The achievement proves that Bauer cutter technology cannot only be used in specialist foundation engineering but is also suitable for the exploration and mining industry. The FalCon project of Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. (Rio Tinto) and Star Diamond Corporation aims to prove the commercial viability of the Fort a la Corne kimberlite fields in Saskatchewan in Canada. Due to the low grade of the kimberlites, Rio Tinto decided to use Bauer trench cutter technology to provide large-volume, high-quality kimberlite samples for the final evaluation of the project in regards to diamond content and recovered diamond quality.
A Bauer BC 50 cutter on a Bauer MC 128 duty-cycle crane is used for bulk sampling to a maximum depth of 250m. In addition to the cutter and the base carrier, Bauer Maschinen supplied a BE 550 desanding plant and other accessories from its branch Bauer MAT Slurry Handling Systems.
The equipment was delivered to site on time and tested in September 2018 and after a long winter break operation started end of May 2019. The kimberlite is washed and bagged into bulk bags for further evaluation in multiple steps by the experts of Rio Tinto. The Star kimberlite on the FalCon project is covered by approximately 120m of overburden which poses a significant additional challenge to the project.
Bauer together with its local joint venture partner, Nuna Logistics from Edmonton, has now achieved a milestone and successfully completed the first cutter bulk sample to a depth of 228m. "Groundbreaking, in more ways than one, this is a significant milestone in using proven technology for a very different application. For us, it means that we will be able to make important exploration decisions on what has been, one of the most challenging diamond evaluation projects in the industry. We look forward to continuing working with Bauer to embed this technology and other new innovations in our programme," said Gary Hodgkinson, project director at FalCon.
Under the present contract, Bauer will execute several more bulk samples in 2019 on the FalCon project with the option to be extended into 2020.
