Diamond Core Drilling
As the name suggests, diamond core drilling uses a ‘diamond drill bit’. The drill bit is composed of a group of small, industrial grade diamonds set into a metallic, soft matrix. As the ground is drilled the matrix wears away to expose more diamonds.
Diamond drilling allows the removal of solid cylinders of rock (core) from deep within the earth, revolutionising the mining industry and leading to the discovery of many mineable orebodies that would otherwise have gone untapped. Prior to diamond drilling, mining was still primarily dependent on finding outcrops of rock, with little information about ore concentrations below the surface.
The drill bit uses fine to microfine industrial grade diamonds. The hardness, diamond size and dosing can be adjusted to suit the rock type. Holes within the bit allow water to be delivered to the cutting face, providing lubrication, cooling and removal of drill cuttings from the hole.
