When drilling through hard Finnish rock, high-quality consumables are essential. Veljekset Toivanen relies on Robit’s expertise and service to keep its drilling equipment performing reliably day after day.
Based in Kemi, Finland, Veljekset Toivanen Oy is a family-owned company established in 1983. Over the decades, it has grown from a local earthmoving business into a versatile expert in infrastructure and mining services. Starting from southwestern Lapland, operations have expanded across Finland and northern Sweden.
“We are a reliable and innovative mining services provider. We support our customers in both underground and open-pit mining. At the moment, we serve as the main contractor at Endomines’ Hosko gold mine in Ilomantsi and at Sotkamo Silver’s silver mine in Sotkamo,” says Mika Hartikainen, Head of Mining Operations at Veljekset Toivanen.
Comprehensive mining operations
Veljekset Toivanen can manage the entire operation of a mine when required – a task that demands a wide range of machinery, transport capacity, and skilled personnel.
“Our services include production drilling, forepoling, face drilling, crushing, loading and hauling of aggregates, underground support operations, as well as renovation, construction, and maintenance of mine infrastructure,” Hartikainen explains.
In rock excavation and forepoling, the company relies on powerful drilling equipment. “We operate around twenty machines in total – tunnel jumbos, surface drill rigs, underground production drill rigs, as well as cable bolting and rock bolting rigs,” he adds.
Consumables always in stock
When it comes to drilling consumables, Toivanen has trusted Robit for many years. “Robit supplies all components needed for drilling – bits, shanks, rods, and casings. We work in close collaboration in product development, the products are high quality, and deliveries are always on schedule,” Hartikainen notes.
Robit delivers consumables to consignment warehouses located at the mine sites, ensuring that a two-month supply is always readily available. “Mining operations cannot afford unplanned downtime, so we make sure to maintain sufficient stock for all critical consumables. We replenish stock once a month and respond quickly to any changes in demand,” says Kimmo Kangas, Sales Director at Robit Finland Oy.
Products tailored to customer needs
Robit designs and manufactures all drill bits for underground drilling at its Lempäälä factory, enabling close cooperation with Finnish customers. “We can tailor products to specific customer requirements quickly and cost-effectively, even for smaller production batches. We stay active in the field, discuss evolving needs, and develop better solutions together to improve drilling efficiency and reduce costs,” Kangas says.
Drilling solutions for every rock type
Finnish rock is famously hard – and no two sites are exactly alike. “At the Sotkamo mine, in addition to the rock’s hardness, the layered structure creates challenges. Drilling tends to drift in the slate zones, causing rods to bend and making it difficult to achieve perfectly straight holes for blasting. Together with Robit, we have tackled this by optimising the placement of carbide buttons, redesigning flushing grooves and the bit body, and selecting the optimal rods and casings. As a result, drilling control has improved, and the consumables now reach more drill meters,” Hartikainen explains.
“We have made other improvements, too. For example, in cable-bolting rigs, making small changes to the thread profile of the rods has increased reliability. In addition, we have achieved excellent results with Robit’s Extreme Carbide bits designed for the hardest rock,” he concludes.
Picture: Mika Hartikainen (left), Head of Mining Operations at Toivanen, and Robit’s Sales Director Kimmo Kangas at the Endomines’ Hosko gold mine in Ilomantsi, Finland, where Toivanen serves as the main contractor.
In 2024, we introduced the RG51 shoulder-driven drill rod – a Top Hammer design where the shoulder, rather than the thread, takes the impact. This results in higher stiffness, straighter holes, and a longer service life than conventional C(T)-series rods. Today, the RG rod family is well on its way into the Nordic market.
With RG45 now joining RG51 and RG60, Robit can offer a complete range of shoulder-driven rods for bench drilling and quarrying. Sweden, through long-time distributor Eurodrilling, is among the first countries where the RG45 and RG51 systems are being actively used and tested.
Field trials have been carried out at several sites, with two experienced blasting contractors standing out as early adopters: Bohus Bergsprängning and Alingsås Sprängtjänst. Both operate demanding rock-drilling jobs where tool life, hole straightness, and reliability are closely monitored.
At Bohus Bergsprängning’s quarries, RG45 rods (3,660 and 4,265 mm) and RG45 bits (76, 83, and 89 mm) have been running in daily production since spring 2025. In midsummer, Robit’s Sales Manager Santeri Sillanaukee and Drillmaster Harri Piispanen, together with Eurodrilling’s Bosse Bäckgren, followed performance on site. Bohus Bergsprängning has already noticed the difference in performance and moved from trials to regular RG45 usage.
In October 2025, Alingsås Sprängtjänst hosted a demo day at its premises in Alingsås. After a short introduction to Robit and the RG concept, the team mounted RG45 rods and bits on the customer’s rig and drilled test holes in a nearby rock. The results were so convincing that Alingsås Sprängtjänst decided to start using RG45 right away.
The Swedish experiences so far mirror Robit’s earlier field data from Finland, where RG45 rods have regularly achieved service lives of over 50% and, in some cases, more than 70%, longer than those of standard C45 tools. Users also report straighter holes thanks to the stiffer shoulder-driven connections, better penetration when combining RG rods and RG bits, and noticeably easier uncoupling, all of which translates directly into less downtime and more drill metres per shift.
“We see Sweden following the same trend as Finland, where the Robit RG45 and RG51 systems are becoming the new standard in bench drilling and quarrying. These products truly speak for themselves and help our customers drill better. Day in and day out”, says Sales Manager Santeri Sillanaukee.
To support growing demand, Eurodrilling has begun stocking RG rods and RG bits in Sweden and expects volumes to increase further as the RG concept continues to win new users, carving out a stronger position for Robit in the Swedish Top Hammer market.
High in the mountains of northern Peru lies the La Arena open-pit mine, a combined gold and copper operation. The site sits along one of the world’s largest porphyry copper–gold belts, part of the Andean metallogenic area that has yielded many of South America’s major deposits. As of late 2024, the mine is owned by Zijin Mining.
The geology at La Arena is notably abrasive, with hard volcanic and intrusive formations that place significant stress on drilling equipment. These ground conditions make controlled blasting especially important, and the mine relies on pre-splitting to define stable walls and predictable bench geometries. Pre-splitting involves drilling a precise line of holes ahead of the main blast, creating a clean fracture plane that limits overbreak and improves overall pit stability.
