News Archive

Conference Generates Huge Interest!
21-05-2010

 

Progradex exhibited at the AusIMM Sampling Conference, “Sampling 2010” last week at the Sheraton Hotel in Perth …read more

 

The new Progradex Sampling System featured highly at the event with tremendous interest shown by delegates from all over the world including verbal confirmation of orders to follow from many mining companies.

 

 

Progradex/Drillstar shared stand featuring the new Progradex Sampling System and the newInterGrade 80 Rig for RC Grade Control

 

Another big attraction was the Progradex/Drillstar joint venture package InterGrade 80. InterGrade 80 is a “turnkey” drill rig package for RC Grade Control
ROCK SOLID!
13-04-2010
THE first commercial order for the revolutionary new Progradex Sampling System has been placed by Australian mining and construction contractor Rock Australia Mining & Civil Pty Ltd.   Click for full story…

The new groundbreaking, state-of-the-art Progradex system will be fitted to an RC (Reverse Circulation) converted Atlas Copco ROC L8 Crawler rig.

Explaining his company decision to purchase the new Progradex Sampling System, Roy Coates, Rock Australia General Manager, says: “We see this as an excellent system delivering superior results for our clients. We are focussed on working and partnering with organisations that have a quality offering that can enhance our service capabilities and Progradex represents a great alignment with this approach.”

Progradex Managing Director, Toby Day, will unveil the new system publicly for the first time at the coming Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) conference“Sampling 2010” (Stand 21) at the Sheraton Hotel in Perth on 11-12 May 2010.

A detailed, pictorial dossier explaining every aspect of the new sampling system will be made available for inspection by delegates to the two-day conference and exhibition.

A regular exhibitor and presenter at AusIMM conferences over the past decade, Toby Day says: “For me, this is the big one, partly because Progradex is my new business but also because the Progradex Sampling System is a giant leap forward in the development of drill sampling equipment design and something I am very proud of. It really is unlike any other sampling system I have designed and has the ability to do things that we could only ever dream about before. But this is only part of the story. It was equally critical for us that the first order came from a company that we can develop the system with and Rock Australia is perfect because they too want to make progress in this area to give them the market edge. They are very progressive in their thinking and that can only be good for the mining industry going forward.”

An additional conference attraction, also involving Progradex, features their collaborative joint venture project with Drillstar Engineering, internationally acclaimed leaders in the development of drill string products, to unveil the new InterGrade 80 drill rig package at the conference.

Featuring the new Progradex Sampling System as a standard fitting, and bristling with several other revolutionary innovations, the Intergrade 80 rig has been designed from scratch specifically for safe, automated “in-pit” RC Grade Control and with the ability to drill medium diameter conventional blast holes and pre-splits. Follow link for more information on the InterGrade 80.

For further information on Rock Australia, visit: www.rockaustralia.com.au

For further information on Drillstar Engineering, visit: www.drillstar.com.au

For more details on AusIMM’s “Sampling 2010” Conference, visit: www.ausimm.com.au or http://www.ausimm.com.au/sampling2010/


 

Allow a few minutes for theInterGrade 80 RC Grade Control animation to load. This may vary depending on the internet speed in your region but it’s worth waiting for.
If you would like to receive a free copy of the full 300MB HD version, simply clickhere to send us your contact details & postal address.
We will be happy to send you your free copy.
Since the release of the new Progradex Sampling System to the market, we are proud to announce another new project that we have undertaken. Progradex Pty Ltd has entered into a collaborative joint venture with Drillstar Engineering Pty Ltd to develop the world’s first RC Grade Control Rig package designed from the ground up. We have called it theInterGrade 80 and it will be 100% Australian designed and manufactured using only the highest grade materials that conform to Australian Standards.

The vast majority of RC Grade Control rig models available today actually started life as blast hole rigs that have been converted to drill RC. Others are exploration rigs that have been brought in to fulfil the need. As such, many machines are limited in their ability to perform to requirements because they are constrained by their parent design and this results in compromise.

Drillstar Engineering produces some of the most advanced RC drill string related tooling and componentry on the global market today and all of this is critical to the correct delivery of the bulk sample to the sampling system. Together, we have the knowledge, products and ability to design a total turn-key package solution from the drilling tool up. To our knowledge, there has never been a rig designed from first principals specifically for this application.
Henk Corporaal (Owner & MD Drillstar Engineering)
& Toby Day (Owner & MD Progradex)
As the drilling products that will go into this rig are all proprietary products of Drillstar and Progradex, we have no unknowns. Without unknown variables, we are able tomaximise total drill sampling performance & efficiency and this allows the rig’s on board engine, compressor and cooling systems to operate within recommended perfomance envelopes rather than at maximum capacity to get the required result.
Essentially, for the first time, the total system will be in equilibrium and that means quality sampling, added safety, performance and reliability with reduced running costs for the rig and operating costs for the mine.
Centred around its primary function, sample quality, the rig will incorporate the highest level of safety for operators and protection of the environment & equipment through innovation and automation.
Though it is still in the design phase, there are many features of the InterGrade 80 that have been settled upon and included as standard:-
  • RC, Conventional Blast Hole and Conventional Pre-Split capable.
  • Air-conditioned, two-man, rotating FOPS cabin that faces the drilling zone in operation and provides clear line of sight to the sampling system.
  • 78m of 4.5″ RC Rods on-board with fully automatic rod changing capability that requires zero human involvement outside the cabin during operation. Additional rods can be added when rod carousel capacity is exhausted through a specially designed side loading rod slot.
  • Fully automatic Progradex Sampling System requiring zero operator input during drilling to completely remove any risk of hazard or injury – for full list of features go to Progradex Sampling System/System Features.
  • A complete turnkey, flow balanced DTH package supplied with the rig as standard from the drilling tool to the sampling system that is fully integrated in harmony with the rig’s power train for maximum efficiency.
  • Fully automatic, self-levelling rig jacks.
  • All service and filling points are designed into one easy to access area.
  • Oil spillage capture sump provided as standard.
  • Complete dust emission control provided at ALL dust discharge points around the rig.
  • Forward angled drilling capability for RC, vertical for blast holes, and left to right angled for pre-splits.
Forward angled drilling for RC Grade Control
Left to right angled drilling for Pre-Splits

