Driller Offsider Jobs WA Australia
To be a successful driller offsider in the WA mining industry in Australia. You need to take note of a few things that will greatly speed your process of becoming a driller and start making the real money.
So what this means is to learn quickly and to do your job better, almost perfectly within in the first month. Normally it can take 3 months for a driller offsider to get the simple stuff and not have to rely on the driller to keep reminding them about there duties/tasks.
Here is a simple run down of the drilling process in mineral exploration drilling:
Gold or Nickel or Iron Ore (for example) mining companies lease land for prospecting and normally contract an outside exploration drilling contractor to complete the exploration drilling.
There are three main types of exploration drill rigs, RC drilling, Air Core and Diamond Drill rigs. These are all different, the trucks that the rigs are on are different size, the motors are bigger and smaller and the sample produce for the mining company for each type of drill rig is all different.
Depending on the type of person you are, depends on the type of rig that you will enjoy working on and that suits your personality. As an offsider diamond drilling is the slowest and when the drilling is slow you may be doing 1o minutes work every hour or so when more rods need to be added. In a day you may drill 30 metres in a 12 shift, it can be slow! RC drilling (RC = reverse circulation) is faster and you may drill a TOTAL of 300 metres for the day. Air core is fast as well and in a day you may drill 500 metres for the day.
Okay, you maybe wondering 30 metres on a diamond rig and 500 metres on a Air Core rig?
Diamond Drilling: Its like a conventional drill but with little diamonds as teeth, the drilling rod is also hollow and solid rock slides up while drilling is happening. Every 6 metres, the lenth of a rod its time to pull the sample rock up the 6 metres. There is a clever tool which stops it from falling down and lets you pull the sample rock using a wire rope. This is the main offsider duty on a diamond rig is to help the driller with pulling up the sample rock and then adding a new rod on. Then you put this six metre rock into trays and break the rock off in one metre lengths.
Diamond drilling is often alot longer in duration. You may be on one whole for 2-3 weeks on a double shift.
Other Duties for a diamond driller offsider:
- Clean tools, spray CRC on the tools before the supervisor gets there for the day, makes them look clean. Get the wire brush to clean the teeth of the stilson.
-Clean up of the area
-Fill the rig, ute and check oil and water in the morning.
-Incharge of the sample ore/rock to a sent to the mining company in a good condition. At the end of the mud and sweat this is your product you are selling, not just the service.
-Keep the MUD up to a good level, MUD is like the lubricant used while drilling to stop the diamond drill bit from burning out.
-Get trucks ready for the next hole when the hole is finished.
The above is the main duties for a diamond driller offsider, the above is while you are drilling and you will soon learn and master these tasks pretty quickly. The key is to get a good driller that is happy for you to ASK QUESTIONS about drilling. This is the way you are going to learn. ASK QUESTIONS AND MORE QUESTIONS. If its not working with this driller ask with the supervisor to swap.
Reverse Circulation Drilling: RC Drilling
Is using a big truck normally an 8 wheeler with two support trucks. One for diesel, water and spare rods and the second truck is used as boost more air down the hole. As this is how this drill rig operates, large amount of air are push down the rod which is has tube in the rod. Well the air gets pushed and driver a pistion as the end which drives the drill hammer. This rotates slowly while hammering at hire reeves. The rock turns into dust and shoots back up the rod system and into your offsider bucket. You will fill a bucket every metre and then nicely arrange it on the ground near you. The mining Company with come and take samples from each metre.
This drilling is dusty and faster. Time flys on this rig and its hard work. Good money to be made and good money when you become a driller. You need to be fit and healthy for this rig. Most of the day you will be running with the buckets, adding more rods on (this time with a mechanical device)
Air Core Drilling:
Like its big brother (RC drilling) it uses the same princple of blowing air down a twin tube rod and the sample comes back up and into a bucket or bag. There is no hammer piston with air core, the bit the does the work is more like a scaper and air core is not used on rock. Its used for drilling the dirt and drilling stops when fresh rock is reached. The rods are alot lighter and the trucks are smaller. The hole depths may get up to 35 metres and during a day you may do 20 or so holes. Good organisation skills are needed as you often have to move the rig and when you are not drilling you aren't making money for the company or yourself.
Normally a high percentage is on a drilling bonus when working as an offsider as when you are not drilling the company is not making money and neither do you. If you are on nice ground and getting heaps of metres, thats when you are making the money.
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