ARD™ Drill Rod Product

Presentation
November 2012

© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering

 Overview
RC Drill Rod design
largely unchanged RC Drill Rod design has remained largely undeveloped since the inception
for 30 years of RC Drilling around 30 years ago. In that time two main designs have
emerged to become the industry standard that mainly centre around the
type of thread used to couple the rods together, Remet and Metzke. For
Two main industry many, any preference for one over the other is based largely on history,
design standards “...what we have always used” and until now there has not been any
significant advantage of one rod design over the other.
have emerged;
Remet & Metzke Drillstar Engineering has extensively studied both these designs to
determine their effect on total drilling performance. Not only has the
thread design been looked at but the entire tool joint design to work out if
Both standards are drilling efficiency can be improved. To do this properly and scientifically,
old and inefficient; various controlled tests were employed measuring such things as tool
impeding drill joint pressure drop, sealing ability & durability, tensile strength, hardness,
destructive weld tests, frictional resistance of thread design and more...
performance
The results were quite staggering. Not only are these designs dated and
Drillstar has vastly inefficient, they are actually dramatically impeding the performance
developed a of the drill.
revolutionary RC The following presentation seeks to explain the results of our tests and
Drill Rod; why Drillstar has developed a revolutionary new RC Drill Rod named
extensively ARD™ that extensively improves drilling efficiency and safety to enhance
the reputation of RC Drilling as the preferred drilling process of choice for
improves drilling mining companies globally.
safety & efficiency

© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering

 Metzke Style Tool Joint

4 to 8psi pressure drop (DP) across each

O rings wear channels into unhardened Inner tube ends bottom
tool
joint assembly
inner tube male end reducing the ability Only 25mm
Engagement out and burr over with
to seal and causing a pressure loss that wear & the percussive
inhibits/reverses sample flow action of the hammer

O Rings regularly end up in the assay sample or hooked over the O Ring Seals Push Out
cone splitter sampling cone biasing the sample or causing blockage During Coupling of Rods

Severe restrictions at Circlip and behind As 4 off lugs wear, the inner tube
Tool
protrudes outJoints
of theare not
tool hardened
joint
female end of Inner Tube – female end
steps out and tool joint steps in

© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering

 Remet Style Tool Joint
Box Thread Design can be prone to galling
6 off centralising lugs fitted to limit and tends to flare out when using std
the swaging effect3.2psi pressure drop (DP)
but at the across each tool
unhardened tool joints
expense of feed air restriction joint assembly
O rings are difficult to replace 50mm Engagement

Inner tube sagging occurs due to lugs swaging Female end not hardened. Grooves are created by the
over their location shoulder causing the female percussive action of the hammer causing O Ring failure
end to bottom out in the male, burring the end
and damaging surfaces

© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering

 Drillstar ARD™ Tool Joint
Replacing O rings is a thing of the past with SnapLast™ .
OnlyDrillstar
1.5psi pressure
ARD™
SnapLast™
Drillstar’s
drop
RodsSeals
are
flat,
(DP)
SnapLast™
35%
last
“snap the across
eliminates
Lead angle
lifetime
fit”, long-life
O provided
ring wearon
inner tubetoseal (SnapLast™)
lighter than standard RC (channelling)
rods oncentralising
inner tube lugs
and guide inner
each
Female end has no mating ARD™
shoulderofto
the tool
inner
has joint
tube
multiple assembly
sealing fingers
and last 2½ times longercannot “roll out” designed
tubeHardened
during
during to flex with the percussive
lugs on broad,
rodinstallation
coupling hardened
bottom out on as male inner tube tool action of the hammer whileEngagement
50mm being gentle on
shoulders precision
resist sealing
swaging
joint is butt welded to pipe faces to maximise long term sealing efficiency.

3 off centralising lugs minimise

restriction to maximise flow Drillstar ARD™ Drill Rods are High Torsion, The new ARD™ special
High Tensile Steel that is Heat Treated to the proprietary thread resists galling
highest specification on the global market from new
and subject to strict and comprehensive
quality control testing.
© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering
 Flow Restriction = Pressure Drop
Metzke Remet Drillstar ARD™

© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering

 Flow Restriction = Pressure Drop
Metzke Remet Drillstar ARD™

© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering

 Flow Restriction = Pressure Drop
Metzke Remet Drillstar ARD™
4 to 8 psi

1.5 psi
3.2 psi

© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering

 Pressure Drop Reduces
Compressor Performance!

Any reduction in compressor performance proportionally reduces drilling

performance.
•How many tool joints are in 100m of 6m long rods?

(100/6)+1 = 17 tool joints

•Add up the total number of pressure drops associated with the tool joints
and consider the effect on the resulting pressure generated in the hammer?

• Metzke 17 x -8 = -68 to -136psi

• Remet 17 x -3.2 = -54.4psi
• Drillstar ARD™ 17 x 1.5 = 25.5psi

© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering

 Pressure Drop Reduces
Compressor Performance!

© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering

 Drillstar ARD™ Drill Rods

• ARD™ Rods last 2.5 times longer than standard mild steel rods.
• ARD™ Rods are 35% lighter than standard RC rods – A saving of more
than 1 tonne for every 100m of 4.5” Rods.
• SnapLast™ Seals last the lifetime of an inner tube (approx 20,000m
drilling).
• O rings often require replacement after EVERY rod change!
• Replacing O rings costs time, money and is hazardous.
• Blowing O rings during drilling is extremely expensive – it takes
around 2 hours to pull 100m of rods from the hole, find the damaged
O ring, replace it and reset the rods back in the hole. This is
compounded two-fold when the lost time opportunity is factored in
and four-fold if samples have been lost as a result of the seal failure.
• ARD™ Rods only cost 7% more than standard mild steel rods.

ARD™ & SnapLast™ are Trademarks of Drillstar Engineering

© Copyright 2009 Drillstar Engineering