INTRODUCTION TO MINING

MNE - 201 (ESO1)

Lecture-14
Drilling by Roller Cone Bit:
Consist of cutting elements arranged on
cones that rotate on bearings about their
own axis as the drill string turns the body of
the bit
The cutting action is provided by cones
which have either steel teeth or tungsten
carbide inserts
These cones rotate on the bottom of the
hole
Bits are classified as milled tooth bits or
insert bits depending on the cutting surface
on the cones
Drill hole diameter is between 75mm to 300mm
Use of compressed air instead of water is common practice
Can be used for deep hole drilling with speed and suitable for vertical
downward holes
Insert Bit: Tungsten Carbide Tooth
(Tricone Bit For Mining)
Milled Tooth Bit
(Tricone Bit)
Drilling by Saw–toothed Cutter:
In this type of drilling , teeth are set alternatively inward
and upward
Speed of rotation is only 5-10rpm
Suitable for medium hardness rocks
Only holes of diameter not less 150mm are possible
Drilling by Chilled Shots:
It is a method of rotary drilling in
which chilled steel shot is used as the
cutting medium
These shots are prepared by heating
very finely divided steel practices to a
very high temperature and then suddenly
cooling them in ice cold water
Chilled shots cuts the rocks by Milling action
(removes material from a rotating cutting tool)
It is suitable for vertical and large diameter holes
ranges from 100mm-750mm
It is also called as Calyx drilling
Drilling by Drag Bits:
A drag bit consists of rigid steel blades shaped like a
fish-tail which rotate as a single unit with the drill string
Due to the dragging/scraping action of this type of bit,
high RPM and low WOB (weight on bit) are applied
Bit is suitable for soft rock

Drag Bit Three-wings Drag bit

PDC Drag bit
(PDC: Polycrystalline
diamond compact)
 Button bits have two flushing holes:
Diamond Bits Flat, Convex and Concave
 Reverse circulation drilling:
The reverse circulation drilling
technique means that drilling fluid
circulates in different direction than
the conventional drilling technique.
The drilling fluid is liquid (mud or
water) or compressed air
For the conventional drilling, the drilling
adopts single wall drilling pipes, the drilling
fluid enter the central way of the drilling pipes
and arrives to hole bottom, and then carries the
drilling cuttings to the surface through the
annular space between drilling pipes and hole
wall
The reverse circulation drilling adopts the dual-wall drilling pipes,
and the drilling fluid enters the annular space between the inner pipes
and outer pipes to the hole bottom, and then carries the cores and
cuttings to come up to the surface through the central passage of the
inner pipes
Both air and water can be used as the
drill flushing medium and both cuttings
and core can be recovered
The technique employs a double wall
string of drill rods with either a
compressed air driven percussion hammer
or a rotating tungsten carbide coring bit at
the cutting end of the string
This type of drilling involves the use of
high pressure compressors, percussion
hammers that recover samples even after
the water table
The end of the hammer is a tungsten
carbide bit that breaks the rock with both
percussion and rotary movement
The air pressure of a RC rig can be increased by the use of a booster.
This allows for deeper drilling
This type of drilling is faster and cheaper than diamond drilling
The working principles of the RC drilling technology
1-drilling rig;
2-drilling ship;
3-the dual-wall
drilling pipe;
4-going-up core;
5-coring drilling bit;
6-sea bottom bed ;
7-sea water;
8-pump;
9-core sample collector;
10-input high pressure
hose;
11- core output hose;
12-goose-neck tube;
13-dual-way swivel
 Core Recovery:
Core recovery is an indication of the
condition of the rock. Lesser the core
recovery, there is an issue with the quality of
the rock
If the rock is consistent, CR should be
100%. But in practice, it could not be
achieved always

Total length of rock recovered

Core recovery (CR)= 100
Total Core Legth
 Rock Quality Designation (RQD):
RQD is a modified core recovery percentage
Measure of the degree of fractures, joints, and discontinuities
of the rock mass (core quality)
 The RQD was developed to provide a quantitative estimate
of rock mass quality
It is the percentage of intact core pieces longer than 100 mm
in the total length of the core:

RQD 
 Length of core in pieces > 100mm
100
Total drilled length or core run
The core should be at least NQ (47·6 mm) and drilled with a double-
or triple-tube core barrel; Generally preformed on NX –size core
Care must be taken to ensure that fractures, which have been
produced by handling or drilling, are identified and ignored when
determining the RQD value
Storage of Cores and Bore hole Logging:
Cores should be stored in a core box (mainly wooden boxes)
Box marked with borehole number, depth of core run, type ,bit type, core
recovery, rock type, RQD and other notes
 The fundamental objective of core drilling is to collect sub-surface samples in
the shape of core and accompanying sludge material in order to study their
mineral assemblage, chemical composition, rock structure, physical strength for
various purposes
After removing the core from the core barrel, it should be placed in the core box
in the exact order in which it is taken from ground
The core box is a shallow tray 1m long with partitions running length-wise
between which the core fits into
The core box may be wood with hinged or screwed cover or with mild steel
with rounded with rounded grooves or rectangular core compartments
As the core from each run is placed in the box, a wooden block upon which the
depth of the hole is written should be placed after the last piece of core of each
run
Each run is thus separated and thus shows the exact depth at which it was made.
The arrangement of core in core box is done the different ways
 Functions of Drilling Fluid
 Reduce friction between the drill
string and the side of the hole
 Maintain hole stability
 Prevent inflow of fluids
 Carry cuttings up to the surface
 Cool and clean the bit
 Assist in collection and
interpretation of data
Rotary Drilling Rig Rotary Drilling Rig.

The drilling rig consists

of six major systems:
– Hoisting System
– Rotating System
– Fluid Circulating
System
– Power System
– Borehole Control
System
– Borehole
Monitoring System