Coring Magazine - Issue 7

THE MINERAL DRILLING INDUSTRY INNOVATORS

Issue 7 //

Topic of the Issue //

July 2018

A Geologists Special

ISSN 2367-847X www.coringmagazine.com

Explorat ion

21 Questions // Mark Cruise - CEO of Trevali Mining

Case Study // Hydracore Drills in Ecuador

In Focus // Swick Mining - Leaders in Underground Drilling

More Inside // Top 10 Drilling Contractors; HiTT Targets with Borehole Management Software

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/EDITORIAL

Dear Readers Some years ago, I came across a very interesting Boart Longyear presentation on the internet that revealed the biggest diamond drilling companies globally. The information was intriguing and I was sure such statistics would be interesting to many industry professionals. Since I started Coring I have been trying to find a similar resource on the internet, but I have always failed. It is either non-existent or inaccessible. I had no other option but to do it myself.

To accomplish this, I needed to research the data thoroughly and get all the facts straight, but time was always insufficient. Now that Martina Samarova has joined Coring Magazine, things have changed. With her help we are able to do much more and also find time for research projects like this one. She reviewed the 2017 annual reports of many diamond drilling contractors to identify and classify the top ten. Of course the toughest part was getting in touch with the companies and confirming that the information at hand was accurate. Some of the companies were quite helpful, whereas others chose to remain silent. The numbers we have presented concerning the latter are entirely taken from their annual reports. Some of the companies do not provide segmented information and generalize their consolidated revenues as mineral exploration drilling revenues. As it was not possible to extract the numbers for diamond drilling alone, the statistics we publish in this issue include also revenues earned from reverse circulation (RC) and air core (AC).

Coring Magazine does not strive to favor the biggest names, nor to privilege a particular person or group, and that is why we want to include more companies next time. There is a chance that some of the information we present here might be imprecise or we might have missed out someone who qualifies. Please contact us with any corrections if this is the case.

The statistics feature is one of several highlights in this issue. We have the pleasure of presenting Swick Mining, a leading Australian drilling contractor, in our In Focus feature.

Among the other highlights of the issue is the interview with Dr Mark Cruise, CEO at Trevali Mining, who provided us with profound information about his career, company and zinc market conditions. Our big thanks to him! We have a great product review

by Fredrik TernstrĂśm, who presents the latest surface core drilling rig from Epiroc.

The CEO of Hydracore, Nigel Spaxman provided us with unique pictures and a special case study, elaborating on the company’s drill rigs and operations in Ecuador.

The topic of Issue 7 is Mineral Exploration and besides the great interview with Dr Cruise, we would like to present Erika Sweeney, Duncan Franey, Melissa Giddens and Dr Samuel Rice – these are the exploration geologists who wrote three incredible articles especially for Coring in this issue.

We would like to thank all of the authors and also express our gratitude to our amazing editor Simone Hutchinson, who guided them through the process.

You'll find a set of stickers enclosed that we made specially for the exploration geologists in our readership. Enjoy Issue 7!

GRIGOR TOPEV Founder / Managing Editor CORING MAGAZINE

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

3

Table of Contents

THE MINERAL DRILLING INDUSTRY INNOVATORS

/NEWS & EVENTS

5

The latest in the industry

/21 QUESTIONS

6 Exclusive interview - Grigor Topev in conversation with Dr Mark Cruise, President, CEO and Director of Trevali Mining Corporation /IN FOCUS

12 ‘Of innovators and disruptors’ – Kent Swick, Managing Director and Jenna Aziz, PR Co-ordinator of Swick Mining Services tell us the origins of the company and about its new disruptive technology for mineral analysis /PRODUCT REVIEW

16 ‘Christensen 140: Crafted for better safety and greater power’ – Fredrik Ternström, Project Manager for Brand Communication at Epiroc, reviews their latest surface core drilling rig /CASE STUDY

20 ‘Hydracore Drills in Ecuador’ – Nigel Spaxman, CEO & Co-owner, shares interesting facts about the history of Hydracore and the company’s drilling campaigns in Ecuador /CORING SURVEY

24 ‘Top ten drilling contractors’ – Coring Magazine presents and discusses a range of international statistics for the industry /TOPIC OF THE ISSUE: MINERAL EXPLORATION

26 ‘Optimising RC drilling for exploration and resource estimation’ – Duncan Franey BSc, Project Geologist and Melissa Giddens BSc, Exploration Geologist, reveal how RC drilling quality control can improve data quality for resource estimation

Issue 7 //

Topic of the Issue //

July 2018

A Geologists Special

ISSN 2367-847X www.coringmagazine.com

Exploration

21 Questions // Mark Cruise - CEO of Trevali Mining

Case Study // Hydracore Drills in Ecuador

In Focus // Swick Mining - Leaders in Underground Drilling

More Inside // Top 10 Drilling Contractors; HiTT Targets with Borehole Management Software

Diamond

Dr i l l i ng

Coring Magazine July 2018 Cover photo Swick Mining Services: Underground Drilling Issue 7 ISSN 2367-847X Not for resale.

Free subscriptions at: www.coringmagazine.com/subscribe Coring Magazine is an international quarterly title serving the exploration core drilling industry. Published in print and digital formats, Coring has a rapidly growing readership that includes diamond drilling contractors, drilling manufacturers and suppliers, service companies, mineral exploration companies and departments, geologists, and many others involved in exploration core drilling.

Launched in late 2015, Coring aims to provide a fresh perspective on the sector by sourcing authentic, informed and quality commentary direct from those working in the field. With regular interviews, insightful company profiles, detailed product reviews, field practice tips and illustrated case studies of the world’s most unique diamond drilling and mineral exploration projects, Coring provides a new platform for learning about the industry’s exciting developments.

Publisher Coring Media

30 ‘Prosperous gold and silver mineralization in Utah’ – Erika Sweeney, Geologist, gives an account of the advantages of the Gold Springs mining district

Managing Editor Grigor Topev

32 ‘The story of British and Irish gold: A case for drilling’ –

Dr Samuel Rice PhD BSc FGS, Geologist, explains how investigating the relationship between geodynamics and gold mineralization in the British Isles could lead to new discoveries globally

Marketing and Communications Manager Martina Samarova

/BOREHOLE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

38 ‘HiTT targets with borehole management software’ – Ciaran Scarry, General Manager at Well Force International, explains a unique software solution that delivers more efficient drilling programs /DRILLING HYDRAULICS

42 ‘Drilling rigs hydraulics: Fundamentals (Part 1)’ – Peter Kuusimaa, an experienced freelance specialist, explains the importance of drill rig hydraulics, pumps and more /CATALOG

44 Diamond drilling services

46 Drilling equipment & accessories

49 Survey equipment

50 Miscellaneous

4

Editor Simone Hutchinson

Correspondent Africa Region Frikkie Van Zyl Graphic Design Cog Graphics Printed by Dedrax Printing House Contact Us 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 Notice of Erratum On page 5 of Issue 6 (January), Coring erroneously stated that Hagby Bruk was acquired by Atlas Copco.

The statement should have been that Hagby Bruk was acquired by Sandvik. The editors strive to prevent such errors, and offer their apologies on this occasion.

Coring Magazine #7

/NEWS & EVENTS

News & Events The Canadian Diamond Drilling Association celebrates its 75th anniversary 2018 is a historical year for the Canadian Diamond Drilling Association. At the beginning of June, CDDA celebrated its 75th anniversary at the AGM and Convention in Banff, Alberta. Representatives of leading companies in the industry, such as Boart Longyear, Versa Drill, Team Drilling, Geotech Drilling Services, and many others, were among the attendees. CDDA had Andrew Brash as their keynote speaker. Also among the speakers was Karen Brown from Drop it and Drive. The celebrations began on 3 June and continued until the 5th. As part of the program CDDA organized a golf day on the 3rd. On the 4th a Delegates and Companion Luncheon as well as a Masquerade Gala took place. CDDA honoured three lifetime members

at the Masquerade Gala – Brenda Patterson, Harvey Tremblay, and posthumously, Andrew Lyons. A President’s Breakfast and many technical sessions took place on the 5th. Among the technical sessions, presenters included Brian Maeck from Boart Longyear who spoke about ‘A New Look at Incident Prevention’, Randy Herman of CANN AMM, who discussed ‘Marijuana and the Workplace – Managing the Impact of Legalization’, and others.

CDDA was originally organized as a means for collaboration with American manufacturers.

Nowadays CDDA keeps pace with the latest regulatory changes and contributes to the prosperity of the mineral industry in Canada.

For more info, visit: www.cdda.com

IAMGOLD will shortly embark on a 5750 m drilling programme at Dalafin IAMGOLD has completed line clearing at Madina Bafé and the mobilisation of drilling equipment is nearing completion ahead of commencing an initial 3000 m AC drilling programme for 570 holes, on a 50 m by 200 line spacing. Samples collected at the bedrock interface will be analysed in order to assess the geochemical signature of the bedrock, help depict alteration corridors and mineralization trends, and define targets for follow-up deeper drilling. RC (2000 m) and diamond core (750 m)

drilling will test the depth and strike extension of the mineralization. This will include two diamond holes to confirm mineralization previously reported in-holes MBDD002 and MBRC117.

Located in south-eastern Senegal, the 472.5 sq km Dalafin license is positioned in the centre of the Birimian-age Kédougou-Kenieba gold belt that extends from eastern Senegal into western Mali and has already seen multiple major gold discoveries.

New Australian drill hole depth record Core drilling exploration has reached new heights – or rather depths – with DDH1 drilling the deepest mineral core hole in Australian history. At Northern Star Resources’ Jundee gold mining operations near Wiluna, WA, the drill hole depth had reached a mighty 3217 m by its February 28 wrap-up.

Deploying Sandvik NHD heavy duty rods rated to 3000 m, and using a 2500-meter rated Sandvik DE880 rig, the drill hole extended 200 m beyond the previous core drill record achieved at the Kalgoorlie Super Pit in 2015.

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

The drill was originally planned to stop at 3100 m, but some intriguing indications made Northern Star push on. This was beyond the NHD drill rod’s and DE880 rig's rated capacity, but obviously not beyond their safe technical limits.

DDH1 is, among other projects, currently drilling a 2950 m hole at St Barbara’s Gwalia gold mine, north of Kalgoorlie. The company is also engaged in a significant number of other exploration drilling operations across WA, NT and the east coast.

5

/21 QUESTIONS

Exclusive interview with

questions

Dr Mark Cruise CEO, Trevali Mining Corp Grigor Topev: You received a Bachelor of Geology (BA) and a PhD Geology from the University of Dublin, Trinity College.

What were your reasons for choosing geology?

Mark Cruise: I liked being outdoors. I started my studies doing general science. I did chemistry, physics, and more lab-based subjects, in addition to geography and geology. Once we had our first field trips in first year I realized that geology gelled well with a lot of my hobbies and that if you could find a career in geology you could work outside and get rewarded for it and travel the world – these things were very attractive to me. I quickly chose to specialize in geology. That’s where my main focus has been ever since.

GT: You have travelled a lot. Which place has left the strongest impression on you?

MC: Most recently, I’ve been in the Americas.

I have worked a lot in Argentina, a little bit in Chile, an awful lot in Peru and also Mexico.

My work has been mainly in Latin America since the end of 2000. Our Santander mine site in Peru is stunning. It really is beautiful. It’s at 4500 meters. We’re right up the continent, right in the Andes and it is a glaciated terrain so we get wonderful mountains, sunrises and sunsets. It is a harsh environment but pretty as well. More recently I have been spending a bit of time in Africa, which is also beautiful. Namibia 6

Mark Cruise

Dr Mark Cruise is the CEO of Trevali Mining. He founded the company approximately ten years ago to take advantage of what he saw then as a tightening in the zinc market. Trevali has since grown to be a successful exploration company and now owns four operations: Santander in Peru, Caribou in Canada, Rosh Pinah in Namibia, and Perkoa in Burkina Faso. Today, Trevali is a top-ten global zinc producer. Prior to Trevali, Mark was a senior exploration geologist with Anglo American, primarily working in the base metal division where he focused on zinc exploration globally, although he was largely based in Ireland as part of the Lisheen development team. In 2001 he moved to North America to be based in the hub office for exploration in Vancuover. He is a PGeo member of the Institute of Geologists of Ireland and a EurGeol member of the European Federation of Geologists.

is stunning. We really are in the wilds out there. I think Peru and Namibia have left the strongest impressions on me.

to be both good and bad days but the main thing is that we still enjoy the work and enjoy working with our colleagues.

GT: What is one of your favorite memories from your career so far?

GT: Do you miss being a field geologist?

MC: It is very fulfilling to have founded the company and built the team. Several of us have been working together for many years, since the onset, and even prior to this in previous careers with Anglo American. But it is quite rare to make that transition from explorer to developer to producer. The odds are probably 1 in 1000, maybe even higher, so the fact that we have done that is fulfilling. I think a factor in that good feeling is that we are a small management team and everyone enjoys going to work. There are always going

MC: Yes, I do some days. I do a bit of everything now – but more on the business side. When I can I will sit in the budget meetings and work with the exploration guys and obviously keep abreast of that side of business. But some days I do miss it. When I can sneak off and look at rocks I usually try to take a day or two at each site. And I do enjoy doing that. As our careers evolve, I am adding more value in this current role. We have some great up and coming field geos and exploration geos within the group and I am more than happy to let them get on and add real value there.

Coring Magazine #7

GT: How did Trevali Mining come to be established?

MC: Trevali was established in late 2007, effectively 2008. It was founded specifically to look for zinc polymetallic deposits of opportunity. The rationale was most of the super majors had gotten out of zinc at that point and the mid-tier kind of base metal companies had transitioned or were transitioning into copper miners. There was a bit of a niche, there wasn’t much competition, so we thought it was a good opportunity to be able to grow the company and try to acquire some good assets and, obviously, if we got lucky with the drill bit, we would go from there.

We were mainly focused on zinc but at the same time we were interested in polymetallic – we like our lead and silver credits. We looked in Mexico and Peru and worked there extensively. After six months we came across the Santander opportunity. We liked Santander even though it was limited in exploration and certainly no modern exploration. Based on our assessment, we thought that it was potentially a very large system. We were able to acquire it at a reasonable price and we were successful early on.

We got a significant interest after our second drill hole. From there, based on the experience of the team, we were able to fast track it through permitting and do a lot of the engineering studies, metallurgy, in tandem with the exploration drill-out. We were able to get it into production in a timely manner.

And that was when our relationship with Glencore started.

GT: Can you tell us more about that relationship?

MC: Our maiden resource estimate was about 3 million tonnes at 5–6% zinc, with some lead and silver by-product credits. And that would have been in 2010, so about a year and a half after we started drilling the project. We liked that it showed similarities with one of Glencore’s mines, the Iscaycruz mine in Peru, which is on care maintenance at the moment.

What helped to facilitate the relationship was that Santander had a very old mill on-site. It had been poorly shut down and mothballed. So instead we entered into an agreement with Glencore to acquire the mill from their near-by Rosaura Mine that was just out of feed and it had closed down in 2010.

