22 International Mining | APRIL 2021

In any discussion of blasthole drilling

autonomy, it makes sense to start with Epiroc

as in OEM terms it has been in the game the

longest and it remains the market leader with

the largest number of installed units across the

greatest variety of commodities and individual

customers – which in recent years have included

amongst others BHP South Flank, IAMGOLD

Essakane, Boliden Aitik, Antofagasta Los

Pelambres, Ferrexpo Yeristovo, Kirkland Lake Gold

Detour, Anglo American Los Bronces, Anglo

American Quellaveco and Bowen Basin Coal’s

Lake Vermont in Queensland, which was the first

coal mine to have two multi-pass fully

autonomous drill rigs working side-by-side and

are also notable in being operated by contractor

Thiess. South Flank as a project shows the

potential of the system – operated from BHP’s IROC

in Perth over 1,000 km away. At the heart of

Epiroc’s success of course in autonomous drilling is

its Rig Control System (RCS) command-control

platform, now on its 5th iteration as RCS 5. RCS 5

features new interfaces for operator awareness to

include seeing other Pit Viper drills on the pattern

and updated maintenance screens for remote and

onboard support. The new Drilling Data Screen in

RCS 5 features real time depth and penetration rate

feedback with histogram for easy in-hole monitoring.

Tyler Berens, Epiroc Automation Director,

Surface Mining told IM: “We have run both in

parallel and have just put in our last RCS 4

release before the transition to solely RCS 5.

RCS 4 got us all the way to an autonomous base

that could run remote drills from a long distance

away which was quite an achievement for a

control system that began development in 2010.

But ultimately a decade later we had to move to

a foundation that could take us to where the

autonomy roadmap and the customers needed

us to go in robotics and digitalisation supporting

the mine’s value chain. Hopefully RCS 5 will be

able to last us another ten years.”

So what exactly does the future

roadmap involve if automation is

already here? The core elements

like the Rod Handling System

(RHS), Hole Navigation System

(HNS) and Auto Positioning are

already entrenched. Now it is

more about the big picture. “We

see a lot of work still to do on the

data front in terms of connecting

the value chain with digitalisation

and robotics – especially the use

of AI combined with things like

real time analysis of everything

from the ore horizons being

drilled in terms of structure and

grade to machine health and the

maintenance side and the fleet of

drills working as a team to drill

out a pattern in the most efficient

way possible based on data

analytics. It is driven by Epiroc’s

6th Sense concept which is

broken into three layers that will connect the

mine value chain – Machine Automation,

covering the performance of the individual drill;

Process Automation where here we would be

talking about the most efficient way possible for

the team of units to conduct the drilling portion

of the value chain, and finally System Integration

– connecting the drill space to the outside

environment including traffic management, the

explosives and blasting teams etc.”

Over the past year Berens says RCS 5 has

been deployed in a number of projects including

retrofits of entire drill fleets, including

autonomous fleets running multi-pass patterns

using its AutoDrill 2 technology plus auto drills

in metals and coal and industrial minerals as

well as on electric cable tethered drills. Multi-

pass automation is now used in South Africa and

Making a first

pass

Paul Moore spoke to the OEM market leaders on their progress with full blasthole drill automation, plus the leading third party system tech supplier. Progress is now rapid with the market having evolved well beyond just early adopters

SURFACE DRILLING

Epiroc autonomous PV-271

Graph illustrating compound productivity gains with Epiroc Pit Viper automation. The values shown are from test partner sites so some variables that go into these outcomes are site dependent and individual site outcomes may vary

SURFACE DRILLING.qxp_proof 25/03/2021 11:49 Page 1

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SURFACE DRILLING

24 International Mining | APRIL 2021

as well as in Australia on both Pit Viper-235 and

Pit Viper-275 rigs. This has mainly been in coal –

showing the potential of automation beyond

metallic hard rock in coal which is lower margin

and higher speed.

Looking at relative progress in terms

automation over time – Epiroc recently did a

study on how continual rollout of this

technology since 2014 has related to fuel burn,

fuel per metre and what were the effects on

productivity. Berens says the effect has almost

been like compound interest – or as business

strategy advisor Jim Collins says in relation to

innovation, it is like continually building

momentum on a flywheel. As an example Pit

Viper drill automation between 2014 and 2016

added an average 19% extra production, another

7% by 2018 and another 15% by 2020, totalling

41%. RCS 5 is predicted to add another 12%

between 2020 and 2022. Incremental fuel burn

per drill over the same period on average

totalled 18%. Overall, Berens said that

automation since 2014 has now added the work

of a single non-autonomous drill for every four

autonomous drills.

