Browsing by Author "Korhonen, Annika"
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- The comparison of rotary-percussion and rotary drilling methods at the Kuusilampi deposit
Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis(2024-05-20) Helko, VilleThis master’s thesis investigates the comparative efficacy of diesel powered rotary-percussion drilling and rotary drilling methods in the Kuusilampi deposit in Finland. The study aims to evaluate these drilling techniques in terms of performance, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact, specifically focusing on aspects like drill hole stability, drilling times, drill bit performance, and operational drilling costs. Through field tests and data analysis, the study assesses the advantages and disadvantages of drilling with Epiroc’s COPROD and Sandvik’s dr410i drill rigs considering the geological characteristics of the deposit. The findings are expected to aid mining companies to optimize drilling operations and reducing costs. The study is delimited comparing only the methods in open-pit mining without varying blasting parameters or cost analysis of different power sources. The study was performed with 165mm drill bits for COPROD rigs and with 229mm drill bits for the dr410i rotary rig. The thesis concludes with strategic recommendations for selecting the most suitable drilling method for the deposit. The rotary method resulted more efficient drilling results with the sparser drilling pattern than the COPROD drilling. However, with diesel engines, the COPROD method was more cost effective compared to the dr410i rig. The blasting resulted more oversized boulders with 229 mm drill holes. More research is required to understand the phenomenon better. As the thesis only studied drilling with diesel engines, more research of electric and automated drilling methods is recommended. Alternative power sources and reduced number of operators might level out the differences in drilling costs between the methods.