Coring issue 4

INTEGRITY. INNOVATION. INVOLVEMENT.

Issue 4//

Topic of the issue //

April, 2017

DRILLING FLUIDS

ISSN 2367-847X www.coringmagazine.com

Explorat ion

21 Questions // John MacPhail - Matex Control Chemical

Drilling Fluids // Combating Environmental Impact with Solids ControlAMC

In focus // Foraco International Safety and Customer First Culture

Mineral Exploration// Panasqueira Mine, Portugal Filipe Pinto Beralt Tin & Wolfram S.A

D ia mond

D r i l l i ng

extreme conditions superior performance Sandvik’s Diamond Coring Bits offer a superior product choice for extreme drilling conditions.

Balancing product life with penetration rates, Sandvik’s RZ400 series of impregnated diamond core bits are free cutting and increase productivity in soft, medium or hard rock conditions in surface or underground applications.

FIND OUT MORE AT MINING.SANDVIK.COM

/EDITORIAL

Dear Readers Another issue of Coring has arrived - and at a time when exploration drilling is recovering from a long industry slow-down. And that's not just a rumour! It’s a fact that, in many places in the world, the drills are literally running at almost full speed. Finally, companies and professionals can breathe again and look forward.

The drilling recovery has made our small team a bit busier that usual, but, between jobs, we've managed to finalize this issue. And, we have few announcements to make.

Firstly, we are introducing a 21 Questions follow-up feature. Our wide-ranging and thoughtprovoking interviews often raise questions, too, and now can ask the interviewee yourself.

Send your questions to us and, if we think they're of general interest, we'll pass them on and publish both the question and the answer in the next issue of Coring.

Secondly, we're proud to announce the launch of our diamond drilling catalogue on the Coring website. It's the world's only dedicated diamond drilling reference catalogue and includes over 200 diamond drilling contractors browse-able by country, manufacturer or service company and more. The regular inserts are free of charge and anyone can request to be included. The catalogue also features paid inserts for enhanced visibility.

Thirdly, we're similarly proud to announce that we've increased our list of subscribers by 200, bringing the total to 1,700 for this, the fourth issue. Coring is obviously both stimulating an interest and answering a need.

After the third issue went out, we decided to check our deliverability and get some feedback.

An email was send to our more than 500 subscribers, and, gratifyingly, we received an almost identical number of replies. Without exception, they were positive. It was truly inspiring to read all the supportive comments, and I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to reply - it is truly appreciated.

Enjoy the issue!

GRIGOR TOPEV Founder / Managing Editor CORING MAGAZINE

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

1

Table of Contents /NEWS & EVENTS

3 The latest in the industry

/21 QUESTIONS

4 Exclusive Interview with John MacPhail, Matex

Control Chemical /IN FOCUS

8 Foraco International - Safety and Customer First

Culture /DIAMOND DRILLING

12 The Boart Longyear GENUINE Q™ Wireline

System, by Christopher L. Drenth, P.Eng. Global Engineering Director, Boart Longyear

16 Controlled Drilling, by Laurie Cyr, diamond

drilling profesional /DRILLING FLUIDS

/CORING REPORTAGE

Coring Magazine’s target audience is drilling contractors, exploration companies and mining company exploration departments, service companies, drilling suppliers and manufacturers and anyone involved in exploration core drilling.

22 PDAC 2017 - Déjà-vu in Toronto

/MINERAL EXPLORATION

Coring Magazine is an international magazine focusing on exploration core drilling. The magazine aims to deliver fresh information, case studies, opinions, news and articles about drilling companies, products, projects and more.

18 Combating Environmental Impact with Solids

Control - Australian Mud Company, Imdex Group

Coring Magazine April 2017 Issue 4 ISSN 2367-847X

26 Mineral Resource and Reserve Evaluation in

Panasqueira Mine, Portugal, by Filipe Pinto,

Publisher Coring Media Managing Editor Grigor Topev

Exploration Geologists - Beralt Tin & Wolfram S.A

Editor Bob Chappell

/DIRECTIONAL DRILLING

Correspondent Africa Region Frikkie Van Zyl

29 Formulae in practice - Calculation of post-wedge

borehole trajectory, by Kiril Apostolov - BG Drilling Solutions /CATALOG

31 Drilling equipment and tools

33 Survey equipment /manufaturers/

33 Drilling services

2

Graphic Design Cog Graphics Printed by Dedrax Printing House Address & contacts Coring Media Ltd. 119B D.Petkov Str., ap.153 Sofia 1309, Bulgaria Phone + 359 889 53 26 53 Email editorial@coringmagazine.com Website coringmagazine.com Coring Magazine #4

/NEWS & EVENTS

News & Events Pro Explo 2017 The 10th edition of the International Convention of Prospectors and ExplorersproEXPLO 2017, organized by The Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers - will take place at the Sheraton Lima Hotel & Convention Centre, Lima, Peru, from May 8th to 10th this year.

Drilling contractors presenting this year will be AK Drilling International, Explomin Del Peru, Geodrill, Geotech, Xplomine, Redrilsa, Energold Drilling Peru. Manufacturers

presenting will be Boart Longyear, Coretech, Ingetrol, MBI Drilling Products, Minex Products and more.

ProEXPLO is one of the main geologicalmining gatherings in Latin America, known for its interesting conference program, the high quality of exhibitors and the participation of important exploration sector companies and professionals.

An industry first for structural logging Imdex is pleased to announce the launch of its industry first end-to-end Structural-IQ solution. The solution provides significant benefits to clients including real-time, secure access to verified structural data directly from the field.

Commenting on the launch of Imdex’s Structural-IQ Solution, the company’s Global Solutions Manager, Michelle Carey, said: “Our solution will ensure resource companies have confidence in data accuracy to make critical decisions. It will also provide clients with operational

efficiencies – key workflow processes will be automated and data can be provided in real time. Resource companies will be able to extract maximum value from their data while enjoying the economic benefits.”

Central to the Structural-IQ solution is the award-winning cloud-based ImdexHub-IQ which stores core orientation data obtained from the Reflex ACT core orientation tool and structural data from the Reflex IQLogger (pictured).

For more information, visit www.reflexnow.com

The CDDA 74th AGM and convention The Canadian Diamond Drilling Association’s 74th AGM and convention will take place from May 14th to 16th at the Ottawa Marriott Hotel in Ottawa, Canada.

The CDDA keeps its finger on the industry pulse and deals with government departments and agencies, both to keep diamond drilling contractors abreast of the latest regulatory changes and to lobby for the well-being of the mineral industry in Canada.

CDDA committees scan the world for information on technical matters and health Faster. Deeper. Safer.

and safety issues, helping the Canadian drilling industry maintain its position as a world leader.

The CDDA is extremely knowledgeable about the industry and can be contacted confidentially on any matter. If they do not have the answer to your question, they will be able to put you in contact with someone who does.

For more information contact the CDDA at office@cdda.ca.

3

/21 QUESTIONS

Exclusive interview with

questions

John MacPhail Grigor Topev: How did you get involved with the drilling fluid business?

John MacPhail, Owner, Matex Control Chemical John MacPhail has been in the drilling industry for 38 years, working in seismic and oil field drilling then moving through to mineral exploration with air drilling and diamond drilling applications. After 10 years of being at the controls himself and then field operations manager, John, together with his brother Jim, started a supply company in Calgary, Alberta, called Sphere Drilling Supplies, which became one of the first distributors of Matex drilling fluids and lubricants. The brothers sold their supply company and machine shop in 2006, and John is now the major shareholder of Control Chemical (1989) Corporation, travelling extensively and setting up distributors and promoting Matex products worldwide.

John MacPhail: I moved to Alberta in 1978 as a young lad and started working in the seismic drilling field. After a couple of years, an opportunity came up for me to move into mineral exploration drilling. I started off helping on the drills, and then moved to driller for a few years, and eventually on to overseeing the field operations. In 1988, my brother and I started a drilling supply company called Sphere Drilling Supplies in Calgary and became the first distributor for Matex Drilling Fluids.

GT: What is the story of Matex and how did you become involved with them?

JM: A gentleman by the name of Bob Coak of Calgary started manufacturing environmentally safe drilling lubricants and fluids in 1986, and I was one of the drillers involved in the field tests. I was very impressed with the vegetable-based RDO-302ES Rock Drill Oil - it out-preformed any of the petroleum products we had used. Besides being environmentally safe, the product gave us a much better hammer life, increased our penetration rates and eliminated hammer freezing issues.

I was so impressed that once I left the drilling side of the business and started out in supply, I found Bob and asked him if I could become a distributor of his products. That's where it started.

GT: What share of the diamond drilling industry market do Matex products have?

JM: We're not the largest manufacturer of drilling fluids in the market, but we pride ourselves on being more of a specialized manufacturer.

Our focus is on being the world leader in manufacturing environmentally safe drilling fluids and lubricants. You tend to find our products on more difficult operations with fault zones and so on.

GT: Can you tell us some more about your factory and its production capacity?

JM: All our products are manufactured at our 50,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Calgary. Over the last five years we have implemented computerised, automated systems for better control and accuracy in our formulas. We presently hold about 660,000

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litres of raw fluids for blending into Matex products, which are sold globally through a distribution network.

GT: Is the Canadian market Matex's biggest, and where else you have a strong presence?

JM: Matex currently has three personnel working with and supporting our distributors worldwide. We are a global company; the world is our playing field! Most of our products are shipped in 20 foot and 40 foot containers to distributors around the world. Regarding our 'presence', it depends on which industry we are talking about. In mineral exploration, we have concentrated efforts in North America, Mexico, Australia, South America, Europe, South Africa and other African countries, to name just few.

GT: Does Matex provide assistance with products and expertise for cementation jobs?

JM: We don't concentrate our efforts in cementation, because we don't supply cement products.

GT: How important is field technical support for the successful application of a drilling fluid program?

JM: We are very strong believers in educating our technical support staff. We have a 48-person classroom at our Calgary facility with real time glass mixing tanks. We had such success with it that we built a portable classroom known as Ted (Travelling Educational Demonstrator). So far, Ted and a Matex technician have been to Australia, South America, South Africa, and Ted recently made his way to Russia.

GT: Why are mud programs still neglected in mineral exploration drilling? Do you think the presence of dedicated mud expert on site would pay off?