Are the benefits greater for “new” auto drills

versus retrofits? “The reality is that retrofits

have to be part of any drill automation strategy

to give customers maximum value from existing

fleets. Going to RCS 5 is not intrusive and is

more focused on the control system rather than

any hardware apart from some processor and

graphics changes. On the drill, changes are

mainly in the cab apart from adding an absolute

encoder on the drill head to get much more

accurate depth measurement. But overall the

retrofit versus new auto drill tide is changing.

Pretty much all of the users that started with

retrofits are now coming back to us and ordering

new drills.”

Agile development has also become the

cornerstone of the Epiroc Pit Viper automation

program – instead of doing everything in-house

first and rolling out new products for the field,

changes are introduced and tweaked in real

applications allowing for less risk and better

product evolution with customer buy-in.

Is autonomous drilling also moving beyond

just the Tier 1 miners and contractors and the

largest pits to smaller mines and contractors?

“We are already working with a few big

contractors who like their mining customers

already know how to utilise drill automation to

its fullest potential. Others are still trying to find

Paul Moore caught up with Mason Biernat, Cat MineStar Solutions Drilling Specialist on its approach to autonomy in mining

Q Is the current automation program focused

on the MD6250 or is it now ‘available’ across

all models?

A The current Cat® MineStar™ Command for

drilling system is deployable on the MD6250,

MD6310 and MD6640 Cat drill models.

Caterpillar’s vision is to have all Cat drill

models leave the factory with a level of

automation following the example set forth by

the MD6250, MD6310 and MD6640s today.

Q The truck autonomy market has evolved

from “new” autonomous trucks to also

including a sizeable retrofit market – is

Caterpillar offering solutions for both new and

older already working drills?

A Caterpillar has a focus on interoperability for

drills. Caterpillar currently has a fleet of retrofit

large electric blast hole drills running under

Command for drilling in the field today. The

drills are made up of a fleet of legacy Bucyrus

49R and 49HR drills, which are known as Cat

MD6640s today, and P&H 320 XPC’s and P&H

120As. The Caterpillar advantage is having a

closely integrated technology solution on a Cat

machine, but we are also trying to deliver the

benefits of autonomous drilling and technology

to customers who may not own a Cat drill or

own a mixed fleet of drill models.

Q Does the system require MineStar to be in

place to be used or can it work with other

systems?

A MineStar is a digital ecosystem that is made

up of Health, Fleet, Detect, Terrain and

Command, where Command leverages multiple

aspects of the MineStar ecosystem. MineStar

Command for drilling system requires MineStar

Terrain, deployed on multiple drill OEM’s, to be

deployed at site. The Command system was

designed in a building block approach to allow

sites to implement drilling technologies at their

own pace. The first block in the autonomy

journey is having base drill automation

features such as Auto-Drill, Auto-Level and

Auto-Mast allowing the operator to start

automating the drilling cycle one button at a

time. The next layer is Terrain for drilling, a high

precision guidance technology enabling

operators to drill holes in the exact location

and to the exact elevation specified by the

plan, resulting in smoother, safer and more

efficient blasting. Terrain empowers mine sites

to better utilise the data coming from their drill

operations whether it be production and

performance information or specific geology

profiling information from Strata Recognition.

The next building blocks have a varying level of

autonomy depending on the problem trying to

be solved at site. Command for drilling offers

autonomy where the operator remains in the

cab and monitors autonomous drilling progress

while MineStar takes over as the operator all

the way to solutions where the operator is

offboard the machine monitoring autonomous

progress from a tablet device or from a Remote

Operations Centre. All of the additional

information introduced with autonomy is still

managed through MineStar Terrain thus

reducing the training and change management

requirements of existing Terrain users.

Q Is there still demand for teleremote

solutions at some sites or do you think most

will opt to go straight to autonomous?

A Certain application use cases may always

require some level of a tele-remote solution,

like the Cat Remote Operator Station, whether

the use case is to drill 100% tele-remote or to

use tele-remote in conjunction with an

autonomous drill. Tele-remote removes

operators from potentially harmful situations

and environments and a requirement for safer

drilling operations will always be present in the

mining industry. The drilling environment is

very volatile and sudden unexpected changes

in geology are commonly encountered while

drilling. Even minute changes in geology can

cause down-hole exceptions that are

challenging for an autonomous solution to

manage without the occasional remote

operator intervention. As automation and

autonomy evolve and become more intelligent

the need to completely control a drill tele-

remotely as an operator decreases.

Cat autonomous MD6250 at Mt Arthur coal mine in Australia

SURFACE DRILLING.qxp_proof 25/03/2021 11:50 Page 2

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SURFACE DRILLING

26 International Mining | APRIL 2021

where their role is in applying automation. In

basic terms if drills are more productive it

represents a more cost effective solution for the

customer. But their fleets are often spread out

across multiple sites, units may have to be

relocated globally on short notice, plus their risk

profile is completely different with short term

contracts often of only a few years. But we are

working closely with them to meet their unique

flexibility and mobility demands.”

