GPS Drill Navigation and Data Collection in a Mining Environment

Andrés Y. Obregón

Abstract:	Phelps Dodge's Morenci (PD) copper mine, located in southeastern Arizona, produces over 800 million pounds of copper per year. Drilling and blasting is the most important front-line process in the mining cycle. Any improvement in efficiency in this stage is quickly realized by all of the downstream processes. At the Morenci operation, over 300 blast holes are drilled and shot each day. Broken reserves are maintained at more than 12 million tons to support the mining operation. The Aquila GPS Navigation and Drill Monitoring system is utilized to improve drilling efficiency and reduce mining costs. Data collection provides operators, engineers, supervisors and maintenance crews near real-time diagnostic, productivity and geologic information. The data is utilized for pre- and post-blast planning.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2000) September 19 - 22, 2000 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	1002 - 1006
Cite this article:	Obregón, Andrés Y., "GPS Drill Navigation and Data Collection in a Mining Environment," Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2000), Salt Lake City, UT, September 2000, pp. 1002-1006.
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