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Efficient Underground Limestone

Production
Trading Costs For
Profit
Limestone is in such great demand,
both as high quality roadstone and as
the raw material for cement manufac-
ture, that its mining is frequently car-
ried out underground. Proximity to
the market or availability of a suitable
mineral deposit may be the driver,
but economic extraction is the decid-
ing factor. In essence, the under-
ground limestone mines are trading
off the savings in surface transporta-
tion costs by being closer to the point
of use, against the marginal differ-
ence in production costs between
surface and underground working.
Where these are approximately in
balance, an underground mine can be
profitable. Hence, the major charac-
teristic of a successful underground deposit, and the standard face is 5 m-high Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH
limestone mining operation is its effi- and 6.5 m-wide. The length of a room plus drilling the face at Auersmacher
ciency, and the single greatest factor pillar is about 100 m, and some limestone limestone mine.
affecting this is the cost of drilling is left to form the roof.
and blasting. Atlas Copco drillrigs are
bringing down this cost by a combi- The mine uses a diesel-powered Atlas
nation of drilling speed and accuracy Copco Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH hydraulic
with low maintenance and longevity. drillrig, because there is no electricity
Matching the drillrig to the job supply installed to the faces. It is equipped
ensures that, whatever the mining with Rig Control System (RCS) and a COP
situation, economic long-term produc-
tion can be achieved, sometimes with 1838 rock drill with 22 kW output. As a
the whole operation dependent upon result, blast holes of 51 mm-diameter can
a single machine. The following case now be drilled to depths of 3.4 m at a rate
studies from five very different loca- of 6-8 m/min. Each V-cut round of 35
tions serve to underline this point. holes produces up to 340 t, and takes only
an hour to drill.
Aggregate from Auersmacher Since the Rocket Boomer rig started
operations, it has drilled entire daily pro-
Since 1936, almost 20 million t of lime- duction output of Auersmacher in a one-
stone have been produced at Auersmacher, shift operation, returning very favourable
a border town in Saarland, Germany. operating and wear costs. Mine output is
Mining activity has left a cavity of nearly now 350,000 t/year, and the rig is drilling
7.8 million cubic metres in the form of six rounds/day, working dayshift only. The
225 km of underground roadways. The rest of the mine works two 8 h shifts/day,
mining area covers almost 4 sq km, with 5 days/week, with a Saturday morning
overburden of approximately 50 m in thick- shift for non-production work if required.
ness and an average mining height of some Experience with the diesel hydraulic
6 m. The Triassic strata comprises a shelly unit has shown it to be economic on fuel,
limestone, which is excellently suited as an and to exhibit low exhaust gas emissions.
aggregate for the local steel industry. The Boomer L1 C-DH features a BF6M
The mine is working a room and pillar 1013 CP engine with EMR and catalyzer
system of extraction in the horizontal which consumes only about 19 litres of

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NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

the operator: with too little water, it is

View from the driver’s seat of the
Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH.
Norcem Rocket Boomer L2 C drilling a
top heading at Dalen, Norway.
dieseline for each percussion drilling hour,
and can complete two shifts on a single
tank of fuel. The excellent exhaust emis-
sion values are very important in under-
ground mining, where ventilation can be
costly.
Due to the very good drilling and flush-
ing characteristics using water mist, drill
rod losses are negligible. Water consump-
tion varies from 2-5 lit/min depending
upon rock conditions, and a full tank lasts
a week. The water mist mix is adjusted by
impossible to drill; with too much, the
cuttings become slurried.
The rotation speed has a profound effect
on penetration rate. In the limestone rock
at Auersmacher, the optimum speed is
400 rev/min. Dropping it to 300 rev/min
reduces the penetration rate by 2 m/min.
Drilling is carried out exclusively with
Atlas Copco shank adapters and drill rods,
and the very good dampening and anti-wear
properties of the equipment has resulted in
enormously long service lives, despite the
high work capacity. For example, the
approximate service life of drill bits is 3,200
drillmetres, rods 10,000 drillmetres, and
shank adapters, 18,500 drillmetres.
Secoroc shank adapters and steels are
used with a 51 mm ballistic bit. The mine
switched from 42 mm bits for a 2 m/min
improvement in penetration rate, with
accompanying gains in ANFO blast yield.
At the start of each drilling shift, the
operator takes around 15 minutes to check
the engine oil, feed hoses and grease
points. His training as a mechanic helps
him to get the best out of the sophisticated
engine. The servicing requirements have
no negative impact on mine production.
High temperature greasing of the rock
drill gearbox is carried out every 40 hours,
or once a week.
The close support of the Atlas Copco
team has resulted in a collaborative
relationship that gets the best out of the
equipment.

