Atlas Copco announced it will launch a new mobile rig for boring “opening holes”—raiseboring, boxhole boring and downreaming. Named “Easer,” the rig can boxhole bore and downream to 750 millimeters (29 inches) in diameter, as well as perform conventional raiseboring to 1200 millimeters (47 inches) in diameter.
The Easer provides a more efficient and much faster way to drill up to 60 meters (200 feet) in length using standard 200-millimeter (8-inch) boring rods with a 228-millimeter (9-inch) pilot drill bit.
All the necessary operating equipment is part of the carrier, with the exception of the rods. The setup procedure does not require any site preparation.
The Easer offers the same drilling modes as traditional raiseboring rigs: boxhole boring, downreaming and conventional raiseboring. To switch from boxhole boring to downreaming, the gearbox is rotated 180 degrees—a simple operation that can be carried out in an underground workshop.
Atlas Copco business line manager URE Travis Battley said: “The Easer was developed to speed up the operation. The timeframe for drilling a 40-meter (130-foot) opening hole from setup to take down is less than 30 hours and setup and takedown are both done in less than one hour each.”
Introduced in the mid-1960s, raiseboring technique has been a safe, productive raise excavation technique for underground mining. In block caving and most sublevel mining techniques, engineers create a number of short raises that allow rock to expand toward them during a blast.
