Decade-long partnership delivers enhanced drill rig manufacture

For more than a decade SAGE Automation has been working in partnership with exploration drill rig manufacturer, Boart Longyear. Throughout that time, the focus has always been on creating the very best control systems, designed to withstand the harshest of working environments.

This partnership approach towards research and development between SAGE and Boart Longyear has resulted in the forming of a specialist SAGE product team, producing industry leading solutions possessing a deep knowledge and understanding of the mining sector.

To date, the partnership has resulted in projects which set global benchmarks for quality, systems and documentation procedures.

These projects include:-

• Device Net and graphic operator interface added to LMA90 drill rigs
• SC9 Surface Rigs
• Can Bus Rod Handlers
• Mobile Drilling Rigs (MDR’s)
• Cavotec Wireless CAN BUS Rod Handlers

As you might expect with any partnership, SAGE has made a significant investment into training, research and development, test equipment as well as the creation and development of the specialist, Boart Longyear product team. This has also involved prototype build and development of bespoke control systems for proof of concept and feasibility trials.

Some of the partnership highlights are listed below.

2004 - Device Net and graphic operator inter face is added to the LMA90 drill rig

2007 - SAGE and Boart Longyear travel as far afield as Bauma (International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery), Munich, Las Vegas and Canada to experience the latest technology

2007 - SAGE presents at the Boart Longyear Engineering Conference

2008 - The 4200 Drill Research and Development is conducted

2008 - Can Bus Rod Handler project is completed

2008 - Wireless rod-handler project is completed

2011 - Completed MDR150 control system

2012 - Completed LF120A (SC9) Drill Rig control system

Capabilities demonstrated:

• Project Management
• Estimation, cost planning and procurement
• Risk mitigation planning and management
• Stakeholder and subcontractor management
• CAD Drafting
• Low voltage electrical design
• PLC system design
• Control Panel manufacture/wiring
• PLC and HMI networking and system integration
• SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
• Development of an Industrial PC control platform
• Factory and Site Acceptance Testing
• Installation and commissioning
• Provision of final, as built, documentation

Through partnership, investment and learning, SAGE has aligned to Boart Longyear’s requirements enabling robust, sustainable automated systems to be developed from what was previously unreliable and troublesome to what is now world class.

SAGE supplies to Boart Longyear’s global supply chain with the manufacture and support of equipment and parts all over the world.