Chinakal Institute of Mining, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia:

A. S. Kondratenko, Director, Candidate of Engineering Sciences
V. V. Timonin, Deputy Director, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, timonin@misd.ru
V. N. Karpov, Researcher

Novosibirsk State Technical University, Novosibirsk, Russia:
A. I. Popelyukh, Associate Professor, Candidate of Engineering Sciences

This study is aimed to solve the problems connected with the improvement of the rotary–percussive drilling method in Russian mines which have faced the decline in the productivity of drill rigs and the drilling cost escalation in the last decade. The problem analysis based on the systematic field studies and test data on mass-produced DTH drilling machines has shown that the poor quality and low energy performance of the domestic manufacture machines 2–4 times behindhand their foreign analogs positively leads to the substitution of the domestic drilling equipment with the foreign machines. Within the analyzed range of problems, in order to compensate downtime due to drilling equipment failures, mines expand the drilling equipment life recorded in the annular drilling-and-blasting expenditure estimates by 10–15%. Defective drilling equipment worsens financial and economic indicators of mining activities, and mine executives are urged to find new suppliers of drilling tools and sometimes are forced to give up advanced mining technologies as they yield loss because of poor performance of drilling machines and tools. Operation of drilling machinery in the Abakan (formerly affiliated with EVRAZruda) and Tashtagol Mines is studied in this article. Both mines use DTH hammers in drilling blastholes with the diameter of 105, 160 and 250 mm. In the framework of the government policy of import substitution, the article illustrates governmental support of the Sweden research cluster materializing advanced ideas in development of new-generation drilling machines. The authors believe that getting out of the situation requires targeted supported provided by the government and private business to the domestic drilling equipment design engineers, which will allow machine building plants in Russia to compete successfully with the imported machines and, thereby, to improve efficiency of drilling in Russian mines.

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