JM: It's my observation there's a lack of education in the field. If we do not educate people who use our fluids, the programs can become very expensive and most of the time the products will be wasted. Just because a little bit of something is good doesn’t mean that more is better. As a matter of fact, it can work against you and cause you problems. For this reason, in difficult drilling conditions, if there isn't an Coring Magazine #4

Matex's training room in Calgary experienced mud man on your team, I would say a consultant would definitely pay for himself. Training takes a little time, but if we take the time to learn the fundamentals, we will achieve a lot more. It's no different to taking a few minutes a day for safety meetings; it can save us a lot in the long run.

GT: What's the most popular mixture of your products? Is there a universal recipe that can be applied in normal geological conditions?

JM: There's no one answer for drilling fluids.

We have our basic products to start from and build on-site programs from there. Matex has developed our DSPA product line as an easyto-mix product which covers most in-hole challenges. There are presently two DSPA products: DD Xpress for use in normal ground conditions, and Sand Xpress for more sandy, gravel and porous formations.

GT: What should drilling people know about polymers?

JM: There are many different kinds and types of polymers. I guess the best way to put it is: a polymer is not just a polymer. There are synthetic polymers and there are natural polymers. They all have their own purposes in fluids systems. A natural polymer is more of a thickener, whereas a synthetic polymer creates long strings or chains that bind together to create a viscous fluid capable of wrapping a core while also stabilizing the bore hole wall.

In most unstable formations, the longer and stronger chains the polymer creates the better.

There are many combinations of polymers out there, blended to perform certain duties in various formations. These blends will vary in price depending on the actual recipe.

At Matex, we tend to lean toward the longer, stronger, more expensive polymers, as we're looking for superior performance from our products.

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

GT: How can you distinguish the quality of drilling fluid additives? What are you looking for?

JM: The number one fluid is always the water! If you have bad quality water then you will have bad mud. Always try and get your water to a PH of between 7 and 9. This will save you money on any of your additives.

We all have go-to products that we were trained to use and are comfortable with. From there, as the formation changes in the hole we have to start to play with the fluids to try and overcome any down-hole issues we may encounter. At Matex, we say start at the top of the hole with a good mixture of lubricant, a good polymer and clay inhibitor.

It's easy to check your viscosity with a standard cup and funnel. If you check your viscosity and record your mixture right from the start then you know what you started with. Record keeping is important. Then, if you're achieving good core recovery, you know what mixtures you had. Check your viscosity periodically and do what we call a stringer test. You can easily do this using a strainer or even just your hand, lifting some fluid out of the tank and visually inspecting the strings hanging down. Look for long strong chains in your drilling fluid.

GT: Are there any innovations in the drilling muds industry? Are we going to see something new any soon?

JM: I think all drilling fluid manufacturers are continually trying to enhance the performance of their fluids. Blending is probably the biggest area for potential change. This industry is known for its ups and downs, which creates job instability and makes experienced personnel hard to find. So the more we as manufacturers can make our products user friendly, the better chances the contractor has of success.

GT: Besides the mixing ability with the water, is there any other difference be-

tween the dry and liquid polymer?

JM: Absolutely. There's a huge difference. You will always get more bang for your buck out of dry polymers versus liquid. As long as you have the systems on the drill to mix dry polymers properly, you're better off using them.

Dry polymers take a little longer to mix than liquid polymers, and as environmental regulations continue to tighten, liquid polymers are being used less and less, because they have a small amount of mineral spirits in them.

GT: What are the most common polymers used in drilling?

JM: Synthetic polymers are the ones most used in core drilling, because we're trying to wrap the core and stabilize the bore hole wall.

Not all formations require polymers - in some formations, you can get away with only using water. We do suggest however in formations like this to use a good environmentally safe water-soluble lubricant to keep the bit cool and protect the rods.

GT: What is DSPA and what's the difference between DSPA and other polymers?

JM: DSPA is a unique Matex blend. DSPA stands for dry suspended polyacrylamide. We worked hard on refining this product to address the problem of not necessarily always having experienced fluid personnel on site.

DD Xpress and Sand Xpress are both liquid and dry at the same time! They are proportionately correct combinations of our E.S. lubricants, polymers, clay inhibitors and stabilisers all in one pail, aimed at eliminating the misuse of polymers and associated additives.

When we blend this mixture at our factory, each dry ingredient is encapsulated in the E.S. lubricant, allowing each grain to properly unravel when mixed with water. It's important to have the right combination of product in the pail as each ingredient compliments the other. The idea behind these products is, if you 5

require a little more lubricant, add a little more of the “DSPA” Xpress product; if you require a little more polymer, add a little more; if you require a little more clay inhibitor, add a little more. Each ingredient in the pail enhances the others to its maximum potential. DSPA is the only liquid polymer that can be transported by air, as it doesn't contain any mineral spirits.

GT: What does 'environmentally safe product' mean, exactly? For example, can it be discharged into the nearest water resource?

JM: When we speak of environmentally safe products, we mean they are not harmful to the environment when used as per manufacture's recommendations. This can be quite a grey area. Too much of anything can be harmful to the environment, including naturally mined additives.

At Matex, we use only vegetable oils to manufacture our lubricants. We have tested our lubricants against industry standard products and they have proved to be better performers and much less harmful to the environment. These lubricants have often been used around lakes and other fish-bearing waters.

Fish have even been known to eat the vegetable oil with no adverse effect. There is no petroleum content in our lubricants. As for polymers, they're often used in waste water treatment plants before releasing the water into rivers. There is no one standard or benchmark for a manufacturer to meet, so we just do our best to provide environmental safety data when required.

GT: I don't see a rod grease among your products? Why is that?

JM: Matex doesn't manufacture or supply a rod grease, the reason being that we have a product called Torqueless. We start all of our fluids off with Torqueless. If you have the right amount of Torqueless in your fluids, you will not require a rod grease. As a matter of fact, if you are using rod grease in conjunction with Torqueless and you have circulation, Torqueless will remove your rod grease, totally defeating the purpose of the rod grease and

NEW

wasting you money.

Torqueless is an environmentally safe, water-soluble lubricant that adheres to rods and all metals that it comes in contact with. It puts a protective film on the rods and all other tools that will actually protect the tools from rusting when encountering brine or acidic water. You can even use Torqueless in salt water and still have no rust whatsoever. The only time we would suggest using rod grease in conjunction with Torqueless is when you do not have circulation at all. We would suggest applying some grease to protect the rods until the rods reach the in hole fluids. This way you should be protected from the top down and the bottom up. A lot of our distributors carry a rod grease for this very reason.

GT: What is your opinion of drilling with plain water?

JM: Let’s face it, in this business our aim is to recover the best core at the best price, and some formations do not require much in the way of drilling fluids. Sometimes the formation calls for more expensive products, and other times a contractor can do without additives altogether. We always say, do the math!

Whatever works for the lowest cost per foot or metre. Again, the suggestion from our side would be to use a lubricant. The same would apply to any type of drilling.

GT: Drilling with water loss is still commonly seen. Why are loss circulation materials neglected? Do you have any observations on the cost-effectiveness of such products?

JM: It is always best to have and maintain circulation if possible, but, yes, drillers can often drill with no circulation. The trick is to watch your torque and your core. This will tell you the type of formation you are drilling in. There are lots of experienced drillers out there who know what they are doing and how the formations will react to their in hole tooling and fluids. Cost-effectiveness is always at the top of a drilling fluids manufacturer’s conversation.

GT: Do you agree that we often drill through bad fault zones where drilling ad-

ditives don't really help and cementation is the only solution?

JM: All formations are certainly not equal.

We have to do what we have to do with local products that are available. Sometimes we have no option but to try and stabilize the formation with cement.

GT: Do you have a product that that can help releasing stuck rods?

JM: We have often used Torqueless to release stuck rods. Torqueless is an unbelievable penetrating oil as well as a lubricant. We always tell the drillers if they have stuck rods to try and get some Torqueless down the inside and the outside of the rods and then just let it sit there for sometimes 24 hours, as the Torqueless will climb up and down the rods. Hopefully we can get enough in there to free the rods.

We've had success like this even in deep hole drilling in the oil fields.

GT: What is the best way to calculate your fluid costs?

JM:There are many ways to calculate drilling fluid costs. Some people calculate the cost of the pail, some calculate the cost per mixed batch, some calculate the cost per metre, and so on. You have to look at what is giving you the best overall daily performance. When you calculate the overall daily drilling operational costs, your camp, including food, man-power, fuel and so on, is a few more metres per day worth the extra expense of a proper drilling fluid? What would you save if you could do the same job in 25 days versus 30 days?

GT: It looks like exploration drilling is starting to recover. Are you seeing any sign of that at Matex?

JM: Absolutely! We participated at the PDAC in Toronto again this year, and there was nothing but positive news from all the contractors that we had a chance to talk to, both at our booth and at other functions during the week. It's nice to be in the industry in another upswing.

GT: John MacPhail, thank you. C

If you have questions for John MacPhail, please send it to our email and we will publish the answer as Post 21-Questions interview in our next issue.

Contact us at editorial@coringmagazine.com

6

Coring Magazine #4

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/IN FOCUS

Foraco International

Safety and Customer First Culture

8

Coring Magazine #4

One doesn't normally think of France as a mining country, let alone the home of the world's third-largest mineral driller, Foraco International.

However, France is where the adventure started in 1962 when "Le Forage Rationnel", as it was originally called, was founded by Andre Lamothe, in collaboration with Rogers, an American geophysical exploration company.

Mining was tough in the early years, and Foraco, as it is now known, diversified into seismic drilling for oil companies, as well as water well drilling. Water well drilling became the cornerstone of Foraco’s expansion throughout the former French colonies of West Africa, where it still maintains a formidable presence. In the early 70s, Foraco co-invented reverse circulation and soon started to exploit this disruptive drilling technique, now used worldwide. At one time, Foraco even produced its own line of drill rigs, including the legendary SM 70, which sold over 300 units worldwide.

After several changes in ownership, the company was purchased in 1997 by the current senior management team of Daniel Simoncini and Jean–Pierre Charmensat, who refocused the struggling company on rural water development programs, most notably in the Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Chad and the Central African Republic. In 2005, Foraco launched a diversification strategy which resulted in the establishment of Foraco Canada Ltd in 2006. Foraco Canada quickly became a leading provider of drilling services to the North American mining industry, and this marked the beginning of a sustained period of international growth, with the company listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2007.

