Mining today demands more efficient solutions for mining activities. A great example of this are the autonomous Raise Boring drilling machines that today operate to meet the high demands of this sector. "Compared to its traditional counterparts, this modern machinery has a compact design as it incorporates the hydraulic power unit, the electrical cabinet, the crawler powered by a diesel engine and the drilling rig itself", said Manuel Caro, commercial manager of Tumi Contractors, during his presentation at the Heading to PERUMIN trade conference day.

Under the title of the conference "Innovation in underground mining", the executive explained that Raise Boring (RB) is a stationary equipment made up of a drilling rig, a hydraulic unit, an electrical panel and a control panel. Standard drill rig models can reach lengths from 1.80 to 2000 meters deep. Also, the weight can vary from 6 to 36 tons, depending on the model chosen.

Regarding the autonomous drilling machine, he mentioned that it is enough to connect the equipment to electrical power and add water to cool the components, which will be enough for it to start working. It is not necessary to build a concrete slab or implement large chambers because it is easy to install and move from one point to another in the underground mine.

TUMI's RB autonomous drilling rigs also play an important role in operator safety. As they are autonomous and move by themselves inside the mine, they minimize exposure risks for workers. In addition, they incorporate hydraulic feed hoses in their structure, so they do not need external connections and save time.

"More than 70% of damage to the hydraulic circuits of drilling rigs is due to contamination and interaction itself with the operator. But thanks to the compact design of these autonomous drilling rigs, the worker is prevented from coming into contact with these circuits and therefore they are not contaminated, favoring optimal and continuous operation", explained the engineer.

High impact functional improvements

Furthermore, Manuel Caro explained that previously the RB drills included a hydraulic motor of considerable torque, a gear reduction box and a hydraulic speed change. However, in 2020 improvements were made to replace these parts with a compact hydraulic motor with both speeds, in order to save maintenance costs on the mechanical transmission, obtain better control of the operation and gain more torque speed.

"Another advantage of autonomous drilling rigs is the adaptation of displacement sensors, through which the operator can verify how many meters per hour the machinery is drilling. Based on this, it is possible to obtain a projection of progress reflected in a datalogger on the control panel, and with this, the information can be used for decision-making", said the Tumi Contratistas representative.

Finally, he pointed out that the autonomous RB has a hydraulic pump inside with a Load Sensing system that allows the diesel engine to work with the right flow to move and avoid energy overconsumption, thus avoiding fuel burning. In this way, when the equipment is not moving, the engine immediately lowers its revolutions to a minimum level. And if it needs to climb a slope, it receives a warning signal to increase torque and start moving.