Effectively, we had a deposit that required a mill and they had an empty mill that was of scrap value. We put two and two together Faster. Deeper. Safer.

and got six by moving the mill to Santander.

We acquired the mill on a lease-owned basis.

We got a completely refurbished, brand new mill for 37 million USD as compared to the costs of 80 to 90 million USD to build a standalone mill. That got our cap-ex down and allowed us to get up and running at Santander.

Trevali and Glencore work very closely and very well together. I think you see your partner's true colors when times are tough.

Glencore invested in the company and they also provided some additional funding to get us over the final hurdle. When we saw some opportunities in Canada it was a natural fit, given how big they are in zinc space. We reached out to them and they helped us derisk our Caribou operation in Canada.

At this point in time Glencore is our largest shareholder – they own about 25% of the company. The relationship has gone from strength to strength and we will hopefully continue to do future business with them.

American market the preference is for open pits. Lower grade operations that allow for more throughput are technically a little bit easier to do in open pits. But we see our underground core skillset as a major strength that sets us apart. And we really are a true mining company. We think that we should be able to leverage that in further opportunities globally and at our own operations. Our market capitalization is probably 900 million CAD today. We want to form a true mid-tier mining company.

I would classify us as a large, small-cap mining company, but based on our assets and and if we can carry out some smart mergers and acquisitions (M&As), I see no reason why we can’t form a mid-tier mining company. In the North American capital market I would argue there is a lack of competition in the mid-tier space, so I think that the market would probably reward that or would be interested in supporting another name in that category.

GT: In 2017 Trevali Mining purchased two mines across the African continent. Do you plan to purchase more properties?

GT: What are Trevali's properties at the moment and which one has the highest potential?

MC: We acquired the African mines from Glencore last year. We are finishing the integration of those assets. I would say they are about 90–95% integrated at the moment.

We are continuing to look for further opportunities but any potential purchase has to make sense technically as well as financially. We never stop looking, but we are fortunate, given what commodity and zinc prices are. We are in a good position at the moment.

What we like about our assets is that they remain open for expansion. 2018 is the first year that we have ran a pretty aggressive exploration campaign and we have received commitments from the board to fund a five-year exploration push. We increased our exploration budgets 30% this year and we are actively drilling at all mine sites.

And it’s not just exploration for the sake of growing resources, our Vice President of Exploration Daniel Marinov and his team are spearheading exploration to find tonnage to drive production optionality for the mining guys.

MC: Our Perkoa mine in Burkina Faso is one of the world’s highest grade zinc mines in production at the moment. The mine head grade is between 13–15% zinc.

Very high recoveries are in the 92–95 % range. It shows off about a third of our zinc production. It is a volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit – without getting too specific.

We are the only base metal mine in Burkina Faso and one of the few base metal mines in all West Africa. But given that these mines always occur in clusters, it is unlikely that we will not find more. We have been actively staking with quite a large land package of about 250 km2. We have flown airborne surveys and the deposit does have a strong geophysical response. We are seeing clusters of geophysical anomalies that look similar to the known deposits we are actively mining that have never been drill tested.

After that is our Caribou camp, which is a VMS camp where we control six deposits.

It is an engineering and logistics challenge at the moment – even just scheduling that through our mill is a challenge. In the New Brunswick and the Bathurst mining camps we are looking at mill operations until at least 2035, perhaps a bit longer. Obviously we have to do more studies, contingent on commodity prices, but we do not need to find that much tonnage there at this point in time.

GT: Trevali is currently the eighth largest global zinc producer. What are your goals and vision?

MC: We want to build the best base metal company out there. We are unique in that all our mines are underground. In the North

7

/21 QUESTIONS

We also like Rosh Pinah in Namibia. It has been in production for 50 years and it has never been fully drilled off, it’s always had a 10-year life of mine. And we believe there is more tonnage to be found there. It is a true tier-1 zinc deposit; head grade is in the 8–10% range. We have been fortunate with exploration drilling there this year. Once we have completed the exploration drilling, it may make sense to increase the throughput to 3000 tonnes per day, and even more during the second phase.

GT: Trevali Mining has developed strategies for enhanced corporate performance. Can you elaborate on this?

MC: We look at a variety of things. Our principal focus has been on fulfilling our production and financial promises. Getting the tonnes out of the ground at the cost we say we are going to get them out at and obviously getting them to market.

The transaction of the African assets only closed in Q4. The first clean quarter of production coming out of Trevali was Q1 2018. We want to continue to deliver our performance for the rest of the year and ongoing. As I said exploration is a major drive and there’s a lot of market interest in exploration as well as the potential of these assets.

Some of that is because some of the African assets were previously unknown. They were part of Glencore’s zinc portfolio. They were only aligned items so no analyst had visited them. There are limited reports; so I think any value shown there will be accretive and that value will be with the drill bit and the exploration teams.

In the short term – I think it’s about delivering on our results, and on our cost, to grow the resource with the drill bit, and then, if we can do some smart or accretive M&As, I think that would be the third pillar. That way

we should be able to drive performance and hopefully outperform the market and our peers.

GT: Besides price, what other risks might be challenging zinc manufacturing companies at the moment?

MC: You know the TCs (Treatment Charges) are down. There are some new zinc mines coming on board. As with any other commodity, the market is cyclical. The industry is debating how long the good zinc cycle can last.

One positive point to note is the quiet response from China. Historically, when zinc prices have rallied we have seen a lot of zinc production come out of China, which causes the market to become imbalanced or go into overcapacity. Then we have to wait several years for it to rebalance. For now zinc miners are making money in the price cycle and we are not seeing a massive response from China. If anything, Chinese zinc production was down about 8% in 2017. It looks like this zinc rally may have longer legs and may be stronger for longer.

Another challenge is to incentivize new zinc mines because the industry needs them and it needs zinc metal. It looks like previous long-term zinc prices of around a dollar per pound (or approximately 2200 USD/tonne) probably don’t make sense anymore. The consensus on long-term zinc prices suggests 1.20 to 1.30 USD/lb (2645 to 2865 USD/ tonne) are more likely necessary if you want to incentivize new zinc mines and make a basic return of approximately 15% (IRR).

GT: What do you think is missing or could be improved upon in the client-drilling contractor relationship?

MC: This year, like every other year we go out to tender. The relationship is not just about cost. I think what we would like to see is

drilling companies and contractors to work closely with us. We try to use innovation as much as possible right the way through the business but clearly in drilling as well, so we would like to use companies that are a bit more technically focused, who will work with us and overcome challenges, such as bad ground conditions. What we have been doing successfully in the last year or year and a half, which is new to us and new in Peru and in some of the areas that we have been working in, is using directional drilling. In Peru we’re in the mountains where it’s topographically challenging. We’ve had some targets there since 2010 that we haven’t been able to drill.

We put one or two holes in but the angle was not perfect so we knew mineralization was there but we just hadn’t got the technical ability to drill properly and get good cuts, and the mineralization has been critical.

So last year we did some directional drilling down there, working with a drill contractor.

It took some time to train the drill crew, and it was a bit slow and frustrating for a period, but now we are very effective at drilling mineralization at depths that before we wouldn’t have considered because we can drill that one mother hole and then kick off with directional drilling from that with the daughter holes and get multiple intersepts.

What's emerging is a nice high-grade product mineralization at the Santander Pipe. This work is facilitating opening up new ground for us. We will start using that technology in Namibia as it hasn't been used on the site there. Hopefully, that will lead to further opportunities for us.

So I think having an open relationship with your contractor definitely helps. Having those hard conversations and discussions.

Just working together closely will help you overcome technical challenges and to share the risk. That has worked well for us in the last couple of years and will continue to.

Coring Magazine is free for drilling contractors, manufacturers, mining and exploration companies and all individuals in the field.

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8

Coring Magazine #7

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/21 QUESTIONS

GT: The lowest drilling offer in a bid often in reality turns out to be the most expensive one. What is your opinion?

MC: I agree. Sometimes people can put in low bid offers to try to win the contract.

While we have a matrix, price is not the only consideration. For us, the main consideration is safety, so we look at the safety stats of the rigs, how the equipment is maintained, who are the drillers, what is their reputation, and how do they deal with potential spills; generally making sure that the company operates very high standards. Our highest priorities are safety and the environment.

And after that is it just responsiveness – will they work with us to overcome challenges?

Are they innovative? Do they look at things in different ways and try to help? Maybe they have got more specialty guys and better

supervision than some of the competition.

So definitely it is not just about drilling. This year we did not award our contract to the lowest bidder, I think our decision was to a bid somewhere in the mid-range.

GT: In the oil and gas drilling industry, you find the so-called ‘company man’ on-site. That is to say, an experienced drilling specialist hired by the client to look after the client’s interest. Why we don’t see such ‘company men’ in mineral exploration?

MC: I think we are starting to move towards that model. For example, in Namibia we use a local drill contractor. Even though the contractor had a nice new rig, they had some challenges getting up and running. In order to avoid situations like that, we cooperate with a consultant drill specialist, which is similar to

the company man model. I would say in the last quarter or two we have seen drill rates increase substantially, which is pushing us to move closer to that scenario. However, we would only use a company man model where there was a special need for it, such as with bad ground conditions, or maybe to help us with a specific skillset.

Peru was a special case so we brought in some drill consultants to help with the directional drilling there. The same consultants are also helping us now with the drilling in Namibia. As the old saying goes, time is money. If you have a rig sitting there and you are not meeting your exploration target that means you are not making production decisions, and even though it may not cost you a lot of production – that time is

Dr Mark Cruise at Santander Mine in Peru 10

Coring Magazine #7

money and people sitting around there doing nothing is a waste. I would say that we are selectively moving towards that model.

GT: Assume that you are running a drilling company and you want to make it a market leader. What would you focus on to achieve that?

MC: Innovation. I think to set yourself apart, innovation in the form of some specialty drilling functions, lightweight rigs on tougher terrain, newer man-portable or chopperportable rigs will help. Investing in innovation R&D will be the key to becoming a market leader.

GT: All too often, drilling companies lack the commonest drilling equipment like, hex barrels, taper bits, recovery tools, rod cutters, cement plugs, wedges, and so on, or lack the most common spare parts on-site. What do you think should be the client’s position on this?

MC: Companies like that do not work for us as they are not our client base. When we look at bids we check the company's reputation for professionalism.

We make sure the company has proper maintenance procedures, a proper drill supervisor and on-site supervisor for the various rigs. Rigs do break down. It is a tough time for the rigs, but we make sure that they are maintained and more importantly when they do go down we ensure there are sufficient spares that minimize that downtime. This area is a important to us and the above elements are taken into consideration in the bidding matrix when we score the various drill companies that are tendering for us.

GT: What are the latest trends and innovations in the sphere of mineral exploration?

MC: The potential for improving results using 3D imagery, using 3D models, is incredibly powerful. However, we are seeing that some of the younger up and coming geologists think that a 3D model is the end result or is the most important product.

At Trevali we have gone back to basics.

Some of the recent success we have had at Perkoa and in Namibia has come about from reinterpreting the geology, from looking at the rocks and then feeding good quality data into a 3D model. But one of the problems posed by the power of 3D models is that if the information looks slick, people think that the quality of the data is good and that is unfortunately an increasingly common mistake.

With geology we are focusing on first principles, based on effective data collection that we bring into 3D models where it becomes more powerful. We've often found that people don't have the time to focus on this or spend time in the field. So we focus on the field work.

GT: What are your understanding and definition of a good exploration geologist?

MC: I think you need to be an optimist. You need to spend time looking at the rocks, you need to spend time in the field. The more rocks you look at, the better the geologist you become. You need to see a variety of deposit types, keep an open mind and be willing to work with people. As an exploration geologist you are the first person on the ground, so you need to have the kind of skillset to interact with local stakeholders and local communities, whether they are indigenous or from anywhere else in the world. Because if you make a poor impression you can kill a project even before it starts. You really are an ambassador for the company and you need

a variety of skills. Spend time on the ground, have good people skills and keep an open mind.

GT: How do you see the future shaping up for mineral exploration? Where should the industry focus, and where not?

MC: As I have commented earlier, I think open pit mining is going to become increasingly socially unacceptable in many parts of the world. We need to see a return to underground mining and we have the key skills to do that at Trevali.

I think we, as an industry, need to become a lot better at communicating the benefit for society that mining brings. We have to act in a responsible manner and an environmentally conscious manner, to focus on the inputs and try to minimize the amount of water we use and the power we use, and to start moving towards using sustainable energy and/or electric vehicles.

GT: Can a diamond-drilling focused publication like ours be of help to the exploration geologist? Please be honest!

MC: I think it could. Most of the time when I get updated on the latest drilling technology and trends, it is through talking to a drilling contractor. I think a broader dissemination of the latest trends and technology and the latest benefits they can bring will be an important tool to an exploration geologist.

I would say 70% of the budget goes into drilling and we would like to increase that to 75%. Whichever way we get more information on how to drill smarter or drill better to get more drilled meters in the ground it will make us more successful. Being aware of the latest trends and latest technologies is critical for the exploration geologist. The drill rigs are our main tool and that is not going to change, certainly not in the short or medium term. C

NEW

If you have a question for Dr Mark Cruise, email us at editorial@coringmagazine.com and we will publish the answer in 'Post-21 Questions' in our next issue.

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

11

/IN FOCUS

Of innovators and disruptors

Kent Swick tells us the origin of Swick Mining Services and how the company recently acquired a new disruptive technology for mineral analysis

by Kent Swick, Managing Director and Jenna Aziz, PR Co-ordinator

History Swick Mining Services has been operating for over 20 years and was founded by Kent Swick in 1995. Kent is a fourth-generation driller with a drilling heritage that goes as far back as his great-grandfather drilling water wells across the mid-western plains of the United States during the Great Depression.

Kent Swick’s father, Lloyd first arrived in Western Australia in 1964 and was a pioneer in using mud-rotary drilling methods to drill and develop water bores throughout the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of the state. In the 1970s, Lloyd Swick helped develop major bore fields surrounding the Pilbara townships of Tom Price and Newman which allowed

the surrounding mines and communities to prosper in the once-barren landscape. Kent recalls, ‘As far back as I can remember, I was visiting operating drill rigs and around them in the workshop. I grew up listening to drilling stories and witnessing the odd animated ‘discussion’ about who was the better driller. My whole family was into water-well drilling and then RC drilling as that came into existence. In fact, even though I enjoyed the work, it was something that I was very determined not to do with my life over the long term. I tried to escape the industry after I got my degree but eventually got drawn back to it, this time it was in an underground environment and therefore something new.’

Having graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, Kent worked in civil construction on major railway projects before commencing work in an underground mine as a maintenance manager for a large global equipment manufacturer, whose equipment was on a maintenance contract at the site. It was there that Kent developed a strong understanding of underground mining processes and the equipment in use. Kent continues, ‘After a certain period I knew that working for a large organization, despite its benefits, wasn’t for me and I wanted to branch out on my own. So back in 1995 I bought a secondhand underground blast-hole drill, that anyone else would have thought was

Swick’s UD drill rig 12

Coring Magazine #7

scrap, and rebuilt it to a good operating condition and started contracting. My mother Rosanne and my father Lloyd were silent partners with my wife Tanya and I, and we commenced a long and sometimes difficult journey from that small start-up to get to where we are today.’

