Recent Developments In Rock Drilling At Chino Mines

IN providing 65,000 tons of broken muck per day for shovel operation in a large open pit copper mine, drilling equipment and efficient use of that equipment is of prime importance. To improve existing drilling efficiencies, a large electric rotary drill capable of drilling 12-in. holes was purchased in May 1955. At Chino 96 pct of the blasting is done with 12-in. holes because: 1) the large holes break the optimum amount of material to reduce trackshifting to a minimum, 2) better fragmentation is obtained from a relatively short column of powder, and 3) longer spacing results in greater tonnage broken per foot drilled. From 1955, when it was purchased, through October 1956, the rotary drill has drilled 95,701 ft at a rate of 167.4 per shift in various locations and types of ground encountered in the mine. (This includes moving time and all other delays while a crew is on the machine.) The machine has been worked two shifts per day, seven days per week, and has been available 68 pct of this time.