After 25 years since the launch of the Pit Viper, Epiroc’s largest surface blasthole drill rig continues to outperform. For the past decade, this now-legendary drill rig model has been drilling autonomously, significantly boosting productivity and lowering emissions for mining customers worldwide.
“The iconic Pit Viper rig has set the standard for a quarter of a century when it comes to powerful surface drilling, and for a decade when it comes to autonomous operations,” said Helena Hedblom, Epiroc president and CEO.
“Customers trust the reliable Pit Viper because it delivers safety, productivity and energy efficiency. With continuous upgrades, the rigs keep getting better, regardless of their age.”
From the beginning, the Pit Viper rigs were built to be extremely powerful, versatile, and mobile. With onboard computers, the drill rigs transitioned over the years from manual operation to automated control, and ultimately to fully autonomous systems. The move to autonomy started when a mining company successfully tested Epiroc’s autonomous technology on two Pit Viper 271 rigs at an iron ore mine in Australia’s Pilbara region. Since then, the adoption of autonomous rigs in the Pit Viper series has rapidly increased at open-pit mines, now being used at dozens of sites worldwide.
The autonomous machines are carrying out complex drilling plans consistently and safely, noted Epiroc, typically operating from an off-site control room, sometimes more than 1,000 kilometres away from the site.
Source: Epiroc