Cruising through the Australian outback, our four-wheel-drive vehicle has kicked up a dust plume the height of a four-storey building that is hanging behind us interminably because there’s not a hint of a breeze to disturb it. It’s not yet 8 a.m. and already the temperature has passed 30 degrees Celsius, on its way to the mid-40s. We thank our stars we’re here in late spring, not the height of summer, when temperatures routinely pass the half-century mark. Welcome to the Lady Annie copper mine, just outside Mount Isa in the heart of central Queensland, Australia.

Mount Isa is the self-styled “Rodeo Capital of Australia” and the birthplace of golfing great Greg Norman. To the rest of the world it’s better known as the hub of one of Australia’s most prolific mining regions, boasting vast reserves of gold, copper and nickel. It’s also a hot, tough and uncompromising place to make a living.

Leading Australian drilling contractor ROCK Australia recently set up in the region for the first time. It won the drill and blast contract for CST Minerals’ new copper mine, and now that the champagne corks have stopped popping it is coming to terms with the task of meeting the client’s production targets.

This is a special contract for ROCK. In its field, the company ranks second in Australia and is the fastest growing, so the ROCK team knows the locals will be watching its performance closely. Despite more than 20 years as a leading blast hole drilling contractor, this is the first time ROCK has also taken on the blasting role.

Executive General Manager Roy Coates isn’t embarrassed to borrow the old Avis car rental slogan: “We’re number two, so we try harder.” For ROCK, trying harder has paid off witha bulging order book, an enviable reputation for safety and reliability, and a client list that reads like a “Who’s Who” of Australian mining.

The CST contract, although it occupies a special place in ROCK’s client portfolio, has posed some special challenges, Coates says.

“The contract required us to be on site and operating in a little over three weeks, and to quickly ramp up production to meet the client’s targets,” he says.

“This was a real test of our systems,” he says. “We were confident we would meet all CST’s expectations, but the lead time was very tight and we wanted the client to have a positive experience from the start.”

One major task was to assemble a suitable complement of drill rigs on the site. Two of the company’s fleet of Sandvik DP1500 top hammer drills were operating at Rio Tinto’s North Parkes mine on a contract that was nearing completion. One of the drills was available for transfer to Lady Annie immediately, with the second scheduled to follow two months later. But as Coates explains, ROCK needed to pull out something special to meet the production requirements of the Lady Annie contract, so the company fast-tracked an order for the latest “super-drill” – the Sandvik DP1500i. In the process, ROCK became the first company in Australia to own and operate one of the new rigs.

“We’re always keen to explore the benefits of new technologies, and our review of the new drill suggested it would give us a real productivity edge,” Coates says.

Within three weeks of the time the order was placed, Michael Zirbel, Sandvik’s regional product line manager for surface drills, had arranged for a new drill to be transported by road from Perth, a distance of more than 3,000 kilometres, and commissioned on site, ready to operate on the first day of the contract.

“As part of the engagement, Michael also shipped a rig simulator to Sandvik’s Mount Isa branch so we could train operators without taking up productive rig time,” Coates says. “The training on the simulator is so thorough that operators are able to work productively on site within hours of being introduced to the new rig.”

Safety first
When Rock Australia was awarded a major blast-hole drilling contract recently, the client – one of Australia’s biggest gold miners – said ROCK’s operating procedures and commitment to occupational health and safety (OHS) had been the primary factor influencing its decision. “When ROCK come on to a site they not only look after their own people, but they sharpen the overall focus on safety,” says the company’s mining supervisor.

ROCK’s integrated management system is based on more than 20 years of commitment to the creation of safe workplaces, and the business is committed to “zero harm.” Their safety professionals spend a high percentage of their time on site, implementing, reviewing and auditing procedures and practices. One of the company’s safety officers, Olivia Templeman, is based in Townsville, more than 1,000 kilometres from Lady Annie, but has set up an office at the mine to support the ongoing works.

One of the features of the DP1500i that appealed to ROCK was the fuel economy offered by the new low-revving engine. This, coupled with a larger fuel tank, meant that the drill would be able to operate at Lady Annie for two full shifts without stopping to refuel.

“We could also see a lot of value in the facility to preset drilling parameters within the cabin,” Coates says.
“This means our operators can tune and store optimal parameters for each site, or even specific areas within a site. Because there are wide variations in ground conditions at this mine, this is a really valuable productivity booster, because our operators can hit the ground running every time, at any location within the mine.”

Australia’s hot, dusty outback places heavy demands on men and machines. If you had to design a testing ground to push vehicle cooling systems to the limit, you would model it closely on  the conditions encountered day in and day out at Lady Annie. Coates says the new rig, with its supersized coolers, a fuel cooler and ambient-controlled oil cooler fans, is taking the tough environment in its stride.

“The bottom line is that, with a lot of help from Michael Zirbel and his team, we were drilling on site within 16 days of winning the contract,” Coates says. “Now we’re carrying out our first blast on day 24, which is a tremendous achievement by all parties. On the basis of the rig’s performance to date, we’ve committed to two more new drills, the first of which will be delivered by March 2011.”

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The DP1500
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