Dorian said, “Canadian customers such as Newmont and hydraulic production drill, which features wireless control sys-
New Gold are achieving six-metre rounds successfully with the tems, digital feed and rotation sensory capabilities. “It has the
aid of iSURE software and drill execution through our fleet of robust power of electric hydraulic equipment without the bur-
drill rigs.” den of large-scale mining, a great improvement over costly nar-
Meanwhile, U.S.-based OEM Boart Longyear recommended row-vein ore extraction,” noted McLellan. “With the new drill,
enhanced driller training and optimizing bit designs to get the Major Drilling percussive teams will perform excavations as
most out of its StopeMaster hydraulic production drill. To narrow as 1.2 metres with technology and power typically only
ensure the best drilling performance, it also advised that main- available in excavations of 3.6 metres or larger. Testing is
tenance must be 100 per cent. planned for summer/fall 2020.”
Currently, there is no computing system to optimize drilling
parameters on the StopeMaster; all adjustments are accom- Optimizing production
plished by operators. However, the Helac rotary actuators allow Perth, Australia-based Minnovare’s Production Optimiser
the drills to pivot 360 degrees along the drilling axis for excel- system combines advanced hardware and software to improve
lent accuracy, while the Hercules Rod Mate centralizer allows production drilling efficiency and productivity underground.
for positive centring and simple operation. Mick Beilby, co-founder and commercial director at Minnovare,
Andean Drilling Services is using Boart Longyear StopeMas- said the company saw two fundamental flaws in the under-
ter drills at Alamos Gold’s Island Gold mine in Ontario, and SGO ground production drilling process – accuracy and accountabil-
Mining is using two StopeMaster drills at the Seabee mine in ity – and developed the Production Optimiser to address them.
Saskatchewan. Boart Longyear’s Production Drilling Services The system includes a cloud-based data repository that
division also used the StopeMaster at PureGold’s Red Lake mine allows for smooth data transfer between Production Optimiser
in Ontario. and the drill-and-blast design software, along with the Minno-
vare CORE (Client Online Reporting Engine) mobile applica-
The service perspective tion that allows the operator to interact with those digital
New Brunswick-based Major Drilling provides drilling and plans. In addition, the Opti-Box, a sensor fitted to the drill rig,
mining services worldwide, and its percussive-drilling experts provides accurate orientation information, replacing the mul-
advise mine sites to use evolved advancements in technology. tiple sensors and rotary encoders used on conventional orien-
“Now, with digital technology, drillers can program each cap tation systems.
individually into a logging system that will systematically initi- Smart Collar is a newer addition to Production Optimiser
ate the blast based on the programming,” said Rocky McLellan, that, in the event that the original marked collar is obstructed,
GM North America underground at
Major Drilling. “This cap will fire

Courtesy of Boart Longyear

based on the digital code given to it,
rather than a burn rate based on the
amount of product in each cap.”
Above all, Major Drilling advised
to never cut corners when it comes to
production drilling and blasting inno-
vation improvements. “Older, less
expensive products may seem like a
good idea at the date of purchase,”
McLellan said, “but they will quickly
become more costly when looking at
the total cost of extraction.”
Major Drilling currently provides
28 production drills at 16 locations
across North America. Most are in
precious metals mines, primarily
gold. One example is Hecla Mining’s
Fire Creek project in Nevada, a very
large, modern, mechanized mine with
extremely narrow veins and a wide
variety of layouts, where the company
is providing underground services.
Major Drilling’s Trailblazer inno-
vation program, which was intro- Boart Longyear’s StopeMaster hydraulic production drill is designed with both precision and ease-of-use in mind.

August/September 2020 • Août/Septembre 2020 | 47

Courtesy of iRing

iRing’s Aegis software includes a designer module that features 3D modelling and multiple perspectives of the ring plan.

allows the rig operator to precisely recalculate new collar posi- stope within seconds, and the Aegis Analyzer module, which
tions in real time. provides advanced blast simulation and modelling tools.
“[Smart Collar] enables you to recalculate digitally where “We’re trying to move towards allowing mines to predict
you should re-place that hole in order to end up at the same toe fragmentation based on how they drill and blast,” explained
point, which is something new in the industry,” said Ben John- Mark Sherry, president of iRing. “This includes the orientation
son, marketing manager at Minnovare. “Previously, drillers of the holes, the size of the holes, the explosives, the rock prop-
would have to use look-up tables and other means to be able to erties and the timing. That’s kind of the holy grail: if we can do
do that.” that, it affects everything a mine can do.”
Johnson added that understanding the impacts of blasthole The ideal fragmentation distribution could allow the mine to
deviation is an important part of optimizing underground pro- bypass crushing operations and reduce the energy consumed in
duction drilling. “Irrespective of the type of drill rig that you grinding operations, a very expensive part of the mining process.
use, that process deficiency creates the potential for errors “Essentially, we want to convert the blasting operation into a con-
before drilling commences,” he said. “That error propagates trolled industrial process that’s predictable and repeatable, so
through the length of the hole such that your planned toe spac- that mines can generate the type of uniform fragmentation they
ing is not achieved. When that happens and the stope is fired, need,” said Troy Williams, vice-president, software development
you either don’t extract the planned ounces or you recover at iRing. “It has benefits all along the lifecycle of the mine.”
more waste than planned.” iRing is planning to bring a purpose-built hardware probe
Northern Star, one of Minnovare’s biggest Production Opti- called Rocscan to market. “It’s designed to pick up in-situ back-
miser clients, has used the system at most of its operations in ground stresses in underground mines, as well as the dynamic
Australia and at the Pogo mine in Alaska. stresses involved with blasting,” said Williams. “We’re focusing
Minnovare’s Mississauga office serves the North American that probe on helping the mines collect the data needed to drive
market, which will be its major geographic focus in the next few our models.”
years. In recent months the company has developed a service Rocscan is also designed to be a safety instrument. An ear-
that allows it to deliver and implement its technology remotely; lier version was tested in a mine in northern Ontario. According
this has allowed it to continue implementation during the to Chris Preston, iRing's vice-president of research and devel-
COVID-19 pandemic as well as start delivering and supporting opment, an updated Rocscan unit “will follow stress changes
its solutions to areas like Latin America and Africa, where it that the mine experiences due to day-to-day blasting opera-
does not yet have a physical office. tions and will provide information as to how ore bodies may be
better sequenced.”
Improving blasting design The tests showed that the measurement of both static and
Ontario-based iRing’s Aegis underground ring design soft- dynamic stresses has benefits in allowing blasting patterns to
ware suite is purpose-built from the ground up for underground be designed more efficiently, meaning precise quantities of
drill-and-blast engineers. It consists of Aegis Designer, which explosives can be used. This can minimize, or even eliminate,
automatically generates a design for all the drill holes for a overbreak and dilution. CIM

48 | CIM Magazine | Vol. 15, No. 5