Also to date the platform has been dominated

by the Pit Viper drills notably the PV-235, PV-

271, PV-275 and PV-351 models. What about

smaller DTH and top hammer pre-split and

production drills like the SmartROC D55 and

D65? Most mines have these as well as large

rotary drills for edge of pit contour drilling, pre-

splits etc. “Epiroc has recognised the need for a

more unified approach on this – we were two

separate divisions (Epiroc Drilling Solutions and

Epiroc Surface and Exploration) but since 2020

are now under just one Surface division meaning

there is now much more collaboration between

us in Garland and the crawler rig teams in

Orebro. We were already working together on

higher level strategy in our Surface Mining

Automation Centre (SMAC) but now it is at all

levels – as the market evolves, customers don’t

want a separate control room for Pit Viper and

SmartROC drilling rigs. We are already making

the same software updates for both product

lines, most recently around situational

awareness. Going forward for both portfolios we

want the automation customer experience to

look the same and feel the same.”

What about interoperability and being more

FMS agnostic plus retrofits on competitor drills?

Epiroc’s investment in ASI Mining is paying

dividends in this regard and tests are already

happening using a drill automation layer within

ASI’s Mobius command-control platform which

can potentially manage an operation with both

autonomous trucks and drills working together

with RCS 5. On compeitor machine retrofits it is

about bringing solutions to different situations.

Berens says: “In drill automation there is a lot of

harmony between mechanical, electrical and

control systems to allow you to get the most out

of the machine. And some of things we have

developed for years for the Pit Viper like

AutoRod change, you can’t just add to a different

rig design. So the short answer is we can do it,

but will only do it where we feel we can bring

benefit to the customer; and not to the point

where we are applying proprietary Pit Viper

design elements to competitor models.”

Lastly, the market is changing. Not so long

ago most RFPs for greenfield blasthole fleets

would want two proposed cases – one without

autonomy and one with. Today almost all just

want an autonomous ready fleet proposal. Plus

the level of questions is more involved – the

customers know what they want and aren’t

asking about basics. “Plus our predictions about

ROI results are more accurate, to some extent on

greenfield but very much so on brownfield. It

isn’t as much of a guessing game anymore as we

have so much existing data from multiple sites.”

Autonomous drilling downtime – what are the

causes? “To be honest most of the time it is lack

of work because they are so efficient and it takes

the rest of the process some time to catch up.

Sometimes this has come about because

customers have ordered the same number of

drills as would be required with non

autonomous to achieve the same production

whereas often with autonomous you can do the

same job with one drill less or even two less in

the case of a large fleet. And this is despite us

showing them what is possible in our modelling.”

Komatsu’s fully integrated approach Like the other global OEMs, Komatsu Mining

has recognised the surge in drill automation

interest and says it has been working hard to

deliver solutions for customers across its

product line. Sergio Li, Global Product Manager,

Rotary Drills at Komatsu Mining told IM: “Even

the mines that were not into automation are now

looking at it. I think you could say that we

passed the 'Early Adopters' phase, and it won’t

be that long before automation is commonplace

in blasthole drill fleets."

Li said Komatsu is now working flat out to

meet its customer needs on automation. The

journey started a few years ago on the 77XR

which is currently the most advanced model,

capable of full automation and teleoperation. It

can be equipped with high precision GPS, auto-

navigation, an innovative quadview camera

system, obstacle detection system and

geofencing technology. In H2 2021 the

autonomous 77XR (200-270 mm holes, can

operate with rotary or DTH bits) is set to be up

and running as a production machine at a

customer copper mine in Chile and will also be

commercially available by then. This will initially

be line of sight remote control with the

agreement covering a building block approach

from there to full automation within the next few

months. The autonomous capability of the 77XR

has already been tested at the Komatsu Arizona

Proving Grounds (AZPG).