Pree-splitting at La Arena is performed by Spanish company Acciona, a global infrastructure and mining contractor. Acciona uses 4” Down the Hole hammers paired with 5” bits. Because of the highly abrasive rock, tool life has been a long-standing challenge, prompting Acciona to run a series of comparative tests to identify equipment that could best withstand the conditions.
In mid-2025, Acciona invited Robit to participate in the tests. The setup included the Robit® H4 Marathon hammer with a TD40 shank, along with three different sets of drill bits. Robit’s DTH Drillmaster, Renato Castro, supervised the trial on site, ensuring proper operation, monitoring wear, and gathering performance data. The test period ran from June to July 2025.
The results were decisive. The Robit H4 Marathon hammer achieved a total service life of 4,740 drill meters, significantly outlasting the competitor, which reached 3,100 meters.
Bit performance showed the same trend. In the extremely abrasive rock, Robit’s bits averaged at 140 meters, while competitor bits averaged around 65 meters. Among the designs tested, the convex-face bit with Extreme Carbide gauge inserts delivered the best balance of durability and penetration.
Encouraged by the results, Acciona is exploring additional bit designs with Robit, including Extreme Carbide models, to further reduce cost per meter and improve productivity. The Marathon hammer has already convinced the contractor with its longer lifetime and penetration rates about 30% faster than the competing product.
For Robit, the successful trials represent a promising technical outcome – and the foundation for a potential long-term collaboration.
In 1987, some 30 kilometres north of Sodankylä in Finnish Lapland, prospectors made a promising discovery: their rock samples contained nickel and copper. It soon became clear that this Kevitsa ore find was one of the largest ever made in Finland.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the mining rights for the deposit changed hands several times. Actual mining did not begin until 2012. Since 2016, the Kevitsa open pit has been owned by the Swedish company Boliden. In 2024, it processed almost 10 million tonnes of ore, primarily nickel and copper, as well as cobalt, platinum, palladium, and gold.
Today, Boliden Kevitsa’s polymetallic mine is one of the largest in Finland. It provides direct and indirect employment for hundreds of people in Lapland and generates significant tax revenues for the region. Production is expected to continue well into the 2030s.
Responsible metal production in Arctic conditions The strategy of the Swedish metals company Boliden revolves around responsible mining, circular-economy solutions, and the production of critical metals for the green transition. Boliden Kevitsa’s polymetallic mine is an integral part of this whole.
The bedrock at Kevitsa is demanding in all respects. The rock is both tough and extremely abrasive, says Juha Ranta, Drilling Development Coordinator at Boliden Kevitsa.
“The mixture of various ore zones, wall rock, and waste rock has formed over thousands of years. Alongside the copper and nickel, there is cobalt, platinum, palladium, and gold, and each zone behaves differently when drilled,” Juha explains.
The natural conditions in Sodankylä don’t make mining any easier either. “In winter, the groundwater in the pit is completely frozen. The hammer must operate just as reliably at -40 degrees as it does at +35 degrees in the summer. That’s a tough combination for any equipment,” Juha says.
Technologically, Kevitsa is a state-of-the-art mine. Production drilling is conducted almost entirely by remote control. From the control room, operators monitor the drill rigs working in the pit around the clock.
An unmanned drill rig plus two men – Kimmo Kangas, left and Juha Ranta.
Testing and developing Robit’s H8 DTH hammer together
Since early 2025, Robit’s H8 DTH hammer has been tested and developed at Kevitsa in close cooperation with Boliden, says Robit Sales Director Kimmo Kangas.
“The feedback from the operators has been encouraging: the H8 is easy to drill with, penetration rate is good, and durability looks promising,” Kimmo says.
The H8 hammer has been tested with two different 229 mm drill bits to optimize the combined performance of hammer and bit for Kevitsa’s conditions.
The H8 is by no means the first hammer to be tested in Kevitsa’s demanding rock. Tools that perform well elsewhere have often revealed weaknesses in Lapland. “Here, for example, rock hardness and the way the impact energy bounces back from the rock can be very different from what you encounter in other mines,” Juha notes.
Cooperation with Robit’s product development team has been close. “Whenever we’ve found a component that doesn’t last, we’ve sat down together to decide what to do about it. Do we change the material or redesign the part completely? Recently, we’ve focused on improving the hammer’s wear life, first the ‘innards’ and now increasingly the durability of the hammer body,” Juha says.
At Kevitsa, the “Marathon” version of the H8 hammer is in use, featuring a wear-protected outer casing. The goal is to extend service life and reduce both downtime and spare part consumption.
A step towards more economical and sustainable mining
Boliden works systematically towards environmentally friendly and cost-efficient mining. “The drilling tools are one part of that. With the right tooling, you can achieve substantial cost savings, both in the equipment itself and in fuel efficiency,” Juha points out.
“Equipment durability and reliability have a direct impact on cost per drill meter. As wear resistance improves, material flows – and therefore costs – go down.”
“New surface treatment methods also allow us to make the materials more wear-resistant. Reliability improves when components that have proved weak are reshaped and redesigned.” Testing the H8 hammer at Kevitsa is part of this overall effort. “With measures like these, we keep moving towards economical mining, with green values firmly in mind,” Juha Ranta concludes.
In addition to increasing performance, the drilling industry faces ever-growing demands regarding energy efficiency and cost control. These are all issues the H Series hammer line seeks to tackle.
A modular breakthrough in hammer design
The H Series represents a novel approach to hammer design. Primarily designed for drill and blast operations and water well drilling, the hammer range is available in four sizes: 4, 5, 6, and 8 inches.
To meet the diverse demands of different drilling environments, the hammer’s modular design enables up to twelve configurations of a single base assembly for each hammer size. A lighter hammer weight combined with heavier pistons results in higher penetration rates while consuming less energy. The inner cylinders come in two displacements designed to either maximize the power output or enhance efficiency with reduced airflow demand. In addition, by swapping out only two parts, the hammers can be changed from a conventional model using bits with foot valves to tubeless versions and vice versa.