Soon after establishing itself in Canada, Foraco expanded westwards with the purchase of the Canadian assets of Connors Drilling in February 2007, followed by North West Sequoia Drilling in 2008, which was

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

renowned for providing high quality rotary, R/C, and large-diameter bulk sampling services.

In the middle of the 2009 financial crisis, Foraco Calgary and Lunel (France) collaborated on one of the most technically challenging bulk sampling projects in history, for Russian based Lukoil at the Grib diamond pipe in northern Russia. Over 3,500 tonnes of kimberlite were drilled from nine 24-inch diameter boreholes to 600m depth using a Foraco-designed BF 800 rotary drill. It was a good introduction to the Russian market, which later paved the way for the current ownership of Eastern Drilling Company in Russia.

Following its success in Canada, Foraco gained access to another key mining market by acquiring Mosslake Drilling Ltd. in Perth, Australia. Peter Jacobs later joined the company to manage the Asia Pacific Region including New Caledonia, a reliable homestead dating back to Foraco's earliest days. Encouraged by the success of its acquisitions, Foraco pushed on and acquired Chilean driller Advisor Drilling, with over 50 drills and some one thousand employees, its biggest acquisition to date. In 2012, Foraco cemented its position as a leading global drilling services company by acquiring a majority shareholding in Servitec, the second-largest mineral driller in Brazil, and 100 percent of John Neitzke Drilling.

Today, Foraco operates in over 22 countries with over 1,500 employees, and has

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a modern fleet of 302 drills offering a full range of drilling services, including surface and underground diamond drilling, air core, rotary, reverse circulation, rotary air blast, large diameter flood reverse, large diameter coring and, more recently, percussive long hole drilling and underground R/C. Offering such a diverse range of drilling services has helped Foraco weather a prolonged period of weakness in the mining exploration business, which has severely affected the industry as a whole. Yet Foraco has maintained its leadership role in the industry by adhering to its values of "Integrity, Innovation, and Involvement", which together define their “i3” corporate philosophy.

Australia has proved to be the source of a good deal of innovation. Encouraged by deep-drilling activity in Canada, Foraco Australia successfully drilled the deepest diamond drill hole on record, with a combination of directional drilling methods steering the hole to a depth of just over 3,011 metres. Finishing with N-sized core, the hole gave their customer unprecedented insight and invaluable geological information into

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what lay deep below an existing open pit mine.

Not to be outdone, the Australian rotary teams developed the first fully wireless, remotely controlled drill rig for operations in the Pilbara Iron Range, replacing all personnel on the rig without compromising productivity. At the same time, customers were looking for increasingly large core samples of iron ore as a means of improving recovery and enhance accuracy. Rising to this challenge, Foraco developed a set of conventional core barrels that delivered high-quality 9” cores from a nearly 13”-diameter hole.

Deep directional drilling is a strength Foraco has developed and refined over the years, primarily in the Sudbury Basin. Sudbury Integrated Nickel, a Glencore Company, and Vale Canada continue to explore this prolific region with holes up to 3,000 meters deep and countless wedges and branch holes. This has allowed Foraco to develop comprehensive best practices and train highly skilled and disciplined crews that truly understand the importance of following well-defined procedures. Not only is the integrity of the hole more secure, but every-

one goes home safely as well.

With the challenges presented by a cyclical market, the ability to share best practices and technology globally is one of Foraco's competitive advantages. Inter-company technology transfer and collaboration provides their customers with the advantage of knowing they can tap into the best practices of any Foraco region, be it large-diameter coring transferred to Canada or deep drilling technology from Sudbury exported to Brazil. And the sheer diversity of geological settings, terrain, climate, and cultures in Foraco’s world is staggering. This comprehensiveness defines Foraco.

So what is it like to work with Foraco? The drilling industry is all about people, and Foraco prides itself on being able to attract and retain some of the best in the industry.

Inspired by their “Customer and Safety First” culture and “i3 values”, everyone, from the rig floor to the most senior manager, is focused on meeting or exceeding customers’ expectations without incident. The result is a strong and satisfying relationship with the customer at all levels. C

Coring Magazine #4

SaNdVik SU Core BarrelS SaFer CoriNg SolUTioNS Sandvik’s multifunctional Surface Underground (SU) core barrel system is the first of its kind to feature interchangeable components. The system offers standard and pump-in applications in a single system for surface and underground drilling.

Sandvik’s patent pending iQ-FCV technology ensures positive latching and a safer working environment for operators, particularly in underground applications.

The user friendly design makes the BSU/NSU/HSU core barrel system the safest and most efficient solution for your coring needs.

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/DIAMOND DRILLING

The Boart Longyear™ GENUINE Q™ Wireline System

Full Hole Locking Coupling

Stabilized Locking Coupling

Christopher L. Drenth, P.Eng. Global Engineering Director, Performance Tooling, Boart Longyear

cable and lowered or pumped into the hole until it captures the head assembly, allowing the inner tube to be pulled or hoisted back to the drill rig by use of a winch or hoist.

Boart Longyear developed the wireline core retrieval system in 1958 and was the first diamond drilling exploration product manufacturer to offer this revolutionary system. The Genuine Q™ wireline system increased productivity on the work site and made tripping core from the bottom of the hole safer for the drilling assistant. However, Boart Longyear has recently made improvements to the system, significantly increasing reliability and performance.

The Latch Seat

Primarily, wireline systems require a sample-receiving inner tube completely independent to the rod string, while located at the bottom of the rod string, in the outer tube behind the drill bit. Mounted at the top of the inner tube assembly is the head assembly, which includes the critical latch mechanism required to hold the inner tube while receiving the core sample and to release the filled inner tube for wireline retrieval. A device called the overshot is attached to a wireline 12

In order to receive the latches deployed from the head assembly, couplings are inserted into the drill string to provide an enlarged interior opening or seat. In the original system, the latch seat was formed by mating two couplings. The first coupling, mated to the drill rods above the inner tube, is known as the locking coupling. The lower coupling, known as the adapter coupling, mates between the locking coupling and the outer tube, below which the inner tube is housed, and in turn to the reaming shell and drill bit.

The end face of the male end of the locking coupling serves as the load bearing face for the latch mechanism.

Unfortunately, all pivoting latch mechanisms require a significant amount of “play” or axial clearance in the latch seat to allow for the pivoting latch movement, which results in inner tube play and poor system performance in difficult ground. In fact, an inner tube with a wedged core, or an over-filled inner tube, can be sufficiently loaded up against the latch seat such that the latches are unable to pivot in retraction. This often results in a stuck tube, potentially requiring the costly retraction of the drill string.

In more recent Roller Latch™ systems, an improved integrated locking coupling eliminates the secondary joint and incorporates a mid-placed interior groove which serves as the latch seat. Additionally, roller latches drop away, eliminating the need for axial

play and improving system performance in difficult ground.

Primarily, the latch seat must resist the reaction of the full thrust load from the drill whenever the driller is pushing through difficult, “blocky” ground. That is to say, when the core sample temporarily sticks or wedges in the inner tube (or when the tube is full), the thrust in the drill string (weight on bit) is fully resisted by the inner tube, the latch mechanism, and the locking coupling. However, the seat has a depth of about a third of the drill string thickness, which limits potential load-carrying capacity.

TIP: Although inner tubes are made from precision, cold-drawn mechanical tubing, they are limited in hardness and wear resistance. Core samples with hard, sharp edges can quickly develop grooving on the interior surface of the inner tube which, in turn, leads to severe core wedging or jamming. Boart Longyear’s chrome-plated inner tubes are a very effective solution, ensuring maximum core recovery and productivity.

Latch Mechanisms and Locking Coupling Material The head assembly of the original Q system incorporated a latch mechanism consisting of a pair of pivoting latches, deployed by a wire “butterfly” spring and retracted by the impact with the bottom of a slot in the latch retracting case when retracted by the wireline overshot. Now obsolete, these latches had only 8mm (5/16”) thickness, which produced a very small mating contact area on the latch seat. This resulted in contact pressure and material stresses which often exceeded the strength of the latch seat Coring Magazine #4

when drilling difficult ground conditions. In some cases, the latch seat material would yield and allow the latches to push into the locking coupling, resulting in a stuck tube. At a minimum, the high wear rate of the latch seat was a maintenance issue.

In 1998, Boart Longyear once again secured its position as the leading innovator in wireline technology by introducing the patented Link Latch™ mechanism. This innovation virtually eliminated “stuck tubes” by providing mechanical leverage during wireline retraction, directly pivoting the latches into the retracted position, whereas conventional technology attempted to indirectly push the latches while fighting poor mechanical leverage and interference with the latch seat. Additionally, the latch thickness was doubled to 16mm (5/8”), which cut the latch seat contact pressure and stresses in half, improving wear life and reliability.

However, inner tube play is required for the pivoting latches.

In 2012, the launch of Roller Latch technology included a significant upgrade to all Boart Longyear locking couplings. Heat-treated, alloy steel material provided substantial increases in strength (40% increase) and hardness (wear resistance). This provided much greater thrust capacity and reliability in pushing through difficult drilling conditions, but also significant improvements for other locking coupling features as discussed below.

TIP: Originally, latches were treated with a deep furnace case-hardening (carburizing) for wear resistance which proved excessively brittle in difficult drilling conditions, occasionally resulting in latch failures. The Link Latch mechanism included a significant improvement in wear resistance and reliability with a harder and thinner case-hardening (nitriding). Roller Latch technology utilizes bearing-quality, through-hardened, stainless-steel rollers for maximum wear resistance and reliability.

Locking Coupling Wear Pads Situated at the top of the outer tube, the locking coupling can also act to stabilize the outer tube and reduce hole deviation. This is achieved through the addition of wear pads which act as a bearing surface against the drilled hole.

Boart Longyear offers two styles of locking couplings, “full-hole” and “stabilized.” While both are cut from the same high-quality alloy steel tubing material used for wireline drill rods, full-hole locking couplings have an oversized outer diameter with four equispaced flats that are cold-drawn along each Faster. Deeper. Safer.

length. While the annular area between the flats and the drilled hole provide passage for drilling fluid and cuttings, the oversized rounded portions are induction case-hardened to provide hard, long-lasting, abrasion-resistant wear pads over the body length. Full-hole locking couplings perform well in competent ground conditions where the hole is uniform and cuttings are fine.

