As part of its underground drill rig offering, Sandvik will present the DT912D - a self-contained, air-mist flushing, diesel-hydraulic high-reach machine. The 24t single-boom jumbo is designed for fast and accurate drifting and production drilling of 12 m² to 125m² cross-sections.

The company is also showcasing developments in mineral and ground tools for mining, trenching and road planning, including its latest generation of patented carbide grades. The new carbide grade generation, which is manufactured using an innovative process technique with new raw materials, has made it possible to create extra-coarse, super-tough alloys with perfectly uniform grain structure, Sandvik claimed. The benefit is that the tip's material grade can be better matched to hard-rock and soft-rock applications.

Demands on tool performance, particularly relating to cemented carbide tip material and its resistance to wear and fracture, become more critical as operations progress into harder rock and mineral formations. Larger continuous cutting machines are being used to replace the traditional drill-and-blast process in many mining projects.