Field-proven performance
The H Series hammer line has been in development for several years, with end-user customers conducting validation trial drillings over several months in real-world settings worldwide, including South Africa. The drill and blast company Brauteseth Blasting, operating the Phalaborwa open-pit phosphate mine in the Limpopo province, has been testing the 6″ H Series hammer there. Brauteseth’s Plant Manager, Owen Du Plooy, reports an increase in the penetration rate, resulting in a 5% lower cost per meter. Other benefits he mentions include easy maintenance, good sleeve life, and a reasonable price. New technologies also bring new challenges, but Du Plooy gives credit to the technical support Robit has been able to provide at short notice.
Another Robit customer, the Drilling and Blasting Division of Zizwe Opencast Mining, serves as the drill and blast operator at the Lwala open-pit chrome mine in the Limpopo province, which is owned by Samancor Chrome. Zizwe started testing the 6″ H Series hammer in October 2024. The mixed ground conditions include fractured rock, sandstone, and clay. In line with Brauteseth’s results, Zizwe has also observed better penetration rates and quicker maintenance on the hammer, as confirmed by Operational Manager Derik Van Deventer.
Next step: the H Marathon Series
Robit has recently introduced a new version of the H Series hammer: the H Marathon Series. Engineered for extended wear life and improved durability, the Marathon focuses on reinforcing the hammer’s most wear-prone parts, such as the drive chuck and wear sleeve.
Brauteseth Blasting has also tested the Marathon hammer at the Phalaborwa phosphate mine. The trials confirmed a significantly longer service life for key components, with only one chuck needed across the entire lifespan of the hammer. The even wear distribution helped reduce downtime and replacement costs, adding another proof point to the H Series’ performance claims.
“A simple fact affects all manufacturers of drilling consumables: no two drilling sites are the same. Consequently, they need to provide the market with a vast range of tools to meet varying needs. As far as Down the Hole hammers go, Robit is looking to change this with the modular H Series hammers.”
Robit’s product development has long focused on the final part of the drill string: the drill bit. Recent years have seen major innovations in hammers as well. The latest breakthrough is for the middle of the drill string: the RG45 and RG51 drill rod for Top Hammer applications.
The part of the rod most susceptible to impact wear is the thread. The RG45 & RG51 rod threads feature shoulders that take the impact energy; the threading only transmits rotation, making the rod significantly stiffer and more durable than standard ones. This improves wear resistance, penetration rate, and even hole straightness, says Robit’s Sales Manager Santeri Sillanaukee.
“A shoulder-driven rod is not a new invention in itself; it has primarily been used in underground drilling and larger equipment before, but in open pits in the Nordics, the method is new,” Santeri explains.
“Compared to the competition, the RG45 & RG51 are much easier to use. They are fully compatible with standard C45/T45 or C51/T51 shank adapters and drill rods. This means that installing the RG45 & RG51 are extremely straightforward and does not require any modifications to the drill rig,” Santeri says.
PEAB, the largest Nordic construction company, runs several open-pit quarries in Finland as part of its aggregate business. PEAB has tested the RG51 rod at its quarries for several years, and the results are compelling. Drill strings equipped with the RG51 rod have significantly better durability than the competition. The penetration rate and hole straightness have also clearly improved. PEAB has almost entirely switched to RG51 rods for Top Hammer drilling in Finland.
Since the early test phases, PEAB driller Tapani Kalmukoski has gained firsthand experience with the RG51 rod in extraction blasting at various crushing sites.
“Rod breakages have decreased a lot. The RG51 is much more durable than a standard rod. Breakage at the thread is very rare. Wear resistance is also excellent. We achieve at least one-third more drill meters than a standard rod and even up to 50% more in difficult conditions. Everyone at PEAB is satisfied with the RG51,” Tapani says.
The RG45 and RG51 rods were developed in Finland under the leadership of R&D & Top Hammer Specialist Daniel Kujanen. The rods are manufactured at the South Korean factory, and demand is growing steadily. “Currently, the next batch is already pre-sold,” says Santeri Sillanaukee.
Phalaborwa is a vast mining complex located next to the mighty Kruger National Park in the northeast corner of South Africa. It is host to several valuable minerals such as copper, phosphate, zirconium, iron, and vermiculite.
One of the entities within the Phalaborwa complex is the Foskor open-pit phosphate rock mine. Phosphate is a critical mineral in fertilizers. Before the foundation of the Foskor mine in the 1950s, South African agriculture depended on imported phosphate rock. Today, largely thanks to Foskor’s success, South Africa exports phosphate fertilizers worldwide.
Drilling and blasting at the Foskor mine in Phalaborwa is operated by Brauteseth Blasting, a family business founded in 1983 in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province of South Africa. The company started as a small-scale civil blasting company catering to KZN’s construction industry. In forty years, it has grown into a major national player, contracting to more than 20 quarries, five large-scale mining operations, and several construction sites.
Brauteseth has built its success on two cornerstones: a highly skilled, motivated staff and continuous investment in top-of-the-range technology and equipment. This focus on quality tools extends to consumable parts as well.
Brauteseth Blasting operates eight drill rigs at the Foskor mine. As their consignment agreement with their then-supplier of DTH hammers and drill bits was ending in late 2023, Robit SA approached Brauteseth, requesting a performance test of Robit’s and the then-current supplier’s DTH tools.
The extensive testing period started in October 2023 and was completed in February 2024. Robit’s tools included the D65 QL60 3½” API REG blast-hole hammer and 165 mm QL60 Flat Face blast-hole bits.
“The test results were clear: Robit’s tools outperformed the competition in terms of penetration rate and cost-per-meter”, says Duane Kukard, Area Sales Manager at Robit SA.
Convinced by the tests, Brauteseth Blasting signed a consignment agreement to supply their drill rigs at the Foskor mine with Robit’s DTH 6″ equipment.
Since May 2024, all eight of Brauteseth’s rigs in Phalaborwa have been drilling blast holes with Robit’s tools – now with increased efficiency and profitability.
Thanks to its rich gold deposits, the Cajamarca region in northern Perú has been home to gold mines since the Inca times. One of the current mines is Cerro Corona, where Robit recently became the preferred supplier of DTH drill bits.
Cerro Corona mine, owned by Gold Fields Inc, is located on the eastern slope of the western Andes, some 80 km north of the regional capital of Cajamarca. The open pit mine is expected to produce some 2.1 Moz (about 60,000 kg) of gold and 407 kt of copper in concentrate over its 15-year mine life.
