More life from every hammer at Eagle Mine
Deep below Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a road descends into Eagle Mine, one of the most unusual workplaces in the United States.
Eagle Mine is said to be the deepest point in the country accessible by car, reached via a ramp normally used by special mining vehicles. In 2022, the mine also set a Guinness World Record when an electric vehicle started from deep underground at Eagle and drove all the way to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado, achieving the greatest altitude change ever driven by an electric car.
The setting is memorable, but Eagle Mine is significant for another reason: it’s the only primary nickel mine currently operating in the United States. The underground mine produces nickel and copper, both essential materials for modern industry, used in everything from stainless steel and electrical systems to batteries and electric vehicles.
Since January 2026, Eagle Mine and the associated Humboldt Mill have been owned by Talon Metals. The acquisition turned Talon into a multi-asset US nickel-copper company, combining the producing Eagle operation in Michigan with the Tamarack Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project in Minnesota. Domestic nickel production is an important part of building a more integrated US battery supply chain.
At Eagle Mine, the ore body is reached through a mile-long decline tunnel. Mining is carried out deep underground using long-hole stope and cut-and-fill methods. The process starts with drilling and blasting. The loosened ore is mucked, loaded into haul trucks, and brought to the surface. Once an area has been mined, it is backfilled with a mix of rock, aggregate, and concrete to support the ground for continued mining nearby.
In this kind of environment, drilling consumables are not a small detail. Their condition affects underground productivity, reliability, and cost efficiency. That is where Robit’s cooperation with its US distributor NISS Global comes in. At Eagle Mine, Robit’s drilling consumables are supplied and serviced through NISS.
Over the course of 2025, the mine observed that the consumption of Robit® Dominator 30 Down the Hole hammers used for blast-hole drilling was faster than optimal. Robit’s Sales Engineer looked into it and found that the hammer was often replaced sooner than was necessary. He decided to arrange training sessions on disassembling and rebuilding the hammers instead of discarding them for new ones.
As a result, hammer lifetime and drilled meters grew longer. “They already had the capabilities,” explains VP North America at Robit. “They just needed the training and shown the cost savings in getting more out of each hammer.” Improved cost efficiency translates into higher productivity.
For Robit, the training was also a practical example of how distributor cooperation works at its best. NISS knows the local mining market and handles the day-to-day service relationship at Eagle Mine; Robit brings product knowledge, technical training, and support that help the distributor deliver more value to the end user.
In an industry where drilling is the first step in every production cycle, small improvements in service capability can make a meaningful difference. At Eagle Mine, Robit and NISS are helping ensure that the tools doing the work underground keep performing for longer.
