Month: July 2022

A LASTING MARRIAGE IN THE SPANISH MARKET

Posted on by Jari Silver

A Coruña is a city at Europe’s westernmost edge, in the northwestern corner of the Iberian Peninsula in Galicia, Spain. It is home to Suministros Guillemet, a company specializing in drilling and earthmoving consumables for the Spanish market.

Founded in 1986, Guillemet’s mission is to offer the best quality to their customers in mining and public works. Guillemet’s owner Hector Blanco discusses their long-term relationship with Robit.

How long has Guillemet been representing Robit? How did it all start?
It all started with a dinner and a handshake about 20 years ago. We were three people at that dinner, and ever since then, we have been distributors of Robit all across Spain. Our cooperation continues to this day – as a strong marriage, I would say.

How is the “marriage” working after all these years?
Wonderfully. Robit’s steels and designs are top-notch. Robit is today the number one brand in drilling consumables. They are always bringing out new designs to the market that extend the product life. This saves the end customer a lot of costs in drilling, fuel, filters, and equipment maintenance in general.

What are some of the typical Robit tools used in the Spanish market? In what sectors?
We have clients in underground mining, open-pit mining, quarries, public works, and well drilling. We typically use R25 to RG60 (diameters 33—152 mm) Top Hammer tools in underground, open pit, and public works. And if we had to go up to planet Mars, that would be no problem either!

What kind of feedback are you receiving from clients regarding Robit’s tools?
Fabulous. In fact, at the last Metal Mining fair in Seville, all the people who came to our booth congratulated us on the quality of the bits and rods. I would say 99 % are happy with the Robit brand in Spain.

How is Guillemet positioned in the competition in Spain – what are your strongest assets as a company?
Our main asset is undoubtedly the Top Hammer, where we have a market share of 60–65 %. As for Down the Hole, we’re just starting and, as you know, all beginnings are slow but surely it will be a key asset for us in the near future too. To support this goal, we are hoping to see Robit extend their DTH stock in Europe.

 

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PROBLEM-SOLVING IN THE DEPTHS OF A GOLD MINE

Posted on by Jari Silver

In the winter of 1986, a road construction job was underway in Kittilä, Finnish Lapland. Some rock was blasted, and out of curiosity, a geologist working nearby decided to examine the boulders – and found something. Today it is the site of the largest gold mine in Europe.

Gold was found in several boulders, and the Geological Survey of Finland began prospecting the site. The deposits turned out to be quite rich. More than twenty years passed until gold mining finally began in the Kittilä mine; first in an open pit in 2008, and underground a couple of years later.

Since 2012, mining in Kittilä has been exclusively underground. Today, Agnico Eagle Finland extracts some two million tonnes of ore each year, with annual gold production of around 7,000 kilograms.

Since May 2021, Robit has been supplying drilling tools to the Kittilä mine under a long-term contract. This includes, among other things, a turnkey drillmaster service, including a sharpening service. Robit supplies the products from their consignment stock, located 350 metres underground in the mine.

In Kittilä, Robit is dedicated to finding ways to cut costs per drill meter in cooperation with the customer. When the need arises, tailor-made products can be developed to meet the customer’s needs. A case in point is cable bolting, a common method used in underground mining to reinforce the rock before extraction.

“Cable bolting posed some problems. The drilling gear did not work properly in broken rock; the flushings escaped into the rock fractures and the drill bit would get stuck,” says Kimmo Kangas, Sales Manager at Robit.

“We suspected that the problem was caused by the side flushing of the bit. Our customer tried what would happen if you welded the side flushing shut – and it helped. We then made a series of bits at the Lempäälä factory that were modified in the same way,” says Kimmo.

Robit’s R&D Engineer Mika Koskinen was closely involved in the development work. “The results improved, but not quite enough. We discussed this with the bolting rig operators, trying to figure out what to do next. Based on the mining company’s views and our own design ideas, we developed the second iteration of the bit, which was substantially different. It finally solved the flushing problems, and drill meters began to reach excellent levels,” says Mika.

The new high-performance drill bit has been in use at the Kittilä mine since early 2022. Plenty remains to be drilled, as the mine is expected to operate until 2034 with the current ore reserves and production volumes. By then, new deposits may well be discovered in the course of prospecting.

 

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ROTOTEC ACCELERATES THE GREEN TRANSITION

Posted on by Jari Silver

Carbon neutrality is a globally accepted goal to minimise the negative effects of climate change, in which energy production plays a key role. The current military crisis in Europe is a reminder that nations should also strive for maximal energy self-sufficiency. Geothermal energy provides one promising, cost-effective path toward achieving both goals.