In just over 20 years, Swick Mining Services (Swick) has gone from one operating rig to nearly eighty, and is well known as an expert underground diamond coring contractor.

Swick sits in the top five mineral drilling contractors globally and is rapidly approaching a very significant milestone of drilling its ten-millionth meter of diamond core since commencing that drilling division in 2004.

Strategy Kent’s vision for Swick was to somehow develop a competitive advantage in an already well-serviced and developed industry.

‘As we started as an underground production drilling business, we soon found that we were competing with a pool of mine owners and other mining contractors that all had the same equipment, and we were being used as a top-up provider when required – not as a key contractor. The inability to achieve long-term contracts was frustrating me so I took a serious look at entering the underground diamond coring business.’

Researching the equipment being used in the sector, Kent realised that improved rig design would be the key to developing a new kind of service that would give the company a competitive edge.

‘When I was looking at the underground diamond-coring equipment back then I found it quite archaic, as even the best-in-practice drills were skid-mounted, and I was used to mobile mining equipment that was on wheels and was self-propelled. I knew that even if I bought the best available new rig we would still be just the same as everyone else and so be the last on and first off in regard to work.

I needed to come up with a rig that would position us at the front of the pack and make us first choice.’

At the time, the usual practice of underground diamond drilling had been constrained to using a drill rig that incorporated four separate yet interconnected skid-mounted components.

These included the power pack, water pump, feed frame and the control panel.

‘The skid-mounted rig had a number of inherent design disadvantages which reduced its effectiveness,’ Kent says. ‘The inability to Faster. Deeper. Safer.

drill all hole angles safely and the skid rig’s lack of mobility to move quickly between sites meant that its capability was limited, and what’s more, support was required from mine-site operations to prepare sites and to help reposition the skids.’

In 2004, Swick began developing a new concept that would overcome these intrinsic design issues. The new idea would not only produce a rig that would offer improved productivity and safety, but would also add value and versatility to the mining industry. The design concept focused on building a rig that would be highly mobile and self-sufficient in the underground mine environment.

Kent states, ‘I had a small, single boom jumbo that was too small to get decent blasthole contracts, but I thought it would make a great diamond-drill platform. I combined that with some best-in-practice diamond drilling components and then we had the basis of a new, mobile underground diamond drill.’

The new design has ‘all major drilling components mounted on the one mobile carrier, with the same mobility as a development jumbo, which can move itself and setup on any drill hole in a fraction of the time as a skid rig. The carrier also runs on solid, but flexible tyres so it’s impossible to get a flat.’

Today Swick Mining Services operates from its head office in Perth, Western Australia with operations across 17 sites in Australia and 3 sites in Europe (Portugal) and the US. Swick provides drilling services to some of the most well-known and respected mining houses in the industry, including: Barrick, Newmont, Kirkland Lake Gold, Northern Star Resources, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

‘Our rigs and support equipment have been developed to now be able to drill more than 1500 m in depth with an NQ2 core size and we have crews with the ability to hit a

RC drilling for Talison Lithium at Greenbushes, Western Australia 13

/IN FOCUS

Research and development

Underground automated rod handling 10 m x 10 m target at that distance. Going back to when we started coring underground, 500 m was a deep hole, now it’s just amazing what is being done underground.’

Safety and training Swick currently employs approximately 560 personnel across its drilling operations and support services. Kent says that the company’s culture, productivity and safety are key attributes that attract employees.

Kent says ‘The first rig was built in 2004 and since then we have built a total of 64 mobile rigs at our own manufacturing facility in Perth, Western Australia. I am really proud to see these rigs now operating in other parts of the world.’

The mobile rig was a stunning success and delivered on its promise of superior productivity, safety and versatility. Swick’s client base has also recognised the innovation – an innovation that has seen Swick grow organically to become one of the world’s largest mineral drilling contractors.

‘The company has a strong track record of developing its drillers from within, and with a very strong focus on training and development we are confident we have some of the highest-skilled crews in the industry.

The key part of any business is its people, and we really try to make sure our crews 14

feel supported and part of a bigger family no matter where they are in the world,’ Kent says.

Swick is committed to innovation, and this extends to its safety and training programs.

Kent comments, ‘the company has specialty training programs for all levels within the organisation, but recognises the reality that for many, drilling is an entry-level position into the mining industry. With that in mind we recently developed a purposebuilt induction facility with a simulated underground environment, which can mirror the daily activities of our underground crews but while being supervised. All the basic requirements of the job are outlined to new starters and all field-based employees commence via this facility over a full week at our headquarters.’

Swick’s safety culture and best practices are frequently recognised by the industry, and the company has been granted numerous awards including, most recently, the 2018 Mining Contractor of the Year Award by Australia’s Mining Monthly. This prestigious award is given to contractors that add value to their project or find ways to bring real cost savings, productivity gains and safety benefits to the industry.

Swick has a very strong engineering capacity as seen in its in-house Research and Development team, dedicated test facility (including a high-powered dynamometer for rig and component testing) and a drilling test facility where large granite slabs are drilled regularly.

Over time, Swick has developed unique drilling systems, including the Hydra Latch core-retrieval system where core can be pumped back to the drill collar without the use of a wireline. This is very useful in the underground environment and reduces both non-drilling time and water consumption.

Currently Swick is working on improved automation systems and focusing on maximising efficiency. The focus on efficiency means we are looking at how to ensure that the limited power available at underground platforms can be used to maximum efficiency thus reducing power consumption per meter drilled, which would provide a significant long-term benefit to clients.

Kent says that the company’s strong drive to innovate and to pioneer industry bestpractices have made Swick one of the world’s largest mineral drilling contractors to date.

‘Our focus on improvement is relentless – we continually push ourselves to better every aspect of our drilling business. We have gone beyond the development of a powerful underground rig by adding operational drilling system innovations as well,’ Kent says.

‘Our dedication to achieving higher power and increased depth capacity allows our clients to have a wide range of scope available to be drilled by the same Swick rig.

This saves the effort of mobilising differently sized machines for different programs, and the Swick drill crews only have to know and be certified on one type of rig.’

Orexplore and mineral analysis While Swick continues to be a leading provider of premium quality mineral drilling services, the company has strategically sought to be part of the changing landscape of available mining technologies, and be at the forefront of the digital revolution.

In 2013, Swick began funding a start-up mineral analysis company called Orexplore, which is based in Stockholm, Sweden. This company sought out Swick as a strategic partner when it was developing a unique core-scanning technology that could not only provide the geochemistry of a sample Coring Magazine #7

Core shed at the Tanami mine but also a 3D X-ray image of the core. Swick subsequently purchased the remaining shares and Orexplore is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Swick.

Orexplore has developed world-first scanning instruments and associated software that allows for non-destructive analysis of core, and provides a unique insight into the rock sample’s structure, texture, chemistry and mineralogy.

Orexplore has recently been launched in Australia, and can replace traditional laboratory services with accurate onsite analysis of rock drill cores, providing significantly more detail than is available from any other source.

Kent states ‘The Orexplore product is amazing. I have never seen a new product released to the market with this degree of disruptive technology. Geologists, metallurgists and engineers can now take advantage of a suite of instantaneous information to help discover, mine and extract valuable mineral resources.’

Case studies As Swick fast approaches the ten millionthmeter milestone of diamond core drilled globally, it can count among its achievements Faster. Deeper. Safer.

some very significant individual case studies where long-term relationships have provided mutual benefits. Two such examples are outlined below.

The Tanami gold mine is situated in the Northern Territory of Australia and the mine’s owner and operator is the world’s largest gold producer, Newmont. Swick has been engaged with this project since 2007 and there are currently nine of Swick’s Mobile Underground Diamond Drill rigs and 67 permanent Swick crew at this site. Swick has just achieved the significant milestone of achieving 1.5 million meters of diamond core at the Tanami mine.

The Jundee gold mine in Western Australia is owned and operated by Northern Star Resources. Northern Star is a progressive and market-leading Australian gold mining house, which purchased the mine from Newmont in July 2014. Northern Star currently utilises 10 of Swick’s Mobile Underground Diamond Drill rigs and there are 72 permanent Swick crew at this site. Prior to Northern Star’s acquisition of the mine, Swick previously worked at Jundee for Newmont, commencing in 2007. In total Swick has drilled more than 1.6 million meters of core at Jundee since 2007. C

About the company Swick Mining Services (ASX:SWK) is one of Australia's largest mineral drilling contractors, providing high quality, high value underground and surface drilling services to a diverse group of mining houses in precious and base metals, and bulk commodities. The company specialises in underground diamond drilling, and has a reputation for pioneering innovative rig designs that deliver improvements in productivity, safety, versatility and value. Swick's competitive advantage is underpinned by its strong engineering acumen and dedicated R&D focus. Swick has provided drilling services to many of the world's largest mining companies, including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Glencore, Newmont, Barrick, Vale, Gold Fields, Newcrest, Goldcorp and AgnicoEagle Mines.

Swick also has operations in Canada and the USA, building a business with a strategy to provide high quality drilling services to the large underground mining market in the North American region.

Find them at www.swickmining.com or write directly to info@swickmining.com

15

/PRODUCT REVIEW

Christensen 140: Crafted for better safety and greater power Epiroc gives us a technical review of its latest surface core drilling rig

by Fredrik Ternström, Project Manager for Brand Communication at Epiroc

Background Epiroc’s project to develop the Christensen 140 surface core drilling rig (‘the CS140’) arose out of the company’s recognition that the successful CS14 needed an upgrade to meet the latest market requirements.

Product development began in 2012 and focused on increasing the drill rig’s safety features, improving ergonomics and userfriendliness, and reducing the operational costs over the rig´s lifespan.

During the three-year development period, the team working on the project had the opportunity to respond to any new changes occurring in the marketplace. For example, the improved safety features of the CS140 were created in direct response to the guidance published in the European Standard for drilling equipment, EN 16228 in late 2014.

The Standard places greater emphasis on 16

helping the driller avoid coming into contact with any hazardous areas, like moving parts, hot surfaces etc. By the end of 2015, the CS140 was ready and it was officially launched in 2016.

The CS140 is currently in operation at sites located around the world in South Africa, Armenia, Russia, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Iran, Bulgaria, the United Arab Emirates, and the Czech Republic.

A quieter, easier operation The CS140 has a silenced canopy that reduces noise levels, with sound reduction being one of the items in the Standard designed to improve the working environment for operators. The capability to make and break drill rods using a joystick is also an improvement in safety since it frees the operator from potentially injurious manual

tasks. The operator’s platform and panel is a swing-away type that makes it easier for the operator to find a suitable position to get a good overview, as well as keeping him or her away from the rotating drill string. The control panel also has a new design that is more intuitive, including a display for viewing drilling parameters at a glance, and has fewer levers. Not only do these new ergonomic safety features safeguard the operator, they also give him or her total control over the rig.

Global Product Manager, Marie Bergman comments on the CS140’s safety features: ‘This rig has a higher level of sophistication than its predecessor and we have put a lot of focus on making this a safer drill rig.

The control panel is attached to a swing arm, which will keep the operator further away from the rotating parts and will also improve the working environment. Since the Coring Magazine #7

Improved robustness of the crown block with steel shieves and larger wire line pullies extends the service life of both the wire and the pullies.

Robust and sturdy hinges on the mast facilitate easy transport and setup while minimizing wear and prolonging service life.

Improved hose routing makes the working environment safer and neater during operation. Wear is reduced, resulting in improved hose reliability and longevity.

DEPTH CAPACITY

MAST AND FEED SYSTEM

Standard

Thin wall

Feed travel

3.5 m (11.5 ft)

Feed speeds

High and Low with variable control

Meters

Feet

Meters

Feet

B

1 540

5 050

1 770

5 805

Mast dump travel

1.2 m (3.9 ft)

N

1 200

3 936

1 380

4 525

Thrust

59.6 kN (13 390 lbs)

H

800

2 624

920

3 020

Pull

138 kN (31 020 lbs)

P

475

1 560

545

1 790

Drilling angle

45 - 90

The drill depth capacities only serve as guidelines and refer to vertical down drilling. Atlas Copco cannot guarantee that these results can be achieved in all drilling conditions.

Rod pull length

6 m (20 ft )

Foldable mast

ROTATION UNIT

POWER UNIT

Power

Hydraulic motor - variable speed/reversible

Manufacture

Cummins

Final drive

Gear driven

Model

QSB 6.7 IIIA-3/IV-4F

Spindle (inner diameter) 124 mm (4.88 in)

Volume

6.7 liter, 6 cyl

Max torque

7 600 Nm

Power

Stage IIIA/Tier 3: 153 kW (205 hp) /

Max speed

1 300 rpm

Stage IV/Tier 4F: 160 kW (215 hp)

Gear change

Hydraulic shift

RPM

1 800

Engine type

Diesel turbocharged and charged air cooled

Cooling system

Water

Electrical system

24V (Alternator 24 V, 70 Amp)

Sound level

108 dB(A)

SPINDLE DATA Spindle

Ratio

Speed, rpm

Torque, Nm

Low speed

17.5:1

50–200

7 600–3 370

High speed

2.7:1

350–1 300

1 195–530

ROD HOLDER

CHUCK ASSEMBLY

Hydraulic open, gas spring closed - BO to PO rods

Type

Hydraulic open, spring close

Max diameter

140 mm (5.5 in)

Max clamping diameter

124 mm (4.88 in)

Holding capacity

130 kN (28 660 lbs)

Holding capacity

178 kN (40 000 lbs)

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

17

/PRODUCT REVIEW

90°

TECHNICAL DATA

B

Trailer version

45°

Dimension

A

F

G

E D

C

Crawler version

mm

in

mm

in

D

2 700

106

2 895

114

E

2 290

90

2 600

102

F

2 505

99

2 558

101

G

215

8.5

400

15.8

H

599

24

536

21

I

8 327

328

6 636

261

J

432

17

-

-

K

1 044

41

-

-

I

H

J K

Christensen 140 can handle 6-meter core barrels, increased productivity will result in there being more core samples in the box.’

We offer a Rod Handling System (RHS) as an option on the CS140 and the CT20. When the rig is equipped with a rod handler, fatigue is less likely to affect the helpers, which helps improve the safety of the working environment. For instance, the RHS has an assistant control panel that lets the operator perform drilling without lifting, threading, or otherwise handling the rod. This significantly reduces their fatigue and prevents any potential injuries that can occur when manually handling rods.

Service Engineer, Marcus Löfgren comments: ‘What distinguishes the Christensen 140 from its competitors is how easy it is to operate. A new operator will learn fast thanks to features like constant 18

penetration rate, thread compensation and the intuitive control panel. This also decreases operator fatigue.’

Less consumption, more production A number of changes were built into the CS140 to make it more economical to maintain and capable of delivering improved results. An improved hydraulically controlled feed system offers a constant penetration rate when confronting varying ground conditions, and a torque limiter. A new, robust crown block increases the life of the wires, while new hose routing minimizes wear. The new, small cyclone hydraulic tank consumes less oil (100 L as compared to 300 L in the earlier model) and is more

environmentally friendly. These features were designed to substantially increase the life of the consumables.

