38 JULY 2021 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Lifewater Drilling Technology jOne-Man Operation jLightweight, Towable j21hp Honda Motor for Power jHydraulic Controls jDrills Through Rock jNo Air Compressor or Mud Pit jDrill Depth 450 Feet 540-869-1150 lifewaterdrillingtechnology.com Preventing Blasthole Collapse Adapted from Information by TerraRoc Drilled blastholes tend to collapse in certain areas of mines, quarries, and blast sites. In many cases, these holes cannot be used for blasting, which causes serious issues, such as leaving large stones, which need to be redrilled and blasted again. Using casing in these problematic areas would solve the issue. However, steel casing cannot be used because a high amount of steel is not permitted among the blast stones due to the crushers. As a solut i o n t o t h i s p r o b l e m , TerraRoc has d e v e l o p e d Model D plastic casing for blastholes. By using plastic casing in the h i gh l y f r ac - tured areas, it becomes possible to support the drilled holes and prevent them from collapsing. Forestalling collapses would save a significant amount of time and ensure plans and schedules can be met. Plastic casing does not harm crushers; therefore, they can be used without issues. The small amount of steel from bits can be taken away from the blasted stone, for example, with a magnet. TerraRoc has made installing the plastic casing easy. The application can be done with almost any drill rig with minor adjustments, and after some basic training for the operator, anyone can install plastic casing. To drill quickly and efficiently, the system has been designed to directly drill the blasthole after installing the casing with its drill through pilot bit. With this feature, the whole process of installing casing and drilling the blasthole can be achieved with the same rig in one go. The system has been tested in an arctic environment, proving its capabilities even in extreme -22ºF (-30ºC) conditions. One benefit is perhaps being able to modify the system to suit different needs in varying locations, for example, based on the blasthole diameter to the length of the casing. Customization possibilities are its best feature. The system can be used in all applications with short cased depth and medium-deep open-rock hole below the casing. The best applications are where the casing is drilled single pass, and the cased depth is maximum of rig feed length. There is no limitation to the rock hole depth, but the practical depth is between 0-65 feet. Both DTH and top hammer equipment can be used with the system. Photo courtesy of TerraRoc. EXB September Issue Deadl ines Space Reservation: July 25 th Display & Classified Ad Copy: August 1 st
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