ROC D7 SETS THE GOLD STANDARD - Atlas Copco

MECHANIZED ROCK EXCAVATION WITH ATLAS COPCO No 1 2006
Cold Spring Granite’s
winning strategy
Serving the giants
of Alabama
ROC D7 SETS THE
GOLD STANDARD

2
WHERE TO FIND US
Atlas Copco CMT USA Inc. has
combined company stores and a
distributor network to provide
support for Atlas Copco customers
across the USA. Below, Atlas Copco
company stores.
State City Phone
CO Denver 303 287 8822
NV Elko 775 777 2204
MA Ludlow 413 589 7439
NH Henniker 603 428 6500
TN Knoxville 865 673 0344
WI Milwaukee 414 760 1193
TN Nashville 615 641 3000
OR Portland 503 459 4145
PA Clark's Summit 570 587 7040
CA San Diego 866 374 5757
GA Atlanta 770 819 1203
CA Sacramento 916 655 3005
AZ Tucson 520 834 0400
IL Chicago 815 467 8166
VA Roanoke 540 362 3321
TX Grand Prairie 972 337 9805
TO FIND A DISTRIBUTOR NEAR YOU
SIMPLY CONTACT YOUR NEAREST
ATLAS COPCO STORE.
In addition to the locations listed above, Atlas Copco
has Customer Centers providing a range of other
products. These are:
Atlas Copco CTO Inc.
Heavy Hydraulic Breakers
Demolition Equipment
Hand Held Pneumatic Rock Drills
Phone: 800 760 4049
Atlas Copco Compressors Inc.
Air Compressors
Gen Sets
Phone: 413 536 0600
Atlas Copco
Exploration Products
Diamond Drills
Core Bits, Barrels and Rods
Phone: 800 244 1260
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
Our focus is service
I
t’s an exciting time in our business. We are experiencing strong
growth in almost every area, from quarries and mining to construction
and infrastructure development. To meet the unprecedented
boom in the drilling business, we are working hard to
streamline processes and systems to serve you better. Our focus is
to develop our capabilities to keep you working productively.
To meet your service needs, we are recruiting and training new
mechanics and parts personnel so we can respond more rapidly to
your requests. These people are located across the country at our
customer centers, with independent distributors, and at our new
parts distribution center. This new center in Allen, Texas will be the
most significant physical change that will affect our focus on service,
enabling us to meet your needs for parts faster and more efficiently.
Why are we investing so heavily in the parts business? Because
we know that if your drill rig isn’t working, you’re not making
money.
As we move to complete the investments in infrastructure and
systems that will provide you with efficient access to the parts you
need, I would like to stress the importance of using genuine replacement
parts and service and its role in providing you with performance
solutions. Atlas Copco replacement parts and service are
designed to help you get the most out of your equipment in both
availabilty and drilling costs. By carefully monitoring the performance
of our parts and services programs, we have a feed-back
loop for continuous improvement that not only allows us to upgrade
existing equipment but also to use this information to design better
equipment for the future.
Our engineers are working continuously to combine the latest
technological innovations with the expertise we have developed
over more than a century of designing equipment for the mining
and construction industry. We already have models in the field that
constantly monitor selected operating parameters and report this information
via satellite. Our service experts can also trouble-shoot
these systems remotely while in telephone contact with the driller
on site. I can foresee a time in the not-to-distant future when we will
be able to identify potential problems and replace parts before failure
occurs, making breakdowns a thing of the past. In keeping with
our policy of involving our customers in the design process, we are
convinced that we will continue to provide
you with equipment that will give
you the edge over your competitors.
Nobody knows more about drilling
than you do and I want to take this opportunity
to thank you for working in
our development teams.
TORBJORN REDAELLI
President
Atlas Copco CMT USA Inc.

US MINING &CONSTRUCTION
is published by Atlas Copco
CMT USA Inc. The magazine focuses
on the company’s products
and their uses in drilling,
boring, rock reinforcement and
loading and transport of broken
rock.
Published by
Atlas Copco CMT USA Inc
3700 E. 68th Avenue
Commerce City, CO 80022
www.atlascopco.com
Telephone
303 287 8822
Fax
303 288 8828
Publisher
Lorne Herron
e-mail
lorne.herron@atlascopco.com
Managing Editor
Terry Greenwood
e-mail terry@greenwood.se
Contributing Editor
Scott Ellenbecker
e-mail scott@drillstories.com
Editorial Advisory Board
Lorne Herron, Scott Ellenbecker,
Darwin Holler, Brent Bissell,
Jennifer Tremblay
Editorial Production,
Design & Layout
Greenwood Communications AB
Box 49021, SE-100 28
Stockholm, Sweden
Telephone
+46 8 411 85 11
Fax
+46 8 411 07 14
Internet
www.greenwood.se
Printed By
Modintryckoffset
Stockholm Sweden
ISSN 0284-8201
Free reproduction of articles
All product names such as Boomer,
Boltec, ROC, Coprod, Scooptram,
SmartRig and Swellex are registered
atlas Copco trademarks. However all
material in this publication including
the product names may be reproduced
or referred to free of charge.
For artwork or additional information
please contact Atlas Copco.
8
D E P A R T M E N T S
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
4
PAGE 7 PRODUCTS & PROGRESS
PAGE 30-31 MARKETPLACE
PAGE 31 IN BRIEF
I N S I D E
No 1 2006
10
20
PAGE 4-6 COLD SPRING GRANITE of Minnesota has got dimensional stone drilling
down to a fine art with Atlas Copco equipment.
PAGE 8-9 ALABAMA’S WORKHORSE How drilling contractor American Drilling
serves two of the bigger quarrying companies in the US using T4 drill rigs.
PAGE 10-15 HONOURING THE 1,000TH M&C takes a look at the popular and versatile
ROC D series as the 1,000th unit goes stateside.
PAGE 16-17 CLOSE AT HAND Australia’s CSA Copper Mine chooses a full-maintenance
service package to keep its drilling fleet in peak condition.
PAGE 18-19 GOING DEPS IN THE MID ATLANTIC The difficult ground conditions at
a Madeira bridge construction site are turned around by the use of DEPS.
PAGE 20-21 SWELLEX SECURES MANHATTEN Hundreds of feet below New York,
Swellex bolts are holding the ground in the Big Apple’s new water system.
PAGE 22 TEN TIMES THROUGH THE EARTH Swedish drilling veteran Carl
Gustav Fors looks back on forty years of drilling.
PAGE 23-25 WATER FOR ALGIERS Self Drilling Anchors solve a difficult task of
slope stabilization at the Koudiat Acerdoune dam in Algeria.
PAGE 26-27 TWO FUNCTIONS, ONE RIG The first cable bolting rig in South America
brings improved efficiency to the Michilla mine in Chile.
PAGE 28-29 GRIND MATIC JAZZ Tuning up bit grinding performance for Brittany’s
quarrymen.
ON ON THE COVER
COVER
Radio remote control
with a ROC D7
RRC allows the operator
to work at a
safe distance for
Maine Drilling &
Blasting.
PAGES 12-13
3

MODERN METHODS F
4
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
Dimensional stone quarrying uses
three main drills. A slot drill performs
vertical drilling from above
to separate the slab from the sides
and back of the bench. Two custom-built
drills by Cold Spring
Granite make the lateral cuts at
the base of the slab. A cross bit is
expected to drill 400 – 600 feet in
its lifetime.