The design of the mast is also new and makes it possible to handle 6-meter inner tubes, which improves productivity by putting more core in the box for each round trip. The newly designed, hydraulically driven rotation unit with sliding capacities contributes to the rig’s overall increased productivity and it requires less maintenance while offering higher torque.

Improved and safer than its predecessor, the Christensen 140 is claimed to be one of the best exploration rigs on the market. It’s made to meet even the most demanding needs. The Epiroc team foresees a long market life for this model and has received strong, positive customer feedback. C Coring Magazine #7

Swing arm Assistant control panel Main control panel Beam

CS140

Shuttle

RHS

TECHNICAL DATA

WORKING DIMENSIONS

Handles 3 meter and 6 meter drill rod

Dimension

Rod size - B, N, H and P

mm

ft

A

4 554

14.9

Can handle WL casings

B

4 809

15.8

Handles the complete core barrel as well as inner tube

C

10 530

34.5

Drilling angles from 45 to 90 degrees

D

14 415

47.3

CE certified (EN 16228)

E

3 331

10.9

F

4 270

14.0

G

9 991

32.8

H

13 876

45.5

TECHNICAL DATA Main application area

Core drilling

Drilling method

Wireline drilling

Rod rack capacity

B = 25 rods, N = 20 rods, H = 15

TRANSPORTATION DIMENSIONS

rods, P = 11 rods

Dimension

Powered by

Rig auxiliary hydraulic

Transport dimensions Weight

mm

ft

A

8 250

27.1

8 250 x 1 700 x 2 150 mm

B

2 150

7.1

2 500 kg

C

1 700

5.6

Contact information You can find Marie Bergman, Global Product Manager, at marie.bergman@epiroc.com Find Fredrik Ternstrรถm, Project Manager of Brand Communication, at fredrik.ternstrom@epiroc.com For sales, contact the local Epiroc representative

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

19

/CASE STUDY

Hydracore Drills in Ecuador Man-portable solutions for remote locations

by Nigel Spaxman, CEO & Co-owner at Hydracore Drills

History Hydracore Drills started out in 1975 as Wink International Drilling, doing drilling contracting jobs. Since that date the company has produced over 400 machines and its goal was and remains to be to make simple, quality machines, and to provide the best service and advice to keep them working well.

In 1980, Fred Wink, the father of the famous ‘Winkie’ drill, left the company and Truman Younie took over. Truman changed the name of the company to Hydracore Drills Ltd and continued contracting with the HydraWink, which was renamed the Hydracore 28 after the company name change. The Hydracore 28 drills were powered by Volkswagen gas engines and designed for helicopter jobs.

At that time the only helicopter used in the industry for exploration was the Bell 47. The weight of each lift had to be less than 400 lbs or it wouldn’t fly. Later, the manufacturing and sales rights for the Hydracore 28 were sold to Longyear, which marketed it as the Longyear 28.

20

Hydracore continued to do contract drilling in Canada until late 1994, when the company was acquired by Fern Boisvenu – the owner of F. Boisvenu Drilling, which was another drilling contractor. After the purchase, Hydracore remained involved with drilling activities, albeit on the manufacturing side, while the actual drilling was done through

Fern’s company. Around then, several larger machines were built for F. Boisvenu Drilling and these were the first prototypes for a series of larger portable machines with hydraulic chucks that Hydracore still manufactures. Now, four decades later Hydracore is building machines with over 200 hp that can drill at least 2000-meters deep,

Drill rig milestones 1975

Hydrawink helicopter portable machines made, later on called Hydracore 28

1980

Name changed from Wink International Drilling to Hydracore Drills Ltd

1982

First Gopher drill

1984

Gopher underground drill

1997

Gopher man-portable machine with three engines

1997

The first Hydracore 2000 Drill

2002

The first Hydracore 2000 Drill with a HQ chuck (100 hp)

2004

Hydracore 2000, 100-hp underground machine

2005

The first Hydracore 4000 Drill with a PQ chuck (200 hp)

2015

The first Hydracore 5000 Drill with 49 000 lbs of pullback (210 hp) Coring Magazine #7

and, remaining as competitive as ever, these machines are much simpler and lighter than many alternatives available on the market today.

Since the late 1990s geologists have been demanding larger and larger core samples.

So, in response larger and larger machines have been developed and built with more power and force to drill the biggest possible cores.

In January 2016 the company was purchased by Nigel Spaxman and the Donaldson family. Nigel has been with the company since 1982, and he has designed and developed most of Hydracore’s current range of machines, drawing from his own practical drilling experience and outside-thebox thinking. Today, Hydracore is based near Vancouver, B.C. – a global center for finance for exploration mining. When you have an office in Vancouver you naturally develop a large network of connections. Coring is a small business; there is only one degree of separation between you and everyone else. It was because of such close-knit connections that in 1996, Al Westbrook, the owner of a small core drilling company in Ecuador, Paragon Drilling, contacted Hydracore.

He was looking for a drill rig with strict requirements – a man-portable machine that could drill to depths of around 1200 feet at B-size. Hydracore took on the task and provided him with a modified Hydracore 28, with a VW Turbo Diesel 60-hp engine and a top-drive head. Clearly Al was satisfied, as the following year he bought another rig – his first Hydracore 2000. These drill sales started Hydracore’s long association with Quemco Cia Ltd, Hydracore’s authorized dealer in Ecuador.

Nigel comments: ‘Around the same time we had also started building man-portable machines powered by multiple small engines.

That was another invention of Hydracore’s that we are really proud of. These were built first for Cyprus Amax Minerals and later for Kluane International Drilling. These machines were eventually used in Ecuador, although they were first used in Panama and Dominican Republic. All this work came about because of connections we had with different geologists and contractors.’

Design never stops These early experiences led Hydracore to develop its own, different, way of doing things. The company has its own designs for drill heads, chucks, clamps, hydraulic cylinders and feed frames. Even its hydraulic circuit design is quite different Faster. Deeper. Safer.

Rods Pull-Out, Hubbard Perforaciones, Ecuador

HP’s HC 2000 at Cascabel with four 40 HP engines working hard from anyone else’s. Nigel points out that they try to keep things simple while other companies are trying to make machines that are more complicated. And in response to the pressure of their clients’ emphasis on ‘lighter and more powerful’, the company has substantially improved its drills and strives to go beyond what other companies offer.

For example, Nigel explains that the manportable machines are used in very harsh environments where there is far more chance of contamination of the hydraulic circuits than with other types of machines: ‘Our drills have been working on remote and difficultto-access projects for many years and the problems that go with that have led us to

solutions not previously encountered. We can see when other companies attempt to copy Hydracore designs: they often remove certain features without understanding the reasons for them.’

A lot of Hydracore’s customers come to realize that these machines are a lot easier to work with and cheaper to maintain compared to the heavier and more complex machines from other manufacturers. With such a small machine the cost saving over the years is significant. One of Hydracore’s Canadian customers, Full Force Drilling, who also own drill rigs from other manufacturers says ‘that the annual overhaul of their drill heads costs around $10 000, but it costs only $2 500 21

/CASE STUDY

Hydracore 5000 with 3 70 HP Engines, drill at Solgolds Cascabel property to overhaul a Hydracore head.’ Another customer complained of constant oil leakage from the head of their rig from another major manufacturer that required it to be sent back to the factory for maintenance. Nigel is keen to point out that Hydracore drill heads ‘never leak oil, simply because there is no oil in them, and we offer maintenance service on-site.’ To give an example, just recently the company rebuilt a 10-year-old head on a drill platform in the middle of the French Guinean jungle where the main tools required were a block of wood and a big hammer.

Drilling in Ecuador Most of the drilling campaigns in Ecuador are very suitable for the range of various manportable machines that Hydracore makes.

A lot of Ecuadorian terrain is mountainous, covered with lush vegetation. Sometimes it will rain for months. In many cases, building roads to desired drill sites for exploratory coring is simply not permitted. On top of that, most of the land is privately owned where the local people can be protective: they don’t want the environment ruined by tractors carving out roads to drill sites. And they are right, as those types of road would likely lead to terrible erosion in that very wet environment. Obviously, such damage to the environment is avoided by using manportable machines that can be transported along small trails either by man or small vehicles.

22

Another crucial concern when working in remote locations is the impact of the project on communities residing near the drill sites. In response to this challenge, Hubbard Perforaciones often employs local residents for the work of building trails, transporting the drills and even to be trained for drilling activities. This helps them to develop useful industry skills that can be directly relevant to his or her pursuit of other positions. For example, Hubbard has worked with locally based drill assistants who have gone onto become drillers themselves. In this way, Hubbard seeks to maximize its contribution to sustainable development while maintaining a high standard of ethics.

Hubbard’s staff now is 99% Ecuadorian.

Hydracore’s helicopter portable powerpacks are designed to be separated into two parts, each weighing about 700 lbs, but often drilling companies prefer to move the powerpack all at once. This is simpler, but engines in the range of 140 hp weigh about 1200–1400 lbs, and for that reason Nigel says that for man-portable projects they always recommend working with multiple engines.

The 30-hp engine units weigh 340 lbs; 40 hp units are 400 lbs; and 70 hp units are 600 lbs.

Even with the biggest man-portable machine that Hydracore makes, the Hydracore 5000, it is possible to break the machine down into multiple 600-lb loads.

Hydracore machines are used in Ecuador by Enami, Mandrill, Curimining, Kluane Drilling, and Hubbard Perforaciones. There are similar drills made by other manufacturers, but it is only on the surface where they appear to be equal.

Hubbard Perforaciones originally started as a partnership in 2006, and was called MVP Drilling (MVP), but after a few years together Lance Hubbard split with his partner Greg Duncan and continued with the name Hubbard Perforaciones (HP). By a process of gradual improvement, the company has set some amazing records for production and depth using Hydracore machines.

From the start, HP has used only Hydracore machines. Lance Hubbard says ‘They are great machines, Nigel provides a great service, he is one of the more intelligent and knowledgeable people I know about drills and how they work in the industry.’

The first machines that MVP purchased were called Hydracore 2000s but they were a bit of an in-between model. They had the four 40-hp engine power pack (the very first one used the 30-hp engines). The head was a beltdriven top-drive unit. This drill head could transmit as much power and force as the Hydracore 2000 chuck head but was lighter.

The feed frame had 30 000 lbs of pullback and the head had a variable bent axis motor that could be adjusted for rotation speeds of between 500 and 1500 RPMs – just like the 2000 model. With the top drive system, though, 1.5-meter rods had to be used rather than the 3-meter ones that can be used with a chuck head. Hydracore sold about 10 machines with this head but almost everyone who used it really wished they had gotten the version of this drill with the HQ chuck.

Eventually the machines that HP had and the ones that were owned by his partner were switched over to the chucks.

Since September 2013, HP has done 72 000 meters of drilling in 45 holes for Solgold on the Cascabel project. This project is about a three-hour drive from Quito, and a 20-minute drive from Lito. At first there was no road into the site and it took five weeks to move the machine in using men and an Iron Horse 13-hp tracked carrier. There is now a main road into the project that is allowing some larger drills into some areas and allowing HP to move their machines in without so much labour.

Many holes have intersected good grades for over 1000 meters. Possibly 150 000 more meters will be drilled. Only about 10% of the rock drilled is non-competent ground.

Below hole depths around 1200 meters the conditions become increasingly competent.

Coring Magazine #7

Hydracore 2000 single-engine powerpacks of 1400 lbs being moved by a team of 16 men (circa 1998).

In the deeper holes, six-meter (20-foot) core barrels are are used to speed up the drilling production. The average hole depths have been about 1600 meters. The holes are collared H and then reduced to N once the ground becomes more competent.

At present HP has seven Hydracore machines working on site, and there are five machines from other companies, including Hy-Tech Drilling from Canada, a company Lance worked for during his younger days, and Titeline Drilling from Australia. Last month (April) HP’s average footage was 843 m per drill, and the five larger machines averaged about 788 m per month. During January and February, the larger drills did well in comparison, but in March the larger drills out produced the HP machines because there were stuck rods on three of Lance’s machines that caused a big setback. On deep holes there can be some very time consuming and expensive problems. The deepest hole HP has drilled with their Hydracore 5000 is a 2200-meter NQ hole. This hole had three directional drilling sections so it was not the easiest drilling either, but the hole was finished to the desired depth. The larger machines used by one of the competitors are weighing 10 times more than the Hydracore

5000. They have 340 hp and 50 000 lbs of pullback, while the little Hydracore 5000 has 210 hp and 49 000 pullback capacity. We believe that 210 hp is enough power to drill with N to any depth required.

HP has proven these Hydracore manportable machines can safely, quickly, and reliably drill to depths that normally are only achieved by much larger truck mounted machines. The production rate is very high.

The power of the machines is very suitable for the depths required. These machines and the techniques of moving them developed by HP, make drilling possible where there is very limited access with very low environmental damage. In many cases it would not be possible to get approvals for roads into these types of sites, also the construction of roads is very expensive. These Hydracore machines have been used in many other countries with similar results. C

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/CORING SURVEY

Top 10 mineral exploration drilling contractors Statistics based on 2017 results

by Martina Samarova, Marketing and Communications Manager at Coring Magazine

After a long downturn, 2017, especially the last quarter, turned out to be profitable for most companies involved in diamond drilling. Coring Magazine reviews the 2017 annual results announced publicly by drilling contractors around the world and ranks the top 10 companies based on revenues from mineral exploration drilling services. The statistics below consider the portion of annual revenue earned only from mineral exploration drilling services, even if the contractors offer other types of drilling services.

All the values given in the charts are approximate and have been included to help us see whether market conditions are improving; we have limited the discussion to the 10 most prosperous companies of 2017.

Apart from the income of the companies, where it has been possible to do so, we also indicate the number of mineral exploration drill rigs they owned in 2017, as well as the number of countries they operated in throughout the year.

Top 10 drilling contractors by mineral exploration drilling revenue, (million USD) 443 Boart Longyear

Others*

Results in brief Eight of the companies reported an increase in their annual revenue as compared to the previous fiscal period.

The highest earner is Boart Longyear, having received 443 million USD in revenue solely from mineral exploration drilling services. The company announced an 11.8% revenue increase earned from mineral exploration drilling services, as well as an improvement in drill rig utilization when compared to the 2016 fiscal year. Its number of mineral exploration drill rigs for 2017 was 564. During 2017 it operated in 20 countries.

Second is Major Drilling with 235 million USD (301 million CAD) in mineral exploration drilling revenue, which was 1% less than the previous fiscal year. In 2017 the company had 646 drill rigs. Major Drilling operated across five regions.