Linwood, USA
Another Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH was
delivered to the Linwood Stone mine in
Iowa, USA for use in limestone with an
average compressive strength of 165 Mpa.
This rig is equipped with RCS using
ABC Basic software for assisted boom
positioning, collaring point, hole direction,
hole depth control, and statistics. A
Diarot study was conducted on this rig,
in order to calculate the correct settings for
the rock drill, without using trial and error.
Increased performance was obtained by
adjusting the rotation speed to 400+ rpm,
and using a newly developed button bit
from Secoroc, which features increased
button protrusion, and more and bigger
flushing holes.
The Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH is
achieving penetration rates of 3.5 to

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4.5 m/min, which is a doubling in output

Hanging wall
over the previous generation of drillrigs. (The Venstop formation)
e
Strik

Cement from Dalen

Di
p
Limestone
(The Steinvika formation)

A single Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer

L2 C with RCS and unparalleled reliability
produces an impressive 1 million t/year at cro
ssc
Dalen limestone mine, located on the ut cro
ssc
ut
drift
southern coast of Norway. Dalen limestone benc
h
benc
h

comprises sediments of Ordovician- ben

Silurian origin, which occur in a regular
bed of around 40 m-thickness.
The limestone is located between a foot-
wall of metamorphic rock and a hanging
wall of sandstone, and the deposit is
dipping 15-20 degrees to the east, below
the Eidaneerfjord. The cement plant and
the community of Brevik sit right on top
of the deposit, which comprises the largest
underground operating mine in Norway.
The decision to purchase the Rocket
Boomer L2 C rig was helped by Norcem’s
positive experiences with its previous
23-year old Boomer H 132.
The Rocket Boomer is used both for
developing new areas and for production
drilling, on two shifts/day, five days/week.
Maintenance takes some 3-4 h/week, and
rig availability has been close to 100%,
with hardly any unplanned stops. The mine
gets a lot of work out of the rig, drilling
282,000 m/year.
The Rocket Boomer L2 C rig was
specially fitted to Norcem’s requirements
with COP 1838 ME rockdrills, and the
RCS and ABC Total automated boom
positioning and drilling system. The rig
was also equipped with an extra-wide
boom console to increase the width of the
coverage area.
Norcem uses the software program
Tunnel Manager Lite to design the drilling
plans, which are pre-programmed in the
office and transferred into the rig’s control
panel by using a conventional PC card.
Drilling logs are also stored on the PC
card.
Boom positioning and drilling of the
pre-selected drill plan can be fully auto-
mated or semi-automated with manual
positioning. The cross section of the top
headings is 14 m-wide and 8 m-high, and a
Vee cut is used. Here the rounds consist of
105 holes drilled to depths of 5.4 m at
48 mm-diameter.
For the first crosscut round, where the
face is not flat, about 65 holes tend to be
approx. 40 m
ben chin
chin g
g
Hor
ison
tal p
illar
8m drift
Foot wall
(The Fossum formation)
Dip
13 -
20 o
drilled in the fully automated mode. Section of mining layout at Dalen.
When the top heading drifts are com-
plete, they are followed by horizontal
benching, 14 m-wide and 6 m-high, to
achieve the full room dimension of 14 m x
14 m. Some 4-5 rounds of 1,500-1,600 t
are blasted each day consuming about
550 kg of explosives/round. Production is
switched between working faces in the
mine, of which there can be up to 40 at any
given time. The 15 km/h tramming speed
of the Rocket Boomer L2 C between faces
helps its overall high utilization.
Because of the non-abrasive nature of
the rock, and the rig’s ability to continu-
ously optimize drilling parameters, shank
adapters and drill steel last for up to 8,000
drillmetres, and the 48 mm Secoroc drill-
bits last for around 2,200 drillmetres.
Conventional hydraulic rigs are now
expected to last for a million drillmetres/
boom, but the combination of self-
adjusting rock drills and Norcem’s high
maintenance standards could well double
that figure for their Rocket Boomer L2 C.
Dolomite from Trier
Alongside the German border with
Luxembourg at the Mosel river, southwest
of Trier, dolomite rock has been mined
ever since 1881.
Josefstollen, the mine currently being
operated, opened in 1964. Each year it pro-
duces some 600,000 t of raw dolomite,
which is intended primarily for the build-
ing industry.
Owner Winfried Meseke has been oper-
ating the mine since 2002 under the name
TKDZ GmbH Wellen, which stands for

