In a focused multi-day workshop at Redpath’s North Bay Canada offices, key leaders from across the global shaft sinking community convened to advance one of the industry’s most anticipated innovations: the hard rock Shaft Boring Cutterhead System (SBC).
Representing Redpath were Kevin Melong, Vice President – Technical Services & Shafts (Canada); Matt Swanson, General Manager – Shafts & Technical Services (USA); Frank Otten, Senior Vice President International Projects, Redpath Deilmann (Germany); and Tyler Foy, Manager Engineering Redpath (Canada). They were joined by mechanical mining equipment specialists from Herrenknecht Germany – Patrick Rennkamp, Divisional Manager Mining; Dieter Troedel, Mining Manager Canada; and Johannes Betzler, Mechanical Engineer – Shaft Sinking Solutions — whose expertise in mechanised excavation across the globe is widely acknowledged.
The workshop focused on the current system designs and included a structured, comprehensive risk evaluation addressing all constraints associated with hard-rock shaft construction, ensuring every foreseeable challenge is engineered into the system’s solution set.
One of the most significant outcomes of the workshop was the enhanced ability to accurately forecast sinking rates across a range of rock types and shaft diameters, supported by a detailed generic schedule and cost estimate that enables project owners to clearly evaluate the value proposition the system can deliver, Redpath reported.
This workshop builds on several years of collaboration between Redpath Deilmann, Germany, and Herrenknecht, uniting shaft-sinking know-how with industry-leading mechanised excavation technology. Together, the teams are progressing a full-scale innovation pathway that aims to fill a long-standing gap in the hard-rock mechanised shaft-sinking market, Redpath says.
Engineering for the next frontier
Deep hard-rock shafts present extreme geotechnical and logistical challenges – high in-situ stresses, abrasive rock conditions, restricted excavation profiles and demanding hoisting and material-handling requirements. Each of these constraints is being thoroughly engineered into the evolving SBC system design, the companies say.
Recent scaled trials of the cutterhead and pneumatic mucking system at Herrenknecht’s Schwanau facility have produced expected results, performing as designed. These tests confirm the viability of the excavation and rock movement concepts designed to date and open the door to the next stage of further detailed mechanical, structural, and process engineering.
A partnership with global reach
The Redpath–Herrenknecht partnership already has a strong foundation. The Shaft Boring Roadheader (SBR) has successfully advanced multiple shaft projects across the globe in softer rock, demonstrating the power of combining innovative engineering with practical contractor experience.
The SBC initiative builds directly on that proven success – pairing Herrenknecht’s technological excellence with Redpath’s deep history in hard-rock shaft construction across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Shaping the future of shaft sinking
As the workshop concluded, one message stood out clearly: Mechanised hard-rock shaft sinking is on the brink of a major evolution.
“With aligned vision, integrated engineering and a shared commitment to innovation, the Redpath–Herrenknecht partnership is poised to deliver a step-change in shaft-sinking safety, productivity and predictability,” Redpath said.