The third position is held by Foraco International SA, with 128 million USD of mineral exploration drilling revenue having been reported in 2017. Throughout the year the mineral exploration drilling income of 24

235 Major Drilling

128 Foraco 115 Capital Drilling 98 Swick Mining

35 Energold 70 Ausdrill

83 Geodrill

97 Layne 96 Orbit Garant

* For the purposes of this pie chart, we have assumed that the annual revenues of all the other drilling contractors are 40% out of 100. We do not have the posibility to point out the actual percentage and we would like to state that in fact it may be quite different. the company increased. According to a 2017 factsheet published on Foraco’s website, the contractor had 240 exploration drill rigs. In 2017 Foraco operated in 22 countries.

Another leader in the industry is Capital Drilling, with its reported mineral exploration drilling revenue of 115 million USD. The contractor noted that this was a

significant increase of 90 million USD. For the 2017 fiscal year, according to its financial summary, the size of the mineral exploration drilling fleet was 73. The company was focused on working in East Africa and West African regions but had operations in South America, Europe and Asia as well.

Coring Magazine #7

Then there is Swick Mining – with 98 million USD annual revenue (130 million AUD), earned from mineral exploration drilling services. The company reported a 4.1% increase on the previous fiscal period.

The total number of drilled meters for 2017 was 1 122 444 m. The overall number of drill rigs belonging to the company in 2017 was 76, the number of the active ones – 58.

Swick operated in Australia and had projects in USA and Portugal.

Layne Drilling reported significant consolidated revenue, of which 97 million USD were earned from mineral exploration drilling services alone. Layne Drilling provided mineral services across four countries, with the help of 117 rigs. Rig utilization was 58%.

Next on the list is Orbit Garant – this company enjoyed an increase of 16.4% in mineral exploration drilling revenue, which totaled 96 million USD (125 million

CAD). Its fleet included 221 drill rigs. Orbit Garant provided services in Canada and internationally.

Eight in the statistics is Geodrill Ltd. According to its consolidated financial statements for 2017, the company earned 83 million USD, from mineral exploration drilling services – being 9 million USD more than the previous fiscal period. The contractor’s drilling fleet consisted of 62 rigs.

Next is Ausdrill, with 70 million USD (93 million AUD) earned in revenue from mineral exploration drilling services alone, and 50 mineral exploration drill rigs. In 2017, Ausdrill reported a decrease in the income received from mineral exploration drilling services.

Energold Drilling Corp. reported 35 million USD (45 million CAD) in mineral exploration drilling revenue, which was an increase on

the previous year. The company informed us that they had a fleet of 272* rigs and operated in 24 countries.

Our thoughts on market conditions The current survey shows that 2017 was a successful year for the diamond drilling industry. Market conditions improved in favor of drilling contractors.

The consolidated annual revenues of the companies included in our survey increased on the previous fiscal year by 28%. Drilling contractors informed us of high levels of rig utilization. They also reported a growing presence of drilling companies in different locations all around the world. Throughout the year, the companies we looked at completed multiple projects and started new ones. It is expected that market conditions will remain stable and the trend of improving on previous results will continue. C

Top 10 drilling contractors by number of mineral exploration drill rigs 800

No. of drill rigs

700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0

| Major Drilling

| Boart Longyear

| Energold

| Foraco

| Orbit Garant

| Layne

| Swick Mining

| Capital Drilling

| Geodrill

| Ausdrill

*This is Energold’s total number of drill rigs. We were unable to track down the number of mineral exploration drill rigs alone.

Coring Magazine would like to update these market statistics on a regular basis – the accuracy of which, to a great extent, depends on the responsiveness of the companies listed. For any comments and inquiries regarding the statistics, please contact us.

editorial@coringmagazine.com Faster. Deeper. Safer.

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Optimising RC drilling for exploration and resource estimation

by Duncan Franey BSc, Project Geologist and Melissa Giddens BSc, Exploration Geologist

26

Coring Magazine #7

/MINERAL EXPLORATION

Money rules the world and in exploration it’s no different. Every exploration manager or geologist will find themselves facing the classic conundrum of how to get the most value for their buck. In drilling – the ultimate data acquisition and moneyburning practice – many factors come into play when answering that question.

Each type of drilling has its pros and cons and most projects will need to use a range of methods for a variety of purposes.

Traditionally, first pass drill testing is done with rotary air-blast (RAB) rigs and, more commonly now, air-core (AC) rigs. These types of drilling give a first indication of mineralization below cover and are usually followed up with reverse circulation (RC) drilling, which allows for drilling into fresh rock and to greater depths. The RC method is fast, relatively cheap, reduces contamination and provides a far larger sample, ideal for resource definition. The downside to RC drilling is the drill sample returned comes in the form of drilling dust and chips a few centimetres in size. Furthermore, meter delineation (control on the sample size), splitting efficiency, bulk density measurements and structural information are all hard to determine with RC drilling.

Structures are not preserved as the sample is pulverized to chips, meter delineation is traditionally measured by meter delineation on the drill mast, splitting efficiency is often sparsely measured with splits created via fixed cone splitters and bulk density measurements are less accurate.

This means projects are often required to resort to diamond drilling; the third most common drill type and the most expensive.

Diamond drilling produces cores of rock that provide an in situ sample of rock from the depth drilled. The advantages of diamond drill core are mostly related to an increase in data and resolution. This information includes increased logging resolution, more accurate density measurements, accurate meter delineation, increased sampling resolution Faster. Deeper. Safer.

A downhole logging unit with the wireline (and attached logging unit) down a drill hole (smaller increments rather than 1-meter increments) and the ability to use core for crushing, metallurgy and geotechnical testwork. The disadvantages of diamond core include a smaller sample, increased time to collect and increased cost.

How to make RC best for resource estimation As geologists, our challenge is always to collect the critical data efficiently and cost effectively. This is why, at the Tampia Gold Project in Narembeen (Western Australia), Explaurum Ltd have been thinking outside the box and pushing the limits of data collection using RC drilling. With technology developments in the field of downhole logging tools RC drilling can be used in place of diamond core drilling in many circumstances. Furthermore, with careful quality control (QC) practices several previous limitations of RC drilling can be mitigated making it a much more attractive and cost-effective drilling method for resource estimation.

The additional information which can now be gleaned from an RC drill hole come in two forms, geological data and resource data.

Additional geological information can also be had with regard to logging resolution, structural orientation information and, in

some cases, texture and fabric information.

These data can be acquired through the use of downhole logging techniques in the form of optical-televiewer logging (OTV) and acoustic-televiewer logging (ATV). These methods involve lowering a 1.4–2.8 m metal probe of 40–50 mm diameter down the RC hole, which in the case of OTV takes a 360° picture of the hole walls and in the case of ATV emits high resolution sound waves from a 0.5–1.5 MHz transducer and measures the reflections from the hole walls. These logging techniques provide images of the hole walls and the structures that can be seen on them. These can be converted into oriented structural planes and sub-meter definitions of geological contacts. This gives the majority of the advantages of diamond core for a fraction of the cost – at around $10/m.

In addition, the structural measurements are more accurate and reliable as the orientation is calculated via a gyro rather than orientation lines marked on the drillcore, which can be out by as much as 30°. By understanding the orientations of structures, foliations and banding at Tampia we have been able to interpret the structural controls on gold mineralization, allowing us to better plan and target the mineralization and better control resource estimation. Additional geophysical properties can be collected using the same downhole probes in the form of density (important for resources!), 27

/MINERAL EXPLORATION

the final resource estimate by more than 30%, as contained gold is calculated as grade X volume X density.

One of the standard downhole logging tools that wireline loggers provide is a density tool, which measures in situ rock density through the measurement of the amount of gamma radiation produced by a caesium source reflected to the tool. The denser the rock the larger proportion of the radiation that is produced is reflected.

These tools measure at a 1-cm resolution, which provides an incredible density dataset when measurements are taken across a resource drill out. This allows density to be carefully modelled in a similar manner to grade providing far more robust resource estimations.

Quality controlled RC drilling for quality data

Felsic Migmatite Vein

Mineralized Mafic Gneiss

Granite

Migmatite Transition

Mafic Gneiss

Mafic Migmatite

Figure 1 – An example of how multiple downhole logging tools work together to show the different rock properties within the different lithologies at Tampia Hill. natural gamma (radioactivity), magnetic susceptibility and resistivity. The physical properties can be used to further define lithologies and assist in the logging of the drill hole up to 1-cm resolution as opposed to the usual 1-m increments provided by RC chip logging.

Density, grade and volume Rock density is one of three critical pieces of information required to calculate a mineral resource, with the other two being grade and volume. Great attention is paid to the grade of a mineral resource with care being taken to ensure accurate grades are measured through good sampling practice, and the grade is correctly modelled via complex geostatistical methods. The volume is carefully estimated 28

via grid drilling and wireframing to determine the spatial extents of a mineral resource.

The density, however, is mostly poorly defined, with the standard practice being to drill a few diamond core holes and choose representative core samples for each lithology and conduct density measurements on these pieces of core.

This often results in a very small population of data being used to define the density of large volumes of rock that can have a dramatic effect on the final resource estimate. In the case of Tampia, preliminary resources conducted at the site assumed a density of 2.6 g/cm3. When density measurements were carried out on the mafic gneiss hosting the deposit densities, between 3–3.2 g/cm3 were measured, which changed

RC drilling QC can further improve the data quality for resource estimation through better assessment of meter delineation and sampling efficiency. This can be achieved by implementing more arduous and stringent QC methods; however, the benefits far outweigh the added effort. A detailed description of these methods can be found in our paper ‘RC drill optimization: The quantityquality balance’, published in 2017 in the Drilling for Geology Conference Proceedings for the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, Brisbane, which was written based on the practices used at the Tampia Gold Project for the recent resource estimation of the Tampia deposit.

Ultimately, through the weighing of the total sample produced, better meter delineation can be achieved by comparing the actual sample recovery weight with the estimated sample recovery weight. Sample splitting efficiency can be measured by taking two calico samples of the sample splitter and weighing and comparing these samples.

This allows for the measurement and management of introduced variance that provides the resource geologist with better samples and higher confidence in those samples. This in turn directly effects the confidence in the resource estimation, which defines the resource classification assigned to the eventual resource estimation by the resource geologist. In the case of Tampia the improved control on the variance and its effect on the sampling allowed a wider drill hole spacing to be used and the amount of drilling required to be reduced. This halved the amount of drilling required to define Coring Magazine #7

an Indicated Resource at Tampia and with the completion of the recent scoping study confirms there will be a mine at Tampia.

Advice to drillers Now, this is all well and good, but with the audience of this article in mind, what does this mean practically speaking for drillers? It means that by demonstrating an understanding, capacity and ability to use these drilling methods you can considerably add value to the clients’ drill samples and speed up both exploration and development time lines.

In the case of downhole logging this means being able to drill holes with clean walls, few cavities and collaring to appropriate depths dependent on ground conditions. To successfully downhole log, the tools must be able to travel down and up the open RC hole. At Tampia this means collaring through

the clays and keeping downhole pressure consistent to reduce the potential for blowouts. Difficulties are most often encountered in holes with significant ground water as pushing the water from the hole can damage the integrity of the hole walls and cause blockages. Water quality will influence the use of OTV with image quality affected by water clarity. In some circumstances it may be necessary to let holes sit and wait for sediment to settle or use a flocculent to help the sediments settle. Knowing how to help the client clear the water for OTV can greatly assist with their data collection.

When it comes to sampling efficiency and sample quality this is where working together with the site geologist and actively encouraging and assisting with the measurement of the quality of your sample will set you apart. Carefully measuring meter marks on the mast and pausing at meter marks will help with meter delineation, as

well as assessing the total sample weights and any trends that may occur will. Working with the geologist to assess and rectify issues at this stage will improve sampling quality.

When it comes to sampling at Tampia we found that using Metzke Rotary splitters improves splitting efficiency. Offering this equipment and understanding how it works and why it works will help secure that next resource drilling contract.

Drilling is the most critical data collection method in exploration and resource evaluation. By remaining current with improving technologies and methods both drillers and geologists can optimize this process and add value to their projects.

Happy hunting and happy estimating!

For more details about the Tampia project, visit www.explaurum.com.au. C

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/MINERAL EXPLORATION

Prosperous gold and silver mineralization in Utah

by Erika Sweeney, Geologist

Picture of bladed texture quartz sampled within the Gold Springs District. Picture taken from Alysen Tarrant.

The Gold Springs Mining district hosts an epithermal gold and silver deposit located at the southern Utah–Nevada border in the western end of Iron County, Utah. The district is one of several mining districts scattered on both sides of the state border and is currently explored by TriMetals Mining Inc. Other nearby districts include Deer Lodge, Fay, and Eagle Valley.

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History Since the 1870s, prospectors and miners have been working to locate and extract gold and silver in Lincoln County, Nevada and Iron County, Utah. The Gold Springs district was one of the latest areas to be discovered by the ‘Old Man Pike,’ who chased high-grade float to its origin. The mining district contains multiple shafts along the main Jumbo trend in which approximately 500 000 USD equivalent in gold and silver have been extracted. The main town, aptly named Gold Springs, was located on the Utah side of the border, where about 250 people lived. Today, remains of the town and its mining activities, such as houses and shafts scatter the landscape. Production was suspended during the mid-twentieth century, but interest in the area was revived in the late 1900s.

TriMetals Mining Inc acquired the project in 2010, which includes several adjacent mining

districts on both sides of the border. The time since the acquisition has been a period of prosperous exploration and discovery.

Geology The Gold Springs district is geologically well situated within the transitional zone between the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range provinces. The area has undergone regional extension along with widespread caldera forming volcanism, which has resulted in ideal conditions for the migration of metal-bearing fluids.

The gold and silver mineralization is hosted within the tertiary volcanic cover, which overlies a carbonate basement at greater depth. The mineralization is strongly associated with veins, breccias and stockworks and extends into the wall rock.

The primary composition of the veins is quartz, adularia, calcite with bladed textures, and minor sulfides, all of which indicate a low Coring Magazine #7

sulfidation epithermal gold and silver system.

The surficial ore deposit is characterized by outcropping occurrences along the main district structural features, such as the 750m long Jumbo vein and several continuous outcropping breccias, veins and stockworks with a general orientation ranging from azimuth 340° to 10°.

Structurally, the district lies within a N–S oriented transform fault corridor. The corridor, also called the Jumbo trend, is a 5.5-km elongated area resulting from regional strike-slip movement overridden by Miocene extensional features, which are characterized by relatively low angle structures. Recent work suggests that high-grade gold pods are found at the intersection between these low angle structures. As a result, the favored model includes continuous, sub-horizontal, mineralized pipe-like structures.

Following the 2017 drilling program, TriMetals Mining Inc has completed a total of 153 drill holes, corresponding to 23 211 m over the Jumbo trend. To date, the two resources have been estimated on the Utah side of the border, totaling 500 000 oz AuEq at 0.70 g/t. The Nevada exploration, over the additional mining districts has two estimated resources and multiple target areas including the recently acquired Homestake prospect with the potential to host significant ounces.

You can get in touch with this article's author at dohring.erika@gmail.com. C

Panorama of the northern Jumbo trend area. Picture taken from the western hill bounding the Jumbo trend.

Old working from the early 1900s. The picture was taken from the Thor area at the border between Utah and Nevada.

