January 12, 2017, Örebro, Sweden: During development and prior to field testing, the goals and expectations Atlas Copco set for its all-new surface drill rig SmartROC CL were extremely high. However, early signs already indicated that it would be a rig of outstanding quality. In fact, the all-new SmartROC CL may become the most efficient surface drill rig in Atlas Copco's history.

Impressive Results and Potential

The SmartROC CL was sent to a test site in eastern Finland with harsh conditions (both the working environment and drilling conditions were extremely harsh) for rigorous testing. This Finnish test site is the largest apatite mine in the Northern Hemisphere; on the Mohs hardness scale, this mineral has a hardness rating of 5 (out of 10). This means the rig was tested in an environment more demanding on equipment than some target market environments. In many open-pit mines, the production material has lower hardness, so even more impressive performance results can be expected from this rig.

Mattias Hjerpe is the Atlas Copco Product Manager responsible for the development and testing of the SmartROC CL. "It is crucial that our field tests be very rigorous," said Hjerpe. "Whenever a test does not go smoothly, we can understand the situation and make improvements. Despite the challenging test conditions, we are still very pleased with the performance data obtained." Hjerpe added, "For many customers, the rig's performance in actual applications may be even better than the test results we achieved here, and we are delighted about that."