OR AN ANCIENT ART
Modern drilling equipment and dedicated
technical support compliment
the ancient art of stone quarrying at
Cold Spring Granite. It’s a combination
that provides a solid foundation
for a winning strategy.
Cold Spring Granite is one of the
largest dimensional stone companies
in the US, quarrying 31 colors
of granite in their 28 quarries. Add to
that the stone they market from other
quarries worldwide, and Cold Spring’s
product offering totals 450 colors and
varieties of dimensional stone.
With quarries operating across the
country – from New York to Texas to
California and in its home state of Minnesota
– Cold Spring Granite has a winning
strategy that has been proven by its
industry leading position.
As an industry, dimensional stone
cutting is older than the pyramids. Mark
Roettger, General Manager of Quarry
Operations for Cold Spring Granite says:
“The principles have stayed the same,
but refining the processes has increased
production.”
The one constant is how stone is quarried.
Drilling is still the method of
choice for getting straight cuts, and rope
sawing adds benefits in some applications,
but for the most part, the process
hasn’t changed.
Because the process has remained
much the same over time, success must
come from other parts of the business.
What sets Cold Spring’s quarry business
apart is how it implements efficiencies in
processes and works with suppliers to
manage their business.
Process and product
Large granite blocks, or slabs, are cut
and trimmed for uniformity and moved
to a staging area, or to the processing
plant. Cold Spring ships these huge slabs
from all over the world to its facility in
Cold Spring, Minnesota, for processing.
Using a slot drill, vertical holes are
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
General Manager Mark Roettger: “It’s all about what we can do together to work smarter.”
drilled from the top of what will be a
large block or slab. Horizontal holes are
then drilled at the base of this block. A
rope saw can also be used to slice off
large sections.
Holes at the base of the slab are
drilled at a distance necessary for that
formation to cause a man-made flaw in
the rock. A small explosive charge is
placed in the base holes to dislodge the
section. From there, it is moved away
from the face to be trimmed.
“Explosive is a bad word in our business,”
says Roettger. “We only use a small
charge to dislodge the slab. Too much explosive
causes fracturing in the stone,
which would cut down on usable product.”
As it is, a large amount of quarried
rock is not usable. In some quarries,
there can be as much as 85% of the product
taken out of the ground that is unusable.
Cold Spring’s quarry has the high-
est percentage of usable granite in the
Rockville, MN quarry; as much as 37%
of the product is usable.
The slab is cut off of the face using a
rope saw or drill. Both are used in the
process, but the saw works much faster,
cutting up to 150 feet an hour in comparison
to 50 feet an hour with a drill.
Cold Spring uses bits in the range of
1 1/4 to 3 inches as well as mostly T38
threads and 7/8 inch HEX taper rods. Rods
are ordered mostly in 18 and 20 foot
lengths. Cross bits are generally used and
these are expected to drill 400 – 600 feet
with sharpening every 20 to 30 feet, depending
on the makeup of the rock.
Focus on partnership
Cold Spring has been in operation for
more than 100 years, but Roettger says
that “business has changed light years in
just the last ten [years].”
5
▼

▼
In operation since the 1970s: Cold Spring’s Rockville, MN quarry produces stone predominately
for memorials and architectural purposes.
Changes have come both through
technology and management styles. Today’s
product is not stored as inventory.
Cold Spring keeps no more than 25,000
cubic feet in inventory at their Rockville
location at any one time. “It’s about being
efficient,” says Roettger. “Inventory
is also a bad word around here.”
In the past, the company would keep
all quarries working. Today the equipment
and manpower is portable. “If you
are not portable, you’re not in business,”
says Roettger.
One location will temporarily cease
operation and the crew will travel to
quarry raw product where needed. This
practice has allowed Cold Spring to cycle
100 pieces of equipment out of op-
6
eration, which in turn means maintaining
fewer machines with less people.
Cold Spring’s engineering department,
headed up by Jim Fuchs, has designed
most of its own drill rigs. The
trim drill, named “Fuchs Drill” by Cold
Spring, is the most used piece of equipment
in the quarry. There are 15 in operation.
This crane-mounted drill allows
the unit to be mobile, giving the boom
sufficient swing coverage to trim an entire
slab without repositioning… again
the focus is on efficiency.
Efficiency also has a lot to do with the
relationship with Atlas Copco. Twentyfive
years ago, Cold Spring Granite started
working with Secoroc bits. Eight years
ago, they went exclusively to Secoroc.
“This relationship with [Atlas Copco]
Secoroc,” says Roettger, “comes down to
cost per linear foot. No one else gives us
the technical support and education we
need on the product and process.”
Quality and process
Even though 25 percent of the guys
working in the quarry at Cold Spring
have 25 years or more experience, in order
to stay sharp they are always focusing
on education, improved practices,
and teamwork to maintain a higher level
of efficiency and productivity.
Jerry Enyeart, District Manager for Atlas
Copco says: “Training is not as much
about learning new techniques, but revisiting
the basics and sharing experiences.”
Over time, bad habits and shortcuts
can cause the basics to be forgotten.
Training usually starts off with a
“Drilling 101” which emphasizes the
principles of rotation and proper flushing,
and this opens up discussion between
drillers.
Enyeart says: “These guys are real
professionals, yet they often work alone.
Opening up a dialog lets them share situations
so everyone can benefit from the
knowledge of the group.”
Training on bit performance and
sharpening is another focus area. To get
better bit life, a driller needs to know
when to change bits. Too much time on
a bit makes it more difficult to get a
good edge. Sharpening a bit that has
gone past “the right time” requires ex-

cessive grinding – taking life out of the
bit.
To maintain a higher level of productivity,
Atlas Copco also works with Cold
Spring to perform rig audits. Drill inspections
focus on things like the drilling
processes of the hammer, feed alignment,
proper drill settings and air pressure.
Training and audits help to reduce
costs. “Cold Spring does this better than
anyone else,” says Enyeart. “They do it
right, focusing on disciplines and basics.
Paying attention to the details helps Cold
Spring lower their costs.”
One thing Cold Spring does to monitor
and manage its business is to initiate
Continuous Improvement Teams (CIT).
If there is an issue with a drill, they assign
other drillers, as well as other employees,
to offer a different perspective,
and attack the problem.
This team will work on a problem, test
solutions, and work on the follow through.
Enyeart says: “We work on issues for Cold
Spring, but often their CIT has tackled the
problem before we can get back to them.”
The relationship between Cold Spring
and Atlas Copco is, as Enyeart and
Roettger agree, a partnership. “Forty-five
percent of our operating cost is labor,”
says Roettger, “and that is not going to
change, because good people cost money.
It’s all about how to get the most cost
out of everything we do. Our partnership
with Atlas Copco isn’t about what a bit or
rod costs, it’s about what we can do together
to work smarter.” M &C 1 ●06
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
PR DUCTS
PROGRESS
REACHING FOR THE
THIRD DIMENSION
A new dimension in the positioning and set-up of a production drill rig will
help to optimize the ore-to-waste ratio at a newly discovered deposit at the
Garpenberg mine in Sweden.
Boliden’s Garpenberg operation
which mines more than one million
tonnes of zinc, lead, copper
and gold-bearing ore annually, is introducing
a new dimension in drilling precision
for a newly discovered deposit.
The focus for the new development is
on accuracy and efficiency, and to meet
the challenge, the mine has installed the
new Atlas Copco Simba M7C. This rig
already has a solid reputation for fast and
accurate drilling but now offers the highly
advanced Mine Navigator system for
positioning precision.
This system enables the rig’s control
system (RCS) to be integrated into the
mine’s co-ordinate system via a PC card.
Using the laser line and the two pre-determined
coordinates in the drill plan, the
system is now able to identify the exact
position of the rig, enabling it to drill the
blast holes exactly towards the x, y, z
position for the planned hole bottom.
This “third dimension” optimizes the
ore-to-waste ratio by minimizing the risk
of overbreak around the orebody’s irregular
boundaries.
The new Simba, along with an Atlas
Copco Boomer L2C 30 , equipped with the
super-fast COP 3038 rock drill, arrived
at the site earlier this year.
Lars Bergqvist, Project Manager for
the new orebody, says: “Achieving the
planned start and hole bottom locations
of our blast holes is essential to obtaining
optimum profitability and the new
Simba is helping us to do that.”
Patrick Ericsson, Atlas Copco’s Marketing
Manager for the Simba, adds:
“The new Mine Navigator system is an
additional aid to getting optimum precision
as it locates the starting and finishing
points in the mine’s coordinate system
with supreme accuracy.
“We believe this is a landmark for accurate
drilling at Garpenberg that takes
long-hole drilling to a whole new level
of precision.” M &C 1 ●06
7

8
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
DRILLING FOR THE
GIANTS IN DIXIE
American Drilling of Alabama
serves two of the biggest quarrying
companies in the US. M&C finds out
how mobility is the key to effective
drilling, helping the company to deliver
on time and on budget.
The principle reason for choosing
an Atlas Copco T4BH drill rig is
mobility. That mobility may be
necessary either between quarries or
within a quarry. American Drilling of Alabaster,
Alabama, covers the state, contract
drilling everything from residential
water wells to large quarries. However,
the bulk of the business is commercial
quarry drilling.
The company works in 12 different
quarries in a 120-mile radius of its home
base, with one quarry alone having 33
working faces. The T4BH’s rubber tire
mobility is its primary reason for high
productivity according to Michael
Poskey, owner and manager of drilling
operations, American Drilling.
Partnerships
Lafarge North America, Inc. and Vulcan
Materials Company are two of the
largest quarrying companies in the country.
Lafarge is the US and Canada’s
largest diversified supplier of construction
materials, cement and cement related
products, ready mix concrete, gypsum
wallboard, aggregate, asphalt and
concrete products. The company’s products
are used in residential, commercial,
institutional and public works construction
across the US and Canada.
American Drilling has signed on to
put 26,000 tons of rock on the ground a
day. Right now that means running two
T4s and a DM30 per quarry. If there is
bad weather or a delay for some other
reason, Poskey says he will pull drills off
another job to compensate for the loss in
production.
Butch Poskey, founder of American
Drilling, says: “The secret is to deal with
any issues right away – not that there are
problems – but we wouldn’t want anything
to fester.”
Poskey compliments Lafarge for their
understanding of the quarry. “These guys
have this down to a science,” he says.

