Christensen 160 Smart – pushing boundaries with heli-portable modules

Exploration drilling is tough. From time to time, it's necessary to really push boundaries and move well outside any comfort zones. The Christensen 160 Smart surface core drilling rig has been designed by exploration drillers for exploration drillers especially in the Canadian market. It will bring home core samples in the toughest, remotest areas where transport is a real challenge.

The Christensen 160 Smart was designed from the ground up as a heli-portable drill rig, consisting of a few heli-transportable modules. Extreme care has been taken in the design process to reduce the number of round trips to new locations. The individual modules can be assembled rapidly and easily on arrival at the drill site. This will maintain high quality and power whilst keeping the weight as low as possible to facilitate the transport process and keep flight costs to a minimum – at the same time as it serves to maximize drilling time.

“The Christensen 160 Smart has a unique and flexible design to meet the needs of our customers who need to access areas that are very difficult to reach. Its design makes it mobile and it also a very reliable and powerful exploration rig”, says David Benton, Global Product Manager Exploration at Epiroc Surface division.

This new core drilling rig is fitted with safety features which enhance operator safety without hindering productivity. Functions such as the safety guard and interlocks, in combination with automated drilling, make this rig a real safety booster. It also includes a power unit equipped with a reliable Cummins diesel engine which meets the very latest emission standards. It has the best power to weight ratio on the market whilst keeping fuel burn at a class-leading minimum.

Smart features also help to extend the life of consumables. Measure While Drilling (MWD) data from each hole is logged by the system and can be exported into the Exploration Manager software. This presents users with the ability to analyze data, find improvements and generate various reports. Besides the automated drilling, the Rig Control System (RCS) also reduces the number of components and contributes to keeping the overall weight to a minimum.

“If you need to blaze a trail into the unknown, then this core drilling rig is the perfect partner”, says David Benton, Global Product Manager Exploration at Epiroc Surface division.

The Christensen 160 Smart is now available for orders in Canada. 

Christensen 160 Smart is a 6th Sense product. 6th Sense is the Epiroc way to optimize our customer’s value chain by utilizing insights from their operations. This is done through strong collaborations and with a leading portfolio of automation and information management solutions.