Breaking, Drilling & Blasting

Boart Longyear is launching the BLH series of down-the-hole (DTH) hammers and bits.

Designed to increase productivity in reverse circulation drilling and conventional DTH drilling, the new BLH series can be used in almost all DTH applications, including geotechnical drilling, quarrying/mining, water well/geothermal, and mineral exploration.

The BLH DTH hammer range includes the valved BLH5, BLH3, and the valveless BLH1 models. A full line of Boart Longyear DTH bits are available to support the new BLH

In an opencast mine in the north of Saudi Arabia, a Wirtgen 2500 SM surface miner equipped with a 2.5m wide cutting drum is said to have been mining large phosphate deposits in “a highly economical process” since 2012.
In addition to the primary extraction of relatively soft phosphate with an unconfined compressive strength of 25MPa in the pit, the 2500 SM also mines the surrounding hard limestone (80MPa) and extremely hard flint (150MPa) in separate layers.

Sandvik Construction launched two developments at 2013’s first bauma Africa: the CH550 cone crusher and the DH350 surface drill rig. The CH550, part of the new generation of compact cone crushers, is based on the proven Hydrocone design, and is said to combine the ability to produce excellent shaped products in fewer crushing stages.

UK and Dubai headquartered Meridian Drilling is looking forward to fresh challenges after concluding its four-year involvement with the Allana Potash project in Ethiopia.

The project saw Meridian Drilling complete 25,000m of drilling, operating two Atlas Copco CS14 wireline drilling rigs for 24-hours-a-day in the harsh and remote Danakil Depression.

The contract was initially for just 3,000m of diamond drilling, and Meridian’s managing director Jeremy Moore explained he was initially advised not to ta