The rich gold deposit is hosted by diorite porphyry, an extremely hard rock embedded in limestone. MUR-WY, the drilling contractor at Cerro Corona, uses the so-called pre-splitting method, where closely spaced holes are drilled and lightly charged, causing fractures that isolate the gold-bearing rock from the surrounding rock mass. Successful pre-splitting requires very straight holes, and, as always, this should be achieved with optimal cost, penetration rate, and tool lifetime performance.
Robit believed their tools might improve productivity, so they contacted MUR-WY in 2021 to arrange test drillings for 5” DTH bits at Cerro Corona. Test drilling is typically a very hands-on type of work where you monitor and make adjustments on the spot with the contractor. However, the COVID pandemic complicated things.
“In 2021, access to the mine was heavily restricted, so we had to get creative with MUR-WY to follow up on the tests. We ended up monitoring the performance remotely through WhatsApp videos and messages”, says José Luis Cisneros, General Manager of Robit SAC.
Luckily the restrictions were eventually lifted, and Robit’s Regional Sales Manager, Martín Rodriguez, was able to revisit Cerro Corona and conclude the tests, which proved highly successful.
“On average, compared to the tools they had used, we reached 20 to 25% better yields with our DHD340 Flat Face Premium bits and 40 to 50% better with our D45 HD hammers.
“We detected several ways to improve productivity. Not only did Robit’s components perform better, but a key factor is also the service we can provide. We are now the preferred supplier for DTH consumables at Cerro Corona. There are still challenges to tackle, but we will work with our strategic partners from MRU-WY to articulate better ways to approach their needs and increase security regarding the project’s required logistics”, Martín says.
When developing products for use under several conditions, it is vital to consider the experiences of people using the products. In modern times, it is possible to simulate all sorts of conditions in a lab environment or using computer models. But these can often only give an indication of the product’s performance in the real world, whereas those working in the conditions set by said real world can tell you a lot more.
For the above reasons, Robit has a long tradition of working with its distributor partners and end-customers alike regarding product development. The end-users know their equipment and circumstances better than anyone, so they can often test new and existing products under true-to-life conditions. This way, one can ensure that the test results correspond to the products’ actual performance and durability capabilities.
Collaborating towards better efficiency
One of Robit’s long-term test partners is Stevin Rock, which operates a limestone quarry in the United Arab Emirates with a fleet of Down the Hole (DTH) machinery. They have been using Robit-manufactured DTH tools since 2016. Stevin Rock has been using the full suite of Robit’s drilling consumables, with a 4″ hammer as their workhorse of choice and adaptors, drill tubes, and 110 mm and 127 mm bits aiding the work.
The initial contract was made after Robit succeeded in the trials at the Stevin Rock quarry. Robit’s products triumphed with a longer life span and lower cost per meter than the competition at the time. While some alternatives provided a higher penetration rate, this benefit was trumped by the higher number of breakages it brought. They decided to go with Robit, which offered known products that provided conclusive and consistent high performance.
In the years since the initial contract, Robit has proven itself as the right choice with an excellent overall life span of products, a high level of service, and numerous supporting drill master visits. Indeed, these visits have been the core of the support and collaboration towards the customer. A Robit drill master has been visiting the site on support duties a couple of times a year to help Stevin Rock optimize their processes. In addition, Robit and their distributor partner DeltaCorp Global have conducted on-site practical and theoretical training sessions for the operators and mechanic teams on hammer assembly, preventative maintenance, bit wear, failure modes, and best drilling practices.
Robit always aims to find the best possible distributors for each region; the goal is to find those who understand the local market, culture, and general thinking. In DeltaCorp Global, Robit has one such winner. During the years, DeltaCorp has fostered a very close working relationship with Stevin Rock. This allows them to consistently offer timely and relevant support for the customer across their organization. DeltaCorp’s representatives conduct at least one visit each week to one of Stevin Rock’s three sites. The purpose of the visits ranges from stock deliveries to management meetings, where product quality and life span, as well as stock levels and forecasts, are assessed. While on-site, the representatives will also visit the drill rigs to receive direct feedback from the drill operators. On top of all that, the DeltaCorp representatives maintain constant communication with Stevin Rock’s site management, working swiftly in the event any concerns should be raised, such as a sudden need for urgent deliveries, an unforeseen breakage, or some other operational problem.
Thanks to continuous support, Stevin Rock has improved the results they get with their equipment even further. When the initial contract started in 2016, the average life span of a drill bit was 2,000 meters, with hammers reaching approximately 8,000 meters. With all the training given to the personnel to help them make the most out of their tools, the efforts to optimize the drilling processes, as well as the product improvements from Robit’s Engineering and Production teams that based on the customer’s feedback, the average bit life span has extended to 4,500 meters, with the hammers regularly exceeding 25,000 meters.
While the durability and solid performance of the drilling consumables first made Stevin Rock give Robit’s drilling tools a chance, they have since gotten several more reasons to stick to their decision. And while they have been periodically testing multiple competing products, they have not had a reason to switch.
“We have been using Robit’s products for years and cannot fault their performance or service. We run an open tender every two years, and they always come out on top. Robit’s commitment to collaboration and continuous improvement is their great strength. However, their local Distribution Partner is also strong; with their reliable supply chain management and quick reaction times, a solution is always available to us 24/7.”
Stevin Rock Operations Manager Brian Howard under the Arabian sun.
Collaboration as the basis for product development
During their years working with Stevin Rock, Robit has been conducting numerous tests on many hammers and bits. All these tests have aimed to increase the life span of the products, as well as their performance, with minimal downtime and breakages so that the customer can reduce their drilling costs to the minimum. Tests carried out with customers have been at the heart of Robit’s product development process. Those trials have led to discoveries and breakthroughs that have guided the designs of their latest products, with the upcoming H-series hammers as a good reference point.
The new H-series hammers have been designed with performance and versatility as their guiding principles. The goal was to provide customers with a hammer range that they could utilize in different environments with minimal breakages and maximized utility for each operator’s circumstances. Customer feedback led Robit to develop a new modular design, offering increased flexibility and adaptability to varying conditions. With a few simple changes in the assembly of the hammer, the user can customize it for their needs; whether one wants to run them with improved productivity in mind or needs to be able to use a lower capacity compressor, the H-series hammers can be modeled to suit these requirements.
