Bits ‘n Pieces – The Driller’s Blog

It’s all about the core. When a drilling project is started, the purpose is to drill and get a decent core sample. You may have to deal with a few challenges but once you’ve dealt with them the last thing you want is to lose the core because of wash out. Your core being washed out is most likely to happen when your ground is not competent, fractured, sandy or full of cobbles. Luckily, there are a few tips that can help you hold onto the whole core sample.

Deep hole drilling is a chance for drillers to strut their stuff and show they have what it takes. Most drillers consider a hole deep if it is deeper than 1,500 meters. At that depth, drilling is a little more complicated and extra care is required. It’s the time you step up to the plate and show your supervisor you can deal with increased load responsibilities. What you don’t want to do is mess up – the deeper the hole, the more money that has been invested in it. A mistake in a deep hole costs a lot of time and money.

Leaking equipment can have very negative results on drilling performance. It can impact your core recovery and prematurely damage other drilling equipment. You cannot always control a situation that starts down the hole so prevention is important. The drill rods are often the culprit but leaks can happen in your pump and other equipment as well.

Core recovery, and how to improve it, is a topic that comes up often in a discussion with field technicians. This is not surprising, since it is the purpose of diamond drilling and every driller and drilling company wants to be efficient and cost effective when drilling. There are several tips that can help you improve your core recovery.

Over this year we have done a few blogs on matrix troubleshooting where we have examined the different wear patterns on a bit crown. The wear profile provides clues as to why your core bit may be underperforming. By changing drilling parameters or making other simple changes, you may be able to improve drilling performance. Not long ago, one of our blog subscribers mentioned having problems with gauge loss on the outer diameter. Let’s look at some of the causes and some of the solutions.

In this blog, our last installment on handling core bits, we look at problems that can happen at the bottom of the bore hole when you’re adding or changing a new core bit. I always say that choosing the right core bit and bit configuration is one of the most important decisions you have to make to ensure you get the best drilling performance. You also need to make sure you handle them properly so that they get to the drill the ground they were chosen for.

Last week we looked at how experienced diamond drillers can get the best performance and longest life from their drilling equipment by avoiding common pitfalls in handling core bits. Often, core bits get damaged before they’re even used. You take the time to choose the right bit and the best configuration, so you want to get the longest bit life possible. Last week we looked at some problems that can happen above ground – this week we’ll examine common problems that happen all the way down, when you’re adding or changing a new core bit.

Experienced diamond drillers are always looking to get the best drilling performance and longest life from their drilling equipment. Sometimes core bits get damaged before they’re even used. After careful deliberation over choosing the right bit and the best core bit configuration, no one wants to ruin a bit before you start drilling. Let’s look at some problems that can happen above ground when you’re adding or changing a new core bit.

It’s been a while since we’ve done a blog on matrix troubleshooting. Core bits play an integral role in getting great drilling performance and many things can cause a bit to underperform. One of the best ways to determine what is off is to examine the wear profile of your bit crown and change drilling parameters if necessary. Today, we’ll look at burnt core bits, some of the causes and some of the solutions.

Losing equipment in a bore hole and having to go retrieve it is called fishing and no diamond driller wants go fishing. The equipment has become stuck, lost, or broken off but either way it is obstructing the bore hole.