Expanding Possibilities

VersaDrill Canada, a manufacturer of drill rigs and equipment for diamond core drilling, was one of the first to approach Sobacor in mid-2007 about using the VVR on one of its products.

“The first thing VersaDrill saw wasn’t oil saving, it was saving weight,” Seguin remembers. VersaDrill’s KmA .3 drill prototype originally used a 200-litre, 390-pound reservoir. By contrast, the VVR weighed 35 pounds when full of fluid, thereby reducing the drill’s total unit weight by 40 percent.

In addition to making its drill lighter, the Val-d’Or, Que.-based company was also able significantly reduce transport and on-site labour costs. Initially, carrying the rig to a drilling site required that it be dismantled before being carried by helicopter or airplane and reassembled on site. With the VVR, the KmA .3s can be carried by two workers with no dismantling required. In addition, field-testing showed no alteration in performance and even saw improvements. As a result, VersaDrill is now evaluating the implementation of the VVR on its larger drill rigs.

To date, VersaDrill’s KmA .3 has been shown off at mining shows across North America to packed booths, including at the March 2008 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada trade show in Toronto (which they plan to revisit this year) and Minexpo2008 in Las Vegas. “At the mining shows, people can’t believe it,” Seguin says. “The drill is very small, and there’s a need for small drills like that.”

As it stands, other companies are eying Sobacor’s weight and space-saving reservoir, including one looking at adapting it to their trucks’ hydraulic systems and another working on a military robot project; however, due to confidentiality reasons, no companies have felt comfortable discussing future projects.

But aside from the weight and space reduction, Seguin says he is most pleased about the product’s fluid-reducing green effects. “In this environmentally friendly era, machines equipped with the VVR will be considered Earth-friendly machines designed by responsible engineers,” he said, adding, “and that has no price tag.”
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