One of American Drilling’s Atlas Copco
T4BH drill rigs, drilling blast holes on the
bench at Lafarge’s Calera quarry, just south
of Birmingham Al.
They will shave aggregate off the edge of
the bench exposing the high chemical
content stone. When the rock doesn’t
have the chemical makeup necessary to
meet the specifications, they bring in
fines prior to the shot to increase the final
quality of the material to be hauled out.
The shaving of the bench creates a
slope. Sometimes the slope’s incline is too
great for the T4BH, and the DM30 needs
to be brought in, “but much of the time the
T4BH can handle it,” Poskey adds.
Maximizing efficiency with T4
“The folks at Lafarge had never seen a
T4 do what we make them do, and there
is no way we could get the production
we do without the T4,” says Poskey.
Looking at fuel alone, the T4BH uses
14 gallons an hour, whereas the crawlers
previously used in this quarry used 27
gallons an hour. That decreased the fuel
consumption by 5 to 6 cents a ton.
Each shot will have an average of sixty-five,
5 1/2 inch holes, but sometimes
it’s up to eighty. Lafarge preps the site
with a dozer, cutting the bench down or
cleaning it up.
The bench is laid out with holes
drilled with a 15-foot burden and 18-foot
spacing. The average bench will be
about 40-feet deep. American Drilling
drills approximately 90% of the pattern
with the T4BH. The DM30 will finish up
the holes at the edge of the bench when
the slope requires it. This also allows the
T4BH to advance to the next face.
Tramming a crawler rig around a
quarry takes time. “We focus on production,
which could mean on average anywhere
from 110 to 160 feet an hour with
a T4,” says Poskey.
“I may get a slightly greater penetration
with the DM30, but the savings in
time, fuel and maintenance more than
compensates for the loss in footage.”
This particular quarry averages 110
to 115 feet, depending on the face and
formation, but an hour up the road a
T4BH gets 275 feet an hour.
With 33 working faces in this Alabama
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
The Poskeys: Charlie, Butch and Michael (left to right). Butch Poskey says the business
works because the family has a team approach to getting the work done.
FAMILY TRADITION
The family owned business started
in 1984, when Butch Poskey was
presented the idea of purchasing
the company from a friend. Since then
he and his wife Sue and their two sons
Michael and Charlie have grown the
business to be a highly efficient and respected
operation.
Today they run 13 drills and six
cranes. The T4 – both blast hole and
water well models – are the workhorses
for American Drilling with seven in
the fleet.
Youngest son Michael runs the daily
operations for the drilling side of the
business, and Charlie runs the crane
quarry, moving time must be kept to a
minimum. And because the crews are paid
bonuses based on footage, the drillers
don’t want to waste time tramming either.
Tramming takes time from drilling,
but maintenance is also time away from
drilling. “We do 99% of all our own service
work,” says Poskey, who would
rather work with the T4BH than a
crawler because of the simplicity of
maintenance on a rubber tire rig compared
to an undercarriage rig.
Because the drilling must be close to
the edge of the bench – on a slope from
27 to 30 degrees – the T4BH isn’t always
the best solution. According to Poskey,
rental business. Butch Poskey, the patriarch
of the family, “does pretty much
whatever he wants,” says Michael.
What that means is that Butch and
Sue built the business and taught their
sons to be good businessmen. Butch
will ramrod a project, deliver a drill or
whatever needs to get done, but it is
quite obvious he trusts his sons to make
things happen.
“It works because we work together,”
says the proud father, who also says
his customers respect them because of
their commitment to detail. “We dot the
“i’s” and cross the “t’s” and do what we
say we are going to do.”
M &C 1●06 98% of the time the T4BH can do the job.
Because mobility is so important to
American Drilling, they have structured
a drill solution that works for them. One
solution won’t work for everyone, but
because of the scope of the business, the
T4BH is the drill that gets the job done.
The mobility of the T4BH gives
American Drilling the drill rig that
makes that possible. Poskey says they
will bring drills in from other parts of the
state and work overtime if need be.
He says, “If the customer wants to do
a shot on Wednesday, and I tell them we
will have a shot ready to go Wednesday,
it will happen.”
M &C 1●06 9

Top Shelf Drilling/The H&K Group, USA is the proud owner of the 1000th Atlas Copco ROC D series surface drill rig.
From left: Jason Blais, Mid Atlantic Sales Manager; Thomas Kelley, Quarry and Contractor Sales Manager; Jack Kibblehouse, H&K Group;
Mark Stewart, Business Line Manager, Atlas Copco USA; John Haines, H&K Group; Robert Kountz, President Quarry & Contractor Equipment
& Supply Company.
ROC D series
– The drillers’ choice
As Atlas Copco recognizes the
milestone of the 1,000th D series
drill rig sold, the company wishes
to thank all customers around the world
who have found the ROC D series to be
the right drill for them.
Atlas Copco also recognizes Top
Shelf Drilling of the H&K Group from
Skippack, Pennsylvania, for its purchase
10
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
Since its introduction in 1999 the ROC D series crawler drill rigs have become the “gold standard” among drillers for
hole diameters 2 1/2” to 4”– as celebrated by the sale of the 1,000th unit in January 2006. Versatility and reliability have
been the two main reasons for this remarkable success.
of the 1,000th unit. In total, Top Shelf
has 12 Atlas Copco blast hole and
crawler drill rigs working in quarries and
on construction jobs.
The 1000th rig – a ROC D7-11 – is
the sixth Atlas Copco top hammer drill
rig to be purchased by Top Shelf.
The ROC D7, in its standard configuration
has proven to be a flagship for
Atlas Copco, but formations and projects
vary and the the ROC D7 offers many
adaptations to fit a wide range of applications
and conditions. To give readers an
idea of how customers have requested
variations in the ROC D7 rig, M&C highlights
three companies and three projects
illustrating how these rigs can differ from
the standard D7-11.
M &C 1●06

CHOICE 1: Site preparation requiring
less than 20 feet of rock to be removed,
as in much of the Mid-Atlantic
region – the ROC D7 LM, long
mast version, meets this need with
single pass drilling.
Two occurrences, one natural and
one man-made, have given rise to
this version of the ROC D7. The
Mid-Atlantic region of the United States
is predominantly
covered by surface
rock. In addition,
the booming
construction market
over the last 20
years isn’t showing
signs of letting
up and a machine
was needed that
could work fast
and offer cost efficiencies
based on
the common shallow hole depth.
The ROC D7-LM is designed for this
region because most construction projects
require some type of drilling and
blasting, especially housing developments
where most homes have basements.
According to Atlas Copco’s Mid-Atlantic
Sales Manager Jason Blais “85% of
the construction work in this area requires
a hole depth of nineteen feet or less.”
With its single-pass operation, and
four foot longer than standard 20-foot
drill steel, the long mast model was designed
specifically for working in this region’s
booming residential market.
The standard D7-11 uses a 16’ steel
and seven 12’ additions in the RHS (rod
handling system). The LM allows a 20’
steel and accommodates a single 12’ or
14’ addition in the RHS. Top Shelf orders
their rigs with the COP 1840 top hammer.
The benefit of the D7-LM is two-fold:
speed and longevity. In a 5-day workweek
of eight-hour days, an operator can
drill an average 8,000 feet of four-inch
holes with the D7-LM. Time saving
comes from the single pass operation.
Saving time is a benefit, but adding
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
SINGLE PASS MASTER
John Lazowicki,
TopShelf Drilling.
The timesaver: The D7-LM with its single pass 20 foot steel on the Long Mast, increases overall
productivity when most holes in the region are 19 feet or less.
life to the steel adds to the bottom line.
Every time the drill string is broken or a
rod is changed, stress is applied to the
steel. Stress over time leads to breaks
and cracks and ultimately, replacement
of the steel. The advantage of a single
pass hole reduces cost for consumable
items such as drill rods.
Top Shelf Drilling, of the H&K
Group owns two D7-LM drill rigs. Although
these are mainly construction
drills, they are versatile enough to use
any time deep cuts are required.
Drill Superintendent for Top Shelf,
John Lazowicki says the D7-LM drills
are used for everything from site preparation
to utility anchors to wall stabilization
to mining. He says H&K operates
30 quarries and he moves drills where
needed based on the task. He is impressed
with the footage he gets from the
D7-LM.
The H&K Group has 62 operations in
52 locations throughout the eastern half
of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland.
M &C 1●06 11