Moving to the larger P&H 320XPC (270-444

mm), which is a cable powered rotary drill, the

initial thought was not to go down the full

automation route due to the electric cable

complications involved (such as handling the

cable when switching rows), but due to

customer demand in that direction, this drill is

also now being equipped with the same

autonomous capability as the 77XR though

initially just for single row. The mentioned

Chilean copper mine has also committed to

using an autonomous 320XPC drill going

forward. Elsewhere, there is also a project to

automate a 320XPC drill for an iron ore miner in

Brazil and that machine is already being

assembled to start operations. The 320XPC uses

the Centurion supervisory controller providing

direct integrated communication with motor

drives giving precise motor control. The recent

industry focus on carbon-neutral operations, or

net-zero strategy, matches well with Komatsu's

historical experience designing efficient and

sustainable large electric drills

There is also a further diesel track drill in the

line-up, the DTH ZT44 (114 to 216 mm). This is

the smallest drill is the range, designed for

mining applications and featuring dual engine

and compressor control settings, delivers

The Komatsu 77XR with full autonomy will soon be operating at a major copper mine in Chile

SURFACE DRILLING.qxp_proof 24/03/2021 11:12 Page 3

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© 2021 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, LET’S DO THE WORK, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Corporate Yellow”, the “Power Edge” and Cat “Modern Hex” trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

SURFACE DRILLING

versatility for production, pre-split and auxiliary

uses.

So, what makes Komatsu Mining’s automation

solution stand out versus the rest of the market?

Li states: "Customers that have trialled our

automation system on the 77XR have told us

that they appreciate its simplicity, the fact that it

is well integrated into the base machine, the

auto navigation is very smooth, not only thanks

to the base model having very low vibration and

a low centre of gravity but also the Auto Nav

itself is very intelligent. We have also put a lot

into the AI part of our Autodrill function, which

we now believe to be the best in the industry. I

would also say our ODS and how we have

positioned the LiDARs is very efficient compared

to other systems. They are seamlessly integrated

into the machine, not just Add Ons."

A note on MineWare, which is part of Komatsu

Ltd and of course has its own AI-based drill

automation platform, Phoenix AI, which is

compatible with all makes and models for the

retrofit market therefore allows Komatsu as a

group to have multiple options for example for

customers with older fleets and mixed fleets,

especially where they want to retrofit non-

Komatsu drills. Li commented: "As well as our

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Sandvik iSeries drills are also going autonomous, starting with the DR412i to be followed by the DR410i

SURFACE DRILLING.qxp_proof 24/03/2021 11:13 Page 4

APRIL 2021 | International Mining 29

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own technology within Komatsu Mining, we are

also leveraging the possibilities of Phoenix AI in

our market and our system development."

Finally, in addition to the 77XR and 320XPC

there is an in-between size class under

development, a diesel-powered rotary or DTH

model, which is soon to be launched and will

also be fully autonomous ready. This machine

can be configured for rotary or DTH drilling,

diesel or electric power, and single- or multi-

pass drilling. "Following our path of innovation

on drills, this new model will have similar

Dantotsu features that made our other models

well received in the mining market. This new drill

also represents the greater ability of Komatsu as

we differentiate ourselves on being able to

provide total solutions for customers."

Sandvik advancing AutoMine Surface Drilling platform Sandvik Mining & Rock Solutions has been

progressing on multiple fronts with its rotary

blasthole drill rig technologies and product line

over the past year, despite the pandemic.

Regarding the fully autonomous capable iSeries

drills, the DR412i stepped up a gear, moving

from tests at the company test quarry near the

factory in Alachua, Florida, to a mining customer

site where it outperformed some competitor

machines. A second DR412i was released to the

Minnesota Iron Range mines fitted with Sandvik

Rotary tooling– that unit set some new records

for the mine – including over 1,000 ft drilled in a

shift. Demetre Harris, Sandvik Rotary Drills

Division Product Manager – Automation told IM:

“It was also shown to be the most productive

drill versus the competitor models on site. It

utilised our new adaptive autodrill function

tailored to the site’s strata and ground

parameters. In general, we also find that our

chain feed design provides a very uniform

pressure which boosts productivity & and really

assists the Autodrill functionality to perform

well. That customer purchased a second unit

and is looking to buy more.”

Harris adds: “There’s a lot of interest around

the autonomous capabilities of our iSeries drill

rigs. In addition to the DR412i, a DR410i

autonomous rig is due to go to a minesite in

April/May 2021. It will start with teleremote

operation then be equipped with the same full

automation functionality as the DR412i.” The

autonomous capable DR412i Harris said is now

commercially available and discussions are

underway with a number of interested potential

customers. “Added to that most new tenders for

blasthole drills from mining majors are citing full

autonomy capability but also intelligent drills

and what that means in terms of data capture.

But autonomy is a big leap for many operations

– it can’t be done overnight. Sandvik works with

the mine to develop an implementation plan that

encompasses change management required on

operational safety, shift changes management,

how they maintain the drills, different prestart

processes and many other factors. Many are not

ready now but want the functionality for when

they are.”

Harris said its iSeries drills are interoperable

and work is being done to ensure they can work

with multiple fleet management system (FMS)

platforms to ensure the onboard analytics can

feed straight into the FMS. So far this has been

achieved with one of the major global FMS

packages which has been recently trialed and

tested. With others, work is still ongoing.

