Sandvik unveils DD422i drilling package tested at WA gold mine

Developed by Sandvik and mining contractor Byrnecut Australia, the Dual Controls package optimises the equipment manufacturer’s development drills for multiple applications, including boring, bolting and meshing.

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions product manager, underground development drills Johannes Välivaara said the upgraded drill package prevents the need to use traditional hydraulic controlled drills, such as the Sandvik DD421, with the intelligent Sandvik DD422i and DD422ie drill rigs.

“In this arrangement, the hydraulic drills are used for required ground support work, whereas intelligent drills are used for boring purposes, delivering long and accurate rounds with minimised overbreak,” he said.

“We wanted to challenge this paradigm with the new Sandvik DD422i Dual Controls package in order to make it a preferable option vis-à-vis traditional hydraulic controlled drills, allowing a single platform like Sandvik DD422i or Sandvik DD422iE to be used for multiple and different applications.”

The design of the DD422i Dual Controls package aims to combine the best features of the Sandvik DD421, Sandvik DD422i and Sandvik DD422iE rigs.

The Dual Controls package was tested in Australia at the Jundee gold mine in Western Australia to compare its performance against the hydraulic DD421.

“We’re seeing approximately 10 percent improvement in productivity and nearly 20 percent improvement on drill consumable costs,” Byrnecut Australia managing director Pat Boniwell said.

“The operators really like the upgraded platform; everything from the improved cab ergonomics, sound reduction, and general comfort of the machine. They’ve got all the benefits they’ve had historically in terms of usability, with the additional benefits of improved drill control, and future potential automation sequences.”

The DD422i Dual Controls package includes a battery-electric driveline as an option to improve sustainability.

It also features an updated cabin design that allows the operator to remain comfortable when undertaking ground support and standard face drilling.

“We took our newest cabin design as benchmark and analysed what changes were required to the drilling controls to make it a preferable option over Sandvik DD421,” Välivaara said.