Directional drilling and Easy Pipe technology provide alternatives for accessing deeply buried orebodies. Directional drilling can access deposits under inaccessible terrain at lower cost than conventional vertical drilling. It allows for continuous sampling of stratigraphy. Easy Pipe uses large-scale drilling to shorten exploration and bulk sampling times for kimberlite and deep alluvial deposits. Both techniques transfer technology from other industries to improve mining access and operations.

1. 1

2.  Aim
 Acknowledgements
 Background
 Directional
Drilling
 Easy Pipe System
 Conclusions
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3.  Objectiveis to present the earlier work done to tackle
the challenges which require access to deeply situated
ore bodies
 by introducing alternative vertical/near vertical
drilling/excavation technologies to gain access an
orebody
 aimingto stimulate the technology transfer
opportunities in the mining industry
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4.  DebTech, A division of DeBeers Group Services, South Africa
 Dr. Rudiger Kogler, Directional Drilling Consultant, Germany
 Herrenknecht, Tunneling Systems, Germany
 Navigational Drilling Services, South Africa
 Transco Manufacturing Co, Australia
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5. DebTech Mining Research team were tasked to find viable technical
solutions to some of the exploration and mining challenges in DeBeers
group operations. [ 1997-2007]
Targets were;
 Deep seated alluvial diamond deposits (e.g. Megaladon,
Namaqualand Mines, South Africa)
 Flat lying kimberlites (e.g. Fort A La Corne, Canada)
 Deposits lying under inaccessable terrains (e.g. swamps, rivers etc)
or some other reasons (e.g. working open pit, Venetia)
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6. Directional Drilling-First Applications
6

7. Directional Drilling Lengths
0
1500m 3000m 4500m 6000m
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8. 8

9. Pilot Drilling

10. Longest Drills in Civil Application- 2063 meters
Exit Point
2063 meters
Rig Site
Tamar River - Australia

11. Reaming
Material Flow
Reamer Direction

12. Reamers

13. Reamer-Miner Tool Developed
Tool X-Sectional View

14. Largest Drill Rigs
770 TONS PULLBACK POWER
122 kN/m TORQUE

15. Elementary Mining Principles

16. New Tools for Old Principles

17. Accessing Ore

18. Ground Breaking

19. Ground Handling

20. Advantages

21. Advantages

22. Advantages

23. Directional Drilling in Exploration
Continuous bulk sampling of lateral orebodies

24. Conventional Drill-Auger

25. Analogy used to compare
The vertical and horizontal
Exploration systems in
A flat lying deposit
Which famous painting
We are sampling?
Can you guess?

26. Cost Comparison
26

27. Cost Comparison
Total Cost Comparison for a km2 area
160,000,000
140,000,000
Total Drilling Cost (R)
120,000,000
100,000,000
80,000,000
60,000,000
40,000,000
20,000,000
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Overburden Depth (m)
Total sample volume is the same for both methods - 3,500 m3/km2

28. Advantages of DD in Exploration
• Less Cost per Unit Sample
• Less Time to explore –Instead of punching holes, sampling
through the strata
• Minimal Disturbance to Environment, remote single entry and
exit site
• Continuous Representation of The Geology- attacking any
angle planned – not limited to vertical
• Higher confidence in resource models
• Flexibility of deployment

29. Easy Pipe Technology
• Easy Pipe Technology is one of the large-scale drilling
techniques developed for bulk sampling of buried kimberlitic and
deep alluvial diamond orebodies
• Objective was to shorten the advanced exploration/bulk sampling
and resource development time
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30. Easy Pipe Technology Intro
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31. Conclusions
• There are alternative ways to access and extract an orebody for
exploration or mining
• Technology transfer from other industries (e.g. aeronautics,
petroleum and civil industry) present valuable potential
• Environmental and safety benefits of such new technologies need to
be emphasized
• Mining Concept and Pre-feasibility studies should welcome such
opportunities for improvement
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