Conversely, poor ground conditions can significantly limit drilling performance and cuttings circulation, or generate excessive drill string torque or feed requirements.

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TIP: Full-hole style outer tubes are also available to provide a significant increase in stiffness and directional control; recommended for competent ground conditions only.

Stabilized locking couplings (formerly known as “conventional” style) utilize sets of wear pads consisting of tungsten carbide-bearing materials. Tungsten carbide offers wear resistance that is orders of magnitude greater than that of hardened steel, providing a reliable, longer- lasting bearing surface than the full-hole style. Also, greater spacing between the wear pads, and in the annular area between the coupling body and the hole, ensures efficient passage of drilling fluids and cuttings in all ground conditions.

Originally, stabilized coupling wear pads were applied through a laborious manual process where welding technology was used to melt welding rods, consisting of tungsten carbide in a metal matrix known as “hard facing,” and bond the rod material to the coupling body. A large amount needed to be added to be able to grind back down to a reasonably sized flat wear pad, and the resulting shape was difficult to control, which degraded the capacity to pass fluid and cuttings.

In addition, an excessive amount of heat was required, which softened the steel body and weakened the coupling. On some couplings, hard facing was also applied to the latch seat face for wear resistance, but due to the manual welding process, this could soften the underlying latch seat to the point where latches could protrude through the seat under normal loads.

Again, the launch of Roller Latch technology included another significant upgrade to all Boart Longyear™ stabilized locking couplings. Laser cladding technology enables the precise application of wear pads containing a significantly greater density of tungsten carbide and with very little heat. Stabilized wear pads are provided in an efficient spiral shape, which promotes passage of drilling fluid and cuttings. Comparative laboratory wear testing has shown

3

Laser clad wear pad detail (1,2) and magnifed section showing tungsten carbide in matrix (3)

Quick pump-in™ roller latch™ stabilized locking coupling section showing latch groove and brake groove

Obsolete locking coupling with tang & hard facing wear pad detail 13

an improvement of over 10 times (testing to ASTM G65), which typically translates to more than double the wear life in the field!

partial extension of the male end shoulder which protrudes beside deployed latches. As such, rotation of the drill string will drive rotation of the head assembly in unison.

Locking Coupling and Head Assembly Interaction

TIP: When tripping the inner tube into the drill string, if the inner tube latches land on top of the tang, they will not be able to deploy. A quick jump of the drill string (i.e., a short, sharp retraction and feed), preferably combined with a quick partial turn of the drill string, will re-seat the inner tube with the latches deploying beside the tang.

While Boart Longyear has improved the wear resistance of latches and latch seats, abrasive wear is caused by their interaction during normal drilling operations. Significant relative rotational motion can occur between the Link Latch head assembly and the drill string when there is insufficient loading or mating contact friction. This can result in rapid wear between the latch seat and latches, as well as between the head assembly landing shoulder and the outer tube landing ring.

TIP: Wear between the landing shoulder and landing ring adds to the play of the inner tube, adversely affecting core recovery.

Landing shoulders and landing rings are reversible, allowing for easy extension of wear life and to minimize play.

Locking couplings for the Link Latch head assembly are optionally available with a small drive key or “tang” which is an integral,

Conversely, the patented Roller Latch mechanism is self-locking in rotation. As the rollers are centrifugally deployed, if there is any relative rotational movement with the drill string, the rollers are wedged between the locking coupling and retracting case to ensure the head assembly is always driven with the drill string. This self-locking action provides a significant increase in the wear life and reliability of the landing ring, landing shoulder, latch rollers, and the locking coupling latch seat.

Drill Rod String Connection Locking couplings include both a male outer tube thread and a female wireline

drill rod thread connection, in order to mate directly to the drill rod string. The outer tube is significantly thicker and stiffer than the drill rods, and is stabilized by the drill bit, reaming shell, and locking coupling wear pads. Conversely, the drill rod string is supported only by the formation, and is subject to significant dynamic loading as a result of drilling loads, vibration, and system harmonics. As such, the locking coupling connection is critical to performance in demanding drilling conditions, wherein the recently improved heat-treated material provides strength and wear resistance.

Boart Longyear’s proprietary Q and RQ™ wireline drill rod joints utilize tapered threads for easy make and break, and feature engineered thread forms, a precise interference fit, and a unique combination of heat treatments to maximize load strength and wear resistance. Boart Longyear facilities produce these precision thread connections to exacting global standards, controlled to a proprietary master gauging system. As is well understood across the wireline drilling industry, in order to avoid joint failures, never inter-mix genuine Boart Longyear drill rods, couplings, or adapters with products produced by un-licensed third parties. C

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Coring Magazine #4

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/DIAMOND DRILLING

Controlled Drilling

by Laurie Cyr, a diamond drilling professional

On days when it seems to take all the self control you can muster to keep your machine running, rods turning to the right, and actually get some core in the box, wouldn't it be nice if everybody just went away and left you to it! But no, there’s always more. It’s never enough that you just stood there and “took it” all day.

Nor should it be! Diamond drilling is a service industry, and this article is about the services we provide, not the saga of how we make it from seven to seven on those miserable days when your head hurts and the wind seems to want to blow up your backside!

As drilling costs rise, clients demand more from of their contractors. Where at one time the geologist would simply add a few degrees for every hundred feet or so of depth to arrive at the right spot and intersect his ore zone, now they tell you where they want to end up and ask "How do we get there?"

The introduction of downhole motors in the 80s opened the door to achieving near pinpoint accuracy by almost any crew. The biggest drawback to using a motor to direct a hole is the cost.

A downhole motor is really just a Moyno-type grout pump in reverse. The motor is lowered into the hole with a flat face bit on the end. The rod string is oriented to the tool face and the motor housing itself incorporates a bent sub, usually set in even increments from 0.5 to 2.0 degrees. High pressure, high volume water (about 100 gallons pre minute) is pumped through the string which causes the stator/impeller to spin while the rod string remains still. A series of calculations utilizing the bent sub angle, water pressure/flow, rock hardness, bit pressure and so on, along with a healthy amount of experience, allow the technician to aim the motor with a fair degree of certainty down the desired path towards the target. The better technicians will intersect their target within a few feet, starting over one thousand feet back from the ore zone.

It is pure genius in motion, and can permit a lot of drilling at depth that otherwise might not be done. In fact, the deeper the target, the more cost-efficient this operation be16

comes. There are cases of drilling a dozen or more branches from one original hole.

The drilling contractor’s first hole, on a program designed around utilizing a downhole motor, will likely be a vertical hole. If the ore zone is below 4,000 or 5,000 feet, that first hole will likely go straight down with H-size rods to somewhere near that depth. Then, a wedge will be set a thousand feet from bottom, the motor lowered and the hole turned to the desired angle and azimuth. The driller will drill to where they are confident of hitting the target, switch back to N-size core barrel, and core their way through to the target.

Once reached, they will pull again back, set another wedge, and make another cut. If there is something of great interest, they can pull back as little as 100 feet to get another look at whatever it is. I have seen as many as six holes that could not have been more than a few inches apart. If all these branch holes and parallel holes had to be drilled from surface, it just wouldn’t happen.

The odd thing is that all this happens because the motor is very expensive to use right off. Directional drilling with motor of this sort can drive the price per foot to the client up a lot, which is why many drillers never see it during their entire careers. Once it is being used, though, it becomes a very inexpensive way of getting more views of the same thing at a low price.

In a lot of cases, there are steps the drilling contractor can take to help the client hit the target without having to go to all this expense. Of course, the results aren’t going to be the same, nor will they be as mathematically predictive. However, we do what we can.

Before impregnated bits were developed, the geologists would put a drill on what they

called “controlled drilling”. The crew would be allowed to drill a maximum footage, say, 60 feet, during their shift, when they could actually drill 100 feet with ease. The idea was that if you didn’t push the bit, the hole would go straighter. This was definitely true at the time. A brand new bit, with its rows of raw, sharp diamonds all ready to go, would cut way faster than it would after the first 30 or 40 feet. The points would gradually wear down till the bit got dull and would barely cut at all. Then, it was pulling time again.

Even so, one crew could take the whole shift trying to squeeze those six runs out of the bit so they could have the rods pulled and a new bit going down when shift change came around again!

It's common sense that adding pressure beyond what is required to make the bit cut makes the hole deviate. You would also probably damage the bit by forcing it, smearing the diamonds into the face of the hole. If that was the case, then the bit wouldn't last as long as it should, resulting in less footage being drilled, exactly the opposite of what the driller intended. There’s always been a big difference between efficient and excessive.

Today, an impregnated bit can be pushed a lot more without exerting any extra pressure on the rod string. Contrary to the performance of a surface set bit, an impregnated bit may actually cut more feet with a faster feed. Note that I say “faster” as opposed to “”higher pressured”. An impregnated bit’s ideal drilling speed is just below where the bit will start to “dig into the rock” and destroy itself, almost like “burning In” an old surface set bit. This is especially true in harder formations where the bit will “polish” very quickly with a lighter feed. That point will be relative to things like rock hardness, bit RPM and mud flow rate. Note that I am not trying to be definitive with any of these paCoring Magazine #4

rameters, as everything is relative to the rock hardness.

It's very rare for a drill hole to steepen. It's much more common for it to flatten and turn to the right. In planning a hole and trying to calculate the angle to start it at, one should assume the hole will flatten by somewhat less than 5° per 100 feet. Any greater deviation than this will usually result in the rods breaking off in the hole while drilling.

Deviation depends on rock type. Rock that is hard and then soft will cause the bit to turn up while drilling. A drill bit always wants to follow the path of least resistance. If you are able to figure out the angle the bit is hitting the layers of softer rock, you will be able to forecast deviation much more easily. Also, a hole will come up faster once it does start to flatten; a -45° hole will flatten at a faster rate than a -60° hole.

So, having had a look at the lay of the rock, probably from drilling a hole or two and seeing the rock’s hardness, you can prepare to drill with some degree of deviation prevention. It is important to appreciate the difference between intending to have less deviation and having a downhole motor on site and using it to turn the hole. In our system, we are trying to keep the hole straight while planning the hole’s initial depth angle.

When deviation is a problem, there are several things one can do. The hole will turn up as there becomes space within the threads on the bit and reaming shell. This space will allow the bit to flex somewhat on the reaming shell, aiming it away from the hole.