Drill rig setup along the southern jumbo resource during the 2017 drill program Faster. Deeper. Safer.

TriMetals geologist team (L–R: Peter, Erika (the author), Jackie) 31

/MINERAL EXPLORATION

The story of British and Irish gold: A case for drilling

by Samuel Rice PhD, BSc, FGS, Geologist Bulmer Moss near Leadhills: The site of reputed Elizabethan gold workings established by Sir Bevis Bulmer. The abandoned mine shaft in the middle ground was probably sank to extract lead and zinc ore in the 19th century.

The British Isles, and in particular Scotland, are regarded as the birthplace of modern geology and Scottish rocks are among the most intensely studied and well documented in the world. However, except for a period in the late 1970s and 1980s, Scotland’s metalliferous mineralization has attracted little commercial interest and has been relatively neglected in scientific literature compared to other aspects of the geology.

This lack of mineral exploration does not reflect the mineral potential as much as global market trends, geopolitics and public attitudes. Alluvial gold deposits in Scotland were significantly productive prior to the late 1600s. Their decline was likely caused by the influx of gold from abroad combined 32

with increased regulation at home. Except for the brief artisanal gold rush in the 1800s there was no significant commercial or scientific interest in Scottish or Irish gold until the gold price hike in the 1970s.

This resulted in a flurry of exploration activity that produced most of the legacy mineral exploration data for Britain and Ireland. Since then there has been a general lack of exploration across Western Europe due to economic globalisation and the regulatory environment. In Britain, the memory of miners’ strikes and an era of increased environmental awareness contributed to the public perception of mining as outdated, dirty and unsuited to a modern developed economy, irrespective of the UK’s consumption. The regulatory and economic environment saw Britain and Europe’s mineral needs over the last few decades largely met by developing African countries.

Today, we find ourselves moving toward a low-carbon economy with emerging technologies dependent on critical mineral resources, and a growing problem of security of supply and sustainability. The renewed assertion of national interests, both in Scottish and European politics, coupled with increased corporate regulation

in mineral-rich African countries are contributing to predictions of a renaissance in mineral exploration in Britain and Ireland.

Map of the British Isles showing areas of historic gold production and current economic prospects. See text for details.

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right (2018) and OSI open data (v4.0 CC-BY Licence).

Coring Magazine #7

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/MINERAL EXPLORATION

Several companies are actively exploring for gold and developing resources in Britain and Ireland. Dalradian, in Northern Ireland, have recently received £45 million investment and reported recent step-out drilling grades up to 80 g/t (over 0.74 m). Dalradian’s 2016 NI-43-101 resource estimate comprises 2.1 million ounces of contained gold (measured and indicated).

Scotgold’s resource at Cononish in the Scottish Highlands was estimated in 2015 to contain 248 koz Au (541 kt @ 14.3 g/t, measured and indicated). In addition, Stellar Resources are exploring for gold in mid-Wales, and GreenOre Gold are drilling in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire. Conroy Gold has promising gold prospects in central Ireland (estimated to be over 500 Koz).

Gold mineralization in the British Isles is concentrated in four regions: Devon; south-east Ireland and mid-Wales; central Ireland and southern Scotland; and northwest Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.

Microchemical studies of detrital gold grains indicate a variety of bedrock sources that formed in relation to Caledonian orogeny and magmatism, redox reactions beneath Permian sedimentary basins and local remobilisation by Palaeogene magmatism, e.g. in the Mourne Mountains.

However, the primary gold mineralization in the UK occurred during the Caledonian orogeny. In detail, the Caledonian orogeny may include multiple mineralizing events.

The most historically productive goldmining district in Britain is Leadhills in southern Scotland. Gold production at

Leadhills goes back to at least the 1500s, and possibly pre-Roman times. Between 1538 and 1542 the gold mines at Leadhills produced 76¼ ozs of Au for the Scottish Crown Jewels and a porringer of Leadhills gold was presented to Queen Elizabeth I. The alluvial gold was extracted from gravel beds preserved locally at the base of glacial tills exposed by fluvial incision. However, no bedrock source of the gold has yet been located.

Towards the close of the 16th century several explorers turned their attention to the search for the in situ source. In 1594, famous mining engineer Sir Bevis Bulmer, with Sir Thomas Foullis, reputedly discovered and exploited an auriferous quartz vein. Ten years later, Sir George Bowes reported discovery of a gold-bearing vein in June 1604. Bowes is reputed to have sank a productive shaft on the gold vein but failed to produce significant quantities and by July 1604 had ran out of funds. The discovery was reported to Queen Elizabeth I without disclosure of the exact location.

Bowes had his workmen sworn to secrecy and the shaft had been filled in when he died shortly afterwards, and the location was never revealed.

Local people, familiar with the history and folklore, are naturally highly skeptical that the source of the gold can be found.

However, we know from the available legacy data from other deposits in the region that the gold is refractory, occurring as a lattice constituent of sulphide minerals and is rarely visible in the primary hypogene

Prospective greywacke turbidites of the Portpatrick Formation within the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford Terrane exposed in the Rhinns of Galloway, south-west Scotland. Gold occurs in stream sediments throughout the Terrane.

34

ore. Historical prospectors would have had difficulty identifying the refractory hypogene gold ore without modern geochemical exploration techniques.

Leadhills is situated within the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford Terrane (SUDLT).

Legacy exploration data from throughout SUDLT was collated and synthesized by the author to produce a predictive hypothetical model of the multi-scale controls of gold mineralization in the SUDLT that could be tested using new field, petrographic and geochemical data. The hypothetical model was used in an advanced geospatial prospectivity analysis for gold using fuzzy-logic tools. More than 300 targeted rock chip samples were collected from the Leadhills-Wanlockhead area. Preliminary geochemical results were obtained and a GIS database plus polished thin sections for detailed microchemical and isotope analysis. The preliminary rock-chip survey successfully identified gold anomalies (20% >0.01 ppm Au). Further funding is required to complete the analytical work, test the working model and define the hypogene ore at Leadhills-Wanlockhead.

The geological context of gold mineralization in Britain and Ireland The geology of the British Caledonides and, particularly the Southern Uplands, has been extremely well documented over the last 150 years and has played an important role in the development of the Earth Sciences: From Charles Lapworth’s 1838 study of graptolite biostratigraphy through controversy over the plate tectonic interpretations in the 1980s. The volume of research provides an excellent geological framework within which to investigate the causes of gold mineralization in the British Isles.

The Caledonian orogeny comprised several deformational, metamorphic and magmatic events that culminated in the closure of the Iapetus Ocean along a suture zone that marks the south-eastern limit of the SUDLT. Primary gold mineralization of Caledonian age is found south of the Iapetus suture in south-east Ireland and mid-Wales.

Mineralization at Curraghinalt in Northern Ireland has been constrained by detailed radiometric dating as between 463–453 Ma and therefore belongs to the Grampian event of the Caledonian Orogeny. This phase of deformation and metamorphism Coring Magazine #7

SIMPLIFIED CALEDONIAN RECONSTRUCTION

Ordovician (~460 Ma) Laurentia Laurentia

Lapetus Ocean SUDLT Accreationary Prism

Avalonia

Subduction Zone

nch Tre n o i t duc Sub ean Oc s u et Lap

Late Silurian (~420 Ma)

Avalonia

SUDLT Foreland Basin Fold-Thrust Belt

Soft Continental Collison Zone

Simplified palaeo-tectonic reconstruction for northern Britain during the end of the Caledonian orogeny in Ordovician and Late Silurian times (~460-420 Ma). was caused by accretion of the Midland Valley volcanic arc to the Laurentian margin.

Later Caledonian mineralization is found in other areas, for example at Cononish, located along strike, in the Scottish Grampian Highlands and in the SUDLT. These deposits formed during collision between the Avalonian microcontinent and Laurentia following the final northwards subduction and closure of the Iapetus Ocean at around 420 Ma. Most of the primary (bedrock) gold deposits in Britain and Ireland appear to be associated with this event which accompanied post-subduction calc-alkaline magmatism that generated the Trans-Suture Suite of igneous rocks either side of the Iapetus Suture Zone.

The SUDLT represents an Ordovician turbidite-dominated forearc accretionary complex that evolved during Silurian continental collision into a foreland basin fold-and-thrust-belt. The SUDLT appears to be typical of the slate-belt type setting of many Phanerozoic orogenic gold belts globally, such as Victoria, Nova Scotia and Central Asia. However, the regional metamorphic grade of the SUDLT is very low, reaching only prehnite-pumpelleyite facies, with no evidence for deep burial or significant crustal thickening. Gold in the SUDLT is nonetheless found in structurally controlled lodes and veins and has, therefore, been regarded by some researchers as orogenic type. But, in detail, the gold occurrences that have been studied Faster. Deeper. Safer.

have been variously classified and include porphyry and magmatic types spatially, temporally and genetically associated with the ~420–387 Ma Trans-Suture Suite of intrusive rocks. The magmatism, and by inference, gold mineralization, has been shown to have accompanied lithospheric delamination and transpressional deformation during the onset of thinskinned continental collision following final subduction of the Iapetus Ocean.

At the regional scale, the location of gold mineralization is controlled by major shear zones that strike roughly NE-SW and their intersections with late, roughly N-S and NWSE striking transverse strike-slip faults. At the prospect scale, the orientation of veins and lodes is dominantly controlled by the roughly N-S striking transverse strike-slip faults, discordant to the regional structural grain. The NE-SW structural grain reflects deformation associated with subductionaccretion whereas the age of the later ~N-S and NW-SE transverse strike-slip faults and fractures is constrained by cross-cutting relationships with dated lamprophyre dykes and granitoid plutons to between 400 and 410 Ma and, therefore, post-date the final subduction of Iapetus.

All the Caledonian gold-mineralized localities in the SUDLT exhibit a similar paragenetic sequence, whether spatially associated with a known intrusion or not. Gold is associated with quartz veins containing pyrite and arsenopyrite that pre-date later quartz-carbonate veins that carry Pb-Zn sulphide mineralization. At all

the known localities gold is associated with comparable alteration mineral assemblages and is primarily a lattice constituent within arsenopyrite and pyrite. Hydrothermal fracturing, explosion breccia, quartz veining and potassic alteration with Cu-Au sulphide mineralization occurs immediately above granodiorite sheets within the subvolcanic complex at Black Stockarton, showing that alteration and mineralization there was related to intrusion at a shallow depth. Gold anomalies at some localities are associated with oxidized I-type diorite intrusions.

The properties of fluid inclusions show a very consistent correlation with mineral paragenesis. The quartz veins associated with gold mineralization have inclusions of mesothermal, low salinity carbonic fluid consistent with Caledonian pressures and temperatures. In contrast, later quartzcarbonate Pb-Zn veins have inclusions of a lower temperature, higher salinity aqueous fluid representing meteoric water. These two fluid types indicate two different environments of mineralization indicating a significant difference in timing. However, gold was deposited from a comparable fluid under comparable conditions at all of the localities, whether spatially associated with igneous rocks or not. On its own this observation could indicate either that magmatism was unrelated to mineralization or that magmatic-derived mineralizing fluids migrated along structures for significant distances away from intrusions.

Geochemical studies in the SUDLT have shown arsenic to be a strong pathfinder for gold. Arsenic is spatially correlated remarkably well with metamorphic grade, indicating a close genetic relationship between hydrothermal gold mineralization and metamorphism. The spatial distribution of metamorphic grade and arsenic follows the major strike slip shear zones and the zones of contact metamorphism around major intrusions.

Quartz from the gold-bearing veins in the SUDLT have oxygen and deuterium isotope values that indicate deposition from a magmatic fluid. Hafnium, oxygen and lead isotope data and model ages from zircons indicate that the TransSuture plutons magma was sourced in the underthrusted Avalonian crust. In particular, O and Pb isotopes indicate a source similar to the Skiddaw Slate in the English Lake District, south of the Iapetus Suture on the Avalonian plate and rule out a contribution to the magma from the Southern Uplands metasedimentary rocks. This is consistent 35

/MINERAL EXPLORATION

GHT: Grampian Highland Terrane; MVT: Midland Valley Terrane; SUDLT: Southern Uplands-Down-Longford Terrane; LLT: Lakesman-Leinster Terrane. with the low metamorphic grade in the SUDLT that indicates a low degree of crustal thickening.

Taken together, the legacy data point to a model in which gold mineralization was related to intrusion of the Trans-Suture Suite following the final subduction of Iapetus lithosphere. Subduction can, therefore, be ruled out as the cause of melting.

Furthermore, the occurrence of the TransSuture Suite intrusions either side of the suture zone precludes slab break-off as the cause of melting. Therefore, the magmatism is best explained by delamination of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle of the underthrusted Avalonian margin. The magmatism occurred during the transition between orthogonal subduction-accretion and oblique soft continental collision and magma ascent was aided by the inception of deeply penetrating subvertical strike-slip faults and fractures. There is no evidence for deep burial or assimilation of Southern Uplands metasedimentary rocks, precluding a metamorphic source of mineralizing fluids and contributing to a low degree of exhumation and increased preservation potential.

In this model, the lithospheric mantle had been primed by the pre-Silurian subduction of Iapetus lithosphere that metasomatically hydrated and fertilized it. Delamination of Avalonian sub-continental lithospheric mantle caused asthenospheric upwelling and melting. The hot lamprophyric melt migrated and heated the base of the Avalonian crust, melting and assimilating it to generate the 36

calk-alkaline magma of the Trans-Suture Suite. There is evidence from Sron Garbh near Cononish and Talnotry that the subcrustal lamprophyric melts transferred gold to shallow crustal levels in the overriding Laurentian plate. Gold appears to be spatially and genetically associated with early, I-type, dioritic intrusions within the Trans-Suture Suite. Magmatic-hydrothermal fluid exsolved from these magmas may have mixed with hydrothermal fluids derived from contact metamorphic dewatering of the country rocks. These fluids were then focused along active structures where they transported and deposited gold.

This regional model has all the critical elements of a mineralized system: fertility, transient geodynamics, a favourable lithospheric architecture and good preservation potential. The system inherited its fertility from the subduction of Iapetus that metasomatised the Laurential lithospheric mantle. Following arrival of the Avalonian margin at the trench the lithospheric mantle continued to sink downward, causing it to delaminate from the subducted slab. This process ultimately caused magmatism and gold mineralization and, furthermore, is likely to be common in zones of soft collision. The transition from orthogonal convergence to strikeslip deformation is a common pattern of structural evolution in suture zones globally and results in a lithospheric architecture favourable to the effective transfer of significant amounts of energy and mass to shallow crustal levels. In addition, soft

collision resulted in the upper crust not being greatly thickened, thus increasing the preservation potential of the shallow level mineralized system. In this way, regions of soft collision may be inherently prospective for gold and other metals.

Deposits related to post-subduction magmatism are increasingly being recognized within thin-skinned phanerozoic orogenic belts globally. The well-documented geology of the Caledonian orogeny in Britain and Ireland provides an opportunity to investigate the relationship between geodynamics and gold mineralization and could lead to new discoveries in comparable settings globally. Renewed investment in British minerals and partnerships with the UK’s research institutions could test emerging ideas and unlock new exploration potential globally.