The ROC D7 RRC has been designed
to tackle extreme ground
conditions, such as those often encountered
when drilling in New England.
While the configuration of the machine
lets it move easily in these
conditions, it is the radio remote control
system that lets the operator put himself
at a safe distance, where he has an optimum
view of the operation.
Maine Drilling & Blasting (Maine
Drilling) has 10 ROC D7 RRC rigs, with
three more on order. These drills work in
both quarry and construction applications,
but the commonality is that they
get the most rugged jobs. As stated by
Terry Bower, Equipment Manager for
Maine Drilling: “Fifty percent of the
time these drills work in winched situations.”
That is to say, the drill is hanging
off its winch cable that has been anchored
to a steel rod placed in another
drill hole.
“Quite frankly,” says Bower, the D7
gets the least desirable work, but because
of the level of difficulty, these jobs are
12
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
SAFETY FIRST WITH RA
CHOICE 2: Difficult and dangerous ground conditions where manned drilling
operations are hazardous – the ROC D7-11 with radio remote control offers a
safe and effective alternative.
most often recognized for our Job of the
Month award.”
Bower pointed out that positioning is
a major element in drilling undeveloped
quarries. The remote control feature
gives the operator the freedom to position
the drill as needed to get the required
hole pattern for the blast.
Speaking of the ROC D7 RRC rig,
Bower added: “That rig is the closest
thing you can come to a ground magnet.”
Maine Drilling’s operational slogan is
“safety starts with me” and the steps they
take to ensure safety exemplify it. Every
day the job supervisor conducts a safety
meeting, and once a year they have a
company-wide meeting with one agenda
item – safety.
The ROC D7 RRC fits this philosophy
well. The remote function gives the
operator the option to work away from
the edge of a bench or other hazard.
Bower also commented that the operator
can stand away from the drill when in a
confined area, reducing decibel levels as
a safety concern.
The company with the slogan “Safety Starts With Me”: From left, Terry Bower and David Bijolle
of Maine Drilling & Blasting with Atlas Copco’s Martin Petranek.
Operators running the RRC rigs have
all made the transition from the standard
D7 cable controlled units, and
caught on quickly to the remote control
feature. “The hardest thing to overcome
was the feeling that you are no longer
part of the drill,” commented one operator.

The company offers turnkey services
that include engineering, drilling and
blasting, but also pre-blast surveys, public
relations and claims management.
Maine Drilling does everything from
small construction to developing quarries
and breaking ground on new infrastructure
projects.
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
DIO REMOTE CONTROL
The ROC D7 RRC, secured by its winch, tackles
some difficult drilling at Henniker Stone in
Henniker, New Hampshire.
In total, Maine Drilling will have 95
drills working this summer. In addition
to the radio remote control units, they
also have non-cab, cable controlled D7
units, F series and ECM rigs. The company’s
coverage area includes New England
and New York State, with five local
offices.
M &C 1●06 Operator David Bijolle controls all tramming
and drilling functions of the Atlas Copco
ROC D7 drill rig via the radio remote
control unit.
13

14
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
The Atlas Copco ROC D7 Drilling
tieback anchor holes at Dulles
International Airport.
WHEN SIZE REALLY MAT
“If we are drilling holes that means we’re making money”: Vic Garza talking to Craig Mooney,
Sales Representative for Atlas Copco’s dealer Quarry & Contractor Equipment & Supply Company
of Baltimore MD and Jason Blais. Atlas Copco Regional Sales Manager.
Business as usual: The anchoring project
is carried out without disturbing air travelers
using an overhead walkway that connects
the terminals. Foreground, one of
the walkway’s support columns.
CHOICE 3: Drilling anchor holes in
the confined space of a cut-and-cover
tunnel where a standard drill mast
cannot be used – the ROC D7-11
short feed version is the answer.
Clark Construction, one of the most
respected general contractors in
the US, had a special request and
needed a manufacturer that could help
provide a solution.
Clark has built everything from hotels
to parking ramps to multi-family housing.
When they bid on the Support of Excavation
(SOE), tunnel and station construction
project at the Washington
Dulles International Airport, they knew
drilling would be a major phase of the
job requiring special equipment.
Specifically, the job offered space
constraints for a standard drill feed system,
allowing a maximum trench width
of 20-feet.
Vic Garza, Senior Superintendent for
Clark, says that some thought the drilling

TERS
would slow the project, but it soon became
obvious that drilling was the fastest
process on the project.
“We never wait for the drill to catch
up,” he says. “It’s just the opposite; the
drill waits for everything else.” Garza
goes so far as to measure success by the
drill. “If we are drilling holes that means
we’re making money,” he adds.
Equipment Superintendent, Dallas
Beach came to Clark with underground
drilling experience and knew what a drill
would do. He just needed a drill that
would physically fit the project.
He explains: “We spoke to many
manufacturers but Atlas Copco jumped
up to the plate and was willing to talk
“Atlas Copco
jumped up to
the plate.”
Dallas Beach,
Equipment Superintendent,
Clark Construction.
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
Glimpse of the future: Construction
of the new train station viewed
from a walkway.
about our special feed length need.” He
points out that it only took one week
from the time it was first discussed with
the Atlas Copco sales representative to
get the answer that it could be done.
“We placed our first order about a
month later,” says Beach.
In total, Clark has ordered three specially
designed ROC D7’s for this project.
The difference is in the feed system.
It had to be shortened to work in the 20foot
wide trench. In total, Clark has had
six ROC D7s working on this project and
an ECM 370, including three standard
ROC-D7-11 rentals.
Atlas Copco drill rigs will be used to
install bolts in the 5,000 feet of cut-and
cover tunnels and 800 feet of NATM tunnels.
Tunnels will encompass more than
6,775 linear feet of rock excavation averaging
a depth of 50 feet. This construction
will allow for the concrete work involved
in casting the twin box tunnels
and two stations.
Approximately 69 miles of drilling
and #9 rebar, 600,000 sq. ft. of 4,000 psi
shotcrete and wire mesh will anchor the
tunnel walls. The holes vary in depth depending
on rock consistency. The first
bolts were placed as close as 3-ft to the
surface. The longest bolts were 70 feet
area with unstable ground. Some 15,000
rebar rock bolts will be used in the project.
M &C 1●06 A section of the tunnel for the inter-terminal
rail link at Dulles Airport.
15

STREAMLINING SE
Full maintenance package to keep Australian mine fleet up and running
The CSA team: (From left) Erwin Trichlin, Autoelectrician, Nick Lacko, CPML Simba L6 C operator, Kevin Martin, Senior Drill Technician, Cameron
King, Boilermaker/Apprentice Fitter and Alan Sharpe, Contract Manager.
The CSA Copper Mine in Australia
– one of the richest copper ore deposits
in the world – has signed a
three-year maintenance contract
for its mine trucks and drill rigs as a
key part of its continuous improvement
program.
In the past the CSA Copper Mine,
located in Cobar, New South Wales,
has used separate maintenance contracts
to take care of its fleets of drill rigs
and trucks. These service agreements
were traditionally operated by thirdparty
contractors. Today, in line with the
mine’s philosophy of continuous improvement,
a single service agreement
16
has been signed with Atlas Copco for all
Atlas Copco equipment used at the mine.
The CSA Copper Mine is owned and
operated by Cobar Management Pty
Ltd., (CMPL) which, since taking over
the mine in 1999, has worked hard to
maximise efficiency, leading to the recent
streamlining of its servicing arrangements.
The first of the mine’s three Atlas
Copco MT5010 mine trucks came with
on-site support from the supplier. Says
Nigel Slonker, General Manager of the
mine: “With the arrival of the three
MT5010 trucks, we really found the
greater skill levels from the OEM’s
[original equipment manufacturer’s]
technicians to be more valuable to us.”
This view is shared by Damian
McDonald, CMPL’s Underground Hoisting
and Maintenance Superintendent. He
says: “We wanted consistency with the servicing
arrangement, rather than having separate
contracts with different suppliers for the drill
rigs and trucks.”
The full-maintenance contract covers
eight pieces of equipment – three MT5010
mine trucks, two Rocket Boomer M2Ds, a
Simba L6 C, a Boomer 282 and a Simba 357.
The level of professionalism shown by the
Atlas Copco technicians on the new trucks led
“It’s paying dividends
– we get very
prompt action and
response.”
Nigel Slonker, General
Manager, CSA Copper Mine.