They also can work with different networks

but with minimum requirements – where a site

doesn’t meet these, Sandvik works with Rajant’s

wireless mesh technology to ensure the network

is sufficient – this is the same set-up used at its

own test quarry.

In terms of training for autonomous drill

operators, and training of IROC-based autodrill

controllers - the surface drilling teams have also

been able to learn a lot from what the

underground divisions have already been doing

for some years. The surface automation

capability is also still branded as an Automine

solution – referred to as Automine Surface

Drilling which covers both teleremote and

automated operation. Rob Ewanow, Marketing

Manager for the Rotary Drilling Division at

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions told IM:

“That is one of the things we will be

emphasising with AutoMine and OptiMine going

forward is the commonality between

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SURFACE DRILLING.qxp_proof 24/03/2021 11:14 Page 5

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SURFACE DRILLING

30 International Mining | APRIL 2021

underground and surface. But also the fact that

all these machines have the same Sandvik

Integrated Control Architecture (SICA) command-

control platform. This allows us to carry

underground capabilities to surface applications

more easily and also means an easier transition

for customers that already are familiar with how

SICA operates underground as they move to

apply automation in their open pit operations.”

The Sandvik rotary drills division based in the

US is also working much more closely with the

boom drills teams in Finland that develop and

manufacture the Pantera, Leopard, Ranger

crawler DTH and top hammer models.

Revathi continues portfolio growth & regional expansion India’s Revathi Equipment Ltd (REL) has already

quickly moved from being seen as an Indian-

centric supplier to one with a rapidly growing

global network, particularly in Africa. The

delivery of the company’s first autonomous

ready C650S blasthole drill rig which can

supplied as both a rotary (159 to 200 mm

diameter holes) or DTH drill (152-171 mm) and

allowing holes of up to 53 m depth, is still set for

contractor Basil Read for use in Debswana’s

Jwaneng diamond operation in Botswana was

delayed due to COVID-19. However, the first unit

was due to be shipped in late March 2021 as IM

went to press – it is the first machine which

FLANDERS is the leading non-drill OEM supplier of autonomous drilling technology to the global mining market with users from Roy Hill in Australia to Kolomela in South Africa. Paul Moore caught up with Manager of Product Development, Josh Goodwin and General Manager, Mike Lane

Q What factor does age play in terms of drills

being retrofitted in terms of making the cost

and delivered performance worldwide?

ML The conversion of drills to the ARDVARC

autonomous control system is a

straightforward task and will provide many

years of reliable service provided the machine

is in good initial and ongoing well-maintained

condition. Therefore, the age of the drill is

irrelevant provided it is fully functional,

operating correctly with consistent

repeatability of variables for given functions.

We often encounter used drills during the initial

drill condition assessment, where parts worn

beyond their ability to provide efficient

performance need to be replaced prior to the

introduction of the autonomous conversion.

Another consideration for the conversion of

older drills is the business case and particularly

the ROI for the investment or the driver for the

initiative. The motivation is not always as

narrow as that single asset, but for a greater

good. It is usual for an older lower performing

drill on site that is in less demand by

production, to be handed over for conversion.

This is typically used for initial trials of the

technology to provide the definition and project

documentation and hence the justification of

the large-scale rollout, including the essential

pillars for the introduction of autonomy of

People, Process & Technology.

Q Can you give some idea of how the

FLANDERS system today differs from previous

incarnations in terms of capability?

JG The Flanders system today compared to

previous incarnations is mainly around the ease

and use of the system making the machine

smarter and taking away the onus on the

controller. We have done this through

collaboration with our partners/clients to

standardise and improve our system design,

rewiring and changing the location of

components on the drill making it easier for

system techs and maintainers to fault find and

troubleshoot, plus utilising OEM sensors that

are less intrusive. At the ARDVARC Drill

Innovation Hub located in Perth, Western

Australia we are continually redefining the

boundaries of blast hole drill automation. We

draw upon the knowledge, ideas, and requests

from our 15 regional service centres around the

world, regularly reaching out to end users,

some 350 specialists in supporting

technologies both up and downstream of

drilling, actively contributing to enhancing

existing features and implementing new ones.

The collaborative development model has

provided progressive improvements towards

true Level 5 autonomy, reduction in cost and

duration for autonomous conversion, advanced

functionality that provides reduced running

costs & increased machine life, pen rates and

overall availability of the drill. Features such as

rod handling for multi-pass, auto bit changers

and data for measure while drilling are now

common expectations within a system. We are

experiencing greater interest for the software

interfacing API so that end users can acquire

drill data for asset health, blast technologies

and performance metrics.

Q Are a lot of customers wanting autonomous

capability on existing machines versus new

machines? What is the value proposition for a

miner to go with Flanders versus the OEM on a

new drill?

