SRG Global provides specialized drill, blast, and geotechnical services to Australia’s largest gold producers. The company has recently acquired its first Pantera DP1510i drill from Sandvik for use on a gold project in Western Australia. After its pre-delivery at Sandvik’s Perth workshop, the new rig will head to the northern Goldfields, approximately 350 km north of Kalgoorlie, where it will be commissioned on site.
This delivery marks another significant milestone for SRG Global, who in May received the world’s first Leopard DI650i Gen 2 surface drill from Sandvik for deployment at a different operation in Western Australia’s Goldfields. The Pantera DP1510i will join 20 other rigs in SRG Global’s fleet, including a Pantera DP1500i that has accumulated 42,000 hours and maintains over 90 percent mechanical availability.
Nathan Steiner, executive general manager for mining services at SRG Global, explained: “We’ve long understood that to get the best results with drill-and-blast operations, you need to work with the best equipment. That’s why we have a strong partnership with Sandvik and are eager to put the new Pantera DP1510i into service. When we seek advanced surface rigs, Sandvik is very much our first choice.”
The Pantera DP1510i was first publicly shown at MINExpo International 2024 in Las Vegas and was officially launched at bauma 2025 in Munich. As the successor to the Pantera DP1500i, the rig is an intelligent, hydraulic, diesel-powered, self-propelled top hammer drill designed for large hole drilling, making it ideally suited for production drilling in large quarries or open-pit mines.
Michael Forrest, sales manager for surface drills at Sandvik, remarked: “SRG Global is an innovative customer eager to adopt new technologies and improve their operations. We are confident that the advanced features of the Pantera DP1510i will integrate seamlessly into SRG Global’s drill and blast activities.”
Ensuring optimal equipment performance is part of SRG Global’s strategy for delivering value and maintaining profitability. The company has a PPH Rock Drill service agreement with Sandvik, which calculates costs based on percussion hours—the hours each drill actively operates. This approach maximizes uptime and availability while helping to lower operating costs related to rock drills.
Steiner stated: “The PPH approach allows us to have predictable monthly costs for each drill. Additionally, we benefit from prioritized repairs using genuine parts and quarterly audits to keep our rigs running at peak performance.”
SRG Global currently operates 20 Pantera DP1500i rigs, including a model from 2008 that has accumulated 42,000 hours. Alongside the first Pantera DP1510i, the company has placed orders for an additional four units of this model to support expansion across other Western Australian Goldfields operations.
Compared to the Pantera DP1500i, the DP1510i features a more powerful rock drill with a 15 percent increase in hydraulic energy conversion efficiency, which directly reduces fuel consumption or boosts penetration rates. The redesigned flushing head simplifies maintenance and allows for shank changes to be completed 50 percent faster.
Forrest noted: “In high-production environments like open-pit gold mining, every minute counts. The redesigned flushing head means crews can keep the drill operating at peak performance with minimal downtime—an upgrade that adds real value.”
Finally, the commissioning process in Perth will verify that the Pantera DP1510i fully complies with Australian safety standards.