RVICE
the mine to extend OEM support to its fleet of
Atlas Copco drill rigs.
The mine has been in existence since 1871,
and according to Nigel Slonker, the mine’s
age has brought with it some difficult working
conditions. The current workings are more
than 40 years old, and are around one mile
deep. The hauling distance from the bottom of
the decline to the crushing station is more than
six miles. The mine is also hot, with high humidity
and operates on multiple levels.
The difficult conditions mean effective
maintenance of the mine’s mobile fleet is critical.
Damian McDonald is keen to raise the
fleet’s availability to 85 percent, and believes
Atlas Copco’s presence on-site can achieve
this. Damian comments: “We required a professional,
efficient maintenance management
system for our mobile fleet, with a strong customer
focus.”
CMPL was also attracted to Atlas Copco
due to the strength of its local support. According
to McDonald, the local Cobar branch
of Atlas Copco is committed to supplying
customer service to the mine and, in turn, the
branch is supported by Atlas Copco’s national
network.
“The previous contractor did a good job,
but we felt that we needed to go to the next
level of continuous improvement by bringing
in the OEM,” McDonald said.
To support the contract, Atlas Copco has established
an underground workshop at the
mine, located on Level 11 – approximately
3,200 feet underground. Atlas Copco’s on-site
team includes Alan Sharpe, Contract Manager
for the site, and eight dedicated service technicians
divided into three groups: a truck team,
drill team and a 24-hour breakdown team.
Each truck and rig is checked daily and
scheduled services are carried out at pre-set
intervals in the underground workshop. Since
the start of the contract, the team has been
making changes to the workshop to make it
more usable and better equipped.
The workshop has its own hydraulic hosemaking
facilities and will soon have a sealed
parts store. The store will keep Atlas Copco
genuine parts comprising a mix of fast
turnover parts plus service kits for scheduled
servicing. Once a part or service kit is used, it
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
Nick Lacko, CMPL Simba
L6 C Operator, changing a
Secoroc bit on the Simba.
is re-ordered from the parts supply store
at Atlas Copco’s Cobar branch, ensuring
stock availability levels.
Atlas Copco has had a cost-per-foot
contract for its Secoroc drilling consumables
at the CSA Mine for the past seven
years. This is a full-service contract that
includes bits and drill rods for production
and development drill rigs. Bit resharpening
and rod refurbishment is carried
out above ground in the on-site
Secoroc workshop.
Close support
The Atlas Copco branch in Cobar has
undergone rapid growth over the past
few years, going from a two-person team
to new premises with a more servicebased
team of 19, which includes Service
Manager Brett Lonergan, technicians,
sales and administrative staff.
The branch is equipped with a service
workshop large enough to accommodate
an MT5010 mine truck, in-house hosemaking
facilities, a rock drill repair room
and a high-pressure, high-flow hydraulic
test unit for testing hydraulic rock drills
and drilling functions. Servicing compo-
Ryan Collett, Atlas Copco
Service Technician, working
on the Rocket Boomer M2D
in the underground
workshop.
nents are also stocked along with spare
parts. The store holds nearly 700 stock
lines. In addition to the CSA Copper
Mine, the Cobar branch’s store also supports
Atlas Copco equipment at other
mines in the region including Peak Gold,
Barrick Lake Cowell, Tritton and
Newcrest’s Cadia Valley mines.
“The Atlas Copco branch, six miles
away from the mine, has good infrastructure
and good facilities which pays dividends
– we get very prompt action and
response,” says Slonker. “The contract is
in its early days, but we’ve already seen
marked changes in the standards of the
workshop.”
M &C 1●06 THE CSA COPPER MINE
Mining is currently concentrated around the
QTS North copper ore body that extends from
2,000 ft to over 5,900 ft deep. The mine will also
start development work on the QTS South deposit
in the second quarter of 2006. To access
the ore for drilling and blasting, CMPL needs to
develop around two and a half miles of tunnels
annually. It employs small open stopes 100 ft
high and 50 feet wide. The mine has an expected
life of another 10 years.
17

MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
ATLANTIC
CHALLENGE
The construction of a new bridge on
the mid-Atlantic island of Madeira
ran into major difficulties until a
unique, micro-piling solution came
to the rescue. The name is DEPS.
The bay of Machico is a busy fishing
harbour and tourist destination
on the beautiful Portuguese island
of Madeira in the mid-Atlantic. The bay
area is now being upgraded with, among
other things, new cultural and sports facilities,
a new access road and a roadpedestrian
bridge over a nearby stream.
The geological conditions at the site
for the bridge foundations were adverse,
to say the least. The ground consisted of
a coluvio-aluvial deposit with a bed of
gravel, and boulders of basalt up to three
feet in diameter in a 50 ft-deep layer of
sand on top of clay. The engineers were
also faced with further challenges as the
foundations were to be installed at the
mouth of the stream, just a few feet from
the pounding of the ocean waves.
Contractor TECNASOL FGE was
awarded the task of building the founda-
tions and opted to install 101 jet-grouted
columns, 40 inches in diameter. The jet
pile holes were reinforced with micro-
Meeting the geological challenges: TECNASOL FGE’s Hafid Majoud (Driller), Victor Porto
(Foreman), Manuel Correia (General Foreman), Nuno Carrilho (Geotechnical Engineer
and Site Manager), with, far right, Artur Seriz, (Atlas Copco Drill Master).
piles to support the loads transmitted by
the two pillars and stanchions of the
bridge. It was also necessary to drill preholes
with rotary percussion drilling before
jet grouting the columns.
Several methods were tested to
achieve the most productive and economical
way to drill the 72 feet-long preholes.
For example, several drilling
methods utilizing DTH hammers and
traditional ODEX techniques were used
but failed because the walls of the holes
collapsed, causing blockages during
drilling. As a result, the production rates
were insufficient and wear and tear on
the rock drilling tools was too high.
Having previously used Atlas
Copco’s DEPS system, TECNASOL
FGE believed the system could offer a
solution to the drilling problem and
agreed to put it to the test. A 100 ft DEPS
146 drillstring was acquired for the pur-

Double the production rate: DEPS 146 in
action in severe geological conditions
on the island of Madeira.
pose – and production rates on the site
more than doubled.
Added value on site
Manuel Correia, General Foreman of
TECNASOL FGE, comments: “The excellent
performance of the swivel head
pneumatic damper and the design of the
DEPS system allowed the two rock drills
– the tophammer and the DTH – to interact
in the same drillstring without causing
abnormal wear on the drilling tools.”
Correia also notes the easy handling of
the tubes, the good ratio between weight
and wall thickness, and protection against
flying cuttings by means of a rubber deflector.
“This gave clear benefits for the
operator and the machine,” he says.
Nuno Carrilho, Geotechnical Engineer
and Worksite Director, adds: “The
DEPS method clearly gave us added value
on this project.”
M &C 1●06 MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
Why the DEPS method?
DEPS is short for Dual Energy Percussion
System. The DEPS equipment
enables fast and accurate
drilling in extremely difficult ground
conditions. It is a development of the OD
(Overburden Drilling) system which has
been in existence for almost 40 years.
Like OD, it has a double drillstring
where the outer string consists of casing
tubes with a ring bit that drills the peripheral
part of the borehole and
simultaneously supports the borehole
wall, while the inner drillstring drills the
central part of the hole.
In a regular OD system, the impact
power of the tophammer (drifter) is used
to give power to both the casing tube and
the inner string. The disadvantage of this
solution is not only that less power is
available for drilling but also that the
shank adapter, for geometrical reasons,
usually has rather poor energy transfer
characteristics, resulting in energy losses,
overheating and fast wear, especially
of threaded joints. This limits the
amount of impact power that can be applied,
so penetration speed can not be increased
simply by using more powerful
rock drills.
DEPS, on the other hand, has two
independent sources of impact power:
a powerful, high torque tophammer
rock drill for rotation and driving of the
casing tube, and a down-the-hole hammer
for the main (pilot) bit of the inner
drillstring. This means that more power
can be delivered to the drill bits for a
higher penetration rate and increased
hole depth compared to the OD and
other casing drilling (duplex) systems.
Another important advantage of
DEPS is the possibility, where drilling
conditions are favourable, to reduce the
impact power of the drifter to increase
the service life of the casing tubes without
sacrificing penetration speed.
The DEPS system is the fastest way to drill in blocky formations.
Splitting of the impact energy between the inner
and outer drillstrings earlier limited the performance and
the possibility for deep drilling. But the patented DEPS
swivel separates the drillstring for safe and fast drilling
through overburden. This, in turn, gives the added advantage
of being able to drill deep holes with just the inner
string while using the DTH hammer in the solid bedrock.
19