JG I would say it is still even between

customers wanting autonomous capability on

existing machines verses new machines,

though I would say more new machine

purchases are made with autonomy in mind.

The benefits to replacing the OEM system on a

new drill with the FLANDERS system is our

interoperability with other systems, our

capabilities and how agile we are in adapting

the system to meeting the customer’s specific

needs. We offer an open platform, if you like

the Android of surface drilling automation. Drill

and blast software packages can easily use our

drilling data plus we integrate to FMS systems,

such as on GPS location and time usage

modelling. It is an agnostic solution for

operators with mixed fleets, old and new. It

standardises a drill fleet onto one system which

is good for operators and for data collection

Many of the early adopters of the technology

have completed the conversion of existing drills

on their mine sites and we are now

experiencing a trend change for them to the

conversion of new drills released from the

OEMs yards into ours for fit out and

commissioning prior to mine site delivery. This

provides a huge benefit for end users to access

the drills away from the mine site in a

controlled and safer environment. Their

personnel receive the detailed and easy to

follow theory training in class, then out to the

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SURFACE DRILLING.qxp_proof 25/03/2021 11:51 Page 6

APRIL 2021 | International Mining 31

SURFACE DRILLING

adjacent workshop assisting us with the

conversion process to build their confidence

and familiarity with the various components

that make up the autonomous kit on the drills

they will eventually monitor and maintain.

The early and late majority technology

adopters appear to be in the early to mid-stages

of autonomous drill conversions to their

existing drills. This is done mostly on site, with

some exceptions of conversions being done

offsite for drills undergoing a mid-life rebuild

followed by an autonomous conversion fit out.

This is the best time to carry out the work, even

if the scheduled rebuild is brought forward, as it

ensures all mechanical functions are in good

operating order, required for a reliable outcome

and typically a wider trainee audience can be

reached without the distraction and demands

placed upon them whilst on site. Site training

often results in personnel being drawn out of

the classroom to attend urgent matters

resulting in knowledge gaps.

Regardless of the drill age, they can usually

always be automated to the latest technology,

and it is especially rewarding to see older drills

given a new lease of life, performing as well as

the newer models on the same drill pattern.

The Flanders ARDVARC autonomous drill

solution is OEM agnostic that is particularly

convenient for mine sites with a mixed fleet of

drills. Components are commonly available off

the shelf, support is available 24/7, the control

system is advanced and easy to operate and

drill data is openly shared with our clients

through a software interface.

Q Also among smaller miners and mid tiers

that may not want to invest in the network

infrastructure for full autonomy is tele-remote

proving itself in demand?

ML Where short-term contract work is

undertaken, it is the nimble operators like

Ozland, with a single centralised remote

operations centre that are operating drills in

teleremote, capitalising in this space. The

operator’s skillsets are specialised, deployment

is rapid and the communications infrastructure

being relocatable, is often included by the

contractor. The exception is onsite operators

using line of sight teleremote where external

communications is not effective to establish,

often due to available bandwidth in very remote

locations. As network communication options

are increasing and more providers emerging, as

expected we have noticed more competitive

establishment costs and ongoing fees

extending the benefits to more smaller miners

and mid tiers that would not have considered

this option in the recent past.

Q With the drill OEMs now also offering

retrofit, is the market getting more difficult for

FLANDERS and are the OEMs making their

latest drills less interoperable to prevent third

party solutions being applied?

JG There are a lot more players in the market

now which makes it more difficult, though it

means customers are looking more closely at

the systems to ensure that they fit and work

with all the other systems they have on site. Yes,

OEMs are making their latest drills less

interoperable but the ARDAVRC solution is open

to working with any third-party solution, be it

through a level of control or data transfer. Also,

in terms of the latest drills from OEMs, its easier

for us to convert them, as they are coming

autonomous ready, which means they have the

majority of sensors that we would generally

have to fit to the machine. As an example, the

latest Cat MD6250 and CAT MD6310 we have

auto equipped and converted in record time.

ML The larger drill OEMs are now releasing their

own autonomous drill solutions which is a

positive move for the industry and there are

several side-by-side comparisons in play now

with third party autonomous control system

providers against the OEM solution. The more

astute mine site operators conduct their trial or

study, assessed on overall value, not necessarily

the initial cost to buy the autonomous kit. There

is a tendency for the OEMs to do a package deal

for the drill and the autonomous solution that

does not always equate to good value.

Comprehensive feasibility studies extend into

important far reaching and often overlooked

factors such as prompt reliable local service with

direct access to specialists all-hours, replacement

cost of parts, nimbleness, and flexibility to

innovate, ease of use and transparency into the

system for interoperability and commonly used,

best in class readily available trialled and tested

components.

