Sandvik locks in US fleet replacement

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions is set to supply 34 surface drill rigs to replace Country Boy Supply’s (CBS) current contractor fleet in Georgia and Tennessee, US.

The order is the largest single surface drills order Sandvik has seen, marking the start of strong relationship with the company’s newest dealer.

“The key to getting this across the finish line was that both teams at CBS and Sandvik, along with the other members of the supply chain, worked together seamlessly,” CBS general manager Jake Schmidtlein said.

“This is an excellent example of how business-led collaboration across the whole chain can create value for all parties.”

CBS already had a large order locked in focusing on the construction market in Georgia and Tennessee when Two Eight Drilling, its largest customer, approached CBS to make the switch to Sandvik equipment.

“We were impressed with the productivity and uptime of the Sandvik surface equipment and made a strategic choice to flip our entire fleet,” Two Eight Drilling chief executive officer Brent Taylor said.

“We look forward to gaining all productivity improvements and testing the latest automation technology.”

The record-setting order includes 16 Leopard DI650i drills, six Leopard DI550 drills, five Pantera DP1600i drills, three Ranger DX800 drills, three Ranger DX700 drills and one Pantera DP1500i drill.

The equipment will be used for production drilling in various large quarries or open pit mines, as well as construction work sites.

“These new drill rigs will help increase profitability and productivity over their lifecycle,” Sandvik business line manager for surface drills Ville Keinänen said. “Our partnership will further strengthen Sandvik’s position in the surface drilling solutions market.

“Automation will be a key feature in the fleet upgrade as some of the drills will be equipped with AutoMine readiness.”

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