May 6, 2015 - 4 years ago
By Supply Post
For 31 years GO Drilling
from Ottawa in Canada
has been leading the way
in drilling straighter, and
more productively than the
competition. As the leading
drill & blast contractor
in the area the company
attributes its success to
the skills of its employees,
its vast array of Sandvik
Construction drill rigs and
tools, as well as its relationship
with Sandvik’s distributor,
Selix Equipment.
Drilling straight holes in
unstable rock formations
is an accomplishment and
GO Drilling Inc. does it all
the time. This has allowed
the Ottawa, Canada, drilling
and blasting company
to now enjoy a reputation
as a “straight-shooter”.
“We face lots of different
types of rocks in Ontario:
soft rocks easy to drill,
soft abrasive rocks, and
hard granite with lots of
seams,” says Mat Oswald,
the company’s Operations
Manager. “The seamy rock
is especially challenging. It
is our biggest challenge in
keeping straight holes and
accuracy.”
Seams are tricky because
when a drill bit
strikes a fault, the unequal
pressure encourages deviation
from a true course.
Cohesion of the drilled material
also becomes problematic
and the binding
force along cleavage planes
is reduced. Result? The vertical
hole starts wandering.
In short, it’s a tough job
descending from here to
there in a straight line; yet
GO Drilling routinely succeeds
at it. “We are known
for drilling straight holes,”
Mat says, matter-of-factly.
“We have taken work from
our competitors for being
able to produce straight
holes through fractured
rock.”
Mat credits his drills and
his skilled crewmembers
for the company’s performance,
with GO Drilling
being the first in Canada to
turn to Sandvik hydraulic
drills. Today, they own 17
Sandvik rigs. They range
from one 11,000-pound
Commando hydraulic
unit, to five Pantera 1500
top hammer drills, each
weighing 48,000 pounds.
Other Sandvik models in
the equipment yard include
one Pantera 1100, a
DP1500 and a DX800.
The DX’s articulated
boom rides on a work platform
that can be rotated
up to 180 degrees to keep
work in front of the operator.
The superstructure is
powered by a CAT diesel
engine and counterweighted
for optimum stability
on uneven terrain. It can
drill holes 3.5-5 inches in
diameter. The DP series,
just like the current DPi series,
can punch holes 3½-6
inches in diameter and are
equipped with powerful
CAT engines. The DP series
are of robust construction
supported by oversized
components and strong
feed.
“Sandvik drills always
have been good for us,”
says Mat. “They are very
powerful drills, very reliable,
and it is easy to keep
parts for them because they
are all the same. Personally,
I don’t think there are
any other drills like them.
We have demoed other
brands, but they don’t
seem to hold up to Sandvik’s
production.” And, of
course, the machines drill
straight. “They do very
well in drilling through the
seams to give us straight
holes.”
Some of the drills’ accuracy
is attributed to the
Sandvik Rock Pilot system
incorporated in each rig.
The sophisticated monitoring
system typically
keeps course deflection to
under 2%. The practical
consequences for operators
are fewer drilled holes
for placement of charges,
quicker completion of a
drilling operation, and less
stress and fatigue on the
drill string.
Sandvik rock tools also
help keep drills on track.
The tools used by GO
Drilling include the Sandvik
GT60 drilling system,
which the company employs
for blast holes. The
GT60 features larger-dimension
rods that can ream
out holes 3 and 5/8 inches
to 6 inches in diameter;
an unusually broad range.
The Sandvik rods are fabricated
in the only rolling
mill in the world that exclusively
rolls drill steel.
Leading the way down a
hole is a Sandvik pilot tube
that sets a sure course.
“The GT60 has great quality,”
Mat says, adding that
tools from other makers
tend to break. “We have
found that Sandvik tools
last quite a bit longer than
other brands.”
The other key contributors
to all those straight
holes are GO Drilling employees
who operate the
machines and maintain
them. The company has
15-25 employees, with the
number depending on the
season, including drillers,
blasters, excavator operators
and shop technicians.
A company garage handles
most drill servicing and repair.
Mat Oswald takes pride
in the fact that some employees
have been on the
payroll for two decades, a
statement about company
loyalty and expertise. “We
have some of the best drillers
there are. Certainly all
of our customers think so!
We train until we produce
the best. We spend a lot of
time and money training
our drillers, making sure
they are up to our standards.”
GO Drilling sinks bits
into rocky terrain all over
Ontario, a province that is
home to thousands of kinds
of minerals. The company
specializes in drill-and blast
operations in quarries
and for construction
projects. Construction
work includes right-of-way
clearance and anchoring
foundations, with drilled
holes range from 1 inch to
6 inches. GO Drilling just
completed working on a
300-home development by
Ottawa-based Taggart Construction
Ltd., with drillers
creating trenches for placement
of sewer lines and
water and storm drains.
Solar panel projects
have kept GO Drilling operators
especially busy in
recent years. The Ontario
Power Authority is pushing
to diversify its power
sources and make the
province a leader in the renewable
energy industry.
A recent Authority project
was a 10-megawatt solar
installation about 30 miles
from Ottawa that featured
44,000 solar panels on 80
acres. GO Drilling drills
rock for foundations for
solar panels and blasts
trenches for power cables
running from panel fields.
The company relies on
an Ottawa sales and service
firm, Selix Equipment,
to supply drill parts that
eventually wear out battering
themselves against
granite and other rock.
Selix is the Ontario-wide
distributor of Sandvik drills
and components. Prior to
establishing a business relationship
with Selix, GO
Drilling dealt directly with
Sandvik offices in Lively
and Montreal. “It has been
very good for us that Selix
is so close,” says Mat Oswald.
Selix representative
Mario Roussel agrees:
“Proximity is important
to a busy company like
GO Drilling. Our goal is to
keep the drills turning,”
Roussel continues. “To
that end, we have factory trained
mechanics, fully
equipped service vehicles
and a large inventory of
Sandvik parts. We coordinate
with Sandvik to
make sure our priority is
prompt service.”
Mat’s father, Gary,
founded GO Drilling 31
years ago after he decided
to work for himself. He had
been drilling and blasting
for other companies on
pipelines. He first bought
a Gardner Denver drill,
but soon switched to Sandvik.
His fleet of machines
quickly grew along with
his work load, first on construction
sites and then in
quarries.
Today, Mat heads the
family company that he
joined 14 years ago. His
younger brother, Nicholas,
operates drills, is learning
the delicate work of
blasting, and manages the
company’s work with solar
projects. “It is a lot easier to
work in a family business,”
Mat says. “The working relationship
is a lot closer.”
Mat adds that, besides family,
the unpredictability of
his work energizes him.
“What I like about my job
is that every day is different.
There never is one day
the same as another. Every
day the job and the drill
surprise me. I always have
something new.”
With his father as a consultant
on decisions, Mat
moves smoothly between
estimating jobs, blasting
rock, and repairing drills. It
is an eclectic routine worthy
of a company that is
wide open to job opportunities.
Says Mat: “We drill
everything and anything
that there is.