Interesting Engineering Fact – Diamond Core Drilling.

In 1863, Rodolphe Lescot, a French Engineer, who invented the diamond core drill, used his invention for drilling blast holes to tunnel Mont Cenis on the border between France and Italy. Using his previous experience as a watchmaker, he came up with the idea of using jewels or stones as cutting faces, hence the birth of Diamond Core Drilling. Interestingly, the Mont Cenis Tunnel was the first of its kind, a long-distance rock tunnel driven from two headings with no intervening shafts. A landmark engineering achievement of its time.

Leschot’s Patent Application dated 3rd September 1862 stated: “This Invention consists in the construction and employment of tubular tools armed with diamond cutters, to which rotary and advancing motions are communicated. The tools consist of metal tubes with a ring of iron or steel at the working end, into which diamond cutters are fitted; the tube is connected to a shaft by a bayonet joint or otherwise. On rotary and advancing motions being communicated to it it bores or cuts a circular aperture in the rock, stone or other material acted on, and receives withing it a core or bar of such material, which is afterwards removed”.

Newland’s signature Erebus mobile underground diamond drill rig, manufactured here in Australia from start to finish, focuses on manufacturing reliable and cost-effective equipment that delivers low operational costs per meter for our clients. An optional attachment of a Rod and Inner Tube Handler is also available. Our Erebus Rigs assist our clients in achieving their operational goals through “quality, innovation and service”.