MINERAL EXPLORATION & MINING

Prakla Bohrtechnik rigs go to Russian coal miners

The Bauer Maschinen subsidiary Prakla Bohrtechnik was awarded two major contracts by the Russian mining company SUEK at the beginning of the year and in June, the first two of a total of five RB 50 multi-purpose drilling rigs were delivered and successfully put into operation. The rigs are being used in the Kuznetsk Basin, in Southern Siberia for drilling as part of the degasifaction of coal seams.

 RB 50 Drill rigs in Southern Siberia

RB 50 Drill rigs in Southern Siberia

The handover of the remaining three rigs is scheduled for the end of August.

BAUER Maschinen GmbH's 2018 in-house exhibition provided the opportunity to sign another agreement on the delivery of a Prakla RB-T 135 fully fitted with drilling equipment. The rig is designed for large-calibre airlift boreholes with diameters up to 1580mm and which also go 600m deep, suitable for degassing and aerating coal mines.

"After full-scale preparatory works alongside our Russian sales partner, we were confident that we would benefit from this positive development," said Dr. Dierk Wagenschein, sales manager at Prakla Bohrtechnik.

Prakla drilling rigs have multiple applications in the coal mining industry. They are not only used for degassing coal seams and emergency mine rescues but also for exploratory drilling using a wireline process and in well drilling for groundwater lowering.