Dumas Contracting, part of STRACON Group, has announced the arrival of its newest production drill – a Sandvik DL331 – at the Las Chispas project, owned by SilverCrest Metals, in Mexico.
The Sandvik DL331 arrived in time for the new year, the company said.
The Las Chispas operation is approximately 180 km northeast of Hermosillo, Sonora. A 2023 updated technical report outlined an eight-year operation generating average annual production of 57,000 oz of gold and 5.5 Moz of silver during the first seven full years. The updated production plan reached slightly above 1,200 t/d in 2026 and is largely supported by long-hole stoping (77%).
The Sandvik DL331 is a top-hammer longhole drill engineered for work in underground mining drifts with cross sections of 3 x 3 m or larger. This one-person-operated rig is capable of drilling vertical and incline plane rings and single or parallel long holes. The drilling control system is fitted with feed-controlled percussion for optimal drilling performance and accuracy, Sandvik says.
The drill has a boom coverage of 7 m, along with a maximum hole length of up to 23 m.
