Sandvik Ranger DX800i – has proven its undeniable qualities

An interesting thing happened in the last weeks at the Austin Powder Service CZ, limited liability company that has been running the most modern drilling rig with a swivel axle, Sandvik Ranger DX800i, since the last year.

An untraditional task

The drilling rig Ranger DX800i has been constructed for an untraditional task, to ensure several exploratory wells of 42 metres depth in the locality of the Pláňany quarry, which belongs to the Eurovia Kamenolomy, a.s. company. The drilling was done in cooperation with the Rocktech, limited company, which is a representative of the Sandvik company in the Czech Republic. The drilling rig Ranger DX800i, equipped with computer software, is normally able to carry out drill holes up to the depth of approximately 30 m. Because of that, the drilling rods needed to be put on manually for the desired depth of 42 m.

Geology of a quarry

The geological profile of the Pláňany quarry is, from the technical point of view, very interesting and rich in mineral and rock representation. Migmatites, but also amphibolites, paragneiss, and others. Crags in these rocks are filled with a huge variety of minerals and these rocks themselves are also permeated with a lot of pegmatite veins which contain a lot of different minerals Out of these reasons, the Plaňany quarry has become an interesting destination for geologists.

Exploratory wells

After carrying out the exploratory wells with the Ranger DX8000i rig in a vertical angle, a classic ballistic drilling cap of 102 mm diameter, 76 mm guide rods of the overall length of 4,000 mm, and, also, standard drilling rods, were used.

While carrying these exploratory wells, practically from the beginning, there was a huge inflow of ground water. During every change of the rods, the well was practically immediately flooded, and the drilling foreman had to consider when to use the suction device for the drilled rock. In spite of the “expected issues”, the drilling rig managed the untraditional task easily and the desired depth of 42 m without any problems.

Smooth operation

Without any doubts, it has been proven that the performance of the compressor is sufficient for the depth of 42 metres, even though the whole depth was under the pressure of the water column. The rotation parameters, pressure, and necessary impact force, were not significantly higher than during normal operation. The drilling cap passed through even through very hard rocks like a knife through butter. The drilled rock was removed, and samples were put into prepared boxes.

Source: Lomy a těžba