In practice, the modular design allows Robit to offer four hammers in one base design. The assemblies vary between high power and low volume, as well as foot valved and tubeless. Thus the following variations are available: high power with a foot valve, high power tubeless, low volume with a foot valve, and low volume tubeless. The high-power assembly offers high blow energy and air volume, resulting in a fast penetration rate and is suitable for deep-hole drilling. On the other hand, the low-volume assembly provides lower blow energy and air consumption, which are ideal for soft ground while keeping the hammer energy efficient.
As an example, Stevin Rock was looking for a faster drilling hammer to improve the potential productivity. Robit provided them with two assemblies of the new H-series models with differing internal arrangements to control the airflow, one with low air volume and the other with high air volume. These new hammers were to be tested against the tried-and-true D45 hammer from Robit’s older hammer range. The tests showed a considerable, consistent improvement across the board. The penetration rates went up in all tests, with the smallest increase at 14% and the most significant improvement at 30%. The highest penetration rate reached during the tests was 63.18 meters per hour. These results also correlated with those seen in earlier trials, ensuring the validity of the results.
With the new hammer range, Robit wants to bring more options to the market while still guaranteeing high performance. Because if one thing has become crystal clear during their collaboration with their customers, no two drill sites are the same. For this reason, they will make sure to let their customers’ and distribution partners’ voices be heard when developing new products and improving on the old ones.
This is an edited version of an article originally published in Global Mining Review, May 2023.
Peñasquito Mine, located in the State of Zacatecas in Central Mexico, is the second-largest silver mine in the world and also a major producer of gold, lead, and zinc. The giant has been successfully served by a fresh partnership between a new dynamic distributor and Robit.
The scale of operation at Peñasquito is so massive that it’s more like a small city than just an open-pit mine, with its own airport, a 1,900-bed camp with full dining, laundry and recreational facilities, and even a radio station. Opened in 2010, it currently produces some 31 million ounces, or almost 900 tons, of silver per year.
Mining is a thriving industry in Mexico, with several distributors competing over their share of the drilling consumable market. Peñasquito Mine is owned by Newmont, the world’s largest gold mining corporation. This did not stop Marlous Supplies and Services, a newcomer in the field, from landing a distribution deal for Robit DTH tools with Newmont.
Marlous was founded in the spring of 2020 by Martín Ocaño, who has an accomplished track record in the business.
“I have dedicated 24 years to the commercialization of products and services, in mining and public and private companies. For years I had been working on the idea of forming a company dedicated to supplying different products to the mining industry”, Martín says.
“Our key strength against the competition is that we focus completely on giving good attention and service to our clients, always covering their needs, interests and concerns, including after-sales. This has distinguished us and helped us enter and gain ground in the toughly competed mining market.”
In the search for a reliable supplier for drilling tools in their portfolio, Marlous decided the best option was Robit, given their experience and product quality. In the case of Newmont Peñasquito, Marlous was in the right place at the right time.
“Newmont’s main supplier of drilling tools was failing to deliver products in time. We had a similar product available, so we were able to help them out, and from then on we were allowed to start serious testing”, Martín recalls.
Currently, Marlous is supplying a major part of the DTH drilling tools used at Peñasquito. These include Robit D88 and WH4 hammers as well as QL80 and TD40 drill bits.
A key factor in their success at Peñasquito has been the technical personnel working on-site in close cooperation with the Newmont staff. This includes monthly meetings where the results of the previous month are analyzed and points of improvement can be identified.
“We are always open to feedback and encourage our customers to comment on any detail, anomaly or possible improvement. They appreciate it when their comments and observations are taken into account and implemented as soon as possible”, says Martín.
Still a young and small company, Marlous has already established a firm foothold in the Mexican mining sector. Growing steadily, the company is building on a balanced synergy between the quality of products and impeccable customer service.
Picture: The Marlous team, from left; Martín Tapia, Erik Coronado, Guadalupe Rivera, Ignacio Beltran, Carlos Tapia, Rodrigo Aravena. Martín Ocaño, Narciso Beltrán and Miguel Beltrán were out on business.
Rich in copper, silver, gold, and lead reserves, Peru is a global giant in the mining industry. Iron ore is also a significant export, although known deposits are limited to a single region.
Antonio Raimondi was an exceptionally versatile scientist. Born in Milan, Italy in 1826, he emigrated to Peru in 1850. A year later he became a professor of natural history at the National University of San Marcos in Lima. In the following years, he founded a medical school and a chemistry department there. Raimondi was also a passionate geographer, traveling extensively across the country conducting geological, botanical, and zoological studies. It was on one of these journeys that he discovered a vast iron ore deposit in the Marcona District in the Nazca province, some 500 km south of Lima, in 1870.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that the exploitation of iron ore in Marcona began. Since 1992 the open pit operation has been run by the Chinese-owned company Shougang Hierro Perú, during which time the production of iron has grown sixfold.
A large share of the drilling and earthmoving operations at Shougang Hierro Perú is conducted by Cosapi Mineria, a subsidiary of Cosapi S.A., one of Peru’s biggest construction and engineering companies. Cosapi Mineria specializes in massive earthworks and the development of open pit mines.
An open pit operation typically makes extensive use of Down-the-Hole tools for pre-split and buffer drilling. That’s why Shougang Hierro Perú was an attractive target for Robit SAC to approach with their offering.
“The iron deposit at Shougang Hierro Perú consists of very hard and abrasive materials. You can find competent soils with compressive strengths of 250 to 300 MPa”, says José Luis Cisneros, General Manager of Robit SAC.
“We contacted Cosapi Mineria and carried out the first test in early 2020 with 7-inch bits and a D65 hammer. Since then, we have been working ever more closely with Cosapi, providing them with material innovations to increase performance.”
“In recent months we have been working together with Cosapi in a testing process of the main DTH providers in the market. Thanks to the constant monitoring by our Assistance Engineer Kevin Salas, and the development of the right products through our DTH Sales Manager, Martín Rodríguez, we have been able to generate new ways of improving the operation and proposing drilling targets with higher standards”, José says.