In Finland, the growth of geo-energy has been rapid in recent years. One of the key actors in the sector is Rototec, Europe’s largest geo-energy company with more than 60,000 energy wells drilled. Founded in 2007, Rototec has grown strongly in Finland and operates also in Sweden and Norway.

While geothermal energy has long been a popular energy source for single-family houses, Rototec is focusing more on supplying geo-energy for large properties such as hospitals, shopping centres, and factories.

A geothermal system requires one or more bore wells, drilled to a depth of 150–250 metres, depending on the amount of energy required. Robit has been supplying Rototec with drilling tools since the early years of the company.

“Robit, as a big domestic manufacturer, was a natural choice for us. 99% of the holes we drill are four-inch wells and Robit has a comprehensive line of tools for that. Currently, all our drill bits are from Robit,” says Hannu Puolitaival, Technical Director at Rototec.

The fruitful, mutually beneficial cooperation spans back more than a decade and focuses on customer-oriented service.

“Over the years, we have worked closely together to develop drill bits to better meet our needs. We test the products, and share our experience and comments with Robit for further development. One of Robit’s assets is their agility: after our feedback, they can produce new, improved prototypes at a fast pace for testing. Of course, the fact that they have domestic manufacturing helps too,” Hannu says.

“Another strength is that Robit can make small batches. If we’d need, say, five units of a particular new drill bit for testing, that poses no problem. Not all manufacturers can do this,” says Hannu, and adds one more thing: “I have especially liked the fact that Robit has a dedicated person managing all communication with us. It makes our cooperation seamless and straightforward.”

 

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SMOOTH DRILLING ON LAKE ONTARIO

Posted on by Jari Silver

Wolfe Island sits at the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River. The Canada–US border runs immediately to the south of the island, leaving it on the Canadian side. A ferry connects the island to the city of Kingston, Ontario.

A popular destination for nature lovers, Wolfe Island’s resident population tends to double or triple in the summer. For years, the ferry has been running near or even over capacity during the busy seasons. That’s why the Ontario Ministry of Transportation launched a major improvement project in 2020. Its goal is to replace the old ferry with a new, larger one, which requires significant upgrades at both ends of the ferry line: Kingston Dock on the mainland and Marysville Dock on Wolfe Island.

The General Contractor for the Marysville Dock project is Facca Inc. from Lakeshore, Ontario. A family business now in the fourth generation, Facca has built a reputation as one of the premier civil construction contractors in Ontario over several decades. They perform all the foundation work, and most of all other work on the Marysville Dock project with their own forces.

“We have been doing our own deep foundation work – piled foundations and sheet piling, some drilled shafts in earth – for about 15 years now. However, this job is only the second for which we’ve performed hard rock drilling of this scope, and the first we’ve done completely with our own forces”, says P.Eng. Steven Gardonio of Facca.

On their Down the Hole hammers for the project, Facca has used both the Robit DTH Prime system and the Robit Steel Fist system, supplied by Pinnacle, Robit´s Canadian distributor. Through their extensive piling expertise, Pinnacle’s Mitch Yorston and Jim McPhail have also provided valuable technical support for Facca.

“We’re putting in about 1,800 m of caisson with the Primes through a mixture of clay, sand, and till, with 250-ish meters of that socketed into the very strong (approaching 200 MPa UCS) limestone bedrock.” “There are a total of 87 caissons on the contract, some more than 27 meters in length. Nine were first installed on a dolphin from our barge with technical assistance from Pinnacle. This work went so well that we decided to purchase from Pinnacle the drill setup required – Down the Hole hammers and associated – and the remaining caissons were installed at the main ferry dock”, Steven explains.

“With the Steel Fist, we’ve been drilling some of the more difficult of the approximately 220 toe pins embedded 2.4 m into the bedrock.”

“We’ve been extremely happy with the performance of our equipment from Pinnacle and Robit bits. All drilling is full RC, and the process of drilling overburden – soft to hard clay and dense glacial till – from inside of the pre-driven pipe piles and locking into the ring bit at depth has not been an issue at all.

“Often, we can lock into the rings without halting rotation, very smooth, as was the drill-through process. Same for the Steel Fist, we’ve managed to drill material out from piles without rotation so as to not engage the wings and lock into the shoulder at depth, saving us significant time. We realize this is unorthodox, but it’s been working for us”, Steven says.

The CA$70M ferry dock project is still very much in progress. If everything goes as anticipated, Wolfe Islander IV, the new state-of-the-art, fully electric, zero-emission ferry – first of its kind in Canada – will start operating between the new Kingston and Wolfe Island docks in November 2023.

 

Read more new stories in the latest Bulletin!