Today six hundred feet below the
surface of Manhattan Island in
New York City men and machines
are boring a nine mile tunnel through the
rock creating the Manhattan Water Tunnel
#3 Phase 2. Completion of this phase
is scheduled for August 2006, six years
after it began.
This tunnel is the newest delivery
conduit of water for the inhabitancy of
the city – a city that consumes 1.5 billion
gallons of water a day. The tunnel diameter
is 12.5 feet, which will be encased in
Cuttings are removed through Shaft 29B which is wedged in among
high rises. The Empire State Building is seen in the distance.
20
a foot-thick skin of concrete once the
drilling is complete.
Once the tunneling is finished, Schiavone
Construction Company, the general
contractor on the project in partnership
with J.F. Shea Construction Company
and Frontier-Kemper Constructors, Inc.,
will join Water Tunnel #3 to the original
system of tunnels #1 and #2.
A large concrete plug was placed during
the tunnels original construction
nearly a century ago and will be blasted
out once the new tunnel is complete.
HOLES
Water Tunnel #3 Phase 2, starts in
Central Park at 79th Street and goes
down on the west side along the Hudson
river almost all the way to the southern
tip of Manhattan and then up the east
side.
A section also goes across midtown
along 30th Avenue passing close by the
Empire State building. The tunnel then
continues along the East River to the
Queensboro Bridge to connect with an
existing section.
City Water Tunnel #3 is one of the
A train moves the cuttings from the working face. Swellex bolts can be seen on the
wall to the right.

most complex and intricate engineering
projects in the world today. The size and
length of the tunnel, its sophisticated
control system, the placement of its
valves in special chambers, and the
depth of excavation, represent state-ofthe-art
technology.
While Water Tunnel #3 will not replace
Tunnels #1 and #2, it will enhance
and improve the availability and dependability
of the water supply system and
improve service and pressure to outlying
areas of the city. It will also allow the
Department of Environmental Protection
to inspect and repair the leaking City
Tunnels #1 and #2 for the first time since
they were activated in 1917 and 1936.
The water starts out as far as 120
miles upstate at the Cannonsville &
Pepacton reservoirs in the Catskills, propelled
by gravity, descending at an elevation
of more than 1,000 feet as it flows to
New York City.
The 440 million year old rock formation
under Manhattan Island has a compressive
strength varying from 3,000 to
30,000 psi. Water Tunnel #3 Phase 2 is
reinforced using Swellex Pm12 Premium
Line rock bolts.
The minimum breaking capacity of
13.2 US tons offers the performance
needed to insure the structural and physical
integrity of the tunnel. Over 50,000
Pm12 bolts, installed on a 4 x 4-ft pattern,
were used to secure the tunnel. Pm24
bolts (27 US tons minimum breaking capacity)
were also used to secure the access
shafts and valve chamber areas.
According to Florentino Sison, Project
Engineer for Schiavone Construction
on the Water Tunnel #3, some of the
main benefits of using Swellex on this
project are speed and ease of installation,
plus the unique installation quality control
offered by Swellex.
Ralph Huggler, Schiavone superintendent on Shaft 29B, talks with Atlas Copco
salesman Patrick Gagne and Schiavone project engineer Florentino Sison.
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
IN THE BIG APPLE
New York water tunnel secured by Swellex
M &C 1●06 Excluding drilling time, one man
can easily install five times more
rock bolts compared
to other type of bolts.
Speeding up the bolting
process means serious
dollars added to
the bottom line.
Through its unique
installation system,
Swellex bolts offer
the benefit of being properly installed
when the full inflation pressure is
reached. The inflation pump control system
runs a complete inflation cycle before
shutting off insuring each bolt is
properly installed. And because they are
easy to install, Swellex bolts are also the
workers’ choice.
The tunnel is driven with a Tunnel
Boring Machine (TBM) by Operating
Engineers from the Local 14. They move
the TBM about 75 feet a day through the
rock formation which consists mostly of
granite. Behind the TBM the union men
from the Local 147, who are better
known as New York City’s Sandhogs,
take care of installing the Swellex rock
bolts. The Maintenance Engineers from
Local 15 are also key in keeping this
round-the-clock, three-shift operation in
motion.
A long view of the tunnel showing the yellow ventilation duct.
21

As one of the most experienced
drillers in Sweden, Karl Gustaf Fors
has drilled through the earth almost
10 times. Here, he shares a few
memorable moments of his long career
with M&C readers.
Driller Karl Gustaf Fors has been
working for Sydsten, the largest
producer of aggregates in southern
Sweden, since 1965.
“I remember when I first started at
Sydsten,” he says. “We drilled a 65 ft
blast hole in 3.5 hours with an old Empire
DTH rig, working at a pressure of
6.5 bar.” Forty years on and technological
advancements now make it possible
for Karl Gustaf to drill the same blasthole
in just 15 minutes.
“Besides the productivity of the rig
and hammer, today’s products are just
better all round,” he explains. “When I
started, we had to regrind our drill bits
after every hole, compared with after
22
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
FORTY YEARS
ON THE BENCH
about 15 holes today. The need for service
is also much less, as the equipment
is more standardized.”
The biggest leap in development was
seen in the early 80’s when hammers
moved from 13 bar (188 psi) to 20 bar,
(290 psi) and a few years later to 25 bar
(362 psi).
Today, the 120-year-old company delivers
more than 2 million tonnes of aggregates
per year to local infrastructure
projects and much of the drilling is carried
out by Atlas Copco’s ROC L8
crawler. The ROC L8 is shared among
Sydsten’s four quarries and is used for
about six hours per day, drilling mainly
in granite and also in some quartzite.
The rig is equipped with COP 54 Gold
Express or COP 64 Gold hammers with
140 mm and 165 mm bits, drilling on 16-
20 m benches. An older rig, from the early
1970s, is also occasionally used.
For many years, the Sydsten quarries
have also been a testing ground for
Secoroc drill bits. Due to the varied rock
geology, Sydsten rotates the bits among
the quarries, and allows the quartzite, at
Drilling in hard rock:
A ROC L8 equipped with a
COP 54 Gold Express or
COP 64 Gold hammer is a
good combination for challenging
rock formations.
the Hardeberga quarry, to wear down the
buttons. The steel body around the buttons
is then worn down in the granite
quarries.
“The L8 in combination with the COP
54 Gold Express and COP 64 Gold hammers,
is a solid and reliable combination,”
says Mikael Svensson, Quarry Operations
Manager. “There have been
times when we shopped around, but it is
important for us to have a reliable and attentive
supplier. We need equipment we
can trust – and a supplier we can rely on.”
Sydsten is currently evaluating the
Secoroc QL50 and TD50 hammers from
the extensive range of Secoroc DTH
hammers to optimize the drilling for every
condition. But the company emphasises
that due to the variations in rock
conditions and the small margins for errors,
experienced operators such as Karl
Gustaf Fors are crucial.
“He has had a few years to learn,”
says Svensson with a smile. “He has
drilled about 74,500 miles – that’s
straight through the earth almost 10
times.” M &C 1 ●06

Photo: FRANS LEMMENS/GETTY IMAGES
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
The dam builders´
DREAM
A new dam being built near the Algerian capital will
bring water supplies to its growing population and
irrigation to the agricultural lands surrounding it. But
difficult ground conditions threatened to slow down the
construction process. ▼
Photo: GAMMA/IBL
23

▼
Once a malarial swamp, the Mitidja
Plain, east of the Algerian capital
Algiers, has long been one of the
country’s most important agricultural regions,
with magnificent vineyards and
citrus groves flourishing in the alluvial
soil.
But the area is also vulnerable to
droughts and floods. Furthermore, the
demand for drinking water for the residents
of greater Algiers has also continued
to grow as its population has expanded,
putting even more pressure on
local water supplies.
To address both of these issues at once,
the Algerian Government has, under the
recommendation of the National Dam
Agency, ANBT (Agence Nationale des
Barrages et des Transferts), embarked on
an ambitious plan to construct a dam in
the Isser River valley. The valley is a
wadi, a network of streams that run dry
when not fed by seasonal rains.
Construction of the Koudiat Acerdoune
dam, located 50 miles south-east
of Algiers, started in September 2002
and is scheduled for completion at the
24
On either side of the dam, Atlas Copco
MAI self-drilling anchors are being used to
stabilize the slopes, which are also being
made less steep.
The finishing touch: After the MAI anchors have
been installed, the slopes are shotcreted.
end of 2007. It will stand 400 feet tall
with a span of 1,300 feet.
Its reservoir will contain 830 million
cubic yards of water, supplying the 3 million
residents of greater Algiers with 232
million cubic yards of drinking water per
year and the surrounding farms with irrigation
water for 77 sq miles.
French contractor Razel, which won
the EUR 100 million (USD 123 million)
contract, is building the dam using roller
compacted concrete (RCC). This is a rel-
atively new method in which the dam is
constructed from a relatively dry mixture
of concrete, which is spread in thin layers
between the upstream and downstream
walls of the dam and compacted into
place using rollers. The method is more
economical than traditional construction
techniques in which wet concrete is transported
to the site and poured into forms.
Due to stability problems on the shores
of the dam, Razel removed 1,700,000 cubic
yards of rock and soil from the right-
Installing the MAI self-drilling
anchors: A variety of rigs are used
such as this Atlas Copco ROC 442.