Click Image to Download Poster


 

EDM Collectors Shipped
26-03-2010

 

 

Two more Progradex TD1200 Dust Collectors are shipped to Chile for Drill Rig manufacturerExploration Drill Masters taking their total to six units ordered over the past year.

 

 


 

Progradex Receives 6th TD1200 Dust Collector Order From EDM
14-02-2010

 

 

Drill Rig manufacturer Exploration Drill Masters (EDM Chile) has placed another order on Progradex for TD1200 Dust Collectors taking their total to six units.

Capital Drilling Places a 3rd TD1200 Order
29-12-2009


Capital Drilling’s new distribution arm Supply Force International has placed an order on Progradex for their third TD1200 Dust Collector

EDM Purchase Two More TD1200’s
29-12-2009


Exploration Drill Masters (EDM Chile) has purchased two more Progradex TD1200 Dust Collectors, taking their total to four, for new rigs bound for Titeline Drilling in Australia.

Pitard Approves Progradex Sampling System
26-11-2009


World renowned Geostats Consultant, Dr Francis Pitard, yesterday officially endorsed the design of the new Progradex Sampling System after checking that it complies with the rules of “correctness” as listed in the Theory of Sampling. The Colorado, USA based Frenchman not only approved the design, he commented, “Excellent job! Congratulations on a good piece of engineering” and likened it to Dr Pierre Gy’s principals of bed blending on a smaller scale.

We’ve added some new pages!
08-10-2009

We’ve updated the information in a number of pages throughout the website and have also added a brand new interactive page, “Did You Know?“. Check out a few facts that you may not be aware of and add a few that we  perhaps don’t know? See why a Tiered Riffle Splitter is flawed by design, or …what you should look out for when you purchase a cyclone? …and more………..


It’s Officially on the Market!
23-09-2009

With patent applications now filed, the Progradex Sampling System is officially released to the market…

 

 

Click here for full story…
With patent applications now filed, the Progradex Sampling System is officially released to the market.
The revolutionary design turns traditional thinking on its head to provide a multitude of benefits and exciting new features that have not been possible before.
The Progradex Sampling System will produce a vastly more representative sample than any system before it. It is smaller, lighter and has far less potential to clog or contaminate samples. It is by far the safest drill sampling system ever released with many fully automated features and options, one of which is a multi-station bag carousel that has the potential to completely remove operators from the drilling process.
The system even has the ability to think for itself. It can independently monitor and self level itself. It can sense moisture in the ore, indicating wet drilling conditions, and automatically switch to a “wet drilling” mode to prevent blockage.
The system samples automatically and continuously, that is, it does not need to collect and store the sampling interval prior to release over a splitter and, as such, provides the driller with a regular and continuous view of the drill cuttings being released to monitor changing ground conditions.
In fact, the Progradex Sampling System does not use a splitter, at least not in the traditional sense of what splitters do and how they work. Cuttings entering the Progradex system are prepared (homogenised) elsewhere in the machine before the final cut, or split, is taken and this is partly why the Progradex System is physically so much smaller than other systems and entirely why the final sample is more representative than any other system.
The Progradex Sampling System boasts 100% Recovery of material entering it for sampling, i.e. it collects the coarse particulate, the fines and the super fines for sampling.
The system emits less than 1 mg/m3 dust to atmosphere through the exhaust fan making it safe to use in any application anywhere to include the drilling of toxic substances or dangerous dusts such as the fibrous minerals silica and asbestos.
These are just a few of the many features that the new Progradex Sampling System offers…
We will keep the website updated with more information as time goes on. In the meantime, for expressions of interest or enquiries, please contact Progradex via the website’s “Contact” page or directly on information@progradex.com. We will be proud to talk to you directly, by email or to arrange a face to face meeting and product presentation.

Coming Soon!
15-09-2009
The Progradex Sampling System will be released very shortly! We are in the final stages of the Patent Process.

 

 

Key Features:


> 100% Recovery for Sampling – The new Pulseclone Interval CollectorCollects and Samples both Coarse & Fine particulate.


> Even more Representative – see “Progradex Sampling System” drop down menu for how the new Progradex ANDIS Samplertakes a sample compared to other splitters.


> Samples Wet & Dry.


> 30% Smaller & Lighter.


> Automatically takes multiple samples without Operator Input.


> Automatically detects wet drilling conditions.


> State of the Art Control System.


> More, more, more…!

Progradex Dust Collection
01-07-2009

Exploration Drill Masters (EDM Chile) Rig fitted with Progradex TD1200 Dust Collectorbound for Capital Drilling in Tanzania.

 

 


09-01-2015


Distribution Nozzle Tested
06-08-2010

 


Click on link to view video of the Distribution Nozzle being tested.


Click here to view Distribution Nozzle Test