Milwaukee – Innovative Solutions Provider
Milwaukee, Nxco Partner to heighten drilling-and-blasting safety
As a ‘Nothing But Heavy Duty’ solutions-driven company Milwaukee power tools have been built to increase productivity and safety on the jobsite and our Upat team is passionate about working collaboratively with customers on a variety of jobsite and applications.
One such collaboration saw Upat SA entering a partnership with Nxco Mining Technologies to introduce a revolutionary new technology that effectively replaces traditional pneumatic drilling-and-blasting systems with new, safer processes with the aim of heightening safety on mining and quarrying sites. Not only does pneumatic systems require electricity for activation, which poses a safety risk, but tipper trucks must be used to bring in sufficient sand and other material to tamper the blasting area to contain the resultant explosion and prevent the possibility of any flying rock debris.
Our M18 CHM drilling and breaking hammer was specified as a standard component of NXCO’s new drilling-and-blasting system. The new system required a hammer to drill the blast hole required for the insertion of Nxburst™ RockPoppers, a proprietary technology in the form of 13 mm to 60 mm cartridges that can be used for both large-scale rock blasting, and to break up small boulders up to a cubic metre in size.
The latter is particularly beneficial when larger rocks on a conveyor belt must be physically removed to prevent the materials-handling system from becoming clogged up. This valuable ore material often piles up next to the conveyor belt, presenting a loss of production, as well posing a major safety risk.
New approach to drilling-and-blasting developed by Nxco is sufficiently flexible, effective, and safe to reduce inadvertent rock piles to a more manageable size, without endangering any mineworkers or other personnel in the area.
The M18 CHM, for example, represents the epitome of German engineering, and is the world’s first 18 V 5kg SDS-Max hammer, providing maximum versatility and portability, with a performance equal to that of AC tools. In addition, Milwaukee’s proprietary POWERSTATE™ brushless motor technology effectively means no maintenance and increased drilling performance.
Other innovations include the REDLINK PLUS™ ‘smart’ system that delivers advanced digital overload protection for both the tool and the battery, as well as enhancing performance while under load. The high-demand 9.0 Ah REDLITHIUM-ION™ battery pack delivers up to five times more run time, up to 35% more power, and up to two times longer battery life.
Nxco Operations, R&D, Training and Safety Manager Gert Barnard comments that the mining and quarrying industry is currently in a steep learning curve regarding rock-breaking technology. “Our aim is to educate the industry that it is possible to conduct drilling and blasting in a safe and cost-effective manner.”
Barnard reveals that the new system has already been trialled by mining clients such as gold mining and exploration company Harmony. It is a major mind shift change to consider a drilling and breaking hammer as an essential component of a rock-breaking operation. The secret here is that Milwaukee forms part of an overall system, with the Nxburst™ RockPoppers as the other key component. This is an exciting partnership and highlights the collaborative approach we adopt here at Upat when working with our customers.
