Session 3 - Downstream Benefits of Optimized Drilling – Drill Navigation to Fully Autonomous Drills
(Room Capitol Ballroom 1-4; Fourth Floor)
25 Jan 20
9:40 AM
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10:30 AM
Controlling costs in drilling and blasting typically involves reducing the amount of drilling and explosives used to fragment the rock. With the goal of saving money, patterns are often expanded to near the limit of an explosives’ ability to do the necessary amount of work. However, will pushing the limits on pattern sizes and explosive products produce consistent results at the face, minimize oversize, produce superior fragmentation, and improve crusher throughput? Not if the pattern isn’t drilled to plan. No quantity of explosives can overcome a poorly drilled pattern. The first section of the presentation will use a Return on Investment analysis to demonstrate how investments in drill navigation and monitoring technologies provide a valuable tool in producing precise pattern geometries. These tools and practices allow the mine or quarry to expand patterns in a structured fashion and produce results that benefit load/haul, crushing, and processing. The second section of the presentation reviews a case study at a large iron ore mine that was able to utilize the expected and realized production gains from improved drill pattern accuracy to justify a fully autonomous drill fleet.