The open pit operation requires a lot of double bench pre-splitting, performed with D45 HD hammers and 5-inch bits, ballistic buttons, and a convex face. The bits have obtained an average duration of 1,400 meters, and an average speed of 32 m/h.
Recently, Cosapi signed an extension contract for their operations in two of the open pits at Shougang Hierro Perú. Impressed by the tests conducted with Robit, they granted a consignment agreement, trusting Robit with 60% of the consumption of drilling tools over the competition.
“This is the first contract of consumption for DTH tools in Latin America where we will provide assistance and stock for the client’s operation, including technical service, maintenance of hammers and management of drill bits”, says José.
“We hope to show Cosapi Mineria and the market that Robit SAC has the necessary resources to keep exceeding the expectations of our strategic partners.”
As far as mineral reserves go, Kazakhstan is in the top twenty in the world, and mining comprises almost one-third of the country’s export earnings. No wonder then that the competition in the sales of all mining-related goods, including drilling tools, is very tough. Robit secured a distribution deal with a key player in the region.
As a major global exporter of minerals, Kazakhstan benefits from its central geographical location between Europe and Asia. This is also reflected in the name of the largest company supplying machinery and equipment for mining and construction in the area: Eurasian Machinery LLP.
With more than 600 employees, Eurasian Machinery provides customers with high-quality technical services through ten centers in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Besides being the official distributor of Hitachi Construction Machinery – their spearhead product line – they also supply the industry with machinery and equipment from a host of other high prestige global brands. As of August 2021, these include Robit.
George Apostolopoulos, Robit’s VP, Global Sales, is thoroughly familiar with the Central Asian market and sees great synergies for Robit in the exclusive distributor agreement with Eurasian Machinery.
“Eurasian Machinery have a strong reputation in the Kazakh market. They have done an excellent job with the Hitachi Construction Machinery brand and have placed themselves among the preferred suppliers for the country’s mining industry. They are present with equipment and service contracts in most of the mines in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan”, George says.
“Customer satisfaction is driving their efforts and they are providing high-quality services to the industry. A high-tech Component Repair Center in Karaganda serves the purpose very well.”
“This is a very significant deal for Robit as the Kazakh mining market is among the biggest in the world. It’s the 2nd largest within our East sales area after Russia. It could provide significant leverage for our sales; big opportunities exist for our Top Hammer products both underground and surface, as well as our Down the Hole offering.”
“There is some tough competition in this market not only from the traditional players but also from low-cost suppliers. This makes it particularly important for us to have a renowned and well-represented distributor in this market”, George concludes.
Picture: A view over the steppes from a chalk mountain in northern Kazakhstan.
Two branches of the Thompson River run through the ruggedly picturesque landscapes of south-central British Columbia, to meet at the eastern end of Kamloops Lake. The town of Kamloops was founded there as a fur trading post 200 years ago. Today, Kamloops is a thriving city with rich copper and gold deposits nearby.
Afton mine, situated 10 km west of Kamloops, was originally an open-pit gold and copper mine, in operation throughout the 1980s and 90s. New Gold,a Canadian mining company, acquired the mine and restarted production in 2012, now as an underground mine called New Afton. Last year, New Afton produced 64,000 ounces (some 1,800 kg) of gold and about
33,000 tons of copper.
New Gold had been using Robit’s Top Hammer (TH) tools in New Afton for years. However, in early 2019, through ownership changes at the supplier, New Afton switched to another brand of TH consumables. Over the course of the year, it became evident that the performance of the TH Tools did not meet the Mines expectations. In 2020, Ryley Renneberg and Cody MacLeod from the Sales Division of Pinnacle Drilling Products (Pinnacle), Robit’s Canadian distributor, decided it was an opportune time to reach out to New Gold.
“We arranged an in-person meeting with New Gold’s production mine manager. We listened to their problems with their new brand of TH tooling and discussed how we might be able to help out. New Gold had been happy with Robit before and they knew the production performance well, so this really helped progress things forward. It turned out to be the start of a great relationship between Pinnacle and New Gold”, Ryley reminisces.
“We reassured we could have a seamless transition and were able to support New Gold through the ramp-up period, not to mention this pandemic situation and the global supply chain crisis.”
For Robit, the first purchase order in the spring of 2021 meant a need for a serious production ramp-up of TH tools.
Says Mikko Vuojolainen, Robit’s Vice President, North America: “It’s always a critical period when a customer switches supplier. The new supplier must be able to deliver 100% availability. In this case, our TH production lines were already fully booked so we needed to get creative. We divided the products into two groups: those we can start delivering two months post order, and those we can start delivering four months post order. It worked out perfectly.”
Since August 2021, New Afton is back to using Robit’s TH tools in their underground operations. The New Afton deal can also help propel the Pinnacle-Robit business partnership forward.
“It brings us leverage into the mining industry within North America. I believe it’s going to open many other opportunities for us to challenge the ‘big three’ in the market”, says Ryley Renneberg.
Robit is supplying consumables for development of two gabbro quarries in Khatmat Malaha, Sultanate of Oman. The tools are being supplied by Robit’s distributor, Pioneers For Mining Trading. The customer is Oman-based Al Sarh JV Int LLC.
The customer is using two drill rigs in the gabbro quarries and has just changed over to Robit drilling consumables. According to the customer, Robit consumables are performing well in the very hard and abrasive rock formation as the products are clearly cost effective in the comparison of different suppliers. The drilling consumables in use are 89 mm button bits with a thread of C51. The gabbro quarries of Khatmat Malaha are one of those toughest and challenging areas among Oman rock formation.
In addition to the good performance, Al Sarh JV Int LLC is happy with the delivery times as well as all the technical support regarding Robit drilling consumables. Pioneers For Mining Trading is maintaining a good inventory and technical engineer to meet the customer’s demands.
Al Sarh JV Int LLC has confirmed that they are pleased with the performance of Robit drilling consumables as well as the support received from Robit’s distributor, Pioneers For Mining Trading, and thus they will continue business cooperation with Robit and Pioneers For Mining Trading.
Despite the current travel restrictions due to COVID-19, the seamless cooperation between Robit, Pioneers For Mining Trading as well as the customer including continuous follow-up on Robit product quality and support, enables a strong sales development in Sohar region. Pioneers For Mining Trading has been awarded as a New Distributor of the year 2020 in Robit’s annual Distributor Days.
