Information technology, mining and cooling solutions and products provider Troya Trading officially unveiled its new Geo 900 exploration drilling rig range to the local market at a company open day in Midrand, last month.

The drill rig was manufactured in Turkey by drilling equipment manufacturer Geo Drilling Machine Product Company.

Troya executive director Ahmet Yavuz Kaymak told Mining Weekly at the open day that the Geo 900 had been used successfully in Turkey for the past five years, where conditions were very similar to those in South Africa.

“This is why they are perfectly suited to local conditions and why we decided to make it available to mining companies in South Africa,” he explained.

The company has established a permanent maintenance team in South Africa that will provide a comprehensive range of after- market sales services for companies that buy the Geo 900 drill rigs.

“The machine is a high-quality piece of equipment that is cost competitive and easy to maintain,” Kaymak asserted.

These aspects were very important, as the mining industry in South Africa was currently heavily cash-strapped and the industry had to be financially prudent in what it bought while not compromising on its quality requirements, he added.

Geo Drilling Machine Product Company GM Mehmet Ruhi Akçıl highlighted at the open day that one of drill rig’s major advantages was its power, owing to its 260 hp diesel turbocharged Cummins engine that produces 193 kW at 2 000 rpm.

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“The rig also has an extreme-duty gear-driven head, which is powered by a four-speed trans- mission system with a sliding head and hydraulically driven cooled-oil circulation system.”

He also noted that the Geo 900 drill rig had a dry-hole depth capacity of 1 700 m and a 2 000 m wet-hole capacity at BQ size.

Akçıl added that more than 30 of these drill rigs were currently in use at exploration projects and mines in Turkey.

The Geo 900’s chuck assembly comprises five hydraulic open and spring-closed jaws, with a maximum inside diameter of 120 mm and a holding capacity of 18 143 kg.

The machine’s drill base supports a crawler and four hydraulic jacks. The drill rig’s main hoist has a hydraulically driven planetary winch, with 13 000 kg capacity (single line), a cable rope size of 33 m × 16 mm and a bare drum line speed of 27 m/min.

Additionally, the wire-line winch is also hydraulically driven using integral counterbalance valves and it has a capacity of 2 000 m of 4.76 mm of rope.

“We have a one-year guarantee on all our products, or 8 000 operating hours . . . we also guarantee 24-hour maintenance and repair services by highly skilled mechanics, provided by us and our distribution partners,” Akçıl said.

All Troya’s product parts with the same design are compatible and interchangeable with one another, he concluded.