Autonomous blasthole drill at the Roy Hill iron ore mine, automated using FLANDERS technology

SURFACE DRILLING.qxp_proof 24/03/2021 11:14 Page 7

SURFACE DRILLING

32 International Mining | APRIL 2021

could lead to another five machines if it passes

initial trials. It will be deployed initially in line of

sight teleoperation then will proceed to

teleoperation and finally autonomous operation.

There is also potential in the region with other

customers such as Marung Development

Services (MDS), a Botswana company which now

has a contract at Debswana’s Orapa mine and

with whom Revathi recently signed a cooperation

agreement with regard to their future blasthole

drill fleet requirements with a lot of potential for

the C625H (114.3 mm to 203.2 mm) and C615H

(101.6mm to 152.4mm) DTH drills.

The C625H, with which it competes for

example with Epiroc’s FlexiROC D55 and D65

drills, is a good example of its robust offering.

Naveed Shaikh, Global Sales Marketing Manager

at REL said: “It is a compact surface drill

available in three formats – a standard

mechanical manual package, a digital version

with electronic control and finally an

autonomous version, like the C650 S using

FLANDERS technology. It is designed so that a

maintenance worker can easily access most

parts for service without any machine

dismantling. It is a very robust model which has

performed well in coal overburden as well as

copper and zinc mines.”

While large numbers of this model are

operating in India, Revathi has its first

international C625H order in place MDS in South

Africa which is due to be delivered in April 2021

with a second soon to follow – these are likely to

be used in diamond or coal mining operations.

This year the company is expecting to ship over

10 drills of various models to South Africa. In

Zimbabwe there is an REL fleet at Hwange

Colliery which has already been rebuilt so the

customer will require new drills going forward.

REL is also looking at expanding its range into

top hammer – largely due to very high demand

in certain sectors such as the construction

quarrying sector in the Middle East.

Elsewhere in the world REL has established

dealerships in Russia through St Petersburg-

based Trans Techno Market (TTM) which also

distributes cable electric Rudgormash drills in

western Russia and in Central Asia where it is

working through Eurasian Machinery in Almaty,

Kazakhstan, which is also a major Hitachi dealer.

In a number of markets, REL is also talking to

financial companies about offering blasthole

drill rental options to customers as demand for

this approach is increasing.

Revathi is also working on a new intelligent

drill monitoring system which includes

notifications to the drill owner and operator on

when new parts need to be ordered as well as

sensors monitoring parameters such as oil flow

and pressure which also flags up any issues

when set benchmarks are passed. The hardware

for the system is based on a collaboration with

FLANDERS and its FREEDOM for drills platform.

It has been included on the C650S for Basil Read

and the C625H for MDS. The intelligent system

will also be able to keep track of metres drilled

and reference this to daily, weekly or monthly

targets.

Revathi says it is improving its spare parts

offering by introducing an online portal to

increase the level of automation in parts

ordering. It is linked to REL’s in-house developed

inventory management system plus is also

accessible via an app which will allow service

engineers to put in a part number on their

smartphone while on the machine – see the part

description and what is the available inventory

level is both at their own facility and at the in-

country dealer warehouse as well. It will also

link to REL’s own supply chain starting at the

factory in Coimbatore and its new network of

distribution centres.

While automation and teleremote were

formerly not that interesting to customers in

India, this is changing fast, and recent tenders

from major miners like Tata Steel and Adani have

specified teleremote operation capability for

drills. “Safety is a much bigger concern today for

Indian mining groups first and foremost.

Secondly, with the machine drilling more

autonomously via remote operation, there are

fewer human operator related errors so the drill

is more productive. Third, the machine takes less

punishment in wear terms for the same reason.”

Plus India is mirroring the rest of the mining

world – young people prefer to work in cities or

if they are onsite, are more attracted to office

based roles as opposed to having to work 8 hour

shifts in the pit with the exposure to dust, noise

and vibration that this inevitably includes. It is

also a more productive approach as one

operator can monitor two or sometimes more

drill rigs at the same time and there are no shift

change related time losses.

The appetite for remote control and

autonomous operation of drills in India is also

increasing as more private operators are getting

involved in mining. Mining contractors are also

looking at new technology - as an example, Zyfra

Mining in Russia has supplied autonomous drill

technology to Thriveni Earthmovers for

retrofitting its existing fleet as part of a wider

digitalisation contract.

