Australian drilling fleet put to the test in remote mining application

Egan Drilling is a drilling contractor based out of Perth, Western Australia that specializes in all areas of reverse circulation and water bore drilling. With drill rigs across the WA region they’re well known in the industry for providing effective, efficient results. While their drill rigs are complete with both an on-board compressor and booster, certain applications require a high flow rate not provided by a single compressor. This is where Atlas Copco Rental’s fleet of mobile, high-pressure compressors comes in. One such application took place recently at a remote Lithium mine in Western Australia. The project required the client to obtain numerous drilling samples for the potential expansion of the mine. The samples needed to be obtained at a depth of 500 meters. To ensure the project was completed in the most efficient manner possible, Egan Drilling employed Atlas Copco Rental to provide the additional CFM needed. Our Sales Engineers recommend the new DrillAir Y1260 as the best machine for the job. Most high pressure / high flow compressors operate at a maximum of 25 bar, but the Y1260 can achieve 35 bar pressure while maintaining a flow of 1300 CFM. In addition, Atlas Copco’s new DrillAirXpert technology allows complete control over the flow and pressure from the control panel – increasing drilling speed by up to 30% and giving the user hassle-free control over the compressor. The client connected our Y1260 to their already considerable on-board compressor. This provided a total flow of 2,500 CFM at a pressure of 30 bar, which was fed into the booster for a final pressure of 69 bar. Using the reverse circulation drilling method, the client was then able to extract the samples they needed. The job was completed efficiently and thoroughly.