November 2015 Newsletter

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Latest News

Dando has been extremely busy over the northern hemisphere summer with full order books for rigs across the water well, geotechnical and mineral exploration sectors.The factory is running at capacity and new builds are rolling through the doors at an exciting rate. In this month’s newsletter we look at some of the more recent rigs to leave the factory and the interesting drilling projects for which they are destined.

Introducing the Dando Watertec 4000

Water in the Tropics

Once regarded as Bali’s poor neighbour, the Indonesian island of Lombok is now attracting tourists and locals alike to exploit both leisure and business opportunities. The resulting residential boom has stretched the local infrastructure and one Dando customer has decided to start a water drilling business to supply water to new housing clusters.

Requiring an affordable solution to drill in the 100-200m range for a 5” completion, Dando prepared a new model in their range, the Watertec 4000, to suit the project. At only 1400mm wide the rig is small enough to navigate narrow spaces between buildings and can load 2m rods. A folding mast extension allows the handling of 4m lengths of casing or tripping two rods out at a time.

Given the small footprint and deck space for the rig, a novel mud pump solution was required. A 450 litre/minute cylindrical, progressive cavity pump was chosen and fits neatly down the side of the rig. The Watertec and Multitec 4000 rigs are highly modular and as well as choices of mud pumps, there are a selection of engine types, radio and umbilical remote controls, open drilling table or hydraulic break out clamps, a longer mast option accommodating 3m rods, and mounting options including truck, trailer and skid.

For more information on the Watertec 4000, please click here.

Dando Watertec 50

Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania is the new home to this Watertec 50 rig, where the government is drilling large diameter holes to 400-450m for municipal water supply in the city. The geology in the area is fragile and bores are prone to collapse so the rig was prepared for air-assisted flooded reverse circulation drilling which allows for a much less aggressive flush.

A large diameter 6” drill rod was selected to allow a large enough internal diameter for this drilling method, and a combination of hydraulic rams and a high power winch provide the full 50 tonnes of pullback required to handle the drill string and large diameter casing required by the project. Power is provided by a 580hp Caterpillar engine and an 8 x 7 1/2” Gardner Denver pump is mounted onboard along with a 900cfm/350psi compressor.  Dando Managing Director Martin Fitch-Roy is pleased to see renewed interest in these large, specialised water well rigs, “This is the kind of project that really allows Dando to showcase our ability to manufacture the highest specification of water well drilling equipment available, right down to the smallest details required by the customer to ensure the success of their programme.”

Read more about the Watertec 50 here.

Dando Lightweight Terrier

One of our most popular small rigs, the Dando Terrier has been the subject of much attention by the Dando design team over the last two years with both Angle Drilling and Dual Mast varieties already very popular alongside the standard percussive and rotary mast versions. Dando are once again proud to announce another new model: the Lightweight Terrier.Approached by two geotechnical drilling firms wishing to use a Terrier for percussive drive sampling and SPT testing on railways, Dando set about reducing the mass of the Terrier to meet UK railway weight restrictions. Using aircraft grade aluminium for the mast and other structural parts the Lightweight Terrier weighs well below the 1 tonne limit for railway use.

Structural Soils Ltd and CC Ground Investigations Ltd are both using the new model with success and a third customer, Terra Firma Ground Investigations Ltd have also recently purchased a Lightweight Terrier with an expanded track system. This allows for a wider, more stable base while drilling or tracking across sloping terrain.

For further information, follow this link.

Dando Coretec 9000

The Dando Coretec 9000 is a chuck-drive rig for dedicated wireline coring operations. The model pictured is being used by the Ministry of Mining in Kenya for mineral exploration and geological data collection across the country. This ambitious project required P and N sized cores to a maximum depth of 1000m.With a small footprint but an impressive 10,000kgf of pullback, the Coretec 9000 features a rotary head that can run the full length of the mast which allows a complete 3m core barrel to be filled in a single pass. The rig is modular which provides for a variety of engine, pump and vehicle mounting options, as well as a mast extension to enable the pulling of 6m lengths of rod and a rod handler for increased safety when loading drill rods.

