Sandvik Involved in Scandinavian Raise Bore Milestone

The Drillcon Group has completed a 700-meter single-pass raise bore at Zinkgruvan Mining in southern Sweden using Sandvik raise boring tools. The ventilation shaft, part of the Dalby mine expansion, was drilled with Sandvik’s RR890 pilot bit and upgraded 12EL reamer head equipped with PowerCarbide® technology. The shaft is one of two parallel raises in the project.

Sandvik says the tools were designed to increase wear resistance and service life, helping Drillcon achieve the full pass without needing cutter changes or reamer servicing. According to Drillcon, the pilot bit showed a 69% performance increase over previous designs, contributing to faster completion and reduced underground exposure for operators.

“We are thrilled with the successful raise boring results Drillcon achieved in this project, and the high expectations we had for our optimized raise boring tools were met,” said Russell Clayton, Product Manager Raise Boring at Sandvik Rock Tools.

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