hand shore (looking downstream) and is
in the process of removing 3.3 million cubic
yards from the left-hand shore at a rate
of nearly 530,000 cubic feet per day
(working in two 10-hour shifts).
Rock and soil is being removed from
the top toward the base in order to make
the slope walls less steep. This has been
carried out without blasting and large
boulders have been broken up using a
hydraulic breaker.
Razel is also anchoring and shotcreting
the slopes (240,000 square yards will
be covered with shotcrete) to further reinforce
the slopes. The company initially
depended solely on connectable rebars,
starting in June 2003. The method had the
advantage of a low purchase price but the
bolt installation was hampered by the
poor ground conditions.
“The ground here is so fractured – or
friable – that the holes just collapsed
when we tried to install the long rebars,”
says Jacky Legras, Plant Manager. “As a
result, it took several tries before the rebars
could be put in place. Naturally, this
led to slower progress and higher costs
than originally planned.”
The problem was compounded by the
fact that more soil nailing was required
than initially expected as well as by the
fact that since the bars were not hollow,
grouting to the bottom of the hole was difficult
and almost impossible to control.
Therefore, based on the production
rate for connectable rebars and the need
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
to also improve quality, the initial plan
was revised. “After a concluding trial,
the decision was made to begin using
Self-Drilling Anchors from Atlas Copco
MAI, starting in January 2004 – and
since then the installation rate was satisfactory
to both Razel and ANBT, with a
systematic grouting quality guaranteed,”
Legras continues.
Faster progress
In the 17 months through October 2004,
more than 30,000 connectable rebars
were installed, varying from 6 to 26
yards long. In addition, between January
and October 2004, 4,140 yards of R25
SDAs, mostly 13 yard anchors; 11,190
yards of R32 SDAs, mostly 13-20 yrds;
and 60,000 yards of R38 SDAs, mostly
25-32 yards, were installed. The bars
were installed at an average rate of 7,600
linear yards per month (four times higher
than with connectable rebars).
These were installed using a variety
of rigs, including two Atlas Copco ROC
442 rigs purchased for the project, and
THE KOUDIAT ACERDOUNE DAM
The Koudiat Acerdoune dam will improve the
supply of drinking and irrigation water to
Algeria’s capital and surrounding farmlands.
Location: 50 miles south-east of Algiers.
Cost: More than USD 123 million.
Height: 400 feet.
Length: 1300 feet.
Structure: 2 million cubic yards roller compacted
concrete (RCC).
Reservoir capacity: 837 million m 3 .
Annual volumes: 232 million cubic yards of
drinking water, 36 million cubic yards of water.
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
Razel’s Plant Manager Jacky Legras, Excavation Manager Jean-Louis Chapuis, Project Engineer
Samia Izri, and Atlas Copco CMT Business Line Manager Ahcène Zabila. In the background
is an Atlas Copco ROC 442 and a portable compressor.
grouted with three Atlas Copco MAI
grout pumps M400nt.
Using up to four surface drill rigs, at
an average installation rate of 328 linear
yards per day and a peak of 1124 linear
yards per day in two eight-hour shifts, the
SDAs have been so successful that Razel
took delivery of a further 53,500 yards of
SDAs in February and March, 2005.
Although rebars are still used in areas
where the geology allows, the use of
SDAs has allowed Razel to extend the
nailing campaign on both shores without
affecting the time schedule and at the
same time address the quality of the
slope stability.
“In the 10 months we’ve been using
Atlas Copco MAI SDAs, we were able
to install more than twice as many linear
yards of anchors as we had been able to
in the 17 months of using connectable
rebars,” says Jean-Louis Chapuis, Excavation
Manager. “They've proven to be a
cost-effective and an especially timesaving
solution, so the project has stayed
on track.”
M &C 1●06 25

Cablebolter is a first in South America
THE WINNER IN MICH
Cable bolting and grouting operations
have been greatly speeded up
at the Michilla Copper Mine in Chile
with the introduction of a Cabletec
rock bolter.
Bolting at Michilla: Four parallel holes are
drilled in each row in each of the 8 yardwide
production drifts.
26
The first Cabletec rock bolter in
South America is successfully
operating in Antofagasta Minerals’
Michilla copper mine in Chile,
some 470 miles north of Santiago.
The main mining method here is cutand-fill
using a drift and pillar layout
and mining progresses upwards. The
production drifts are 23 x 16 ft and the
pillars are 23 x 23 ft. Some sublevel
stoping is also used. Systematic cable
bolting is required to ensure safety while
other rigs are drilling production holes
upwards through the orebody. A total of
328,000 ft of cable bolts are needed per
year for all the underground operations.
With more than eight months on the
job, the Cabletec has shown positive results.
Its cable installation capacity is reported
to be 50 percent better than alternative
mechanized solutions. It gives a
safe and greatly improved working environment
with all operations controlled
from the silenced, air-conditioned cab.
An important characteristic of the
unit is its ability to carry out positioning
and feeding of the grouting hose and cable
into the pre-drilled hole with one
boom while simultaneously drilling the
next bolt hole with the other.
This new capability reduces cycle
time, increases functionality and, as
drilling and cable installation are carried
out by separate booms, there is no risk of
cement entering the rock drill or splattering
components. This significantly reduces
maintenance costs compared to
competing mechanized methods.
Superior productivity
Miguel Donoso, in charge of the Estefanía
sector at Michilla, says that prior to
the arrival of the Cabletec, cables were
installed manually, each taking about 1
hour and 45 minutes to grout and install.
Today, the Cabletec does it in only seven
minutes and with fewer operators. “As
you can see, the advantages are incredi-

ILLA
ble,” Donoso says. “We are saving valuable
time and have reduced operator
hours.” The cost of rock reinforcement
works out at USD 1.8 per tonne of ore
extracted. Thanks to the speed of the
In action in the Michilla Mine: Cabletec
is a fully mechanized cable bolting rig
with the Rig Control System (RCS) for
high productivity and precision.
M &C 1●06 Cabletec, Michilla estimates that the operation
will save about 20 percent of the
total reinforcement cost.
Other characteristics of the Cabletec
include the COP 1838 rock drill and a
rod-handling carousel on the drilling
boom with a capacity of 17+1. Speed
rods, two yards in length, allow for hole
depths of up to 35 yards and 21 /2 inch
diameter holes. The two ton capacity
cable cassette at the rear of the rig is
easy to refill thanks to its unique foldout
design. The onboard silo has a capacity
of one ton of dry cement, and automatic
mixing is to a predetermined
formula, resulting in a smooth grouting
process.
For production drilling, Michilla is using
Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer M2C
and 282 drill rigs as well as Boomers 127
and 282 with 14 ft rods, creating an effective
pull of four yards. For explosives,
Anfo is used. About 874 yards/month of
drift is developed and 110,000 tonnes of
rock per month is removed, of which
40,000 is waste.
Michilla is operating at depths of
below 2,000 feet and produced 46,000
tonnes of fine copper in 2005. Resources
are expected to last until 2012 after
which production will shift from underground
to surface operations.
One operator can do it all: Drilling and
cable installation are done simultaneously
by the Cabletec’s separate booms.
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
Imagine if you
could carry
thousands of
songs with you
wherever
you go.
Visit our
products
on line
catalog and
join the
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– you could
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27

MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
BITS, BUTTONS
AND ALL THAT JAZZ
28
Semi automatic and wholly convenient:
The Grind Matic Jazz shown in place on
a ROC F9 C drill rig.
Following the successful introduction
of the portable Atlas Copco
Grind Matic Jazz bit grinder to
French quarries, customers have
been reaping the benefits of timely
and regular button grinding.
The Secoroc Grind Matic Jazz is a
semi-automatic grinder that can be
mounted on drill rigs and any other
suitable support through simple connections
and fastenings. It greatly improves
the important but often overlooked process
of bit grinding. Operators, like those working
for the P. Audrain contracting company
in Brittany, can now benefit from more
efficient drilling in all conditions.
P. Audrain operating from Liffre, to
the north-east of Rennes in Brittany, uses
Atlas Copco equipment across 15 dis-
“Grinding is
now less costly
thanks to the
Grind Matic.”
Pascal Audrain,
Director and Founder of
P. Audrain.
tricts in north-western France. Its main
operations are drill-and-blast and quarrying.
The company also carries out
some demolition work.
In 2005, Atlas Copco Secoroc
organized a tour for existing and potential
customers in Brittany, and the first
contractor to acquire the Grind Matic
Jazz was P. Audrain.
Although the Grind Matic Jazz is designed
for rig mounting to save on operator
travelling time, P. Audrain’s unit is
presently mounted on a frame in its new
workshops, replacing a Grind Matic
manual unit. Depending on the distance