Dhofar Mining Company LLC. is the manufacturers of high quality natural gypsum at present Dhofar Mining Co having a production of 1,200,000 MT per annum. Company operates including Thumrait near Salalah in southern Oman.
“We are really excited about Robit’s C45-76mm Drop Center button bit performance and penetration rate. Average life for the button bit is around 19,000 m in this Gypsum quarry, which is much more better than we have seen earlier.” says Mr. Hari Kumar, Quarry Manager.
Mr. Akhil Muralidharan, Sales Manager from Pioneers for Mining Trading company (Robit’s distributor in the Middle East) is convinced of successful cooperation with Dhofar Mining Company LLC.
In the picture from left: Mr. Kabeer, Drill Rig Operator and Mr. Hari Kumar, Quarry Manager from Dhofar Mining Company LLC. and Mr. Akhil Muralidharan, Sales Manager from Pioneers for Mining Trading.
Copper mining has been a key driver of Chile’s economy for centuries. Among the country’s mining companies, the state-owned Codelco is the crown jewel. It’s the world’s leading copper producer with immense mineral reserves, and a driving force for the entire country’s development.
Codelco’s major mining sites include El Teniente, “the Lieutenant”, the world’s largest underground copper mine which has been in operation for 200 years and currently has a capacity of 400,000 tonnes.
The second largest mine is the century-old Chuquicamata, or “Chuqui”, as the locals call it. Since its open pit operations had grown increasingly uneconomic over the last years, Codelco made a huge investment switching to underground cave mining in 2019. Chuqui’s current capacity is 377,000 tonnes. Andina, the third largest mine nested at the dizzying height of 3,700–4,200 metres on the Andes, consists of the Rio Blanco underground mine and the Sur Sur open pit.
As of late 2020, Robit will be the main supplier of Top Hammer and Down-the-Hole drilling tools for Codelco’s three largest mines. This is a result of decisive cooperation between Robit and their Chilean distributor Full Safety.
Founded in 2010, Full Safety had focused on dealing in clothes and footwear for special target groups such as armed forces, law enforcement, health professionals – and the mining industry. The last-mentioned seemed like a promising sector for new business opportunities, and in 2015 they contacted Robit.
“We were looking for new strategies, and we met Robit at the right time. After consulting with them we restructured our business model over the next few years by opening a new office and recruiting sales personnel as well as drillmasters for field support. In turn, Robit offered us training and technical-commercial support on client visits, and participated in mining fairs with us”, recounts Cesar Cornejo, General Manager of Full Safety.
Getting a foot in the door of a global giant like Codelco is not a simple thing. Despite persistent efforts, discussions on arranging a comparison test to prove the quality of Robit’s consumables led nowhere. As a change of plan, Full Safety approached Astaldi, the main contractor at El Teniente – and they agreed to a head-to-head test between Robit and their then-current brands.
The February 2020 tests, involving bits, drifter rods and couplings, did not disappoint: Robit outperformed the competition by some 30% in terms of lifetime and penetration rate. A letter of certification by Astaldi opened the door to participate in a tender for Codelco. Full Safety and José Antonio Rodríguez, Sales Manager for Robit SAC, then carefully fine-tuned an offer that proved the most competitive.
This major achievement, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. The Chilean mining sector has vast growth potential for the Robit-Full Safety partnership, and several other tenders and product tests are already underway across the country.
Picture from left: Alberto Castillo (Sales Manager, Full Safety),Rafael Rojas (Drillmaster, Full Safety), José Antonio Rodríguez (Sales Manager, Robit), and Cesar Cornejo (General Manager, Full Safety).
Louhintaliike Ylimäki Oy, headquartered in Lapua, is a family business that specialises in large-scale blasting and quarrying operations covering the areas of Pirkanmaa, Western and Central Finland and North Ostrobothnia. With more than 40 years of experience in the industry, the company guarantees its customers efficient and flexible service, helping it become one of the biggest quarrying operators in Finland.
Aatos Ylimäki founded Louhintaliike Ylimäki Oy in 1983. The company started out with rented equipment, but soon acquired its own manual drill and tractor-mounted air compressor. The company’s first contract was foundation work for a vocational school (Hervannan ammattiopilaitos) in Tampere. Over the years, the company’s fleet of equipment and number of personnel has grown. In 2012, the family company was transferred to the next generation, and since 2015 it has been headed by Matti Ylimäki.
Picture: Louhintaliike Ylimäki’s fleet includes six Sandvik open-pit drill rigs. According to Managing Director Matti Ylimäki (centre), head charger Matti Pitkäjärvi and driller Markku Viitanen, Louhintaliike Ylimäki has relied on the quality of Robit’s consumables, such as drill bits, rods and shanks, in its drilling operations for more than 20 years.
Quarrying with a large capacity
Today, Louhintaliike Ylimäki is known for carrying out large-scale blasting operations. With a staff of 20 and a fleet of 18 machines, the company performs rock extractions amounting to 7 million tonnes a year in a range of sites.
“Among our customers are aggregate suppliers, crushing companies and earthworks companies. We blast rock in open-pit mines in roughly 70 different sites every year; in recent years, we have also carried out a number of contracts for wind farms. We have numerous long-term customer relationships, which helps us in planning our operations in advance. Our services include crushing extractions and other large-scale quarrying, excavation of building foundations and road alignments, rock-breaking using a hydraulic rock hammer, per-metre drilling, rock slope scanning and hole straightness measuring,” lists Managing Director and head charger Matti Ylimäki.
Top-notch machine performance
Louhintaliike Ylimäki’s fleet of drilling equipment consists of six mid-range Sandvik drill rigs for open-pit mining and two Doosan excavators equipped with an ExcaDrill rock drilling attachment. The company also extensively uses rock-breaking equipment: 14 primarily Atlas Copco rock hammers mounted on ten 30–35-tonne excavators, most of which are from Doosan’s range. A wide array of other equipment used in quarrying contracts, from dumpers to vibration meters, is also in the company’s fleet.
Drill rigs are replaced after roughly 5 to 6 years of use; in one year, a single rig drills around 60 to 70 kilometres of holes in rock. The equipment is maintained at our own workshop in Lapua and of course we also use the equipment supplier’s maintenance services,” says Ylimäki.
