From the onset, the design of the Leopard DI650i was meant to provide Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions with a tool that would constitute a strong challenger for a market-leading position in the global DTH drilling market. When the drill rig was first introduced to the global market in 2018, the larger than 6” segment was dominated by a competitor’s product and the Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ team thus had a special design focus on development of a drill rig capable of succeeding in the challenge of becoming the market leader in this segment.
Fast forward to 2024, the Sandvik Leopard™ DI650i has recorded significant success, not only in southern Africa, but across the globe, with a large number of units operating in the field. To provide context, a total of 61 units are currently operating in southern Africa alone, confirms Trinity Nkosi, sales engineer, Surface Drills Department at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology.
The Leopard DI650i, explains Nkosi, places a special design focus on intelligent DTH drilling, championed by scalable automation solutions, representing a major upgrade to the previous Titan range. In addition, the drill rig packs a punch with a combination of proven engineering solutions and innovative new components, ushering in a new era in ease of serviceability, fuel efficiency, safety and higher productivity particularly in challenging rock conditions.
[Subhead] Machine overview
The Leopard DI650i is a DTH machine that can drill up to a maximum depth of 53,6 m. Hole diameters range from 115 mm to 203 mm. While this can be scaled up to 222 mm, this would require factory approval due to the need to tailor some of the components on the machine in order to enable it to achieve this hole diameter. For shallow holes, the machine can drill up to a 305 mm hole diameter.
“The Leopard DI650i is ideal for hard rock formations with high resistance to drilling, such as igneous and metamorphic rock, as well as fractured rock formations,” says Nkosi. “While the drill is primarily targeted for mining, it can also be deployed in quarrying, construction and geothermal applications.”
At the digital edge
At the centre of the Leopard DI650i’s popularity are a number of features and benefits that have appealed to the market, says Nkosi. Chief among them is the drill’s compatibility with the latest scalable automation solutions. Sandvik’s scalable automation concept offers an intelligent drill rig platform where automation options and digital services can be selected to speed up the production process. All the options can also be easily added and expanded afterwards, according to future automation demands.
As part of its scalable automation concept, Sandvik offers various automation levels – iDrill (onboard operation) and AutoMine® (remote operation). Automated onboard functions allow the rig to work from partial to full autonomously. The operator monitors at fleet level and takes control only when required. The onboard automation functions of Sandvik’s iSeries surface boom drill rigs form the basis for the remote operation, minimising the risk of human error.
“With on-board automation (Auto Drill), for example, the operator will tram the machine to where it is required, set it up and then press a button for the machine to start drilling on its own. The machine will also add and remove pipes.”
The AutoMine product group – Line-of-Sight, Control Room and Autonomous – offers autonomous and remotely operated drilling. It allows operators to simultaneously control and monitor multiple surface drills from the comfort and safety of a remote control room.
One operator can control multiple drill rigs simultaneously, either by a line-of-sight setup from a van or trailer close to the operating area. Alternatively, a Control Room option may be selected to operate the drill rigs from any location be it on the mine site, or even from another city. This reduces exposure to noise, dust, vibration and exposure to hazardous environments. The operator monitors the fleet and can easily switch to control the rig requiring detailed attention.
The AutoMine system and intelligent rig control system ensure accurate and efficient drilling operations. The intelligent system helps to use the drill rig’s full potential in the many ways it is designed to be operated. AutoMine includes a safety system designed in accordance with international functional safety standards. This is critical for mines, where operator safety is of paramount importance.
When it comes to data monitoring, the MySandvik data portal is available in three subscription levels to access telemetry reports and dashboards. MySandvik Insight is the entry level package, which offers performance reporting for the machine. With insights on fuel consumption and metres drilled, fleet owners can follow production and understand efficiency of their drilling operations.
“With MySandvik Productivity, fleet owners have access to fleet utilisation, alerts and service indicators. With this package, customers can follow production, understand efficiency, know their fleet, understand performance, identify bottlenecks and review work practices,” explains Nkosi. “For example, one can link alerts to the operator, which helps develop a tailored training plan for the particular operator linked to the alerts.”
My Sandvik Onsite is a monitoring solution that transforms real-time data generated by Sandvik’s iSeries surface drill rigs into actionable insights for productivity improvements. The on-premises solution works on a local network and can be integrated into any surface mining system. “In addition to all the functions found on MySandvik Insight and Productivity, MySandvik OnSite also offers drill health, shift reporting and a production dashboard,” explains Nkosi.
Features and benefits
One of the major features of the Leopard DI650i is the ease of service and maintenance. The majority of work that needs to be done from a service and maintenance perspective can be executed from ground level. In addition, the modular design allows for easy repair and replacement of components.
“The maintenance crew can carry out all daily servicing tasks at ground level on both sides of the machine,” explains Nkosi. “The advanced serviceability features have in some instances increased the Leopard DI650i’s availability by up to 20% compared with conventional DTH rigs at a similar technology level.”
Thanks to the excellent visibility to the drilling area and a single integrated touchscreen graphic user interface (GUI) for all monitoring, diagnostics and mining automation displays, the Leopard DI650i’s ergonomic iCAB cabin provides the operator with a safer, productive working environment. Noise levels are kept low at under 78 dB, well below the 85 dB specified by the MHS Act, thus increasing operator safety and reducing fatigue.
“All the information the operator requires regarding the drilling operation is available on the GUI, while the CANBUS system allows for quicker troubleshooting on the GUI. The iClean function uses a special blend of water and air volume flushing to keep holes open for longer, especially after drilling in fractured ground,” says Nkosi, adding that operators can also expect +20% more tramming power than the same technology level DTH drill rigs.
Fuel efficiency
Thanks to the intelligent control technology and designs applied in both the compressor and the hydraulic system’s cooler fan, customers can expect to reduce their fuel consumption significantly compared with conventional DTH rigs.
“Up to 15% less fuel consumption per hour is achievable largely due to our efficiency-driven design of minimising recirculation of hot air to coolers and having an energy-on-demand principle across the entire machine,” says Nkosi. “In addition, the compressor management system reduces compressor load for non-drilling activities, thus reducing fuel consumption. This also speaks to reduced CO2 emissions, which is critical for mines seeking to achieve their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets.”
The machine’s fuel efficiency is further boosted by the iflow control system that eliminates fluctuations in airflow, instead allowing the pressure level to fluctuate in response to more difficult ground conditions and increased back pressure (for example, due to groundwater or collapsing holes). This increases the flushing pressure and penetration rates in most challenging rock conditions, while still retaining the low fuel consumption of the traditional pressure control approach in easy ground conditions.
Support matters
In southern Africa, customers operating the DI650i benefit from Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ extensive branch footprint across the region, supporting both parts availability and quick service turnaround times.
“On the service side, we have three product masters, eight product specialists and about 40 technicians in our ranks. On the parts side, we have multiple stockrooms across the region, with a 97% parts availability on frequently requested DI650i components,” concludes Nkosi.
