Ulrich Schoepf from Bauer Machinen tells us how the company is helping miners access deeply-buried resources
Ulrich Schoepf from Bauer Machinen tells us how the company is helping miners access deeply-buried resources.
Water, energy, and raw materials are essential to life as we know it. The only way we can overcome the challenges of a rapidly changing world is by successfully generating and supplying these resources in a sustainable manner. After all, even though the demand for water, energy and raw materials is already massive today, it will continue to grow exponentially in the future owing to the major trends of urbanisation, electrification, and digitalisation. Deep below the ground there are still massive resource deposits that have not yet been mined or even explored at all. Bauer Maschinen GmbH, Germany, manufactures mobile multi-purpose drilling rigs for water well and mining applications to help provide access to these resources. Bauer drilling rigs of the RB series provide optimal technical solutions in drilling, especially for challenging projects such as drilling very large diameters or reaching deep drilling depths in difficult geology.
The latest generation of the RB 65 drilling rig, shows Bauer’s focus on the current and future challenges for mobile drilling rigs in mining, influenced by a combination of technological advancements, environmental considerations, economic pressures, regulatory requirements, and operational needs. As easily accessible mineral resources are depleted, mining operations are targeting more challenging and deeper deposits with more complex geological formations. This requires advanced drilling techniques and equipment.
Automation and technology integration
When developing the RB 65 drilling rig, special attention was paid to the cost-effectiveness of the drilling operations in addition to the straightforward technical requirements such as increased hook load, torque, and drilling diameter. The incorporation of an advanced automated drilling control system helps enhance drilling efficiency, reduce human error, and improve safety. With the available Restricted Operating Mode (ROM), the protective cage, safety control and other features, the RB 65 also fulfils all requirements pursuant to CE/DIN EN 16228 – an important factor for the European market and one that is also of growing importance in mining projects around the world. The Bauer B-Tronic system in combination with the electrical pilot control of the drilling rig forms the centerpiece of the RB 65 drilling rig. By constantly recording and analysing all relevant drilling and equipment parameters, the driller is always informed about the equipment and the drilling progress and receives valuable information for efficient use in real-time. The B-Tronic system automates monotonous and repetitive operations. Automatic control processes increase drilling performance and reduce wear on the equipment. The intuitive and self-explanatory operation of the drilling rig enables even less experienced drilling crews to easily switch from conventional rigs to these new advanced systems. This helps alleviate problems caused by skilled labour shortages.
Challenging operating areas and environmental responsibility
Mining operations are pushing into more challenging, remote, and difficult-to-access areas. This is where the RB 65’s high mobility and all-terrain suitability can help. Despite its maximum hook load of 70t (155,000lbs), the drilling rig is compact with a limited weight of max. 30t and can therefore be mounted on a 3-axle 6×6 truck. The design and selected components also enable high adaptability to challenging site conditions, such as extreme climatic conditions and high altitudes. In such harsh and remote environments, equipment reliability and effective maintenance are crucial for minimising downtime and operating costs. Here the installed B-Tronic system with its equipment monitoring capabilities and the possibility of remote access for trouble shooting also offers a major advantage.
The compactness of the RB 65 also enables a small operational footprint thereby minimising the environmental impact. Another aspect of environmental responsibility is the energy efficiency of the drilling rig and the reduction of noise and emissions. For this reason, Bauer relies on state-of-the-art truck and engine technology for its equipment carriers and operates the entire drilling rig fuel-efficiently via the truck PTOs.
Versatility and flexibility
As drilling projects in mining vary in size and scope, rigs need to be more adaptable to different types of projects and their requirements. This could mean modular designs that can be easily extended and flexible configurations to handle different drilling tasks without having to maintain different types of rigs. Selecting the right drilling method for the relevant geology and drilling requirements is the biggest challenge since it affects quality, efficiency, and cost of the drilling operation. This is the major advantage of the Bauer RB series. With minimal onsite retrofitting (without the necessity of special tools nor a workshop), the same drilling rig can be used to implement various drilling methods, such as direct circulation, RC mud rotary air-lift, RC air-flush, hammer drilling or cable core drilling.