For further details see: Rice et al., 2018.

Tectono-magmatic controls of post-subduction gold mineralization during late Caledonian soft continental collision in the Southern UplandsDown-Longford Terrane, Britain and Ireland: A review. Ore Geology Reviews (in press). C

About the author Dr Samuel Rice is an exploration geologist and researcher in tectonics with over 9 years' experience in the resources sector and expertise in structural geology, tectonics, mineral deposits and exploration. Samuel graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2000 with a BSc Honours in Geology and holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh (2006) on the development of the Tethyan suture zone in Turkey. Samuel explored for oil and gas and researched the Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic development of the Black Sea Basin and the Caucasus mountains at CASP, Cambridge. Samuel has worked in gold exploration, research and consultancy in Mali, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the British Isles since 2010 and is currently available for freelance work.

Find him on www.linkedin.com/ in/samuel-rice-geo/ or www. researchgate.net/profile/Samuel_ Rice.

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/BOREHOLE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

HiTT targets with borehole management software A unique software solution that delivers more efficient drilling programs

by Ciaran Scarry, General Manager at Well Force International Well Force International (Well Force) have developed a unique software solution for managing boreholes, providing more efficient drilling programs at a lower cost and most importantly, helping to improve the conditions for target zone intersection.

HiTT uses proven oilfield minimum curvature methods to calculate the trajectory of a borehole and generate threedimensional (3D) directional plans when deflections are required to hit the target.

Both drillers and geologists benefit by using the software. Drillers can monitor drilling progress and correct deviations quickly, while geologists can be confident their target zone will be intersected effectively, which will help ensure accurate resource definition.

The software has a proven history of success, having hit target intersections across many projects, with multiple targets off a single parent hole. It is used throughout the global exploration drilling industry, helping not only to reduce the total meters drilled and therefore cost of exploration programs, but also ensuring vital targets are intersected.

HiTT has been utilized on many directional exploration drilling projects worldwide – clients include Rakita Exploration Ltd, Boliden, Capital Drilling, Barrick Gold, Nevsun, Tilva and Acacia Mining at operations across Europe, Africa and the Americas.

38

Borehole planning and management Well Force’s software is designed to significantly improve borehole planning and management, providing a unique view of exactly what is happening below the surface from the start of the drill hole to completion. The software has the flexibility to provide visibility of a single hole or multiple boreholes at once.

It provides a range of planning tools including: directional drilling management; deviation control; trend analysis; extrapolation; defined path extrapolation; straight path extrapolation; and side tracking.

Directional drilling The directional drilling capability directs the borehole along a trajectory to a predetermined target. It also allows for planning of more efficient, multi-target drill programs where a single parent hole can complete multiple child targets below the surface.

This drilling method can save significant amounts of time and money while minimizing the impact of drilling activity on the local environment. It will reduce the number of meters drilled; provide more accurate ore body definition and quantification; intersect target zones at optimum strike angle; minimize drilling in difficult ground conditions, as once it has been drilled it can be cased off; and deliver significant cost reductions by avoiding redrilling and coring formations above the mineralized zone.

Deviation control The software keeps the borehole contained within prescribed limits relative to inclination angle, horizontal deviation from the vertical, or both. Clients can determine their preferred tolerances and they are shown as a cylinder around the desired trajectory to the target. If the borehole reaches these limits, a deflection can be implemented to stay within the cylinder and ensure intersection of the target zone.

Trend Analysis Trends may also be identified when studying views of the survey data from one or multiple boreholes. If a number of boreholes behave in a similar way, for example are naturally moving in one direction, it may indicate a trend at certain depths under specific conditions. Trends can be applied to the borehole for a prescribed distance in order to visualize the possible results if the trend holds true. Drilling programs can then be adjusted to take this into account.

Extrapolation plans Extrapolation aids borehole planning by showing the effect on the borehole if the current trends or methods continue. It will indicate if a deflection plan is required based on the criteria input at that specific point in time and will use the data to determine the deflection plan.

Defined path plans Using defined path extrapolation, a report is generated on what measures must be taken to get a borehole back to the trajectory with a specific orientation. This may be required if a certain attitude, dip and azimuth is preferred at the target.

Coring Magazine #7

can create a name for it. The system will create the new entity and related data to complete the hole.

Unique 3D view

Figure 1 - HiTT enables users to instantly visualize what is happening below the earth’s surface, together with showing vital information including survey data, tool face high side and dip and azimuth (current and target). The Dogleg Selector shows available doglegs from any selected survey station which, once selected, updates the plan to ensure target intersection.

Quick-view extrapolation This is a quick-view tool that allows users to visualize where the borehole will finish in relation to the target, should the borehole continue on its current path. This allows for quick decisions with regard to whether there is a need for deflection work to be considered at that particular point in time and requires minimal inputs.

Side tracking This capability allows for the quick generation of a new borehole from a parent borehole to intersect a secondary target. The user can generate a new hole by selecting a kick-off point where the child hole will deflect from the parent hole and

What makes this software unique is its ability to provide three-dimensional (3D) visibility of the borehole’s progress, with full 360° rotational views. It is also capable of two-dimensional (2D) section and plan views, across individual or multiple boreholes.

3D views are an excellent mechanism for quickly getting a real-world view of the subject matter below the surface. The third dimension allows for rotation and visualization from multiple perspectives.

Simply, it is the difference between a photo and a sculpture. Target zones are identified, and deflection requirements are immediately visible. They can be implemented in a timely manner, avoiding costly redrills, borehole collisions or inaccurate resource evaluations.

The software has the flexibility to provide visibility of a single borehole or multiple boreholes at once. This provides a clear visual of how multiple boreholes relate to each other below the surface. It will show if a specified target may be intersected by using an existing parent hole, reducing drilling meters created by commencing a new hole. It also aids collision avoidance, which is costly and time consuming and can render a borehole unusable for resource definition.

Timely intervention to realign drill hole The system allows for constant monitoring of the progress of a borehole once the survey data has been imported or uploaded.

If it shows deviation from the plan, Well Force’s software can generate a report with plans to realign the drill hole to target. The report can be exported and provided to drill crews. This is particularly critical for new resource delineation projects looking to obtain finance.

Daily progress reporting

Figure 2 - Multiple boreholes and target areas are easily visualized using the HiTT software to avoid redrills and borehole collisions and ensure target zones are intersected Faster. Deeper. Safer.

Every shift the user can generate a detailed overview of the progression of the drill hole. This report can be emailed directly to drill supervisors and geologists to monitor progress, plan interventions if needed or guide decision making.

39

/BOREHOLE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

A number of reports are available to help manage the borehole and include: borehole trajectory in relation to the target, together with planned trajectory; deflection plan reports showing the planned deflection path and all instructions required to achieve the deflection; and ‘what if’ scenarios allowing the operator to model hypothetical scenarios based on their knowledge of the ground conditions to generate both visual and data reports on the results.

These reports assist with planning daily drill programs, including whether an updated plan is required to deflect the hole for the current day’s drilling to maintain progress to target. By monitoring the direction and bends in the hole caused by the drilling process and ground conditions, assessments can be made on whether conditioning or hole smoothing is needed.

This can help avoid the possibility or eventuality of snapping rods down the hole as a result of large angles or abrupt bends.

The reports also allow for broader planning of a drill program, including whether a parent hole can be used to realistically intersect secondary targets.

Current reporting provides clients with the most common data sets required to effectively manage boreholes to target, however these can be customized to individual needs if required.

to commencing use. Well Force will guide users through their initial set-up and can provide customized training if required.

Quality control of drilling programs

Financial benefits There is significant financial benefit to be realized when using Well Force’s software.

In planning a more efficient drill program, costs associated with drilling are reduced.

Improved visibility of what is happening below the earth’s surface avoids costly borehole collisions and deviations of the borehole can be identified quickly, with plans generated to realign the drill to target and prevent redrills. Most significantly, by ensuring the target zone is hit, resource evaluations are accurate and important decisions can be made based on correct information.

Easy to use The software is intuitive and user friendly and can be accessed via laptops on-site. It requires very minimal input to set up prior

Planning accountability and reviews are supported using information created by the system. Both drill crews and geologists are given the facility to monitor the progress of boreholes, so they can assess if the agreed plan and settings are delivering the required result. If daily reports show deviation to target, plans can be discussed and amended quickly and improve the likelihood that targets will be intersected.

Other services The borehole management software integrates with Well Force’s other service offerings, including a range of tools for rent and purchase, North Seeking Gyro surveying and geophysical logging services.

For more information on Well Force’s software, visit our website www.wellforceint.com or email us at info@wellforceint.com. C

SEE EXACTLY WHAT’S HAPPENING BELOW THE SURFACE HiTT, WellForce International’s Borehole Management Software shows a unique 3D view of the trajectory of a drill hole - it will also deliver a deviation plan to realign the borehole to target if required. This provides complete visibility of the progress of your drilling program, and importantly helps to ensure targets zones are reached on every hole.

The software forms part of WellForce’s complete range of rig-site solutions, that include down-hole tool rental and on-site surveying and geophysical logging services.

40

CONTACT OUR EXPERT TEAM:

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Coring Magazine #7

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

41

/DRILLING HYDRAULICS

part

Drilling rig hydraulics: Fundamentals

by Peter Kuusimaa, Freelance Specialist in Drilling Hydraulics Hydraulics have been an important part of drilling rigs ever since cable tool rigs.

Back in the old days hydraulics might have been used only for setting up the rig, while drilling functions were still mechanically, pneumatically or steam driven. Even today, on cable tool rigs all of the set-up functions are hydraulically driven, not to mention the conventional drawworks-driven drilling rigs.

The hydraulic systems have been widely used in drill rigs, not only for set-up functions but also to power the whole drilling process.

Here are the main reasons for that: • In hydraulics, the power-to-weight ratio is high. In other words, a small hydraulic actuator can produce a lot of force or torque, depending on the actuator.

• Hydraulic energy is relatively easy to transfer across short distances and unlike, for example, cardan shafts, the ‘transmission’ between the hydraulic pump and the rotation unit can have several bends and turns.

• The oil medium that transfers the hydraulic energy is relatively harmless, so if a leak occurs, it will not be fatal.

• In hydraulic systems, limiting the power, torque or feed force is relatively simple and if the set value is reached, the drill will just stop, and it won’t break or damage anything in the system. For comparison, in a mechanical drill something will be broken or damaged if the set value is reached.

42

Core drill feed control I am sure there are not many topics among drillers that create as much heated discussion as feed control. Let there be no doubt that controlling feed in core drilling is a very important part of the work, and if done correctly it can result in good core recovery, keep the hole deviation under control and prolong the bit’s life.

Controlling feed and feed parameters in hydraulic systems is very different compared to, for example, top hammer drilling, where the holes are relatively shallow (<24 m) and where, unlike in core drilling, rock breakage is achieved mainly by percussion, instead of the diamond bit cutting action of core drilling. Generally speaking, a top hammer driller or drilling automatics will be adjusting the feed pressure and rotation speed as they work. By varying these two parameters it is possible to achieve a good feed rate (drilling speed) and get relatively straight holes and thereby keep drilling consumables costs down. The core drilling situation is a bit more complicated, since there are more drilling parameters to control and according to the best of my knowledge there is no automation sophisticated enough to help the driller – such as top hammer drilling anti-jamming automatics, which monitor rotation torque and flushing media (normally air) flow and adjust drilling parameters automatically.

Having said that, I have noticed that some underground diamond drills offer some automation now, and I am sure there will be more of that in the near future.

In core drilling the driller normally sets two or three parameters for feed hydraulics:

•

•

•

Pull-down refers to the pressure used by the hydraulic system to convey downward energy to push the drill string down.

Pull-back/hold-back/ refers to the pressure used by the hydraulic system to convey upward energy to pull the drill string up.

Feed speed/slow feed/ refers to the controlled, slow downward movement of the drill string. It’s also called the drill bit penetration rate and is adjusted by the driller. Some rigs’ hydraulics pull-back and feed speed are controlled by using the same valve, which can limit core drilling controllability. For example, in some earlier rigs hold-back and feed speed were controlled using a so-called needle valve, in return oil side of the

Rotation head and drill rods

Hydraulic feed cylinder, which is directly connected to rotation head

Figure 1 – Hydraulic feed cylinder and rotation head Coring Magazine #7

1

said that an increase in pull-down pressure increases the feed rate while an increase in hold-back pressure decreases the feed rate.

Though not directly related to the drill rig hydraulics, it’s important to explain the drill bit weight parameter here, also called weight on the bit (WOB). WOB is the amount of downward force exerted on the drill bit and it’s usually measured in hundreds or thousands of pounds or kilograms. The WOB can be created in different ways – in conventional oil and gas drilling, the normal practice is to use heavy collars above the bit, which create enough feed force for shallow depths. In fact, the drawworks rigs can only hold back and not pull down. However, core drills don’t have that limitation and downfeed force can be created using feed cylinder pressure.

With the diamond core drill rig the driller has the ability to use pull-down pressure to create a big enough bit weight even at the beginning of the hole (Fig. 3).

When drilling progresses and more drill rods have been added, the rod string weight will create enough – and at greater depths,

excessive – bit weight. The driller has to compensate this by using hold-back pressure to create a ‘counter’ force to the rod string’s weight, leaving only the desired weight on the drill bit. In this case the situation changes and a certain part of the rod string is under tension, while the other part is compressed (Fig. 4).

In the next article, we will take a closer look at the component level of the core drill feedcontrol system.

WOB is a necessary limitation, as all the downhole equipment – drill rods, core barrel and drill bit have their breaking point, so WOB should always be kept within acceptable values. C

V

Tension

feed cylinder. In case you don’t know what a needle valve is, think of it as a refined two-way ball valve or tap.

To create more pull-back you have to ‘turn’ the tap closer, which in turn restricts the oil flow from the cylinder.

In some rigs, where there are only two valves, the feed-speed control is missing altogether or is replaced with a non-adjustable restrictor.

Now, since we already know the three different parameters in the feed hydraulic system (Fig. 1), we can have a closer look at the feed cylinder itself and which part of the cylinder these different parameters are affecting. In Fig. 2 we can see a typical drilling situation where the rotation head is moving downwards. Pressure 1 (p1) is pull-down pressure and can be read on pressure gauge 1; pressure 2 (p2) is hold-back pressure and can be read on pressure gauge 2.

The feed speed (V) rate depends on the hold-back and pull-down pressure settings and, naturally, it also depends on the rock hardness, formation etc. In theory, it can be

p1

Figure 2 – Pull-down and hold-back pressures in the feed cylinder

p2

Figure 3 – Drilling in shallow depths

Compression

2

Compression

V

Figure 4 – Drilling at greater depths

About the author Peter Kuusimaa is a Finnish mechanical engineer who has been working with and designing hydraulic or fluid power systems for drilling rigs for over 17 years and in different continents. He is currently based and works in Australia. He has been part of many major drilling companies and nowadays he works as a consultant and a freelancer.

Peter is writing a series of articles for Coring Magazine that will go through drill rig hydraulics fundamentals, hydraulic pumps, motors, feed controls, valves and more.