Keeping these parts clean and well lubricated will reduce the wear which causes any space to be enlarged, cause more flexing, and so on. It is important to have a free-cutting bit, which will decrease the amount of pressure the bit needs to drill efficiently, and to maintain as constant weight on it as is possible. This is only possible by drilling as near as possible to the ideal parameters for each bit.

Beyond proper bit selection, there are choices one can make regarding the reaming shell too. This unit must be maintained in ideal condition or replaced when worn.

The more uniform and sharp the reamer is, the easier it will cut and less prone it will be to vibration, a major cause of deviation. There are reaming shells with double, triple, or even more rows of reaming pads/diamonds. It is important to measure this type of reamer for movement out of round. If it is out of round, it will vibrate and cause the hole to move. To prevent early wear, consider using an RSG (reaming shell gauge) bit. This bit will be very near the stated diameter of the hole, whereas a normal bit may be as much as .015” smaller than a reaming shell. The more the reamer has to work, the faster it will wear out.

After bit and reamer selection, it is important to have correct outer barrel configuration. Care must be taken to ensure the outer barrels are straight. A crooked, out-of-round core barrel will not want to drill a straight hole. Core barrels can be spun on a pipe rack and measured for roundness. If you can see it, it's too much. It used to be that if the barrel was more than .030” out of round, it was rejected. There isn’t any standard other than that they are supposed to be straight. Take it up with your purchasing department and come up with a number.

A 20’ core barrel will drill straighter than a 10’ one. A straight 20’ barrel can be used to bypass the hole from an incorrectly set Clapisson Wedge. If you are going to use 20’ barrels, be sure to have the adapter for joining them together fitted with carbide pads, like the locking coupling adapter sometimes is. If it is not, that 20’ barrel is going to be rolling around in the hole like a skipping rope. At one time it was possible to purchase outer barrels with 3 carbide rings inserted in them. These were admittedly very easy to get stuck in the hole, but held the hole very straight.

Then, after the core barrels, we come to the locking coupling and adapter. We have

already touched on these. Again, though, straightness is the key – that and reinforcement. Sitting that far back from the bit, these two pieces must have carbide or even diamond rings built into them or the whole unit is going to try to sit sideways in the hole when you push on it.

As mentioned before, this long, heavy, ornamented tool is very easy to get stuck in the hole. You must wash the hole at high volume for a few minutes before shutting off the water to retrieve the inner tube or it will, indeed, become stuck. Having everything stuck to the bottom in such a deep hole is a terrible feeling. Correct mud mixing, washing, drilling technique and so on, must be followed. If not, the hole can be as crooked or as straight as you want, it won’t matter.

However, if you do everything right, you will drill a hole that may be sufficiently straight for your customer that he will want to drill six more. Making the hole flatten is not difficult. Keeping it straight is the problem. Normally, a hole does not deviate beyond where the client can compensate with a different collar angle. However, it is near impossible to make a hole go straight once it has turned up.

It is unlikely that a driller will need assistance getting a hole to turn up when he wants it to, which is why I am not covering that in this article!

It is better for both the drilling contractor and the client not to require a downhole motor, at least in relatively shallow holes. Sometimes it is possible to prevent deviation and sometimes it is not. Note that the steps outlined here do not apply in very deep holes.

In a very deep hole, say 5,000' and deeper, it will likely be necessary to use a motor regardless of how straight the hole is. The client is going to want to turn the hole when he needs it done. He cannot be waiting for a hole to turn when it is at that depth: it will become counterproductive at some point.

That will be for him to decide, though.

In the meantime, happy controlled drilling! C

Contributing an article, case study or news item to Coring magazine is free and everyone is welcome to participate.

Contact us at editorial@coringmagazine.com

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

17

/DRILLING FLUIDS

AMCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solids removal technology offers an 89 percent reduction in water use and minimal environmental impact.

The SRUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reduced site footprint in Inca de Oro, Chile. The SRU is an increasingly popular choice for operations affected by environmental restrictions.

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Coring Magazine #4

Combating Environmental Impact with Solids Control

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Kilometres Town

PanAust Group Prospect/Project

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Smelter

Mine Operation

Tailings Storage Facility

As awareness about the impact of mining operations and the regulatory environment intensifies, resource and drilling contractors around the world are implementing new methodology to comply, while managing the efficiency and productivity of their operations. One of the biggest suppliers of drilling fluids to the global minerals industry has been able to offer solids control solutions that can address multiple problems within this area. AMC Drilling Fluids & Products’ range of Faster. Deeper. Safer.

Airport

solids removal units assists with the management of waste and solids control on site, optimizing performance of drilling fluids, as well as providing a number of environmental, economical, safety, and productivity benefits.

AMC’s Solids Removal Unit (SRU) is a closedloop solids control system that maintains clean, non-abrasive mud. The unit recycles drilling fluid directly from the drill collar. Fluid is processed initially by the SRU’s shaker screens, then through a specialised centrifuge, separating the drilled solids from the mud slurry and discharging them via a chute. Cleaned drilling fluids are then transferred to the active tank where the recycled mud is returned back to the drill hole.

Highway

Road

Railway

River Waterway

AMC’s award-winning solids removal unit range was originally designed as a modern alternative to the use of earthen sumps. For the initial development of the technology, AMC noticed their customers, particularly in dry or remote locations, were consuming large quantities of fluid, which diminished in properties while in sumps, and required excessive amounts of water. By eliminating the need to dig earthen sumps, the SRU eliminates all costs involved with installation and rehabilitation, as well as reducing the overall site footprint. The SRU’s mud system is contained in on-board tanks and piped directly to the drill rig and from the drill collar, minimising the risk of spills, leaks, slip and trip hazards, and ensuring there is minimal risk to the local wildlife.

Results from AMC case studies prove that the SRU units are able to deliver multiple customer benefits and savings that significantly outweigh the cost of the unit. A recent study of the AMC surface solids removal unit near the town of Inca de Oro in Chile, demon19

strated some of the strong environmental benefits which can be achieved. Over the 13 day drilling period, AMC's surface solids removal unit was able to save 698,000 litres of water at the open pit mine.

The mining site is located in the Atacama Desert region, near the town of Inca de Oro, a community of 400 people. Due to the remote location of the project, water usage and external intervention continues to be a huge concern for the locals, who are constantly dealing with water shortages and other associated issues. Using traditional methods, the drilling project would use approximately 780,000 litres of water, in addition to further expenditure and management for items such as transport to and from the drill site of pumps, traffic and personnel. AMC’s SRU achieved an 89 percent reduction in water use, successfully limiting water usage to only 82,000 litres during the 13 day period.

It was important to address the Inca de Oro community' concern that the operation would be clean and would not pollute or have any other adverse environmental impact. Once the exploration stage of the project was finished, the hole was sealed with a clean closure. As opposed to the sump method, the SRU creates drier, lighter cuttings as waste. Cuttings with high water content are heavier, have larger volumes, are more costly to transport, and run a high

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risk of environmental impact. The cuttings produced from the SRU’s separating process were correctly disposed of, with no spills due to overflows, no surface mud leaks, no visual pollution and, most convincingly, the working surface was not altered.

On site, the unit provided a clean mud system with a high percentage of retained polymers, which were recycled within the closed-loop system, allowing the client to reduce overall mud consumption. Prior to using the SRU, the average cost for mud and additives using the sump method was USD$9.00 per metre drilled. With the SRU, associated additive costs were reduced to USD$3.90, a reduction of 57 percent over the 13 days of operation. With clean drilling fluid, issues such as sludging, bit balling and stuck pipe are minimised, reducing wear and tear on drill components, maintenance, replacement time and associated costs. As a result, drill crews could spend less time monitoring mud systems and focus on drilling and increased bit-on-bottom time.

AMC believes the implementation of its solids removal technology and the efforts of its team of experienced mud engineers were key to the success of this operation.

Commenting on the success of the SRU at the Inca de Oro site, AMC South American Regional Manager Sergio Jimenez said: “We worked closely with our clients to improve operational efficiencies, reduce costs and

resolve site-specific challenges. They were pleased with the environmental, economic and safety benefits the unit delivered and, with our training, will continue to enjoy these benefits in the future.”

As AMC’s SRU technology becomes an integral component of the modern drill site, AMC continues to develop its range, catering to multiple client requirements and configurations. The Surface SRU is mounted for easy set-up, transport and manoeuvrability on site, the Underground SRU eliminates the need for water to pump constantly to the surface to operate the drill rig and the Heli-portable SRU is a compact, mobile design that can be assembled in only 20 minutes. There is also the Modular SRU which is adapted to HDD, mud rotary and chipping operations, as well as client-specific equipment in AMC’s fleet.

AMC’S SRU models are constantly updating and adapting to their client’s needs. AMC is committed to improving and innovating technology to redefine the way their clients drill, streamlining processes, and enabling responsible drilling.

To find out more about the benefits of AMC’s solids removal unit range, read case studies or about new innovations in the range visit www.amcmud.com C

Coring Magazine #4

LEADING YOU FORWARD

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/CORING REPORTAGE

PDAC 2017

Déjà-vu in Toronto 22

Coring Magazine #4

It’s March and I’m back in Toronto for the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2017 trade show. Walking down the aisles in the Trade Show hall I get a strong sense of having seen it all before.

Sure, you say, you have – last year.

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But that's not quite it. What I’m trying to say is that not only do I remember the same booths in the same locations with the same companies and the same people in front of them: it's a feeling that nothing has fundamentally changed at PDAC since last year, and that I won't see anything new from the drilling world.

I find that disappointing. I just wonder if the show's organisers make any effort to attract new companies to the show. Maybe some stimulating participation from countries outside North America, or a quota or discounts for new participants. I understand that the main consideration is having all the stands occupied, but for the PDAC, I would think that's practically a given. If I were in their place, I'd want further improvements.

Perhaps I’m being too critical, and my interest is only in drilling, but I guess it’s a similar situation in the other sections of the show.

But let’s go back. I’m starting my review with Drillco. Why? Because when I sit down and try to recall what I saw that was interesting, they spring first to mind. Secondly, their work impresses me. It’s innovative, its practical and they know how to present it. Operations Director Sylvain Brisson explained so many things about their engine and hydraulic system to me – things I’m not even familiar with – that I have to stop him and ask: “OK, Sylvain, let’s assume that I’m taking that rig with me underground to put it in action.

