RC Drill Rig

Reverse Circulation Drill (RC Drill) is a drilling equipment that uses compressed air to circulate and discharge slag. Its core principle is to use a double-wall drill pipe structure to quickly discharge rock cuttings through the inner tube to avoid the risk of hole plugging in traditional positive circulation drills. Taking the YG RC-800 drill as an example, it is particularly good at hard rock formations such as granite and basalt (compressive strength ≤300MPa). Click to get a customized exploration plan! We also produce other related drilling rigs, such as fully hydraulic core drilling rigs, water well drilling rigs, pile drivers, rotary drilling rigs, etc. Click to consult now!

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RC Drill Rig Parameters

Model		YG150RC
Drill rig weight(crawler mounted)	kg	9000
Engine Power	kW	125
Length × Width × Height (normal)	mm	6750x2200x2950
Ambient Temperature Range	°C	-10～38
Drill Ability
Nominal Drill Depth	m	150
End-hole Diameter	mm	110-250
Drill angle	°	-10-90
Horizontal hole height	m	1.85-2.8
Drill head output
Max Output Torque	N.m	8000
Output Rotation Speed(continuity)	rpm	30 / 60, 54/108rpm
Output Rotation Speed(interval)	rpm	62 / 124105/210rpm
Feeding	mm	3500
Thrust Force	kN	45
Lifting Capacity	kN	65
Pipe-puller Device Output
Output Rotation Speed	rpm	40
Max Output Torque	N.m	30000
Hole-through Diameter	mm	370
Auxiliary Winch
Pull Force of the First Layer	kN	11
Rope Diameter	mm	14
Rope Capacity	m	60
Engine(Cummins)		6BTA5.9-C125
Power	kW	125
Rotary Speed (Max.)	rpm	2200
Track Chassis Base
Walk Speed	Km/h	1.2
Unit Pressure	MPa	＜0.05
Climb Ability	°	≥20

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RC Drilling Machine Application Range

Reverse circulation drilling rigs are widely used in the following applications due to their high sampling accuracy and strong formation adaptability:

1. Mineral exploration: Rapidly obtain continuous rock cuttings samples of metal ores (gold, copper, lithium), with a grade analysis error rate of <3%;
2. Water well construction: Drilling deep wells in arid areas, with a single hole daily footage of up to 50 meters;
3. Pile foundation engineering: Providing large-diameter rock-embedded pile holes for cross-sea bridges and wind power bases (such as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project in Indonesia);
4. Environmental monitoring: Accurately collect samples of contaminated soil layers to support ecological restoration.
5. Scientific research drilling: Research on polar ice layers and active volcanoes.

YG Reverse Circulation Drill Rig Powers Gold Exploration in Australia

1. Client Background and Challenges

There is a gold mine in Western Australia with abundant gold reserves. Its ore veins feature complex shapes and are distributed in veinlets and lenticular forms. Traditional exploration methods have two major drawbacks:

Low exploration efficiency

Traditional core drill rigs take a long time to drill a single hole. Equipment relocation and preparation work are also complicated. These issues greatly slow down exploration progress and make it impossible to delineate new recoverable reserves quickly.

Poor sample representativeness and environmental pollution

Cutting samples produced by conventional drilling methods, such as DTH hammer drilling, are prone to cross-contamination. Meanwhile, flying dust fails to comply with Australia’s strict environmental regulations and also prevents geologists from accurately defining ore vein boundaries. The positioning errors caused by traditional methods push up the cost of subsequent tunnel excavation and make the dilution rate hard to control.

2. YG Solutions

After fully learning about the client’s demands, YG recommended the YGRC-400 Reverse Circulation Drill Rig.

Core Equipment: YGRC-400 RC Drilling Machine

Matched technical principles

This rig adopts double-wall drill pipe Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling technology. Compressed air drives the DTH hammer to break rocks. Cuttings flow steadily and continuously back to the ground through the inner pipe, and then fall directly into sample bags marked with depth via a cyclone separator. This process completely avoids cross-contamination of samples. Besides, the dust collector traps dust effectively to meet environmental standards.

