Drill Setup Procedures

Before the actual drilling begins the following steps should be completed:
1. Drill pad spotting
2. Preparation of drill pad
3. Aligning of the shallons
4. Drill setup

Drill Pad Spotting

Crew:
- A technician (if necessary a geologist or project supervisor)
- A line cutter

Equipment:
- An area map
- A Brunton Transit compass
- GPS (preferably a GPSMap 76CSx or better)
- Flagging tape
- King size marker
- Coordinates of proposed drill holes (Azimuth info is a plus)
- Cutlass

Procedures:
1. The technician enters the proposed coordinates in the GPS and
sets it on the mode Go To.
2. The GPS will than give the distance and the direction to follow to
the destination point.
3. The shortest possible route should be taken to reach the point with
taking in consideration that existing roads should be used as much as
possible. If the point is beside an existing road there will be no need to
make another one. If the pad is not beside an existing road, an access
road will need to be constructed. Before any construction activity the
technician will need to mark the direction of how the road will be made
with flagging tape and spray paint.

From the existing road the technician finds the most convenient spot and with
closest distance to the designated point. He/she will then walk towards the point,
taking in consideration the following:
1. Try to take the shortest route
2. Try to avoid steep slopes that can be hazardous for dozing activities
3. Try to avoid big trees
When the point is reached the GPS will give a peeping notice that you are in the
area.
The technician will take the point with a deviation of a maximum of 6m and he/
she will wait at least for 20 minutes to make sure that the coordinates are stable.
An area of 1m² will be cleaned with the cutlass.
He will then place 1 picket into the ground, with flagging tape on which will be
noted the proposed drill pad number, the coordinates and the azimuth.
The pad is then spotted.

Preparation of drill pad

Crew :
- technician
- Dozer operator

Equipment:
- An area map
- A Brunton Transit compass
- GPS (preferably a GPSMap 76CSx or better)
- Flagging tape
- King size marker
- Coordinates of proposed drill holes (Azimuth info is a plus)
- Cutlass
- Dozer (and if necessary an excavator)

Procedures:
The technician and the operator will do a reconnaissance of the to be prepared
drill pad and road (if drill pad is not next to existing road). The coordinates will be
checked again by the technician with the GPS. Instructions are then given to the
operator regarding how the drill pad should be made. A standard size of a
diamond drill pad is 10x10m and that of a RC drill pad is 7x7m.The drill point
should be in the middle of the pad. Drill pad size can sometimes vary to the
convenience of the situation in the field. For e.g. if the pad is situated at the side
of a steep hill or if the area is invested with stone boulders which are to hard for
the machines to remove. In situations like this it is good to use the azimuth
coordinate to determine the space needed for the drill machine, the sloop and the
water tank. The operator can now start his activities. The technician will
supervise during and always check after the drill pad is prepared. Make sure that
the surface of the pad is more or less horizontal.
Aligning of the shallons

Crew:
- A technician
- A line cutter or helper

Equipment:
- An area map
- A Brunton compass
- Azimuth and dip of hole
- GPS (preferably a GPSMap 76CSx or better)
- Tripod
- Flagging tape
- King size marker
- Coordinates of proposed drill holes
- Cutlass
- Three straight pickets (shallons), one approximately 0.5 m and the two
others should be the height of the technician till just above the eye brows.

Procedures

The technician checks the drill pad coordinates again and places the short picket
(with a slight dip) at the base of where the hole will be drilled. Set the tripod to
your height and place the compass on its holder, Make sure you attach the
compass tightly so that it does not move or fall off the holder during the process.
Check if the declination has been corrected on your compass (in Suriname the
declination is currently 17° west of north), and also make sure your compass is
water pass leveled. Take the small picket as your destination and rotate (move)
with the compass and the tripod until you have reached a point where the
azimuth is in one line with the picket and when the compass is leveled. Always
use the white arrow (North arrow) to determine the azimuth. At the first picket a
flagging sign with “front”, azimuth, dip and depth. will be attached and the
flagging on the picket that goes in the back should be “back”.
The helper will follow instructions and signs of the technician to place the other
picket at 1 meter in distance and in line with the first small picket by looking
trough the compass mirror and the opening in the compass sighting arm. Place
the picket firmly into the ground. The third picket can now be placed according to
the same procedures. Always take your time to do this and to check if everything
is perfect.
Drill Setup

Crew:
- A technician
- Drillers
- Dozer or excavator operator
- Security

Equipment:
- An area Map
- Azimuth and dip of hole
- GPS (preferably a GPSMap 76CSx or better)
- Flagging tape
- King size marker
- Coordinates of proposed drill holes
- Cutlass
- Three straight pickets (shallons), one approximately ½ m and the two
other should be the height of the technician till just above the eye brows.
- A Brunton compass
- Tri pod

Procedures

Always go to the drill pad and check the alignment of the pickets a day in
advance before the drill will move to that area. After finishing the setup of a drill it
is most likely to visit and check the next drill site especially if the pads are in
close distance of one another. When the drill and the mobile equipment have
arrived in the pad it is advised not to use the compass because of the high
magnetic influence that the machines will have on the compass.
To align take the following steps:
1. Always align the drill machine with the drill mast up.
2. Place the drill machine with the rod at the small picket and in line with the
other two pickets. Check this by looking if the bottom of the pickets and the
rod are in one line.
3. Place the mast and the pickets in one line, do this by looking up and down
alongside the whole picket and the mast and give instructions to the driller how
much and direction to shift the drill.
4. Check with a compass if the drill machine is in a horizontal level.
5. If not, let the drillers adjust that with the hydraulic standers. After it is adjusted
go trough the steps 2 to 4 again until everything is perfect in line.
6. Align the drill mast and rod according to the degrees of dip.
7. Give the driller information of how deep the hole should be, at which depths
the Tropari measurement should be taken and give a phone number on which
the technician can be contacted.

Shut Down: This is done when the drill has reached the proposed depth and the
geologist will decide according to the structures if it is necessary to continue or to
stop drilling.

The process of the drill move and setup are very sensitive processes regarding
time because the drill company does not want to waste any valuable time. If the
driller will wait for a technician or geologist he will ad this time as standby time
which is bad for both the department and for the driller. Communication and
accuracy is of utmost importance during this process.