posted by the Epiroc Exploration & OreBody Solutions team
November 6, 2019
When we wrote a blog a little while ago comparing RC drilling to diamond drilling, one of the things that we didn’t mention was that there is little standardization in RC drilling. Unlike diamond drilling, most of the parts that make up a drill string are not compatible with parts from other manufacturers. This means that configuring, or choosing the types of equipment you need, can be complex and difficult.
The right part depends not only on the manufacturer but also on the drill rig and other equipment being used. There is no room for substitutions and you want to avoid ordering the wrong part as it can be a costly mistake. You would then need to return it and having the wrong part on hand may require that operations come to a stop. You could lose a project as a result.
We want to make sure our RC drilling customers can choose their RC equipment easily and without error. So how do you configure you RC drill string? The best way to do this is with our online RC Configurator.
This online tool is simple to use and perfect for anyone doing RC drilling. You start with the type of drill rig and then provide information such as type and size of drill string, hammer size, size and depth of hole, length of pipe and abrasiveness of the ground and other types of information. The configurator is intuitive and so your choices are limited according to the information you provide.
Once all the information has been provided, the configurator will give you a list of equipment that you will need for your projects according to the meters drilled per month that was inputted. This list is like a start-up kit and includes pipes, saver subs, subs and bits as well as optional accessories. Not only will it tell you what kind and how many consumables you will need, it will suggest spare parts to have on hand. You never know when a piece may fail, or when a mistake could happen, so having a list of these parts can also reduce downtime.
When the products managers, engineering department and logistics department got together to start developing the RC Configurator the goal was reduce errors and simplify the process of choosing the right equipment. What’s more, all of Epiroc's and competitors’ RC drill rigs can be found in the system and making this a perfect tool for all RC drillers. Since the tool was introduced, almost all RC drilling customers are using it and returns of the parts ordered incorrectly have dropped off significantly. The feedback has been very positive and we have had at least 10,000 unique visits so far.
Our technical team is always ready to answer questions, this tool makes it really simple for RC drillers to configure a drill string on their own without fear of making mistakes.