There is lastly an increasing demand for larger

blasthole drills in India to provide greater

economies of scale. REL in March 2021 delivered

a C850 machine which is capable of drilling 311

to 349 mm diameter holes and competes with

the Epiroc Pit Viper 351, P&H 320XPC, Cat

MD6640 and other machines. The customer is

Coal India division Northern Coalfields (NCL). It

is not the first REL drill of this size in India, there

is a sizeable fleet already, but it is becoming a

more popular choice. “Part of the reason why

our large drills like the C650, C750 and C850 are

chosen is their versatility, performing equally

well in soft limestone or mudstone overburden,

or in abrasive sandstone.”

The versatile C625H Revathi drill is now seeing a lot of interest and is included in its autonomy program

IM

SURFACE DRILLING.qxp_proof 24/03/2021 11:14 Page 8

For over 40 years, CR has been a world leader in designing and

manufacturing innovative mining productivity technology for both

surface and underground applications. With a footprint in every major

global mining region, CR is a leader in engineering innovation and the

manufacture of productivity-enhancing software. The company, which has

headquarters in the US and Australia, has two divisions: CR Mining and CR

Digital.

CR Mining engineers a suite of advanced products for both surface

mining and underground primary production assets, such as cast lip

systems and ground engaging tools (GET) for hydraulic excavators, rope

shovels, LHD and wheel loaders, as well as dragline buckets and rigging,

conveyor systems and fixed plant wear products.

CR Digital has a portfolio of technology for the optimisation of surface

mining, from blasthole drilling guidance and rock knowledge, to load and

haul circuit optimisation for excavators, face shovels and wheel loaders.

The CR Digital product range overlaps with the CR Mining range, with

advanced sensing of GET attached to these production assets. All digital

systems are underpinned by a suite of real-time analytics and open

integrations that turn highly accurate sensing into real-time operational

decision-making information.

Smarter Engineering With an approach to product engineering that directly focuses on

productivity outputs for customers, CR employs a scale testing method to

develop and test cast lip designs before they are sent to site. Using a 1:7

model of the same machinery, CR can design new lighter and smaller lips

via scale testing at their Global Technology Centre in Australia. Recently, CR

developed the RazerEdge RE1522 – the smallest cast lip ever designed by

CR suited to 100-140-t class machines. By developing the RE1522 product

through scale testing, CR’s engineers were able to engineer a product that

was both lighter and stronger than conventional plate lip installations

which improved cycle times, decreased dig energy and increased reliability

with improvements in maintenance and associated downtime related to

GET changeouts. By scale testing the product concept, the engineers were

able to test and tweak elements of the design to ensure the optimal

product had been developed.

Performance of the scaled designs are captured via CR Digital’s Titan

3330 Load Haul Optimization System, which provides real-time analytics on

bucket payload to assess the efficiency of the design before full-scale

development. The Titan 3330 system works by providing information to the

shovel or excavator operators in real time, allowing them to make decisions

to optimise bucket payloads to ensure each truck payload is as close to the

target payload as possible. By ensuing every truck is loaded to its

optimum point, the productivity of the overall truck fleet is maximised,

allowing the operation to consistently work at an optimal level. CR Digital’s

Titan 3330 also provides significant advantages in reducing damage to the

machine by providing information on how much stress and fatigue the

machine is under.

The integrated process collaborating Titan 3330 and Orion data analytics

to help evaluate data provided by the scaled models ensures that every

product is tested and productivity benefits are proven before they arrive on

a mine site.

Smarter GET CR has embraced the unification of traditional mining and industry 4.0,

with the intelligent integration of analytics and steel. The recent acquisition

of GET Trakka, a ground engaging tool loss detection system, propelled the

company into the forefront of smart mining. The GET Trakka product

package offers GET detection on and off the bucket alongside analytics

previously unknown to operators. Within the GET sits a rugged wireless IoT

sensor that provides all GET information back to the CR database. If the

GET is lost or broken whilst in operation, the operator is immediately

informed via the in-cab alarm module, safely preventing expensive

downtime events due to lost GET in the crusher. By upgrading current GET

products with intelligent analytics, GET Trakka is a gamechanger in the

integration of technology and tradition within the mining sphere.

With a strong history of creating innovative products and a focus on

driving productivity and performance outcomes, CR continues to test

designs and partner closely with customers to focus on delivering the

forefront of technology, revolutionising the performance of mining

equipment across the globe.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Engineering a productive and digital future for mining

INTERNATIONAL MINING PROFILES

APRIL 2021 | International Mining 33

bMHM

CR Building 5, Level 3/747 Lytton Rd Murarrie QLD 4172 Australia

+61 2 9418 5600

marketing@crmining.com

www.CRmining.com CR’s RazerEdge range was designed to improve productivity and reduce maintenance costs through the removal of weld on adapters

By upgrading current GET products with intelligent analytics, GET Trakka is a gamechanger in the integration of technology and tradition within the mining sphere

CR MINING PROFILE.qxp_proof 23/03/2021 15:07 Page 2

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