Perseverance Drilling, Underground Pty Ltd have developed a drill rig with both Top Hammer capabilities for Long Hole Drilling which in a 12 hour shift can be converted to a Diamond drill rig capable of drilling anything from multiple short grade control holes along a drive to longer holes up to 120m in length. Look in Equipment for a spec sheet
Over the years whilst working on small scale thin vein gold mines, the geologists have on many occasions asked us if the rig was capable of drilling Diamond Drill holes. Short diamond drill holes have always been the geologists preference to sludge holes, however they have had to settle for sludge holes as Diamond Drill core holes was beyond the capabilities of the rig. To solve this problem we have developed the Simba 157 MPDD. This rig was designed to be able to drill repetitive short diamond holes along a drive as are required in a grade control program. The rig can then be converted back to a long hole rig in one shift in the workshop. When we designed this rig we ran the diamond drilling control system parallel to the top hammer drilling control system, so either one can be functional.
The MPDD has been designed to drill repetitive short Diamond drill holes quickly with a single operator. Everything has been fitted onto the carrier to ensure that shifting between holes and setting up the rail is as quick and easy as it is when the rig is configured as a conventional Simba H157 Long Hole rig. The rig has been set up to allow a single operator to be able to safely drill short holes. The Diamond Drill LM 50 has been fitted to a diesel propelled DC4 carrier to ensure the rig is easily mobile. The rail is fitted with stingers to allow quick set ups. The drilling control panel is supported by an arm secured onto the boom, allowing the control panel to be carried by the boom as the rig is trammed between holes. The arm is raised and lowered by a hydraulic cylinder when shifting from one side of the boom to the other. The system has been designed to ensure that if required, a single operator can achieve good productivity safely when drilling these short grade control diamond drill holes.
The rig is also capable of drilling up to 120m holes. For a larger mine that can fully utilise a long hole rig, this rig may be used for longer diamond holes in addition to the short grade control holes.
In the past, mine geologists have often had to rely on sludge drilling to try to determine mineralisation or to determine if there are additional loads running parallel to a developed ore body. The sludge drilling has always had its limitations. Now with this Grade Control Diamond Drill rig the geologists get a far mare accurate picture of what is happening out in the region. To see some photos of the rig go to the Gallery.
