Bits ‘n Pieces – The Driller’s Blog

One of the benefits of joining forces with Epiroc is that we get to share and combine our knowledge, expertise, products and processes. In doing so, we bring our customers the best products. Recently, this happened in our Montreal drill rod plant, in Dollard des Ormeaux (DDO). The engineering team is happy to report that a new phosphate treatment system is up and running. While this phosphate system is new to the Fordia plant in Montreal, it is not new to Epiroc. The process has been in place at Epiroc for quite some time, so it was important to implement the process at the Montreal facility.

A lot of changes can happen to a company’s product line over the course of a few years. Products get launched, retired, rebranded…. It’s hard to believe but it has been over 5 years since we launched our Mineral Exploration: Guide to Choosing the Right Core Bit. Since then, not only have we changed our product lines, but we merged them with Eprioc’s products, all with the goal of offering our customers the best products for the mineral exploration industry.

At this time of year, our teams are hard at work preparing for the world’s most important convention for mineral exploration and mining. While the pandemic has forced a lot of changes, PDAC will take place as usual, but in another form.

Finding reliable staff in the diamond drilling industry has always been a challenge. Many of the challenges we hear about from our customers involve problems with training. Some prominent drilling companies are investing in training of upwards of 100 employees per month and only end up with 10% of them moving the next phase of training.

The equipment needed for underground drilling is different than what you need for surface drilling. The main and obvious difference is that with surface drilling, you’re drilling downwards while when you are underground your boreholes can go up or horizontal. That means that you are often drilling with gravity working against you. To counteract the effects of gravity, you need equipment that can help you install in-hole equipment into an up-hole. A stuffing box is an example of that type of equipment and it’s great when you can find a stuffing box that gives you extra features.

One of the events we all look forward to with the start of each New Year, is the AME Roundup event, typically held in Vancouver, Canada at the end of January. This event kicks off the annual mineral exploration season and helps get us ready for PDAC in March. This year, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the drilling world, along with the rest of the world. It has forced our industry to find creative ways to continue doing business and AME Roundup is no exception. That is why we are happy that the event has gone virtual, allowing the global exploration industry to get together safely.

Happy holidays to everyone. The holidays are almost over, and the New Year is around the corner. By now, a lot of you will have received our holiday gifts and one of those gifts is a card game called the 2,000 Meter Club. Maybe it was the quarantine, but we got inspired and came up with an idea to turn a famous game into a core drilling version. Diamond drilling is not the most well-known of industries so it’s pretty great that there is now a game that was created just for you.

Drill sites can be found all over the world, often in some very remote areas. Getting equipment to these sites can be tough.  It’s always interesting to learn about the various methods of transport equipment suppliers and drilling companies use. Some of these methods may surprise you.

Diamond drillers can fall into a routine of using the same equipment over and over. Why not? If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. This is especially true if you are used to drilling in the same region where ground conditions may not vary all that much. However, you may then find yourself drilling in another part of the country, or the world, with conditions that require a different type of equipment.

Water swivels may not be the first piece of equipment that comes to mind when you think about diamond drilling. The rig, the rods and the core bit would likely pop in first. Yet the water swivel has an integral role to play in the drilling process. In surface drilling, the water swivels are responsible for delivering a sufficient amount of flushing fluid to the bit and for hoisting the drill rods in and out of the bore hole. They need to be reliable and you need to choose one with enough load capacity to do the job.