For more information please click here.

Exhibitions: ESCMGE, Perumin, and Bolivia Mining 2015

ECSMGE, Edinburgh

Dando continue to maintain a presence at a number of the most prestigious and well attended conferences and exhibitions in the industry. ECSMGE this year was held in Edinburgh. The conference brought together a diverse cohort of attendees from directors to college professors and the conference proved to be an informative and interesting event. Prospects for geotechnical and water drilling look very strong for the near future with multiple rail and water projects throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK.

The Dando Ibex rig drew the most attention from attendees at the show. Capable of dynamic sampling, SPT and rotary drilling on inclines of up to 55 degrees, the Ibex was designed especially with railway site investigation in mind. Fully compliant with UK and EU health and safety standards, and including advanced features such as a Danfoss Plus+1 automated levelling system to ensure the mast and deck stay horizontal on both sloping and uneven terrain, a hydraulically deployed walkway to ensure a safe working area around the rig, and an expanding track system to provide additional stability where required, the Dando Ibex is set to lead the way for all slope drilling applications.

Perumin 2015

Dando attended Peru’s leading mining exhibition this year where the Dando Sonic SDC375 rig received the most attention from visitors. Unconsolidated and mixed geologies in the region mean that traditional coring techniques often achieve poor core recovery, so the sonic drilling method is an ideal solution. Capable of drilling very fast in soft and mixed geologies and with perfect core recovery even in sand or gravel at depths of up to 100m, the SDC375 has received strong interest and an increasing number of orders since it went in to production. Small enough to fit inside a standard shipping container, but with 10 tonnes of pullback and fitted with the industry leading Sonicor 50k rotary head, the rig is capable of sampling to over 100m without the need for drilling fluid or air. Read more on our website, or see this article printed in National Driller.

Bolivia Mining 2015

Dando also attended the Bolivia Mining exhibition earlier in October. This well attended show carried a positive attitude about mining in the country in the near future, with many stating that they expected welcome improvements in price and demand through the course of 2016. The Terrier rig on display at the show received much attention, as did the Dando Sonic SDC375and Multitec 4000 rigs. The Multitec 4000, capable of coring to 200m despite its very small footprint, is modular and provides an unprecedented number of options including a variety of engine sizes, mast lengths, carrier types and rotary head specifications. Read more about this impressive rig on our website.

In the Works

Nickel exploration in Sulawesi, Indonesia

Dando are excited to announce that we are supplying PT Vale Indonesia with two Multitec 9000 rigs for nickel exploration at their Sulawesi mine site. Designed for wireline coring in the sometimes difficult to drill nickel laterite formations, the Vale Indonesia rigs are being fitted with single bar grousers on steel tracks to ensure traction is maintained in the often sticky ground conditions. Radio remote controls allow the operator control from a safe distance when the rig is tracking over uneven terrain. As one of the world’s leading mining companies, Dando is proud to be chosen as rig builder for Vale Indonesia and is looking forward to ongoing supply for their drilling programme which includes further coring and RC rigs.

Dando returns to Myanmar

After many years unable to supply to Myanmar due to the political situation in the region, Dando is proud to announce a return to the country. Supplying Kanbawza (KBZ) group’s Brighter Future Foundation with a Watertec 12.8 rig, the charitable organisation will be drilling water wells in the southern part of the country where access to clean water is often limited. The rig has an onboard 900cfm/350psi compressor for use with DTH hammer and well development tools, and a Gardner Denver 840 ltr/min mud pump mounted on an Iveco Trakker 6×6 truck. With tooling to drill to a maximum depth of 800m and a final hole diameter of 6 1/2”, the Watertec 12.8 is an excellent choice for this type of work.