High-precision positioning design

The rig is fitted with exclusive drill centralizers and levels to guarantee high drilling accuracy. The compensating slide automatically protects drill pipe threads and keeps drill pipes vertical and stable during deep hole drilling, laying a solid mechanical foundation for precise ore vein positioning.

Highly automated and efficient operation

The combination of drill pipe elevator and hydraulic wrench enables safe and fast pipe connection and disconnection. All movements, including traveling, lifting, rotation, and feeding, are driven by hydraulic systems. It effectively reduces labor intensity and improves continuous operation capacity.

Strong adaptability to harsh environments

Equipped with an air pre-filter, it removes over 90% of dust from intake air and discharges dust automatically. It fully protects the engine and extends equipment service life, making it well-suited for the dry and dusty working conditions common at Australian mining sites.

3. Achievements

Key Performance Data

Greatly improved exploration efficiency

Within 3 months, 2 sets of YGRC-400 rigs completed 200 exploration holes with a total drilling depth of over 8,000 meters. Compared with the traditional rigs previously used at the mine, the drilling efficiency rose by around 60%. Thanks to the reliable hydraulic system and fast pipe handling, the rig reaches the designed working efficiency of 10-25 meters per hour.

Revolutionary improvement in positioning accuracy

Geologists can clearly define the hanging wall and footwall boundaries of ore bodies with continuous and contamination-free cuttings from RC drilling. Combined with the high hole accuracy brought by drill centralizers, the accuracy rate of ore vein positioning increased by 40%. Subsequent mining tunnels can be arranged more precisely inside ore bodies, which sharply cuts down rock dilution rate and ore loss rate.

Better environmental performance and cost savings

Dust is fully contained during the whole drilling process, with no violations of environmental regulations. Unlike core drilling, this method produces no large amounts of wastewater or needs numerous core boxes, so the cost of on-site cleaning and sample handling dropped by 30%. Sealed sample bags can be sent for testing directly, shortening the assay cycle.

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Advantages of Reverse Circulation Drill Rig

1. Efficient slag removal: The double-wall drill rod design enables a chip removal speed of 40m/s, and the drilling efficiency is increased by 60%.
2. Pure samples: The cuttings do not contact the whole wall, and the metal mineral recovery rate is as high as 98%.
3. Controllable costs: Consumable wear is reduced by 30%, and the comprehensive operation and maintenance cost is reduced by 25%.
4. Environmental protection and safety: The closed circulation system reduces dust spillage, and the noise is less than 85 decibels.
5. Flexible adaptation: The modular design supports multiple deployment methods such as trucks, crawlers, and ships.

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Digital RC Drill Rig for Sale

1. Real-time monitoring system: Displays 15 parameters such as wind pressure, speed, and hole depth, and automatically alarms for abnormal data.
2. AI rock cuttings analysis: Identify mineral types through cameras and preliminarily determine the boundaries of mineralized zones (accuracy ≥80%);
3. Remote control: Supports satellite networking, and engineers can monitor the operating status of multiple devices globally.
4. Data cloud management: Automatically generate drilling reports and synchronize them to geological databases to reduce manual errors.

Why Do Global Customers Choose the YG RC Drill Rig?

1. Technology leadership: 12 international patents, maximum torque of 18,000N·m (industry average 10,000N·m);
2. Extreme environment verification: stable operation in the Sahara Desert (55℃), Siberia (-40℃), etc.;
3. Service network: 23 service centers around the world, providing 48-hour parts delivery and on-site technical support;
4. Success endorsement: Serving mining giants such as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, the equipment has run trouble-free for more than 10,000 hours.

From hard rock penetration to intelligent exploration, from cost optimization to global service, YG reverses circulation drill rigs and redefines the drilling industry standards with “efficiency, precision, and reliability”. If you need to obtain the “RC Drilling Rig Selection Guide” or make an appointment for a field demonstration, contact the YG engineering team immediately!