You can find Peter at Comet-Tech Pty Lty, on www.comet-tech.com.au or at comet-tech@bigpond.com.

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

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/SERVICES & PRODUCTS CATALOG

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Surveying & Geophysics DOWNHOLE SURVEYS Phone +61 (0) 8 9361 4745 sales@downhole.com.au www.downhole.com.au Australia

DIGITAL SURVEYING Phone +27 18 788 6349 sales@digitalsurveying.co.za www.digitalsurveying.com.za Africa

GYRODATA SERVICES CANADA Phone +1 705 494 0075 don.black@gyrodata.com www.gyrodata.com Canada

INTERNATIONAL DRILLING SERVICES Phone +1 480-824-7100 IDSinfo@IDSdrill.com www.idsdrill.com USA, Canada

TRUST SOLUÇÕES GEOLÓGICAS Phone +55 62 992720023 contato@trustsg.com.br Brazil

Drilling Equipment & Accessories Drill Rigs and Accessories DISCOVERY DRILL MANUFACTURER (DDM) Phone 1-506-542-9708 Fax 1-506-542-9709 info@discoverydrills.com www.discoverydrills.com DI CORP Phone +1 (780) 395-5036 belinda@di-corp.com www.di-corp.com DRILLCO MINING AND EXPLORATION Phone 1 705-476-3629 S.Brisson@drillcomining.ca www.drillcomining.ca/ DURALITE DIAMOND 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

MINING EQUIPMENT

www.rangermining.ca info@rangermining.ca +1 (778) 266-7777

A Western Canadian manufacturer and distributor of products for the exploration drilling and mining industry, domestically and internationally. We offer: Zinex Mining Diamond Drills; Baroid IDP; Dimatec Inc.; Mud Pumps; Caterpillar; Perkins; American Manufacturing Mud Pumps, and much more.

DESIGNED BY DIAMOND DRILLERS FOR DIAMOND DRILLERS zinexmining.com info@zinexmining.com +1 604 932 1211

ATELIER VAL-D’OR Phone (819) 824-3676 Fax (819) 824-2891 ateliervd@ateliervd.qc.ca www.ateliervd.qc.ca

46

INTERNATIONAL DRILLING SERVICES Phone +1 480-824-7100 IDSinfo@IDSdrill.com www.idsdrill.com

ZMC is committed to building superior, lightweight, modular diamond drills with extreme-depth capabilities for the modern drilling contactor.

ACKER DRILL Phone 570-586-2061 Fax 570-586-2659 sales@ackerdrill.com www.ackerdrill.com

BARKOM Phone 90-312 385 60 50 Fax 90-312 385 35 75 info@barkomltd.com www.barkomltd.com

ODYSSEY DRILL RIGS Phone +1 705-476-4222 Fax +1 705-476-6820 www.odrnb.com SANDVIK MINING AND CONSTRUCTION Phone 1-905 632 4940 Fax 1-905 632 2172 www.mining.sandvik.com SINOCOREDRILL Phone 86-510-82723272 Fax 86-510-82752846 sales@sinocoredrill.com www.sinocoredrill.com USINAGEM MARCOTTE Phone 1-819-824-3977 www.umvd.ca VERSA DRILL Phone 1-819-874-4404 www.versadrillcanada.com

FORSUN ULTRA-HARD MATERIAL INDUSTRY Phone +86-731 84254020 Fax +86-731 84252208 info@forsuntools.com www.forsun-tools.com GEO DRILLING MACHINERY MANUFACTURING Phone +90-312-354-8576 Fax +90-312-385-6215 www.geosondajmakine.com HOLE PRODUCTS Phone +1 909-939-2581 Fax +1 909-891-0434 www.holeproducts.com HYDRACORE DRILLS Phone +1 604-940-4937 +1 604-940-4919 info@hydracore.com www.hydracore.com MAXIDRILL INC Phone +1 450-763-0212 Fax +1 514-221-2356 info@maxidrill.com www.maxidrill.com

Coring Magazine #7

Diamond Products 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 www.mbidrillingproducts. com/en/ SAFARI DIAMOND DRILL BITS Phone 1-888-500-BITS(2487) Fax 604-275-2487 safaribits@telus.net www.safaridiamonddrillbits. com SANDVIK MINING AND CONSTRUCTION Phone 1-905 632 4940 Fax 1-905 632 2172 www.mining.sandvik.com

pilotdiamondtools.ca sales@pilotdiamondtools.ca +1 705 497 3715

PARTNER OF THE WORLD'S BEST DRILLERS Supplier of world-class diamond products to the diamond drilling and construction industries.

Business models and technology have changed over the years, but Pilot Diamond Tools' core business values have not.

+1 705 497 3714

SINOCOREDRILL Phone 86-510-82723272 Fax 86-510-82752846 sales@sinocoredrill.com www.sinocoredrill.com TECSO Phone 34-91 870 15 47 Fax 34-91 871 41 69 comercial@tecso-sa.com www.tecso.es

EXPLORATION DRILLING EQUIPMENT

taesungdia.com kytjsh@empas.com 82 2 2671 2600

A leading manufacturer of exploration drilling equipment for Korea and the local region since 1980, we are specialized in the production of high quality impregnated diamond core bits, reaming shells, core barrels, casing, drill rods and more.

82 2 2683 6733

ACHRE BIT Phone +55 11 4044-8420 arnaldo@achrebit.com.br www.achrebit.com.br

DIAMANTINA CHRISTENSEN Phone 56(9) 7707 9371 christensen@christensen.cl www.diamantinachristensen.com

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

DIASET Phone 1-800-663-5004 Fax 604-940-9534 bits@diaset.com www.diaset.com

BOART LONGYEAR Phone 1-801-972-6430 Fax 1-801-977-3374 www.boartlongyear.com

DI-CORP Phone 775-424-3045 www.di-corp.com

CARBON DRILLING PRODUCTS Phone (289) 291-3861 sales@carbondrill.com www.carbondrill.com

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

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 FORSUN ULTRA-HARD MATERIAL INDUSTRY Phone 86-731 84254020 Fax 86-731 84252208 info@forsuntools.com www.forsun-tools.com GEO DRILLING MACHINERY MANUFACTURING Phone 90-312-354-8576 Fax 90-312-385-6215 www.geosondajmakine.com HARGRAND DRILLING TOOLS Phone 86-010-61599828 Fax 86-010-61599828 whp@baoqizt.com www.hargrand.com

HOLE PRODUCTS Phone 909-939-2581 Fax 909-891-0434 www.holeproducts.com HOFFMAN DIAMOND PRODUCTS Phone 800-444-4180 Fax 814-938-7625 sales@hoffmandiamond.com www.hoffmandiamond.com HUD MINING SUPPLIES 27 (0) 11-974-1500 info@hud.co.za www.hud.co.za JUFERMA Phone 34-91 498 93 07 Fax 34-91 498 93 06 diamondjuferma@juferma.com www.juferma.com

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/SERVICES & PRODUCTS CATALOG

Core Barrels TECSO 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

BOART LONGYEAR Phone 1-801-972-6430 Fax 1-801-977-3374 www.boartlongyear.com DIAMANTINA CHRISTENSEN Phone 56(9) 7707 9371 christensen@christensen.cl www.diamantinachristensen.com DI-CORP Phone 775-424-3045 www.di-corp.com DRILLING HQ Phone 1 (208) 690-3111 Info@DrillingHQ.com www.drillinghq.com FORDIA Phone 514-336-9211 Fax 514-745-4125 info@fordia.com www.fordia.com

FORSUN ULTRA-HARD MATERIAL INDUSTRY Phone 86-731 84254020 Fax 86-731 84252208 info@forsuntools.com www.forsun-tools.com

JUFERMA Phone 34-91 498 93 07 Fax 34-91 498 93 06 diamondjuferma@juferma. com www.juferma.com

HARGRAND DRILLING TOOLS Phone 86-010-61599828 Fax 86-010-61599828 whp@baoqizt.com www.hargrand.com

K. MAIKAI Phone 81-3-3490-8433 Fax 81-3-3490-8622 www.kmaikai.co.jp/eng

HOLE PRODUCTS Phone 909-939-2581 Fax 909-891-0434 www.holeproducts.com

KUVAWALA CORE DRILL EQUIPMENTS Phone + 91 22 66635452 Fax + 91 22 66607358 mgk@kuvawalacoredrill.com www.kuvawalacoredrill.com

ICEMS Phone (16) 3367-3126 Fax (16) 3361-5073 icems@icems.com.br www.icems.com.br

MBI DRILLING PRODUCTS Phone 1-819 762-9645 Fax 1-819 762-2845 www.mbidrillingproducts. com/en/

SANDVIK MINING AND CONSTRUCTION Phone 1-905 632 4940 Fax 1-905 632 2172 www.mining.sandvik.com

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

SINOCOREDRILL Phone 86-510-82723272 Fax 86-510-82752846 sales@sinocoredrill.com www.sinocoredrill.com

Drill rods & Casings

SPECIALITY CHEMICALS, PARTS AND ACCESSORIES di-corp.com info@di-corp.com 1-800-661-2792

Di Corp focuses on all aspects of your industrial project; Mineral Exploration, Drilling Fluid Supply, Cementing & Stimulation, Mining, Research & Development, Testing Equipment, and all Small Bore Drilling disciplines.

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 Phone 56(9) 7707 9371 christensen@christensen.cl www.diamantinachristensen.com FORDIA Phone 514-336-9211 Fax 514-745-4125 info@fordia.com www.fordia.com

SANDVIK MINING AND CONSTRUCTION Phone 1-905 632 4940 Fax 1-905 632 2172 www.mining.sandvik.com TANGSHAN JINSHI SUPERHARD MATERIAL CO. Phone: +86-0315-3156039 Fax: +86-0315-3156010 export@jsexplo.com www.jscoredrill.com TECHNIDRILL SAS PHONE +33 492 088 220 Fax +33 492 088 229 rolf@technidrill.com www.technidrill.com

GEO DRILLING MACHINERY MANUFACTURING Phone 90-312-354-8576 Fax 90-312-385-6215 www.geosondajmakine.com KUVAWALA CORE DRILL EQUIPMENTS Phone + 91 22 66635452 Fax + 91 22 66607358 mgk@kuvawalacoredrill.com www.kuvawalacoredrill.com

48

Coring Magazine #7

Wedges FORDIA Phone 514-336-9211 Fax 514-745-4125 info@fordia.com www.fordia.com

REFLEX Phone 1-705-235-2169 Fax 1-705-235-2165 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/

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 www.timeltd.ca

Sonic Drill Rigs

Survey Equipment Survey Tools DEVICO Phone +47 72870101 devico@devico.no www.devico.com ICEFIELD TOOLS Phone 1-(867)-633-4264 Fax 1-(867)-633-4217 info@icefieldtools.com www.icefieldtools.com INERTIAL SENSING Phone +46 708 980 459 dag.billger@inertialsensing.com www.inertialsensing.com

REFLEX INSTRUMENTS Phone 61 8 9445 4020 Fax 61 8 9445 4040 reflex@imdexlimited.com www.reflexnow.com SPT STOCKHOLM PRECISION TOOLS Phone 46-8-590-733-10 Fax 46-8-590-731-55 info@stockholmprecisiontools.com www.stockholmprecisiontools.com

Core Orientation REFLEX INSTRUMENTS Phone 61 8 9445 4020 Fax 61 8 9445 4040 reflex@imdexlimited.com www.reflexnow.com

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

DEVICO Phone +47 72870101 devico@devico.no www.devico.com

BOART LONGYEAR Phone 1-801-972-6430 Fax 1-801-977-3374 www.boartlongyear.com

COREFINDER Phone +55 62 992720023 contato@corefinder.com.br www.corefinder.com.br

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/SERVICES & PRODUCTS CATALOG

Miscellaneous Drilling Fluids ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE DRILLING FLUIDS & LUBRICANTS matexdrillingfluids.ca orders@matexdrillingfluids.ca +1 403 720 7044

Control Chemical (1989) Corporation has been a manufacturer of high performance drilling fluid systems and our proprietary vegetable oil lubricants under the Matex brand name for over 25 years.

+1 403 720 4951

CEBO HOLLAND B. V. (BAROID) Phone +31 255 546 262 info@cebo.com www.cebo.com MUDEX Phone +61 (8) 9390 4620 info@mudex.com.au www.mudex.com.au TIGER FLUIDS Phone +61 (0) 417 60 11 info@tigerfluids.com www.tigerfluids.com

Packers IPI Phone +618 9204 2448 +618 9204 2449 info@ipipackers.com www.ipipackers.com

HOLE PRODUCTS Phone +1 909 939 2581 Fax +1 909 891 0434 holeproducts.com

SON-MAK Phone +90 224 482 44 40 Fax +90 224 482 44 39 info@son-mak-com.tr www.son-mak-com.tr

Core Trays

BY FAR THE BEST STORAGE SOLUTION FOR CORE SURVEYS corecase.com.br contact@corecase.com.br +55 51 3012 6531

Core Case designs and develops core boxes and accessories using 100% recycled material. They are resistant, lightweight and easy to carry, as well as more durable than wooden boxes.

PROSPECTORS Phone +61 (02) 9839 3500 Fax +61 (02) 8824 5250 sales@prospectors.com.au DYNAMICS G-EX Phone +61 7 54826649 sales@dynamicsgex.com.au www.dynamicsgex.com.au

Health & Safety

50

Coring Magazine #7

Tae Sung Co

Exploration Drilling Equipment Tae Sung Co. is the leading manufacturer of exploration drilling equipment for Korea and the local region since 1980. We are specialized in the production of high quality impregnated diamond core bits, reaming shells, core barrels, casing, drill rods and more.

We have been number one supplier in Korea for the last 35 years and preferred supplier to many other countries.

Tae Sung produces diamond products of any size and any standard. Korea has a very long history in mining and

Faster. Deeper. Safer.

geology and our diamond products have been adjusted to meet the challenges of the Korean hard and extremely hard formations. Our impregnated diamond bits have proven track record and they drill with better penetration rates compare to other competitive products.

We promise to supply you with the best quality products and we will be glad to share with you our competitive pricing.

Our clients are always welcome to visit us and our factory.

Address: 31 Jangjeol-ro, Gwangmyeong-city, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KOREA (14334) Tel: +82-70-7687-0462 Fax: +82-(0)2-2683-6733 ghlee95@gmail.com www.taesungdia.com

51

DD 2000

Dry powdered polymer.

A superior product for

B O R E H O LE STAB I LI ZATI O N and

E N CAPS U LATI O O F S O LI D S! N

• Mixed with Torqueless and water to create a very high viscosity drilling fluid for removal of cuttings and continuous borehole wall conditioning, enhancing your core recovery and penetration rates.

• Very high molecular weight.

• Imparts excellent viscosity yield.

• Effective in drilling conditions where borehole temperatures exceed 150°F. • Reduces transportation costs for drilling because of its concentrated nature.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO LOCATE A DISTRIBUTOR NEAR YOU!

www.matexdrillingfluids.ca