Bits ‘n Pieces – The Driller’s Blog

Geotechnical drilling is different from diamond drilling yet sometimes they can both benefit from the same piece of equipment. The Elepump KF-50M mud pump is a case in point. One of our geotechnical drilling customers recently used this great little pump and it resulted in a quick case study that provided three good reasons why geotechnical drilling companies should consider using a KF-50M pump and I’m going to share them with you here.

Geology is really tied to diamond drilling and although geologists are key players in drilling operations, drillers need to have a basic understanding of geology. The deeper the hole - the more that geological influences become complex. We wrote a blog a while ago on geology basics that drillers should understand. As more and more new drillers and helpers are joining the world of diamond drilling, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit geology and in particular, geological terms that drillers should know.

Let’s face it, core recovery is what it’s all about in diamond drilling – it’s the reason we are out there on a drill site. The more core that you are putting in the box, the happier your boss or the mining company will be. Not surprisingly, this is a topic that our field technicians get asked about a lot and that our subscribers say is a challenge. Read more about improving core recovery here.

Spring is arriving (at least in the northern hemisphere) and many drillers will soon be dusting off the BBQs, digging them out of the ice, and refilling tanks with propane in preparation for the new BBQ season. In a previous blog, we already covered how to grill the perfect hamburger, and we covered tips on salmon fishing so it only makes sense to look at how to grill a fish like an expert, once you've caught one

It’s not always the big pieces of equipment that can make or break drilling performance, the small parts that are sometimes taken for granted can play a big role in how profitable your operations are.

Case in point: core lifters. These small parts are a crucial part of core recovery. When you have a problem with your core lifters, you have a problem putting core in the box. That’s what happened with our customer in Brazil.

For the last couple of blogs, we’ve been looking at core barrels. A wire line core barrel typically consists of a double tube system that includes an inner tube and outer tube. We’ve looked at the parts that make up the inner tube assembly and the head assembly. In this blog, we will look at the parts of the outer tube and the role of each piece of Equipment.

Why are we spending a lot of time looking at this equipment? Because in order to maintain good drilling performance, diamond drillers should have a thorough understanding of their drilling equipment. With that said, let’s look at the components.

In an earlier blog, we looked at the core barrel assembly, this being the equipment that is used to recover core, and plays a very important role in the diamond drilling operation. The success of an operation depends on retrieving core efficiently and effectively. We looked at the parts of the inner tube of which the head assembly is a part. It is a complex part so it is well worth looking at it in detail.

In order to be able to get good drilling performance, diamond drillers should have a thorough understanding of their drilling equipment. They should be familiar with the individual pieces, their function and how they work together as part of the drilling process. The core barrel plays an important role as this is what you use to recover core. Today, most diamond drillers use wireline core barrels. A core barrel typically consists of a double tube system consisting of an inner tube and outer tube. You should understand the role of each piece in the coring system which we will describe below.

With PDAC now over, it is pretty clear to everyone that this is the dawn of a new economic upturn in our industry. While this is great news, it does bring with it the problem of trying to find qualified employees, a topic we covered in an earlier blog. Many of our readers mention hiring as one of their most pressing challenges.

We spend a lot of time discussing core bits and drilling rods as they are important parts of the drilling system. But there is other drilling equipment that we should look at as every piece has a role to play and is important in the overall drilling process. We recently looked at core bits and reaming shells, and in this blog, we will look at casing shoes and their high performance cousin, the crown shoe.