Research

Site data captured with Boart Longyear sonic drills.

Boart Longyear believes its sonic drilling technology which quickly maps a deposit while maintaining borehole integrity will spread worldwide after success in the US and growth in South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australia.

"Sonic drilling is a vibratory drilling method where eccentric weights from the rig's rotation unit create a vibration in the rod string and core barrel assembly," said a spokesperson. "The optimum drilling speed is then achieved through matching the frequency of the vibration to the natural frequency of the ground.

"Sonic technology is extremely effective when drilling into loose, coarse aggregate, where the use of a dual-walled rod enables the operator to quickly bring high-quality samples to the surface."

Boart Longyear believes the technology enables engineers to more efficiently plan site operations, including the design and layout of the potential mine or quarry and where to place infrastructure so that it sits on the least desirable aggregate.