Audrain’s ROC F9CR at work at the Carrière de Cosnicat quarry.
involved, all drill operators return to the
workshops at the beginning or end of
shifts to grind sufficient bits for the expected
drilling and conditions.
Pascal Audrain, Director and Founder
of the company, says: “We are now evaluating
the Grind Matic Jazz with all three of
the drilling systems we use in different
conditions. We can then decide on the best
way of using it and possibly having more
grinding machines to equip the rigs.”
Three systems
The three drilling systems used by
Audrain are tophammer, down-the-hole
(DTH) and Coprod (CR). All Coprod
rigs now use the second-generation CR
89 drillstring system. The drill fleet comprises
a ROC F7 with a T51 drillstring,
and three Coprod rigs – two ROC F9CRs
and one ROC L7CR with a short mast
for easy transportation, one ROC L6
with a four inch DTH hammer, and another
ROC L6 is on order.
Currently the company still uses hand
grinding machines in the field when
operators are too far from the workshops.
But, explains Audrain, “the Grind Matic
Jazz is more efficient and in quality there
is no comparison. Grinding is less costly
due to better performance. A typical
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
competing system takes two times as
long to grind a bit.”
Competing systems usually employ
grinding cups with manual operation,
whereas the semi-automatic Grind Matic
Jazz uses patented Atlas Copco Secoroc
profiled grinding wheels. These are used
at an oblique angle to the button, allowing
ground material to escape easily and
ensuring that there is no excess removal
of material. Grinding wheels are more
economical and last longer.
Atlas Copco’s Marcel Godfrind,
Product Manager for Secoroc at the Paris
office, says, “Grinding cups cannot take
‘flats’ away when the bit is overdrilled
and cannot be used with ballistic buttons
with the same quality. Grind Matic machines
are much better at recovering the
original design shape of the button.”
Godfrind explains that operators
grind bits every 300 – 825 feet depending
on the rock drilled, and each bit can
be ground 10 times before the buttons
are finished. It normally takes about
10–15 minutes to grind a four inch-diameter
bit. One of the patented diamond
grinding wheels lasts for about 200 –
250 buttons on average.
“It can be counter-productive to leave
the grinding of bits for too long as a lot
The Atlas Copco Grind Matic Jazz being inspected
by Secoroc specialist Bernard
Lemettre.
A Secoroc four inch diameter spherical button
bit being reground on the Grind Matic
Jazz.
more grinding may be needed and material
wasted,” he explains. “If you leave it
too long when drilling less abrasive rock,
wear of the steel matrix can leave the
buttons standing out too far, causing
breakages of the inserts and reducing bit
life.”
P. Audrain has been a loyal Atlas
Copco customer ever since the contractor
purchased a ROC F7CR rig in 1998.
“In addition to the competence of the
rigs themselves, the main reasons we
have stayed with Atlas Copco is the quality
of after sales service, and also the
quality of the Secoroc rock drilling
tools,” says Audrain.
M &C 1●06 29

Atlas Copco’s Markku Terasvasara with
the fourth SmartRig delivered to Finland.
Top of the bill
at Intermat show
FRANCE. Atlas Copco topped the bill as
construction professionals from around
the world gathered at this year’s Intermat
exhibition in Paris.
The company put on a showstopping
presentation of innovative products and
services at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition
Centre (April 24-29).
The display highlighted Atlas Copco’s
technical expertise as well as its knowhow
in equipment performance monitoring,
service and maintenance.
Among the star attractions were the new
SmartRig ROC D7C with its noise dampening
kit, PC-based control and GPS systems,
the ECM720 crawler with Strata-Sense ®
automatics, the ThunderRod T60 drill bit
and the award-winning COPROD drillstring.
M &C 1●06 30
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
Working smart with SmartRig
FINLAND. Atlas Copco’s fourth SmartRig
to be delivered to Finland and the world’s
first noise dampened version has been purchased
by contractor Rudus Murskaus Oy.
The SmartRig ROC D7C will be used in
a variety of different quarries, some of
which are close to urban areas. The special
More than 180,000 visitors
came to Paris show to see,
among other things, the
SmartRig ROC D7C.
The new Atlas Copco
SmartRig ROC D7C: With substantially
reduced noise levels
it is the quietest rig of its kind.
noise reduction kit dampens the noise level
and makes it possible for the rig to operate
for longer hours in noise-sensitive locations.
In addition, the SmartRig offers 30
percent lower fuel consumption and has
fewer hoses which minimizes the risk of
spillage.
M &C 1●06

Versatile raiseborer:
The Robbins 34RH can perform
downreaming, uphole boring and
conventional raise drilling.
NEW IN CHINA: A new assembly facility, distribution
centre and service workshop has been open in
Nanjing by Atlas Copco (Nanjing) Construction and
Mining Equipment Ltd. The factory, designed for
”demand flow assembly”, will mainly assemble drill
rigs for the Chinese market to give shorter lead
times, less inventory, better service and higher quality
products to customers.
75 YEARS OF INNOVATION: Atlas Copco is celebrating
its 75th year in Spain. The local sales company
was founded on March 27, 1931 and was initially
called Atlas Diesel, S.A. Española. With
representatives in Gijón, Barcelona and Bilbao and
offices in Madrid, Atlas Copco S.A.E. has grown to
become a leading company in its sector in Spain.
SCALETEC GOES TO CVRD: A new diesel hydraulic
Scaletec scaling rig is due to arrive at the
MINING &
CONSTRUCTION
10th Robbins raisedrill to Norilsk
RUSSIA. Norilsk is about to take delivery
of its 10th Atlas Copco Robbins raisedrill.
The 34RH unit is equipped with the latest
rig control system (RCS) and is complemented
by a Trakker 140A for easy transportation
and manoeuvering.
The inclusion of the RCS makes future
enhancement possible, including remote
operation and automation technology.
Pipe-handling on the 34RH is both safe
and straightforward: a ground-loading rod
handling system picks up the drill pipes.
The main drive on the new unit consists
of a hydraulic motor, coupled in line to a
gearbox. Using variable speed and torque
limiting control, the hydraulic drive can be
used on most ground conditions. The entire
drive train features a hollow centre
that enables any flushing media to clear
the pilot hole. Able to perform downreaming,
uphole boring and conventional
raise drilling, the 34RH mounted on a
Trakker unit makes for a versatile and
highly capable package.
M &C 1●06 Urucum mine in Brazil in the summer of 2006. Owned
by Companhia Valo do Rio Doce (CVRD) , the mine
produces 500,000 tonnes of manganese and 1.2 million
tons of iron ore per year. This rig can either be
operated by connection to external electric power or
independently by the built-in Deutz diesel engine. The
onboard diesel tank will allow for up to five hours of
continuous scaling without refill.
HATS OFF TO THE HARDHAT: Atlas Copco’s Hard-
Hat range of portable compressors has been award-
Pit Vipers on a roll
CHILE. A fleet of three Atlas Copco Pit
Viper 351s – one electric and two dieselpowered
versions – are to be used at the
developing Spence copper mine in Chile.
The PV-351 is the largest and most powerful
blasthole drill available.
The order brings sales of the Pit Viper
series to more than 30 units with many orders
coming from the rapidly expanding
Russian market.
The power of the PV range is complemented
by a leading-edge electronic control
system and a GPS navigation system that
incorporates the mine's drill plan. This allows
for extreme accuracy in hole positioning,
consequently boosting the efficiency of
the drilling operation. M &C 1 ●06
ed the prestigious Red Dot award. The annual competition
highlights outstanding international product
design and is one of the biggest design competitions
in the world. The award pays tribute to Atlas Copco’s
innovative design and the high quality of the HardHat
range. The HardHat compressor, designed to provide
a reliable source of compressed air to drive pneumatic
tools, is distinguished by its hard, recyclable
and non-corrosive housing. The benefits of the distinctive,
innovative and highly robust housing include
lower ownership costs, durability and strong resale
values.
UNDERGROUND DVD: A new
DVD on underground equipment is
soon to be released. The following
films are included: “A Real Mean
Machine”, featuring the Rocket
Boomer WL4 in Finland; “The
Truck Race”, dealing with
Minetruck MT 5010 in Australia;
and “Facing Makkah”. To order,
contact your nearest
Atlas Copco office.
The Pit Viper 351:
Bound for the Spence
Mine in Chile.
31

9850 9378 93