What spares do I need to take with me?” And he says, this hose, this controller and maybe this one. That’s all I need to hear. I’ve plenty of other questions but unfortunately I have to step aside because a scheduled group of visitors led by Vladimir Shehovtsov from the Economic Development Department of North Bay, Ontario, has turned up.

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Later on I have the pleasure of meeting Vladimir and getting to know a few interesting things about North Bay. I don’t know the history of the city, but it seems to be more drilling-oriented than anywhere else in Canada. This small city has Boart Longyear, Atlas Copco and Sandvik factories, Foraco Canada’s headquarters, Di-Corp’s Drillers Edge Faster. Deeper. Safer.

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diamond products factory, Pilot Diamond Tools, Drillco, Odyssey drill rigs, the famous Canadian Diamond Drilling Association and probably more besides. Drilling apart, I’m impressed to find out that Redpath’s headquarters are also there. It’s quite impressive for city with no actual mining activities.

Another thing that attracted my attention at PDAC this year is mechanical rod handling.

I’m very pleased that safety is becoming more of a focus among all parties at the drill site - clients, contractors, subcontractors and so on. Automated rod handling is a major step towards real, practical safety, and almost all manufacturers are nowadays capable of providing their drill rigs with rod handling mechanisation and often automation too.

One company in particular was attracting a lot of attention: Usinage Marcotte, with their Cyborg rod-handling system (photo 1).

It looked quite different to what I'm used to seeing, resembling a giant steel hand that picks the rods up from the side of the rig, lifting and turning them until they're ready to be placed on top of the previous rod. Top 24

marks for creativity, but as to practicality I can’t comment, as I haven’t seen it in action.

The next company I want to mention is TIME (Temiskaming Industrial Mining Equipment) (photo 2). I had an interesting conversation with owners Peter and Mike Henderson and Tate Byberg, VP Sales, at their booth. TIME are Canadian mining and drilling equipment manufacturers best known in the drilling industry for their steel and retrievable wedges which, I can confirm from experience, are of very good quality. We discuss the pros and cons of wedging in what turns out to be a long and interesting technical conversation.

But enough about Canada. Let's shift focus to South America, and Ingetrol (photo 3). I met owner Luis Silva and learned that Ingetrol has offices in Chile and Peru and an office and manufacturing plant in Mexico. They have a large fleet of drill rigs, but are best known for their small but powerful portable drill rig – the new Sandy Jr. – which can actually be seen at their booth. It weighs 286kg (626kg with the power unit), and can drill to 120m with N-size and 150m with B-size rods.

Next to overview is DBC Makina from Turkey (photo 4). DBC Makina has a long history, starting in 1991 as Diamant Boart Craelius’s exclusive distributor in the region.

Since then, DBC Makina has grown in size, and now has 7,000m2 facility. They offer total core drilling solutions, from drill bits to drill rigs, and are the largest drilling manufacturer in Turkey. Nevzat Cemiloglu is DBC Makina’s assistant general manager, and explains their products in detail. It’s interesting to learn that, besides Turkey, their main markets are Russia, Iran and South America.

They also sell about 20-30 drill rigs a year.

I‘m curious about diamond drilling in Turkey, and Nevzat explains that total core drilling in Turkey amounts to about 1.5 million metres per year, but that drilling contractors are feeling the pinch from low returns on drilling.

And that closes the Coring review of PDAC 2017. Here's hoping that next year's show will have more of interest in terms of new products and new faces. C Coring Magazine #4

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Coring magazine is distributed to the whole exploration diamond drilling industry, regardless of magazine subscriptions. In an instant, your product, service or company will be presented to the EDD industry worldwide!

To make advertising in Coring even more attractive, we have established an advertising tariff which is very budget-friendly compared to other publications. Participating with an article will attract a discount of 30 to 50 percent on advertising tariffs.

For those who don’t have an advertising budget as such, there is a listings section at the end of the magazine where you can place a company name and contact details in a section corresponding to your main activity.

Contact us at advertising@coringmagazine.com

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

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/MINERAL EXPLORATION

Formulae, Criteria and their Application

Mineral Resource and Reserve Evaluation in Panasqueira Mine, Portugal Filipe Pinto, Exploration Geologist at Beralt Tin & Wolfram S.A Filipe Pinto was born in Porto, Portugal. He graduated in Geology from the University of Porto Faculty of Sciences in 2012 and went on to write a Master's thesis entitled “Study of Tin Distribution in the Panasqueira Mine” there. He has been working as a mine and exploration geologist at the Beralt Tin & Wolfram (Portugal) S.A. Panasqueira mine since 2012.

High concentration of wolframite in a mineralized quartz vein - the nugget effect

Various morphological features of veins Located in Portugal in the Central Iberian Zone (CIZ) of the Iberian Massif, the Beralt Tin and Wolfram (Portugal) S.A. Panasqueira mine is a world-class hydrothermal W-Sn-(Cu) ore vein deposit. Wholly owned

by Almonty Industries Inc. and mined continuously since 1886, the Panasqueira mine is still one of the main producers of high grade tungsten outside China.

Panasqueira is an underground mine characterized by flat subhorizontal mineralized quartz veins, which are the main target. The main product is tungsten (var. wolframite [ferberite], with 75 percent WO3 ) and by-products are tin (var. cassiterite, with 74 percent Sn) and copper (var. chalcopyrite, with 27 percent Cu).

In large swarm vein deposits like these, erratic distribution of minerals is very common, meaning that mineral grade cannot be estimated either in veins intersected by drillholes or by in situ sampling.

In fact, the nugget effect is so high that Panasqueira mine, with its more than a century of experience, has developed empirical formulae to determine the grade of the deposit for mineral resource and reserve estimation purposes.

These empirical “D9" and “Pintas" formulae have been tested several times and verified

26

as reliable by external entities.

The D9 formula is used to convert the thickness of a quartz vein intersected by the drillholes into kilograms of wolframite per unit of plan area (kg/m2).

The Pintas formula is used to convert in situ exposed and mapped wolframite crystals areas into wolframite grade, and into kilograms of wolframite per unit of plan area (kg/m2).

Sometimes, iron-rich sphalerite is mixed in with wolframite, but our experienced geological team knows how to take this into account.

D9 formula %WO3=

Vein thickness (cm) x 0,75 x 0,6 2.2 x 2.8 x 10

Pintas formula Measured area of wolframite crystals (mm)

Kg/m2= 100 x total length sampled(m) x MEF %WO 3= Where

In situ grade (kg/m2) x 0.75 2.2 x 2.8 x 10

0.75 is the average proportion of WO 3 in wolframite 0.6 is an empirical value determined by Coring Magazine #4

mine experience 2.2 is the average stope height, in metres 2.8 is specific gravity of the rock 10 and 10 are unit conversion factors MEF is the mineral evaluation factor (reconciliation factor between the grade measured in the mine and in the plant)

Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimation For exploration purposes, the first step is to drill up or down to a maximum length of 120m to establish the continuity of known veins or to try to find new ones. Drill holes are almost always vertical because the veins are mostly horizontal. The Diamec 252's 46mm drill hole diameter provides a sufficient and representative sample for analysis.

If the drill hole intersects a vein between 18cm and 29cm thick, a quadrate polygon with sides 34.5m from the centre is described. If the vein is 30cm or more thick, a quadrate polygon with sides 50.5m from the centre is described.

The resulting areas are used to calculate Inferred and Indicated Resource values.

Veins less than 18 cm thick are disregarded following the present cut-off grade calculation (18cm = 10.8kg/m2= 0.13%WO 3).

An Inferred Resource is defined only by one drill hole intersection and an Indicated Resource by at least two drill holes, always ap-

plying the D9 formula to define the grade.

If two or more parts of an Inferred Resource intersect each other, they are considered an Indicated Resource. The same happens when an Inferred Resource is in contact with the borders of an old stope.

Once the presence of a vein is recognized, a 4.5m wide and 2.2m high exploration gallery (known as an incline) 50 to 100m long is opened at the same elevation as the vein.

The main purpose of this gallery is to expose the vein and measure all the wolframite crystals areas.

Applying the Pintas formula, if the grade is above the current cut-off, the Indicated or Inferred Resource is converted in a Measured Resource - virgin area or pillar, using the current room and pillar mining method.

A virgin area in known as a Probable Reserve (unworked area) and a pillar as a Proven Reserve, with the wolframite crystals areas mapped on all four faces.

In all the cases the recovery factor is 84 percent. For geotechnical constraint reasons, 16 percent of the resource stays on the pillars, which are mined in three phases: (i) 11m x 11m (67.3 percent of the recoverable area); (ii) 11m x 3m (45 percent of the recoverable area); and (iii) 3m x 3m (cleaning the fine material). For safety reasons, in some mine blocks, the 11m x 11m pillars need to be left intact to protect infrastructure like panels, drives, ramps, shafts and conveyors.

For safety and confidence reasons, a factor

P4

of 40% and 60% is applied on the Inferred and Indicated Resources respectively.

Structural constrains A mine or exploration geologist working in a deposit like this also needs to be sensitive to some geological aspects when talking about resources. In the case of Panasqueira, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Seixo Bravoâ&#x20AC;? veins can be easily confused with the typical horizontal veins when core logging is being carried out.

A Seixo Bravo is a barren vertical quartz structure, contemporaneous with the metamorphism and always crossed by hydrothermal mineralized quartz veins.

Sometimes, a muscovite selvage, usual on the borders of the hydrothermal veins, can help in the decision, but not always, so the real thickness of the mineralized vein must becarefully measured in order to define resources correctly.

Irregular veins, such as those with 'eel tail' morphology, and faults with high offsets also need to be taken in account. Due to the vertical schistosity in the Panasqueira Mine, and because holes are almost always vertical, deviation during drilling is not a problem.

Conclusions The D9 and Pintas formulae have proven reliable in defining mineral resources and re-

P4

D13

P4

D13

D13

D.D.H. 110101W

620m-25cm

110101W

110101E

110101W 110101E

P4

110101E

P4

D13

110101W

P4

D13

110101W 110101E

D13

110101W 110101E

110101E

MINE INFRASTRUCTURE Inferred resource

Exploration gallery

Blocks

Panels & drives (P & D)

Measured resource

Pillars

Drill-hole

Topographic grid

0

50

100m

Simplified diagram of a vein intersected by a diamond drill hole (top left) until the final phase of exploitation (bottom right).

