A leading provider of drilling services, equipment and performance tooling, Boart Longyear has signed a licensing agreement with Deep Exploration Technologies Cooperative Research Centre (DET CRC) for the Wireless Sub, a new patent pending technology solution that enhances safety and productivity in diamond drilling.
The Wireless Sub couples the drill rig to the drill rods in the hole and provides more accurate, real-time measurement of drilling parameters, such as feed force, torque, water pressure, rotation speed, axial acceleration and tangential acceleration. Extensive DET CRC testing operations, using parameters monitored by the Wireless Sub, have achieved substantial gains in rate of penetration and bit life when compared to drilling operations at the same locations using information from traditional drill rig gauges, the company said.
“The Wireless Sub provides vital information from detailed parameters and is the next step in driving safe drilling productivity,” said Mike Ravella, director of geological data services for Boart Longyear. “We are very pleased to add the Wireless Sub to our suite of innovations. We look forward to commercializing it and developing additional applications for the technology in the future.”
Real-time data from remote drilling sites can be reviewed worldwide by exploration teams, and the technology’s data logging feature allows drillers to replicate the highest performing parameters in any drilling program.
The Wireless Sub was developed by DET CRC Participants and Affiliates, CSIRO, Globaltech Corp., Epslog and Boart Longyear. The DET CRC was established in 2010 under the Australian government’s CRC Program to develop technologies to discover new mineral deposits at depth beneath barren rock cover.
