Input? How do you guide the damn drill?
Input? How do you guide the damn drill?
No borehole is straight. If you have an idea of what the subsurface geology is like (which you definitely would in a area like the Chilean copper mining region) you can make a pretty good estimation of where your hole will end up at a given depth based on factors like the rock type, secondary structure, and the drilling equipment and method. The mining and oil industries are exceedingly good at punching holes in the ground and getting exactly what they want out of them.
Just for reference, 2000 ft. is deep for most water resource and environmental applications, but not at all for the mineral extraction industry.
Transocean (yes, the Transocean of Gulf Oil Spill fame) drilled a 40,000 foot well in Qatar, and did it in 36 days.
Just slap a garmin on the tip, and set the waypoint where you need to drill towards.
C'mon dude. They attach a Garmin to the drill and then they know exactly where it is at all times.
Just don't drill too deeply or you'll reach hell like those Russian miners did.
i live under a bridge wrote:
Just don't drill too deeply or you'll reach hell like those Russian miners did.
Don't know why this is funny, but it was...haha.
This is no joke! They actually did reach hell.
C'mon- real letsrunners know that only the amateur novice drillers use GPS. If you are worth your salt in mining, you can just drill by feel. Or so I read on letsmine.com
Geotech, what mining company do you work for?
Inertial navigation systems (similar to the ones used on guided missiles, I believe).
Consulting firm that services the mining industry. We have several clients.
I'm also a geotechnical engineer, currently working for a handful of mining companies, and I've even spent several nights in Copiapo en route to a potential mine in the high Andes.
Google "directional drilling" to get an idea of one way you can know where the drill is headed. As "Geotech" has pointed out, no borehole is really straight, although we like to assume they all are in most cases.
2000 ft is a helluva deep drill hole, not something a geotechnical engineer would typically get involved with. That's more in the world of exploration drilling. A hole that large diameter and that deep is a very impressive engineering (and drilling) achievement!
ahnold wrote:
Just slap a garmin on the tip, and set the waypoint where you need to drill towards.
Um....this can't be correct. You often cannot get a sufficiently strong enough GPS satellite signal under tree canopy let alone under 1000's of feet of rock.
Consulting firm that services the mining industry. We have several clients.
ahnold wrote:
Just slap a garmin on the tip, and set the waypoint where you need to drill towards.
Works when you're trying to get laid too
Keith stone wrote:
ahnold wrote:Just slap a garmin on the tip, and set the waypoint where you need to drill towards.
Works when you're trying to get laid too
what is this get laid and how do you do it, is it like a tampico run or fartlicking?