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HINTERLAND DRILLING

FAQs

In drilling, offsiders help to move, set up, maintain and operate drilling rigs and secondary equipment, such as mud shakers, diesel tanks, water lines and hoses. They are essentially the main driller’s helper (or helpers). A driller’s offsider also load cases, tubes, cleans the rig and collects core samples. They help to move the drilling rig and secondary equipment from site to site, set up the site and connect the power, water hoses and air supply. They mix and test drilling fluids, clean mud pits and the drainage point, lubricate equipment when necessary and clean and maintain the site. They are competent drivers, and competent in High-Risk Work, first aid, working at heights, and loader/telehandler operation.


Offsiders are physically fit and able to lift heavy loads repetitively in tough work conditions. They often work on-site for long stretches at a time.


Our drillers and offsiders have a range of qualifications from a Drillers Licence Class 1 for Geotechnical Investigations and Monitoring Bores, to a Certificate III for Drilling and a Certificate II for Drilling. Learn more about our team of certified drillers and offsiders, or contact us if you’re interested in a career with Hinterland Drilling.



What are offsiders?

Auger drilling is drilling with an auger, which is a drill bit used for making holes in wood or in the ground. Augers usually have a ‘flighting’, or rotating helical screw blade, which acts as a screw conveyor that removes the drilled-out material by rotating it upward. Augers can be handheld or attached to a tractor or truck. Hinterland Drilling uses electric motor augers or internal combustion engine augers attached to plant machinery with our drilling rigs. We use augers to start and clean geotechnical or environmental boreholes, but they are also used to drill drainage wells and excavate for piers and caissons. Auger drilling is also the preferred technique for investigating the presence of shallow groundwater.

Hollow stem auger drilling is used to drill in softer ground, like in marshes, whereas solid flight or bucket auger drilling is used to drill harder ground in construction drilling and sometimes mineshafts. Larger augers are used for sinking piles for bridge foundations.

Auger drilling is generally the lowest cost of drilling, as it digs mostly soft unconsolidated material or weak, weathered rock, slowly, to roughly 25m belowground, and in the case of hollow stem auger drilling doesn’t drill a hole that stays open by itself. Water is often added to dry soil to help the auger drill along.

If you’re interested in our auger drilling services, don’t hesitate to call us or fill out our online enquiry form for a free quote.

What is auger drilling?

Production drilling is the drilling of production holes in underground production mines. These can be long-hole or short hole production mines.


Production mining is the mining and transportation of ore from the pits to the primary crusher or ROM stockpiles. It also includes the stripping of overburden and removal of waste from the pits, the re-handling of ore and waste and stockpile maintenance. This is done during the “Production Mining Phase”, which can last as long as 100 years. When people refer to production mining, they’re generally referring to when the ore with the desired material is extracted.


Production drilling is drilling during production mining. It can be used to ensure a proper ventilation system and stable tunnels and sink shafts for the underground workers. Production drilling can even be useful when preparing an area for blasting, which loosens the rock to be more easily separated from the ore.


We at Hinterland Drilling provide production drilling services with our state-of-the-art Comacchio M450P track drilling rig. Learn more about our drilling equipment or direct any questions you have to our friendly team by calling us today.

What is production drilling?

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