Drilling is the process of creating a hole in a hard surface, specifically where the length of the hole is greater than its diameter. It&#;s an integral part of the mining process, albeit less dramatic than, say, blasting. 

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If you&#;re curious to know why mining couldn&#;t exist without this essential process, read on to discover five things that you may not know about drilling.

1. Drilling is central to mineral exploration

Every single mining project begins with exploration. This is the first stage, before any mining occurs, in which geologists and various other experts are brought in to identify &#;prospects&#; &#; that is, locations where significant concentrations of minerals have accumulated over many thousands of years. This step in the mining activity process is often referred to as &#;prospecting&#; or &#;surveying&#;.

Once a particular prospect has been identified, further exploration is required to determine some of the important characteristics of a mineral deposit, such as quality and quantity &#; and that&#;s where drilling comes in.

The ground is drilled to collect &#;core samples&#;: cylinder-shaped sections of rock that are extracted using what&#;s known as a core drill. These core samples are then placed in special boxes in the order in which they were extracted, so that geologists can conduct more detailed analyses to ascertain the types of mineral present, the different structural features, and the strength of the material.

While each core sample is usually only 55 millimeters or so in diameter, the core holes from which they are extracted can measure hundreds or even thousands of metres in length. Depending on the results of the exploration work, a decision will then be made as to whether the site is a viable location for a mine. If it is, the process of obtaining the millions of dollars of investment that is required to develop a mine can begin. 

2. Diamonds come full circle when drilling in search of minerals

Diamonds, one of the hardest naturally-occurring materials on earth, play an important role in exploration drilling. These precious stones are the key component of a core drill, where they are sprinkled throughout the drill bit. As the drill bit wears down, more diamonds are exposed, allowing the drill to continue cutting its way through the rock. Although these diamond core drills are not actually used to drill for diamonds, there is still a certain symbiosis to the fact that, after being mined, the stones are most likely to be utilized in the mining industry itself &#; when they aren&#;t being made into jewellery, that is. 

The diamond core drill was invented by the French engineer Rodolphe Leschot, who patented the device in the United States in . Its first practical use was drilling the blast holes used in the creation of the Fréjus Tunnel through Mont Cenis on the French-Italian border. 

3. Two types of blasthole drilling rigs dominate in the mining world

While diamond drills are typically used for collecting core samples, the blasting process (in which explosives are loaded into purpose-drilled holes) relies on blasthole drilling, and one of two basic methods: percussion and rotary drilling. Percussive drills chip away at rock by raising and dropping a large hammer bit into a hole and are known, quite descriptively, as &#;down-the-hole hammer drills&#;. 

Rotary drills &#; as their name suggests &#; work by rotating, allowing the sharp drill bit to cut into the rock. The grooves on the drill bit are designed to retrieve the separated sediment and rock from the hole, as the drill rotates. For extremely hard surfaces, a combined rotary-percussive drill is often used, which employs both actions.

4. Autonomous technology is revolutionising drilling

Autonomous drilling technology is a game-changer for the drilling process, making it safer, more accurate, and consistent. In Pilbara, Western Australia, Rio Tinto has been using an Autonomous Drill System (ADS) in its iron ore operations since and, as of August , the company&#;s ADS-enabled equipment had drilled more than 5,000 kilometres through the earth.

The technology allows a single drill operator to control multiple drilling rigs simultaneously from a remote location &#; even if the rigs weren&#;t all made by the same manufacturer. This enables the operator to work away from the dust, noise, and vibrations that come with the territory. In fact, Rio Tinto&#;s autonomous drills are operated from the company&#;s operations centre in Perth, more than 1,500 kilometres away.

But autonomous drilling isn&#;t just safer. The technology also enables each individual machine to operate at maximum efficiency, drilling more metres per hour than would otherwise be possible. An impressive capacity for data collection is another advantage. Analysing data from each autonomous drill gives mining companies access to valuable insights which can help to evaluate the ecological impact of their drilling operations.