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

27

serves in the Panasqueira deposit, following the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) standards.

Depending on the budget available at the beginning of each year, an underground exploration drill hole campaign is carefully planned to identify the largest amount of bestquality resources that can be mined at the lowest cost and least risk.

Because of the particular geological characteristics of the Panasqueira deposit, mineral resource estimation should be precise enough to guarantee profitable mining. A geologist with good background understanding and accurate drill core interpretation should be able to arrive at appropriate decisions.

BTW Concession Limits Main Faults

Level 0 (680m) Level 1 (620m) Level 2 (560m) Level 530 (530m) Level 3 (470m)

Underground Base Galleries Vale Ermida Panasqueira Vale Muro Geological Context Corga seca Shists

Spotted Shists Greisen L1 (non-outcropping) Greisen L530 (non-outcropping) Surface Structures Dolerite Quartz Veins

Overlapping satellite image, geological map and map of the main mine infrastructure

Comparing January 2016 values with those in September of the same year, updated Measured Resources (Proven and Probable Reserves) represents an increase of over 14.48 percent, while Inferred and Indicated Resources increased 2.76 percent and 2.71 percent respectively, attesting to the accuracy of this article content. C

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Coring Magazine #4

DIRECTIONAL DRILLING

Formulae in practice

Calculation of post-wedge borehole trajectory

by Kiril Apostolov - Directional Drilling Engineer, BG Drilling Solutions

Deep drilling exploration projects are usually dependent on sporadic or frequent borehole course corrections and sidetracking of problematic zones or lost equipment.

The installation of permanent or retrievable steel wedge at the point where a deviation is required is a commonly used technique. new trajectory

initial trajectory

blade angle (dogleg)

wedge

Figure 1. Blade angle of a wedge (dogleg angle) When the decision to install a wedge is taken, current trajectory angles are surveyed and wedge-blade orientation (toolface) is defined. The next step is to evaluate the effect of the wedge on the defining angles of the new course - azimuth and dip. One important factor is the blade angle, which in case of wedging represents the overall angle change (dogleg) between pre- and postwedge trajectories (Figure 1). The blade angle of standard wedges is around 1.5 degrees. However, this is not a fixed value and can vary depending on manufacturer and deviation needs. When choosing a specific blade angle it should be borne in mind that larger angles lead to higher wear on the drill rods and increased risk of a break along the drill string.

Calculation of trajectory angles A general schema of borehole course change through wedging is presented at FigFaster. Deeper. Safer.

ure 2, including the angles defining the trajectories in space. Some common geometric techniques and trigonometric relations lead to derivation of the relationships for azimuth and dip of the new trajectory. Of course, these formulas do not relate to wedging only and could be applied for any trajectory correction, independently of deviation method.

Step-by-step instructions on derivating the relationships can be found in Section 8 of Bourgoyne, Adam T. Applied Drilling Engineering, SPE, 1986. The book is written for the petroleum industry, and all the formulae presented there follow petroleum industry conventions as regards the spherical coordinate system. The relationships presented here have been modified so as to comply with the dip angle convention used in the mineral industry: 0° for horizontal and -90° for vertical.

The expressions for achieved azimuth (j2) is: -1

j 2=j1+Dj=j1+tan

tanb sing cos(q1)-tanb sin(q1)cosg

Where: q1= initial dip angle, deg; q 2 = achieved dip angle, deg; j = initial azimuth, deg; 1 j2= achieved azimuth, deg; Dj = azimuth change, deg; b= overall angle change, in case of wedging b = wedge blade angle, deg g = toolface angle, deg. and the formula for the achieved dip angle (q2 ) is: q2 =sin-1(sin(q1 )cosb+cos(q1)sinb cosg) Where: q1=initial dip angle, deg; q 2=achieved dip angle, deg; b= overall angle change, in case of wedging b = wedge blade angle, deg; g = toolface angle, deg.

A closer look at the expression for j2 reveals a direct relation between g and j2, in case of initial vertical trajectory (q 1= -90).

29

The formula could be simplified, knowing that a vertical borehole has no azimuth j1, and cos(q­1) = 0 and sin(q1) = -1, therefore: -1

j 2=Dj=tan -1

tan

sing cosg

tanb sing = 0-tanb sin(-1 )cosg

ity toolface is not applicable, thus a magnetic or north-seeking orientation tool should be used.

• The azimuth of the new course, achieved azimuth,

In brief, planning of installation of a wedge requires the following input data.

The formulae in this article have proven their accuracy and are widely used in the directional drilling world. Proper toolface determination in near-vertical boreholes is almost impossible without using calculation.

The formulae provided here will predict the borehole change in any toolface and any dip angle, even near-vertical.

• Azimuth and dip angle at initial point;

j2 = g

• Wedge blade angle, representing the overall angle change (dogleg); • Toolface angle of the wedge.

It should be emphasized that in a vertical borehole, wedge orientation based on grav-

The formulae provided will produce:

• The dip of the new course, achieved dip.

Practical example A wedge is installed at a borehole depth with azimuth 130° and dip -80°. Determine the new hole trajectory if wedge toolface is planned to be 40° and wedge blade angle is 1.5°.

initial trajectory

Initial azimuth,j 1= 130° Initial dip, J1= -80° Wedge blade angle, b wedge =1.5° Wedge toolface, g= 40° Achieved azimuth, j 2= ?

Achieved dip, J2 = ?

wedge

1. Calculation of the achieved azimuth,j j =j +Dj=130°+tan -1 x 2

q2

2

1

tan(1.5°)sin(40°) cos(-80°)-tan(1.5°)sin(-80°)cos(40°) new trajectory

q1

b

j 2=130°+3.4°=134.4° 2. Calculation of the achieved dip, q 2 -1

q 2 =sin (sin(-80°)cos(1.5°)+cos(-80°) sin(1.5°)cos(40°)) q 2 =-79.2°

Conclusion Dj

Figure 2. Trajectory change using wedge 30

For the current case, using a standard steel wedge oriented at toolface 40°, the azimuth should increase 3.4° and the dip change should be 0.8°.

Note: An Excel spreadsheet and an Android application containing all formulae here presented can be downloaded from www. coringmagazine.com/links/ C Coring Magazine #4

/CATALOG

Drilling equipment & tools Drill Rigs and Accessories ACKER DRILL Phone 570-586-2061 Fax 570-586-2659 sales@ackerdrill.com www.ackerdrill.com

ATELIER VAL-D’OR Phone 1 (819) 824-3676 Fax 1 (819) 824-2891 ateliervd@ateliervd.qc.ca www.ateliervd.qc.ca ATLAS COPCO EXPLORATION PRODUCTS Phone +46 (0) 223 46109 Fax +46 (0) 733 054343 assya.vezenkova@se.atlascopco.com www.atlascopco.com AUSDRILL Phone +61 8 9311 5666 Fax +61 8 9311 5667 info@ausdrill.com.au www.ausdrill.com.au BARKOM Phone +90 312 385 60 50 Fax +90 312 385 35 75 info@barkomltd.com www.barkomltd.com BOART LONGYEAR Phone +1 801 972 6430 Fax +1 801 977 3374 www.boartlongyear.com DESCO Phone 82-62-9524564 Fax 82-62-9531593 desco@desc-inc.com www.desco-inc.com DISCOVERY DRILL MANUFACTURER Phone 1-506-542-9708 Fax 1-506-542-9709 info@discoverydrills.com www.discoverydrills.com DRILLCO MINING AND EXPLORATION Phone 705-476-3629 Mobile 705-622-2829 S.Brisson@drillcomining.ca www.drillcomining.ca

DURALITE DRIAMOND DRILLS Phone 709 263-7221 Fax 709 263-7231 duralitedrills@nf.sympatico.ca www.duralitediamonddrills.com/ EVERDIGM Phone 82-2-801-0800 Fax 82-2-801-0799 info@everdigm.com www.everdigm.com FORDIA Phone +514 336 9211 Fax +514 745 4125 info@fordia.com www.fordia.com GEO DRILLING MACHINE PRODUCT CO. Phone +90 312 354 8576 Fax +90 312 385 6215 info@geosondajmakine.com www.geosondajmakine.com Faster. Deeper. Safer.

HANJIN D&B Phone 82-62-953 4510 Fax 82-62-953-4520 mail@hanjindnb.com www.hanjindnb.com

ASAHI DIAMOND Phone 61-2-9997-7033 Fax 61-2-9997-8313 sales@asahi-diamond.com.au www.asahi-diamond.com.au/

HOLE PRODUCTS Phone +909 939 2581 Fax +909 891 0434 klewellyn@holeproducts.com www.holeproducts.com

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HYDRACORE DRILLS Phone 604-940-4937 Fax 604-940-4919 info@hydracore.com www.hydracore.com MAXIDRILL INC Phone 450-763-0212 Fax 514-221-2356 info@maxidrill.com www.maxidrill.com MULTI-POWER PRODUCTS Phone 250-860-6969 Fax 250-860-3340 sales@multipowerproducts.com ODYSSEY DRILL RIGS Phone 705-476-4222 Fax 705-476-6820 www.odrnb.com SANDVIK MINING AND CONSTRUCTION Phone 1-905 632 4940 Fax 1-905 632 2172 info@sandvik.com www.mining.sandvik.com SINOCOREDRILL Phone +86 510 82723272 Fax +86 510 82752846 sales@sinocoredrill.com www.sinocoredrill.co SON-MAK MAKINA Phone 90-224-482-44 40-41 Fax 90-224-482-44-39 info@son-mak.com.tr www.son-mak.com.tr TECSO Phone +34 91 870 15 47 Fax +34 91 871 41 69 comercial@tecso-sa.com www.tecso.es USINAGEM MARCOTTE Phone 1-819-824-3977 maudet@umvd.ca www.umvd.ca VERSA DRILL Phone 1-819-874-4404 rouilliers@versadrillcanada.com www.versadrillcanada.com

ZINEX MINING CORP Phone: 604-932-1211 sales@zinexmining.com www.zinexmining.com

Diamond products ACHREBIT Phone +55 11 4044-8420 Fax +55 11 4044-5255 contato@achrebit.com.br www.achrebit.com.br

