Bits ‘n Pieces – The Driller’s Blog

Some of the things that have made Fordia successful are our customer service and our willingness to listen to customers. Our goal is make driller’s’ lives easier and that applies to every part of their work life. Our new web site was recently revamped and one of the goals was to make it a better resource for our drilling community. How did we do that, you may ask?

Many of our blog topics come from real-life situations, either from reports on onsite visits or directly from our customers. They represent the types of issues that many of our customers are facing so we use these opportunities to explore possible solutions or explanations. This blog is about industry standards within the diamond drilling world.

Most of our blogs focus on diamond drilling, but occasionally we will delve into topics related to geotechnical or other types of drilling. In this blog, we are going to look at reverse circulation drilling, known as RC drilling.

Bore hole deviation is one of those things that occur despite all the preventative measures and precautions that diamond drillers may take. Deviations may occur due to equipment that is lost and stuck in the bore hole or it may be intentional because the geologist has requested a new trajectory. A deflection wedge is one of the oldest and simplest ways to steer the bore hole. There are other choices for directional drilling and you can read about them in this blog.

Our technical team in Northern Ontario had an interesting request a while ago during an onsite visit. The mining company they were visiting was a longtime customer with multiple mines. The mine was one of the largest in the world and a large player in the area. With a lot business already done, and an excellent relationship developed over 25 years, the customer would often consult with us when it came to anything to do with coring challenges. During this particular visit, they asked if we could come up with a procedure and the necessary tooling to be able to get core using unconventional drill rigs such as a jumbo drill or a bolter.

It has been a while since we did a blog on matrix troubleshooting where we examine the different wear patterns on a bit crown. By looking at the wear profile, you can get clues as to why your core bit may be underperforming. There are many variables that can cause a really good core bit to underperform. It can be a change in ground conditions, drilling parameter or simply a lack of experience.

In an earlier blog, I described an onsite visit and how it led to special sized diamond tools being built. This week I want to continue talking about some of the reasons our technical team may go on an onsite visit.

I often remind our readers that our technical team does onsite visits, but I’ve had a few questions about what they can do while on an onsite visit. There are many types of onsite visits. Sometimes, the team will address a particular problem like poor bit life, or poor water return. Sometimes they will instruct a drilling team how to use a new product, put on a mud school or do core barrel or diamond tool training. Sometimes, a customer simply has a good relationship with a member of the technical team, respects his opinion and may bring him in to pick his brain. I am going to start writing about some actual onsite visits starting with this one in Colorado.

Drilling parameters are really important when it comes to drillers achieving great drilling performance and long bit life. They help guide a driller avoid burning bits or damaging other drilling equipment. Diamond drillers have learned that there is a relationship between the drilling parameters and all others factors in drilling, such as the diameter of the equipment of you’re using, rock hardness or ground variability.

No one starts out as a diamond driller. Like many other industries, in mineral exploration, there is an apprentice-like job: the helper or the offsider, depending on where you are working. A drill rig is a powerful machine and no one is going to let an inexperienced employee take control of it without making sure they know what they are doing.