5. Exploration drilling is identifying new mining opportunities in Zambia

Even though exploration activity in Zambia has dwindled significantly in the last decade &#; with a lack of long-term policy stability making outside investors far more circumspect about parting with the capital necessary to fund exploration projects &#; there are currently a handful of prospects in the pipeline. Some of these prospects have the potential to be converted into new mines &#; provided the investment environment is attractive enough.

&#;Autonomous drilling isn&#;t just safer. The technology also enables each individual machine to operate at maximum efficiency, drilling more metres per hour. &#;

Two such prospects are the Zamsort and Zaco copper projects in North-Western Province, in which Arc Minerals has a respective 66% and 72.5% shareholding. Once Arc Minerals had acquired interests in these exploration licenses, the company conducted a comprehensive airborne geophysical survey of the prospects in . This non-invasive technique measures the earth&#;s magnetic field, naturally-occurring gamma radiation from bedrock and soils, as well as electrical conductivity in the ground to allow the geology of an area to be mapped. Upon completion of the airborne geophysical survey, twelve target areas were identified. 

In mid-, a local drilling contractor was brought in to further test the identified prospects using diamond drilling rigs, and an initial 7,500 metre drilling programme commenced. The results of these drilling operations were revealed in February , and showed that at least two of the prospects had the potential to develop into significant sources of copper. Arc Minerals&#; share price went up in response and, in June this year, the company announced that its exploration programme is now fully funded, and drilling at both the Zamsort and Zaco projects will continue.

Could these projects eventually become Zambia&#;s newest copper mines? 

***

Drilling is an essential part of every mining operation: during the early blasting process, and further down the line, too, such as when entry and exit points for workers are drilled within underground operations. But, without the drilling for core samples that happens during the mineral exploration stage, there would be no large-scale mining operations to speak of. Likewise, the more exploration projects that are funded in Zambia, the more that mining operations can grow, and the bigger the role that drilling will have

See also: Five Things You Didn&#;t Know About Smelting

 

 

Increasing automation in the world of drilling machinery promises better efficiency and greater safety for workers. (Photo by Peruphotart)

The global economy faces significant challenges. With warnings circulating that the world could face a second recession in three years &#; the first in as countries grappled with the Covid-19 pandemic &#; the World Bank cut its growth forecast from 2.9% to 1.7%. President David Malpass said: &#;The deterioration is broad based: in virtually all regions of the world, per capita income growth will be slower than it was during the decade before Covid-19.&#;

It&#;s a sobering, if not unexpected assessment of the current economic climate.

However, in April , just weeks into the conflict in Ukraine and ahead of much of the economic turmoil, KPMG&#;s Global Mining Outlook report struck a more optimistic note. The standout line: &#;A global shift towards decarbonisation is continuing to drive growth and optimism in the world&#;s mining sector.&#;

By the end of , and despite the headwinds, that statement appeared to hold. Market research provider Technavio estimated the rare earths sector alone would grow at an annual rate of 83% to , ultimately being worth almost $5bn. With demand for minerals not likely to abate any time soon, and the mining industry holding fast a key source of growth potential, improving the efficiency and minimising the environmental impacts of mining processes has never been of greater importance.

Breaking ground

Earlier in the year Future Business Insights said demand for coal, rare earth materials and surface minerals were fuelling growth in the mining explosives sector, a trend amplified by a drive from governments to develop their own resources. A few months later it added the global drilling market was also recovering from the hit it took during the pandemic, projecting an annual growth rate of 6.9% to , as mining, by its very nature, remains reliant on the drilling subsector.

The process of digging or drilling into the earth to retrieve its subterranean bounty has for centuries &#; even millennia in its most rudimental form &#; been associated with mining. After all, what&#;s underneath the surface can only be accessed once that exterior has been compromised. It&#;s hard to get around the need to break the earth&#;s surface to get at what&#;s beneath it, so advances are largely the result of new technologies, most notably tools, software and other machinery, such as vehicles and drilling rigs.