CARBON DRILLING PRODUCTS Phone +1 (289) 291-3861 sales@carbondrill.com www.carbondrill.com DIASET Phone 1-800-663-5004 Fax 604-940-9534 bits@diaset.com www.diaset.com DI-CORP Phone 775-424-3045 info@di-corp.com www.di-corp.com DIAMANTINA CHRISTENSEN Perú: +5116186777 Chile: +56226207803 sales@diamantinachristensen.com www.diamantinachristensen.com

DIMATEC Phone 1-866-202-5875 Fax 1-204-832-4268 info@dimatec.com www.dimatec.com DRILLING HQ Phone +1 (208) 690 3111 Info@DrillingHQ.com www.drillinghq.com DYNAMIK Phone 1-877-867-8398 Fax 819-762-2325 info@equipementdynamik.com www.drilling.dynamik.com

FORDIA Phone 514-336-9211 Toll-free 1-800-768-7274 info@fordia.com www.fordia.com FORSUN ULTRA-HARD MATERIAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD. Phone +86 731 84254020 Fax +86 731 84252208 info@forsuntools.com www.forsun-tools.com HARGRAND DRILLING TOOLS Phone 86-010-61599828 Fax 86-010-61599828 whp@baoqizt.com www.hargrand.com HAYDEN DIAMOND BIT INDUSTRIES Phone 604-271-6941 Fax 604-271-6944 sales@haydenbit.com www.haydenbit.com HOFFMAN DIAMOND PRODUCTS Phone 800-444-4180 Fax 814-938-7625 sales@hoffmandiamond.com www.hoffmandiamond.com 31

HOLE PRODUCTS Phone +909 939 2581 Fax +909 891 0434 klewellyn@holeproducts.com www.holeproducts.com HUD MINING SUPPLIES Phone 27 (0) 11-974-1500 info@hud.co.za www.hud.co.za ICEMS Phone +(16) 3367 3126 Fax +(16) 3361 5073 icems@icems.com.br www.icems.com.br JUFERMA Phone 34-91 498 93 07 Fax 34-91 498 93 06 diamondjuferma@juferma.com www.juferma.com LEVANTO DIAMOND SOLUTIONS Phone 358-9-511-470 Fax 358-9-5114-7470 info@levanto.fi www.levanto.fi MBI DRILLING PRODUCTS Phone +1 819 762 9645 Fax +1 819 762 2845 Dmisiano@mbidrillingproducts.com www.mbidrillingproducts.com/en/ SANDVIK MINING AND CONSTRUCTION Phone +1 905 632 4940 Fax +1 905 632 2172 info@sandvik.com www.mining.sandvik.com SINOCOREDRILL Phone +86 510 82723272 Fax +86 510 82752846 sales@sinocoredrill.com www.sinocoredrill.co TECSO Phone +34 91 870 15 47 Fax +34 91 871 41 69 comercial@tecso-sa.com www.tecso.es WUXI GEOTEC GEOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT CO LTD. Phone 86-510 8855 2380 Fax 86-510 8855 2380 sale@nanfangdiamond.com www.geotec.com.cn

Core barrel systems ATLAS COPCO EXPLORATION PRODUCTS Phone +46 (0) 223 46109 Fax +46 (0) 733 054343 assya.vezenkova@se.atlascopco.com www.atlascopco.co AUSDRILL Phone +61 8 9311 5666 Fax +61 8 9311 5667 info@ausdrill.com.au www.ausdrill.com.au

BARKOM Phone +90 312 385 60 50 Fax +90 312 385 35 75 info@barkomltd.com www.barkomltd.com BOART LONGYEAR Phone +1 801 972 6430 Fax +1 801 977 3374 www.boartlongyear.com DIAMANTINA CHRISTENSEN Perú: +5116186777 Chile: +56226207803 sales@diamantinachristensen.com www.diamantinachristensen.com 32

DI-CORP Phone 775-424-3045 info@di-corp.com www.di-corp.com DRILLING HQ Phone +1 (208) 690 3111 Info@DrillingHQ.com www.drillinghq.com FORDIA Phone 514-336-9211 Toll-free 1-800-768-7274 info@fordia.com www.fordia.com FORSUN ULTRA-HARD MATERIAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD. Phone +86 731 84254020 Fax +86 731 84252208 info@forsuntools.com www.forsun-tools.com

WUXI GEOTEC GEOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT CO LTD. Phone +(11) 5669 3200 diamantados@tectools.com.br www.tectools.com.br

Drill rods & Casings AFKOS INDUSTRIES Phone (61 8) 9345 4333 Fax (61 8) 9345 4167 afkos@q-net.net.au www.afkos.com.au ATLAS COPCO EXPLORATION PRODUCTS Phone +46 (0) 223 46109 Fax +46 (0) 733 054343 assya.vezenkova@se.atlascopco.com www.atlascopco.com AUSDRILL Phone +61 8 9311 5666 Fax +61 8 9311 5667 info@ausdrill.com.au www.ausdrill.com.au

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ICEMS Phone +(16) 3367 3126 Fax +(16) 3361 5073 icems@icems.com.br www.icems.com.br JUFERMA Phone 34-91 498 93 07 Fax 34-91 498 93 06 diamondjuferma@juferma.com www.juferma.com K. MAIKAI CO., LTD. Phone +81 3 3490 8433 Fax +81 3 3490 8622 www.kmaikai.co.jp

MBI DRILLING PRODUCTS Phone +1 819 762 9645 Fax +1 819 762 2845 Dmisiano@mbidrillingproducts.com www.mbidrillingproducts.com/en/ SANDVIK MINING AND CONSTRUCTION Phone +1 905 632 4940 Fax +1 905 632 2172 info@sandvik.com www.mining.sandvik.com SINOCOREDRILL Phone +86 510 82723272 Fax +86 510 82752846 sales@sinocoredrill.com www.sinocoredrill.com TECSO, S. A. Phone +34 91 870 15 47 Fax +34 91 871 41 69 comercial@tecso-sa.com www.tecso.es TERRA TEAM OY Phone 358-9-849-4030 info@terra-team.fi www.terra-team.fi/en/

TIME Phone 705-647-8138 Fax 705-647-9800 info@timeltd.ca www.timeltd.ca

DIAMANTINA CHRISTENSEN Perú: +5116186777 Chile: +56226207803 sales@diamantinachristensen.com www.diamantinachristensen.com FORDIA Phone +514 336 9211 Toll-free 1-800-768-7274 info@fordia.com www.fordia.com ICEMS Phone +(16) 3367 3126 Fax +(16) 3361 5073 icems@icems.com.br www.icems.com.br SANDVIK MINING AND CONSTRUCTION Phone +1 905 632 4940 Fax +1 905 632 2172 info@sandvik.com www.mining.sandvik.com TECSO Phone +34 91 870 15 47 Fax +34 91 871 41 69 comercial@tecso-sa.com www.tecso.es

Wedges FORDIA Phone +514 336 9211 Toll-free 1-800-768-7274 info@fordia.com www.fordia.com REFLEX Phone +61 8 9445 4040 Fax +61 8 9445 4020 reflex@imdexlimited.com www.reflexnow.com SONDA PARTS Phone 55 – (31) 3391 3810 Fax 55 – (31) 3391 3810 comercial@sondaparts.com.br www.sondaparts.com.br/ TIME Phone 705-647-8138 Fax 705-647-9800 info@timeltd.ca www.timeltd.ca Coring Magazine #4

Survey equipment /manufaturers/ Survey Tools AXIS MINING TECHNOLOGY Phone 61-8-9317-6911 info@axisminetech.com www.axisminetech.com DEVICO Phone 47 72 87 01 01 Fax 47 72 87 01 11 info@devico.com www.devico.com

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SPT Phone +46 8 590 733 10 Fax +46 8 590 731 55 info@stockholmprecisiontools.com www.stockholmprecisiontools.com

Core Orientation BOART LONGYEAR Phone +1 801 972 6430 Fax +1 801 977 3374 Web:www.boartlongyear.com DEVICO Phone 47 72 87 01 01 Fax 47 72 87 01 11 info@devico.com www.devico.com REFLEX Phone 1-705-235-2169 Fax 1-705-235-2165 reflex@imdexlimited.com www.reflexnow.com

Drilling services Diamond drilling contractors* FORACO Operations: International Phone 33 (0) 4 96 15 13 60 Fax 33 (0) 4 96 15 13 61 info@foraco.com www.foraco.com HY-TECH DRILLING Operations:Canada, Spain, Portugal, Ireland

Phone 1-250-847-9301 info@Hy-TechDrilling.com www.hy-techdrilling.com

ORBIT-GARANT DRILLING Operations: International Phone +1 819-824-2707 Fax +1 819-824-2195 florence.damours@orbitgarant.com www.orbitgarant.com

ORTADOGU DRILLING INDUSTRY & TRADE CORP. Phone : +90 312 472 2104 Fax: +90 312 472 2103 info@ortadogusondaj.com www.ortadogusondaj.com

Directional drilling BG DRILLING SOLUTIONS Operations: International Phone 359 889 532 653 info@bg-drilling.com www.bg-drilling.com DEVICO Operations: International Phone 47 72 87 01 01 Fax 47 72 87 01 11 info@devico.com www.devico.com INTERNATIONAL DRILLING SERVICES Operations: International Phone 480-824-7100 IDSinfo@IDSdrill.com www.idsdrill.com

Catalogue terms: Regular inserts free of charge; colour background chargeable.

All companies listed in this section are connected with but not necessarily limited to diamond drilling. To list your company or to make a change in your catalogue entry, contact us.

Surveying services DOWNHOLE SURVEYS Operations: Australia Phone +61 (0) 8 9361 4745 Fax +61 (0) 8 9472 3481 sales@downhole.com.au www.downhole.com.au

DIGITAL SURVEYING Operations: South Africa, Ghana Phone +27 18 788 6349 Fax +27 18 788 6348 sales@digitalsurveying.co.za www.downhole.com.au

GYRODATA SERVICES CANADA Operations: Canada Phone 1 705 494 0075 Fax 33 (0) 4 96 15 13 61 don.black@gyrodata.com www.gyrodata.com

* Due to size limitations, the diamond drilling contractors section of this catalogue is limited to magazine contributors, partners or sponsored inserts. A comprehensive catalogue including all diamond drilling contractors is available at www.coringmagazine.com/catalog/

Contact us at editorial@coringmagazine.com

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

33