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NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH at TKDZ. Trierer Kalk-, Dolomit- und Zementwerke.
Mine reserves are around 40 million t of
raw dolomite, enough for a further 40 years
of production at today’s rates.
Trier dolomite, with an average com-
pressive strength of 130 and 150 Mpa, is
used mainly for the building materials
industry. Its excellent quality, combined
with optimized underground mining and
efficient preparation and processing stan-
dards, ensure it reaches the market at com-
petitive prices.
Mining is carried out by conventional
room and pillar methods, at two gallery
levels in the bottom and middle beds. Each
mining area is opened up by horizontal
galleries, which are interconnected with
the individual beds via ramps. The room
width is 5 m in the bottom bed and 5.5 m
in the middle bed, and the rooms are 5 m
to 5.5 m high.
For one pull, a total of 29 of 45 mm-
diameter holes are drilled to a depth of
3.3 m, with a Vee-cut to form the breaking
face. With this combination, approximately
13 pulls/day are required to satisfy produc-
tion demands.
Drilling is carried out by a diesel-
hydraulic Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH
mounting a COP 1838 HF rock drill with
air-water mist flushing. The rock drill,
with an 20 kW output and a speed of 500
rpm, takes between 25 and 30 seconds to
drill a 3.3 m hole, a penetration rate of 6.6-
7.9 m/min. The total time for one round is
58
about half an hour. The dolomite does not
present itself as a continuously compact
formation, but exhibits soft and difficult-
to-drill formations throughout. This is
where the benefit of the RCS is felt, with
its extremely short and highly sensitive
response time for hammer and feed
control.
The Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH is
exceeding its planned output, leaving
plenty of scope for increased output when
required. Currently, most of the production
is obtained in one shift, with only part of
the second shift devoted to drilling.
The air-water mist flushing, with its
extremely small dosing of water for dust
control, is the perfect match for the mois-
ture-sensitive ANFO explosive used in the
mine.
Swellex rock reinforcement is used
throughout the mine, using a special
anchor platform equipped with water tank,
pump and generator.
Anhydrite at Obrigheim
HeidelbergCement is one of the world’s
leading producers of building materials.
Founded in Heidelberg in 1873, the com-
pany operated exclusively in the south of
Germany until the end of the 1960s.
Through international acquisitions, the
company has gained markets around the
world, resulting in total 2002 sales of €6.6
billion, and employing some 37,000 people
at its 1,500 sites in 50 countries.
HeidelbergCement AG operates an
underground mine in Obrigheim, Germany
producing gypsum and anhydrite using a
Rocket Boomer L1 C drillrig since early
2003. An extensive training programme
for drillrig operators was provided by
Atlas Copco in all aspects of the equip-
ment, drilling, system training and
maintenance. The result has been excellent
performance and high utilization.
The Obrigheim gypsum mine is located
on the West side of the river Neckar,
between the villages of Obrigheim and
Hochhausen, near the Mosbach administra-
tive centre.
Gypsum has been mined here since
1847, and HeidelbergCement AG has been
operating the mine since 1905. Parts of the
lower sulphate deposit of the lacrustine
limestone are mined, using the lower
dolomite as level boundary. The deposit
slopes approximately 2% to the south.
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The mine is accessed by three adits on
the west side of the Neckar, positioned
approximately 60 m above the river, and a
fourth adit is used for return ventilation.
Production is by room and pillar, in
which the first step is to expose sections
10 m-wide and approximately 5.5 m-high
by drilling and blasting.
In the next step, the computerized
Rocket Boomer L1 C, equipped with RCS,
drills a 4.5 m round of 60 off 45 mm blast-
holes and 4 off 89 mm cut holes, which is
an optimized drill pattern to maximize the
pull per round. The Rocket Boomer is
equipped with a heavy-duty COP 1838 HF
rock drill. The hydraulic system and on-
board compressor are driven by a 75 kW
electric motor, while the diesel engine is
used to move the rig around the mine. A
water tank with admixing device provides
the flushing medium when drilling.
Given the very large variation in the
compressive strength of gypsum and anhy-
drite, between 10 to 130 Mpa, penetration
rates also vary significantly. A 4.5 m-long
x 45 mm-diameter hole is drilled in 40 to
75 seconds. The computerized drilling log
has recorded an average penetration rate
of 3.23 m/min, including the cut holes, for
the 100,000 metres completed to date.
Taking into account the large variation in
rock strength and the chosen bit design,
an optimum rotation speed of 430 rpm has
been established for drilling 45 mm holes.
A pull of 4.5 m/round is achieved using
4 kg to 5 kg of explosives/t injected by a
charger mounted on a lifting platform. The
blasted rock is crushed to an aggregate size
of 0-70 mm, then sorted by grades and
placed in rooms in an intermediate storage
area. The main quality parameters are the
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NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
Rocket Boomer L1 C at Obrigheim.
gypsum/anhydrite ratio, and the overall
purity.
An important safety factor in the mine
is the efficient scaling of the backs and the
heading face. All exposed areas are cleared
using a telescopic scaling arm equipped
with an Atlas Copco MB800 (Krupp
HM580) hammer.
A conveyor system installed in one of
the three adits brings the aggregate to sur-
face, where it is loaded in trucks or directly
onto barges on the River Neckar.
Of the 300,000 t/y output, 90% goes
to the cement industry and 10% to the
Neckarzimmern gypsum plant for the
production of building gypsum.
Conclusions
In all these mines, a single rig is handling
the entire production requirement of up to
1 million t/y, mainly due to a combination
of high performance with high availability.
Where there is no suitable electricity
supply to the mining areas to power an
electro-hydraulic rig, as at Auersmacher
and Linwood, the diesel-hydraulic rigs are
upgrading mining efficiency without
excessive capital expenditure. At these
mines, drilling rates have doubled with the
introduction of the Rocket Boomer L1 C-
DH, and round depths have increased
significantly. These machines, equipped
with water tanks and water mist flushing,
operate efficiently despite the absence of
mains supplies of water and electricity.
They are also adaptable, performing on
both production and development, and
handling rockbolt and ancillary drilling.
Efficiency and dependability are resulting
in profitability. ■
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