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Furthermore, the techniques used, and as such the tools employed, are always changing, advancing far beyond anything likely miners just a few generation back might recognise, as the sector looks to optimise productivity and profits.

Drilling operations are costly, meaning any opportunity to introduce efficiency is warmly welcomed. Thanks to advances in software, automation and data capture and analysis some of the guesswork has been taken out of achieving the most effective mining operation.

Autonomous drilling means mine workers are less frequently required to be within harms way, significantly cutting their risk of injury, or worse. It also mean breaks, shift changes and other human workforce necessities are less of a consideration, improving efficiency and freeing up employees for other operation critical tasks.

Drilling down on innovation

In early September last year, the Swedish-headquartered Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, part of the Sandvik engineering group, announced it was collaborating with global drill automation specialists, Flanders, to develop a digital interface bringing together the companies&#; respective iSeries rotary blasthole drills and the ARDVARC autonomous drill system. The two said they hoped to have the first unit operational by the end of the year, although there has not yet been any word on whether this was achieved, at the time of writing.

The ARDVARC system is not new; in fact 126 systems have been deployed across 31 global mine sites to date, on 16 partner drill models. However, the growing desire among to automate drilling has seen the system, and others like it, grow in popularity. Flanders alone has been working with numerous drill rig and component manufacturers.

Just months before the news of the Sandvik partnership, Flanders announced it was working with Glencore&#;s Compañía Minera Lomas Bayas at its copper mine in the Atacama Desert, which annually produces around 75,000 tonnes of copper cathode. It said as part of the first phase, its technology would be used to automate two Caterpillar drill rigs and provide a dedicated wireless network as the facility progresses towards full automation.

Drilling rig at Glencore&#;s Compañía Minera Lomas Bayas in Chile. (Photo by Flanders)

Stating that the company had &#;high hopes&#; this partnership would allow it to &#;continue walking down this path&#;, the mine&#;s manger, Felipe Bunout, said: &#;This technology will allow us to increase the equipment utilisation and the precision of the drilling pattern and improve the quality of the blasting process and the whole process downstream.&#;

Not all about the software

Clearly, digitising drilling operations offers significant safety, efficiency and cost saving benefits; but it is not alone in advancing drilling operations. Sandvik&#;s DD322i compact drill, whilst also automated, has been warmly received for small-scale tunnelling.

The company said the versatile drill provides &#;a high level of performance, accuracy and reliability&#; thanks to its new carrier and design, and ability to &#;tram in small headings, tight corners and intersections thanks to its compact size, low profile cabin and &#;boom control while tramming&#; option&#;. This allows operators to simultaneously control the two booms while tramming, ensuring improved control when moving the drill and reducing potential risk of boom damage, Sandvik says.

It underwent product testing at the company&#;s Tampere test mine in Finland. &#;The site reported that almost 60% of their development drilling during the trial period was completed using Sandvik DD322i,&#; said Jari Talasniemi, product manager for development drills. &#;It performed extremely well from day one and the Boom Control While Tramming feature was useful for their operation.&#;

The test mine offers real mine conditions for research, testing and assessment of new products and services through its 5km network of tunnels and testing stations before market launch or customer delivery. It also houses training facilities and product showrooms. Available for use by all of Sandvik&#;s divisions, the site is an integral part of its rapid prototype testing and quality assurance verification process for underground equipment.

In just the last few months Sandvik has introduced the world to its Dino hammer drill rig. Epiroc released an automatic drill bit changer and South America&#;s Cobre Panamá took delivery of its ninth Epiroc Pit Viper 351 E electric drill rig. Manufacturers like Sandvik, mining companies such as Glencore, suppliers like Flanders and academic institutions the world over will continue to innovate in mining, and more specifically in drill and blast operations; developments will come thick and fast.

Despite the gloom there is hanging of global economies, as gears up drilling providers are predicting a healthy year of growth ahead. With growth comes modernisation; the only question now, how much further can drilling go? It remains to be seen what miners and their supply chains will deliver this year; one thing is certain, it&#;s sure to be exciting.

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