Decades of co-operation with Robit Louhintaliike Ylimäki has relied on the quality of Robit’s consumables, such as drill bits, rods and shanks, in its drilling operations for more than 20 years. “Robit is a very important partner to us. As a Finnish operator, their service and products are always nearby, they listen closely to customer feedback, and perhaps most importantly for an operator of our size, their service is flexible – Sales Manager Esa-Matti Polvi is very pro-active, always on the lookout for new solutions to further enhance our operations. And of course the products are in top condition, which enables efficient drilling and well as a good price/quality ratio. Robit’s continuous product development brings better solutions to market and if we need, say, a few dozen special bits, they will be produced in Lempäälä just the way we want them and on a tight schedule,” praises Ylimäki.
A container with drilling products on site
A year ago, Robit set up a consignment stock at Louhintaliike Ylimäki’s location in Lapua.
“The products stocked in the container include all the drilling consumables we need, meaning bits, rods and shanks, as well as coupling sleeves and bit adapters, to name a few. Robit invoices us for the products we use, and we place orders to ensure the shelves are always stocked with what we need. The container itself was made to be user-friendly, so picking products and, for instance, using a forklift to lift drill rods onto the rack is easy. Drillers bring the products to the worksite with them in their vehicles, and they always have enough for one or two weeks’ worth of work on the rig,” says infrastructure engineer and head charger Matti Pitkäjärvi.
Robit’s consignment stock has significantly improved Louhintaliike Ylimäki’s logistics:
“It makes things easier for drillers when they can pick up the consumables they need from a single location straight off the shelf, without having to order them separately,” says Pitkäjärvi.
Picture: A year ago, Robit set up a consignment stock at Louhintaliike Ylimäki’s location in Lapua. The products stocked in the container include all the required drilling consumables, i.e. bits, rods and shanks, as well as coupling sleeves and bit adapters, among other things. Robit invoices for the products used, and orders are placed to ensure the shelves are always stocked as needed.
As Indonesia continues to see a rising trend in the number of COVID-19 infected cases, the country especially Jakarta as the capital city where infections are the highest, continues to face a challenge to balance between containing the pandemic while maintaining the economy’s sustainability.
PT. Marton Tekindo Abadi as Robit’s distributor in Indonesia continues to show its highest level of professionalism and support for its clients across Indonesia amidst the pandemic. By complying with the protocols and regulations issued by the government and obtaining the necessary permits to continue business operations, Marton is able to continue supporting customers’ consumables needs across Indonesia.
Together with the support of Robit, Marton is able to maintain its supply and technical support to the customers. During these times, we believe that it is even more important to show our commitment and ability to support our customers to fortify the customers’ trust towards Marton and Robit. With a good teamwork between Marton and Robit, we are able to seize this moment as an opportunity to strengthen our presence in the market.
*Note: We highlight 2 customers here that are still operating during this pandemic one from aggregate quarry and another from cement quarry.
PT SUMBER TIGA PERMATA
PT Sumber Tiga Permata (PT STP), a long-standing and loyal customer of Marton, got acquainted with Robit drilling consumables when Marton and Robit started a distributor partnership. Being satisfied with Robit product performance, the co-operation continues with Robit drilling consumbales.
2 pneumatic drills of Furukawa PCR200 are in use in three of PT STP’s quarry locations
In total, 6 units are in operation
As PT STP puts after-sales service in high regards, it is satisfied with the quality of Robit rock tools’ performance as well as the after-sales support receiving from Marton and Robit.
PT Cemindo Gemilang is one of the major cement producers in Indonesia, known for its brand “Semen Merah Putih”
5 hydraulic drills: 3 units Soosan CSM (ex Junjin CSM) supplied by Marton, 2 units Epiroc hydraulic drills and 2 pneumatic drills from Furukawa PCR200
– 4” bits are used at site
Cement plant capacity in Bayah is able to produce up to 4 million tons of cement per year
Marton supplied 3 units of Soosan CSM Top Hammer hydraulic drills, and Cemindo uses also Robit rock tools across its multi-brand drill rigs
Cemindo continues to be a committed customer of Robit, as our distributor partnership ensures a sufficient stock for the customer’s production and also provides excellent after-sales technical support.
Stevin Rock LLC is one of the largest quarrying companies in the world, operating in the Middle East, on limestone, dolomite and gabbro minerals. Stevin Rock LLC produces over 80 million tons of the above minerals each year, drilling at the same time over 1.5 million meters.
After stringent trials with multiple competitor products over months, Robit products were found to have the least cost per meter in operations. Thus, the first contract was signed in 2017 for 2 years. After consistent performance for these 2 years and once again testing all competitor products, Robit was again found to have the most competitive performance. Robit was once again awarded the contract for the next two years covering 2019 and 2020. During these periods 2017 to 2020, Robit has been continuously improving its products based on customer feedback. As a result, Robit products have been regularly improved repeatedly.
Robit has also conducted regular drill master visits as well as conducted regular classes for Operators and Mechanics on optimum parameters for getting the best life of the product.
A combination of timely product evolution, regular training, visits of Drill Masters, 100% on time delivery and zero down time loss on account of product performance had contributed to the success of the product.
Robit is represented by Deltacorp Global FZE in the United Arab Emirates. They export to over 15 countries and operate from 2 warehouses in Duty Free Zone, in UAE.
Case report by: Bharadwaj Ventaraman, Manager, Deltacorp Global FZE and James Keenan, Distributor Business Manager, Middle East and Turkey, Robit Group
Robit is supplying consumables for gabbro quarrying in Sohar, Oman. The tools are being supplied by Robit’s distributor, Pioneers For Mining.
Robit consumables are performing well in the hard rock formation, in the North Oman, and thus, getting positive feedback from the customer. The gabbro quarries are one of the toughest and challenging areas among Oman rock formation.
Despite the current travel restrictions, the seamless cooperation between Robit, Pioneers For Mining and the customer including continuous follow-up on Robit product quality and support, enables a strong sales development in Sohar region.
Facts – Gabbro Quarry in Sohar, Oman
Machine: Furukawa HCR 1200
Rock Formation: Hard and Abrasive
Button Bit Size: C45–89mm
