Total Drilling cost is a better indicator of your consumable performance more than cost per meter. But if you are yet to adopt this method of tracking your consumables here is what we mean.
TDC versus Cost/Meter
TDC = (Bit Price / Meters Drilled)
+
(Drill Operating Cost per Hour / ROP)
Cost/Meter = Bit Price / Meter
As shown in the example below, both bit #1 and #2 are of the same cost and on the same drill rig as the rig cost per hour is the same. When looking at Cost per meter you can see Bit #1 has achieved more meters and shows a much improved and lower cost per meter over bit #2.
When looking at the TDC it shows a different story. The TDC takes into account the amount of time the drill rig was running in order to achieve the meters drilled. In this example bit #2 has a higher Rate of penetration (ROP) and this shows in order to get the meters it took less time. Less time means less operational hours for the drill rig and operators to achieve the same outcome. So by taking all these costs into account the bit with the lower total meters actually shows a lower TDC because of its ROP. This will obviously change for scenario to scenario but the premise is the same and TDC shows a true account for your costs.
In order for this to be effective, like all data, it must be recorded accurately and monitored. As a supplier of all drill tooling and items monitoring and evaluating our bits and rods is the key to developing bits, hammers and tooling for each individual mine site. Understanding that grounds are so different from site to site and that there is no one size fits all is the key to continued development from a tooling perspective. Plus it enables us as supplier and our customers to develop and continually improve the consumables to lower the TDC as much as we can over time.
This leads to lowered costs and higher profits for our customers which is always the goal!
Danv Tools Australia
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