Coprod sets the pace

Two quarrying contractors - Victor Millan and Perforoc - have something very special in common - the Atlas Copco ROC F7 CR.

This surface drill rig, equipped with the famous Coprod drilling system, is being used by Victor Millan at three quarries in the Andalucía area near Seville in the south-west, producing aggregates for civil works.

The El Torviscal and El Molinillo quarries (both 500,000 tonnes/year) and the La Dehesa quarry (250,000 tonnes) rely on the ROC F7 along with the rest of the company's Atlas Copco fleet, which includes pneumatic, hydraulic and traditional top hammer drill rigs .

Victor Millan: "When I saw the Coprod system for the first time, I immediately realised its advantages."

"The higher penetration and hole size flexibility of top hammer drilling makes the Coprod rig an ideal choice over the DTH method says Victor Millan," who took over the company from his father 10 years ago. "We are extremely happy with the performance of this rig. I really enjoy just sitting down and watching it work," he says.

"When the Coprod was introduced, I immediately realised the advantages of the method and what it could offer us. It was clear that it would help us to avoid hole deviation, optimise the drilling pattern and increase hole sizes."

The company provides drill and blast services, and Mr Millan's philosophy is to provide his customers with "hole quality with better fragmentation."

On the Portuguese border:Two ROC F7 rigs working on the Andévalo Dam.

A service contract with Atlas Copco includes four visits a year to the three sites. Mr Millan concludes: "This is very important as we want recommendations from Atlas Copco on when to service or replace components before breakages occur. This way, we also prevent secondary damage."

Winning combination

Perforoc is a family business which started out working in mines and now operates in a limestone quarry owned by Uniland, a major producer of cement for civil works. The company is owned by José Bassi, who discovered the benefits of the Atlas Copco ROC F7 drill rig and Coprod while visiting a contractor in neighbouring France who had been using this winning combination for three years.

An innovative piece of equipment: Owner José Bassi with José Botella (Atlas Copco Spain), Francisco J. Gutierrez (Atlas Copco Sales Representative), Carlos Ramirez (Atlas Copco Drillmaster) and Driller Fidel Alarcon.

Mr Bassi bought the same equipment - a ROC F7 equipped with the Coprod 89 system and 105 mm ballistic bits. The rig is now operating in a quarry near Barcelona with an annual production of 1.5 million tonnes and a crusher capacity of 2.5 million tonnes. The rig drills 47 metres per hour - twice the capacity of a conventional rig. Mr Bassi explains: "We bought this rig because it is an innovative piece of equipment and we are very satisfied with its performance. In our eyes, it combines the best of DTH and tophammer percussion drilling."